Thursday, March 23, 2017

Random Encounters by Terrain - Plains


 Part one in my series of the main random encounter tables for the different terrain of the Furthest Lands continent.  I like variety in my random encounters, so we're going d00 style.  The plains, particularly the Gragot Plain have the highest encounter % of terrain types.  Players must take steps or be regularly beset.  This table is not meant to serve as the true monster entry for any creature within, I'll make those with nice illustrations at some point.  See the previous post on Wildlife for pictures of the prehistoric animals on this list.  Enjoy.



Plains - 50%/day



01-02    Manticor - spirit cursed iele, usually lawful/poachers/defilers, now always hungry for other people.

03-04    Wild Thunderstorm (Sunhold) / Rainbow and Eye of Calm (Stormseat) - 1d4 hours of opposite weather.  During Sunhold, a sudden thunderstorm, during Stormseat, a period of light and peace.

05-08    Diatryma Flock - 9' flightless raptors, males have bright fan tails, frequent tall grass, can be tamed/ridden.

09-10    Bulette (single/group) - sinuously long, fast burrowing, and battering ram powerful.  They may rise up from beneath in a nearly undetectable charge, or approach visibly along the surface to herd prey.  Visually - leopard seal + graboid (yeah, from 'Tremors').

11-13    Mororca Groups (1d6) - the primitive, carnivorous, mostly quadrupedal saurian race
  1.  Hunters
  2.  Warriors
  3.  Trading Group
  4.  Barbarian
  5.  Shraosh/Naudde/Tyrant Shaman
  6.  Druid/Ranger

14-15    Giganotosaurus (single/pair) - large therapod dinosaur, 30% chance of pair, 10% chance of rider.

16-17    Ankheg (single/group) - mainly herbivorous, but territorial, irritable and occasionally hungry for meat.  Hugely fond of certain large root vegetables also cultivated by farmers.

18-19    Ogres (1d6)
  1.  Freshly Cursed: hateful, sadistic, a great twisted 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" (any kind)

20-24    Diprotodon Herd - commonly domesticated van-sized wombats.  Suitable as a feint before a surprise natural encounter.

25-26    Fissure/Cave/Lair (1d4)  30% chance of connecting to the Beneath
  1.  Deep fissure in earth, may be old or newly opened.
  2.  Lair of underground nesting creature.
  3.  Cave, cleared and habitable.
  4.  Cave, cleared but occupied by npcs.

27-28    Dromiceioseismos Herd - huge (50') flightless birds, non-hostile but dangerous if harassed.  Sometimes attract the largest of predators to an area.

29-30    Kitemouth - huge aerial gulper eel, swims through the air as if it were water, naturally invisible until its mouth opens (around 1,500').  Consumes entire herds of animals or the largest possible prey items.  Will not target a party of adventures, but will target a caravan.  Swallows and retreats, remaining visible while digesting.

31-32    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. 

33-34    Suitable Elemental - (Rain / Flash Fire / Wind / Lightning / Earth)

35-36    Ollgrad - small, bloodthirsty (literally) root people. 

37-38    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.

39-40    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

41-42    Kereza Antelope Herd - M-sized antelope with jagged, branching horns, favored food item of many races.  Non-combat, may lead to predatory encounter.

43-44    Chancas Elk Herd - L-sized elk with black, white, and grey fur and huge blocky antlers.  Non-combat, may lead to predatory encounter.

45-46    Biniki Antelope Herd - S-sized antelope with slender, dagger-like horns.  Non-combat, may lead to predatory encounter.

47-48    Quendapil (Herd Nucleus, Tyrant Kitty) - a brown-furred, cat-sized, boneless creature with six stubby pink legs, and a pink underbelly.  It seems to have a "head" portion, but no eyes, nose, mouth, or ears.  It breathes, but through unseen stoma.  It has powerful psychic abilities that allow it to mass dominate large numbers of low INT creatures.  These dominated creatures view the Quendapil as either their only precious offspring, or an external part of their own body.  They will die for it.  They are also taking low-level emotional cue commands and will act as its limbs.  The Quendapil feeds on the protective instincts of those in its power and seeks to expand that network as much as possible to get the most nourishment and feel the most secure.  The larval form of another creature?

49-50    Iele Group (1d10)
  1.  Hunters
  2.  Trading Group
  3.  Random Priest
  4.  Random Mage
  5.  Bandits
  6.  Ranger
  7.  Cultists
  8.  Xiphid
  9.  Mercenaries
  10.  Explorers

51-52    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)

53-54    Mutant Troll Pack - slightly undersized trolls that mutate as they regenerate.  May be already mutated or normal when encountered.  During regeneration of massive damage they can fuse together into larger abominations or break into smaller, independent, ruined parts.

55-56    Megalania - 20' komodo dragon, follows prey infected by an initial bite attack for weeks.

57-58    Hungry Jinxers - round-bodied scavengers with kangaroo legs and stiff tails.  Their collective marked target becomes increasingly unlucky as they are followed.

59-60    Giant Trapdoor Spider - giant spider living in a camouflaged tunnel.

61-62    Treant (Baobab) - an ancient druid, attended by various nature spirits with animal forms.

63-64    Flash Fire/Flash Flood - short-lived spirit or elemental fire creatures are often birthed/released/woken by the passage of a flash fire or on its leading edge.  The same is true for elemental water creatures and floods.

65-66    Giant Termites - worker unit or soldier unit.

67-68    Megatherium - giant ground sloth, territorial, aggressive.

69-70    Trade Caravan - (eastbound/westbound)
Guards (1d6)  Wares (1d10)
  1.  Iele rangers
  2.  Crichoral scouts
  3.  Fasinaa beast hunters
  4.  Goboda wayfarer priests
  5.  Iele mercenaries
  6.  Iele wizards

Wares (1d10)
  1.  Fish - dried foodstuffs, living specimens
  2.  Meat, Furs, Leather, Horn
  3.  Vegetables/Fruits - staple foodstuffs, exotic delicacies, potion-like magic types
  4.  Weapons, Armor, Tools
  5.  Textiles, Clothing, Jewellery
  6.  Spell/Item components
  7.  Animals - herding caravan, menagerie,
  8.  Money - Diamond chips, Gold coins
  9.  Amask steel, Copper rings, other metals
  10.  Magic treasure + 1 roll on Guards table

71-72    Nature Spirit (1d4)
  1.  Siccarada (Grass Spirit) - a sweet green smell, a rustling, sunlight between blades.  The softest, most luxuriant touch, or skin separating razor cuts.  Alternately serpentine and porcupine.
  2.  Prey Spirit - a possessing spirit that fills a creature with the urges to flee, to hide, and to procreate.
  3.  Ea'ea - an instilling spirit of growth and energy.  Can transform any living thing into a force to be reckoned with, at a cost.
  4.  Waiwie "Tilted Scale" (Chaos Spirit) - from a distance a glowing dragonfly, closer just branching luminous nerves.  A spirit that takes/erases elements of law and society from an individual and replaces them with natural elements (Example: the Waiwei steals your money and replaces it with meat or seeds, or maybe erases the Fasinaa language from your mind and replaces it with the tongue of flowers or birds).

73-74    Andrewsarchus - large, aggressive mammalian carnivore.

75-76    Watering Hole - roll another 1d3 encounters, interacting with each other.  At the height of Sunhold, most creatures will endure each other's company, but peace is tenuous...

77-78    Indricotherium - massive rhino-giraffes.

79-80    Nimbus Fisherman - huge jelly-type creature which surrounds itself in clouds, and dangles its stinging tentacles to the plains below.  Usually encountered with symbiotic scavengers.

81-83    Gorgonopsid Pack - wolf-sized or larger pack-hunting protomammals.

84-85    Fasinaa Group (1d6)
  1.  Hunters
  2.  Bandits
  3.  Trading Group
  4.  Liar of Tsugumi
  5.  Sorcerer
  6.  Ranger

86-87    Venomous Snake - intelligent venomous snake attack, snakes always have an angle.

88-89    Sauropod Herd - (largest varieties) occasionally territorial, may serve as environmental hazard, may attract largest predators.

90-91    Giant Ground Bees - giant bumblebees.

92    Gorefex - a colossal "seasonal" monster, emerging to feed once every few decades.  Spoken of in rumors, always the thing caravan leaders worry about, the ever-present plains boogey-monster.  Encountered most often in a hibernation phase. 

93-94    Giant Tiger Beetle - rapid-moving, scissor mandibled, giant predatory beetle.

95-96    Weird Plants (1d6)
  1.  Razorgrass Field - 5'+ serrated grass in direction of party movement, causes bleeding wounds if moved through, difficult to cut or burn.
  2.  Krangee Seeds - sticky burr-like seeds the party may pass through.  The seeds need to be digested by a predatory animal to germinate.  They release an odor after being separated from the main plant for 10 minutes which attracts predatory animals.
  3.  Jemmies - red-orange fist-size blossoms with thick petals.  Their citrus sour scent compels creatures to spread the yellow pollen to other, distant fields of the flowers.
  4.  Lo Plum Grove - trees bearing delicious intoxicating plums.  Highly potent, no ill effects beside impairment and a light hangover.  25% chance of drunken animal encounter.

97-98    Kyanbolo ("Bird Dragons") - 20' tall, grey furred/feathered wyvern-shaped creature.  Feathered wings, great toothed jaws.  They have incredibly large and powerful talons, which they wear pieces of armor, magic rings, and bracelets on.  They make nothing and seek out magical items, both to use and to elevate themselves socially.  They eat many races, but they despise the Chrichoral and merely murder them violently and brutally.

99-00    Special

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Wildlife of the Furthest Lands

Wildlife



    The wildlife of the Furthest Lands is diverse to the extreme.  The continent itself is quite large, but it could never account alone for the tremendous variety of animal and plant species.  The natural life here can be divided into three groups:  "common" current earth animals, "prehistoric" earth animals, and "strange" animals of my invention.  Within each group there may be normal and magical individual species (ex. hadrosaurs of several types exist, but one type can create a small sonic boom by inflating its elaborate fluted crest and honking), knowledge is important.
 

    Common Animals








This is just a short list of some common animals of the Furthest Lands that are identical to those native to our own planet. 

Wombat, Possum, Arboreal Wallaby, Glider Squirrel, Fruit Bat, Nectar Bat, Macaque, Orangutan, Common Mouse, Mouse Wallaby, Commerson’s Dolphin, Right Whale, Civet, Sea Lion, Dugong, Tapir, Babirusa, Markhor, Emu, Kiwi, Grebe, Sparkfoot Booby, Black Swan, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Pigeon, Cockatiel – Cockatoo, Budgerigar, Kakapo, Morpork, Bee Hummingbird, Kingfisher, Honeyguide, Iguana, Ground Bee, Tree Python, Death Adder, Frilled Lizard, Skink, Goanna, Lungfish, Grouper, Remora, Angelfish, Marlin, Barracuda, Tuna, Puffer Fish, Box Jelly


    Prehistoric Animals

 
Glyptodon (Hoplophorus) - found in deserts and scrubland, larger fantastic varieties exist as well. 
"Let's make the size comparison figure look like he has a death wish."


Diprotodon - herds of these van-sized wombats are found all across the continent in the plains and scrubland.  Commonly domesticated as beasts of burden, rarely as mounts.



Andrewsarchus -large mammalian predators of the plains.


Diatryma - and a variety of flightless raptor species, some are domesticated and used as mounts.  Types are found in the plains, jungles, deserts, and wastes.



Archaeotherium - huge boar-like opportunists, found in the plains, deserts, and wastes.


Dimetrodon - generally not a problem, but territorial.  The variety called the Solar Dimetrodon is found in deserts, storing sunlight in its shining sail.  It can use this power to give itself a kind of energy boost, or blast an opponent with stored sunlight.


Giganotosaurus - bigger than a tyrannosaur, 'nuff said.


Gorgonopsid - replaces wolves as medium-size plains/scrub pack hunters.  Never thought anyone else would bother with these until I played FF13.  God damnit Square.



Hyaenadon - pack hunters of the deserts and wastes. 


Indricotherium - you get these and the rarer herds of Dromiceioseismos (heheh) instead of elephants.


Koolasuchus - a really giant salamander capable of swallowing a man whole.  When I was a lad I was obsessed/terrified with a similar animal called Eryops, but my old buddy just isn't big enough for my purposes here (swallowing people).


Megalania - 20' long komodo dragons, with equally filthy mouths.  Found in the plains, scrubland, and jungle edges.


Megatherium - giant ground sloths of the plains, scrubland, and forests.


Moa - giant flightless jungle birds.


Sauropods (various) - large varieties in the plains, smaller varieties in the less dense jungles.


Thylacoleo carnifex (Marsupial Lion) - forest and jungle ambush predator.


Hadrosaurs - many varieties of hadrosaur are found in marshes, forests, and plains.


Marine Life - hey, don't go swimming.
Look at this!  This is totally awesome!  Go check out some prehistoric animal artists on DeviantArt or something!


   Strange Animals


There are many, many species of antelope, apes, monkeys, marsupials, birds (3,000 species), smaller therapods, pterosaurs, insects (50,000 species of beetles), etc. that are purely of my imagination but not worth individual description unless they come up in game. 

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All images in this post are NOT my work, if that wasn't obvious.  I needed to drop too much visual information here to make myself and it was readily available (plus sickness, so sick, so long, unngh).  My motto/mission statement/rules/whatever is "Only use your own art.  No text only posts." but I feel this is a reasonable exception to part one.  I hope you enjoyed it, we'll be back to normal next time.  Till then, Cool Rain Welcomes You Home.