Signs your party is not the first in the Dungeon.

Sometimes players decide to keep returning to the same picked over part of the dungeon because it's safe rather then delve deeper.  This is especially common if it's a mega-dungeon.  best way of dealing with this is rival packs of murder hobos on a spree.  Treasure gets grabbed, enemies slain, allies turned hostile and a new extremely dangerous entry goes on the random monster table - the rival adventuring party.

Add this to your random encounter table...

Here's a table of  hints that the party might not be alone anymore.

Lost in the Dense Forests South of Denethix.

The forest South of Denethix and towards the sea, covers the entire area between Mt. Rendon and the Livid Fens.  It hols several attractions to adventurers including the fabled Molybdenum Tombs, infested with crystal jaguars, The Obelisk of Forgotten Memory and the Tomb of the Rocketmen.  The area also contains the towers, fortresses and complexes of several wizards and is a rich zone for the recovery of ancient artifacts and smaller ruins dating back to the centuries before the collapse.  The below table list random items and locations discovered while wandering this trackless tangle of brambles and ominous black barked pines. 

Perhaps these are useful for on the fly hex socking, or roll one every few hours of travel to give the forest a bit of life perhaps. This table is not a substitute for random encounters.

Zone Tigers

Recently there has been talk about “Tigers” in the OSR gossip world. Tigers being animals that appear specifically adapted to hunt humans.  From my understanding of the fossil record, and especially of how the big cats hunt baboons with terror, perhaps jaguars would be a better name for these beasts, but any large hunting cat will do and the label tigers has the advantage of a Borges reference.  The beast that “can only be faced by a man of war, on a castle atop an elephant.”

Below are a pair of  “Tigers” specifically for the “Zone”, inspired by the novel Roadside Picnic, and FATE SF “Zone Project”.  These aren’t simple anomalies, mutants, or extraterrestrial horrors, they specifically hunt the Stalkers that seek to plunder alien artifacts from the Zone.

A Real Zone

Rust Tiger – While greed or curiosity is the lure that brings stalkers and scientists into the zones, once behind the nightmare curtain of the zone, every investigator craves only safety and survival.  The Rust Tiger hunts with hope, the lure of safe passage amongst the horrors of the Zone, and it hunts with a will beyond hunger and animal cruelty.  Rust Tigers hunt only men, and will not even harm the dogs that stalkers sometimes use as scouts or defenders, and Rust Tigers show actual malice and cunning, even an art, in their predations.

The source of the Rust Tiger’s malice is unknown, but the more poetic of the stalkers claim that the secret of the beasts’ rage is found in its form.  While every Rust Tiger is different they all appear as the detritus of everyday life, objects of home and convenience left to decay, corrode and rust  in the unwholesome environment of the zone.  Indistinguishable from any mound of domestic debris or spray of forgotten objects half buried in the mud of a ruined cellar the Rust Tiger waits in ambush.  Some animating force however controls these seemingly random bits of trash, and suddenly it will rear up from concealment, tearing with claws of thick television screen glass, gnashing with jaws of broken coffee mugs, and flowing quick and deadly on limbs of warped furniture.

Tomb of the Rocketmen - 1st Playtest Report.

Tomb of the Rocketmen Playtest - I ran a playtest of Tomb of the Rocketman the other night, the party was fairly successful, losing one member to a trap and most importantly they showed me that the Tomb isn't instantly deadly (as I had feared) or impossible to enter.

THE PARTY

A crack team of skilled graverobbers, killers and antiquarians assembled at the personal orders of the Grande Vizier of Denethix.

Grisham Everyman – A perfectly mundane man of middling years, with mud brown hair and hard brown eyes.  Only his armor, a suit of white ceramic plates, marked with blue designs is remarkable. Fighter 6

Dogrok – A cyclone of anger from the beleaguered tribes amongst the Feasting Trees.  This warrior wears elaborate fluted armor made of the finest steel and his hammer is the living heartwood of a Feasting Titan. Fighter 6

Mo-Mo – Moktar Warrior from the Certopsian, Deadly with a black Zweihander from a dusty serpant man tomb and favored by his ancestors.  Moktar 6

Marina Cleric of Theosaurid – Worshipper of the gilded god of dinosaurs, a devotee of the most savage faith amongst the orbital gods (or so they claim – Rarge God of Savagery disagrees).  She is always accompanied by her Doberman convert and guardian, Lt. Dog. Cleric 6

Gamma Ray – Sorcerer of the Sword, a well built warlock who is fond of  grandiose gestures.  His past is unknown to any but himself, and he hints at retaking a tower somewhere in the Worthless North.  He carries a powerful artifact of lost sorcery. Magic-User 6

11 – An ancient machine of rust and impenetrable armor plating, unearthed near the home warrens, 11 destroyed the foolish dwarf nobles that thought he could be bound by chains of compound interest.  Its drills and magma cannon still function, and now 11 is a heartless bounty killer. Robot 6

Cliff Dwelling Map

Another Map - Playing with Isometric paper.  The hard part with isometric maps is putting rooms on top of each other.  I think they can be good for small locations or really spread out spindly ones, but I feel like a lot of information is lost and the limitations outweigh the coolness factor.

Another G'Damn Map

More for "The Pretender's Dread Machine".  Another map.  Not all cool and old school, an outdoor map, of the "Autocrat's Tear", a canyon in the midst of the accursed halfling infested (Yes halfling rustics with curare - don't say you weren't warned) Yellow Lands.

What we're looking at is a canyon, with a cavern at the East end.  I'm not sure how well it played out, but this is the trouble with drawing and drinking. The walls of the canyon are black rock, and the vegetation grey.  The milky water flowing within is poison, death by slow petrification.

A) An ancient watch tower of arcane weapons, blasted to rubble.  Formerly the den of Skip Lions.

B) A blasted crater - where a Wizard met his end when faced by Desolate Crusaders and Wire Ghasts.

C) Pubelo religious center of the ancients. Empty, dusty, gold here and there.

D) Vile Marsh where the milky water pools in stinking sludge, and Wire Ghasts roam.

E) The Cavern of the Machine, A  huge arched cavern, with cenotes dotting it's floor,  the cenotes vary in color as they have been permanently dyed by the pigments that coated the sacrifices made by the ancients, or possibly by the industrial effluvia of the Pretender's Machine.  Wire Ghasts, Rusted Sentinals and Desolate Crusaders emerge from the pools and stalk the cavern.

Updated with a bit of a fix to make the cave clearer and the letters more functional

A Map, a Short Project

Perhaps it's not really wise to start a new project right now, but I have.

The Pretender's Device

Here's the map of the place, well the dungeon map.  It's a sequel to Prison of Hated Pretender of sorts 2nd - 4th level I think - that sweet spot of adventuring where one can be a bit the badass - but still doesn't have access to world shaking powers.

It's generic fantasy world, but still a bit weirder then a vanilla fantasy module (I hope).  I decided to write it based on the fun I had writing Seas of Love - which it'll likely be similar to in scope (though it's a 21 room dungeon - which is fairly big for me because I don't believe in empty rooms). 

The idea behind the location is a hidden canyon, once used as the site of rituals that aided the Hated Pretender's (An ancient despot long removed from power) Empire by resurrecting his slain champions and generals.  The "dungeon" itself is a giant machine (the map) that contains the secret of life, and unlife, and mutation, and horrible pacts with soulless Machine Entities.

Officially now a long project.

Encounters Among the Moribund Hulks of the Great Rust Waste.

Running East to West, the exact size of this belt of ancient trash and abandoned technology is unknown, as the winds that whip the sands of the desert into flesh stripping cyclones uncover and conceal new deposits every season.  The sand scours the ancient objects clean, so that each new pile of twisted junk gleams like treasure for weeks after it is uncovered, before the dust and flash flood rains cake it in dry yellow grime and flakes of ruddy corrosion.

1. A broken tower of rusted bits and corroded pieces.  The tower is later construction, obvious order amongst drifts of similar rusted detritus.  All three stories are uninhabited, though close examination will reveal signs of a massacre.  Black stains on the wall that are not corrosion, a spray of cracked teeth covered in dust, though nothing else to indicate who may have dwelt in the tower or what exactly befell them.   There’s a light ballista wrought from scrap bolted to the tower’s roof parapet.  While it’s lacking ammunition and has cranks in need of oiling, the compact siege weapon is well made and still functional (3D6, two rounds to load, requires crew of two – 250lbs, spall shield offers base AC 6 to crew).  Divination spells will reveal that the residents of the tower (idealistic freeholders or simple bandits, were slaughtered in the night by lanky unknown creatures that came from the rust piles in the night and left no one alive). 

Odd Objects from the Outer Darkness.

A table of six encounters that mark the world as Science Fantasy.

1. A statue of pale blue crystal about four feet tall, roughly human in shape. It is the work of no hand, but the remains of an ancient stellar sailor. Long dead, the spirit within the crystal awakens when it is near the delights of a port. If the statute is carried to any town of reasonable size, the ancient mariner’s spirit will manifest evenings in the form of a hunched being of pure energy. Appearing suddenly in low dives, bawdy houses and cheap burlesque shows it will snatch drinks, dance on tables and sing raucous songs in an unknown language. Unfortunately the spirit’s singing causes fires and explosions.

Powers of the Brine Witch - More Leviathan Spell Lists

The Brine Witch - This avatar of the Leviathan symbolizes the deity in its union with humanity.  Appearing as a brine soaked and salt crusted hag with flaking white skin, it is largely summoned by initiates eager to have more power over mortals.  Initiation into the mysteries of the Brine Witch require the preparation of a salt crusted mask of white metal or porcelain (of at least 1,000 GP value) that the initiate must wear at all times while invoking the spirit's power.

Salt Monsters - they all look the same.

Foul or Cleanse (ritual) [10] [purify water]
Summoning the powers of the Leviathan to cleanse or foul waters for drinking is a boon most often happily granted by the Brine Witch.  A volume of water equal to a 10'+1' per level of the caster cube may be so effected.  Fouling waters simply turns them brackish and undrinkable, it does not render them poisonous and will quickly dilute in larger bodies of water.  Catastrophic failure of the spell implies an intervention on the part of elemental forces, and usually results in the creation of a hostile water weird.
 
Drown [13] [hold person]
The Brine Witch's powers may be directed at the bodies of other humans and humanoids, causing their lungs to fill with salt water.  The Initiate may select up to three targets who may Save vs. Spells to avoid the effect.  If afflicted the target will find themselves coughing and spewing water in a desperate attempt to breath.  Victims of the spell will be unable to act or move in an effective manner for 5+1 rounds after the spell is cast.  Catastrophic failure of the spell will most often result in a backlash where the initiate and up to two of her companions will be effected by the Drowning.

Entropic Weard [13] (ritual) [Protection from Law]
Forming the Witch's sigil from brine crusted bones creates a powerful ward against order that may be shattered to induce terror in all nearby.  When worn by an individual this weard, a lattice of bone, salt crystal and string will make it impossible for creatures or agents of order to touch the wearer.  Mortal and mundane agents of order may still attack, though at a -2 to hit, but supernatural creatures of order are limited to ranged assault while the weard is active. The weard will last for 1 turn per level of the initiate, before greatly accelerated entropy causes it to crumble.

Rather then wear the weard for protection an initiate may shatter it, instantly causing terror and the impulse for flight to grip creature within 30' that is capable of such emotions (including the caster).  All aggressive acts for the next turn will be a -1 to hit for those effected because of timidity, and a save vs. spells is required to avoid immediate flight for 1D12 rounds towards any remembered place of safety.

Catastrophic failure often results in complete chaos and entropy in the area the ritual is performed.  In addition to causing all those present to flee in terror for 1D12 rounds, the entropic weard is likely to permanently mark the ritual area with signs of its presence - such as rapid decay, a crusting of salt or the presence of otherworldly murmurings.

Brine Horror (ritual) [17] [animate dead] By performing an elaborate ritual, it's gruesome mysteries known only to the Heirophants of the Leviathan, the initiate may draw a fragment of the Brine Witch's power into the body of a water logged corpse.  When this corpse dries in 1-4 days it will animate as a mummified, salt encrusted servitor ready to follow the commands of the Initiate.  An initiate may only have one Brine Horror spell active at a time, but may raise multiple horrors.  To raise more than one servitor the initiate simply needs to subtract 1 from their casting roll per additional corpse animated.  The servitors created will be 3HD undead, AC 5 that attack last each round, either with their clawed hands (D6 damage) or with weapons provided by the initiate.  Given the draconian penalties associated with necromancy in Sterntown, the cult of the Leviathan discourages the use of this spell amongst its initiates, and when Brine Horrors are created they are kept well concealed.  A catastrophic failure of this spell often creates a temporary rift in the fabric of reality and draws nightmarish creatures such as shadows and wraiths from beyond.

Stagnation [17] [dispel magic]
Through the use of this spell the initiate asks that Leviathan uproot the reality of the present and lock the universe in place around the initiate.  This spell effectively disrupts and destroys the intervention of other forces, dispelling all magic within 10'  as if the spell had been cast by a 10th level magic user.  All magic in the area of effect will be transmuted into sprays and structures of crystalline sea salt, pale grey in color. The initiate may not choose what magic is dispelled as the thaumaturgic energy of the entire area is leeched into the Leviathan, and even friendly magic will be dampened or destroyed by this spell.  A catastrophic failure of this spell will often render the initiate himself unable to cast spells or use magic for at least a day. 

Dessication [21] [death spell]
Asking for this boon is dangerous, because of the power it contains.  If successfully cast, this spell will desiccate the next target of a successful melee attack by the initiate.  On a successful attack the target begins to shrivel and desiccate, rapidly turning into a mummified corpse encrusted with brine.  Targets may Save vs. Spells, but even with a successful save the will take the Initiates level x 1D6 points of damage.  Creatures slain with the Brine Witch's dessication will rise as brine horrors within 1D4 days, but have no loyalty beyond a loathing for life.  A catastrophic failure of this spell will most often cause the caster 1D6xlevel points of damage as the Witch draws the life foirce and moisture from them instead of the target.  Alternatively it may simply drain a level of experience and render the caster unconscious for 1D4 hours.