Megadungeon: Booezor d100 Rumors Table

 This is the third post in my megadungeon dalliance, a great big d100 table of rumors to add flesh to the city and create some points of curiosity and tension.  You might want to read the first megadungeon post if you haven't yet.  Here are some other notes I haven't mentioned:

Well known factions...

the Children, all wizards to a person, with the gifts and biases inherent in such a homogenous group. Powerful factions within the Children are the primary students and chroniclers of history, metascience, and omnimagic theory, they have maintained control over the city for many hundreds of years.

Tyra's Capstone, devouted worshippers of the Goddess Tyrant. In one way or another each is a master of their field. Main competitors of the Children, whose primary goal is to achieve control over the city.

the Skywatch, a group who are myopically focused on their percieved threat of the Shem. They want genocide against the flying slaver race. Despise the philosophies and focus of the Delvers.

the Delvers Collective, who believe in the answers beneath their own feet for various reasons, and are the sponsors of 70% of the often ill-fated expeditions into the Foabeléth Ordirrex.

the Moonmythus, primarily wizards and others who value the hypermagic flesh of the moon (silver), and plots and magic based in the moon itself their great mystery-certainty.

(Cult of the) Black Sun, fanatical worshippers of devestating eclipse events.

Other points,

The deepest part of the megadugeon, the dungeon heart, the ur-dungeon within, is the
Foabeléth Ordirrex.

The Children Neovam are the high council of the Children.

Silver is highly magical in this place and very rare, all silver here comes from fallen pieces of the moon.

The Census Objex are the city's magipolice, primarily concerned with damage to the city and preserving order.

Sunhold and Stormseat are the two seasons, the dry and the wet.
 

Booezor Rumor Table (d100)

01 there are humans in the city from Damasc or Fortunal far across the Thousand Oceans, hiding in plain sight among the iele.

02 one of the hotels of the city is haunted, four schools of necromancers are dumbfounded, the site is a font of natural energy, and the spirits involved are nature spirits.

03 the Children have “planted” a three foot pyramid many miles to the south, it seems made of black stone, they hope to nurture it to grow into a great tower and take hold of the passage between the two jungles.

04 the fief farms scattered about the Cnatka Taer are some of the quietest and safest places on the continent, they are considered valued partner-assets of the Children, and are well guarded by them.

05 one of the fief farms scattered about the Cnatka Taer was totally destroyed by hostile druids, and the residents were all transformed into strange animals.

06 minor golem butlers with silver hearts have become oddly common while many rumors circulate around regular violent malfunctions.

07 occasionally a murderer will hide their handiwork in the hollow body of a newly constructed servant golem, and in even rarer instances this results in a very dangerous kind of new undead.

08 single flawless crystals of quite large size have become a controlled good recently, word amongst some of the loose-lipped arch-apprentices is that something from another world can see through them.

09 in the lower city tiers, a plentiful and cheap new kind of egg has become a household staple, only folks swear a few of each dozen always seem to go missing.

10 the Eidolon, a gigantic winged creature of unknown origin is one of the city's safeguards against aerial assault, the few who have seen it will not speak of it.

11 the Labrynthyne, the forever dungeon of Children, built for their lesser enemies has many connections to the megadungeon Foabeléth Ordirrex.

12 the Labrynthyne has opened, or ruptured, or malfunctioned, prisoners have begun to appear seemingly at random around the city.

13 hungry ghosts run a terrifying delicatessen where the most bizarre “meats” can be found.

14 a thick red mist has been seen among the high spires of the city's upper tiers, there have been several horrific incidents of mutilation and murder by household staff who speak only nonsense about whispers in the mist.

15 two groups in Cindiband vie for a Sky Child attended by strange monsters who are like stars and darkness.

16 caves are constantly opening, shifting and connecting under the encroaching ridgewaste near the city, new cave systems while unstable, can be rich in clearly exposed natural resources.

17 an oddly shaped part of the ever encroaching, barren, and wretched ridgewaste nearby has grown lush again, the devout of Immacula wish to possess the place, and many others are interested.

18 some of the edges of the ever encroaching ridgewaste have formed into strange rocky crystalline structures, which new creatures have issued from, razing at least one far-flung fief farm.

19 wealthy citizens currently enjoy the Dreambox fad, a kind of terrarium or shadowbox, kept in a room for entertaining and occasionally moved to the bedroom to be filled with some of its owner's dreams.

20 no normal weapons originate in the city, everything has a subtle and specific magic whether intended or not.

21 there is a respected Blue Naga in the Precious Pillars attempting to sell certain debts she owns of her people for vast sums or moonsilver, Naga Spirit Debts give one conditional ownership over a Naga.

22 the merchant guilds are currently powerful, prices have grown high and homogenized.

23 a new merchant guild has appeared offering fantastically low prices and a wide array of goods, this is sowing chaos and bloodthirsty resentment among the other guilds while delighting the citizenry.

24 to the north of the city is a Pillar Garden, a place where great natural stone columns hang in the air unconnected to the ground, one of the mage elite seeks to fell one of the pillars and return it to the city to be installed as their new residence.

25 the city is full of magical creatures and enchanted animals being used as messengers and spies, assume any public conversation has been overheard.

26 there is a species of hummingbird only found among the hybrid orchids kept by the nobles of the Precious Pillars.

27 a plague of green boils that leak gas rather than pus, ravages the poor residents of the Weave, or a village of Bottomshelf, the area has been quarantined by city officials.

28 one of the public arena spheres has had six consecutive bouts end in execution, the winning mages, many uninterested in the technical magics, have all applied themselves with great effort to the study of new strange summoning spells.

29 one of the public arena spheres is badly malfunctioning, magic cast within will have a 50% chance to have between 10% and 1000% the normal effect.

30 one of the public arena spheres is inert but retains a functional anti-magic shell, a gang of enterprising young mages have taken the area, and have weaponized the dilapidated structure in several ways.

31 resurrection insurance has become popular with the super rich, assassins have become less dangerous than a well paid lawyer.

32 across the continent people of every type see Booezor as their goal, even those who have one of the other brands of civilization at their very fingertips.

33 one of the Children is, contrary to all reason, selling verified teleportation magic, the sum is the most outrageous ever asked for a single spell.

34 there is an outsider in the city with working teleportation magic, many separate forces are searching for this individual to buy, steal, or enslave their power.

35 Red Glass from an unknown interior desert is the most popular narcotic in the city right now, but the byproduct created after use becomes more toxic and mutative the more that is collected together.

36 Sour Stones from the ridgewaste caves are the most popular narcotic in the city right now, but an abundance of missing people and a lack of bodies propel the rumors that those who overdose are transformed and seek lairs underground.

37 Purple Lotus from the Quus mire is the most popular narcotic in the city right now, but some children who are exposed become powerful oracles only able to see the future, reports of missing children are the highest ever.

38 Brightgrape Wine from along the Pofft Coast is the most popular narcotic in the city right now, three powerful trading families have been brutally fighting for sole control of the grapes.

39 a pod of creatures called Azure Lumpish, a sort of large flying dolphin, are approaching the city in their annual migration, they come to trade their strange psychic powers for the city's magical auguries.

40 the lower tiers of the city are home to many feral and domestic spidercats, and the abundant resources available mean brooding females can grow far beyond the two foot “pet size” and into maneater range within a season.

41 people's pets are running away from home in droves, while all kinds of animals have been seen flocking to a certain entrance of the sub-city.

42 Greedy Ants are found only in the city, they appear like other small brown ants but are drawn to caches of gold, which they are able to shave pieces from with their strange mandibles.

43 the lower tiers of the city suffer first as Sweepers, large hairy snail-like animals, go missing in droves, killing them is oppressively outlawed and their meat is universally poisonous so confusion runs rampant as the filth piles up.

44 the most delicious dishes and the most amazing culinary delights are found in Stoneforest, prepared by perhaps a dozen of the most masterful gourmets on the continent, one is even said to have been an apprentice to one of the fabled Cauldron Hags.

45 it is said that within the Egg, the palace or campus of the Children, the greatest library in the continent is kept.

46 the Foabeléth Ordirrex has forced itself upward into the connective dungeons, decreasing the depth to reach it.

47 the Foabeléth Ordirrex has condensed, folding deeper into itself, and increasing the depth to reach it.

48 the Foabeléth Ordirrex has extended a Thorn through the miles of normal dungeon-space that lie between it and the city, appearing in a public square it is a door into the heart of the megadungeon and will be pruned back soon by the Children for the common good.

49 a black floating tower has been seen far to the east on the ancient path to Ig, no one has dared approach within a mile.

50 one the daemantine keys of the Children, the ones that unlock the Egg and are storied to protect themselves and return to their owner, has inexplicably gone missing and lies discovered or not somewhere within the city.

51 it is said that the Grand Stair, the enchanted road that leads to the city, has its own guardian creature which none have seen, it is called the Passage and stretches the length of the stair.

52 the Fasinaa of the Third Realm to the south, commonly called the Floating Forest, have become more and more aggressive toward caravans passing by, the other three of the Four Realms remain quite about their intraspecies politics and offer no aid.

53 many levels into the Tomb of the Mountain Heart, the most expansive and aged catacomb in the city, sits the necropolis known as the Alabaster Vault, a village of the living and undead.

54 the Delvers' Collective is sponsoring a Mass Descent 1d4 weeks from now into one of the deepest known parts of the megadungeon, their target five filigreed gold rods, their nature is unknown.

55 the Cult of the Black Sun maintains their position in the city to finance research of powerful magics, they seek the power to put out the very Sun.

56 the varied members of the Moonmythus value silver, the magical flesh of the moon more than any amount of wealth, they amass their small hordes of silver hoping like will attract like and the the moon will be drawn to the city.

57 the meritarchs of Tyra's Capstone will never be satisfied until they have wrested control of the city from the Children one way or another.

58 the Skywatch have been very vocal of late in their campaign to crystallize the threat of the Shem, Booezor is safe from all things but those horrors, they say, they began this city and they will be back for it in force one day.

59 a lost giant/magical “pet” encountered in streets, its owner is a richly mad and madly rich little child whose parents are completely cowed.

60 a strange iele child offers to sell you a small creature in a jar, the child promises wonders and you have never seen the thing's like before.

61 a miasmic former drug house is tainted with dangerous magical contaminates and the effects are spilling over into other houses.

62 there is a riot unfolding in the Beastmile at the bottom of the city, strange and common animals captured across the continent are escaping back to the wilds and into the city itself.

63 there is a riot unfolding along the Luminous Bridge from Cindiband to Lighttown, foot passage to the higher tiers of the city is currently blocked.

64 youth gangs in the Fruitbasket/Waspnest area mark their territories with magical graffitti, these patterns, images, and slogans can have surprising effects on those who see or approach them.

65 a hawker in Fruitbasket sells strangely spoiled potions that are discounted but still functional, they often have bizarre, unintended effects.

66 there is a seller of magical scrolls in Waspnest, their works are unique and top notch, but no matter which spell you buy the scroll always contains a different one.

67 long before was a time when the city was controlled by the Autarch, the greatest iele wizard there ever was, their remaining magics and treasures make pale imitations of modern works.

68 long before was a time when the city was controlled by a mad pantheon of seven demigods, once legendary heroes, three hailed from other worlds.

69 long before was a time when the city went through a Cryst Ziel (lit. “Crystallized Soul”) fad, many inert and still reactive Crystals still lie beneath the city.

70 long before was a time when the city was built as a hive of the dreaded Shem, no one knows what can be found in the alien places far below that still bear their touch.

71 long before was a time when the city traded with and was in communication with Ig the City of Outcasts, now the Chrichoral say that city has “moved”.

72 there is a summoning tournament being held in Lighttown, there are multiple categories to enter and prizes to win.

73 there is an artistic illusion tournament being held in upper Lighttown with many categories, Emotional Response, Pranks, Free Expression.

74 there is an aerial racing tournament being held in Stoneforest, participants may fly under their own power, use personal magical flight, ride a flying creature, or ride a flying magitech contraption.

75 the Census Objex have been extorting citizens in Cindiband, taking magical items, occasionally valuable jewelry and signets.

76 the Census Objex have their hands full with magical crimes threatening the peaceful operation of the city, they are half as likely to appear for non-critical incidents.

77 the Census Objex have the city under tight observation and control so magical crime is low, they are twice as likely to appear for non-critical incidents, and may anticipate critical ones.

78 the Census Objex have been unable to capture a serial bomber operating in Lighttown, frustrated club owners and wealthy hedonists are seeking outside solutions.

79 the weather is growing unnaturally cold, snow and ice have been seen in the highest tiers of the city, this occasionally happens in a place so rich in magic, but will grow worse and worse the longer it lasts.

80 Sunhold has brought such serious drought this year that the lower tiered communities have turned to priests of Immacula for sources of drinking water, as well as the sewers, hydromanders, even robbery.

81 this year's Stormseat has dumped so much rainfall on the city that not only have the sewers completely run over, several of the overbuilt lower tier neighborhoods have flooded as well.

82 one of the Children Neovam masquerades as a beggar, merchant, or messenger to experience common life.

83 one of the Children Neovam is a demon entity from a subwave plane.

84 one of the Children Neovam appoints a successor from a random nearby wizard if killed, and takes partial control of their life.

85 one of the Children Neovam is a power-hungry relic-seeker, already blacklisted by 1d4 mercenary companies.

86 one of the Children Neovam eats iele children to increase its lifespan.

87 one of the Children Neovam is the offspring of the goddess Naudde, a demigod who may never venture under the open skies.

88 one of the Children Neovam is a body-jumping parasite.

89 one of the Children Neovam is 5,000 years old, a natural magus born clutching a moonsilver nugget.

90 arch-magical relics have been found in the strata of the city's lower tiers, tunneling robbers move throughout people's basements and sub-cellars, causing many horrible incidents.

91 sealed towers exist in the city, some are larger inside than out, some connect eventually to the Foabeleth Ordirrex, some are still/newly occupied, some are not towers at all.

92 even the stones of many of the city streets have their own subtle magic, some can be harvested as there are many streets that have been plucked bare, others cannot be taken.

93 in this city of a thousand small streets, there are dead end alleys where the terminal wall ends in a relief of a mask or a face, each uniquely sized and patterned, they are the husks of nature spirits entombed in this manufactured place.

94 Chrichoral traveling from the Aika Aitat bring dire news about Centerscar, the Hive Mouth has opened wider, and those who fly over its blackness drop dead from the air.

95 Manifrond the debtmage has used a new spell to trade his familiar for another man's arm, now concerned that his ex-familiar's death might still impact him, he wants out of the deal.

96 the heat and moisture this year have been just right for the giant termites of the nearby mounds to birth new queens and winged drones, Booezor is always an attractive target for their new colonies.

97 slimy, hairless, single-eyed rats have been spotted all across the lower tiers of the city, they are stealing food, seemingly inedible magical components, and are the rumored cause of a vile new plague.

98 Ollgrad merchants have recently introduced to the city a rapidly growing creeper vine, whenever a patch of this plant hits a certain size it becomes a predatory people-eater.

99 the Shem have brainwashed slave agents in the city who seek to bring it down.

00 many seers and astrologers suggest a comet will strike the city in 1d100 days.





Now that was a beast!  I mean, encounter tables, sure I eat and breathe that stuff, but city rumors?  That took a month.  Anyhow, Happy New Year.  This will be the second real year of the blog and I feel pretty pleased about that... consider my resolution to post more, but still never till I have something good.  Thanks for reading!

Megadungeon: Starting Character Rules

Booezor Campaign Starting PC Rules

Entry-level PCs in this campaign will fit within one of four categories that determine the method of character generation:


  Tower Dweller, upper-class Booezorian with wealth and connections, rolls 3d6 six times in order for stats, has 1d3+1 City Confidants, 1d4+1 Wealth Points, has normal starting money and possessions plus an additional 300gp “pocket money”, and rolls HP every level.

  Citizen, a life-long city denizen of no importance, rolls 3d6 six times and assigns for stats, has one City Confidant, OR one Wealth Point, has normal starting money and possessions, and may choose average HP each level.

  Wildlander, one who comes from outside the city, from the monster villages and the fief-farms, or a traveller from somewhere across the continent, or one of the true primals a wanderer of the wilds... rolls 4d6, discards the lowest, and assigns for stats; has proficiency in an additional nature-based skill, OR has one Wilds Confidant, OR gets max HP for 1st level; may choose average HP each level.

  Outlander/Exotic, those who hail from another world and have become trapped here: standard characters (human, elf, dwarf, goblin, orc, half-whatever) = rolls 3d6 seven times, drops the lowest value, and assigns for stats; has against all odds one City Confidant (always another Exotic), OR a minor magical item; non-standard characters are case-by-case negotiations with your DM.


Wealth Points can be “spent” for large sums of money, or retained as functional status. To get into the first of the retricted tiers of the city one must retain at least one Wealth Point.

City Confidants are NPCs that a character has a positive relationship with, who will provide assistance, and grow in usefulness and loyalty if nurtured.

Wilds Confidants are as city ones but tend to be more useful since they are harder to interact with.


-------------------------------------------------------


Thoughts?  Balance is not exactly my forte...

Megadungeon Beneath Booezor

I got distracted a bit, and so this is what I have been working on...

There is a megadungeon beneath the Magic City of Booezor that stretches down through the Sculpted Mountain and deep into the earth below.  It is unknown for how many levels the structure continues underground, but there are six entry points and each is a dungeon of its own: a giant magnetic termite mound, the sewer system, the tomb of the mountain's heart, the magically accelerated dumping grounds, the moonmetal mine, and the partially physical prison space the Labrynthyne.

Booezor is divided into eight "tiers", the first three are accessible to anyone (like 1st level PCs), while the other five are unlocked by amassing wealth or otherwise raising your social station:

The Weave, a hanging shantytown and scattered caves hung from the side of the sculpted mountain, difficult to get to, many entrances exist not considered part of the city proper.

Bottomshelf / Beastmile, lower cliff villages each with their own name, difficult to get to, many entrances exist, not considered part of the city proper, and the city's external animal market, a town in itself.

Fruitbasket / Waspnest / the Sprawl, the lowest main level of the city, street after street of markets, shops, residences, taverns, lodging, and assorted frantic industry.

Secondmarket / Cindiband, the higher classed and more specialized markets and shops are here, the residences higher, the entertainment more elaborate.

Lighttown, high class everything, hotels, night life, gambling, street noble culture, everyone wears disposable magic light junk and revels in excess.

Stoneforest, bridge-connected highspires house the super-rich, the mage elite, and their clustered entertainments.

Precious Pillars, the highest and most improbable towers belong to the most venerable Children, unaligned magi, and the ultra-rich (1%).

The Egg, a permanent physical extrusion, made of pure magic, of a vast extradimensional space that serves as the campus of the Children. Truly there is a palace within the space the Egg describes.

So I need to continue to work on Booezor enough to comfortably run it without getting completely carried away.  A bunch of boring work is done, tentative tables of item, armor, and weapon prices and which tiers of the city they are available in.  Started a table for animal prices.  Got an easy d100 table of types of buildings in the city.  And I am waist deep in a d100 table of city rumors and another of specific NPCs, which are super cool.  Oh, and this fun motivation table:

d20 Reasons to Seek the Depths

1 you seek an ancestor's spirit trapped within a soul crystal you will know by touch, such crystals were popular in ages past, and are found in the deeper areas.

2 you seek to confront a specific powerful undead creature, whom you have a (personal) connection to, and who lairs in the deepest depths.

3 you seek the water at the source of the Haelix, one of the twin rivers that flow beneath the city, whose current flows in an upward spiral.

4 you seek the land of the subterranean sea fed by the mouth of the Xeeres, one of the twin rivers that flow beneath the city, whose current flows in a downward spiral.

5 you seek to recapture seven unbound demons, who have installed themselves as lords of the deeper dungeon.

6 you seek access to the insane civilizations and beings of the 'Veins of the Earth', which can be found through the lowest levels of the megadungeon.

7 you seek to purge the various “cancers” of the depths, clearing held and wild areas in the name of Tyrant or Immacula.

8 you seek the “fortune” you feared to seek till now, the ambiguous prediction that your fate would be found in the depths.

9 you seek ancient magic secrets of the Shem, who first raised Booezor as a hive countless ages ago.

10 you seek the unplundered riches of the deepest depths, it's the only way to finance your impossible dream.

11 you seek one of the missing pieces of the sky for capricious Se’vensaera, broken and hidden ages ago deep beneath the earth.

12 you seek the Inverted Throne that is rumored to sit at the lowest point of the megadungeon, anyone who sits upon it will be made a great ruler.

13 you seek the prize of a noble Treasure Hunt, the mad singular desire of those who need never try for themselves.

14 you seek the archancient technological secrets of the Tenzoril, many believe the deeper megadungeon to be one of their creations.

15 you seek a stable gate to other worlds hidden in the lowest levels of the megadungeon.

16 you seek to consume the heart of a Dragon of the Source, one of which sleeps far beneath the city.

17 you seek the valuable secrets of the megadungeon's structure, inhabitants, and layout to sell, share, or hoard.

18 you seek the truth of your hazy past, and bizarre recurring dreams you are sure point deep below the city.

19 you seek an audience with the Naudde, the Goddess of Mysteries herself, you will find her avatar beyond many labyrinths, deep underground.

20 you seek to delve deeper than has any other, you seek fame and singularity, immortality in legend and influence.

Back soon with those tasty d100 rumor and npc tables... or something, you never know.

Random Encounters by Terrain - Desert

The fourth in my series of d100 random encounters tables for terrain type for the Furthest Lands continent, brings us to deserts.  Water use, exposure to heat, and to the cold of night are the greatest problems in any desert, but owl wizards, leucrotta, and hierarchies of sandworms will keep those deaths interesting.  The largest and most important desert on continent is the Tomada Yoma, the great western expanse, hundreds of miles in any direction, which still has a civilized center in the Great Temple of Tauk Toma.  There are also many smaller deserts, scattered across the lands, several in the inhospitable region called "Centerscar", which tend to have dangerous magical/environmental quirks particular to each.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Desert - 20%/day



01-02  Great Beaded Lizard – huge, venomous, and implacable, the Giant Gila Monster!

03  Tower Owl – an owl sorcerer-sage that lives in the hollow top of an giant enchanted cactus. Man-sized, but wide and heavy for a bird. The owl can operate the cactus as a golem by serving as its “face”. The cactus regenerates, alters its form and size, throws needles, and manufactures a host of dangerous chemicals to coat them.

04-05  Suitable Elemental ( Earth/Sandstorm/Wind/Fire )

06-07  (Greater) Leucrotta – superficially it resembles a large antelope: small fine head, long neck, sleek torso, and long hooved legs. On closer inspection, a wretched monster: mad red and yellow eyes, matted fur, and a mouth that continues all the way down the neck to the torso. The leucrotta's secret maw is filled with row after row of teeth, and the source of the beast's near-magical vocal mimicry, numerous tongues.

08-09  Mummy (1d4)

1. Iele

2. Goboda

3. Umash

4. Other, race or monster

10-11  Bombardier Beetle – giant beetle with a caustic chemical weapon.

12-13  Hurry Ants – pony-sized, stilt-legged ants that burst from the sand and dash about, madly killing and dismembering prey before dragging the pieces underground. Their exoskeleton is thermochromic, it cycles from cold black, through blue and purple, to warm red and orange, to hot yellow and white within a few minutes of emerging on the surface (AC goes down throughout cycle). Their bodies explode 20 seconds after turning white hot, showering the area with molten clumps of exoskeletal goo and chemically activated combustible blood. The ants will occasionally force their own explosive deaths, to cover their retreat or counter dangerous opponents, but in general are in a “hurry” to escape the sun.

14-15  Giant Rattlesnake – arguably the most dangerous of all the vocal snakes, rattlesnakes are typified by their great paranoia. Highly intelligent, desperately fearful, and brutally venomous, they are best avoided.

16-17  Mirage

of (1d6)

1. Oasis

2. Orchard

3. Temple

4. Caravan

5. Isolated Low-Hanging Rain Cloud

6. Bright Light

Hiding (1d4)

1. Nothing

2. Monster

3. Trap

4. Treasure

18-19  Ultrachiroptera Flock – the giant bats of the desert night, large enough to bear a man as prey or rider.  70% carnivorous, 30% nectivorous.

20-23  Hyaenadon Pack – multiple species exist in a range of sizes (1d8 x 100 lbs.), replace gorgonopsids as pack hunting predators in the most arid regions.

24-25  Bellows Horse – hollow, wheezing, rapid. Boneless, sightless, restless. Inscrutable, elegant, horrible. A bellows horse is a three-legged, accordion-bodied, beast that seems to make little sense.

26-27  Giant Tortoise – non-aggressive, with a powerful bite and unfailing stamina, perfect for riding or bearing loads... very slowly.

28-29  Cudgelhead – a huge, two-legged monster with a battering skull. Cudgelheads do not eat the creatures they beat into a paste with their bony faces, their diet is unknown.

30-31  Ogres (1d6)
1. Freshly Cursed: hateful, sadistic, a great parody of an iele, berserker.
2. Freshly Cursed, Mage: a great mad spellcaster, random magic specialization.
3. Second Gen.: Warrior
4. Second Gen.: Priest
5. Second Gen.: Sorcerer/Wizard
6. Second Gen.: "Paladin"

32-35  Goboda Group (1d10)

1. Warrior Monks

2. Bandits

3. Hunters

4. Trading Company

5. Lone Merchant

6. Desert Druid

7. Wizards (Chronomancer/Diviner/Elementalist/Enchanter)

8. Priests (Se'vensaera/Naudde/Immacula)

9. Eternal Pilgrims (Orobolus)

10. Cultists

36-37  Obelisk – a statuary monster from an ancient civilization, some break into pieces or twist into a mobile shape, some remain in their original form and function like a turret or a roper monster.

38-41  Glyptodon Herd – herbivorous giant mammals with armored shells and bony, clubbed tails. Often domesticated by the umash, they produce milk, make slow but steady pack beasts, and every bit of one's corpse is useful.

42-43  Shard Leech Scree - razor-edged stones used as the shell of a land mollusc, 4"-14". Hide in areas of loose rock waiting for man size or larger prey, throw themselves en masse at a target, pierce flesh and release a mild paralytic venom, drink their fill of blood, fall out of the target, and move away from the remains.

44-45  Thirsty Wind – a day-long weather change, no cloud cover with extremely hot and unnaturally dry winds. Water use is doubled, exhausted npcs and animals may die outright. A thirsty wind always blows against the party's goal.

46-47  Lancet Stirge Flock - naked birdlike creatures with elongated, saw-edged lower jaws, cat size. Function as stirges but can pin targets in numbers and interfere with movement/spellcasting.

48-51  Umash Group (1d6) - the baboon-faced race of the Tomada Yoma.
1. Dervishes
2. Hunters
3. Trading Group
4. Elementalists
5. Priests of the Sisters of Mysteries
6. Common Nomads

52-53  Solar Dimetrodon – this large species of dimetrodon is capable of storing solar energy in its iridescent sail as it basks, then releasing this energy as a ray or wave shaped attack. Other dimetrodon affected by an energy discharge will be hasted for 1d6 rounds and heal half the attack's damage. They receive some nourishment through solar energy, but pursue living prey of a certain size whenever possible.

54-55  Manticor - spirit cursed iele, usually lawful/poachers/defilers, now always hungry for other people.

56-57  Sandstorm – a powerful sandstorm batters the area, seek cover or be suffocated, scoured, blinded, even buried. Trails and small landmarks are erased.

58-59  Iele Group (1d6)
1. Hunters
2. Trading Group
3. Ranger
4. Explorers
5. Random Priest
6. Random Mage

60-61  Shem Formation - 4-10 Shem hunting for or returning with captives. Often accompanied by Bloat Cages (1-4), ground slaves (5-50), or aerial slaves (2-20).

62-63  Sandworm – a two to six meter, vibration-sensitive, predatory worm.

64-65  Sandwormother – a slow moving, colossal, swollen sandworm, covered in a thick pink waxy cuticle. The mother worm is constantly laying eggs, even as it moves, even as it sleeps, even after death (for a bit). Eggs hatch quickly, and the speedy arm-length wormlettes hurry back to hide in the mother's mouth. The young are only occasionally disgorged to attack and feed for themselves, if this occurs the mother will avoid attacking the young's targets.

66-67  Sandfather – fifty feet long and covered in armored scutes, the rapid-moving sandfather worm ranges the desert, searching for prey and unfertilized females with its array of eversible head organs. Two of these surprising tentacle shaped appendages are coated in caustic chemicals.

68-69  MutantTroll Pack - slightly undersized trolls that mutate as they regenerate. Each has one additional mutation when encountered and is twice as hungry. During regeneration of massive damage they can fuse together into larger abominations or break into smaller, independent, ruined parts.

70-71  Suitable Nature Spirit (1d4)

1. Starvation Spirit – a possessing spirit that forces its host to an artificial brink of 

starvation, and holds them there.  They will not be satisfied by any amount of food, 

and will not starve to death. However, the host will behave as if it must find food now 

or die, eating all available rations, tiny animals, and... left alone with another person, 

they will attempt to murder and cannibalize them. 

2. Erosion Spirit – its whisper can be heard in stirring sand and curling around wind 

eaten rocks, it wants to make everything dust, but isn't greedy, it likes to destroy a bit 

at a time. Appease it with something interesting to nibble, or it will eats holes in you 

and your things, or strip layers from something (layers like skin). The more artificial the 

offering, the better. 

3. Plague Spirit – a possessing spirit that makes a creature into a asymptomatic carrier of an

awful illness.

4. Sun Spirit – appears as tricks of light, suggestive afterimages of thin partial humanoids, impossible to see from a distance. Curious and cruel, they will lead the way to dangerous mirages, evaporate exposed water in seconds, and their touch causes heat madness.

72  Dune Dragon – the longer the dragons of the endless sands live, the more time they spend asleep, sand collecting on their serpent bodies. They are often irritable, bleary, confusing fantasy with reality. They control the weather, and their breath is a storm of sands that tears, or a cloud of dust that lulls to sleep. There is always a cavern filled with drinkable water beneath a sleeping dune dragon.

73-74  Archaeotherium (carnivorous boar) – a ravenous omnivorous beast, like a monstrous boar with long legs and a huge head. Simple and single minded with an amazing olfactory sense.

75-76  Giant Antlion (Funneller/Doodlebeast) – the L-G sized predatory larva of an unknown insect. The giant antlion buries its body in loose sand and creates a funnel trap, where it lies in wait for prey. Doodlebeasts have been known to hurl rains of sand, spray caustic acids, and create tremors in the ground.

77-78  Dust Skeleton – the countless dead of the desert, now skeletons made of sand and bone dust. When defeated they reform in 1d100 hours, but can be permanently destroyed with a “mouthful” of water.

79-80  Swarm of Insects (1d4)
1. Yokaibubu Locusts – devouring locusts, large as a man's hand. A plague's worth (plagues may vary).
2. Sweat Flies – quicken exhaustion by drinking sweat and other bodily moisture.
3. Golden Sand Fleas – biting mass of fleas, leave bleeding painful wounds, will infest clothes, packs, and bedding.
4. Black Beads – a carpet of round, shiny, black beetles hungry for non-living organic material: leather, wood, paper, foodstuffs, even hair. Each beetle bears fertilized eggs at birth, and will easily infest belongings if not exterminated.

81-82  Scopophobic Cacti – approach blooded creatures at a rapid pace, as long as nothing watches them. “Strike” by pressing themselves against their targets and draining the water from their blood with wicked needles.

83  Elder'lisk (True Basilisk) - gigantic, slow as stone, fast as a rock slide, the elder'lisk perched atop its heap of broken statues, the evilest eye. A thin tall body, six to ten spindly legs, and two independently moving eyes. Reflecting the creature's gaze will turn just one eye to stone. This basilisk can move silently on its split-toed padded feet, and climbs sheer surfaces with ease.

84-85  Hungry Ghost – ghosts desperate for your water, your food, your breath, your blood. Younger ghosts use their lives' knowledge to deceive and confuse, while the ghosts who have wandered hundreds of years or more are ravening spectres without a trace of personhood left, they will claw what they need from you without hesitation.

86-87  Giant Vulture Kettle – the party begins to be followed by great vultures who patiently wait for exhaustion or grievous wounds, their presence increases the likelihood of encounters by 20%.

88-89  Weird Water Source (1d6)

1. Sipping Succulent – a branching succulent whose swollen leaves can be carefully plucked and drunk like little juice boxes up to two weeks later. The liquid is light, refreshing, and mostly flavorless, though it has a slightly medicinal aftertaste. Mildly promote healing when poured on wounds or infected areas.

2. Keg Cactus – a squat, yellow-green, long-needled cactus filled with a great reserve of clear watery liquid within its thick skin. The liquid is mildly alcoholic, but just as hydrating as real water. Living on keg cactus juice only for three days will render a person completely and constantly drunk until they drink something else for three days.

3. Water Melons – delicious watery underground melons 6” to 18” across, keep for a few weeks after picked. If they are opened and the juices stored in other containers, the odor will often attract certain insects and larger animals.

4. Sand Cucumbers (Piss Grubs) – tube shaped underground animals about a foot long. Pinched and stroked in a certain way the creature will squirt out its stored water supply, which can be up to three days worth of water. Cucumbers can be eaten, though they taste pretty awful and will immediately poison their water stores when injured.

5. Voilumpf - sized between camels and giraffes, six long thin legs, a long neck with a small, nearly eyeless head, feathered antennae, and a complicated folding proboscis, and an inflatable sack of rubbery skin on its back. These docile, dull-witted creatures eat moisture-rich plants and fungi deep underground and store the excess water in their back sack. Rangers know the animals will violently resist attack, but a person can “tap” their sack for its water and they will take little notice. Sack water is identical to normal well water, just very slightly... pork flavored. Can be ridden, but their food is unsustainable outside the desert. Their liver is the only worthwhile meat on their body.

6. Spider Cups – a white, grape-sized spider will spin a cup shaped web with a cover within a hole in the sand. The webbing is water repellent and the spider uses the water filled cup as a lure for prey. A person can scoop spider cups out of the sand to take away easily, but they are fragile. The spiders are not dangerous. 

 

90-91  Dune Ghuul – cannibalistic degenerates of various original races that roam the open desert at night, their life or undeath status up for debate.  Their touch is paralytic (of course) and their anguished howls terrify the weak.   

92-93  Swimming Sword – a blade-like cousin of the bulette, long and rigid-bodied, can potentially be tamed and used as a mount. 30% chance of being encountered with its immature form, the Severfish. The young specifically attempt with their bladed bodies to amputate digits and limbs for their own consumption.

94-95  Dromiceioseismos Herd - huge (50') flightless birds, non-hostile but dangerous if harassed. Sometimes attract the largest of predators to an area.

96-97  Strange Sands (1d10)

1. Mandala Sands – sand that changes color when shifted. Tracks are usually easy to spot and follow, though the vistas can muddle the mind or sicken the stomach.

2. Sandsea – liquid sand that functions almost like water. Normal water vessels will not function properly, if at all.

3. Sleeping Sand – fabled soporific sand.

4. Magnetic Sand – greenish sand that cakes ferrous metal materials, will quickly encumber a person bearing much of them unless scraped off regularly.

5. Living Sand – essentially low functioning nanomachines, able to assume one large high-functioning form, or many smaller lower-functioning forms. Some say these are the eroded remains of once mighty ancient golems.

6. Sand Garden – a jungle, orchard, or topiary garden formed of sand. May form only during the day, night, or a particular season, etc.

7. Rust Sand – blueish sand that causes metal equipment to rapidly oxidize.

8. Scouring Sand – razor sharp granules of nearly diamond hard crystal. Shreds skin and light fabric in a few hours, easily blinds unprotected eyes, deals permanent con damage if inhaled.

9. Skeleton Sand – sands composed mostly of skeletal remains, dust skeletons common.

10. Quicksand – horrific cartoonish quicksand, indistinguishable from the normal sands around it.   

98-99  Gunmen – radial bodied sand dwelling creatures with a primitive intelligence. They are aggressive, territorial, known to eat anything and anyone, and steal whatever supplies are available (a few have been known to trade). Gunmen or Stars, have a puck shaped body about 2' in diameter ringed with 3-5 rubbery arms each tipped with 3-5 retractable fingers. One flat side of the creature's body is its “face”, disconcerting to most races as it is composed of recognizable features scattered randomly across the surface: an eye here, a nostril here, a mouth? an ear? Each is different from another, but all have at least one eye and a single mouth, which serves both ends of the beast's digestive system. Gunmen create weapons and clothing for themselves, shoddily constructed and made for a strange physiology they are nearly useless to other races.

00  Special *




Till next time...
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