Special wilderness locales

Tired of wilderness encounters with nothing but monsters? Here are some other interesting things a party might stumble across while trekking cross-country. A convenient list of 30 for those who have a d30 on hand. Use them by themselves or combine them with a monster encounter or terrain feature. (I'd recommend not using them all the time; perhaps a 1-in-6 or 1-in-12 chance per day of travel.)

1. Battlefield. The site of some forgotten battle of old, strewn with the rusted remains of arms and armor half-buried in the earth. Possibly haunted.

2. Enchanted tree. Its fruits produce the effects of a random potion at half-strength, but spoil a day after picking. Has 2d6 ripe fruits when found.

3. Faerie ring. Mushrooms growing in a circle. Will a character stepping into their midst be put to sleep by mischievous faeries or whisked away to a mystical forest?

4. Burial cairn. Whose eternal resting place is this? 

5. Cache of supplies. A stash of iron rations, rope, torches, oil, or other useful equipment. Is it abandoned and forgotten, or will someone be angry if it's taken?

6. Fresh grave. What happened here, and to whom? Is danger still lurking nearby?

7. Monument. A pillar or plinth carved with words in an ancient language. Maybe it's a historical note, or a curse, or the words to a forgotten spell.

8. Shrine. A simple wayside shrine to some deity or saint, current or forgotten. Offer a prayer?

9. Ruin. There's no dungeon beneath; it's just some fallen stones that hint at some structure which stood here long ago.

10. Spring. A source of clean water bubbling up from the ground. Is it magical, or just refreshing?

11. Well. An old wishing well. Does it really grant wishes? Are there coins or something else at the bottom? Maybe the water itself is special somehow ...

12. Petrified creature(s.) A frightened hippogriff? Ogres arguing? Such weird statues ... or are they?

13. Statue. A more conventional one, of a human or demihuman in a dignified or heroic pose. 

14. Obelisk. The remains of a giant sundial? A fancy grave marker? Does its shadow point to a secret at a certain time of day?

15. Standing stones. Weathered stones arranged in a ring. An ancient celestial observatory, or the joke of an extinct civilization with way too much time on its hands?

16. Fountain. A spring that someone dressed up with a pool and maybe some statuary. Could it be magical?

17. Graveyard. Not just a grave; a whole graveyard, but what's it doing out in the middle of nowhere? Was there a village or monastery here once, or is there some more sinister reason?

18. Old campsite. A cleared area with a fire pit. Perhaps adventurers spent the night here once, or maybe it's a site used regularly by nomadic people.

19. Abandoned house/cabin/shack. Musty and dilapidated, but still standing. A bit creepy, but possibly useful for shelter.

20. Scorched earth. A small area charred black. A wildfire that didn't quite take off, an angry dragon blowing off steam, or a magical experiment gone wrong (or right)?

21. Hot spring. Hot, steamy, and encrusted with minerals.

22. Geyser. Periodically spews boiling hot mineral water into the air.

23. Crater/Sinkhole. How did that get there? Is there anything interested at the bottom?

24. Rare plant. An herb or fungus that may be very valuable in alchemy or spell research.

25. Mystic flame. A fire, possibly of unusual color and properties, that doesn't spread and never goes out.

26. Magic dampening zone. An area 100 yards in diameter where magic is suppressed. Maybe all magic, maybe only specific kinds.

27. Magic hot zone. Magic, either generally or of some particular type, is amplified in a zone 100 yards in diameter.

29. Quicksand. The classic 70s-80s TV show hazard, in a pit 1d4+1 x5 feet wide.

30. Giant vegetation. An area 1d6x10 yards in diameter is filled with typical local vegetation, but several times normal size. Giant mushrooms, berries, or flowers are possibilities.


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