Thomas F Watson III
First Post
Seeking ideas for strange environments, e.g. tunnels of nightmare mist in clouds.
For a high magic setting, rules mix of BECMI + 2e +1e.
For a high magic setting, rules mix of BECMI + 2e +1e.
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unusual terrain/environment ideas
- Thread starter Thomas F Watson III
- Start date
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
Hrm…what about a bridge of runes (stepping on some of them having different effects, naturally)? There’s always swapping elements, so that you have a castle made of water, or a river of stone. Or for something simple, having to traverse and fight some monsters on a really, really big eyeball.
One of my more well received creative environments was simply a moon castle. My fantasy moon and the castle had a spongy, rock-like surface. I had it inhabited by the Great Race of Yith, but that had little to do with the environment. The trick was that you got there simply by climbing a luminous ladder made of a moonbeam created by a full moon. To return to earth the next day, the characters simply jumped onto a cloud... after a clue... and slowly settled down to earth.
Adam Shepherd
Villager
Adventuring on the top of a colossal ooze (or even inside one)
Shin Okada
Explorer
3d-cavern complex made by Beholders via Disintegrate eye-ray. It has full of vertical shafts but has no stairs nor ladders, as Beholders don't need them. PCs must use ropes or spells to navigate through.
Ruins of long-lost high-tech civilization. Get some maps or floor plans of you local underground city/metro, big building, arcade, and such. Use those maps as dungeons. You may need some modification, say, burring them. Don't tell your players about the origin of your maps until they find out by themselves.
On top of a colossal pizza full of hot ponds of tomato-source, nauseatingly smelly chunk of cheese, & other toppings.
Ruins of long-lost high-tech civilization. Get some maps or floor plans of you local underground city/metro, big building, arcade, and such. Use those maps as dungeons. You may need some modification, say, burring them. Don't tell your players about the origin of your maps until they find out by themselves.
On top of a colossal pizza full of hot ponds of tomato-source, nauseatingly smelly chunk of cheese, & other toppings.
Grogg of the North
Adventurer
I had players travel through a pocket dimension that was each of the seasons. Each season was ruled by a lord. The players had to either appease the ruler of the season or kill them and take their power. Once they did that, they could travel to the next season. The PCs were also given a small token that would lead them to the next ruler of each season.
The PCs started in Spring where it was always mid morning, the sun was warm and friendly. Baby animals and fresh flowers abound. There were even easter eggs filled with small treasures scattered about. And the PCs were shrunk down to size Tiny. Suddenly that Dire Toad was a serious grapple monster. In Spring, the PCs were told by the Pixie Queen to go play a series of pranks on a forest giant that was being stubborn and ruining everyone's fun.
Spring gave way to Summer. Summer was set on the beach strewn with shipwrecks. The weather oppressively hot and had frequent thunderstorms roll through. Summer was ruled by a bronze dragon that lived in a cave near the sea. The only way to get to him was by swimming underwater. The dragon had the PCs stop some sahuagin from attacking merfolk. I had it so the sahuagin had been forced off their old hunting territories and were now raiding in order to feed themselves. It made the situation more morally gray. Also, I tried to play it where the bronze dragon, while good, was still a dragon. He was aloof and a bit of a jerk. My players really considered killing him.
Autumn was perpetually dusk. I tried to go with a harvest festival and halloween feel to everything in Autumn. Most of the area was farm lands where all the crops looked like they were ready to be gathered. There was one town that was inhabited by more monstrous individuals. Witches, werewolves, things like that. Autumn was ruled by a vampire. He had the players gather up the harvest for him. The harvest included offerings of all the crops that were grown and, on one cart in the wagon train, people from each village. The sick, the old, those that couldn't work the fields due to injury. All of them on the cart. When the PCs talked to them, the harvested people spoke about what a great honor it was to go to their lord. How they were able to help their community by doing this. And, I think, I had one of the elders on the cart talk about how they were ready for what was to come and was at peace with it. The players were furious and angrily confronted the vampire. The Lord of Autumn calmly explained about how, yes, some of them would be food for himself but it was an entirely voluntary position and that most of the harvested people would be transformed into guardians (Candy corn themed golems) that would protect the lands from monsters in the mountains. The party eventually came to blows with the Lord of Autumn and wound up killing him.
Winter was last. It was freezing cold, always night and filled with deep snow. The party had to move through a boreal forest into the mountains to meet the Lord of Winter, a frost giant jarl. He demanded to be entertained and tossed the party into a maze. In the maze were winter wolves that chased the group as they searched for the exit. Divination magic was forbidden within in the maze as that would be "cheating". If the PCs stopped to fight the wolves they could kill them. But every time they did that, the wolves return in a few rounds and there would be more of them. The wolves always knew where the PCs were in the maze. Once the PCs reached the end of the maze they left the pocket dimension and were back in the Prime.
I may still have my notes on this set of dungeon. If you need more info, let me know.
The PCs started in Spring where it was always mid morning, the sun was warm and friendly. Baby animals and fresh flowers abound. There were even easter eggs filled with small treasures scattered about. And the PCs were shrunk down to size Tiny. Suddenly that Dire Toad was a serious grapple monster. In Spring, the PCs were told by the Pixie Queen to go play a series of pranks on a forest giant that was being stubborn and ruining everyone's fun.
Spring gave way to Summer. Summer was set on the beach strewn with shipwrecks. The weather oppressively hot and had frequent thunderstorms roll through. Summer was ruled by a bronze dragon that lived in a cave near the sea. The only way to get to him was by swimming underwater. The dragon had the PCs stop some sahuagin from attacking merfolk. I had it so the sahuagin had been forced off their old hunting territories and were now raiding in order to feed themselves. It made the situation more morally gray. Also, I tried to play it where the bronze dragon, while good, was still a dragon. He was aloof and a bit of a jerk. My players really considered killing him.
Autumn was perpetually dusk. I tried to go with a harvest festival and halloween feel to everything in Autumn. Most of the area was farm lands where all the crops looked like they were ready to be gathered. There was one town that was inhabited by more monstrous individuals. Witches, werewolves, things like that. Autumn was ruled by a vampire. He had the players gather up the harvest for him. The harvest included offerings of all the crops that were grown and, on one cart in the wagon train, people from each village. The sick, the old, those that couldn't work the fields due to injury. All of them on the cart. When the PCs talked to them, the harvested people spoke about what a great honor it was to go to their lord. How they were able to help their community by doing this. And, I think, I had one of the elders on the cart talk about how they were ready for what was to come and was at peace with it. The players were furious and angrily confronted the vampire. The Lord of Autumn calmly explained about how, yes, some of them would be food for himself but it was an entirely voluntary position and that most of the harvested people would be transformed into guardians (Candy corn themed golems) that would protect the lands from monsters in the mountains. The party eventually came to blows with the Lord of Autumn and wound up killing him.
Winter was last. It was freezing cold, always night and filled with deep snow. The party had to move through a boreal forest into the mountains to meet the Lord of Winter, a frost giant jarl. He demanded to be entertained and tossed the party into a maze. In the maze were winter wolves that chased the group as they searched for the exit. Divination magic was forbidden within in the maze as that would be "cheating". If the PCs stopped to fight the wolves they could kill them. But every time they did that, the wolves return in a few rounds and there would be more of them. The wolves always knew where the PCs were in the maze. Once the PCs reached the end of the maze they left the pocket dimension and were back in the Prime.
I may still have my notes on this set of dungeon. If you need more info, let me know.
Greenfield
Adventurer
I once wrote a module for a game tournament.
The goal of the adventure was to retrieve the "Book of Lies". It's powers were tied to illusions, and it had been stolen by a powerful wizard and taken to his home in a "Plane of Twilight".
When the party arrived on the plane they saw a castle attached to a cloud. Odd enough, but the castle was upside down, hanging from the cloud.
The closest access point was the top of the highest tower. The far end of the module was in the deepest dungeon, where there was an astronomical observatory that looked "down" through the floor.
The whole place, once inside, was under a Reverse Gravity effect, so that the castle felt like it was right side up.
Most tournament modules would be pretty formulaic: Start at one end, get to the other, grab the prize. In this one the book was in a library off the main reception hall, at what would be ground level. No need to go into the "lower" levels at all.
For those who did they encountered heavy mists (the cloud the castle was set in) at one point, and had to deal with that the rest of the way, until they reached the observatory.
It was written for 1e, with pre-genned PCs of 12th level or so.
The hook of the whole thing was that the "Wizard" was a lich. In 1e they were described as Evil (Neutral), meaning usually evil, but not always. This particular one was mostly neutral. He wanted the book because it's illusions were powerful enough to even affect him. With it he could taste food again, enjoy a good drink and all the pleasures of flesh he no longer had.
He had no horrible, nefarious intent, and unless the party actually found the book, or got really personally destructive, he wouldn't attack them. He was, after all, an expert on how to survive, and there's not much future in facing down heroes if the fight isn't necessary.
So the oddity was in both the environment and in the very laid back and not very evil adversary.
The goal of the adventure was to retrieve the "Book of Lies". It's powers were tied to illusions, and it had been stolen by a powerful wizard and taken to his home in a "Plane of Twilight".
When the party arrived on the plane they saw a castle attached to a cloud. Odd enough, but the castle was upside down, hanging from the cloud.
The closest access point was the top of the highest tower. The far end of the module was in the deepest dungeon, where there was an astronomical observatory that looked "down" through the floor.
The whole place, once inside, was under a Reverse Gravity effect, so that the castle felt like it was right side up.
Most tournament modules would be pretty formulaic: Start at one end, get to the other, grab the prize. In this one the book was in a library off the main reception hall, at what would be ground level. No need to go into the "lower" levels at all.
For those who did they encountered heavy mists (the cloud the castle was set in) at one point, and had to deal with that the rest of the way, until they reached the observatory.
It was written for 1e, with pre-genned PCs of 12th level or so.
The hook of the whole thing was that the "Wizard" was a lich. In 1e they were described as Evil (Neutral), meaning usually evil, but not always. This particular one was mostly neutral. He wanted the book because it's illusions were powerful enough to even affect him. With it he could taste food again, enjoy a good drink and all the pleasures of flesh he no longer had.
He had no horrible, nefarious intent, and unless the party actually found the book, or got really personally destructive, he wouldn't attack them. He was, after all, an expert on how to survive, and there's not much future in facing down heroes if the fight isn't necessary.
So the oddity was in both the environment and in the very laid back and not very evil adversary.
ElectricDragon
Explorer
Like the previous reply, this one deals with a castle built on a cloud (not upsidedown). The castle is ruled by a powerful evil fey (ice witch, Medium, 9 HD, casts as 12th sorcerer, immune to cold, cold-type abilities) that treats all visitors to the cloud as intruders that must be dealt with and captured. Twice a year, she holds "hunts" where the captives are set free on the ground and hunted by her fey forces to the death. The cloud surrounding the castle is filled with various traps to catch the unwary and hold them for transfer to the dungeons by a patrol that checks the traps daily. The cloud has hung up on a nearby mountain peak and people around town are disappearing, first just sheepherders and such, but then townsfolk, and finally friends of the adventurers. The cloud hanging on the mountain top seems to spin lightning storms into the surrounding territory every few days and the temperature is steadily dropping, about 20 degrees/day. Snow starts falling (even though it is summer) and eventually starts to build up, from the mountain peaks down. The townsfolk are in the castle dungeons but not all in the same cell. Each large cell (big enough for up to a dozen people) is provided with a trough that is filled with a noxious goo each morning, it is somewhat nutritious even if not appetizing, after 6 months of this food, prisoners suffer a -2 Con penalty (just one normal meal can remove this penalty), each cell also has several puddles of water that drip from the walls and prevent dying of thirst. The party is captured by malicious fey (more ice witches, but sorcerer 6, 6 HD) when they attempt climbing the mountain and quickly taken to the dungeons. These fey are immune to cold and winds, and their arrows seem not to be affected by storm winds (they have arrows similar to pixies but more deadly), they also use nets and lassos. The mountain is ruled by another fey, a peak faerie, that is known to the party (as a previous big bad) who is trying desperately to get the cloud off of her mountain, but lacks the magic or power to do so. The party can escape the dungeons, free the other captives, and escape down the mountain. OR they can await the "hunt" which the guards talk about often in Common to tease the prisoners. Either way, they will run into the peak faerie before they get off the mountain and hopefully work out a method of rescuing the big bad and sending the cloud fluttering away. Creative thinking is rewarded as is actually making a deal with the peak faerie instead of fighting her again.
Some clouds in my world are solid enough to walk on without magic, this cloud is one of the solid ones: looks all fluffy from below, but on top it is a flat almost featureless plain with a large fairytale castle in the middle of it (not visible from the ground). Cloud giants, some dragons, and special fey usually live on such clouds.
Some clouds in my world are solid enough to walk on without magic, this cloud is one of the solid ones: looks all fluffy from below, but on top it is a flat almost featureless plain with a large fairytale castle in the middle of it (not visible from the ground). Cloud giants, some dragons, and special fey usually live on such clouds.
Greenfield
Adventurer
Here's one I've used more than once, with different groups.
Harvest festival. PCs, being well known heroes, are invited to officiate at various games.
There are brewing competitions, an archery competition, tests/demonstrations of strength like team tug-o-war for the sailor types, caber toss, horse racing, as well as some lumberjack events.
There's going to be a disturbance, an attack of whatever kind you see fit.
In one of these, most of the party ended up entering the archery competition. The 1st prize was a small medal worth maybe 5 gp.
The PCs burned through potions, scrolls and finger-spells like crazy trying to win that little prize.
The "odd environment" part of this scenario is subtle: Who will admit that they came to a party in anything less than full armor, with all their weapons, a full pack and with all of their common "Going adventuring" spells already cast?
The second part is, they have to deal with raiders who aren't interested in standing and fighting heroes. Instead the Orcs/Goblins/Pirates/whatever are running wild, trying to loot the field, take prisoners and maybe even raid the nearby town.
While the PCs will have area spells that can drop the small-time foes by the dozen, there are civilians in the way, people they need to protect.
In one group we had a player who loved fire. He had Chain Lightning, which is made for this situation. Instead he threw Fireballs, Incendiary Cloud, Wall of Fire, and every other AoE flame spell he could think of. He absolutely loved it, and didn't hesitate to fry bystanders, so long as he could rack up a real body count.
The civilians? "They can get Raised later." was his off-hand response. He did more damage to the people and the festival grounds than the raiders.
And that's how *not* to handle a situation like this.
Harvest festival. PCs, being well known heroes, are invited to officiate at various games.
There are brewing competitions, an archery competition, tests/demonstrations of strength like team tug-o-war for the sailor types, caber toss, horse racing, as well as some lumberjack events.
There's going to be a disturbance, an attack of whatever kind you see fit.
In one of these, most of the party ended up entering the archery competition. The 1st prize was a small medal worth maybe 5 gp.
The PCs burned through potions, scrolls and finger-spells like crazy trying to win that little prize.
The "odd environment" part of this scenario is subtle: Who will admit that they came to a party in anything less than full armor, with all their weapons, a full pack and with all of their common "Going adventuring" spells already cast?
The second part is, they have to deal with raiders who aren't interested in standing and fighting heroes. Instead the Orcs/Goblins/Pirates/whatever are running wild, trying to loot the field, take prisoners and maybe even raid the nearby town.
While the PCs will have area spells that can drop the small-time foes by the dozen, there are civilians in the way, people they need to protect.
In one group we had a player who loved fire. He had Chain Lightning, which is made for this situation. Instead he threw Fireballs, Incendiary Cloud, Wall of Fire, and every other AoE flame spell he could think of. He absolutely loved it, and didn't hesitate to fry bystanders, so long as he could rack up a real body count.
The civilians? "They can get Raised later." was his off-hand response. He did more damage to the people and the festival grounds than the raiders.
And that's how *not* to handle a situation like this.
