Tuesday, June 21, 2011

6 Jungle Hexes

Brainstorming some ideas for my jungle hex map has lead to creation of a new random table off you readers to plunder, pluck, transmute, and use in your own games.

1. Ancient monolith car a thousand screaming faces. Each face in the shape of a thousand screaming faces. In a bygone age, the each of the visage’s eyes beheld a tiny shining sapphire. Now only 1d8 remain—claimed by the hands of gluttonous thieves. Each sapphire is worth 500 gold pieces, but cursed. After 2-12 days the pilferer will awake that morning covered in a sticky, aqua colored mold. Unless burnt to ash, the mold will, after another 1-6 days, form into a fungal mummy, and will stop at nothing to being about the thief’s demise.

2. An ancient pit, tunneling deep into the earth--much further than torch-light will shine. The pit is a remnant tunnel of a purple worm that roams the surrounding region in search of its mate--who was long ago imprisoned below the earth.

3. A bramble of thick vines that conceals the entrance to a mad-wizard's lair. If the vines are disturbed, they will come to life and assemble into a abomination of swamp muck and thorns: AC 4; HD 7; #AT 3; D 1-8/1-8/1 + poison (save vs poison or die), MV 90' (30'), Save F1, ML 12). Within the mad-wizard's lair is a well stocked library, comfortable living quarters, a summoning circle filled with skeletons of four sets of conjoined twins, and slime filled vats (also used as a kitchen).

4. A skeleton with a gold signet ring. If closely examined, a thief or any character with at least 9 intelligence will notice that the spine has been delicately severed--likely the cause of death. The ring is the symbol of a lost royal line. Whomever possesses the ring can, by "birthright," claim control of a nearby kingdom, but doing so may have dire consequences if the right precautions are not taken.

5. A group of cultists have constructed a giant stone statue in the shape of a kneeling man in the middle of a small clearing. The statue is hollow, but can only be accessed via the statue's mouth. If encountered at night, 3d10 cultists will be gathering for a sacrificial rite. An albino priest in purple and gold robes will be performing a act of human sacrifice from within the mouth of the statue. The cultists are normal, but their leader is a level 7 magic-user.

6. A gold citadel built into the jungle itself. If detect evil is used, the whole site will radiate evil so strongly that the user is blinded for 1-4 hours afterwards. The citadel is barren except for a blind hermit of a lawful alignment - the last guardian of an imprisoned demon. He fights as a level 5 cleric with but 5 hit points, and will defend the citadel against any intruder. If the hermit is killed, a Carcosian beast will be released once again into the world above.

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