Ruined Limnus Encounters

This entry follows up on my previous Ruined City of Limnus post. Here I've included a table of random encounters for the ruined city, and two additional adventure sites in the nearby valley. There is much more content for this setting that I'm in the process of polishing up so stay tuned!

Ruined Limnus Encounters

1. Corpse of a long-dead adventurer. Iridescent purple flowers grow rampantly out out its eye sockets and mouth. If a creature get too close, they are seized by its intoxicating fragrance. An adventurer must save v poison or be compelled to obsessively smell the flowers. The victim's nose is stained purple, they lose their sense of scent, and exude a lingering floral aroma for 1d4 days. Insects, especially the pollinating one's take a strong interest.
2. Area conceals a narrow and winding burrow that opens into a bone-littered nest, containing 3 displacer beast cubs. The cubs will yowl loudly, possibly attracting the attention of an adult Displacer Beast if disturbed. There is a 1 in 6 chance an adult parent will be nearby.
3. A sinkhole opens up beneath a party member. Save or tumble 2d10 feet down into a crystal filled pit. The fall causes 2d4 damage from the impact and scrapes. The crystals can be chiseled out and sold at a value of 50 gp per sackful, however, each attempt to harvest them runs the risk of slicing one’s self on their sharp edges.
4. A character disturbs an underground nest of giant stinging hornets. The swarm stings for 1d4 damage, but the venom contains a powerful intoxicant. If stung, the victim must save v poison, or strip naked and fall into a euphoric trance. The venom can be harvested (2d6 doses total) and sold for 20 gp per dose.
5. A grove of animated trees begins to circle the party and close in when they turn their backs. If they can get within 10’, they will lash out with their whipping roots and branches and attempt to stuff an adventurer into their long sideways maw. The tree's maw is filled with sticky sweet smelling sap that covers and coats anything it touches. The sap is highly flammable and burns hot and for a long time if ignited. Fire inflicts double damage to the trees, but also to anything else that is coated in the sap. Bird nests within the trees glisten with small coins, baubles, and pieces of valuable crystal gathered from the ruined city.
   
6. A large stag is seen staring down at a crevasse in the ground. It bounds away from any approaching characters, but keeps careful watch from a distance. A beautiful doe has fallen into the crack and is trapped at a depth of about 10 feet. If the PC’s manage to help the deer out, the two animals bound away. Any character who has helped the animal receives the effect of a “bless” spell for the rest of the day.
7. A distant melody upon the wind and a large bird-like shadow falls across the ground. The harpy swoops past like a winged shadow and drops a chunk of heavy masonry upon the party.
8. Something shuffles out of a nearby shadow. 1d4 mushroom zombies lurch toward the PCs, their bodies thick with rubbery orange fronds. Every time the zombies succeed on an an attack the pc must save v poison, or take an additional 1d4 damage from sudden fungal infection (and an additional 1d4 damage every day thereafter). If the pc dies from the infection, they rise as a fungi zombie in 1d4 rounds. Holy water & sunflower seeds from the Sun God's temple as well as fresh bloodberries can cure the infection.
9. A small party of 1d3 kobold are found overfilling several large sacks with bloodberries. They are cowards and will more likely flee than fight, but would give up information if threatened. These kobolds reappear in the forthcoming "Sacrifice for the Bearded God" adventure. (1.Nukk- blue scales, has a necklace of mouse skulls and shiny rocks, is eating a bag of blue mushrooms, 2. Fung- green scales, wears a decomposing possum tied to his head, Jibjib- rusty brown scales, carries a stick with a large dead bull frog nailed to it, which he licks from time to time).
10. The party passes through a sudden cold patch, and hears distant screams. They see a a group of people cowering, as a huge piece of masonry tumbles upon them. Upon inspection there are no people, only a cache of old crushed skeletons beneath the stones. One carries a key, that unlocks a chest of treasure somewhere in the ruined Noble District.

 Limnus Valley Sites

Smelting Complex

• A wide and fast moving stream stream cuts through this area. The remains of a sturdy stone bridge lies collapsed into the rushing waterway. 
• On the steep western bank- the stream flows past the ruins of a smelting complex. The shells of numerous large, roofless and crumbling stone structures are built against a rising hillside.
•  A great stone furnace some 25 feet wide and 40 feet tall dominates. Remnants of coal and slag deposits are scattered throughout. A 20 foot tall waterwheel lies broken and hanging in the stream within a shattered wooden housing. 
• Four hungry Rust Monsters make a nest within the furnace (1d4 eggs). They will dash aggressively toward any loud sounds in relentless search of metal to consume.
• One of the smaller buildings close to the chimney has a collapsed wall, and a large quantity of coal is spilling out onto the ground. The building itself is still filled with a massive quantity of high quality coal. 
•  Buried within the coal pile are 1d4 zombies. They attack anything disturbing the coal bin, dragging it it down beneath the coal. Each zombie carries a small treasure parcel the rust monsters haven’t been able to consume.
  

Miner’s Canyon

• The edge of this canyon drops 60 feet to the floor below where a scattering of boulders and thornbrush trees punctuate a flat, dried mud floor. On the western side an overgrown wagonway winds it’s way down to the ground. 
• Dozens of rotting gray wooden shacks are crowded near a dried creek bed near the southern wall. The roofs have mostly collapsed and many of the structures are barely standing.
• Giant insects nest here, in pits and tunnels beneath the shacks. Any curious adventurer has a chance of disturbing a horrible crawling, biting thing. [1. Giant Centipede, 2. Fire Beetle, 3. Cave Locust, 4. Rot Grubs] Within the nests, some of the miner's most cherished treasure can be found among the bones of the dead. [1. Tunnel stuffed with bones and 6d6 silver pieces, 2. A trapdoor with a chest containing an ancient dwarven helmet of exquisite craftsmanship, 3. A skeleton clutching a small jewelry box (gold ring set with an emerald, an inscription "to my beloved"), 4. A leather pouch containing 1d6 golden giant's teeth]
  
• On the north wall a rock scramble leads up to a series of cave openings at an elevation of about 40 feet. Any character approaching the northern canyon wall will hear the sound of a child's cry coming from the largest cave mouth. If the PC’s get closer the crying turns to pleading, "Can you hear me? Help me! I’m trapped in here!”
• The voice is fact an old Leucrotta who is hungry for humanoid flesh. He will lure characters up the cliffside and attempt to shove boulders down on them while they are climbing or kick them off the cliff once they’ve arrived at the top. In between attacks, he will retreat to the cave and mimic the voice again, begging to be set free from “the monster”. There is a cache of valuable treasure in the Leucrotta’s lair.
  

The Ruined City of Limnus: An Adventure Site

Here’s something I wrote a few years back--my take on a ‘ruined city’ adventure site. It was originally part of a larger Limnus Vale sandbox setting I was developing for D&D, but it can be easily stocked, modified, and dropped into almost any existing fantasy setting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lo! Death has reared himself a throne
In a strange city lying alone
Far down within the dim West,
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best
Have gone to their eternal rest.
There shrines and palaces and towers
(Time-eaten towers that tremble not!)
Resemble nothing that is ours.

-Edgar Allan Poe, The City in the Sea (1813)

Ruined Limnus

•  A century ago doom struck Limnus. On a silent, clear day and without warning, an earthquake shattered the vale. Mountain tops shook loose into rumbling cascades. Buildings collapsed into rubble, city blocks plunged into sinkholes and ground opened up like a fresh wound. The surviving townsfolk fled for their lives. Within days Limnus was abandoned, cold and broken upon its hilltop, nearly forgotten and left to the slow rot of time. 
• Limnus remains a haunted ruin. Rumors of flesh eating monsters and prowling beasts keep most folks away, but the lure of lost treasure draws the rare, bold adventurer.

City Gates

• The ruined town lies behind a crumbling stone wall. The wall is collapsed and scalable in several places but is easily accessed through two prominent gates--one to the north leads into the Noble District, and one to the south leading through Miners Village.
• Arched stone gateways are now rubble choked and tangled with weeds and thornbrush. Chipped and worn bas-relief adorn the arches. To the south the motifs are of men with hammers and picks loading carts with ore, to the north, motifs of urns, and dancing women in flowing dresses among flowers and ivy. The iron gates lie twisted and half-buried in the nearby weeds.
• Several pits and fissures throughout Limnus drop down 100 feet into an open chasm below. Rock shelves burst with glittering clusters of clear and rose crystals and massive rock columns spiral up its height. From the chasm floor, tunnels wind below town- and deep into the nearby foothills.
  

Miner’s Village

• Crumbling wooden husks of small single room cabins, empty and overgrown. The shell of a temple devoted to an unknown deity of craft. Within it, an old heroic stone statue standing upon a worn stone dais--in one hand a hammer, the other a chisel.
• The statue's hollow head is infested with a buzzing swarm of bees. Honey drips upon the stones from its broken jaw.
• The head is set upon a rotating base, and following the party's movement if nearby. At the center of the beehive is its operating mechanism--an amber colored gem that floats up into the air and hovers at about 5 feet (it obeys the command of anyone who holds it for more than 1 minute).

Structures

1. grouping of wooden shacks
2. Medium sized stone buildings
3. Series of gated stone walls enclosing an overgrown area
4. Collapsed sublevels
5. Statue set upon stone dias (1. Heroic Miner, 2. Obelisk, 3. Saint)
6. Large wooden buildings with several adjoining rooms

Arrangement

1. In a tidy row
2. In a crowded jumble
3. Single isolated structure
4. Built with grid-like regularity
5. Built at random angles to each other
6. Built in tiers upon itself

Architectural Details

1. Detailed with ornamental borders, of an open hand, a miners hammer chased within complex knotwork. Colored crystals of various sizes are inset into the pattern.
2. Structure is perfectly symmetrical, made of smooth, uniform components- and shows little aging or weather damage.
3. Structure is collapsed perfectly sideways, and is standing at a precarious slant. Any disturbance will send it tumbling down.
4. Made of slapdash materials. Whole structure is improbably hobbled together with disparate parts, and salvaged components.
5. Structure is disintegrating with age & weather. Disturbing it will cause the whole thing to collapse in a plume of dust and rubble.
6. Structure is torn in half across an open rent in the ground. The middle portion of the structure has fallen into the crack, to a depth of 15 feet.

Flora Textures

1. Overgrown with knee high grass
2. Rampant wildflower blossoms
3. Trees growing around and through
4. Thick layer of fungal growth
5. Choking thornbrush (thorns deal 1 damage)
6. Dense tangle of bloodberry bushes. Berries sagging and dripping red juice from the branches. Chattering red birds gorge themselves upon the fruit.
7. Silver-blue Ivy covering and crawling upon every surface, creating a tunnel like appearance.m
8. Thick spongy luminous green moss covers the ground. If it is walked upon, a PC will sink to a depth of a foot.
9. A blighted area. The bones of small animals are half buried in rusty brown soil and no plants grow here.
10. Voluminous ferns, the size of a grown man grow here. They seem to sway and billow slowly, although there is no breeze.

Noble District

• Collapsed walls and gutted ruins of noble manor houses, crumbling temples & overgrown gardens. Mixed in among the debris and unstable foundations are any number of ruined objects associated with a life of upper class luxury, as well as the bones of the old dead. 
• Mutilated deer corpses are found at the gates into this district. A mated pair of Displacer Beasts hunt here throughout the ruins of burned and collapsed town houses. They slowly and carefully hunt any PC’s who venture into this area.

Structures

1. Manor House
2. Villa with central courtyard
3. Shrine to a god of wealth and luxury
4. Public Fountain with a water filled basin
5. Gated Garden, with rampant overgrown foliage
6. Large multi-story apartment building
7. A walled park with a gazebo, benches & statuary
8. Bath House
9. Lavishly ornamented greenhouse
10. Public building

Arrangement

1. Singularly placed, takes up its own city block or area
2. Shares a block with another type of structure (reroll)
3. Built in a grouping (1d6) of almost identical structures (Layout: 1. Grid, 2. Row, 3. Circle, 4. Jumbled Cluster)
4. Part of a grouping of several varied structures. Roll 1d6 for number and roll or choose from Structures table. (Layout: 1. Grid, 2. Row, 3. Circle, 4. Jumbled Cluster)
5. Architectural Materials (roll once or more)
6. Veined Marble block
7. Polished stone with infused colored crystals
8. Deep red oak
9. Wrought iron
10. Stained glass
11. Copper as ornament or structural material
12. Gold or silver ornamental motifs

Architectural Details

1. Free standing sculpture (1. Seductive nude woman riding a unicorn that is trampling a serpent, 2. The three muses (nude) dancing upon the bones of the dead, 3. Saint of a solar pantheon holding a phallic looking gold tipped spear, 4. Wyvern devouring a human body, 5. Nude men wrestling, 6. A laughing child with a golden halo, arms outstretched)
2. Porch with fluted columns
3. Tall steeples & spires jutting from roof
4. Numerous peaked cupolas
5. Single large dome
6. Large rose window
7. Massive skylights
8. Covered in gargoyles
9. Attached wing made of glass.
10. Pointed arches and heavy buttresses
11. Numerous unusually large chimneys
12. Bas relief ornamentation- (1.Filigree/ Knotwork, 2. Beasts attacking and devouring each other 3. Botanical motifs, 4. Salacious nude women embracing)

Merchant District 

• Tall hollowed buildings, wide streets, large open square at center. 
• 20 foot tall thornbrush hedges sagging under the weight of bloodberry clusters.
• Flocks of hundreds of bright red birds are loudly chattering and feasting upon the berries in swarms. Red juice dripping and pooling onto the ground.
•  Cracks in ground here. Several buildings have collapsed into sinkholes.

Residential District

• Closely spaced insulas and tenements. 
• Narrow fissures in the ground here drop 75 feet to a massive cavern below. 
• Dimly glowing fungus illuminate a natural chamber of valuable crystals and natural columns. A roper dwells there.
  

Basilica of the Sun God

• A large white stone temple bearing a crumbling gold flecked dome. Broken marble steps leads to its arched doorway. 
• Within, a crop of 7' sunflowers grow out of the broken stone tile. Morning-glory vines festooned with white trumpet blossoms wind around fluted columns. Iridescent hummingbirds and bees buzz about loudly. 
• At the far end of the temple, a large arched alcove emblazoned with solar symbols. Standing upon a dais is a 12' golden statue of a man with sparkling blue gems for eyes. He holds a laughing golden baby above him, its small arms outstretched in delight. The vines wind up his base, and wrap around his head like a crown.
• The seed of a sunflower  acts as a Potion of Healing if eaten; this property is lost if it is taken outside the temple grounds. A basin of clear water is also in an alcove, drinking from it grants the Sun God’s blessing once per day (reroll an attack, save or skill check within 24 hours).
  

 

Graveyard

• A perpetual mist and clinging gloom covers Limnus’ cemetery, even by day. Crows nest here by the hundreds, as well as vultures. Animals who dwell here are gaunt and sickly. The grass is yellow and brittle, the trees ominous and macabre. By night it becomes deadly. 
• The graveyard itself is a sprawling hill, choked with gaunt twisting trees, high weeds and thistles. Broken stones and statues lie everywhere, as well as rents and upheaves of the very ground. Ghouls emerge from their mausoleum nests after the sun sets, stalking the district in hungry packs.
  

Adytum of the Skull

• Mausoleum within the graveyard, high arched walls choked with weeds inside and out. Buried beneath the broken stone floor is a wide flat stone plug that opens to a deep, damp hole. Stone steps wind down to a small square room 12 feet below. 
• In the stone chamber below, a 6' tall  skull is carved in deep relief upon the eastern wall. Its jaws are set tight together--inspection reveals a seam running between its rows of teeth. 
• An inscription is carved in the stone above: “Shortly you will come to me, irrespective of rank or station. I take pity on none, and my embrace is for all and everlasting.” 
• If blood is smeared anywhere upon the skull, its jaws will grind open revealing a passage to the secret chapel of death within.

Lord’s Hill

• A high plateau rises above town to the east. Earthen ramps lead up to a curtain wall and a high gateway leading to the courtyard beyond. 
•  The gateway is unbarred, the gate is raised above and frozen with rust. Strange fetishes and ritual objects dangle from twine and thin braids woven from human hair tied to the bars. Pouches full of finger bones, animal skulls, bundles of feathers, clacking leg bones, etc dangle and twist in the breeze.

Fungus Bailey

• Beyond the gate lies the inner bailey. The ground is covered by a carpet of luminous scallop shaped rubbery orange fungus, punctuated by small patches of yellow and iridescent blue spotted mushrooms. 
• Mounds of indistinct human and animal shapes overcome with orange fungus are visible. Several trees and outbuildings are also overcome with orange growth. 
• The yellow and blue mushrooms are benign, and represent a much smaller proportion of the fungal infestation. 
• The bailey can be navigated by carefully hopping between blue and yellow patches, although this will require a dexterity based skill test. 
•  The orange mushrooms dominate, and represent a very poisonous threat. The spores rub off on contact, and bloom within an hour. If they contact flesh, a Saving Throw vs Poison must be made. If failed the character takes 1d6 poison damage per day as the fungus begins to spread. This damage cannot be healed naturally, the fungus must be burned out first or cured with magic.

Harpy's Tower

• Beyond an inner gateway lies Limuns’ ruined keep and mostly intact tower. A 10 foot deep wide moat filled with putrid mud (15 feet deep) surrounds the stone hull. An old wooden drawbridge is tenuously held in place on the far side by old rusty chains. Rising above the squat keep, soars a 100 foot tall round tower. 
• A harpy makes her nest in the tower. If she spies any characters within range, she will use her song to lure them into the muddy moat. Once dead, the harpy will fish them out later and raid them of valuables and eat their flesh. To avoid sinking in the mud, a character must make a Save vs. Paralysis. Failure means sinking 5 feet (to a maximum of 15 feet) and suffocation (1d4 damage/ round).
• The Harpy’s nest is at the top of the tower. It resembles an oversized bird’s nest woven with vines, branches, bones and compacted mud. 
• A large gold framed mirror is prominent. Polished skulls are set in a semi-circle along the edge of the nest for decoration. Fetishes dangle from strings, and small twig and feather sculptures are displayed in hollowed niches. All manner of treasure, and baubles looted from the town are stashed there in hollows, boxes and sacks. 
  
  
  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boons: Modular Options for OSR Games

 

 

 Art by David S. LaForce

I’ve been circling around the question of ‘character options’ for OSR style games for a little while now. My players seem to appreciate small custom perks, beyond what the B/X bare bones class progression provides. Up to now, we’ve been using a very loose system of ‘character knacks’-- every few levels, the players come up with a niche skill that grants a small bonus to an ability check within its purview. It’s gone fairly well. Knacks make leveling up a little more dynamic, but I’ve found their use within the scope of play is somewhat limited (it's maybe once every three or four sessions that a knack seems to be useful). Now that I'm planning a new game, I wanted to design a system of modular character options that were a little more structured, a little more powerful. Something closer to what we might normally think of as ‘feats’ from later editions, but working within the scope of B/X mechanics. After a few days of tinkering, I’ve come up with the beginning of a feat-like system for B/X and OSR retroclones. I call them Boons. It’s a skeleton of a system and will definitely see some expansion and tailoring, but here’s the start of something.

BOON SYSTEM

Progression: Characters begin with 1 Boon at 1st level. This Boon can be selected from the appropriate class category, or the 'Adventurer Boons' list, which is available to all characters. Every 3rd level (3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, etc.) a character can take a new Boon.

Mastering Boons: Many Boons can be taken twice and therefore ‘mastered’. Mastered boons often grant a further increase of benefit through additional advantage dice, or an increased numeric bonus. 

Advantage Die: A Boon will often call for an ‘advantage die’ to be rolled, within the scope of its effect. In this case, add an additional die of whatever die type is being called for by the general rule. Roll the total dice, discard the lowest showing die in the group, and keep the remaining highest dice. If two ‘advantage dice’ are being called for, discard the two lowest facing dice and keep the remaining highest dice. [Note: in the case of tests where “lower is better”, this logic is reversed.]

Types of Boons

• Adventurer Boons (available to any class)
• Arcane Boons (Magic Users & Elves)
• Divine Boons (Clerics)
• Fighting Boons (Fighters, Dwarves, Elves & Halflings)
• Roguish Boons (Thief)

Adventuring Boons

• Reactive- Add an advantage die to Initiative & Surprise tests.
• Observant- Add an advantage die to all Detect, Search & Listen checks.
• Ability Score Increase- Add 1 point to an ability score of your choice.
• Fleet Footed- Add +10’ to encounter movement rate. Move up to your full distance with a Fighting Withdrawl.
• Tumbling Fall- Ignore the first 20’ of falling damage. Reduce subsequent falling damage by 50%.
• Rapid Healing- Double amount of natural healing through rest.
• Inspiring Leader- Gain an advantage die to Retainer Reaction rolls & Loyalty checks.

Arcane Boons

• Arcane Memory- Memorize 1 extra spell of highest known spell level or lower.
• Arcane Spell Recall- A spell you just cast isn’t lost from memory; 1/ day. [Mastery-use ability  2/ day]
• Enlarge Spell- Extend area of spell’s effect by 50%
• Prolong Spell- Extend duration of a spell by 50%
• Extend Spell- Extend range of spell by 50%
• Empower Spell- Damaging spells gain an advantage die. [Mastery-gain 2 advantage dice]
• Cantrip- You can cast one 1st level non-combat spell once per encounter. This spell must be in your spellbook, but it doesn’t need to be memorized and is cast automatically without components.
• Reverse Caster- When you memorize a reversible spell, you automatically memorize its reverse as an additional spell. This spell doesn't count against your spell memorization limit.
  

Divine Boons

• Divine Favor- Memorize 1 extra spell of highest known spell level or lower.
• Powerful Turning- 1 advantage die to turning attempts [Mastery- 2 advantage dice]
• Extra Turning- Turn twice per encounter
• Versatile Healer- Convert any memorized spells to healing spell of same level or lower.
• Powerful Healer- Roll one advantage die for any healing spell. [Mastery- 2 advantage dice]
• Divine Spell Recall- A spell you just cast isn’t lost from memory; 1/ day. [Mastery- 2/ day]
• Enlarge Spell- Extend area of spell’s effect by 50%
• Prolong Spell- Extend duration of a spell by 50%
• Extend Spell- Extend range of spell by 50%
• Empower Spell- Damaging spells gain an advantage die. [Mastery-2 advantage dice]

Fighting Boons

• Weapon Proficiency- Choose a single weapon type. Gain +1 attack/ +1 damage when wielding it. [Mastery- Gain +2 attack/ +2 damage with same weapon]
• Rapid Attack- Increase attack rate of a single weapon you have mastered. Must have achieved mastery in the ‘Weapon Proficiency’ boon to take this. Rate of attack increases to 3:2 rounds. [Mastery- Rate of attack increases to 2:1 round]
• Great Weapon Warrior- No initiative penalty applies when wielding two handed weapons.
• Long Shot- Range of missile weapons increase by 50%
• Charger- Gain a +2 attack bonus and a +2 damage bonus when charging 20’ or more into melee.
• Two Weapon Fighter- Fight with a small weapon in off hand & make a single extra attack. No damage modifier applies to secondary attack. [Mastery- Fight with a medium sized weapon in each hand]
• Brawler- Fists and feet deal d4 damage. [Mastery- Deal d6 damage]
• Minion Slayer- If you kill a creature of 1 HD or less, make another immediate attack against another 1 HD creature within melee range. [Mastery- 2nd level creatures or less]
• Guardian- Forgo a combat action and take a defensive stance. You or an adjacent ally gains a +3 to AC until your next combat turn.

Roguish Boons

• Improved Backstab- Gain a x 3 damage multiplier to backstab. [Mastery- x 4 damage multiplier]
• Stealthy Move- Move at half movement rate as part of a ‘Hide in Shadows’ action. [Mastery- Move stealthily at full movement rate]
• Spider Climber- Use ‘Climb Surfaces’ ability as part of a movement action. Climb at normal movement rate.
• Thief Skill Expertise- Choose one of the standard Thief Skills (climb surfaces, find/ remove traps, hear noise, hide in shadows, move silently, open locks, pick pockets). When a percentile test is rolled, the result can be ‘flipped’ for a better result. (83 becomes 38 and so on). Must be taken for each individual skill.

20 Megacorp Occult Black Projects for Weird Cyberpunk Games

                             Photo by Drew Graham

Strange and secret things are slithering forth from the shadows of the sprawl! Here's 20 megacorp occult black projects to inspire esoteric stories and cyber-runs. For use with CHROMATIC SHADOWS (my in progress rpg) and other weird cyberpunk games.

1. Teleportation tech connects to a hidden excavation site (arctic/ jungle/ the moon). Architecture & relics are being removed & transported to a facility deep beneath the Sprawl.
2. Sigil magic and hypertech has opened a portal to a metadimension. A corporate team has established an outpost within.
3. A volunteer group of  'gifted individuals' are subject to experimental neuro-drift. Their collective mind-network is being utilized to manipulate alien artifacts.
4. Biotech chimera experiments. Human, animal and “non-terran” DNA are being combined in secret grow labs to produce terrifying hybrids.
5. Subjects are being dosed with powerful psychedelics while hooked into sense capture technology. The resultant data is concentrated and fed through algorithms to create Matrix based VR constructs. An alien agency is using them to tunnel into our reality.
6. Dangerous extra dimensional spirits are being captured by glyph tech and used as an energy source to power alien machines.
7. Corps are creating “soul tech”--deeply invasive neurotech, where a subject’s consciousness is copied and uploaded into an artificial body or a computer. The meat bodies are left on life support. Various experiments to reinsert a consciousness into a different body are well underway.
8. Neurochips are being developed that allow for a person to be “hijacked” by a distant operator and subject to total involuntary remote control.
9. Biohybrid nano swarms are being reverse engineered from alien tech. Only certain empaths have the ability to control them. But these controllers are slowly being corrupted by the psychic connection.
10. A mysterious and addictive AR video game has become the rage among a small subculture. The few that have beaten it are struck with delusions that aspects of the game are coming true. These people are being studied and treated in a special ward that is secretly funded by the makers of the game.
11. Off world embryos are being grown in a hidden facility. Under the cover of an illicit fertility clinic they are being placed into hosts for symbiotic gestation.
12. A ritually prepared research facility possesses powerful space distortion properties. A tiny storage block opens into a vast sprawling complex hundreds of times bigger than the outside area containing it.
13. Advanced mnemotech hooked up to specially conditioned subjects can project and replay every lived memory into an AR feed. Those memories can be edited and erased by an operator, causing permanent harm to the subject. However, erasing those memories actually changes the timeline. History is being cut out of existence.
14. A singularity has been created in a lab. It is growing bigger by the day, and will soon break through it’s containment field. If left unchecked it will expand indefinitely, sucking all nearby reality into itself.
15. A strange device receives transmissions from the future. A team is enacting targeted acts of terrorism in order to leverage their company’s future ascendency.
16. Experimental ‘rigger gear’ allows consciousness to be projected fractally into a swarm of “micro-drones”. In totality, the users consciousness is a unity, but separate it is diffused, reduced, yet ultimately connected.
17. Secret gentech experiments have resulted in a large population of animal subjects gaining human consciousness. Many are held in captivity, others are being employed as agents. Still others have escaped into the Sprawl seeking refuge and revenge.
18. Occult experiments & hypertech used in resurrection rituals. The dead are crawling out of graves in prime health, with no memory of time having passed. They seem to be drawn together for some uncanny ritual purpose.
19. Corps have discovered a genetic “fountain of youth” treatment. Aging execs in cryostasis are being awakened and reverse aged into their younger selves. A steady supply of “volunteers” are needed to sustain the program. These subjects are being systematically drained of their life force. Others less fortunate lie withered in vats awaiting further extraction.
20. A vast interconnected electric glyph is being created beneath a Sprawl neighborhood under the cover of a public infrastructure project. Once activated it will affect the whole neighborhood, causing a radical shift of consciousness.

MONSTER REACTION SUBTABLE FOR OLD SCHOOL D&D

I'm crazy about Random Encounters in D&D, but fitting them into the fiction, and making logical sense of them can often be a challenge. Not surprisingly, one of favorite mechanics is handily the Monster Reaction Table. Even with it's broad strokes, I'm usually able to suss out interesting motivations, and find a little more context for a randomly generated wandering monster. It occurred to me that, taken one step further, the Reaction Table could do a little more heavy lifting. The Reaction Subtable below gives d6 prompts for each of the five results of the standard B/X Reaction table. Roll or choose a result that makes sense. The subtable zooms in on the situation more closely, and provides more detailed context and motivation for the broader reaction outcome.

Reaction Subtable

Hostile/ attacks

1. Violent rampage (rabid, sick, poisoned, etc.)

2. Desperately hungry, needs to feed

3. Reaving/ robbing

4. Seeking revenge/ hates PCs on sight

5. PCs inadvertently harm creature, provoking defense

6. Calculated sadism

Unfriendly/ May Attack

1. Defending territory/ possessions/ young

2. Taken by surprise/ spooked/ startled by PCs

3. Surprised while eating prey

4. Defending a wounded ally

5. Confused/ agitated/ intoxicated

6. Creature is attacking another being, PCs get in the way somehow

Neutral/ Uncertain

1. Wants to rob/ con/ defraud PC, looking for a good angle

2. Injured/ aftermath of an attack/ trapped or compromised somehow

3. Obstructed from source of food/ shelter/ treasure

4. Desperate circumstance: monster hungry/ destitute/ deprived by some other agency

5. Creature is caught committing violence or crime

6. Carrying something valuable, worried the PCs might take it

Indifferent/ Uninterested

1. Frolicking/ playing

2. Intimate/ mating/ romantic interlude

3. Getting intoxicated

4. Working, performing some necessary task

5. Absorbed in food preparation/ eating

6. Performing some creative activity: prayer/ meditation/ art/ music/ dance/ writing

Friendly/ Helpful

1. Invites PCs to eat with them

2. Romantically attracted to PC

3. Invites PC to participate in creative activity (see above)

4. Wishes to give PCs a gift

5. Wishes to perform a favor or boon (return an owed favor, as a kindness, in return for something)

6. Seeks the PCs protection/ wishes to join the group, will compensate/ return favor somehow

20 Character Hooks for Weird Cyberpunk Games

Here's 20 character hooks written for Chromatic Shadows, but good to grease the gears of any weird cyberpunk game! Photo by G. Bourdages

1. You were once badly electrocuted, now your mere presence affects technology in random and unexpected ways. Electronic devices glitch out. Mechanical devices jam up without warning. Sometimes too, the tech works better than it's supposed to.
2. Throughout your interaction in the Sprawl, in and out of AR, recurring patterns, numbers & symbols seem to follow you far too often to be coincidence. Is there some hidden meaning or intelligence behind it?
3. When you go out in public, often you’ll see strange dark figures watching from the periphery. You’ve never been able to catch them. Others don’t remember seeing them.
4. A mysterious implant beneath your skin evades removal. Surgeons can’t take it out. Sometimes it moves from place to place.
5. You hear cybernetic whispers in AR, flickers, and overlays of things and places that shouldn’t be there. Sometimes these whispers speak your name.
6. You see strange objects in the sky. Fast moving orbs, and unexplained lights. But only when you are alone.
7. You have had repeated close encounters with an unknown entity in the Matrix. It tells you secret things for a price.
8. Your digital identity is unstable. Your social media profile and personal cloud records seem to delete and scramble randomly. Often your digital identity is confused for someone else.
9. You have begun receiving random parcels belonging to someone else. That person seemingly doesn’t exist. The packages contain components to a strange machine that you have begun assembling piece by piece.
10. You survived a trauma and had a Near Death Experience. Ever since, you've been having waking nightmares about terrible monsters.
11. The DNI on a new piece of new cyberware randomly receives “signals” from an unknown source. Highly unusual transmissions are being picked up randomly.
12. You randomly lose time and wake up in different places in the Sprawl. You have no memory of getting there, and your AR feeds are static.
13. When you’re not looking, objects inexplicably move around you. Cabinets are rearranged. Doors that should be locked are found open. The holovid turns on by itself. Personal belongings go missing.
14. Random drones seem to follow you throughout the Sprawl. Wherever you go, you always see one hovering not too far off. You’ve been having vivid dreams of flying.
15. Your body temperature is running much hotter than what is medically normal. You haven’t eaten or slept for days. You feel healthier than you’ve ever felt in your life.
16. You know of a secret doorway in the Matrix that leads to a private virtual world. The door only appears when you perform increasingly bizarre rituals and sacrifices in meatspace.
17. You have discovered the existence of someone who looks exactly like you in every discernible way. You are certain that you’ve never had a twin.
18. You’ve got a black-market cyberarm. Sometimes you wake up and you’ve found you’ve used it to make complex drawings in your sleep. You’ve never sketched before in your life.
19. You found a random stash of drugs and now you're hooked. This stuff makes you stronger, smarter, and sexier than you ever imagined. But your supply is running low and now you’ll do anything to get more.
20. You woke up with strange tattoos you don’t remember getting--occult symbols etched in weird metallic ink. Sometimes when you pass through certain parts of the Sprawl, they tingle and prick like pins and needles beneath your flesh.

10 Character Backgrounds for Weird Cyberpunk Games

A glimpse of things to come! 10 character backgrounds for CHROMATIC SHADOWS, my in-progress weird cyberpunk RPG. (Photo by Drew Graham)

Urban Farmer

You’ve got a talent for growing things in the green places between the concrete and chrome. You’ve grown food on tenement rooftops, rigged auto-hydroponics in forgotten warehouses, and carved gardens out of abandoned lots. You’ve still got your little green patches tucked away here and there in the Sprawl. Any number of things could be ready for harvest at a moment’s notice.

• Skills- Survival, Mechanics

 

Scrapper

You’ve made a living by your skill at finding the most useful pieces of junk and crafting them together into something magnificent. Maybe you make fighting robots out of torn up forklifts and servo motors, or armored street-bikes from parts scavenged from nighttime junkyard raids. Your work is one of a kind, and you’ve built a loyal clientele that seeks you out to buy your latest creation.

• Skills- Mechanics, Perception

 

Street Chemist

You’re job was selling illegal chemicals to black market clients. Street drugs, toxic gas, hormonal cocktails--you’ve cooked it all in your back street lab. You have a good understanding of chemistry, lab protocols, and where to score questionable raw materials. You’ve still got enough equipment to stashed away to brew up a quick batch of amphetamines, HGH, or e coli.

• Skills- Science, Streetwise

Corporate Dirt Boy

You were an errand boy for the corporate masters, the scum at the bottom of the shark tank. When you weren’t fetching coffee, you were out scoring designer drugs,and high-end hookers for the next corporate party you weren’t invited to. The job was abusive and soul crushing, but they under estimated you. You’ve got a mental archive of inside dirt and plan on putting it to good use.

• Skills- Intimidate, Etiquette

 

Courier

In the age of instant data transmission there are still some messages that requires personal delivery. You were a courier, a highly trained information delivery agent skilled in navigating the urban maze. You’re trained in light modes of transportation that bypass busy streets, and urban obstacles. Boosted skateboards, hover-scooters, and light-blades are among the most popular. Whether your message was a letter, a data drive, or an intracranial memory chip, you guaranteed a fast and secure delivery.

• Skills- Athletics, Streetwise

 

Chop Shop Doc

Years of medical training and field work landed you in a back alley chop shop. You made a living peddling used cyberware and plucking the bullets out of hit men. Your practices may have been unethical but you were an essential service to the underground. When a runner or a gangster needed life saving surgery or just a quick limb replacement you were where they turned to first.

• Skills- Biotech, Knowledge

 

Media Influencer

Video pundit, simstim performer, social media celebrity– you’ve clawed out a career in the AR media hellsccape. You’re comfortable broadcasting your image, voice, and opinion across the matrix straight into the cortex of your fans. You’ve got a cult following on  the most cutthroat social media platforms, and have the inside track on the industry.

Skills- Perform, Etiquette

 

Rent A Cop

You were a roided up rent-a-cop who worked for a private firm. You might have busted up riots, patrolled a corporate facility or worked as a  bodyguard for a high-profile politician or exec. You have a solid understanding of brute force tactics, electronic surveillance systems, and security protocols.

Skills- Melee, Security

 

 

Failed Academic

You’re an ivory tower reject, who never get past the  elitist gatekeepers. You paid your dues teaching, researching, and writing but the university boards and publishers shut out your ideas and  shut down your career.  You still get your theories out through media back channels, and have made valuable contacts in underground intellectual circles.

Skills- Knowledge, Manipulation

 

Street Hustler

When it came to the cred-hustle, to the street game, you knew the score.  You got deep running cons,  and commiting fraud.  Maybe you landed with a hypergang, or a criminal cartel. Drug dealing, stim smuggling, theft, extortion—just a few of your many talents. It was a dangerous game. But you got out in one piece and left that life behind. Didn’t you?

Skills– Streetwise, Deception

20 Plot Seeds for Weird Cyberpunk Games

Things are getting weird in the Sprawl. Here are 20 "weird cyberpunk" plot seeds written for Chromatic Shadows, my in-progress cyberpunk game.

(Photo by  Josh Sortino)

1. A remote warehouse is being fitted with massive saline tanks. Under the cover of night, mysterious sea creatures are being transported via truck, along with loads of bizarre electronics.
2. A series of massive prisms appear randomly in the matrix and broadcast a cycle of musical tones before vanishing. Hackers that have heard these notes become obsessed with them suffering psychotic breaks.
3. A South American ziggurat has been excavated and reconstructed atop a corporate spire. Strange lights have been seen at night hovering close above.
4. A crime syndicate is dealing a drug that causes spontaneous psychic phenomenon. A whole neighborhood is dealing with intensifying paranormal activity.
5. Enormous matte black skyscrapers are rising up from vacant lots in deep parts of the Barrens & Slags. Doors open up, and mysterious figures have been seen entering and exiting before the buildings sink back down into the ground and are gone.
6. People have gone missing, along with their whole digital history, social media, official documentation. Friends and family have forgotten who they are, except for a few. Those that remember are afraid that something is hunting them.
7. SimSense company has delved into dream recording. Widespread dream profiles have been captured and run through an algorithm--recurring patterns have been detected, images of specific locations, people and events. The patterns are accelerating at an alarming rate.
8. An alien artifact has fallen into the hands of a growing neotribal cult. Hundreds of worshipers are flocking to it, believing it to be of divine origin.
9. An arcology has sealed itself off from the outside world. They've declared themselves the church of a new "prophet in their midst" who claims to be in direct communion with an angel.
10. Rogue teams of suicide hackers have entered into drift symbiosis, projecting themselves as a “super avatar” in the matrix. They have been able to hack the most secure hosts, but are individually going insane as a result.
11. A telecom company is secretly loading stolen Egyptian and Sumerian artifacts into satellites and launching them into orbit.
12. An automated computer production facility has begun to spontaneously mass produce Goetic warding glyphs drawn onto circuit boards with silicon, solder and RAM.
13. A number of cryostasis pods from the Lunar mission disaster is discovered in an abandoned orbital habitat- several surviving team members are believed to be asleep inside, and contaminated with an alien virus. They need to be recovered.
14. An experimental energy company has trapped an unknown spiritual entity with lasers and runes. They are forcing it to open a portal to another dimension.
15. A black monolith has appeared in the matrix where the infamous Longfang CortX research host used to be. It is growing in size. Every hacker who has gotten too close is violently dumped from the matrix, and suffers debilitating neuroshock.
16. A cloning lab has gone silent. The scientists are missing and the surviving animals exhibit unusual intelligence.
17. A neurotech company is testing a new experimental “memory backup” system on a control group. Several participants are receiving memories of other lives and flashes of things that have not yet happened.
18. Drones have gone missing. In the middle of the night hundreds of drones spontaneously activate and fly off to an abandoned site deep within the Slags.
19. “Matrix suicide cults” are popping up. Groups of people networked with black market drift-tech are found jacked in and brain dead. Strange symbols are painted and scratched into their gear.
20. A“black box” energy cell is revealed to be running on nothing but a quivering mass of hair, animal teeth, and slime.

Weird Cyberpunk Designer Drug Generator

Here's a random generator for weird cyberpunk designer drugs. Getting wasted in the Sprawl was never easier.

 

• Roll Name 1 & Name 2
• Roll a Delivery system
• Roll Primary Effect
• Roll Secondary Effect
• Roll Side Effect

Name 1

1. Purple
2. Nano
3. Ruby
4. Acid
5. Carbon
6. Chrome
7. Gravity
8. Neon
9. Rainbow
10. Silk
11. Space
12. Star
13. Hypno
14. Astro
15. Hyper
16. Necro
17. Hex
18. Neo
19. Synth
20. Necro

Name 2

1. Crush
2. Halo
3. Crash
4. Cloud
5. Cat
6. Rose
7. Worm
8. Tongue
9. Wave
10. Snake
11. Cram
12. Dot
13. Snow
14. Wire
15. Snatch
16. Crystal
17. Ghost
18. Flake
19. Glitter
20. Probe

Delivery System

1. Liquid vial
2. Syrup squeeze
3. Oil
4. Powder
5. Gel cap
6. Pill
7. Gelatin strip
8. Dermal patch
9. Glowing plant matter
10. Vaping device
11. Needle
12. Cigarette
13. Eyedrop
14. Seed pod
15. Inhaler
16. Flowers
17. Mushrooms
18. Tea
19. Suppository
20. Dermal spray

 Primary Effect

1. Euphoric
2. Stimulant
3. Psychedelic
4. Depressant
5. Mental acuity
6. Neo-steroid
7. Tranquilizer
8. Intoxicant
9. Opioid
10. Confidence enhancement
11. Out of body experience
12. Telepathy
13. Waking dreams
14. Heightened empathy
15. Heightened creativity
16. Multiple personality
17. Combat enhancer
18. Synesthesia
19. Enhanced hearing
20. See in the dark

Secondary Effect

1. Paralyzing
2. Passive
3. Asexual
4. Disassociative
5. Euphoric
6. Manic laughter
7. Time distortion
8. Trance inducing
9. Affectionate
10. Antisocial
11. Dysmorphia
12. Loquacious
13. Disorientation
14. Animal growls
15. Seizures
16. Blurts obscenities
17. Strips naked
18. Babbles prophetically
19. Dances wildly
20. Painful sexual arousal

 Side Effects

1. Flatulence
2. Acne
3. Oddly colored rash
4. Eye dilation
5. Discolored teeth
6. Bloody nose
7. Hair falls out
8. Hair growth
9. Body chemical smell
10. Migraine
11. Temporary blindness
12. Phantom sense
13. Constipation
14. Loose bowels
15. Voracious appetite
16. Horny
17. Loss of motor functions
18. Breast growth
19. Squeaky voice
20. Incontinence

Whistlemaker's Curse

This is a tiny adventure set in Sigil. I can see it as a fun side mission, or an introductory scenario for games set in Sigil/ Planescape.

• PCs are hired by a desperate instrument maker named Vancel to find the antidote for an affliction that is consuming him. He has very little time and is desperate for help. He will pay any price including giving his whole business to the PCs.

• He explains his predicament. Weeks ago, a wizard by the name of Alume came to Vancel’s shop suddenly and demanded him to make a series of 7 masterwork bone whistles immediately. Vancel said that he had a backlog of work and the wizard will have to wait the usual time for such a request. Alume then presented a bottle of Arcadian Goldberry Wine, and says “maybe this will improve my chances”. Vancel says “absolutely not” and takes the wine anyway. He quaffed the whole bottle that night. It was delicious.

• Alume had planted a kernal of powerful intestinal fungus within the bottle. The next day, he returned and explained the situation. The fungus would grow and eventually kill him unless he complied. Alume said Vancel had one week to make the whistles and then he will provide the antidote. Vancel was terrified, and made the whistles as requested, but 3 weeks have passed, and the wizard has not come.

• The curse, however, has bloomed in Vancel’s guts. He keeps himself alive by playing violin to it all day long- the only thing that slows its growth. His tongue is bright blue, as well as his fingernails. He’s desperate to find the wizard and get the antidote. Doesn’t have the strength to keep playing. Vancel’s assistant, a boy named Welby takes turns playing when Vancel must rest.

• Vancel gives the PCs the whistles and tells them to hurry and find Alume. He remembers the man smelling like strong and overpowering curry that made his eyes water. The smell didn’t leave the store for hours after.

• The merchant square at the edge of the district has many exotic food tents. One of which boasts the strongest curry in Sigil. The chef remembers an eccentric old man who would buy a large box of their strongest cardamom goat several times a day. “He was my best customer! Bought enough food to feed a family. Stopped coming about a week ago.”

• Not far from there, Alume has been secretly breaking into the basement of a merchant family's town house. There is a portal within the fireplace there. Alum has written GABADAFACE in chalk upon the mantle. Unfortunately the family discovered his intrusions, and he ruthlessly killed them all in their sleep.

• Within the basement, Alume has set up a workshop of sorts, where he has a journal and some of his personal equipment. The journal speaks of “finding the portal to Arborea, near the river Hylax where the ghost lotus grows- the only known cure to my advancing condition. I must work fast and ruthlessly if I am to survive. The Blue Gigantia consumes me by the hour. Ingesting copious amounts of spice seems to have a beneficial effect.” His spell book is there as well as a few simple items.

• The wizard has become a Fungal Walker, and the dead family are 3 Fungus Zombies. In the basement, Alume's chair is thick with waxy blue fronds. Threads of mycelium stretch to the ceiling, where a man shaped patch of rubbery fungus grows thickly. It will drop to the floor and animate in a vague humanoid shape if disturbed. It possesses dim intelligence and flashing memories of its former self. 

• Threads of blue fungus spread up the stairs leading to the 2nd floor bedrooms, and down the steps leading to the basement. The ground floor is mostly clear of fungi. The family is lying in their beds encased in a web of blue threads and rampant caps. If touched, they sit up and attack. Disturbing or otherwise physically striking the Fungal Walker or the Fungus Zombies releases a cloud of spores in a 5' area. Breathing the spores or taking damage from the walkers exposes the PCs to possible infection.

• If the whistles are played in the melodic sequence inscribed above the fireplace (GABADAFACE ), the portal key is triggered, and a glowing portal opens. The portal leads to Arborea and into a small cave opening midway up the height of a 200 foot waterfall. Cliffs rise up on all sides. A narrow stone path leads down. The falls plunges into a clear basin of fresh water. Growing out in its center are large white flowers. Approaching within 30’ of the Ghost Lotus, triggers its defensive ability to cast “minor illusion” at will. If the flower is plucked, the illusions vanish. If the flower is eaten, the fungal condition is instantly cured, but the blue staining persists for another 1d6 weeks.

ASE Sketches: Protoceratops Pit Fights & Catfish Cults

Some location/ encounter sketches for Anomalous Subsurface Environment/ Land of 1000 Towers.

Protoceratops Pit Fights
The lazy sorghum farmers of Chelmfordshire have all but abandoned agriculture in favor of protoceratops pit fights. The biggest barn in town has been outfitted with balconies overlooking a dirt pit, hemmed in with thick caging. Gauchos from the Certopsian Plains bring in their most aggressive bull protos to fight against various popular teams of hillbilly shire wrestlers. The wrestlers aren't terribly athletic, but can win a match by holding a dino down for the count or beating it unconscious. The dinos on the other hand, trample, maim and crush the wrestlers more often than not. Usually 4 or 5 matches a night. The farmer's prettiest daughters sell potent sorghum beer to the raucous crowd.

Plot Idea
The Denethix based fight club SPIRAL FRACTURE has caught on to the popularity of these hillbilly dinosaur fights, and has decided to take a closer look to see if they want to invest.  The owner Gus Lights, his sultry wife Blanche la Blanche, and the retired champ Rex Balls are in attendence.  They have brought their masked champion Johnny Karate to battle the dreaded Black Bull. The gauchos are fixing the fight though- even if they don’t know the extent of their involvement. An anonymous person gave them a large pink pill to give to Bull “2 hours before the fight”, for a guaranteed victory. The stranger is an agent for Spiral Fracture's arch rival, the fight club CONCUSSION INC. Secretly, Rex is having an ongoing affair with Blanche. The two of them are conspiring behind Gus' back to take out Karate. After getting a payout from Concussion Inc., they both plan on leaving him.

Black Bull staggers out of the cage, barely able to stand. Its breath is ragged, eyes bloody, and mouth oozing pink foam. It collapses after a few wobbly steps, seconds later its abdomen begins to bubble and fizz- a caustic wound opens up and a glistening pink substance begins to leak out.and coalesce into a long snake-like tentacle. It lashes at Karate. Karate can’t easily escape because the exit door is jammed. Unless prevented, the ooze will dissolve him and slither through the cage attacking the crowd at random. With every victim it killed, it grows in size and gains an additional 1d6 hit points.

Raided Farm & Indutrial Ruins
There is a raided sorghum farm to the north of town. The house is ransacked, farm animals killed and the humans gone. Spattering of blood here and there. Three toed tracks lead out through the sorghum fields to an area of ancient ruins.

North west of Chelmfordshire en route to Mt. Rendon, the merchant road passes through miles of ancient industrial ruins. The shells of dozens of massive concrete buildings, their steel girders twisted and poking out from collapsed piles of rubble, spread out in either direction. Some of the intact walls stand 30 to 50 feet in height, but are only fragments of shattered buildings. Piles of twisted metal, and coils of rusted and fused wire. Sink holes collapse into the earth, revealing flooded sublevels and dangerous catacombs.

There is one building, seemingly more intact than the others- the walls are mostly intact, reinforced with steel mesh and permacrete. It is a goblin egg-hive. A dozen egg sacks are fused to the walls, incubating and poking up beneath piles of dung and soil. Six goblins defend this ruin, all armed with bent short swords.

Giant Catfish Lake
At center of this industrial wreck lies a lake, some 300 feet across. Oil and slime glisten upon it’s still waters. Around the lake’s edge are dozens of crude fetishes made by the goblins. Animal skulls mounted on sharpened sticks with bones clacking in the wind. A few hastily made rafts are pulled up onto shore, the goblins tie their victims onto these and push them out into the lake to feed their master. A gargantuan catfish makes its home within the lake’s toxic depths. It has reached prodigous size and ferocity- attacking and devouring anything that might accidentally make its way into the waters.

A tribe of goblins has sworn obedience to the catfish and worship it like a god. They started sacrificing animals to it, and this satisfied it for a time- but its hunger grew. Using crude telepathy, it demanded manflesh from the goblins. Now the goblins have begun to abduct people to feed to their terrible, hungry, fishy overlord.