Turning Dice
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Seeding the Wilderness III

Seeding the Wilderness III

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For a third time we have some locations brought forth for examination from notes loosely compiled into details to further Ormegarten and Meroch. The main thrust of this writing is based upon the idea of If the GM decides to use the various cult organizations as an expansion for problems around Ormegarten then they should be found in different and interesting locations. In order to facilitate this here are a slew of locations provided to use to randomly select which ones the cultists are temporarily meeting at in order to perform cult activities. If a GM is adding to this list or modifying the results each one of these locations should have their own special notes/eccentricities to make the location a vital choice for their usage over a range of time frames. \

The areas outside the Ormegarten Area are liberally sprinkled with a combination of campsites, small grotto-like locations, old dens of various beasts/monsters, road events, civilization signs, and buried secrets. Part of the reason why a large number of these are not as mapped or detailed as many would want is because the cunning GM should make sure the players don't instantly suspect every single potential campsite is unusual or notable as an adventure area. This also makes the module much more usable to most GM's, and even the occasional player, as a starting point for building things in their own style and concepts.

Before or after the characters investigate, monsters may investigate the spot in order to decide if or how to use the location. Including potentially finding the players inhabiting the stopover point. The points also are not always automatically assumed to be overnight locations. The Players may find themselves taking a break (lunch, or resting the horses, perhaps) near a spot and should be given notice to decide whether to investigate for an encounter/adventure or avoid as they choose.

For the first several sets of posts the core die for Meroch/Chrome (the lowly d10) is intended to be used, until such time as 10 sets of this post are built up then switching to a d% is recommended.

  1. The Root of Yggdrasil: There is a large rough but seamless wall with a sheltering bend the players manage to stumble across running 20 feet tall and wide that runs 450' feet along the length, it is of no easily identifiable wood (Roll a Craft + Natural Sciences vs a TN 30 to note there have been some magical wooden weapons made of this material) Anyone using Spirit Sight will 'see' it is part of Ygdrissil, the World Tree finding nourishment in the Ormegarten area. Beating a TN of 35 on a Weapons and Armor DBR +Brains roll will let the character know how they can ask the tree to give them base materials to create wooden based weapons that are practically magical. It disappears after 2d10 hours by burrowing into the earth leaving no traces. Before as well as after it leaves treat this as one of the Magical Concentrate locations (keep in mind though this is not the only way these are formed). Thus, operates as a Substandard magical area while the tree is feeding/present thus magic costs 10% more in magical costs otherwise it is a more average area while it is not present.
  2. Night ice pond: During the day the pond is a simple idyllic little pond but it has no fish. Surprisingly this pond freezes overnight even when the weather is too warm. Curious individuals can discover there is for the scientifically minded (having a Craft of 1 or better) will suggest this possibility drum of endothermic chemicals that will provide the chilling effect to freeze the pond. For the mystically inclined there is a 50% chance of a rank 1d5 spirit extending the effects of the chemical dump for its own devious devices.
  3. Untended Grove: The characters have found a hearty bunch of mystery plants (which are intended to provide resources year-round unless over harvested) growing right next to a good campable location though little more than the denuded campsites. A situation which is not unusual given the history of the area around Ormegarten. This Grove is capable of producing 1d3 fruits/roots which if handled carelessly will explode, mechanically identical to a pipe bomb. The mystery plants (sometimes referred to a Bomb-boo when found to be growing off of bamboo like stalks which happens about 10% of the time) Most of the time when first entering this area the Characters should make a Stealth+ Brains roll vs a tn of 25 to avoid setting off the fruits which may be safely handled by using Demolitions+ Finesse vs a 25 TN to hand harvest the plants when they are right at the point of where they're ready to let go of their dangerous fruits as the slightest sign of something being threatening. Random encounters who find this area should have the Stealth + Brains roll checked and if failed they also should set off the devices which may lead to PC’s discovering bodies/equipment in the potential minefield-esqe location. The crop diversity planning involved in this will provide the 1d3 explosives about once a month, while harvesting the plants early won't increase the amount taken since the final stage amounts to arming the device.
  4. Concrete Corner I: The characters spot the classic undecorated concrete look of a slab big enough to have been a building once upon a time. This potentially sheltering location has a corner pointing uphill to help resist a minor avalanche from uphill. Stepping nearer they can see there is several still standing walls including an internal one. Upon going inside they find a room setup for an Alchemist lab quite capable of handling nearly any experimentation to be done. Most of the active chemicals are no longer useful having had too long of a period between stocking and current day. This location due to set up has ¥10,000 out of the ¥15,000 standard purchase price for an alchemy shop in set up done. investing another ¥5,000 + the monthly upkeep (¥500) will result in a location capable of fulfilling the building requirements needing a shop for Alchemy. protecting this location and making it into a secure base while operations occur is of course an entirely different matter.
  5. A small shrine with 1d10 items all of which have curse-like effect upon them. The cults all know to leave the items alone but will the players? The cursed items only act that way until they are bound by a spirit mage.
  6. Bad brewery: This is a hand built but rickety looking lean to with a couple of barrels and a proprietor is all about offering services to the campsite (a basic wide flat spot) it is next to; an almost completely indefensible location that could be a place for respite? Perhaps but the beer is unregulated so who knows whether they are getting good or bad drinks. Roll [1d10+the Rolling characters Luck]/2 to determine the rating of tonight's quality of food and drink on a rating of 1-5 with values outside of the rating system indicating exceptional problems or benefits (like free food for over 5 and maybe accidental food poisoning for 0 or negative values as examples).
  7. The Mild Tree: there is a single lofty pine tree that has had several branches lopped off at the 6 foot high and lower layer. This tree can be easily converted into the tentpole for five or 6 one person shelters. Mystically this is a Poor (¥600) magical area, these spiritual locations are places that are spiritually mild or subtle. Although poor it can support quite a number of rating 1-3 spirits as long as the number of spirits don't conflict with each other philosophically.
  8. Graveyard: (Example of a High Class supernatural area, often places of miraculous import graveyards, These places due to their import can handle supporting several Spirits that begin surpassing rank 10 or perhaps a single 15. Because of the effort or concentration shown in the expense, magic is easier to handle, thus these uncommon locations require 10% less in value of materials to support spellcasting.
  9. Deadfall Danger: The adventurers find signs a Beaver has been tasting the trees nearby, perhaps last year and now a tree is ready to fall over. (Example of a naturally occurring Knockover Trap) Characters approaching the area and failing a Natural Sciences + Brains roll vs a 20 or an Alertness +Perception vs a Tn of 25 will all take 2d10 shock from being hit by a falling tree (as a way to randomize the effect). Of course, this area is also suitable for setting traps much easier (half the effort is needed as given elsewhere).
  10. Dropped/abandoned item: The team finds an item that ranges from a small personal item (spyglass is a good choice) to signs of a lost shipment of glass from a blue dragon found in a nearby Desert. Roll 1d10 for value (additional d10's if desired for danger/risk or reward/sentimental value or other quantitative choices. The trick here is there is a trickster spirit that will remove another item if the Characters fail a Alertness (or Awareness) + Perception until some character expends the effort to remove the rank (1d5+2) spirit who is actively 'helping' characters lose objects for some reason (roll 1d5 and check this list: Set by a mystic [1], preparing for some occasion which may be in the future [2] or in the past [3], facing an unusual problem [4] or set by another higher ranked spirit [5]).