GYGAX 75: Week 2 SURROUNDING AREA

Gygax 75 Challenge Week 2

Week 1 

Alright so first a map. I think from reading two of my inspirational sources Vaults of Vaarn and Barrens of Carcosa and looking over some past ruined land G75's, its clear that a desert landscape is a major mood.

For my map, I wanted to do something a little different, so instead of the vast cerulean sands of Vaarn I decided to go with plateaus that flank a fungal jungle (hey...) around a glittering azure river.

FEATURES of the MAP (highlights just for my sake)

Plateaus: This allows me to place a lot of chromanity towns on those plateaus and it provides a rationale for why they are able to defend themselves from a lot of the threats of V'COSA with more limited resources.

River: Water is always a solid resource, allows "fast travel" down (and more slowly) up the map, and also is a contained biome that allows the insertion of some aquatic variety. 

We can also place some merchant factions associated with the river. Maybe one group only goes down river and one group transports goods back up?

It was pointed out to me that the map also contains two good points for dams. I think that would be a great source of energy in the region. Maybe controlled by an AI faction who barters power cells and re-charges ray-guns.

Fungal Jungle: If the plateaus were safe and river easy to access it might be a rather boring heaxcrawl. So the fungal jungle is there to dial up the danger. And because its dangerous, chomanity towns might deal with a heterogeneous group willing to risk their own lives to pull stuff out of it.

It will also help isolate areas like the dams which might have important and/or high-powered items. So yes a player finds a ray-gun, but chooses to save it for special occasions because getting to the dams is a pain.

And fungus because it allows organo-mechanic imagery to be used and as well as the fungus people from Vaults of Vaarn. And maybe chromanity also has a bit of a taboo against going there because often those who die there come back changed. The jungle captures their soul and puts it in a body.

Map made with the fantastic Hex Kit.

POINTS OF INTEREST ON THE MAP

Let's cheat again. I could sit down and write a lot of novel stuff for the G75 requirements above and the 6 x 12 hexes I have. Or, I could just comb through the material I already own for interesting bits and use those. 

What makes interesting material? Its comes down I think to PC choice. Does the encounter in the hex allow the players to make a decision? If so, then it is a good thing to place.  I also think the triggering effect shouldn't be random or so specific that it will never come up. I don't have the time anymore for "empty" hexes. My RPG playtime is one 2-4 hour session per week, so I'd rather have too much happen per session than to little. This also drives interest in keeping the game going.

But at the same time its okay to be restrictive to something the PCs can obtain either in-game or via character generation. So, the effect is triggered by specific facets of chromanity, AI-PCs, certain classes, or in-game objects like Serpent keys. Objects like shrines where you perform an action "at" is also good.

Another good class of hex encounters are those linked to the passage of time. Something often ignored in RPGs. I am looking for one-time events that trigger after a few days/weeks and a few periodic events that occur over and over.

I'll start by combing through Barrens (⌚︎ indicates a timed event):

1. Edible fungus in the jungle is lime green 6" high but must be cooked to derive healing
2. The shallow stone basin contains green stone with geas in serpent tongue; guarded by transparent ooze
3. Lair of the Logician: dome marks a 400' shaft to a giant floating brain; under its tutelage gain +1 INT or fail a save and fall into despair
4. Osseous Circle: 300' radius of bones around a statue; stepping within the circle causes a god to smite anything organic
5. Fungus Business: Fungus that wants to eat humanoids, but turns their skeletons into value metals as a by-product
6. Sentient Crystalline Patch: Intelligent, impervious, will seem inert to anyone with less than 18 INT; can turn organic beings into living crystal
7. Knights of Annihilation: Vantanic citadel with powerful weapons cache below; dreams of occupying a Gith fortress
8. Tormancean Spray: Veridian camp. Four marble walls enclose a garden to a lost god; the flowers within make a strong and highly addictive narcotic that can entrance almost all.
9. Byakhee lair: Twist tower of metal beams (old skyscraper?); 4:6 chance the creatures will attack
10. Ohnikosno: Crimson town (592/148 F0). Worship a node of darkness deep in the cave.
11. Shrine: Indigo brigands (F3). Alter sacrifice delivers scorpion mounts from gods-above. Rituals can be read by any MU as its inscribed on the alter.
12. Lone Love: Mosolium (old cloning pod) contains a Xanthic woman decorated with beautiful ruby & gold necklace (8000 GP).  Opening the pod to retrieve the necklace will destroy the body and draw the ire of a Crimson sorcerer who will track the looters (this I've altered from the original).
13. Cubic Castle: Viridian keep (16) 100 X 100 X 100 foot cube. Keep of MU Mawiza a ooze & slime wizard.
14. Faceless Shrine: Contemplative monstrosity is the shrine's lone "monk". Not aggressive unless it or the shrine are attacked. Can give directions to points around it.
15. Bajasla: Vermillion keep (816/204 F0). Crumbling edifice of an Ulfire sorcerer. The words INCOMING have appeared on a screen in Ulfire. A meteor from the moon Ghoroth will strike the keep in 10 days obliterating it. Chaji the ruler of the keep is friendly, but cautious, to all. ⌚︎
16. Egg of Cuult: A black egg encased in pure crystal sits in the center of a group of Cerulean and other bodies covered in bio-mechanoid parts. The egg bestows CON 18, but after 9 nights of terrible dreams, those monstrosities will break out of the dreams an attack the PCs. Save vs. Spells to give up control of the egg.
17. Occupied Shrine: Living god if reduced to 5 HP will bargin for life. PCs chose: 2,222 GP or learn glassee spell. On of the other villages worship this being.
18. Purple Worm Shoal (D3): Substances in the sand are narcotic to the worms. Searching the grounds risks a 1:6 attack, but 2d6 treasures of precious metal ingots or gems (ray-gun worthy).
19. Shrine of the Shark-jawed Frog: Cerulean keep (1368/342). Shrine will spawn 100 3' killer-frogs which will decimate keep in 14 days. All the keep has received the same proficy "Destroy the keep" but leaders differ on which keep. "Frogs" are more slaad-like, will trigger the descent of Gith hunting parties. ⌚︎
20. Lair of the Razor Sphere: Gem studded antinne signals the entrance to a chamber with a brain in a jar. The chamer contains a sphere of razor blades which can disect a MU and impart a random spell into their brain. Non-MUs are just shreadded; only good once.
21. Dulaja: Xanthic town (679/169 F0). Worth the purple worms in D3 and will not hesitate to capture a person for sacrifice to them. Drapped in precious metals & gems from harvesting. Each home has serpent tongue carving useful for magic and other serpent-related topics.

Twenty-one things feels like a good start. I might also try to create a table to spell/ritual components to help go with everthing to also fill in the hexes. There is more left in Barrens I just didn't want to write the whole thing out. Also Save vs. Total Party Kill has this Carcosa generator which I can use to generate ideas for hexes.

MAIN DUNGEON (E8)

I actually previous had started on a six-level dungeon based on a Dyson map that really intersted me. I was trying to initally keep it mostly based on the OSE classic tome. Sorta an attempt to show with just the basics, you can really generate some amazing stuff.

But with this Gygax 75 Challenge, I might pivot that dungeon into here which won't really change things all that much. And in fact might be more instructive because I can (hopefully) demonstrate and annotate my thought process.