Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Witch Woods Microdungeon

Tread lightly. Credit Godserg

1d6+1 paths are known to thread these woods. This one:
  1. Cuts roughly through the forest, ignorant and rude.
  2. Loops in and out of the forest again.
  3. Heads more or less directly to a point of interest and stops.
  4. Crosses at least two other roads. Those ones are not for mortal feet.
  5. Leads to a small hamlet, what kind of people would live here?
  6. Do not follow this road. DO NOT FOLLOW.

Roll 1d6 every time you travel somewhere new. When backtracking, roll every three spaces but ignore 5-6:
  1. Encounter
  2. Glint (Roll 1d6 if you continue, 1. Ambush, 2. Surprised Encounter, 3. Event, 4. Hazard, 5. Nothing, 6. Loot)
  3. Weather
  4. Hazard
  5. Event
  6. Advantage

ENCOUNTER
  1. 1d6 brigands with +3 HD between them. They’ll (1d4): 1. Take your money and go, 2. Cut your throat as soon as look at ya, 3. Make you dance for their pleasure, 4. Run at the first sign of danger. Roll only when pushed hard. If they retreat, this encounter might jump by +1d6 bandits
  2. 3d6 wolves, three with +1 HD
  3. Trolls
  4. 5HD swarm of vermin, rats and beetles and centipedes, 1d4 attacks per round 
  5. 6HD (1d8) - Wolf, Elk, Boar, Serpent, Green Man, Doppelganger
  6. Servant of the Queen, 4HD human, never as they first appear. The mundane are magical, the sane are lunatics, the knights are knaves, always vice versa.
  7. Nightmare of the Hunted. 5HD, invisible unless within 5 inches, flings nets and spears and arrows at an inhuman pace, only one target, will capture alive if possible
  8. The Witch, 9HD in the woods, 6HD out of them, every spell you can think of, and then a few besides, two turns per round

WEATHER (starts at 1d6, min 0)
  1. Hot and muggy, save vs. insects (1-in-6 chance of disease), -2 to Weather 
  2. Clear, -1 to Weather
  3. Fog, +1 to Weather
  4. Light rain, +1 to Weather
  5. Rain, +2 to Weather
  6. Torrential, save vs. lost item
  7. Hail, save vs. 1 damage if outside
  8. Or more: Savage Storm, find decent shelter or save vs. 1d6 damage and lost item, then -3 to Weather

HAZARD (roll 1d4 on the path, 1d8 in the woods, 1d12 in the dark places)
  1. Just a sprained ankle, 1 damage
  2. Save or lose a random item
  3. Sharp thorn from a odd plant, CON check or (1d8): 1. I am a tree, 2. My friends have been replaced by doubles, 3. The earth is delicious chocolate, 4. Whose arm is this? 5. Hidden enemies are everywhere, 6. Everyone can get along if we just hold hands and sing songs 7. I am the second incarnation of God 8. THE WITCH IS COMING
  4. Lost your way, off the path or into the dark
  5. Omen of Doom. Crows laugh, flowers wither, pointing corpse. Fail next save.
  6. Trees drop limbs on you from above, suspiciously accurate
  7. Vicious hunting trap, rusty metal spikes and springs. It wasn’t set by any ordinary hunter
  8. Lost your way, into the dark, and something is following you, next Glint is an Ambush automatically 
  9. Poison gasses reaching for your eyes and lungs
  10. Stinking, oozing marshlands
  11. Mobile and toxic plant attacks slowly, unstoppable and all surrounding, you’ve been walking on it for that last few minutes
  12. Vanish. Make a save. If you pass, its 1d10 days. If you fail, its 1d10 months.

EVENT (roll 1d6 on the path, 1d12 off the path, 1d12+6 in the dark places)
  1. Just a rustle of wind
  2. A stream, winding across the path
  3. A dropped teddy, wedding ring or scuffed letter
  4. Crossroads, leading nowhere
  5. A dog, whimpering in a hedge
  6. An opulent carriage, crashed off the path
  7. Tree with a face on it
  8. Blue smoke trickling into the sky
  9. Three nobles that have lost their way, rich, foolish, swords at their belts. Do they know how to use them?
  10. Glowing stones embedded in the road
  11. Vivisected animal, unrecognisable. If not buried will follow along.
  12. The way down. Down into the dark. Immediately roll another event at 1d6+12
  13. Faerie Ring, their motives are inscrutable, especially to themselves, their methods are dancing, blood, kisses and garrottes of flowers
  14. Crossroads, leading everywhere
  15. Night falls faster with every step, the moon rises but it isn’t yours
  16. The path turns and turns and turns until you can just about see your own feet in front of you. Trapped until you do something unexpected, twice
  17. Captives from the village in a tableau. Paralysed in positions of domesticity. Still alive. Eyes rolling, teeth fixed in a smile.
  18. The Witches Lair. 1d4: 1. she’s out on business, 2. she’s home, 3. roll again in an hour, 4. she’s right behind you

LOOT
  1. Poisoned Apple, glistening
  2. Cursed Ring, glinting
  3. Steps into the Tree, safe and stifling
  4. Broken Blade, potent
  5. Stolen Coins, enviable 
  6. Blessed Flower, eternal
  7. Broken Beehive, sticky and delicious
  8. Scruffy Hat, half as witty as it thinks it is

SPARK TABLE

Table A
  1. Muddy
  2. Bloody
  3. Enchanted
  4. Poisoned
  5. Venomous
  6. Dying
  7. Lost
  8. Fae-touched
  9. Fungal
  10. Fleshy
  11. Diseased
  12. Ghostly
  13. Dreaming
  14. Pulsating
  15. Verdant
  16. Sinking
  17. Floating
  18. Innocent
  19. Trapped
  20. Burning
Table B
  1. Scuttling things
  2. Looming trees, blinking eyes
  3. Children
  4. The Old Ways
  5. Invaders and their detritus
  6. Lumberjacks
  7. Pungent flowers
  8. Deep dark pools
  9. Clawing vines, roses and thorns
  10. Metal things
  11. Bones
  12. Meat
  13. A sacrifice
  14. Standing stones
  15. Time
  16. Knowledge of the past / things to come / things that never were / things that cannot be
  17. A way out, but at what cost?
  18. The Reaper
  19. The Druid
  20. The Witch

Useful generators (to be expanded)

(credit Semiurge)


(credit Red Kangaroo)

6 comments:

  1. This is a similar concept to a wilderness dungeon I wanted to do. I wanted to do it ever sense I read that essay on the wilderness dungeon. The idea of the Witch as a powerful monster roaming around while the pcs try to find a way out of the wood is pretty cool.

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  3. Just used this as the basis for a session, works pretty good in practice, even the sparks which I was a bit skeptical of going in. Definitely going to work off a similar framework for other stuff in the future.

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    1. Wow! Can you tell me more? I'm a sucker for feedback

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