the Fungal Creeps

 

Humanoids with radiant fungus growing out of their skin. The fungus doesn't take a single appearance, it can form as a mossy fur, tiny mushroom caps protruding through hair and from ears, slime molds dripping from mouths and fingernails, polypores lining the chest and legs. Those infected eventually turn violent and insane, if they haven't already been subsumed by the fungus.

They will eat anything, and when they encounter living creatures attack fearlessly until their prey is dead. While fungal creeps usually don't attack with weapons, their limbs have become terribly strong and capable of tearing living beings apart. In fact, letting a fungal creep tear off an arm to snack on it might be an effective strategy to distracting one.

Fungal creeps don't attack one another, and if a fungal creep infects someone (see below) while fighting them it will stop to find a new target.

Fungal creeps act alone, but occasionally can be found resting in groups (1d6).

Armor: as Chain, fungal creeps that were wearing armor don't use it effectively but are still difficult to hurt

Attack: two 1d8 clubbing attacks, if both attacks hit the same opponent they will grab (no save, STR check to escape) their victim and start biting (1d6 automatic hit every round until freed) and the victim must save against the infection (at disadvantage, rolling twice and taking the worst result)

Special: fungal creeps regenerate 8 hit points every round, fire damage won't regenerate back

Defense: every attack that is scored against a fungal creep causes the attacker to roll a saving throw against the fungal infection (vs Breath or CON)

Infection: infected characters don't feel different right away but within one day start growing fungus of some kind on their skin or from their orifices, after one day of infection the character can regenerate 1 hit point / round, after two days the character starts regenerating 2 hp/round, and so on. Once the character is regenerating a number of hit points equal to their hit dice, their brain has "died" to the fungus and they become a Fungal Creep. The infection is neither a disease or a curse and nothing short of a Restoration of the body will remove the fungus. However, a simple Blessing will prevent the fungus from growing stronger for one day.

goblins are a nematodal disease

Goblins don't fear death because they have a very peculiar form of immortality: As long as a dead goblin is eaten by another goblin, all its memories will be passed on to that goblin - including any memories from previous consumed goblins! And since goblins are voracious cannibals, most goblins remember dozens or even hundreds of lives (and deaths), and see it as little more than an inconvenience. Goblins are not cowardly, they are gleefully suicidal with absolutely no concept of self-preservation or survival instinct.

Goblins throw themselves at opponents in giggling hordes no matter how many get slaughtered, knowing that only a single brethren needs to survive to 'resurrect' their accompanying horde. Goblins have little sense of individuality, believing themselves to be fragments of one mind, cursed to grow and splinter into many selves for all eternity.

Goblins don't reproduce like any other animal. As they age, they grow bulbous sores on their body and eventually their skin molts off and this 'skin' grows like a fungus, clinging to tree trunks or along cavern walls. It thrives in darkness, but this 'skin' will flourish in virtually any environment with moisture. It grows larger and eventually bursts open, shedding one to two dozen baby goblins that are virtually identical to the one who molted them in the first place. Goblins never eat this shed skin.

Goblin bites can get infected very easily. Anyone suffering from a goblin bite is likely to have skin that slowly turns gray or sickly green. After a few weeks, they may begin to forget who they were and start behaving like a goblin. After three months they will have completely transformed into a goblin, with no memories of their previous self, and no memories from the goblin who bit them either. Nothing short of magic can reverse this infection once it has taken hold.

Goblins frequently try to force their own blood and flesh into the mouths of victims because ingesting goblin flesh will turn a humanoid creature into a hobgoblin. This transformation is similar to when a person transforms into a goblin, but it's much quicker taking only a month for a complete transition. A goblin who eats a hobgoblin not only gains the memories of that hobgoblin, but will begin to grow into a hobgoblin with the personality and memories of the hobgoblin; this process also takes about a month. Hobgoblins will always keep some goblins around, despite their obvious contempt for their inferior cousins - when a hobgoblin dies, assuming it's a hobgoblin the others still want around, they'll go grab the nearest goblin and feed the corpse to it.

However, one hobgoblin eating another is a severe taboo, because of the result - a bugbear, a monstrously huge goblin that hunts and eats other goblins and hobgoblins. A humanoid creature that consumes the flesh of a hobgoblin will also turn into a bugbear, this process takes about three months. Bugbears tend to be solitary and avoid each other, even goblins and hobgoblins don't want them around.

A bugbear who eats another bugbear will turn into a troll. Trolls will consume anything and everything, but no further mutations are possible.

- - -
The concept of goblins as nematodes was originally created by Sam Anderson. I just expanded it a little.

Kumatra, the Umbral Drake

Kumatra was once an ancient dragon, obsessed with extending his own life he explored every possible avenue to fins the secret to immortality. He imprisoned his own kind and discovered ways of inflicting magics and curses, documenting the effects they had. Kamutra pursued the only method he knew to extend his own life, by consuming the blood of his fellow dragons, though this had despoiled his body and he found himself growing more despondent with each passing year.

Kumatra was fortunate to cross paths with and befriend Sanglorious'es child, Aspehnen, and they discovered the two shared a connection within dreams, able to converse whenever both were asleep. With the help of Aspehnen and her brother Verlamm, Kumatra developed advanced magics and skills within dreams, researching a way to transpose his physical form into dreams in order to become truly immortal. There was only one catch: in order to live forever Kamutra would have to ensure that there were always dreamers.

After toiling for an age, Kumatra finally achieved his goal of immortality through the creation of dreamwalkers. However, the transposition did not come without a price. As the dragon retreated into dreams, his desires and passion became muted and insubstantial, his mind became as mercurial and unfocused as a dream. Kumatra would probably have tried to escape, but he had so committed himself to traversing dreams that in the end he became one. Eternally trapped within dreams, Kumatra flew far and wide across dreams to teach the art of dreamwalking to any who might dream deeply enough to catch his attention.

Dreamwalker

Prime Requisite: Charisma (minimum 9, opt.)
Hit Dice: d6
Weapons: Any
Armor: Any
Saves: as Fighter

Dream Magic
Spells must be selected when the character first enters sleep. The maximum number of spells active is equal to the Dreamwalker's charisma modifier (minimum of 1). Spells have effects upon waking the next morning.

Dreamlink
connect to others through dreams
Effect: The Dreamwalker can link to a number of PCs and NPCs dreams equal to their level, these connections must be made with people the Dreamwalker has at least met face to face. While awake, the Dreamwalker can recall knowledge of or have communicated with the PC or NPC. This knowledge can be used to receive bonuses for skill checks, or supplant the character's knowledge with information they might not have access to in the waking world. For example, linking to a priest from a secluded monastery might bestow knowledge of the layout inside the monastery.

Reveried
acquire skill in waking world from dreams
Effect: The Dreamwalker can learn a skill, at the maximum for their level, for use in the waking world. The knowledge of this skill is lost upon entering sleep again, unless the Dreamwalker continues to use this spell to acquire the same skill.

Armor of Sleep
dream-realized armor in the waking world
Effect: In the waking world, the Dreamwalker's body manifests a shadowy armor that pushes away enemies and protects the Dreamwalker from harm. Any damage received is reduced by a number of points equal to the Dreamwalker's level, to a minimum of 1 damage.

Umbral Ally
summons dream ally into waking world
Effect: Upon waking, the Dreamwalker has a shadowy ally that follows them obediently and without question or hesitation. The ally has half the HP of the Dreamwalker (round down), but otherwise has the same stats for combat purposes. The ally disappears if their HP are reduced to zero or when the Dreamwalker sleeps again.

Dreamed Weapon
conjures dream weapon into waking world
Effect: The Dreamwalker awake with a shadowy, wispy weapon of their choosing. It cannot be broken and leave their hand unless the Dreamwalker wills it. As soon as the weapon is put down it begins to fade into nothing (in 1d6+1 rounds) unless the Dreamwalker picks it back up.

Mass of Nightmares
surrounds dreamer with nightmares pulled from dreams, can be used as weapons or armor
Effect: Upon waking a number of Nightmares equal to their level hovers around the Dreamwalker's head, these wispy orbs of darkness can only be seen by someone who gets within 15 feet of the Dreamwalker, otherwise it appears as if an aura of darkness surround the Dreamwalker, though actual light around them is unaffected. Each Nightmare has 1d6 HP, and the Dreamwalker can dispatch one as a weapon to inflict damage equal to it's HP. A single Nightmare can be sacrificed to bestow Disadvantage to an attack against the Dreamwalker.

the Ghost Tower

This tower sits like a teetering stack of broken bricks on Hush Island, which has no bridges to cross to or docks to park boats. City officials place Hush Island within the Statue district, though the island seems to reject the association, sitting bridgeless and silent in the river's mouth. The tower juts out of the mouth of the Crowkut River in Marakāven, a thoroughfare which splits the city into northern and southern sections. Despite its central position in the river, captains and sailors give the island a wide berth. Nobody knows who the wizard was that built it and presumably lived there, but everyone assumes it was a wizard because the tower is infamous for swallowing up anyone who dares to explore the structure and never regurgitating them back out into the world. A few brave explorers have set foot on the island itself, but anyone who steps foot into the building is always lost. For this reason, Swamphaven's courts do not have a death penalty but instead sentence the most loathsome of criminals to enter the Ghost Tower.

I'm writing a rulebook

My players and I want to go back to playing D&D, and I had the idea of trying to convert Stars Without Number's skill system into something I could use for a fantasy setting. My recent forays in dissecting how magic could work in a non-Vancian way got me thinking about Kevin Crawford's two different systems for psionics in Stars Without Number. Now, I also like ideas that are presented in the Black Hack and Dungeon Crawl Classics and I grew up playing 2nd edition ... I have all of these ideas rattling around in my head, and in the past I have photocopied pages from different rulebooks to use for my weird Frankensteined rule sets, but this time I'm putting together a pdf that I can send my players and say "This is the rulebook!"

I have an urge to make it generically fantasy and release it for free publicly, calling it OSRenstein! But right now I'm working on it as a private rulebook for my own table, nobody else's eyes on it, and I'm working in a lot of setting-specific rules, like including the oukek as a playable race.

Things I've included so far:
28 skills
races get their own background choices, which includes some skills, starting gear, and silver
classes are customized with kits, which give a special ability and some skills
warriors get a Feat die - which is the same thing as DCC's mighty deed die
arcane magic uses a point system
Luck stat

My shopping list of things to include:
Ability checks are saving throws
Reaction rolls + morale
random encounters
Ascending AC
Learning spells = Intelligence check
usage dice?
kits with implied social standing are restricted by backgrounds
system shock = Constitution checks = save vs death

faeries, elementals, and golems

Golems are animated pieces of matter, propelled by a spirit that is controlled by a wizard who created the golem.
Elementals are spirits attuned to a particular element who take the form of that element when they are summoned.
Faeries are corporeal spirits who are attuned to the land, the air, or the forest.
But what if they were all the same type of creature?

So, elemental planes don't exist, and neither do faeries or the fey court, but somebody could certainly create a golem and they would need to enslave a spirit in order for that golem to animate.

spirits of wind and air
The spirits are everywhere. They are literally made of air, and formed from each exhaled breath of the sleeping god, whose name has been forgotten and whose tomb has never been located. Each spirit is born of a god's dream, and so each spirit is different, but all share the same qualities. They are naturally invisible, formless, virtually immortal, and can travel great distances very quickly.

These spirits hover around people who show great magical prowess. They are still connected with the sleeping god, and they believe they are spies for him, so they send him messages about what is happening in the world and who is doing what, and his dreams catch these messages which causes him to exhale more spirits.

The spirits of wind and air are small, but usually travel together in large packs. They can work together to draw air out of the lungs of anyone they see as an obstacle. They are fearless, for the most part, but if someone does manage to inflict harm upon them they immediately turn tail and flee, while remembering to inform their sleeping god of the one who was able to hurt them.

spirits of form
These spirits are just like the ones made of air, but they choose to possess the living or take form out of inanimate matter. The most common spirits of this nature are the Dirt Pugs, small dogs that appear to be made of rock and mud. Some of the more complex and knowledgeable spirits can take on elaborate forms, and lay intricate plans. If the form they take is destroyed then the spirit still exists, though possibly weaker and will take some time assembling a new body. If a possessing spirit loses its host to death, then it can simply move to a new host.

spirit, enslaved
A skilled magical practitioner can summon one of these spirits and forcibly house it within an object. When a magician creates a golem or similar construct using one of these spirits as its animus, these spirits become slaves to the will of the magician. They serve their magicians fearlessly, but fight relentlessly to free themselves of their prisons.

Advanced Languages

Languages are composed of both Dialects and Literacies.
Dialects are spoken languages, Literacies are written languages.
Not every Dialect has a Literacy and not every Literacy has a Dialect, but most Languages have both.
Character sheets have separate boxes for Dialects and Literacies.
Characters start with 1 Dialect, their native tongue.
Some classes start with a Literacy in their native tongue (if it has one).
Some classes start with extra Dialects and/or extra Literacies.

Learning a Dialect is easy and can come quickly.
Characters have a 6-segment Wheel to track learning a Dialect.
Every time a Dialect you don't know is spoken and you wish to interact with the speaker, roll 1d20 and add your Wisdom modifier plus the number of segments in your Wheel.
On a 20+ you understand what was said and can communicate successfully.
On a 10-19, you understand essentially what was said but when you try to communicate you sound like an idiot
On a 9 or less, you misinterpret what was said and you sound like an idiot.
Whenever you roll a success (the 20+ result), you fill in a segment of the Wheel.
You cannot fill in more than one segment of a Dialect Wheel per day.
After all four segments are filled and you fail another roll, you've learned the Dialect and no longer need to roll 1d20 in order to be understood.
Having at least one segment in the Wheel means you can understand basic and simple ideas like "where is food?" and "can I sleep here?" but complex ideas like "can you help me scout this mountain?" or "let me show you how we should ambush those bastards in the valley!" or "don't kill him, we need to use his magic later!" will require a roll.

Learning a Literacy is difficult and time-consuming and requires study.
Every Literacy is different and some are more complex than others.
Each Literacy has a period of time in which in takes to learn.
Having a tutor can cut this time in half.
Having a skilled tutor can cut this time in half twice.
Common takes 3000 hours to learn, with a tutor it takes 1500 hours, and with a skilled tutor it takes 750 hours.
A skilled tutor is any character who knows the Literacy and has a combined Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma modifier equal to +3 or higher.
When you try to translate written text without any training, roll 1d20 and add your Intelligence modifier.
On a 20+, you understand the basic message of the script though nuances may be lost.
On a 10-19, you will miss something crucial in the translation or your translation is time-consuming and delays something important, GM's choice.
On a 9 or less, you have no clue what it says.

threats [Kosranon]

the Corpsefiend
These creatures are demons who have possessed the resurrected remains of people who died through great violence. The demons are always knowledgeable and resourceful, and the bodies they possess become supernaturally stronger and more resilient. Every Corpsefiend is driven by an implacable lust to kill. Corpsefiends recognize each other instinctively and always work together when they encounter one another. If many Corpsefiends congregate in one place they will begin to use the resources at their disposal to create great engines and machinery of violence and destruction. It is commonly known that the only reason gunpowder exists is because the Corpsefiends were the first ones to make it.

---

the Tin Golem
The tin golem is a simple construct from some earlier era. Most have been ravaged by rust and mechanical failures, but those that are still active are observed as behaving in a simplistic manner. The tin golem is often found analyzing a structure, plant, or animal and it always speaks an ancient language. Anybody able to decipher the language hears the tin golem declaring a plethora of facts about the object it is examining. Whether these facts are being recorded somewhere inside the tin golem, or it expects others to listen to what it has to say, is not known. When it is done reciting the facts then it goes about dissecting or destroying the object of it's examination.

---

Flying Cities
There are flying cities from the old world. Nobody knows who built them or why they are still floating in the skies, following courses that must have been plotted by their extinct pilots, but their presence causes many people to seek out ways of catching up to and climbing aboard these ancient relics of a former age. Those who chase after the flying cities are known collectively as City Stalkers. Those who hunt the flying cities with dreams of catching up to them and climbing up to them are spurred on by tales who have succeeded. There is a flying city, Greenspire, which many City Stalkers have managed to climb aboard but few have managed to bring anything of value back from. Those who return from greenspire are often changed into reptilian scavengers. Because City Stalkers are so brutally competitive, successfully getting aboard Greenspire and making your way back down without becoming mutated in the process is often treated as a right of passage. You're not a true Stalker of the ancient metropolii until you've climbed Greenspire.

---

Greenstalkers
These City Stalkers once climbed Greenspire and returned alttered and different. They still crave the thrill of hunting down and catching the flying cities, but now they also seek to kill any who would compete with or challenge their claim to a flying city. There is always a danger when running into a Greenstalker that they won't believe you if you claim not to be interested in the flying cities, and there is always a danger that they just want to kill you and eat you anyway.

---

Cannibal Bugs
They're out there, they're smarter then you'd expect, and they're hungry. So hungry!

Ten facts about Hexnare

Like Courtney Campbell before me, I have decided to take Kiel Chenier's 10 Random Facts challenge. But here I am limiting it to Hexnare, a megadungeon I am working on with Arnold Kemp:

1) Hexnare is the name of both the mountain and the ancient city which resides on the top of the mountain. It is sometimes called the Giants' Walk because giants live throughout the habitable areas beneath the walls of Hexnare.

2) The old palace of Hexnare has been ravaged by rivers of lava that spring up from within the mountain. These pools of lava sometimes erupt and destroy more buildings, or simply create new rivers of rock stretching down the side of the mountain. The mountain is not a volcano, the lava spreads out from a malfunctioning prison hundreds of feet beneath the city.

3) The last king of Hexnare held thrall over a demonic spirit, and when he died the demon was freed but cannot return to the Three Hells it spawned from until it finds somebody to open the portals under the dead king's bedchambers.

4) The Ecknoi are a diminutive, primitive people who live inside a 200 foot tall clock tower at the center of Hexnare. For any who can read the ancient language of the clock, it still keeps perfect time.

5) The original Hexnare is almost entirely destroyed. The ancient city that is currently called Hexnare destroyed the old one when it crash landed there 250 years ago.

6) There is an aqueduct and basin of water that still delivers fresh water to the entire ancient city of Hexnare. The water is supplied to the city magically, but the basin is currently overflowing and creates a waterfall on the northwestern edge of the city walls (and a river down that side of the mountain).

7) There are three ways to enter Hexnare, every other path is blocked by steep vertical ledges of rock hundreds of feet high. One is through a hidden passage at the base of the mountain behind the walls of a hidden fortress, the second is a difficult hike following the river that spills down the northwestern side of the mountain, and the third is by approaching from the south - through the giants' camp.

8) Within a crack of the city's streets a vast underground graveyard with many crypts can be found, but not a single undead.

9) There are 16 spirits that reside within Hexnare, they will challenge or reward those who explore Hexnare according to their nature. The only way to know about the existence of these spirits is to find the ruined temple where they were last tended to by the dwarves, before the dwarves abandoned the mountain.

10) This megadungeon is still being written but was started with the concept of a dungeon that goes up instead of down. Another core design theme is keeping huge central areas for the players to move around in, rather than the cramped corridors of a traditional dungeon crawl. Only two maps have been drawn. Explanations for who lives where and why have yet to be determined for much of the areas, however the facts listed above will not change.

call it a rough draft

I started fleshing out the idea of a campaign world based on the idea that I wanted Death Mountain (from Death Frost Doom) to be right next to the Deep Carbon Observatory (of Deep Carbon Observatory) on my map. Once the Stars Without Numbers game comes to a conclusion this is the game I'm going to run.

Why am I doing it like this?

I want to create random rumors that could spread across the region and draw players into different events, or potentially keep them away from others. I don't know if I'll actually use Vornheim since it's not an adventure, but I plan on using the book as a reference and I also want to seed portals to A Red & Pleasant Land all over the place.

The only adventure I'm weakly familiar with is Dwimmermount. Oh yeah! That reminds me, the Dwimmermount kickstarter finally delivered! The book arrived some time ago... I want to say at the beginning of November. Honestly, when it arrived I flipped through the pages then put it on my game shelf and kind of forgot about it. I opened it up last night and started reading it, then started mentally rewriting some of the secret history to fit in with the campaign world I was already building. Anyway, I'm not all that familiar with it because I only just started reading it. It's suffered a lot of criticism and it's huge delay didn't help matters, but the work itself is solid and it is definitely inspirational. James Maliszewski has been silent for so long I had forgotten how intriguing his ideas were.

I'll write a review for it once I finish delving through the material.

Joesky Tax
New cantrip: Annoying Question
When a wizard asks a question of another person, outside of combat, and the topic is one of a basic, simple, or easy to answer nature, the person asked must answer the question if they know it, they must also make a saving throw vs spells (or vs Will). If they don't know the answer they automatically succeed on their saving throw. If their saving throw succeeds, they can answer the question however they wish. If they fail the saving throw, they lose their shit and throw an angry tantrum, answering the question but also really fucking pissed off that the wizard couldn't just figure this out on his own.

Idelfyn's Folly

The location of Idelfyn's Folly is not exactly known. The mountain lies beyond the southernmost range of the Crown and few have ventured north to locate it's position, those who have return empty handed or not at all. The mountain is known to be an active volcano which scorched the earth and rock around it so much that now there is no flora growing near, not even weeds. Idelfyn spent his final years building a laboratory inside the heart of the volcano, for purposes few can guess at. His last journey to the volcano was also the last time he was seen by any.

The truth is that Idelfyn's Folly is no volcano. Idelfyn fostered those stories and rumors before he disappeared so that those foolish enough to follow them would be led astray. Idelfyn had built a laboratory inside of a mountain, but the mountain held the body of a dead god. Idelfyn had located the celestial corpse by accident, and carefully crafted a story to throw treasure seekers and bounty hunters off of his trail. He used parts of the body to make a series of interdimensional tunnels which he used to traverse the world quickly and discretely. His plans involved creating a network of informants who would report to him about local politics and strange or unusual events. But none of this helped to explain his eventual disappearance.

One questions remains for those few who know the truth: Did Idelfyn intend to disappear?

the Crown of the world

There is a mountain range along the northern edge of the world that no one in living memory has crossed. The Crown blots out the sky to the north, and few have climbed through it's peaks to return and spin tales of what lies beyond. The Crown can be seen along the northern horizon like a tear across the land separating it from the sky. The only evidence that the living once crossed the Crown are the dams and aqueducts that still supply fresh water to thriving populations south of the mountains, marvelous and magical technology which no sage or scholar is able to explain. Each was designed, perhaps, by the same people. These people were short folk, though the Dwarves nor the Masadhi or even the Oukek have any stories to tell of their ancestors' toils to the north.

The memories of what lies beyond the Crown are all faded and gone, but the rumors and stories persist. A mountain made of gold, a cursed place where none may take from and return home alive. A crystal peak that glimmers in starlight and makes men weep though they know not why. Three-armed giants with obsidian skin, ripping apart any plants or animals they cross paths with. A four-eyed hellhound that breathes blue flame and hunts those who dare not pray to the dead gods that birthed it.

A few brave sailors have tried to circumnavigate the continent to find what lies to the north of the Crown, but they return exhausted with tales of treacherous waters inhabited by hostile marine life and harried by cruel mermen. Or they don't return at all. No ship has navigated the northern seas successfully, and even the Chiryo avoid the icy waters when they cross the ocean to trade with Marakāven.

Even the wind hates the living north of the Crown.

Hidden Fortress

There are plenty of places online to find out how to draw or places that will teach you techniques for drawing, especially for RPG maps. Dyson's Logos immediately comes to mind! But there are scant few places where anybody teaches you how to design a map, how to make it interesting, or how to put a good adventure around it. I had this idea for a castle built into the side of a mountain, and as I worked on it, that's how I came to start calling it the Hidden Fortress.

I wanted to create a defensible castle, but I had no idea what it would be defending. I just had this image in my head of a wall jutting out from the mountainside, so I started drawing a rough outline with some notes about what the different rooms were. I focused a lot more on the names of who would be living there than I did on what to call the place, or the reasons for its existence.

I sat down with some graph paper and started drawing rooms, making sure to connect the first and second floor towers. By the time I got done drawing and I was ready to ink it, I realized I forgot to put stairs along the walls or in some of the towers, many of the towers have a simple ladder marker.

First Floor


Second Floor, 30 yards up

In my mind's eye this place is run by Cassandra, a cruel slaver and bandit. The prison cells have no walls or bars on the cells overlooking the courtyard below, leaving the prisoners to risk jumping down into the middle of a training ground. Some of the walls still have rough edges which were left deliberately by the builders to fool any invading force into thinking the fortress didn't extend deeper into the mountain.

Beyond that, I haven't really detailed it. I'm thinking of redrawing it and putting a town around the outside wall.

Jetsam Village

This scenario was inspired by the map of Ravenson's Landing. When I first saw the map I thought of a game in which I had played where there were these abandoned military towers along the coastline, and that immediately led me to thinking about it as a place that could go into my Kosranon setting. Except the region I'm focusing on right now is along a northern coastline. I flipped the map, and adjusted a little bit of the artwork to make it look right, but otherwise the image is unchanged from how Dyson first posted it.

Because I'm using it for Kosranon everything written below references that world, many of the monsters have insectile features, but all of it should be easy to adapt to an OSR game, and where applicable I've included generic OSR stats or an OSR-friendly version of each location (inside parentheses). This scenario was written for 1st-level characters.

Legalese: the map on this page is copyright 2013 by Dyson Logos

Jetsam Village is named for the sunken wreck of a hulking ship, splintered into three pieces, that lies just beneath the surface of the water along the coast. The small inlet cannot be approached by vessels much larger than a canoe or rowboat due the wreck's size and the potential damage it could cause to any ship that seeks purchase on the shoreline. This makes the small village an ideal spot for pirates to unload their goods and barter with landlubbing inhabitants, the decrepit tower serving as a noticeable landmark that requires no maintenance.


While not a part of any established local governance, Jetsam Village is assumed to be uninhabited by neighboring lords due to the abandoned military tower that lies in partial ruins. The collection of small buildings next to the tower were once used to store supplies and house soldiers for a war that nobody remembers. The closest villages and cities have made no claim on the tower or the grounds surrounding it, and many do not even know it exists.

Currently the village is being used by a small group of smugglers who are the main suppliers for the black market in Marakāven and the Hidden Fortress to the south. Marakāven is the closest city, roughly 20 miles to the east of Jetsam Village. The smugglers make regular trips to the Hidden Fortress, and if the pirates are not doing well then the smugglers will turn to banditry to keep themselves supplied.

The Tower:
The northern side of the tower has collapsed and the interior is exposed to the wind from the ocean, and any sailing ships passing by can see inside well enough. The smugglers don't camp inside the tower at all, but instead use the ground floor as a trash receptacle and lavatory. There are two levels below the tower, including a modest number of dungeon cells, most of which are currently occupied by fist-sized maggots that are feeding off the carcass of an orsect. The orsect was drawn to the site by the feces being dumped by the smugglers, but got trapped on the lower level and starved to death. Any day the fist-sized maggots will transform into quilids (2d6 quilids, 1 HD each, and each is about 3 feet long), and the village will become infested with the pests.
(instead of an orsect being feasted on by quilid maggots, treat as an ogre corpse being feasted on by giant ant maggots)

The Village:
Most of these buildings are in a foul state of disrepair. The largest happens to be both the most damaged and the current residence of the smugglers' leader, Varim. Every building has had it's windows boarded up and covered in heavy cloth to prevent any accidental light from spilling out onto the water and revealing to passing ships at night that any of the buildings might be inhabited. However there is not enough traffic to maintain a constant presence at the village, and pirates only bring stolen goods to the village once every two or three months. When PCs encounter the village a shipment should either be about to arrive or have just been traded and ready to load up in wagons for a trip south.
Varim is a Junian from Marakāven. He has a deal with the ruler of the Hidden Fortress to the south, Captain Cassandra, that allows him to sell contraband and stolen goods in her town. Varim has two lieutenants; Set, a Junian from Cliffwater, who negotiates with pirates that make landfall near the village, and Dai, an Athomian, the thug of the group who keeps any other guards or hirelings in line and probably the most dangerous. They will always have people helping them, assume they have two more criminal thugs with them for every PC in your group.
Sometimes the smugglers sell slaves to Captain Cassandra, but these are always Oukek or Kcaltsim Dwarves that were captured wandering near the village.
(treat Oukek like halflings; treat Kcaltsim Dwarves like regular dwarves; treat Varim and Set like 2nd-level thieves, and Dai as a 3rd-level fighter, treat anybody working for them as 1st-level fighters)

The Wreck:
Beneath the waters of the inlet lies the split apart bow and stern of an old ship, the Prideful Princess. The remains of the vessel has never been properly searched, and many salvageable items remain in the ship's hold. The heavy water damage will have destroyed most objects, but there is plenty of silver and gold to be scrounged if anybody can find a way of diving to the innards of the ship. Detecting magic may reveal that there are at least two items of note still resting within the bow of the wreckage. Vicious GMs could stock the wreckage with a large octopus, but getting to the magic items should be challenging enough for a low-level party.
A Bottle of Lightning will be found in the pockets of a dead body just underneath the main hold in the bow. This bottle is made of pristine and clear glass, stoppered with a simple cork. When broken (or opened) will release a 5d6 lightning bolt that strikes anybody within 15 feet of the bottle.
The Silver Platter can be found in the Captain's quarters, it is a food platter made of finest silver and looks like it was once part of a set of silverware for fine dining. Any food or drink that is left to rest on the plate will never spoil or decay. Further, any food or drink left on the plate for longer than a few seconds becomes unspoiled and freshened as if it were freshly prepared, and any poisons in the food or drink are also purified and removed.

The Cave:
Despite it's close proximity to the village, this cave is unknown to the smugglers living there. If the PCs approach from the east along the coast they can easily see the entrance to the cave before approaching the village. Recently a pregnant aurymite sought shelter here during a storm and gave birth to six babies. She is desperate to find a way to carry her daughters to an aurymite camp to the west, but doesn't want to become exposed to the smugglers. She has been camped here for over a week and many of the edible flora nearby has been consumed by her and her children, but the time spent here has also allowed her to spy on the smugglers. She knows their routines and can guess at some of the activities they are up to, she is a reliable source of information for the PCs and will gladly exchange her knowledge for an escort home, or another suitable course of action. If pressed into combat she will fight with a battleaxe and attempts to defend her daughters by leading attackers away from them or the cave.
(instead of an aurymite use a troll, this encounter no longer becomes one where information can be gleaned but the six troll babies should make for a perplexing predicament)

the Oukek

Oukek are a short, lithe people, very much like small humans but reptilian in appearance. Their faces are thin and long, and their lizard-like skin ranges in color from vibrant green or bright turquoise to dull brown or muted orange. Their typical life expectancy is approximately 50 years.

Oukek society is rigidly defined by a caste social structure that seems impenetrably complex to outsiders. The distinctions seem to be a form of feudal nobility based on birth order, and Oukek of the same family can sometimes have wildly different roles in Oukek society. "Noble" Oukek are allowed to own weapons and property, and in general the lower castes of Oukek work for the "nobles" and do not own anything of value themselves.

Those who have visited the Oukek homeland speak of nearly incomprehensible social orders and a rigidly martial society. An Oukek's place in society is determined by who is birthed from a clutch of eggs first, the first to emerge is the highest-born, or noble, and the last to be born are the laborer caste. The "noble" castes are in charge and consider their place a divine right, but they also consider their role to be duty bound to protect and care for the lower castes. Oukek seem to be able to tell each other apart by their keen sense of smell.

The caste social structure is also their law, and those who rebel from the castes are no longer considered Oukek. Outsiders are not considered part of the social structure, and any who visit Oukek lands should expect to be met with disdain if not outright hostility. Masadhi are the only known outsiders who Oukek welcome with curiosity or goodwill, because they "have no smell," and thus many Masadhi can be found traveling the Oukek lands. The short stature of the Masadhi also probably doesn't hurt.

Oukek see wealth and property as symbols of status, and members of the lower Oukek castes will refer to money and belongings not as their own but rather to a member of a higher caste whom they answer to. Oukek individually are industrious workers, generally peaceful, and eerily quiet. They enjoy physical humor and storytellers, and many outcasts will travel with Troupers.

Most Oukek homes are burrows, usually in dirt or loamy hills, and are often surrounded by large gardens and farms which the Oukek tend diligently. In their homeland they build squat wooden homes and tall stone towers. Because Oukek are honest, friendly, and deferential they tend to get along with other races. Junians tolerate the Oukek, and they are generally considered to be somewhat soft and harmless. Dwarves enjoy Oukek company, and their Weargs have been known to act as mounts or guards for Oukek villages. Aurymites are less tolerant and they have been known to hunt and eat Oukek.

the Junians

When the last Turning happened and humanity fled to the northern lands, the Junians weathered the turmoil the best and were the most successful group of humans that survived. They retained much of their old culture when they resettled in the north, and this has allowed them to thrive over the last 200 years. They are a difficult people to interact with given their mercurial natures, but they can always be counted on to put considerable value on earthly pleasures.

The Junians are the only people who still openly worship Sanglorious, the old god who is said to have created (and bred with) most of humanity, despite the fact that their own theology states he abandoned the physical realm for other interests. Junians hold several feast days in remembrance of Sanglorious, and an annual fighting competition is held in city arenas. It is said that Sanglorious honored (and slept with) the most skilled fighters amongst the first race of humans, and there are many legends and stories of skillful warriors dating all the way back to the first Turning.

Junians have thrived as merchants, artisans, and architects. They rebuilt cities along the northern coastline and created a barter system for interacting with their neighbors. The Junians have begun to expand and have satellite cities across the northern continent. As their influence expands, Masadhi and Nymenians have stopped being the only non-Junian visitors to their cities, and the north coast has become a warren of competing cultural differences and bickering city-states. The Junians accept this, as they are still (mostly) the ones in charge. However, the bureaucratic governments they built have grown too large too quickly, and all are beginning to strain and buckle against one another from their own successes and labyrinthine protocols.

The Junians value honor and integrity over all else, and will flatly refuse to deal with outsiders who have betrayed their safety and wealth. This curt refusal to interact with those who are known to detract from personal interests means they only see prosperous relationships grow, and others are left out of mutually beneficial dealings. This has, perhaps, helped the Junians but has prolonged the suffering of some Eldragoth tribes. Some city-states have grown more prosperous simply by being inviting and open to outsiders, the largest and most successful of which is Marakāven. As Junians thrive, their population perfects skills as artisans and craftsmen. Schools have begun to open, and the Junians are currently the only human culture with a written language.

the Athomians

Athomian lives are rigidly dictated by social status, measured by both strength and artistic talent. Athomians are presumed to be descended from the Noblei, as their clans migrated north along with the Junians and the Eldragoths. Their society spread further north following the last Turning. Forced to compete with the Beastmen of the northern hills and plains, they have become fiercely barbaric and truly anarchic.

Athomians do not have a traditional family structure, nor do they perform weddings. When Athomians have children they form families that last only until the child, or children, are capable of taking care of themselves. However, they are not as divided as outsiders believe them to be, there is little to no rivalry between clans. Conflicts are always resolved by individual warriors, and clan members respect the outcome of the battle or contest.

Athomians are rarely encountered as single individuals. Outcasts from the Athomian clans are scarred or branded in some way so that other Athomians will know them and reject them as well. The most important thing to an Athomian is their place in the clan. To be cast out is to be dead in the eyes of their goddess, because of this many outcasts would rather commit suicide than try to integrate into other cultures.

Athomians value both skill with a weapon and artistic ability. The leader of a clan is often both the best fighter and the one who spends most of their time working a trade for the benefit or glory of the clan. Athomians have perfected the art of swordfighting, as well as swordmaking. Their intricate but sturdy weapons are highly prized and sought after. Disputes that are not settled by dueling are resolved by a comparison of talent by the two opponents, this usually entails both parties forging a sword and allowing other members of the clan to inspect them, but it can also involve skills as decorative as embroidery or as practical as woodworking.

An Athomian always keeps their personal equipment immaculately clean and weapons are kept perfectly maintained and oiled. Athomians prefer to wear vivid colors that many consider unpleasant, such as vibrant orange, bright green, and deep purple. They will also tattoo their entire bodies in these colors. Paradoxically, their grooming habits are awful and their focus on outward appearance means they are actually very dirty and unkempt, and many jokes have been made about how their awful color coordination cannot mask their awful body odor. Athomians do not prize bodily hygiene as much as their fashion sense or a perfectly balanced blade.

Every clan worships the same vicious and secretive goddess. Her name is never revealed to outsiders, and she grants power to a very select few. Sacrifices to her are common among all Athomian clans. The formal rituals and ceremonies performed in her esoteric name last for hours and sometimes climax in a brutal death, of a member of the clan if an outsider hasn't been acquired.

the Eldragoths

The Eldragoths represent a competitive culture that exalted fighting, but they have turned their savagery inward and suffered as a result. The Eldragoths are the poorest of the five major human cultures, and also the most savage. Their society spread to the far north following the last Turning, and rather than compete with Athomians and Beastmen for resources they fell into raiding and pillaging most of the settlements they encountered.

The Eldragoths are a divided people, clustered together into nomadic tribes that will hunt game in one area until the population withers, then forced to move on to more populous lands. Whole tribes frequently compete with other Eldragoth tribes for the best resources. A single Eldragoth, either an outcast or one who was dislodged from a role of command, will often fight as a mercenary for other races. The most important thing to an Eldragoth is food, and if fighting for gold or silver brings them food than that is what they do, even though they disdain the use of money as a sign of weakness.

Might makes right in their eyes, and the leader is always the strongest of the tribe. He or she may take whatever they like from the weaker members of the tribe, including life and property. All forms of disputes, as mundane as personal grudges or as inevitable as challenges to leadership, are settled by contests of physical strength - usually fights - and serious grievances involve bloody and prolonged fistfights that don't end until an opponent is bludgeoned to death.

Eldragoths always prefer to fight with their fists and they disdain large weaponry, an Eldragoth will never use a weapon to kill another Eldragoth, even in a tribal conflict. But outsiders should always be wary as Eldragoths have no disdain for picking up knives or bows to slay outsiders. An Eldragoth with a knife is a foe to be feared!

Anyone who is unable to fight or hunt is considered useless and will become an outcast. One who fights and loses is not considered dishonorable, but just of a lower station than one who wins. The children of these Eldragoth tribes learn how to fight at an early age, or they die. A few tribes will abandon their weaker children, these few usually become slaves to other tribes, or in worse cases become victims of the Beastmen.

No single tribe worships a god or pantheon of deities, but each seems to have their own form of religion revolving around the worship of nature spirits. These spirits often have elaborate names that are never pronounced the same way twice. The spirits across various tribes all have one thing in common, they respond to blood. The greater the sacrifice of blood, the greater the boon.

Eldragoths have spread out farther from the northern plains, and have not localized to one area for at least 140 years. Some tribes are spotted as far west as the Black Plateau. They hunt anything with meat on it, and it is an acknowledged fact that a few tribes have turned to cannibalism, willing to hunt other humans or dwarves when food is scarce. They don't ever seem to eat each other, just as they don't kill each other. An important facet of Eldragoth culture that must be remembered by anybody who wishes to hire one as a bodyguard or soldier.

monster: the Quilid

the Quilid

This long furry, serpentine creature has thick, sharp spines all along it's segmented body. It has short legs ending in suction-cups along every part of it's body allowing it to crawl along walls and ceiling. It is constantly hungry and attacks by trying to devour the nearest, most magical target. It seems to crave a spellcaster's flesh!



Initiative: +3
Attack: +6
Bite (2d8+poison, save or stunned for 1 round)
Armor Class: 14 (ascending)
HD 6d6 (hp 24)
MV 80' (wall-crawling)
Save Fort +2 Ref -1 Will -1
Morale: nil
Special: attackers must Reflex save or get poked with spines taking 2d4-1 damage
Tactics: always attacks person with most magical items, failing that attacks spellcasters, wizards before clerics

monster: the Orsect

the Orsect

Alien insectile humanoids, they are sometimes found in nests where they number in the hundreds. They are larger than the average human at full maturity, but their torso is fragile and spindly. Their muscles are thin and lithe. Orsects have underdeveloped retractable wings that lie under a carapace, they can glide short distances and even hover momentarily, but the wings are too frail to support their size for long. Orsects can crawl along walls and ceilings, and their faces have large venomous fangs reminiscent of a spider's cephalothorax. Their chitinous skin often has stocks of black or brown hair sticking out between the plates.

Initiative: +1
Attack: +1
Claw x2 (1d6+1) or Bite (1d6; save vs poison/Fort, 1d6 damage over next 2 rounds)
Armor Class: 13 (ascending)
Hit Dice: 1d8 (hp 4)
Move: 30' (wall-crawling) / 60' (flight, once per four rounds)
Saves: Fort +0 Ref +2 Will -1
Morale: 8
Tactics: attacks smallest/weakest PC first