Friday, April 27, 2018

d100 Familiars


When you cast the Find Familiar spell, roll on the table, you may add or subtract your level – 1 to your roll.  If you dislike all available options you may cancel the spell, the material components (at least 100gp worth) are consumed and you are unable to cast the spell again for one month.  If your familiar is killed you take permanent CON damage and must wait one year to cast the spell again.
O = offensive familiars can be compelled to any action.
I = inoffensive familiars, most grant powers when in physical contact with their master, some are useful enough without any power beyond their empathic connection to their masters..
01-50 are natural creatures suitable for anyone, 51-00 are the weirder ones. Potentially, roll on the table then you may +/- = your level – 1, to influence the roll.



01 Toad – I your skin secretes a nauseating ingested poison at will.
02 Sloth – I – slows the progression of poisons and diseases by half.
03 Fox – I – your lies become slightly more believable.
04 Squirrel – I - you may spider climb once per day.
05 Gorgonopsid – O – plains pack predator.
06 Donkey – I – what more could one want than an obedient donkey?
07 Fruit Bat – I - grants you darkvision and immunity to ingested poison.
08 Nectivorous Bat – I – improves your dexterity saves and perception checks.
09 Weasel – I - your lies become slightly more believable.
10 Badger – O – fierce fighter to the death.
11 Toucan – I - your sense of smell is heightened, knows one language.
12 Iguana – I – your saves against heat and cold are improved.
13 Raven I - speaks and teaches you another language.
14 Gecko – I – you may spider climb once per day.
15 Finch – I – speaks and teaches you another language.
16 Parrot – I – can remember and reproduce sounds and voices.
17 Tamarin – I - slightly increases your dexterity saves.
18 Possum – O – you soak one point per die of cold damage.
19 Wild Cat – O – various cat types.
20 Wild Dog – O – various dog types.
21 Wombat – I – you may consume half as much water as normal for one month.
22 Tarantula – O - poison severity grows with your level.
23 Chameleon – I – you may camouflage yourself against any natural background for as long as you do not move and hold your breath.
24 Constrictor Snake – O – crushing serpent, continuously grows as you level.
25 Hare – I – your running speed increases by five feet.
26 Wallaby – I – your running speed increases by five feet.
27 Venomous Snake – O – poison severity grows with your level.
28 Giant Centipede – O – poison severity grows with your level.
29 Owl – I – grants you darkvision, increases your perception checks.
30 Giant Snail – I – you may close your eyes and stay perfectly still to raise your armor class.
31 Peccary – I – your sense of smell is heightened, your constitution saves improve slightly.
32 Luna Moth – I – you have a near perfect internal compass.
33 Rat – I – slightly increases your dexterity saves.
34 Monitor Lizard – O – medium-sized water lizard.
35 Scarab (Dungbeetle) – I – you my feign death once a day, and reincarnate randomly when killed.
36 Hummingbird – I – increases your dexterity saves and perception checks, you eat 50% more food.

37 Coelophysis – O – small clever therapod.
38 Turtle – I – improves armor class and allows you to hold your breath underwater the higher your level.
39 Mudskipper – I – you may begin to breath only water after waiting one turn, you may breath air again by waiting another turn.
40 Falcon – O – various raptor types.
41 Stirge – O – you gain one of every ten points drained as hp, up to your level.
42 Desert Tortoise – I – improves armor class and you require half as much water.
43 Anteater – I – you suffer half the effects of poisons, and are immune to the stings of insects.
44 Stick Insect – I – you may camouflage yourself against any natural background for as long as you do not move and hold your breath.
45 Lemur – I – agile and dexterous prosimian.
46 Echidna – I - you suffer half the effects of poisons, and are immune to the stings of insects.
47 Giant Tick – O – can transfer a small portion of its stored hit points to you.
48 Porcupine – O – quills for all occasions.
49 Mantis – I – your unarmed attacks are improved.
50 Goat – O – what more could one want than an obedient goat?
51 Armadillo – I – whenever you take cover your bonus is doubled.
52 Bunipillar – I - you eat 50% more food, you have one bonus hit point per level.
53 Vulture – I – you can eat spoiled food and resist disease.
54 Pangolin – I – improves your armor class and saves against insect venoms.
55 Skunk – O – black and white musk-spraying polecat.
56 Peak Peeper – I – squat tail-less mountain prosimian.
57 Archaeopteryx – O – ancient protobird.
58 Eudimorphodon – I - speaks and teaches you another language.
59 Hedgehog – I – any physical attack against you deals one damage back to the attacker.
60 Giant Cockroach – I – all your saves increase a small amount.
61 Aerial Eel – O – toothy blue-gray eel that swims gracefully through the air.
62 Adorable Flying Creature – I – looks just like a cat/rabbit/puppy/fox/bear with feathery wings but swears it is a baby dragon, mostly useless, but speaks (to you) and maybe one day...
63 Lantern Beetle – I – very large firefly, functions as an at-will light spell, can deliver a blinding flash daily.
64 Shambling Lump – I – bonsai shambling mound.
65 Jinxer – I – furry wide-mouthed hopping scavenger, can target an opponent with minor curses and bad luck.
66 Floral Felus – O – predatory and highly mobile quadrupedal flora beast.
67 Brownie – I bound hearth spirit, only performs household-type duties, essentially a personal magic butler.
68 Grilly Pig – I – plump & furry mammalian creature, its flesh makes a nourishing meal for five people, it then grows back from its leftover hard stump of a tail in a single night without complaint.
69 Flying Squid – I – elegant aerial cephalopod, improves your dexterity saves, can release a small ink cloud once a day.
70 Kuppa – I – furry, hollow-backed frog creature, if its hollow can be kept full of water it will confer fire resistance and the strength to bear heavier burdens.
71 Bound Spirit – I – someone's ancestor, knowledgeable in certain historic events, languages, religions, etc.
72 Minyacorn – I – small furry and scaled single horned creature, can lay on hands once a day.
73 Cerebral Parasite – I – you become host to a beneficial brain worm that connects you to the astral plane.
74 Living Cauldron – O – animate cookware, perfect for magical concoctions, capable of changeing size and turning any monster into magical food.
75 Miniature Spidercat – O – neither a spider nor a cat, a spiny long-limbed mammal with too many joints.
76 Floating Skull – I – well-informed skull is able to answer questions about various topics.
77 Hydromander – I – salamander with minor water control and creation powers.
78 Low Tier Wide Vibrational Being – O – least among celestial beings they take a variety of odd forms, their true essence is spread over a wide area.
79 Antigrav Jelly – I – floating jelly that can absorb certain kinds of energy as it drifts on the edge of the astral plane.
80 Expandible Elephant – O – miniature pachyderm that can be commanded to grow to the size of a dog, a horse, or an elephant, but then must remain that size for a full day.
81 Zorbo – I – small koala-like animal that can absorb the hardness and other properties of materials it touches and pass some of those on to you.
82 Hotter – O – burning otter that swims through the air on its own flames.
83 Wizard Hand – I – your own severed hand, free from your body to fly about and able to cast certain spells.
84 Tulpa – (O) – imaginary servant of your own design, able to physically manifest more forcefully as you level.
85 Jaculani – O – thin metallic serpent that can lock its spine to be rigid as a spear, and even assist in throwing itself.
86 Coeurl – I – sickly kitten-like creature knows 1d4 spells & magic missile.
87 Geodeon – I – living ioun stone, each with a different geomagical effect.
88 Mephit (1d8) – O – foot tall imp of elemental...
1. Fire
2. Air
3. Earth
4. Water
5. Lightning
6. Ice
7. Smoke
8. Crystal

89 Foo Dog (Tiny) – O – faithful celestial guardian, happiest when its rigid nap regiment is kept.
90 Turban Worm – I – intelligence boosting hat mimic, needs a bit of your blood.
91 Flame Snake – O – flying serpent of living fire with a venom that burns the body from within.
92 Carbunkle – Iweak and fearful creature with a magic crystal “horn”, grants magics that aid in escape.
93 Flying Eye – I – your own extracted eyeball becomes a bat-winged monstrosity through your magic, able to deliver certain spells through its gaze.
94 Gumdrop Gel – O – teardrop shaped land jelly with a silly face.
95 Dragon Nymph – I – tiny butterfly-winged dragon, has many abilities but often misbehaves.
96 Ethyk – Ione-eyed lemur, can influence the emotions of one or more people nearby in animalistic ways.
97 Wisp – O – living incandescent gas, burns foes with cold fire, and is very difficult to harm.
98 Sprite – I – magical nature being from the Counter Continent of Fulcris Haelere.
99 Imp – O – tiny dangerous devil, a constant source of diabolic plots, favorite of the most vengeful and hateful of the evil wizards.
00 Homunculus – I – wretched psuedo-life created from your own bodily & spiritual essences, they are humanoid with at least some resemblance to their creator, they can do nearly anything their masters desire but are useless in combat.



Thursday, April 5, 2018

Megadungeon: Tomb of the Mountain Heart Encounter Table (d30)


The second of six encounter tables for the Foabeléth Ordirrex, the megadungeon beneath Booezor.  Following will be the dump, the Labrynthyne, the moonmetal mine, and the giant termite mound.
 
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Tomb of the Mountain Heart

1. Skin Beetles – flesh stripping, skin devouring beetles, usually encountered in a swarm.
2. Bats (1d4)
1. Cave Stirges – blood-drinking cave animals unrelated to bats, inflict continuously bleeding wounds.
2. Giant Bats – large predatory bats incapable of lifting a man, but will attempt to sever limbs with their wicked, oversized fangs.
3. Shadow Bats – magical bats created from living darkness.
4. Cloak Bats – intelligent, magic-using bats prized for their skins and wing membranes.
3. Bone Eater – large soft-bodied beast, much like a reptilian bulldog or badger, with a heavy tail, that oozes a glue-like ichor and rolls itself in bones and detritus to armor its skin.
4. Flesh Caddiss – giant worm that severs limbs and incorporates them into its horrific still-functional “shell”.
5. Mummified Animal – usually small preserved pet type creatures, occassionally larger guardian animals or beasts of burden.
6. The Masked Mournful – cult-like devotees of the death goddess Ris, protective of the catacombs and the endless dead.
7. Shadow – having devoured their owners they seek to feed themselves with the warmth of others.
8. Tomb Mold – immobile blue-gray mold with highly dangerous spores, sunlight will halt its growth but not kill it.
9. Ghouls – debased and deformed cannibals twisted into something like undeath, there are rumors of a ghoulish kingdom deep underground.
10. Ancestor Spirit – seek to connect/combine with their descendants, if you are unrelated they will low-level geaes your assistance.

11. Wraith – powerful immaterial undead.
12. Tomb Guardian / Wight Knight – bound undead warrior priest, an avatar of antilife.
13. Plasmic Ghost – semi-corporeal ectoplasmic entity that seeks to inhabit corpses and inanimate objects.
14. Swarm of Hands – mass of skittering undead hands that attack and die in dozens.
15. Zombies (1d8)
1. Standard Zombie – moves slow, wants brains...
2. Reanimating Zombie – reanimates with half HP if not totally destroyed.
3. Plated Zombie – with fused armor pieces
4. Fungus Zombie – critical hits cause them to explode in a cloud of dangerous spores.
5. Burning Zombie – resin-treated undead catches fire easily, and burns fiercely for a long time.
6. Plague Zombie – diseased undead transmits sickness through clawing and biting.
7. Zombie Berserker – fast moving, heavily muscled barbarian undead, may be armed or armored.
8. Beast Zombie – remains of a great beast.

16. Delver Group – a party of NPCs from the Delvers' Collective, going to or coming from a mission in the depths.
17. Bone Golem – often built in the form of a multi-armed man or a spider, these golems can repair themselves given time and enough bones.
18. Gobboos (1d4)
1. Kobalds – hyperactive.
2. Gobs – immunities.
3. Hobgobs – smartest.
4. Gorks – strong.

19. Tomb Robbers – single-minded defilers here to smash and grab, they come heavily warded against the undead occupants.
20. Dustmaker Raptors – vulture lizards with stiff-feathered fan tails, they can manipulate and weaponize air currents and particulate.
21. Skeletons (1d10)
1. Dust Skeleton – shatter into fine particulate, irritating and damaging to the lungs and eyes.
2. Shard Skeleton – explode into sharp pieces when destroyed.
3. Reassembling Skeleton – reforms with full HP several seconds after being destroyed, always have a weak point.
4. Fossilized Skeleton – bones made of stone, harder and heavier than normal.
5. Plated Skeleton – with fused armor pieces.
6. Skeleton Champion – mighty skeletal warrior.
7. Skeleton Mage – combat-focused skeletal magic user.
8. Skeleton Priest – adherent of Ris, entropy, death, destruction and cold spheres.
9. Burning Skeleton – lit from within the pelvis, ribcage, or skull with magical (cold)fire.
10. Beast Skeleton – remains of a great beast.
22. Death Fog – deadly or blood-draining miasmic tomb stench become independent mobile entity.
23. Whisperer - resembles a bipedal, wingless, bat about five feet tall, with the v-shaped chests and long forelimbs of a bat, but clawed hands, two of the fingers are rigid and end in large hooked claws, useful in climbing, it is intelligent and can mimic most voices and animal sounds, but is bad at creative improvisation.
24. Spiders (1d4)
1. Large, Highly Venomous
2. Webcaster Spider
3. Trapdoor Spider
4. Giant, Moderately Venomous
25. Necromancer (with Retinue) – some sort of death wizard or subtype of with retinue of evil associates, undead or not.
26. Vampiric Wretches – hideous nosferatu-style bestial vampires.
27. Nyenas – blind troglodytic hyena beasts.
28. Bound Demon – here to guard the catacombs or specific objects, potentially very kind...
29. (Roll on Adjacent Area Table)
30. Special *


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Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Megadungeon: Oldcity Sewers Encounter Table (d30)

The first of six encounter tables for the Foabeléth Ordirrex, the megadungeon beneath Booezor.  But first a small overview.
Minor Dungeons: The Foabeléth Ordirrex is comprised of many smaller minor dungeons, six of which connect to the surface. Booezor is built on older layers of its previous iterations, particularly the Ezordirrexian era when the city-state as one worked for the glory of the Autarch, and the elder magic era, when the Sculpted Mountain and the first city was built.

Oldcity Sewer System – the functional and nonfunctional sewer systems of several iterations of the city built on top of each other. A huge mess of tunnels and chutes that spans more than twice the length of the city.
Tomb of Mountain's Heart – its earliest parts were dug deep into the heart of the Sculpted Mountain, and the subsequent generational levels were stacked on top of each other one after another as the city grew. It occupies little horizontal space but a great deal of vertical space.
Filth Pits (Refuse Dump) – the size of small town and with a population of people to match, the city's dumping grounds have become their own multi-leveled ecosystem and cave complex, eventually meeting the sewers or the twin underground helical rivers.
Labrynthyne – a quasi-extradimensional prison structure built to contain magic users. It is filled with creatures that ignore, twist, or feed on magic energies, convicts to dangerous (or hated) to kill, and beings from other planes.
Moonmetal Mine – silver IS magic in the “Furthest Lands”, not a currency. Occasionally silver or Moonmetal will rain down from the sky as meteorites. The most closely guarded mine on the lower slopes of Booezor's Sculpted Mountain was once a steady source of the magical metal.
Giant Termite Mound – a great nest of giant termites at the base of the sculpted mountain is believed to connect to the deeper parts of the megadungeon.



Oldcity Sewers
1. Acidic Eels – man-length eels that coat themselves and potential predators in caustic mucus.
2. Hydromander Congress – one to two meter long blue shaded salamanders with various elemental water magics, intelligent and non-aggessive but cautious of people.
3. Throat Leeches – large black or brown leeches, seek the throat, nostrils, gills of hosts and turn purple-red with blood.
4. Spiders (1d4)
1. Large, Highly Venomous
2. Netcaster Spider
3. Diving Spider
4. Giant, Moderately Venomous

5. Vampiric Moss – inanimate hanging moss that drains the life force of a nearby creature after establishing a link, consumes a set amount of hp, and loses link when victim leaves its 30' area of effect.
6. Troggers - frog-like, small, amphibious tribal people with a nauseating bodily odor on land, known to eat anything they can fit in their overlarge mouths.
7. Sewer Monitors – S-M size amphibious monitor lizards with disease-inflicting bites.
8. Rats (1d4)
1. Normal Large Water Rats – rats... just rats.
2. Pouch Rats – thieving rats that distract and take items from the distracted.
3. Plague Rats – diseased rats with rabid behavior.
4. Bristleback Rats – large, powerful and ravenously hungry.

9. Black Sneezers - a species of underground squirterhorse, they fire a wad of sticky, acidic mucus from their fused tubular jaws with a comical nasal sound.
10. Cistern Wyrm – mutant offshoot of the river dragon family, pale, bloated, and craving legitimacy for their wretched lineage.
11. Naga (1d4)
1. Merchant – often with contraband like exotic drugs.
2. Slaver – with slaves for sale.
3. Slaver – seeking slaves.
4. Debtmaster Priest – more powerful naga who owns the souldebts of others of its kind.

12. Sluice Hulks – huge amphibian monsters, like a predatory frog-hippo, low intelligence but trainable.
13. Slimes (1d6)
1. Slime – mostly immobile green dissolving slime.
2. Gel – as the 'Dragon Quest' OG slime monster.
3. Gray Ooze - clear, quivering, mobile gelatinous lump.
4. Slimenemones – poisonous, paralytic, or deadly terrestrial anemones.
5. Jelly Egg – immobile opaque goo balls, each with a different surprise inside.
6. Gelatinous Sphere – as the cube but spherical to fit the sewer system, significantly faster but has difficulty with turning.

14. Crocodile – your standard crocodile, patient, implacable, an ancient form of zoological perfection prepared to drown, crush, and swallow you.
15. Fasinaa Sluicedwellers – several groups of fasinaa saurians have made their homes in the sewer system that mimics the conditions of their ancestral home, they may be civilized folk or deranged cannibals.
16. Delver Group – a party of NPCs from the Delvers' Collective, going to or coming from a mission in the depths.
17. Weird “Plants” (1d4)
1. Purple Pipemoss – multi-use moss that can be burned for lighting, smoked for pain-relief, and is eaten by many sewer creatures.
2. Speckled Cupshrooms – the bitter liquid collected in the mushrooms upturned caps functions as a cure minor wounds spell, but also begins a half-hour mildly hallucinogenic experience.
3. Sewer Lilies – exquisitely beautiful water plants that release a sickly soporific odor when picked or worse, trampled.
4. Goostrands – softly glowing strands of viscous goo hang from the ceiling, when eaten they can cure many diseases.

18. Constrictor Snake – giant crushing snake, excellent at surprise.
19. Giant Fishercat – sinuous predatory mammal.
20. Slime Double – as the classic 'doppleganger', leaves a slimy residue on objects it touches as a tell.
21. Gobboos (1d4)
1. Kobalds – hyperactive.
2. Gobs – immunities.
3. Hobgobs – smartest.
4. Gorks – strong.

22. Escaped Biomagical Experiment (chimera / mutant) – chimerical beast or a super-powered humanoid, seeking a hiding place in the sewer.
"C'mon and give Grandpa a hug!"
23. Waterlogged Zombie – putrid animate corpses with a nauseating stench.
24. Sewer Roper – blobby body easily wedged into any corner, with a beaked mouth in the center of up to ten retractable tentacles.
25. Shriekers - the classic alarm sounding, random encounter attracting, oversized fungus. There are over a dozen species, each with a distinct morphology, so they may look like: giant puff balls, tall thin mushrooms, brightly colored wall growths, etc.
26. Water Elemental – at work or lost beneath the city, its temperment will vary depending on how clean its component water is.
27. Crab Folk – generational nomads long lost on their pilgrimage to the Underground Sea.
28. Wisp Angler – huge-mouthed lunged fish with a glowing magical lure, 60% have 1d4 S-sized scavenging males living on their bodies.
29. (Roll on Adjacent Area Table)
30. Special *



Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Major Areas of the Ten Furthest Lands


Across the Thousand Oceans from the continent of Fulcrise Haelere, the Furthest Lands unfold. The highest peaked mountains, the most vast-reaching plains, the deepest wettest jungles. An avalanche of life and a stampede of land forms. The Furthest Lands are unknown to the outside as anything other than an abstraction. They are the lands of primal monsters and multitudinous magics, the beginnings and endings of stories. A fairy tale in overgrown megaliths and myriad megafauna.
The animal/monster life here is drawn from a variety of sources: currently living animals, particularly marsupials and birds, animals from the Mesozoic era, animals from the Cenozoic era, inspirations from the work of Wayne Douglas Barlowe, Clive Barker, underrepresented mythology, and the curly Suessian reaches of my mind.
50,000 years ago, the greatest ancients waged an incomprehensible war with their unknown enemy from the shining city they had settled atop the Juum plateau. On the Day of the Black Finger, darkness poured from the noon sun, the shining city was destroyed, and Juum crumbled into a hole that never filled, an endless depth called the Hive Mouth.
Now, the races that lived in the shadow of the ancients have cobbled together their own areas of civilization in a land that resists taming. Here food is rarely a problem, all environments teem with plant and animal life. Few communities are truly agricultural and farms, like all settlements must be defended constantly. This is the true problem in the Furthest Lands: the environment quickly takes back from civilization, roads and paths are consumed, monsters return, nature spirits incite and seek to inhabit the people, and there are many many creatures adept at predating humanoids. The only routes to holding back or taming in some small way the wilderness is multi-species cooperation, magic, or creating a symbiosis with it.
Now, the unique living magic of this place, the peculiarities of its geography and the ruinous transformation that created the Hive Mouth have unbalanced the vital energies of the world. This has resulted in the Furthest Lands becoming a sort of planar sink. Magical travelers often unexpectedly end up here from the Cross Continent and from throughout the multiverse. Likewise, magical travel off continent is now considerably more difficult, and escaping the bonds of the distorted world itself near impossible.
The Furthest Lands have a tropical to sub-tropical climate and two major seasons. The dry, hot season is called Sunhold and lasts two thirds of the year, while the cool, wet season is called Stormseat and lasts the rest. There is a single sun and single moon.
This is a continent mostly without kingdoms, where the few true cities have necessarily high walls and strange rules. Outside the peoples’ scattered enclaves, the beasts and nature spirits own the lands, lands that have swallowed up most evidence of the past. This is a continent where journeys require preparation and are never assured successes. Very few people venture out alone, and the strongest and wisest know best when to run.


Here's a general overview of the geographical areas. Many occur as the briefest note, some of those I know about and won't get into until later, some I have the vaguest idea beyond their name. A name is often enough...



Ten Major Areas


Twin Cities Area
The most civilized and settled part of a savage continent.

Anderside & Kraoshd, the Twin Cities - connected to each other across the Ceresine River via Bruuhoila's Bridge (an immense stone bridge that appears almost a natural landform, said to be built by one of the iele First Magic users, a holy site). The bridge is usually the simplest and least expensive way to cross the Ceresine, which is wide and home to many hungry creatures. Each city is surrounded by a 90-foot stone wall with one major and two lesser gates.
Known to change hands quickly, the cities have alternately been united under a single ruler, separate but trading, or openly at war. Each has been nearly leveled in the past 200 years. The constant rebuilding and periodic shifts in control create a riot of art, advertisement, and architecture. Government and basic services are a complete mess at best. The Twin Cities trade with a network of specialized farming and fishing villages nearby, hunting settlements further out in the Great Plain, the fishing nation of Rilm, Tauk Toma, and controlled dealings with Soec. A huge amount of goods and services are found in the two vast central marketplaces: normal and exotic animals, fish, vegetables, textiles, weapons. Stalls, stands and hawkers of all races line the streets, ready to haggle at great length, and disappear with their wares in seconds at the slightest sign of trouble in the market. Some stalls are built to slide back into the store and close up with metal or chitin plated shutters. Merchants and local shoppers are used to clearing out quickly to avoid rampaging escaped animals, street fights, magical mishaps, and the odd gang war or militant crackdown.
The Twin Cities are the launching point for countless caravans heading out across the Great Plain
(lower) Ceresine River - a wide, deep, wild river teeming with animal life. The Twin Cities serve as the primary crossing point, but barge passage can often be purchased at other points downriver.
Mygwa - a farming village in the shadow of Anderside. Mygwans raise livestock here close to the river, lappets and crenchies for clothing and armor.
Mil Waite - a farming village in the shadow of Anderside.
the Blue Forest - a dense jungle of strange plants, few of which are actually blue. Beyond the slicers and and various wretched arboreal mammals, there are metal ziggurats deep within that no plants will take root on.
Jaolis Tract - a broken forestland to the south of Kraoshd.
Kraok Marshland - a salt marsh, at the southwestern edge of the continent.


Gragot Plain Area
A gigantic open savanna with few areas of civilization.


West Gragot Plain (the Great Plain) - the drier area of the plains, with sparse vegetation. Spans from the the Nemeb River to Kraoshd.
East Gragot Plain (the Vash) - the lush part of the plains, with more vegetation. Spans from the Nemeb River to the Jungle Wall (the border of the Faakshidraa and Faakmataba Jungles to the plains).
Nemeb River - the muddy, slow-moving river near the center of the plain.
Sradahath - the waypoint village, the most common stopover point on cross plain journeys. It is surrounded by huge sharp rock spires, moved into place in ages past by an unknown force. Sradahath is disproportionately heavy in entertainment venues, like bars, brothels, and gaming houses. Most extensive animal market on the continent. If a plains creature isn't currently up for sale in Sradahath a deal can be made to procure one readily.
Gnarl - the village in the stump. Here a giant tree grew from a gorge-like rock formation, ages past the tree was gutted, either by fire, insects, or disease, and its enormous hollowed remains became a defensible perimeter. Gnarl is predominantly a hunting camp and trading post, lacking the space for farming.
Ibisi – a Monster Village.
Aegir Tarn - the low southernmost mountainous range separating the plains from the sea. Primary underground nesting ground of the largest Mororca tribes.
Rg’Zhd - the ancestral Mororca Tri-horn lair deep in the mountains underground. Home to the current Tri-horn's extended family.



Faakshidraa Area 
A land of endless multi-level jungles.

Faakshidraa Rainforest - the largest jungle of the continent. Mostly held by the Fasinaa lizardfolk from their capital city Fasinadas. This is a dense, dark rainforest made of immense intertwining trees, parasitic and saprophytic flora. In its depths, the Faakshidraa contains many naturally occurring layers which house a variety of separate specific environments. 
Faakmataba Jungle - the so-called “Jungle of the Elders”, second-largest on the continent. Lies across from the Faakshidraa and is bordered on the north and west by the Jodah range. A taboo place generally avoided by the Fasinaa.
Priiz – a Monster Village.
Fasinadas - the capital of the Fasinaa lizardfolk nation, a city carved into giant trees and the caves beneath them. 
Tsugumi's Mouth – the southeastern delta lands. The richest and most contested farmlands on the continent lie here. 
Eerilke Marsh - the winding marshland that forms the southeastern edge of the continent. 
Maes Nassaa - "Best View”, a Fasinaa canopy village at the southeast end of the Faakshidraa. 
Mataba Ruins – metal ruins of the ancients. 
Shidraa Ruins - the warped remnants of the Fasinaa city Shidraa. Now overwhelmed by a massive fungal growth, stretching miles underground. 
Vailska - the village at the edge of the Eerilke Marsh. 
Tsku Tskuun River - longest of the three main rivers, it begins in the Jodah, curls all the way around the Faakshidraa Rainforest and ends in Tsugumi’s Mouth.

Pofft Coast Area 
The small coastal area around the Cratered Bay including the Cnatka Taer and the villages at the edge of the Ridgewaste.

Booezor the City of Magic - meticulously carved from the top of the tallest peak of the Cnatka Taer, the Magic City’s architecture is the most elaborate and fanciful anywhere on the continent. The city is structured in tiers, five above the main gate and three below. Entry lies at the end of a huge, wide, winding stone staircase. The cabal of powerful wizards, scientists, and archaeologists who call themselves the Children govern this place and store their carefully hoarded knowledge here. The Children have kept Booezor stable with clearly defined laws, and safe from most threats that magic and money can combat. Population is predominantly iele, though more chrichoral are found here than any other city. Booezor’s economy revolves mainly around the trade of spell and magic item components, which it lies in a unique position to monopolize. The other major trade service is the sale of the Children’s restricted magics like Space Magic (including teleportation), the group’s catalog of true names, or certain powerful divinations. The City of Magic trades with the Fasinaa realm of the Faakshidraa, villages along the Pofft coast, and the eastern end of the Ridgewaste, and the occasional caravan from the Twin Cities. 
Werefti Sea - the wide western sea. 
Zhayshabbed - a coastal town. 
Northern Waste - the sprawling badlands below the Yarmir Tarn that stretch for endless miles. Commonly called the Bloodless Plains, the Hollows, and Dust and Sighs. 
Yarmir Tarn - the northernmost mountain range of the continent. Jagged peaks that create countless aeries, treacherous caves, and yawning fissures. 
Ridgewaste - the broken lands to the north of Booezor. Hunting grounds of many strange creatures attracted to the Magic city. 
Oln Altra – a Monster Village.
Quus Mire – the deepest, darkest swamp on the continent. Birthplace of the cauldron hags. 
Cnatka Taer - a short range of mountains, Booezor lies here.

Tomada Yoma Area
An area dominated by desert, waste, and high cliffs overlooking the Arcris Sea.

Tomada Yoma - an expansive desert, almost as expansive as the Great Plain.
Tauk Toma - the great temple city of the Wheel, home of the Goboda. 
Glass Waste - a vitrified wasteland stalked by terrifying predators and twisted poisoned spirits. 
Rilm the City of Fish - a city built into and on top of cliffs hanging out over the Acris Sea. Umash, iele, and Fasinaa boats set out from this rocky port to haul in thousands of kinds of edible and otherwise useful sea creatures. Seasonally afflicted by oppressive winds from the Glass Waste. 
Lassemedra’s Lip - a deep oceanic trench that runs close to Rilm. Fish, whales, and all manner of other sea creatures pour from it near constantly, in a tidal cycle. 
Abelwidt - a Monster Village. 
Five Oases - the holiest site of the goddess Immacula, a Kiss Upon Seeds. 
Arcris Sea - the wild western sea, dotted with many small islands and the archipelagos where the Gawshien and other isolated tribes of iele live.

Shemna Island Area
Two large islands to the northeast of the main continent. Home of the Shem empire that periodically strikes at the mainland.

Oubliess Sea - the quiet northern sea. 
Kao Shem - city of the Shem, curious geometric stone structures protruding senselessly from an immense mass of blue-white crystals. This is the Crystal Colony of the insectoid abominations called Shem, where they each return once a month to drink up reflected sunlight and keep their strange congress.  
Lbon Island - the smaller of the islands, avoided or unused by the Shem and unseen by any from the mainland. 
Lbon Ruins – ancient metal ruins that terrify the Shem.

Cnacol Peninsula Area
The mountainous isolated northern peninsula.

Cnacociel Tarn - the sharp-peaked mountain range dividing the peninsula. 
Werefti Sea - the wide western sea. 
Vortice Tower - a windowless, black stone tower suspended thousands of feet in the air. This is the steed, the coffin, the forge, the manse and the master is N’Gael.
Ig the City of Outcasts - there is a great beast that wanders Cnacol, burdened across its acres of back with a tremendous ball. Balanced upon the ball is the point of an inverted pyramidal structure which is the city of Ig. It has been hundred of years since any have seen, let alone traded with the mysterious city. 
Mount Wendg – also known as the “Dreaming Mountain”. Something sleeping beneath projects its dreams across the mountain, and people are ensnared within them.

Soec Area 
The second most settled area, and the only one controlled by a single individual.

(upper) Ceresine River - a wide, deep, wild river teeming with animal life. 
Soec, City of Monsters - the underground city of Soec is a cleverly managed warren of depravity. If an act or good is illegal in some other city, chances are it’s legal here. Soec is home to over a dozen competing gangs who deal in drugs, slaves, dangerous magic, poisons, assassination, and depraved craftwork.
The “street” tunnels are often several building levels high, and lit by phosphorescent moss and fungi blooms. Alleys and disused streets will have lower ceilings and have poor lighting (sometimes luminescent lichen is the only thing to eat).
Ovocil is, and has always seemingly been the hidden ruler of Soec, his desires accomplished by his Hands, Jaelek and Jaff. Jaelek the Right Hand, is regularly visible and communicates on the master’s behalf. Jaff the Left Hand, is rarely seen but is said to be responsible for the assassinations of those who disobey or work against the master. Ovocil demands toll fees through the city’s main gate, which is a stable gateway to the deeps, as well as a tax on near every purchase. Tax evasion is punishable by petrification, the statue-remains of those who didn’t pay litter the central square.
Unlike other cities with a low population of iele, Soec is one of the most diverse. Many creatures who could never be found in a lighted city are seen here, naga, medusae, myconids, and stranger things from below ground going about their business and carrying on as normal.
 
Mumattoba Tarn - the widest and tallest of the central mountain ranges that gird Centerscar. 
Kufis - a town on the opposite side of the Ceresine river from Soec. Close enough that the City of Monsters’ many gangs hold sway here as well. 
Tomadan Scrubland - the disintegrating terrain at the borders of the vast Tomada Yoma. 
Pallenseil Plain - the lowlands of the peaceful skies. Compared to the Gragot or the Vash, the Pallenseil is an idyll. Though the farming is easy here and the packs of animals and giant monsters fewer, entire towns can still disappear seemingly overnight. 
Peak of Attalystor - the tallest peak of the Mumattoba Tarn, source of the Ceresine.

Centerscar Area
The ruinous wastes that surround the Hive Mouth.

Vriskirr Lake - a great placid lake at the approximate center of the continent. 
Hive Mouth - an infinitely deep hole? A well of cosmic evil? The resting place of a falling star? A gateway to a greater darkness? A wound? A womb? There are few who know of the great abyss that the Juum plateau has become, and none who understand it. Year by year it grows. 
Rariidesht Desert - the frozen desert. A quiet, apparently lifeless desert of fine white sand during the day. The yawning winds of Centerscar make the desert freeze each night, 
Ria Vrika - the short doomed flow from Vriskirr, fed to the Hive Mouth. 
Aoal Eska – a Monster Village. 
Mranda - isolated waste village. 
Nagga Vris – a Monster Village. 
Jodah Taer - small mountain range separating the Faakmataba jungle from Centerscar. 
Enoretma's Fen – the dead marsh.


Aika Aitat
The high mountain home of the Chrichoral, inaccessible by all other races.
 

Jiri Riji – a mountaintop village of the Chrichoral. 
Star on Zikken - the capital "Secret City" (more of a village really) of the Chrichoral, meeting place of the Songstealers, their living heroic tricksters.


 
 

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Monster Villages

Monster Villages

Monster villages are the small, usually isolated habitations that occur frequently on the open terrain of the Gragot plain and other areas.  Here in the wilds a symbiotic relationship is often the best way to achieve some kind of safety.  Conscious monsters will have an INT of at least 6, and are likely to be able to communicate with villagers or at least the village elder(s) in one way or another.  I'm using these tables to generate the random villages players are likely to stumble across in the wilderness beyond the great cities.

Roll for your village (1d20, 1d4, 1d6, 1d12, 1d20, 1d8, and 1d8).  Start with general ideas and let the progression of rolls build the whole picture in your mind.

1.Monster (1d20)

1. Elder Dinosaur – a tremendous dinosaur of great age, one of the three classic forms: rex, tops, and brachy.
2. Swarm – S-M sized creatures that function as a single monster: bees, termites, rodents, crabs, etc.
3. Flightless Terror Bird – sees villagers as its “chicks”/sits on entire village as egg.
4. Ancient Treant – sprawling ambulatory elder tree being, generally benign.
5. Huge Lungfish – great amphibious fish, eel or catfish-like.
6. Great Antlered Owl – giant, intelligent bird with legendary hearing and sight.
7. Pitmaster (Giant Antlion) – hungry jaws at the bottom of an inescapable pit.
8. Passive Intelligent Plant – often a vine that covers the village, a fruit all villagers eat, a pod-person plant, etc.
9. Active Intelligent Plant – semi-mobile carnivorous plant, something with grasping tendrils that eats people.
"Ia! Praise Her!"
10. Serpentine Dragon – great snake-like beast, quick and mobile in the air/earth/water.
11. Burrowing Dragon – heavy digging beast.
12. Flying Dragon – aerial beast, wyvern or stork shaped.
13. Lumbering Dragon (kaiju) – colossal over-amped battle beast, may love children.
14. Chimerical Beastgod – literally anything, generally a demigod born from the sea or deep underground.
15. Ancient Golem – stone, wood, or metal based, perhaps constantly repairing or guarding the village site.
16. Amoebic Blob – fills/dwells in a pond, well, or underground water source, metamorphic or rapidly multiplying.
17. Butterfly or Moth – huge lepidopteran insect.
18. Communal Spirit – direct amalgam of the energies of the villagers.
19. Elemental – type appropriate to environs.
20. Mysterious Egg – an enormous strange egg.



2.Villagers (1d4)

1. Mixed species: iele, fasinaa, goboda, chrichoral, umash.
2. Mixed iele – different appearances and traits
3. Tribe of iele – homogeneous appearance and traits
4. Mostly fasinaa



3.Relationship (1d6)

1. No benefit/Unaware of
2. Mutualism – monster and villagers benefit
3. Commensalism – monster benefits, villagers do not
4. Commensalism – villagers benefit, monster does not
5. Parasitism – monster benefits, villagers suffer
6. Parasitism – villagers benefit, monster suffers



4.Environs (1d20)

1. Plain
2. Giant tree
3. Ring of massive natural stones
4. Natural cave complex
5. Colossal rib cage
6. Colossal skull
7. Hilltop
8. Mesa
9. Giant fungi
10. Giant beehive
11. Pillar garden
12. Mineral/Hot spring
13. Valley
14. Lakeside
15. Cliffs
16. Levitating mineral formation
17. Metallic ruins
18. (roll 2x, ignore 18-20)
19. (roll 2x, ignore 18-20)
20. (roll 3x, ignore 18-20)



5.Made of... (1d12)

1. Nothing
2. Large uncut rocks
3. Worked stone
4. Bone
5. Adobe
6. Adobe
7. Adobe
8. Thatch
9. Huts on stilts
10. Artificial excavation (mine/Coober Pedy dugout)
11. Timber
12. Concrete



6.Specialty (1d20)

1. Trade of gemstones
2. Trade of copper
3. Trade of gold ore
4. Trade of bone
5. Root vegetable crops
6. Herbs / Tea
7. Vegetable crops
8. Grain crops
9. Game meat and hide
10. Guerilla warriors
11. Knightly warriors
12. Magi warriors
13. Slavery of outsiders
14. Slavery of villagers
15. Oracular source
16. Leyline(s)
17. Beast trainers
18. Beast riders
19. Salt
20. Monster byproduct



7.And (1d8)

1. The monster can be harmed by silver weapons.
2. The monster has a phylactery where it keeps its heart.
3. The monster has the villagers under mind control.
4. The monster has long periods of dormancy and is in one now.
5. The monster has long periods of dormancy and is awake.
6. The monster demands regular sacrifice of intelligent beings.
7. The villagers seek another monster village.
8. The monster can teach unique magic.



8...And (1d8)

1. The monster can be harmed by magic weapons.
2. The monster has a heart protected by magic wards.
3. The monster cannot leave the village area.
4. The villagers cannot leave the village area.
5. The monster is a great secret.
6. The monster demands sacrifice of animals.
7. The village is opposed to another monster village.
8. The village appears and disappears magically under a certain condition.




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Still working on megadungeon stuff, I haven't given up on it.