Dangertopia!

Yeah, I'm finally posting it. Click this link to get a wilderness swamp zone encounter pdf, fit for all your weird adventuring needs.

Dangertopia! A riddle and a curse!

Dangertopia lives!

Super exciting news today, friends and followers. Matt Rundle and I are making a book called Dangertopia, building off the back of my old encounter tables to make a complete kit for every kind of wilderness travel you could need. We're releasing a part of it today, now, for free.

Download the PDF here

Insect Hell! The most dangerous of the five deadly swamp zones. Your PC's are likely to leave diseased, infested and dead. Roll on the left table to get encounters for every day you're traveling. On a 10 or under, the party will have a faction encounter on top of the normal one. Encounter the Soldier the first time you roll it, Elites the second time, and the Leader the third time.

If you like this, the most amazing thing you could do is playtest it and talk about it. Write about it here or on your blog, run a game at your table or on Google+; a full recorded session of people playing this would be orgasmic. Tell us how useful this thing is to you, and how we could make it better.

We're going to release more swamp zones in the coming weeks, without art. Probably two of the following:
-Acid trip Mardi Gras
-Giant Hermit Crab-ville
-Voodoo Casablanca
-Sunken tower of babel

The full book will have five of these zones for each different type of wilderness: Forest, desert, arctic, jungle, swamp, and (maybe) ocean. Life is weird, and we can't promise that either or both of us won't spontaneously combust and be unable to complete the entire project. Still, we're currently planning to sell every different type wilderness as it's own PDF as we finish it, then collect them all together in a single book. Whatever happens, we should release the full swamp sometime next month.

What I'm doing

I haven't updated this blog for a while; fever, university, work and life, you know how it is. BUT, I'm currently working on a project with my good friend Matt Rundle: An expansion of the encounter tables I've posted here into some kind of complete wilderness kit. The plan is, it'll have everything you need to run adventures travelling across swamps, forests, jungles, the arctic tundra, seas, deserts, savannahs, and mountains. Each of these biomes is going to have

-6 Towns
-6 factions
-5 different zones. So, the swamp is split into 5 different types of swamp, each with their own encounter table, most with their own rules for movement. One zone is Insect Hell, for example: stagnant water, if you get submerged in it you get infected with horrifying insects. The idea is Verisimilitude, right? So you're not just hovering across a tract of land labelled generic "Swamp". Also, you can just drag and drop in individual zones, so one of them has to be the kind of swamp you're looking for.
-Ready-made hex crawl map.

A hex crawl map resembling the very map below? Possibly!

The cover will be a hex map that unites every zone into one big world. Dangertopia! A riddle and a curse!

I'm excited.

Swamp

Horrible insects, leeches, bog water - a gross, clinging place that you just want to get out of as soon as possible. There's mystery and voodoo here, though.

-4 to all checks without something to get rid of the constant insects.

1-2: Reedeels. 3D6 Sentient reeds with bulbous suckers at head. Wait for animal to wade into them, then latch of from all sides and drain it of blood.

3-4: 2D4 Oozefish: Massive, heavy fish attach themselves onto feet of wading party, use weight to drag them down to depths/under mud. Can be removed instantly by plunging sharp object into special spot beneath their blowhole.

5-6: Halitoad, belches toxic gas.

7-8: Horrible Insects! Roll 1d4: (1) Insects that make all your intestines come out your orifices, (2) insects that secretly eat your tongue, replace it and then speak for you, (3) insects that make you come out in boils that then burst into more insects, (4) Insects that get in your stomach and make you give birth to their insect child.

9-10: Black swamp witch. Can cast leech swarm; skin+organs turn to 3D6 leeches, attack party.

11-12: Swamp octopus. 2d8 tentacles drags PC's into swamp

13-14: 2D4 leeches cling to party. If not found, leech 2 points of con per day.

15-16: 1D6 Bloated bog corpses. Explode with gas that causes vomiting and attracts all insects in large range to you.

17-18: Sentient fungoid mastermind, controls all plants that are coated with it's slime.

19-20: d4 Ticks. Paralyse you as you sleep.

21-22: Mask salesman. Each mask will transform party member in a way related to what it looks like as long as they wear it.

23-24:Denzelian - Intelligent chaotic, telepathic, eats gold, lives in small specially-made vial, when released can only tunnel straight down super fast.

25-26: Bog hag, will perform haruspexicy.

27-28: Wrecked ship in tree is house for voodoo witch, who does requests.

29-30: Swarmhaven. A small village, besieged by insects. No-one's willing to go out to find and kill the insect god.

31-32: More horrible insects! Roll 1d4: (1) Insects that burrow into your brain and control you, (2) insects that cause massive bloated swellings that release toxic gas when popped, (3) insects that tear through the area devouring all food, (4) insects that get under your fingernails and make you lose control of your fingers at bad times.

33-34: Old shack. Sorceror keeps flasks in river with ghost friends being turned into loa's will sell them.

35-36: Tameable giant alligator. Resting - sore tooth.

37-38: Baby in a basket. Accompanied by ready-made voodoo doll of powerful NPC.

39-40: Friendly black slime ghost.

41-42: Glade of massive, dark red mushrooms; when properly prepared, can be used as nerve poison. paralyses victim for 2 hours., give or take d8x10 minutes.

43-44: Quicksand bog, fore-runners are trapped. Sink half a foot per round.

45-46: Even more horrible insects! Roll 1d4: (1) insects that give you uncontrollable shakes, (2) insects that get in your body and slowly grow like a strangler fig until the entire inside of your body is nothing but a giant coiled worm, (3) insects that get right up in your junk, (4) unstoppable army ant insects that swarm over and devour anything in their path.

47-48: 2D4 strangling vines.

49-50: Will O' wisp, attracts party into holes, mud or quicksand against their will.

51-52: LOTR corpses all around water, fires on them, attract anyone who looks at them

53-54: Poisonous river.

55-56: Alligators pretending to be log in middle of river that needs crossing.

57-58: 2D6 Mosquito women. Emaciated women with wings and proboscises

59-60: Big marshy lake.

61-62: River.

63-64: Bog everywhere. Movement halved. There's a small safe path hidden in the mud.

65-66:  Fog.

67-68: Insects intensify; -10 to all skill checks.unless you can get them off.

69-70: See-through skin insects tending see-through skin insect cows. Willing to barter with party.

71-72: Unminion pole in center of bog, looks like different things to different people.

73-74: Still, stagnant pool. Sentient.

75-76: Swamp wedding/funeral on barge, everyone in white and silent

77-78: Still-burning barge full of candles from viking funeral, has money and sword aboard.

79-80: Swamp monster fishing. Intelligent, wary of strangers.

81-82: Holy fuck kids it's even more horrible insects! Roll 1d4: (1) Insects that bind you up and fill you full of their young, (2) insects that were inside you the whole time, (3) insects that eat your eyes and other vital organs from inside, (4) insects that know no god or king rise from the earth. The sky turns black. There is nothing but the swarm.

83-84: Trail of sewn-up-waistcoat zombies marching somewhere

85-86: Bunch of naked people worshipping Baron Samedi in dance.

87-88: Puffball smoke ghost mushrooms give advice from dead friends

89-90: Black slime ghosts haunt party. Will arise from their bodies at inconvenient times, making them bleed from eyes. Can be banished temporarily with rum + fire.

91-92: Big fat melting candles floating on swamp water everywhere, lead to Will 'o the wisp Ghost wedding.

93-94: Giant demon toad with fat woman in mouth

95-96: Gigantic hole in the swamp, all water rushing into it. Leads to voodoo hell.

97-98: Baron Samedi. Drunk. Digging graves for PC's. Enjoys cigars and rum.

99: Malevolent Loa, slowly turns party into plants. Can be banished with land from the dead world, defended against with voodoo charms.

100: Insect god. The party is on it's back.

Jungle

Jungle town, you know how this goes. Hidden Aztec civilizations, dinosaurs, diamonds, cannibals sacrificing virgins to volcanoes - more adventure than horror. Movement with vehicles is halved. 



All your stuff is likely to rot. Roll a d10 each day; on a 1, something's started to rot, and will be shittier. (If you're using the Anti-Hammerspace rules, roll a d6 - everything in that container is starting to go). Food won't keep long.

Monsters

1-2: T-Rex.

3-4: Woolly Mammoth

5-6: Giant Snake with rubies for eyes

7-8: King Kong.

9-10: 2d4 Amazon women riding giant pumas. Will abduct strong party members to mate with.

11-12: 2D4 cannibal Aztecs with poison blowpipes.Will capture PC's for sacrifice.

13-14: Triceratops! Ancient, armoured, and corrupted by time.

15-16: 2D6 horrible monkeys. Act cute, then steal parties belongings and flee.

17-18: 2D4 Tiget pack. Lead by giant, noble pack leader.

19-20: 2d6 Pterodactyls! Seize PC's and take them to nest.

Traps

21-22: Small stone remnants of ruined Aztec temple around. Ruined stone heads will spit poison darts, stone floors in undergrowth will send poisoned stakes stabbing up.

23-24: Giant stone monkey head with valuable idols around. Monkey shoots laser eyes at disrespectful trespassers. Secret knobs on the monkey's ears open the mouth, leading down to a series of catacombs.

25-26: Tarantula in someone's sleeping bag.

27-28: A river cuts through the path. It's full of piranhas.

29-30: Plants grow over and consume party while they sleep.

31-32: Poison snakes in the undergrowth. Then more snakes drop from above. The hollow trees surrounding the party burst open, full of snakes. The party takes to their weapons, only to realise that they have been wielding camouflaged snakes this entire time. They try to yell, but can only hiss.

33-34: Dark cave holds tribe of sleeping vampire bats. Making too much noise around it will awake them.

35-36: Vines are the tongues of giant, tree-dwelling toads.

37-38: This door.

39-40: Massive venus fly trap - pitcher plant.

Cool Stuff

41-42: A hoard of smuggled diamonds!

43-44: Talking parrots, will recite directions to lost treasure

45-46: Jungle-mad explorers from colonizing civilization live in remains of fort.

47-48: Tameable, ridable pterodactyl

49-50: Lake, hidden ruined temple at bottom

51-52: Native village. Cannibals. Likely to turn hostile, but will be friendly if party proves themselves.

53-54: A river. A native fisherman floats down it on canoe, greets party in native tongue.

55-56: Mayan altar, overgrown - skeleton clutching jewels underneath.

57-58: Ramshackle outpost of civilization. Greet PC's eagerly, ask for news from outside world. Mistreat native slaves.

59-60: Massive fruit of many colours. Edible, delicious, causes euphoria.

Colour and Terrain

61-62: Thick bush covers path, must be hacked aside. Hard to see far.

63-64: Heavy rain starts. It won't stop raining for months.

65-66: A river cuts through the path. 

67-68: Gorilla nest.

69-70: Party comes to top of cliff- must find a way down.

71-72: Sloths in the trees.

73-74: Clearing with lake. Elephants drink from it.

75-76: Really heavy rain. Impossible to see two feet ahead.

77-78: Path stops. No way to know where to go. Party is likely to get lost.

79-80: A river, going the same direction as the party.

Weird Stuff

81-82: 2d10 Aztec ghosts haunt the ruins of their civilization. Some will be priests, some warriors, one high priest.

83-84: d4 Blood-crazed kali worshippers, whipping 2d10 child slaves. Working some kind of mine-cart system for unknown ends.

85-86: Glimmering Jim. A portal that looks onto blue sky, in the shape of a man's silhouette. It's on a hill with charms, picket fence surrounding it. Party feels hungry when near it. Anything put through it will not be seen again. Anyone in the nearby area when a sentient being is put through it will experience total wild ecstasy, lose control, and go on a bender for 1d4 hours. 

87-88: Rake-Face Jake. Massive boar, six human hands, antlers. Terrorizes nearby native village.

89-90: Deep chasm in jungle. Looks almost like an impact crater. Charms and signs from many different cultures surround it.  "She came from the sky and became the Mother." "The Mother has been waiting." "The Mother has been dreaming of the day she returns."

91-92: Active Volcano. Party sees lava flowing nearby, possibly causing forest fire. Chanting echoes from it. A temple is suspended over the mouth of the volcano by breakable stone and vines.

93-94: Miles and miles of land covered waist-deep in tiny animal bones.

95-96: Quetzalcoatl.

97-98: Party member trips on something in undergrowth. The leaf litter conceals a massive centuries old ziggaraut under the jungle. Birthplace of civilization: Mayan, Sumerian, Egyptian and Chinese ruins below.

99-100:  El Dorado! Totally paved in gold and precious jewels. It will, of course, be the parties downfall in one way or another.

Woods

A general rule for these tables: There's a 10% chance of a monster attack, 10% chance of traps, 10% chance of terrain difficulties, 10% chance of flavour, and 10% chance of weird shit. Roughly.

The forest is as dangerous as the Taiga, but all it's threats are hidden and beautiful. Idyllic, but don't eat the mushrooms. 

1-2: 2D10 tiny glowing fairies slowly circle party in ring, singing. Paralyse on touch, then cut out heart and enter cavity.

3-4: 3D6 Bush Babies. AC 10, HP d4. Paralyse on touch, then climb up adventurer to eat. Vulnerable to caring words.

5-6: 2d10 Mushroom men shoot poison darts from the trees. They will use guerilla warfare, shooting and then vanishing into the trees, laughing. Roll 1d10 for each dart. (1) trip out, (2) suffer a horrible slow rotting disease that will make you lose a leg, (3) Massive swelling around affected area, (4) Massive rainbow boils swell to burst with hallucinogenic gas, (5) Blood won't clot, even smallest wounds will continue to bleed until death, (6) Sweaty areas sprout with corrupting fungus, (7) Paralysis, one limb at a time, over a period of days, (8) Mind rots away, lose memories and points of int, (9) Extremities curl and turn black, (10) Extremities - fingers, toes, etc - split off you to become Mushroom men. All effects will take a day or two.

7-8: Great shambling mossy tree-beast in the mist. Anyone it turns it's gaze on begins to sprout flowers, turning into a plant. Make it gross and debilitating - eyes burst and bloom into orchids, legs root into ground, mouth chokes on blossoming fruit.

9-10: Princess Mononoke. Masked girl with poison dagger, two massive white wolves, painted with red markings. Will stealth and stalk the party until their guard is down, then race in and strike.

11-12: 2D6 Butterflies flutter from trees - some brown, some multicoloured with eye markings. Land on people and suck up their life-force, gaining colour. Those with full colour can use it to emit a blinding flash attack.

13-14: Wind chimes hang from trees. Tiny wires strung everywhere will set them ringing when crossed. Shaman above will summon Dagger-storm if he hears the chimes ring; makes knives fall as rain in a mile radius.

15-16: Stream flows over mossy rocks. Moss covers all of ground for miles. Many patches of moss are just thin camouflage stretched over the mouths of the moss-beast.

17-18: Mushroom village visible through trees.Mushroom-men have laced the surrounding ground with tiny poison spikes. 

19-20: Thin, trailing vines hang from trees like curtains. Will latch onto adventurers with tiny mouths and begin to suck out blood, excreting poison that leaves them slow and lethargic.

21-22: Heavy leaf-litter conceals poisonous snakes.

23-24: Edible mushrooms. Roll 1d5: (1) Hallucinogenic, (2) make you grow to gigantic size temporarily, (3) shrink to tiny size, (4) poison, (5) revelatory dreams, (6) go blind.

25-28: Lumberjack camp - tons of tools for sale.


29-30: A massive white stag. Will help the pure of heart. Kill it, and a massive black horror-ooze will emerge from it's corpse.

31-32: Fairy ring of mushrooms, portal to fae realm.

33-34: Hollow tree with tiny family living inside

35-36: Troll village, friendly.

37-38: Forest floor covered with leaf-litter; uncovering it reveals that you're walking on massive piles of Leprechaun gold, will all vanish three days after being taken.

39-40: Travelling freak show. Will give party food and rest for coin, but disappear at inconvenient time.

41-44: Woods whisper faint phrases.

45-48: Flower fields, with big bee hives hanging from the trees around. Bees buzzing around pollinating.

49-50: Close trees - carts and cars have trouble. Dark even at mid-day.

51-54: Mist and rain. The trees start to shiver, spraying raindrops everywhere.

55-58: Warm day. Snowflakes fall. Some of them are in the shape of pictures, and some of those foretell future events.

59-62: Forest fire.

63-64: Trees part to reveal clearing around lake choked with lilly-pads. Small island in centre.

65-66: Ancient, beautiful ruins. Statue of lovers in centre surrounded by rare roses. Passage underneath leads to hidden underground bathing pool.

67-70: Babbling brook in path, must ford or go around.

71-72: Massive amounts of birds congregate here, all different varieties.

73-74: Woodwives having a picnic. Have only a front - hollow rot behind. Can cure or cause diseases.

75-76: Cliff in path.Steep and overgrown.

77-78: Ground takes sudden, steep turn downwards. Slippery with leaf litter and treacherous with tree roots.

79-80:1D3 Maggot Naga twined around tree - beautiful blind women with giant maggots for legs. Ask the party riddles. Correct answers rewarded with good luck.

81-82: Thin black shadow-men stalk party, feed from their dreams. PC's will lose memories - spells, weapon training, etc - as shadow-men grow fat.

83-84: Noblemen follow the party stealthily. Devour any corpses they leave behind, gaining the powers of each.

85-86: Glisters follow along with party; bright will-o'-the-wisps that feed off emotions. Change colour depending on emotion PC's display, emotions in their presence are heightened to the point of insane outbursts. Gather to strong emotions.

87-88: Tree with bulbous purple fruit. Closer inspection reveals that the fruit is skeletal human heads. Eating will give you +1 intelligence, but give you a split personality.

89-90: Wide river. Those who travel down it will see ghostly cities of incredible beauty appear on the shore at night. Men and women with glowing eyes will stop and beckon to the travellers. Anyone who lands on shore will never be seen again, obviously.

91-92: Wedding between a Hollow Bride and a giant wolf, with fairies presiding as priests and revellers. PC's invited to attend.

93-94: Three riders pass the party: one Day, one Twilight, one Midnight.

95-96: Beautiful glowing part of woods in eternal twilight. Idyllic; full of edible food and water. Party will begin to lose memories and minds the more they stay. Days will secretly pass in hours.

97-98: Maiden sits on lilly throne in pond surrounded by weeping willows. Storks everywhere, spike-things come from her elbows and knees. Takes a liking to PC, offers to take him down into pond with her. If they accept, she will give them a stork afterwards - the stork will die instead of them if they reach 0 HP. They will not remember what happened down there.

99-100: The Wild Hunt charges through and captures the PC's. They will be hunted for the pleasure of the Fairy King.

Taiga

The Russian word for forest. Dark, cold, impenetrable, fairytale woods with witches and crows and horrible things. Roll a will save every day, or end up travelling in the wrong direction.

1-2: 1d6+1 razor dogs. Razor blades for teeth. Bite inflicts Razor-wire disease: Victim slowly becomes razor dog. Drinking holy water will heal the victim, making them vomit up razor-wire.

3-4: 1D6 crows follow party, gain 1D4 crows per day. Dive-bomb when party is distracted. 5 or more crows can try abducting party member - roll reflex save or be carried off.

5-6: Bear with cub. Attacks if angered.

7-8: Skin Kin. Skin flaps hanging from branches. 2D6 detach and float after party discreetly; attack by stripping flesh off party members to replace it with themselves. If someone is killed in this manner, the stripped skin becomes another Skin Kin, and the dead man will be puppeteered by the skin kin. Will retreat if party cuts themselves.

9-10: BloodOak blocks path. Vine tendrils around it grapple, takes 3 rounds to drop grappled hero into concentric teeth that go through center of tree. If a vine is severed, three more grow in their place (prevent this by cauterizing wound). It's wood is super valuable, screams when burned.

11-12: Snicket swarm - 4D6 1HP rat-bird things tear through area, leaving everything exposed at head height stripped bare. Listen check to hear them coming, reflex save to avoid.

13-14: Snake Armed Ruby Brain Beast. 5 snake arms; each can grapple or claw.  Placing palm on gem in back will instantly kill it.

15-16: Patch in middle of road is covered trapdoor, leads to underground webbed cavern with Trapdoor spider. Spider pops out to grab nearby enemies and bind them in it's web below, injecting them with paralysing poison to eat later.

17-18: 1D6 Robbers lay trap in road - front party members will be swept into rope trap, robbers will make demands of remaining members from trees.

19-20: 1D4 Black vines twined in shape of humans, white masks in place of faces. Touch transfers your face to them, stealing your mind. Vulnerable to mirrors. Mask can be transferred back by use of a mirror.

21-22: Find a wolf in a trap. Will struggle at first, but if released and healed will become loyal to party.

23-24: Broken-down carriage with carcasses of horses.d100 gold worth of Gems, baby in basket under wreckage - seems to be from noble family

25-26: Tiny russian village. Distrustful of strangers, but have food. All old woman in town currently out on hill putting old iron knives in the ground. Twin brothers are making a furrow around the village. They're preparing for a vampire attack after a heretic died in childbirth.

27-28: Gigantic multi-layered cake in the middle of the forest. Unnattended. Delicious.

29-30: Gypsy camp. Friendly, lots of music. Will take party onboard in return for odd-jobs.

31-32: Lightning storm. Builds in intensity, starting a fire, until one bolt slams down near the PC's as a solid, bright crystal, surrounded by shrapnel of the same material. In light, the crystal becomes volatile and explosive; in darkness, becomes incredibly heavy.

33-34: Massive, recently-vacated cocoon hanging from tree, warm and protected. Will give all who sleep within it revelatory dreams.

35-36: Bathing Ruskalta - water-nymph ghosts. Beautiful, will lead travellers down to undersea village. Breathing is fine as long as you hold their hand.

37-38: Travelling explorer investigating rare animals, will accompany PC's or buy any corpses they have.

39-40: Old shack with saws, tools, kerosene, etc. Woodsman owner will return soon.

41-42: Razorleaf wood. The leaves here draw blood when they touch. Trees begin shake, shedding more and more leaves.

43-44: Chasm with river at bottom. Rotting ropes show where bridge used to be. Might be just wide enough to jump.

45-46: Daggerslash. Resembles dead piece of wood, attracts party with distressed moaning sounds then latches onto them like beartrap with 40 rows of sharp claws.

47-48: Glade of massive, dark red mushrooms; when properly prepared, can be used as nerve poison, paralyses victim.

49-50: 1D4 Bear traps surrounding tied basket of food, money and goodies.

51-52: Path cuts out, rocky outcrop on one side, thick forest on other.

53-54: Skull butterflies flutter to party, play music. Land of the dead slowly opens up between tree trunks around them.

55-56: Deep fog falls. Party is likely to loose their way.

57-58: Bushfire.

59-60: Tree trunks fallen in way, must go around.

61-62: Smoking crater with shiny glimmer in center.

63-64: Flock of birds fly off at parties approach, screeching wildly. Everything nearby is aware of parties presence

65-66: Idyllic clearing with clear brook going through it.

67-68: Stream, must be forded or bridged.

69-70: Multiple skeletons stuck together into horrible beast - horse, vulture, man and bear.

71-72: A wooden puppet skeleton hands from a tree with offerings around it. It's a horrible god, will offer advice if given food to eat.

73-74: Man entirely covered in tattoos hung from tree; if touched, tattoos will transfer to toucher, move slowly, whisper strange demands.

75-76: Trap in ground covered by leaf-litter. Falling in it leads to a banquet table, with chairs that will bind around PC's. Other guests in increasing stages of being transformed into plants. Log-man offers food and wine.

77-78: Witch trapped in Ice, six hands, holding a silver dagger in each. Seven gold-encrusted rubies frozen around her head. Lots of burnable tinder around.

79-80: Sleeping children in glade.

81-82: Statues cowering away from chasm - an invisible bridge leads over it.

83-84: Ghost Funeral procession.

85-86: Doppelganger with something subtly different about them - sees PC's, swears, then runs.

87-88: Baba Yaga's hut. "Fou, fou, fou! I feel the Russian Spirit!" Hut on Chicken legs surrounded by skulls with glowing eyes. Baba yaga makes constant unreasonable demands or devours you, but her servants will help you stop her if you treat them kindly. May give guidance in rare cases.

89-90: Evil agency's secret base.

91-92: Thorn queen on throne, surrounded by dead children, can tell prophecies by pulling out eyes. Has power over all children, vulnerable to objects with five sides. Will ask riddles, attack with children and thorn vines from throne if angered.

93-94: Crystal guardian; as many heads as party members, each head copies one party members attributes and actions.

95-96: Forest is sentient, breathes.

97-100: A quiet, peaceful day. Birds chirp. The party feels at ease.