Sunday, April 30, 2017

Random Encounters by Terrain - Forest/Jungle

The second "d100 encounter by terrain type" table in my series, this time for forests and jungles.  You saw the one for plains and grasslands, right?  There are MANY more to come, but these things are great beasts, and I have this self-destructive tendency to make every entry another table!  Related to this is also my wildlife overview and super fun image dump post, check that out too if you're into prehistoric megafauna.


Forest / Jungle - 33%/day


01-02  Webbird Flock - usually detected by their sunlight-blocking webbing before they are seen.  Webbirds are an environment transforming species that turn normal forest and jungle areas into lightless cave-like spaces that encourage different plant growth.  They have plump, hairy bodies and ragged, hairy moth wings.  Their fist-sized heads have small, dull, black eyes, a dozen feathery forward and backward curling antennae, and a cluster of jointed tiny hooks for a mouth.  Webbirds will attempt to lay grubs in warm-blooded M+ sized creatures.  If the creature is wounded, they may land on the wound and lay eggs, if not they will land and bite for 1 dmg and lay eggs next round.

03-04  Coelophysis Pack - 3' high furry/feathery therapod scavengers.

05-06  Primates (1d6)
  1.  Feenees - panda patterned lemurs, if unmolested they may follow the PCs and alert them to danger, or lead them to fruit, edible plants and clean water.
  2.  Darrenhaust's Marmoset - tiny leonine grey monkeys, seemingly fearful and shy, will attempt to steal anything small enough in a moment of inattention, preferably objects that are bright colored, shiny, or have a strong smell.
  3.  Hounahoun - a simian sage, attended by animal-shaped nature spirits.  Exceptionally wise and exceptionally bored, only somewhat kind.
  4.  Black-bellied Slingers - large, aggressively territorial monkeys, create a riotous din and pelt intruders with sticks, stones, fruits, and feces, will not fight unless cornered.
  5.  Snatchers - carnivorous apes, attempt to stealthily drag a single victim into the canopy to be devoured.
  6.  Grand Apes - giant blue gorillas, intelligent and generally peaceful, if taciturn and indolent.

07-08  Boskbeast (Shambling Mound) - animate heap of rotting vegetative matter, always hungry for intelligent beings.

09-10  Wood Wyrm (Green/Thicket Dragon) - exceptionally large, wingless dragon with massive forelimbs.  Juveniles and younger are climbers, adults begin to grow a grove of trees and other plants upon their backs, ancient wyrms are an ecosystem unto themselves.  Green dragon breath is a pollen or spore that puts breathing creatures to sleep and outright kills the weakest ones.  Not particularly intelligent for dragons, sleep most of their lives, and swallow their favorite treasure.

11-12  Weird Bugs (1d4)
  1.  Drag Flies - blue-lit fireflies attracted to warm blooded creatures.  Do no harm, but their presence attracts sight-based predators.
  2.  Carapace Ticks - can be as large as a dinner plate, obviously drain blood, but in numbers they improve their host's AC, and may provoke an adrenaline surge if host is critically injured.
  3.  Quest Moth - hypnotic wing patterns geas intelligent creatures into "questing" for the moth's inaccessible orchid, and defending the insect from attack.
  4.  Quiet Cricket - a large cricket that produces a 20' globe of silence when it "sings".

13-16  Fasinaa Group (1d10)
  1.  Hunters
  2.  Bandits
  3.  Trading Group
  4.  Liar of Tsugumi
  5.  Sorceror
  6.  Ranger
  7.  Property Master
  8.  "Paladin" of Tyrant/Skraosh
  9.  Cultists
  10.  Druids

17-18  Hokopojo Troop - a troop of monkeys inhabited by the dark jungle spirits called Hokopojo.  They are brightly colored, walk on their hands with their feet and tails in the air, and have upside down heads.  While walking on their hands, their hideous, leering faces are right side up.  They possess many magical tricks, and groups of them may stack themselves into living totem poles to become a greater dark spirit.

19-20  Vaath - two sets of long multi-jointed moving legs, two sets of short manipulating arms on a long, lithe body.  The entirety of its arrow shaped, four-eyed head opens sideways into a needle-toothed mouth, filthy with deadly poison.  Inside the head is a 10' extensible tendril/tongue, capped with a razor edged scoop about 1.5" across, which it uses to burrow through its prey's body into its head, to lay a single egg.

21-22  Giant/Huge/Colossal Spider (single/group) - suitable giant spider encounter.

23-24  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"

25-26  Sabre Jaguar (single/pair) - a huge camouflaged cat with a dismembering bite.

27-28  Forest Roper (1d4)
  1.  Plant - many tendrils, regenerates.
  2.  Fungus - releases spores to put prey into a trance, slow tendrils.
  3.  Meat - a standard roper.
  4.  Elder - double size, clever, able to create minor illusions, and use 1d3 touch spells.

29-30  Slicer (Phononychus) Pack - the largest, and most dangerous raptor species.  Powerful forearms also have a killing digit.

31-32  Fissure/Lair/Tree Structure
  1.  Lair of nesting creature.
  2.  Deep fissure in earth, may be old or newly opened.
  3.  Tree structure, occupied by npcs.
  4.  Tree structure, abandoned.

33-34  Suitable Elemental (Rain / Earth / Wind / Life)

35-36  Sonihadrosaur (pair/herd) - mid-sized (for hadrosaurs) duck-billed dinosaurs with an elaborate fluted crest on their heads.  Adults inflate their resonating crests to release a Sonic Honk in a 100' cone every few rounds.  Fiercely protective of non-sonic young and nesting sites.  Can be subdued by "banding” the crest, binding it with a leather belt or metal band.

37-38  Mantrap Plant - passive flytrap variant uses attractive pollen to lure creatures into its acid-secreting leaf traps.

39-40  Face Eater (Shapeshifter Spirit) - a dark jungle spirit that robs the civilized of their individuality, and preys on the relationships between them.  The Face Eater attacks in the dark, attempting to extinguish light sources, or lure its chosen victim away from them.  It naturally appears as a wet, hairy, black humanoid shape, about 6’ tall, its head is just a mouth full of huge blunted teeth.  It will eat a person’s face, then masquerade as a perfect copy of them.

41-42  Giant Army Ants - forward column of 1' long, red-black ants.  20% are 2' soldiers with massively oversized mandibles.

43-44  Bloodthorn Patch - blood drinking thorn bushes in direction of party movement.

45-46  Iele Group (1d6)
  1.  Hunters
  2.  Trading Group
  3.  Ranger
  4.  Explorers
  5.  Random Priest
  6.  Random Mage
 
47-48  Treant (Fig / Rubber / Kapok) - an ancient druid, attended by various nature spirits with animal forms.

49-50  Mutant Troll Pack - slightly undersized trolls that mutate as they regenerate.  Already mutated to climb at 3/4 walking speed.  During regeneration of massive damage they can fuse together into larger abominations or break into smaller, independent, ruined parts.

51-52  Marsupial Lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) - ambush predator, drops from tree limbs onto the back of prey, severs spinal cord with its diprotodontian incisors.

53-54  Ollgrad - small, bloodthirsty (literally) root people.

55-56  Giant Constrictor/Venomous Snake - intelligent venomous or giant constrictor snake attack, snakes always have an angle.

57-58  Suitable Nature Spirit (1d4)
  1.  Predator Spirit - a possessing spirit that fills a creature with the urges to hunt, to kill, and to become a master of territory.
  2.  New One - a newborn spirit generated in an area of concentrated life.  Living potential, prized by the lawful wizards as a component in permanent magical items and high-level spells, it is a crime against nature to imprison one.
  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).

59-60  Coatl - the great feathered serpent, appears from nowhere and assumes any size or form.  A true ally, a cunning guardian, the arbiter of your unworthy spirit.

61-62  Moa (single/pair) - giant, non-aggressive, flightless birds.

63-64  Giant Beetle (1d6)
  1.  Tiger Beetle
  2.  Deathwatch Beetle
  3.  Rhinoceros Beetle
  4.  Bombardier Beetle
  5.  Boring Beetle
  6.  Slicer Beetle

65-66  Vegetable Basilisk - physically similar to a true basilisk at a quarter of the size.  Somewhat slow, but well camouflaged, and a good climber.  Turns victims to wood, which it will save to later consume.

67-68  Thesselhydra - four-legged, pincer-tailed, hydra with circular central mouth.

69-70  Giant/Huge/Colossal Centipede - suitable venomous centipede encounter.

71-72  Unbound Lesser Demon (1d4)
  1.  Phlymerous - plots for power.
  2.  Jaquidah - a maddener.
  3.  Rhaek - hunger and hate.
  4.  Slassym - dealer of flesh.

73-74  Poisonous Frog (1d6)
  1.  Bloodmask Frog - red face, black or yellow body, neurotoxic and quickly fatal.
  2.  Moon Frog - light blue and white, causes intense hallucinations for 3d6 hours.
  3.  Opal Frog - darkly iridescent skin, vomiting and diarrhea for 1d6 days.
  4.  Vrian's Peeper - light green body with orange head, very small, paralysis for 1d20 hours.
  5.  Firefrog - yellow, orange, red and purple, severe itching rash for 1d4 weeks.
  6.  Mist Frog - purple to dark blue, anesthetic numbs random body part.

75-76  Theever - oviraptor-like magical dinosaurs, non-aggressive but curious and will steal food and items from PCs through 'Misty Step' usable once every three rounds.

77-78  Thunder Storm / Flash Flood - wild thunderstorm in exposed/elevated areas, flash flood in enclosed areas.

79-80  Ettercap - soft-bodied, humanoid arachnid people.   Ettercaps are the much more numerous males of an unnamed species, and Aranea are the females.  Unmolested by, and may domesticate webbirds, found in the same areas.

81-82  Aranea - sorcerous, shape-shifting, spider women.

83-84  Naga - the “oldest masters”, they are selfish, secretive, and suspicious.  They can be civilized folk, cold-blooded killers, slave takers, or enigmatic guardians, depending on the day.  The Naga have their own small city-temples, but they are not fond of each other's company.
 
85-86  Choke-creeper - strangling vine monster.

87-88  Forest Elephant Herd - a herd of undersized, small-eared, woolly-backed, forest elephants.

89-90  Jungle Wraith - the mad, eternally frustrated spirit of a traveler, killed in but not native to the jungle, robbed of its afterlife by the trickery of dark nature spirits.  They can be fixed, but they can not help.

91-92  Giant Mantis - giant praying mantis, constantly voracious and often difficult to spot.

93-94  Clearing (1d4)
  1.  Empty Clearing - perfect campsite.
  2.  Pond - 50% chance of additional encounter.
  3.  Ancient Metal Ruins - 20% of above ground entry point, still sealed.
  4.  Shrine, Temple, Altar - holy site of appropriate goddess or demigod.

95-96  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 tree growths, etc.

97-98  Myconid Group (1d6)
  1.  Trading Group
  2.  Brainfarmers and slaves
  3.  Fungus Zombie Shepherds with zombies
  4.  Diplomat and guard(s)
  5.  Alchemist and assistants
  6.  Pariah - cleric or wizard

99-00  Special *

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Races: Chrichoral


The Chrichoral are a small avian race that lives exclusively in the Aika Aitat, the high mountain peaks between the Mumattoba and Yarmir tarns.  Their faces resemble ravens, crows, jays, mynahs, starlings, or oxpeckers, with various combinations of black, grey, white and blue coloration.  Chrichoral wings have two clawed fingers and a thumb creating a small delicate hand, which can be used to fly, or manipulate small objects, but they cannot be used to wield most weapons. Their feet are more dexterous and stronger than a man's hands, and able to throw a javelin in flight.  At 2.5 to 3.5 feet tall, they are the smallest race.  Their wings span 6 to 9 feet, and they weigh somewhere between 8 and 20 lbs.  They are true omnivores who eat fruit, seeds, certain fungus, insects, small vetebrates, fish, and meat.

In the Aika Aitat, the Chrichoral reside in their aeries atop four mountain peaks.  Their crowded, cacophonous cities contain few who aren't of their race, they are accessible only through flight or weeks of near impossible climbing.  Cunning, charming, and dexterous many are thieves, scouts, and bards.  They are adept at vocal mimicry and pattern recognition, with excellent memories, but short attention spans.  The Chrichoral can be sarcastic, boisterous, prattling, songful, lecturing, and muttersome, but they are almost never quiet.  They primarily worship Se'vensaera, their Sky of Choices, who they view as a "divine world" a goddess who is their precious realm removed from the terrestrial races.  The Chrichoral consider the surface Tyrant's world, a stagnant prison.  Eating carrion is something they are capable of, but only practiced by the Jajis, who have dedicated themselves to Skraosh and consume flesh for visions, spirit knowledge and other power.



Chrichoral naturally distrust other species, and only deal from a position of strength and control.  They generally hate combat, they communicate, they escape, they out think, they don’t fight.  This comes both from their small size and hollow bones, and their culture that emphasizes superiority through outwitting and out maneuvering opponents physically and socially.  Few become focused warriors or fighters, and those who do adopt a hit-and-run or ranged attack style.  They favor small spears and javelins, daggers and stilettos, chakra, and "foot razors".  Magic is common among their race, they have many ancient and contemporary styles, only rivaled in scope by the Fasinaa.  Their mages are air elementalists, Storm Crows, summoners, Songstealers (their oldest school of magic), omen speakers, token crafters, rune scribes, Beetle Mages, illusionists, egopomps, Necrostrix, transmuters, and chaos wizards.  Chrichoral are entirely uncomfortable in places where they cannot take flight, they become distressed in enclosed spaces and underground, mobility is life.


Old one, legit NPC.
Compared to the iele and the three saurian races, the Chrichoral have a very low population.  Females usually lay only a single egg, so siblings are uncommon.  The rare instances of "triplets" are considered fateful and blessed, particularly all male or all female sets, though the children hatched grow to be the smallest and most frail adults.  They believe themselves to be the oldest race, and are thought to have been a primitive people in the age when the saurians were one, the age before the Greatest Ancients.  Adolescents and young adults naturally seek to venture out into the continent to collect experiences, tricks, treasures and stories to make a name for themselves when they return.  These youngsters wear few clothes/adornments and are forced to carry little to keep themselves mobile outside.  Meanwhile the old birds back in the cities drape themselves in gaudy jewellery, elaborate hats, draped fabrics, and innumerable tiny tokens of bone, gem, feather, scale and gold, heavy with social importance... to Chrichoral.

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Back on track, 5/7 races defined: Chrichoral, Fasinaa, iele, Goboda, Shem.  Only the Mororca saurians and the Umash remain.