The Writhing Depths
The Writhing Depths
Welcome and thank you for investing your time with me.
I hope this module system and rule agnostic RPG adventure is easy to use and fun for you and anyone else along for the journey.
You will find complete instructions on the CONTENTS page
To see the cover page click the door icon.
Do You Open The Door?
CONTENTS
The Writhing Depths
The Writhing Depths
START HERE: HOW TO USE THIS MODULE
Emergent Adventure System
Story
Elements
Icon Key
GM Cheat Sheet
Summary
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
Journey to Mine
Mine Camp
Timeline of Miner Massacre
Adventure Hooks
NPC Selection
General Cavern Description
Clues
Jorrik Algar
Environmental Challenges
Jorrik's Story
Raleson's Story
Elara Wynn
Enhoff's Story
Treasure
Felicity Vorn
100 Mushroom Effects
Creature Selection
Map Selection
Chthonic Maw
Main Map
Lights Out Map
Mycelium Sentinel
Main Map Descriptions
Urdrum Swarm
Mine Camp
Todd Massey
The Writhing Depths
The Writhing Depths
PAGE 1 OF 2
EMERGENT ADVENTURE SYSTEM
Emergent Storytelling - A type of storytellng where a story develops naturally and unexpectedly through a player's actions.
How This Module is Designed
This RPG module introduces a fresh and flexible approach to storytelling in adventure campaigns, designed with Game Masters in mind. Its innovative linking structure means you are never more than one or two clicks from the information you need. It offers a more dynamic and versatile image based alternative to the rigid formats of traditional print or PDF modules.
Rule Agnostic Design for Maximum Flexibility
Unlike conventional modules tied to specific game systems, this adventure is presented in a rule-agnostic format. This means there are no predefined stats or proprietary game mechanics. As a result, the module can seamlessly integrate into any game system, any world, and any character level.
Tailored to Your Players, Game and World
The only prerequisite for the GM is a good understanding of their players and their characters. GMs will assign target numbers and customize essential stats for opponents and obstacles such as Hit Points, Armor Class, or Skill Checks based on the game system they are using and the party's level. This ensures gameplay that is balanced, engaging, and suited to the specific dynamics of your group.
Perfect for Homebrew Worlds
Because of the open-ended design, this system is particularly well-suited for integration into homebrew worlds. Its malleability ensures it can adapt seamlessly to your unique setting, enhancing the world you've built rather than imposing rigid external structures.
No Character Restrictions
One of the standout advantages of this system is its adaptability. It can be tailored to characters of any ruleset and level, freeing your party to play with their established characters rather than being constrained to pre-made module characters or specific level requirements. This freedom allows for a more organic and immersive experience, as the story evolves around their choices and the heroes your players love.
PAGE 1 OF 2
How to Use this Module
This RPG adventure module is a complete story but is presented in a new format. Rather than a PDF or print format, it contains clickable elements that reveal additional information.
My goal was to solve common problems that Game Masters experience with other formats. The technology is nothing new, but the presentation for an RPG module is unique.
This way, the GM is never more than 1 or 2 clicks away from critical information and can easily return to whatever element they were at originally.
Information is layered, with brief notes available first and then if needed the GM can go deeper for more details.
The Home button takes you to the CONTENTS page where all major links are located.
There are 4 Main Categories
NPC's
Creatures
Maps
Story Elements
Each Main Category allows for deeper branching information
Text, Images and Icons can be Clickable
While not everything is clickable, don't hesitate to click.
CLICK TO OPEN CLICK TO CLOSE
Some pages only have a few clickable elements while the Main Map page has close to 50 clickable elements.
Leaving a page will cause all elements on that page to reset to original starting point.
Story Elements
The Writhing Depths (Dungeon Adventure)
GM Cheat Sheet
Summary
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
Journey to Mine
Mine Camp
General Cavern Description
Adventure Hooks
Timeline of Miner Massacre
Clues
Treasure
Environmental Challenges
Jorrik's Story
Raleson's Story
Enhoff's Story
100 Mushroom Effects
PAGE 2 OF 2
EMERGENT ADVENTURE SYSTEM cont...
It is Up to the Game Master
This is a complete adventure story like any campaign setting, except there are no stats. After reading through the entire module's story, the GM should have a good idea of what level and how many hit points, etc., should be assigned to create interesting encounters.
No Read Aloud
Controversial, I know. There are no read-aloud descriptions. The GM does what they have always done: describes the scene in their own voice. Overhead and Point-of-View images help to guide basic scene descriptions.
Treasure
Outside of some general ideas or suggestions for what might be considered valuable (creature parts, etc.), no monetary quantities are used. Again, this allows the GM flexibility in slotting the adventure into their own world with minimal effort. Reward your players as you see fit.
No Planned Attacks
The Writhing Depths adventure has no planned attacks written into the storyline. There are two aggressive natural-type creatures (Chthonic Maw and Urdrum Swarm) that inhabit the cave system. The GM should have these creatures attack based on story pacing, player choices, and appropriateness.
Lean into the Environment
Based on what your party is ready for, you can make this particular adventure a wondrous, head-spinning romp through a glowing mushroom forest or a gritty, constant fight against never-before-encountered creatures in this bizarre place.
PAGE 2 OF 2
The Writhing Depths
The Writhing Depths
RPG FANTASY ADVENTURE
Summary
Beneath the earth lies a vast, humid cavern system that connects to geothermal vents and distant magma pools. Within this labyrinth, two predators, the Chthonic Maw and the Urdrum Swarm, dominate in a precarious balance. Adventurers are drawn to these hidden caves after a series of earthquakes reveal a new passage and rumors of lives lost for a vast wealth of gold. However, the caverns hold deadly secrets, and the expedition quickly turns into a desperate fight for survival.
The basic premise is that the adventurers are assisting the poor villagers of Greenstone to see if there are any additional survivors besides Jorrik Algar, the sole known surviving member of a group of miners who were attacked at their mining camp.
If the party is not very altruistic, and willing to help the villagers for a pittance, there are multiple paths to earn rewards, just mix and match some of the suggested adventure hooks.
General Cavern Description
This was a mostly closed cavern system until the tremor opened up an entrance... and exit. The entire cavern is warm and humid due to the steam geyers in the Geothermal Cavern. This area creates a positive pressure environment so all air flows outward from this cavern.
In the midst of the Geothermal Cavern and the steam vents is the Fungi Forest. A highly dynamic forest made up entirely of various fungi.
The air is intensly humid, with water constantly dripping from ceiling and walls, accumulating into puddles or creating muddy passages that make stable footing and any type of heat based vision a challenge.
The cavern contains more creatures than just a couple of predators. There are rats, bats, roaches and a myriad of other inhabitants that find their way in and out through small cracks and passages to the surface.
Adventure Hooks
The Disappearing Miners:
A rescue hook that targets the miners for low payment. Recently, after some local tremors, Greenstone, a town on the edge of the jungle, lost 10 local citizens while tunneling within nearby mountain caves in search of gold. The villagers have lost many men and the leaders implore the adventurers to help search and rescue any survivors.
To utilize this part of the adventure have the party encounter NPC Jorrik Algar
The Alchemists Bounty:
A monetary hook that targets creatures for profit. An alchemist working around the village suspects, based on the surviving miner's tale, that the creatures are a Chthonic Maw and Urdrum Swarm. She will hire people for the retrieval of the intact acid-storing sacs of the Chthonic Maw and the Urdrum paralysis venom, rumored to have extraordinary properties. The rewards are great, but the dangers are greater.
To utilize this part of the adventure have the party encounter NPC Elara Wynn.
Ignis Shards:
A magical hook that targets minerals for power. Rare geothermal crystals known as "Ignis Shards." These luminous, heat-emitting stones are highly valued by various magic-using powers for their energy-storing capabilities. These crystals are known to exist in this mountainous area.
To follow this path of the adventure have the party encounter NPC Felicity Vorn.
Treasure
Here are the obvious treasures that can be obtained on this adventure.
Payment for Services:
There are 2 ways to earn money
Working with Elara Wynn (Alchemists Bounty) for creature parts.
Working with Felicity Vorn (Ignis Shards) for magical minerals.
Adventure Hooks
Raw Gold:
There are 3 places to easily gather raw gold
Miners stashed some in the mining camp purple tent
There is gold in the Mining Area #1.
There is gold in the Unclaimed Cave #5.
Mushrooms from the Fungi Forest:
While it is hard to determine which mushroom created desirable effects, it is possible to harvest mushrooms from Geothermal Cavern #4 and utilize them later.
100 Fungi Effects
Still valuable even if they don't get paid by Felicity Vorn.
Ignis Shards:
Ignis Shards can only be found in Chthonic Maw Lair #6
Acid Sacs:
Still valuable even if they don't get paid by Elara Wynn.
Acid sacs can only be harvested from the Chthonic Maw.
Paralysis Poison Sacs:
Still valuable even if they don't get paid by Elara Wynn.
Poison sacs can only be harvested from the Urdrum Swarm.
Mycelium Sentinel:
Only Felicity Vorn can assist with knowledge of the Mycelium Sentinel.
Mycelium Sentinel can only be found at Mycelium Sentinel #8
NPC's
Jorrik Algar:
The Disappearing Miners - All the miners were working this side project hoping to hit it rich for the village of Greenstone. Jorrik was elected foreman of the 11 person team. He is a grizzled, acid burned survivor of the attack, who is presently unwilling to re-enter the tunnels or even help the adventurers with rescue information due to both the shocking horror of the attack and his desire to ensure the village benefits from their find before anyone else can.
Jorrik Algar's Story
Greenstone
The Miner Discovery
Description
Elara Wynn:
The Alchemist Bounty - A shadowy alchemist hanging around Greenstone offering casually high prices for creature samples.
Recently arrived in the area Elara has been sketching local flora and fauna. Making deals with the locals for live samples.
Full Profile
Deal Making
Greenstone
Description
Felicity Vorn:
Ignis Shards - An apprentice scholar working in the area studying the Ignis Shard.
She and her two assistants are camping in the mining area and are willing to aid adventurers with book-oriented magical and geographical knowledge.
Deal Making
Full Profile
Mining Camp
Description
Jorrik Algar's Story
When talking with Jorrik the conversation can easily go wrong if he suspects the adventurers are out to steal the gold they have discovered.
If talks do go poorly with Jorrik the local leaders will beg the adventurers to help them anyway and will relay Jorrik's story second hand.
Here is what Jorrik can reveal if the conversation goes well.
5 miners were down in the mine digging while he and the other 5 were on the surface.
He can describe the 2 predators, Urdrum Swarm and Chthonic Maw, that attacked them and how they attacked.
The tremor had opened another chamber but they had not explored it due to being excited about their gold find.
The tremor caused some stability problems in the mine but no one had been hurt yet and they spent extra time shoring up the ceiling.
They have some gold hidden in the purple tent.
The following tale is written as if you were encountering Jorrik as he stumbled into the small local tavern after having made his way back to Greenstone.
Location of Mine
The Writhing Shadows
The room was silent save for the faint creak of the tavern's beams. Jorrik looked at the scarred table, his voice dropping to barely a whisper.
“That’s when it came. The Maw.”
He shook his head, his breath hitching. “I felt it before I saw it, this deep vibration in the ground, like the bones of the earth were groanin’. And then, it burst outta the cave. Huge, slimy, and stinkin’ of acid and death. Its mouth opened wide, needle teeth glistenin’, and it went straight for the boys still fightin’ off the swarm. No time to scream. Just a wet crunch and.” He slammed a fist against the table, making several of the listeners jump. “Four of ‘em gone. Just like that.”
Jorrik’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the mug. “Bugs. Never seen the like of ‘em. Rust-red shells and legs sharp as knives, skitterin’ faster than anything should. They came pourin’ out of the mine like a black tide. Poor Gregor was the first—they swarmed him, the lot of ‘em, bitin’ and tearin’. He went stiff as a board, limbs jerkin’ like a puppet, and then he dropped. The sound, gods, I’ll never forget the sound. Like meat bein’ shredded.”
He paused, his gaze distant. “We didn’t have much time to think. Grabbed whatever we could—shovels, planks, even a damn blanket—and started swingin’. Thought maybe we could beat ‘em back. But every swing was a gamble. They’d crawl up your arms, bite you, and your muscles’d lock up like iron. I got hit on my leg first—crippled me good, but I kept swingin’. We managed to kill a lot of ‘em. But Gregor, he was gone. Dead before we could pull those bastards off him.”
Jorrik Algar sat hunched over the tavern table, his face a craggy landscape of scars and melted flesh, half-hidden beneath the edge of a dark hood. His once sturdy frame now appeared gaunt, his movements stiff and pained as he cradled a mug of ale with trembling hands. Around him, the townsfolk leaned in, their faces pale in the flickering lamplight as he began his tale. “It was the tremor that did it,” Jorrik rasped, his voice a hoarse whisper that silenced the room. “Shook the whole camp like the ground was tryin’ to spit somethin’ out. Day after, the air felt wrong, thick and heavy, like the earth itself was holdin’ its breath.”
He took a long drink, then wiped his mouth with a freshly scarred hand. “We were outside the cave that morning, me and five others, sortin’ through the tailings. Just another day, y’know? Diggin’ deep, five of the boys still inside the mine. Then the shoutin’ started.”
He stopped and touched gingerly at the edges of his ruined face. “But before I got away, I don’t know what came over me. I grabbed a shovel off the ground and swung it as hard as I could. Thought it’d be my last act before it got me. Landed the blow right behind its head. The damn thing screeched like the earth itself was dyin’, and its head hung limp, nearly severed. I took a spray of acid for it, felt it eat into my body, but I kept crawlin’. I looked back, and there it was, thrashin’, its head barely holdin’ on. I don’t know if it’s dead or not, but it bought me enough time to get away.”
Jorrik’s voice broke as he continued, his words tumbling out in a rush. “I was half-paralyzed already, could barely crawl. The acid, it sprayed me, burned my face, my chest. Thought I was done for. But somehow, I kept goin’. Crawled past the bodies, past the bugs still chewin’ on ‘em, and out into the trees.”
The room sat in stunned silence, the weight of Jorrik’s words pressing down on everyone like the depths of the cave itself. After a long pause, he added, his voice bitter, “Whatever’s down there, it ain’t natural. It’s death, waitin’ to crawl out and take the rest of us. Mark my words, leave the caves alone. Or end up like Gregor and the others.” With that, Jorrik pushed himself to his feet, his legs trembling under him. He left the tavern without another word, leaving the crowd behind to murmur in uneasy whispers about the horrors that dwelled beneath the earth.
Elara Wynn Profile
Species:
Appearance:
Background:
Personality Traits:
Motivations:
Paralysis Poison Sacs
Acid Sacs
Skills:
Read details on Chthonic Maw
Read details on Urdrum Swarm
Hobbies:
Weapons/Equipment:
Affiliations:
Habitat:
Cottage
Quill & Ivy Tattoo
Tattoo:
Voice:
Relations:
Dagger
Sketches
Felicity Vorn Profile
Species:
Appearance:
Background:
Personality Traits:
Motivations:
Ignis Shard Information
Skills:
Mycelium Sentinel Information
Hobbies:
Weapons/Equipment:
Visit Mycelium Sentinel to learn Value, Harvest and Preparation information
Affiliations:
Habitat:
Jacob and Eli
Tattoo:
Voice:
Relations:
Enhoff's Story
Enhoff:
Three miners slipped into the Mud Pit but became increasingly frantic when the remains of the Urdrum Swarm arrived, causing Raleson Patter to slip and join his companions struggling in the Mud Pit.
During the swarm attack, Enhoff, like the others, was thrashing around and cracked his head on some stone but was able to gain just enough of a purchase on the pit walls to pull himself out of the mud.
Suffering a bleeding concussion and multiple paralyzing bites to his legs and body, he was able to drag himself blindly down a tunnel, where he passed out.
Later, he awoke in complete darkness and wondered if he was blind from his pulsing head wound. Feeling was beginning to return to his legs, but he could feel some of his wounds still bleeding as consciousness left him again.
Waking again, he was thirsty and crawled toward the sound of dripping water, where he drank from a tiny puddle of cave water.
He tried crawling blindly in a direction and finally stopped from exhaustion, completely lost in the pitch-black cave, unaware of how much time had passed. He fell unconscious again.
Enhoff awoke with a feeling of dread; the bizarre giant worm that had attacked them in the Mine Area was slithering down the tunnel towards him, glowing from bioluminescent goo smeared along its glistening length.
Enhoff crammed his body down between a couple of rocks he found himself between and froze solid like a scared rabbit with the predator approaching.
As the Maw passed Enhoff, he dared to watch it as it began to disappear into a deep crack at the back of the room, where it slipped into a tiny tunnel.
But now Enhoff realized that his eyes were working and he was not blind, and what he had seen from the dim glow coming off the giant snake gave him hope.
He had seen that he was at the end of the tunnel and needed to turn around to escape. He had also seen a rich vein of gold glistening in a cracked open boulder that he could lay first claim to as his own.
If he could get out alive.
100 Mushroom Effects
Simply choose an image or roll %
Sneezes mushrooms for 1d6 hours. They are harmless but persistent.
Hallucinations of tiny, dancing mushroom people for 1d6 hours.
Eyes rotate through different types of vision every hour for 8 hours.
Skin develops a faint bioluminescent glow for 24 hours.
Itchy rash that smells like cheese develops; lasts 1d4 days.
Develops permanent aversion to consuming mushrooms - violently ill if consumed.
Speak gibberish uncontrollably for 1d4 hours (no verbal spell casting).
Hair turns into thin, writhing fungal tendrils that can 2 way communicate base thoughts with mushrooms 1d12 hours.
Loss of coordination, dexterity based abilities badly affected 1d4 degrees of severity for 2d6 hours.
Ears sprout delicate mushroom caps causing all sounds to be muffled, then fall off in 1d6 hours.
10
13
Tingling extremities and persistent thirst for 1d4 hours.
12
Develops a taste for raw fungi, cannot resist found mushrooms,
Eyes bulge out becoming compound insect eyes with wider vision but disorientations for 1d6 hours
15
Breath smell like moldy earth for 1d6 days, affects charisma, persuasion type abilities.
18
11
All attributes temporarily max out for 1-2 hours before the character collapses from exhaustion.
14
Hands become sticky and adhesive for 1d6 hours.
Nightmares of giant fungus destroying the world, no restful sleep for 1d6 days.
17
19
Skin takes on a tough, bark-like texture, bonus protection 1d8 hours.
Mild euphoria, feelings of peace and unity with the universe 2d8 hours.
20
Body temperature drops 10 degrees for next 24 hours (stiff limbs, uncontrollable shivers).
16
21
Large mushroom cap grows on head, intelligence bonus 1d4, energy consumption x4, lasts 1d4 hours.
22
Sudden inability to process spoken language (hear or speak) 1d4 hours, written language is understandable.
Ears and brain develop echolocation ability, lasts 2d8 hours.
24
27
All hair develops brightly luminous, flowing and pulsing color from root to tip, permanently. Color reflects mood.
Feels very hot and strips off ALL objects on self for 1d4 hours. (clothes, jewelry, packs - can still carry a weapon)
28
30
Feels invulnerable for 1d4 hours.
23
Experiences changing (every hour) waves of Lethargy, Joy, Depression (d6) for 2d8 hours. (1,2 = L; 3,4 = J; 5,6 = D)
Paranoia and suspicion rule the thoughts for 2d4 hours.
25
26
Uncontrollable muscle twitches for 1d4 hours. Any delicate or strong movements outside of walking will trigger spasms 40% of time.
Develops an irrational fear of all metal objects 3d6 hours.
29
36
Expanded mind, boost to wisdom type abilities for 1d4 hours.
37
Expanded mind, boost to wisdom type abilities for 1d4 hours
38
Thinks they win all discussions because they pointed their finger in someone's face. 1 hour duration.
35
Percieved false increase in strength and dexterity type abilities, but no actual increase except to ego.
Converts to a lawn ornament for 1d4 hours.
40
31
Skin temporarily takes on a slimy, soft texture for 1d6 hours. Hard to hold objects
32
Constantly loses direction, develops wanderlust 1d4 days.
33
Hears distant, eerie voices only they can perceive 1d8 hours.
34
Skin tingles, all hair grows rapidly for 1d6 hours.
39
Clothes sprout colorful mushrooms, begins to commune and play with faeries that are not visible to others for 1d6 hours.
49
Any movement leaves an aerial trail of sparkling, colorful dust making them a standout target for 2d8 days.
50
Mushrooms rapidly decay within 10 feet of character’s presence 1d4 hours.
41
Develops a faint, pleasant fungal scent that attracts insects 1d4 hours.
42
Reflexes become sluggish and apathy reigns for 1d6 hours.
43
Skin become bioluminescent for 1d4 days. Walking night light 10' radius.
44
Full beard of lichen grows from face reducing physical appearance 1d8 days.
45
Develop electrogenesis as "battery organs" grow on back, hands deliver mild electrical shocks for 24 hours (limit total damage of battery before recharged.
46
Everyone else affected by fungi at all will worship this character for 1d4 hours.
47
Eyes emit faint bioluminescence, reveals foe weakspots, increased chance to hit, but glow attracts moths, 2d4 hours.
48
Inexplicable hostility towards anyone who damages a mushroom 1d6 hours.
53
Believes they can communicate with fungi, thinks fairies are coming to save the mushrooms 1d4 hours.
Continously emits spores that collect on all light sources, building up and eventually smothering or blocking the light within 30 minutes, 1d4 hours.
54
51
Each hour stack a new symptom, Sweating, Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea, then each hour remove a symptom (weakness, constitution) .
Feels compelled to 'pet' mushrooms, 'coo' and baby talk when encountering them 1d8 days.
52
55
Very little matters anymore so acts like bull in china shop 1d4 hours.
56
Fingers develop patterns resembling fungal gills, emits mildly healing spores at will 2d4 hours.
57
Loud noises or bright lights cause character to involuntarily release skunk-like odor along with large amounts of methane that nearby open flame will ignite. 1d6 hours.
58
Squirrel!!! Easily distracted 1d4 hours.
59
Fall asleep for 1 hour, cannot be wakened. After waking up physical attributes are increased for 1 hour.
60
Gains immunity to poison but becomes weak to sunlight 2d8 days.
61
Move speed increases, double physical attacks 1-2 hours.
62
Claustrophobia 2d6 hours. Roll % for severity 01-45=Mild 46-86=Moderate 87-100=Severe.
63
Feels detached from their body, physical movement and combat slowed for 1d4 hours.
64
Sudden minor beneficial mutations, useful extra appendage, Armor Class bonus bumpy skin, etc.revert in 1d12 hours.
Develops a sickening aversion to alcohol for 2d6 days.
65
66
Feels deeply for all living creatures 1d4 days.
67
Footsteps create a wet squelching sound even on dry ground, shoed or shoeless, no quiet movement for 2d4 days.
Hypersensitive to all odors, amazing ability to individually identify odors for 2d12 hours.
68
69
Tremors in their hands, affects any tasks involving hands 2d6 hours.
70
Character's tongue turns black, everything tastes metallic, spits mild acid for 1d8 hours.
Skin begins secreting a phosphorescent fungal slime, can slither (naked) across ground for 1d4 days.
76
Affinity for and strong interest in cultivating mushrooms 1d6 years.
77
79
Cillia sensor growth all over body allows air/ground detection of creatures/events before they arrive, increased accuracy for 1d4 hours.
71
Resist acid for 1d6 hours.
Begins emitting a fungal aroma causes everyone (Save against influence is reduced) to agree with their arguments and decisions 1d4hours.
72
Fear of all water 2d6 hours. Roll % for severity 01-45=Mild 46-86=Moderate 87-100=Severe.
73
74
Body size increases X2, no benefit, just larger, for 1d4 hours (only physical body, not objects change size).
75
Body size shrinks 75%, no benefit, just smaller, for 1d4 hours (only physical body, not objects change size)..
78
Develop fire breath weapon, 10 foot cone as per character level for 1d4 hours.
80
Hallucinates multiple foes but only during times of stress, combat, etc for 1d4 hours.
84
Instantly poisoned, no health damage, fall into coma for 1d4 hours.
85
Instantly poisoned, health is at zero and cannot be healed for 1d4 hours.
86
Voice becomes very loud, cannot whisper, Loud Bellow stun breath weapon 10 foot cone as per character level 1-2 hours.
89
Instantly 5 years older.
81
Develops an overwhelming fear of personally damaging mushrooms, might attack others for same 1d4 hours.
82
Instantly poisoned, massive random health damage (normal poison saves can apply).
83
Lose their sense of smell, everything tastes bland, uninterested in eating for 2d6 days, after 2 days of not eating, strength related activites suffer.
87
All damage, disease is healed immediately, hair and skin becomes gorgeous for 2d4 days.
88
Instantly 5 years younger.
90
All body hair falls off but will grow back normally, develops familiar only they can see and thinks the familiar is very helpful for 1d4 hours.
00
Become Super Humanoid, all abilities increase for 1 hour, exhausted and requires rest afterwards.
99
Roll two more times and use both results, effects can stack.
92
Vision is massively improved along all spectrums and distance for 1d4 days.
96
Exhales a glowing mist, confidence building breath weapon 10 foot cone for 1d6 hours, singular task gains bonus.
98
All events are funny, the longer the event the more uncontrollable the laughter, abilities reduced due to distraction and tiredness lasts 1 hour.
91
Vertigo (affecting dexterity based abilities) brought on by fast movement such as turning head, running, combat lasts 1d4 hours.
93
Tiny, white, hairy "veins" develop on skin absorb nutrients from the air and ground if stay still long enough no need to eat for 1d8 days.
94
No physical changes but strength based abilities increase 1d4 hours.
95
Power of levitation for 1d4 hours.
97
Hands glow with tiny attached glowing orbs and can be launched like fireflies and directed up to 60 feet for 1d4 hours.
Mushroom effects are stackable.
Some details will be missing, be prepared to make rulings.
Have fun with mushrooms!
Clues
Trail of Destruction:
If the adventurers are looking at rescuing miners, they need to pay attention to the number of SKULLS they discover to make sure they have not missed any survivors.
There were a total of 11 miners at the site: 6 above ground and 5 below ground.
One miner, Jorrik, returned, leaving five miners above ground, dead.
Of the 5 miners underground, 3 are dead and 2 are still alive, unless the party takes too long to reach them.
Chitinous Clicks:
The sound of the Urdrum Swarm moving in their writhing lump can be heard before encountering them.
Their shells and legs tapping and scrabbling on each other's bodies and surrounding stone is a terror-inducing noise.
Tremor Variations:
After comparative samples of Chthonic Maw digging, geyers and earth tremors, Dwarves and other earth sensitive species can tell the difference.
Bioluminescent Tracks:
Only visible in the darkness (unseen with torch or lamp light), tiny glowing Urdrum insect dot-sized footsteps lead deeper into the caverns through the Fungi Forest and act as a direct trail to their Hive Nexus egg lair.
To reveal the hidden tunnel through the Fungi Forest visit the Lights Out Map
Slime Trail:
The Chthonic Maw leaves a slime trail that dries to a flaky white.
That same slime can act as a weak glue to help the Chthonic Maw form more permanent tunnels.
Rising Water Trap:
Preceding the irregular flooding of the Fungi Forest basin with hot water will produce some predictable effects after encountering the event one time.
1. Increased pressure will cause geyers to increase steam and noise output.
2. Then just as the water begins to flood the Forest Carpet the steam and noise will suddenly stop as all the steam has been replaced with water.
3. As the spongy Fungi Carpet begins to become soaked the heat in the basin will rise dramatically.
4. Mushroom Soup - The hot water will kill the Fungi Forest but it will begin to restore itself starting in the first hour of destruction.
Raleson Patter's Story
Raleson Patter:
The surviving miner in the Mud Pit is Raleson Patter, stuck in the mud for two days and up to his neck in a constant struggle to keep from slipping further under the mud.
He is completely exhausted, alive simply by luck that the bugs and rodents running around did not finish him off. Slurping muddy water and eating bugs has helped to keep him alive.
The four miners had fled into the Geothermal Cavern area to escape the giant worm creature that had cut off their retreat to the surface. They had run blindly into the Mud Pit area, and three of them ended up slipping down the muddy slope and becoming mired in the mud.
Raleson ran to get some equipment to rescue them, found the worm was gone, and returned with a lantern, hammer, post, and rope. During the process of trying to rescue his friends, the Urdrum Swarm, with their numbers greatly diminished, were returning to the Hive Nexus when they startled Raleson.
Raleson flailed about at the swarm of insects and slipped into the mud, dragging all the loose equipment with him and extinguishing the lantern. The swarm ate the hemp rope that was lying on the ground, then crawled over the screaming men in the darkness, biting them as the mass of the swarm exited the Mud Pit to return to their hive to replenish.
During this attack, one of the miners, Enhoff, was able to pull himself out of the mud in the darkness and drag his partially paralyzed and bleeding body down into the Unclaimed Cave in a frantic attempt to escape, collapsing into unconsciousness.
Raleson is completely unaware that Enhoff had escaped the mud and assumed during the beginning of all the yelling and blind thrashing during the first Urdrum Swarm attack, Enhoff was simply the first to quickly succumb to his fate in the darkness.
After a bit of time, Raleson's eyes adjusted to the faint, bioluminescent light created by the Fungi Forest. He was able to make out the fleeting shapes of the various cave creatures darting around in the mud. He could vaguely see his two other friends and clearly heard their screams as the Urdrum Swarm continuously returned over the next couple of days, slowly killing them off.
GM Cheat Sheet
The Writhing Depths Adventure on One Page
Adventure Flow
Hear about miner tragedy at Greenstone
Encounter miner camp site
Investigation - Rescue begins
Search through Caverns for survivors
Decide whether to destroy the main predators
Rescue survivors
Click Icon To Close
A vast underground cavern system has been disturbed by recent tremors, unleashing deadly creatures. 10 miners from the village of Greenstone, digging for gold, have gone missing.
The adventurers can go on a search and rescue mission, eliminate the aggresive creatures the Chthonic Maw and Urdrum Swarm.
Greenstone: Small farming village that has lost 10 men.
Miner Camp: The bodies of 5 dead miners can be recovered here.
Caverns: 8 cavern sections to explore searching for 2 survivors.
Main Cavern Rooms:
Mine Area #1
Mud Pit #3
Geothermal Cavern #4
Unclaimed Cave #5
Chthonic Maw Lair #6
Hive Nexus #7
Survivor Locations
Adventure Hooks
The Disappearing Miners:
5 miners are known dead - the fates of 5 miners down in the mine are unknown. (3 are dead 2 are still alive)
See NPC Jorrik Algar
The Alchemist's Bounty:
Acid and Poison sacs from deadly creatures.
See NPC Elara Wynn
The Ignis Shards:
Energy crystals known to form in the area.
See NPC Felicity Vorn
There are 3 major NPC's and several minor NPC's
No NPC will help physically with the rescue mission.
Jorrik Algar: A burly miner who survived the attack is physically ruined and mentally in shock but can reluctantly provide information.
Elara Wynn: Presently in Greenstone, a shady dealer will pay for creature parts and provide creature information.
Felicity Vorn: Presently in the miner camp area, collecting data for Ignis Shards will pay for information regarding these crystals.
Village Elders: Facilitators between the adventurers and Jorrik
Raleson: Miner survivor in Mud Pit #3
Enhoff: Miner survivor in Unclaimed Cave #5
Adventure Summary
Click Icon To Close
There are 3 main, new creatures introduced in this adventure
Chthonic Maw: An aggressive, tunneling, giant snake-like creature with regenerative powers, utilizing a tail bash, bite and acid spray to consume prey.
Mycelium Sentinel: A defensive, 3 part mushroom colony that posseses healing properties if properly utilized.
Urdrum Swarm: A hive mind arthropod insect that moves as a single unit and attacks with a paralysis bite.
Many common cave creatures also inhabit this high energy cave ecosystem.
The main objective for the adventurers should be to assist the poor people of Greenstone in rescuing any survivors from the creature attack that devastated their families and friends.
A secondary objective could be to eliminate the aggressive Chthonic Maw and Urdrum Swarm. Rumors will spread that both creatures can devastate the villagers' crops if they leave the confines of the cavern.
Tertiary objectives are getting paid by Elara Wynn for delivery of acid sacs and paralysis poison sacs. Also getting paid for delivering any information about Ignis Shards to Felicity Vorn.
If the adventurers do NOT completely eliminate both aggressive creatures (and eggs) then some time later they will menace the farmers and fields.
Sealing the cave won't keep the tunneling Chthonic Maw trapped for long.
Adventure Hooks
Click Icon To Close
Key Locations
Click Icon To Close
Key NPCs
Click Icon To Close
Creatures
Click Icon To Close
Resolution
Click Icon To Close
Creatures
Chthonic Maw:
A worm-like creature that uses its burrowing and ambush tactics to keep the party on edge. Along with a tail bash it also has a bite and an acid followup attack that dissolves soft tissue, which it then slurps down, leaving bone behind.
It can quickly retreat if damaged or outmatched, but it returns stronger if allowed to regenerate. It is sensitive to ground and air vibrations.
General Creature Stats
Read the details on the Chthonic Maw
Mycelium Sentinel:
This defensive colony is unrelated to the adventure other than the fact that there is a vein of crystaline salt deposit behind the Sentinel. This form of salt can cause severe damage to the Chthonic Maw.
A mushroom colony that has value only if harvested correctly.
General Creature Stats
Read the details on the Mycellium Sentinel
Urdrum Swarm:
A swarming mass of arthropod insects that overwhelm with their numbers. Their bites can paralyze limbs.
Disrupt their hive mind with loud noises or bright flashes of light for a temporary advantage.
General Creature Stats
Read the details on the Urdrum Swarm
Urdrum Swarm
A swarming mass of arthropod insects that overwhelm with their numbers. Their bite can paralyze limbs.
Disrupt their hive mind with loud noises or bright flashes of light for a temporary advantage.
A Swarm can easily contain 10-20 individual Urdrum but larger swarms are not unusual.
General Creature Stats
Description and Physical Appearance
Abilities and Traits
Habitat and Behavior
Paralysis Poison Sacs
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
Reproductive Method
Feeding and Energy Requirements
Social Structure
General Intelligence
Strengths and Weaknesses
Interaction with Adventurers
Clues for Adventurers
Lore and Myths
Chthonic Maw
A worm-like creature that uses its burrowing and ambush tactics to keep the party on edge. Along with a tail bash it also has a bite and an acid followup attack that dissolves soft tissue, which it then slurps down, leaving bone behind.
It can quickly retreat if damaged or outmatched, but it returns stronger if allowed to regenerate. It is nearly blind but very sensitive to ground and air vibrations.
General Creature Stats
Description and Physical Appearance
Abilities and Traits
Habitat and Behavior
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
Acid Sacs
Reproductive Method
Feeding and Energy Requirements
Social Structure
General Intelligence
Strengths and Weaknesses
Interaction with Adventurers
Clues for Adventurers
Lore and Myths
Mycelium Sentinel
This defensive colony hides two important pieces of the adventure. The fact that there is a vein of crystalline salt deposit in the wall behind the Sentinel. This form of salt can cause severe damage to the Chthonic Maw.
The second important piece is that correctly harvesting the Mother Mushroom can produce a powerful healing ingredient.
General Creature Stats
Description and Physical Appearance
Abilities and Traits
Layout
Habitat and Behavior
Mushroom Mimic
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
Reproductive Method
What Makes it Valuable?
How to Harvest
Feeding and Energy Requirements
Social Structure
General Intelligence
How to Prepare
Strengths and Weaknesses
Interaction with Adventurers
Heal Jorrik?
Clues for Adventurers
The healing power of the Mother Mushroom could heal Jorrik Algar of his severe acid wounds.
Lore and Myths
Environmental Challenges
Lean into the Environment
Irregular hot water flooding of the Fungi Forest basin.
Steam geysers.
Heat prostration from the relentless heat and high humidity.
Constant rain-like conditions in the Geothermal Cavern area.
Muddy, slippery conditions.
Bizarre and deadly fungi.
Tremors: Collapsing tunnels, unstable walls and ceiling, Chthonic Maw tunneling. geysers.
Toxic pools created by excess acid from the Chthonic Maw.
Toxic pools created by excess paralysis poison from the Urdrum Swarm.
Other local inhabitants such as roaches, centipedes, rats, snakes, bats and hordes of other cave insects.
MYCELIUM SENTINEL CHAMBER
HIVE NEXUS
7A
MAIN MAP
CHTHONIC MAW LAIR
8A
6A
UNCLAIMED CAVE
4A
GEOTHERMAL CAVERN
5A
3A
MUD PIT
2A
ENTRANCE TO CAVES
1D
EXIT TO CAMP
1B
1A
1C
MINE AREA
1C
Icon Key
Main Icons
People Icon - Jump to NPC Selection.
Creature Icon - Jump to Creature Selection.
Map Icon - Jump to Map Selection.
Key Icon - Jump to Story Elements.
Main Map Icons
Area Identifier: Blue square with a number (1-8) is an Area Identifier. Click each one to discover more information.
#L
Point of View: (POV) Orange or green square with number and letter is a POV identifier. Click each one to discover more information.
#L
POV Direction: White arrow indicates direction of POV.
Air/Water Flow: Blue arrows show direction of air/water flow.
Chthonic Maw Tunnels: Pink arrow indicates weak, permanent 2 foot diameter tunnels dug by the Chthonic Maw.
Main Map Icon - Turn Lights OFF
Lights Out Map Icon - Turn Lights ON
Main Map Icon - Turn Square Grid ON/OFF
Main Map Icon - Turn Hex Grid ON/OFF
Map Selection
Jump to a Map
MAIN MAP Lights On Info spots Grids
MAIN MAPLights On Grids Clean
MAIN MAP Lights Out
Jump to a Map Description
POV Map
1A
1D
1B
1C
Mine Area
2A
Entrance to Caves
3A
Mud Pit
4A
Geothermal Cavern
Journey to Mine
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
5A
Unclaimed Cave
6A
Chthonic Maw Lair
7A
Hive Nexus
8A
Mycelium Sentinel Chamber
Mine Camp
LIGHTS OUT MAP
Read About the Hidden Tunnel
4A
Clean Map No Grid
CLEAN MAP WITH GRID
Clean Map with Grid
Main Map
Mine Area
1A
The mine tunnel is approximately 250 feet long down-slope with a variable width from 10-20 feet wide and a ceiling that is 10 high at most. There are a couple of northerly offshoot tunnels carved and expanded from a natural tunnel. The air is thick with the scent of damp stone and churned soil, water-darkened wooden beams prop up the precarious ceiling.
1B
1C
There are a couple of wooden hand carts filled with chunks of stone and dirt. Here and there, burned-out lanterns hang, depleted of any fuel.
1D
Pools of stagnant water collect on the uneven muddy floors, and the occasional distant sound of shifting rocks serves as a grim reminder of the ever-present danger of cave-ins.
The end of the mine tunnel, contains broken and acid damaged mine equipment and the remains of a miner. One SKULL can be seen in this cavern.
Raw Gold Treasure
1D
1B
1A
1C
Chthonic Maw Tunnels: Hard to see at the back of caverns, small and high up at the ceiling
Main Map
Entrance to Caves
2A
Stone and earthen rubble are piled around this area, a warm and humid breeze blows steadily through the newly formed hole in the wall.
The miners had not wasted any effort down this short natural tunnel because all the gold had been found further down in the main mine tunnel.
The scarred opening is about 6 feet high and 3 feet wide at the largest point. Looking North, the eyes are drawn about 100 feet down range to the mystical glow of the Fungi Forest.
Oddly, just a few feet away is a pole driven into the ground with some rope wrapped around the top.
If the rescue party is loud and carrying sources of light, the survivor Raleson Patter, still stuck in the Mud Pit might become aware of this and will begin to weakly shout for help.
2A
Main Map
Mud Pit
This cavern is approximately round in shape, about 50-60 feet across, 20 foot high ceiling at the highest point in the dripping, irregular formation. 4 down sloping tunnels feed into the Mud Pit.
3A
The actual mud pit is cone shaped, about 40 feet across, 40 feet deep and the mud level is 20 feet deep.
See side view diagram
In the Mud Pit is a survivor, Raleson Patter, plus the remains of two other miners. One SKULL is still above the mud, the other SKULL has sunk down into the bottom of the mud pit.
The party will need to dredge or dive the mud pit to determine the number of skulls contained here.
READ RALESON PATTER'S STORY
Raleson Patter will insist all 3 companions died in the Mud Pit. He never noticed one of his friends, Enhoff, escaped.
3A
MUD PIT SIDE VIEW
PIT 40 FT DEEP
MUD 20 FT DEEP
PIT 40 FT WIDE
Main Map
Geothermal Cavern
This is an enormous cavern approximately 90 feet wide and 120 feet long with 5 tunnel off-shoots. The ground slopes gently down 10 feet from all directions with the main part of the Fungi Forest and concentrations of steaming geyers located around the bottom of the broad bowl of the cavern floor.
4A
See Diagram
The very irregular ceiling, constantly dripping with water, arcs about 20 feet high at most. Down on the forest floor the ceiling can be as high as 30 feet overhead.
The chamber has multiple stalactites and stalagmites, some that have bridged the ceiling with the floor forming colorful pillars.
The Fungi Forest has developed in the high heat and humidity with rich mud silt and creatures expiring; it is itself a very active entity. The densely packed mushrooms constantly evolve to gain dominance over other varieties within this concentrated hothouse.
Fungal Growths
Forest Carpet
Fungi Forest
100 Fungi Effects
Spores
2 Ways
Steam Vent Trap
Rising Water Trap
Geysers
4A
Cavern Basin Diagram
Side-View
10 FT
90 FT
Overhead-View
120 FT
Main Map
Unclaimed Cave
The tunnel entrance is up a muddy slope but after cresting the small rise, any type of light will reveal a slowly widening rocky tunnel 10-20 feet high and approximately 180 feet long with egg shaped end room about 60 feet long and 30 feet wide at most.
5A
Mixed in the tan mud of the floor is a dark rust stain, smeared up the slope and down into the darkness of the tunnel. As if a miner dragged his bleeding body around the rocks scattered on the floor.
If the adventurers seem to be at any point exiting the dungeon, leaving without investigating this cave, the miner Enhoff, can start yelling for help. (this yelling can attract creatures)
The name - Unclaimed Cave - is appropriate for a couple of reasons. Enhoff is making a first claim on the gold vein at the end of this tunnel. Ownership hinges on whether Enhoff lives or dies. The second reason is because no creature has claimed this cave to nest in.
Enhoff is the miner that escaped the Mud Pit and much like Raleson Patter, is barely alive. Enhoff and Raleson are the only two surviving miners left in the caverns.
Read the Story of Enhoff
GM Note on Party Actions
Raw Gold Treasure
Enhoff - Survivor
5A
Main Map
Chthonic Maw Lair
The tunnel entrance is up a 10-foot gradual slope from the Fungi Forest. A faint purplish steady glow can be seen emanating from the end of the approximately 150-foot-long tunnel. The width gradually opens up from 20 to 30 feet across and ends in a roughly circular room about 40 to 50 feet in diameter.
6A
The floor appears muddy and has an oddly smooth surface towards the center of the room. The floor coloration is a swirl of tans and darker earthy colors. Careful observation will reveal air bubbles occasionally breaking the surface of the floor. The floor is actually a large shallow muddy puddle about 2 feet deep at the lowest point near the center of the room.
The purplish glow comes from groupings of large crystals (Ignis Shards) rising from various places in the floor. Each Ignis Shard emanates a gentle warmth that keeps the muddy puddle very warm.
2 small Chthonic Maw tunnels exit the back of the cave one headed North then turning West and the other headed South.
1 or 2 Chthonic Maws?
If the Chthonic Maw is in the lair it will be submerged in the shallow warm pool.
Acid Pool Trap
Acid Sac Harvest
6A
Ignis Shards
Shards & Sacs Treasure
Main Map
Hive Nexus
The tunnel leading to the Urdrum Swarm Hive Nexus is roughly 70 feet long and starts out about 30-40 feet wide but narrows to about 20 feet wide at the egg nest and then continues to narrow behind the nest. The tunnel turns East and then becomes a Chthonic Maw tunnel high off the ground.
7A
Urdrum Swarm are all over this cavern, mostly concentrated in the egg nest area. Upon sensing an intruder, they will coalesce into their swarm and attack.
There are carapace sections lying all around since Urdrum molt as they grow larger. Plus the Chthonic Maw enters this area often to eat Urdrum and leaves their shells behind.
The egg nest is down in a shallow, muddy depression. There are hundreds of sickly yellow, glowing eggs the size of a large berry, and the eggshells glow due to the Urdrum Swarm consuming bioluminescent fungi as part of their diet.
A Swarm typically contains 10-20 Urdrum
Urdrum Swarm will be scattered throughout the cave until threatened.
Paralysis Pool Trap
Eggs
Paralysis Poison Sac Harvest
Poison Sac Treasure
7A
Mycelium Sentinel Chamber
Main Map
The southern tunnel is the only open approach to this chamber as the eastern approach is choked with a stalagmite wall that is difficult to pass through.
8A
The central portion of the Mycelium Sentinel chamber is roughly 30 feet wide and 40 feet deep, and the Mycelium Sentinel creature occupies all of the chamber space except for some irregular cavern bulges at the rear of the chamber.
The bulges contain stalagmites that an adventurer could hide behind to keep the Sentinels from sensing their presence. The western bulge contains an exposed vein of crystaline salt deposit that can be used against the Chthonic Maw.
Anyone approaching within 10 feet of the tall, outer Protector fungi will see them straighten up and slightly lift their caps. If they sense further encroachment they will fully alert and respond with a spore attack.
One Colony, 3 parts: Protectors, Sisters, and central Mother
The tall Protector fungi will shift to a warning stance first
Mushroom Information Division
Read details on Mycellium Sentinel
Read details on Felicity Vorn
Healing Treasure
Salt Treasure
8A
Main Map
Point of View
1A
View from Cave Entrance Down Mine Tunnel
1A
1B
1C
1D
Looking East down this tunnel it slopes away into darkness.
1B
About 60 feet down this long tunnel is the mine junction.
1D
Looking North the tunnel is more naturally formed.
Earth and stone dug out creating just enough room for the miners to move through the tunnel
The 10 foot high mine walls and ceiling are not in great shape due to the heavy moisture, cave-ins can be a real danger.
Main Map
Point of View
1B
View from Mine Junction Looking Down Both Tunnels
1A
1B
1C
1D
Looking East down the main tunnel it splits into two tunnels
The main tunnel continues East, sloping down into darkness toward the end of the cavern.
1C
The more northerly tunnel curls away into darkness. This tunnel is mostly natural. No supports have been used here as the miners were not actively digging this direction yet.
Both of these caverns contain the small Chthonic Maw tunnels that are hard to see without close examination with good lighting.
Main Map
Point of View
1C
View Into End of Mine Cave
1A
1B
1C
1D
Any lighting will immediately draw attention to the exposed veins of gold glittering in the dim light.
There are mining tools and equipment scattered around, some of which are broken or eaten away by acid. Only a few shreds of clothing remain, the rest eaten away by acid or creatures.
Nearly lost among the blood-stained stone and earthen rubble are fresh (2 days old) humanoid remains that are now mostly bone.
The adventurers can find one skull in this area.
The remains belong to one of the miners. Originally killed by the Chthonic Maw, the rest of the body has been picked over by the denizens of the cavern system.
Deep in the northern end of this cavern high up on the wall is one of the permanent tunnels of the Chthonic Maw.
Main Map
Point of View
1D
View Towards Entrance to Caves
1A
1B
1C
1D
The irregular tunnel goes about 60 feet where rocky rubble piles up around a hole that leads into the Geothermal Caverns
The initial approach shows some tool work where the miners worked the tunnel a bit before the tremor but generally most of this tunnel is natural.
Approaching the hole, a humid, warm breeze heavy with the scent of churned earth and mineral soup escapes through the narrow opening.
Faintly, in the dark distance the Fungi Forest gives off a dim, pulsating glow of ethereal light, brokenly reflected by the wet cavern walls.
Main Map
Point of View
2A
View of Entrance to Caves
Standing in the newly formed cavern entrance among the pile of rubble, gives a better view of the edge of the bioluminescent mushroom forest.
The flow of the warm, humid air is strongest at this narrow opening.
Just a few feet away, inside the Geothermal Cavern, is a wooden pole pounded into the ground. There is a rope attached, wound around the top a few times and then trails off to the ground, But the rope has been chewed through and ends after a short length.
The insects and rats ate most of the rope.
If the rescue party is loud and carrying sources of light, the survivor Raleson Patter, still stuck in the Mud Pit might become aware of this and will begin to weakly shout for help.
Main Map
Point of View
3A
View of Mud Pit from Cavern Entrance
All four approaches to the Mud Pit are muddy down-slopes. Nearby soil and rocks are damp and slippery. Large fungal growth patches make skirting the edges of the pit a treacherous risk.
Looking directly across the Mud Pit is the tunnel that leads into the Unclaimed Cave. Not directly visible from this position, are two other tunnel entrances to the Mud Pit on the northern side.
Insects and rodents will scurry away from the approach of the party. At the top of the slope is a post pounded into the cave floor with a bit of rope tied around it, the length of rope trailing away has been eaten.
There is one survivor, Raleson Patter, barely alive. The remains of the two other miners are partially visible. One miner with some flesh and SKULL still attached to his bones is mostly buried in the depths of the warm mud. A few scattered bones are in the mud and a second SKULL has sunk to the bottom of the pit.
MUD PIT SIDE VIEW
PIT 40 FT DEEP
MUD 20 FT DEEP
PIT 40 FT WIDE
Raleson Patter: READ HIS STORY HERE. He thinks all 3 companions are dead in the Mud Pit.
2 SKULLS: The party needs to find a way to verify the number of skulls in the Mud Pit.
Main Map
Point of View
4A
High Angle View Across Top of Fungi Forest
Low Angle View into Fungi Forest
Peering into the dense Fungi Forest filled with a rainbow of fluorescent colors and the pulsating glow of bioluminescent fungi, one would feel transported.
Then a noisy gout of steam draws the eye downward toward the forest floor to a nearby mineral tower, the surface damp and shiny with glittering water droplets.
The sound of fat raindrops thudding ceaselessly on the mushroom caps, from the water condensing and dripping from thousands of points on the ceiling, gives the illusion of a forest rainstorm that never ends.
Various cave insects are abundant, along with rats crawling on fungi here and eating a mushroom there, all interacting with the Fungi Forest in some fashion to support each other's life cycles.
The Hidden Path (2 foot diameter Tunnel):
The environmental response platform of the Forest Carpet keeps this tunnel pathway open for the Udrum Swarm.
The Urdrum Swarm would consume all the fungi in their path everytime they crossed the forest. So, the Fungi Forest creates this path of least resistance for the Swarm to move through and the response platform remembers to recreate the tunnel even after every hot water flood event kills the forest, temporarily.
The camouflage offered by the dense fungal growth and the positioning of the entrance serves to naturally hide the tunnel entrance from casual observation while using normal lighting methods.
The hidden tunnel is easily seen if all lights are extinguished. The dark outline of the tunnel stands out from the glow. Tiny green bioluminescent dots on the floor, left by the Urdrum Swarm, track through the fibrous tunnel. The footprints only last a couple of hours.
Discovering the Hidden Path (Tunnel) can be a reward for adventurers by allowing them to traverse the Fungi Forest without encountering 100 Fungi Side Effects.
Fungi Forest
100 Fungi Effects
Fungal Growths
Forest Carpet
Steam Vent Trap
Geysers
Rising Water Trap
2 Ways
Spores
Main Map
Point of View
5A
View into Unclaimed Cave
Peering into the dense Fungi Forest filled with a rainbow of fluorescent colors and the pulsating glow of bioluminescent fungi, one would feel transported.
Then a noisy gout of steam draws the eye downward toward the forest floor to a nearby mineral tower, the surface damp and shiny with glittering water droplets.
The sound of fat raindrops thudding ceaselessly on the mushroom caps, from the water condensing and dripping from thousands of points on the ceiling, gives the illusion of a forest rainstorm that never ends.
Various cave insects are abundant, along with rats crawling on fungi here and eating a mushroom there, all interacting with the Fungi Forest in some fashion to support each other's life cycles.
Stone and earthen walls glisten with moisture though the air is slightly cooler here since it is not directly fed by the geyers. Just ahead from this position the tunnel opens up into a what appears to be a dead end cave somewhat egg shaped about 30 feet wide and 60 feet long
laying on the floor of the tunnel mostly hidden among the rocks is an exhausted miner covered in mud and blood. Enhoff is overjoyed to be rescued but will become scared that his rescuers will either kill him for the gold claim or steal it all.
He will also recall after a few minutes and warn the adventurers about the horrible glowing worm that crawls through this passage. (please note the Chthonic Maw does not normally glow unless it passes through the Fungi Forest smearing bioluminescent goo on its body as it crushes mushrooms underneath as it moves)
If the adventurers seem to be at any point exiting the dungeon, leaving without investigating this cave, the miner Enhoff, can start yelling for help. (this yelling can attract creatures)
Raw Gold Treasure
Read the Story of Enhoff
GM Note on Party Actions
Main Map
Point of View
6A
View into Chthonic Maw Lair
A pale purplish glow emanates from the cavern ahead, where large Ignis Shard crystals can be seen rising from the muddy floor.
A mild shift in the warm, humid air can be felt as the heat generated in this cave is amplified by the Ignis Shards.
The air has a slight acidic tinge from the puddles and the small mud pool centrally located that has diluted acid swirling around in it.
Acid Pool Trap
1 or 2 Chthonic Maws?
If the Chthonic Maw is in the lair, it will be lying mostly submerged in a shallow (2 feet deep) mud pool wrapped around a cluster of Ignis Shards.
Acid Sac Harvest
Shard & Sac Treasure
Ignis Shards
Main Map
Point of View
7A
View into Hive Nexus
Feeding around the edge of the Fungi Forest, crawling across the floor or up the walls is an unsettling sight of 2-foot-long arthropods undulating their way around the cave.
The Urdrum, segmented, hard shelled and poison mandibles that can paralyze limbs. Most any disturbance will cause them to coalesce into a swarm.
The narrowing corridor slopes down to a slimy pool glowing a sickly yellow-green with hundreds of translucent, firm-jellied shells the size of a large berry.
Curving to the right out of sight the tunnel finally narrows to a Chthonic Maw tunnel that leads back to the Chthonic Maw Lair.
Urdrum Swarm will be scattered throughout the cave until threatened.
A Swarm typically contains 10-20 Urdrum
Eggs
Paralysis Poison Sac Harvest
Paralysis Pool Trap
Poison Sac Treasure
Main Map
Point of View
8A
View into Mycelium Sentinel Chamber
The oddly intense chartreuse glow coming from a large set of mushrooms that fills the end of the tunnel makes for a fairy setting without the fairies.
At first what seems to be a large cluster of random mushrooms reveals the variety of mushrooms appear to be a singular colony laid out in an unusual concentric pattern that appears to be about 30 feet wide and 40 feet deep.
The cavern appears to be a dead end except for the wall of stalagmites to the east that requires a nimble character to traverse.
At the first step into the area the tall outer mushrooms seem to rise to attention with their caps lifting slightly.
The tall Protector fungi will shift to a warning stance first
One Colony, 3 parts: Protectors, Sisters, and central Mother
Salt Treasure
Mushroom Information Division
Read details on Felicity Vorn
Read details on Mycellium Sentinel
Healing Treasure
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
Journey to Mine
Mine Camp
Click for Interior Map
Click Interior Map to Enlarge
Village of Greenstone
Location of Mine
Well & Market
Blue Oasis Tavern
Farmhouse
2 Tent Homes
Workhouse
Click Map labels for Details
Cookhouse
Jorrik Algar
Hide Roofs
Cookhouse
Farmhouse: Jun Patter owns and runs the propsperous farm carefully applying the land techniques learned over generations and passing that information on to his family. The Patter family is waiting on word of their son Raleson and 2 cousins that lived in the Workhouse, Ashford and Gregor.
Village Map
Workhouse: The Patter farm is growing so much they had to turn a large workshed into the Workhouse where field workers (mostly family) live and work. It has been difficult to convert some of the jungle fruits and vegetables into crops that can be repeatedly raised under farm conditions.
Cookhouse: Due to the growth of the farm Patter had to add not only the Workhouse but then had to add the Cookhouse to act as a work house, additional sleeping quarters and a large kitchen to feed all the workers. The Cookhouse mainly houses single women of the family.
Workhouse
Farmhouse
Blue Oasis Tavern: While there is an old proprietor, Wisk Ord, who can barely walk, the running and growth of the tavern now turned inn is due to Wisk's two daughters Deita and Meig.
Jorrik Algar: Often works for Mr. Patter but Jorrik and other farm help took advantage of a slow month of field work to mine gold. He lives alone in his shack and is presently laid up badly injured with acid burns. See NPC details to read more about Jorrik Algar.
Well & Market: The Greenstone well is a widely known water stop particularly for the area nomadic people who will stop here for months at a time. The open tent market is becoming more of a staple for the growing residents of Greenstone. Selling local fruits and vegetables, crafts of rugs, baskets and products created with the resources of the land.
Blue Oasis Tavern
Jorrik Algar
2 Tent Homes: Nomadic family of Brassberry consists of missing son Enhoff, father Evan, Mother Rashida living in one tent and married daughter Neena, son-in-law Haver and baby Eshawn in the other tent. They all travel together and are awaiting the return of Enhoff before moving on.
Well & Market
2 Tent Homes
Mine Camp
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
Journey to Mine
If the adventurers arrive before Felicity cleans up the campsite, they will find the area with an unsettling stillness and abandoned feeling.
Scavengers
Raw Gold Treasure
5 SKULLS can be found in the area.
Two Tents
1B
1C
1A
1A
1B
1C
Todd Massey
Thanks for investing some of your life hours with me.
I have been playing RPGs since 1980. I absolutely love building and designing RPG worlds and stories.
I have had a vision for some time that, as a GM, I should be able to look at a map and have all the story and stats information quickly available at my fingertips without having to flip pages or scroll through a PDF. Interactive pages help solve this problem.
Do You Open The Door?
Do You Open The Door? is my vision coming to fruition. Anyone can now build One-Shots utilizing the effect of a One-Page design. While more complicated stories may require more pages, the visual effect is essentially the same; the Game Master is never far from the essential information they need quickly.
DoYouOpenTheDoor.com
Questions or Comments?
Have fun!
SERVICE@WEBWERKS.BIZ
Journey to Mine
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
Mine Camp
Include the journey to the mine for fun but it can be skipped as it contains no information to assist the adventurers in the rescue of the miners.
Notes
The journey to the mine is mainly meant to slow the adventurers, if they lose focus and become distracted or delayed they run the risk of losing the 2 survivors.
Show Grid
POV: Journey to Mine
1A
Flood Map
Creatures
Terrain
Rain and Flooding
Croc Culvert
Tepler Gully Flood Zone
1A
Mycelium Sentinel
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
Highly adaptive and self-regenerative, coordination through the mycelial network enables swift defensive actions and resistant to conventional attacks due to its decentralized nature.
Weaknesses:
Immobile, vulnerable to fire and drought, large-scale disruptions to the tendril network can impair communication and nutrient flow.
Urdrum Swarm
Reproductive Method
Breeding occurs multiple times during warm periods as food supplies allow. Males and females are required as males fertilize the eggs. The female lays hundreds of eggs in hidden, damp locations, which are fiercely protected until they hatch.
Hive Nexus
Basic Description
This cavern slopes down to a shallow egg nest filled with slimy mud and hundreds of small soft shelled eggs glowing a sickly yellow-green from a bioluminescent diet.
The back of this cave narrows to a Chthonic Maw tunnel high off the ground.
The Urdrum will coalesce and swarm at any sign of disturbance.
Even if the Swarm is away from the Hive Nexus there are almost always some Urdrum left behind or newly hatched.
The only treasure here is to harvest Urdrum poison sacs.
2 Ways
2 Basic Ways to Reach Chthonic Maw Lair and Hive Nexus
1. Use the tiny, dangerous Chthonic Maw Tunnels.
2. Cross the Fungi Forest
2 Basic Ways to Cross the Fungi Forest Without Coming into Contact with the Fungi
1. Fly through the air gap over the forest canopy.
4A
2. Crawl through the Hidden Path tunnel.
Players will no doubt generate many creative ways to accomplish this task. This represents the basic, obvious paths.
Greenstone
Abode
Jorrik is presently living in his cabin, a modified shed on farmer Jun Patter's property.
Jorrik is recovering from his severe injuries and will likely never physically be the same again.
Urdrum Swarm
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
Urdrum Swarms favor ambush tactics, striking from darkness and relying on their numbers to overpower enemies. They encircle a target, focusing on incapacitating one individual at a time. If disrupted, they retreat briefly to regroup.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Adventurers may avoid confrontation by using fire, loud noises, or bright light to scatter the swarm. Offering large quantities of organic matter can also distract or placate them temporarily.
Urdrum Swarm
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
Urdrum Swarms favor ambush tactics, striking from darkness and relying on their numbers to overpower enemies. They encircle a target, focusing on incapacitating one individual at a time. If disrupted, they retreat briefly to regroup.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Adventurers may avoid confrontation by using fire, loud noises, or bright light to scatter the swarm. Offering large quantities of organic matter can also distract or placate them temporarily.
Terrain
Basic Description
Greenstone is around 30 feet above sea level
The mine camp is 400 feet above seal level
The mine camp is 10 miles from Greenstone.
The western side of the map is mostly sandy soil.
Above Templer Gully where the terrain begins to rise sharply, the land becomes more rocky and the type and density of vegetation begins to shift.
Jacob and Eli
Basic Description
Jacob is 10 and Eli is 8 but they were 8 and 6 years old surviving on the streets and had yet to be swept up by illfate as many children are. Their soldier father died and their mother assaulted and killed. Felicity saved them from a terrible fate and they are incredibly loyal to her and will protect her all the time.
Spores
Limited Area of Affect
Most spore activity will generally be limited to the area directly around the Fungi Forest where the geysers are located.
This is mainly due to the heavy moisture and cooling at the forest edge that keeps the spores from drifting too far.
Trail of Destruction
Skull Locations
5 Skulls above ground in the camp area.
3 Skulls underground in the caves.
1 Skull in the end of the Mine Area
2 Skulls in the Mud Pit
Mud Pit
Basic Description
MUD PIT SIDE VIEW
PIT 40 FT DEEP
MUD 20 FT DEEP
PIT 40 FT WIDE
The Mud Pit is a 40 foot diameter cone 40 feet deep and the mud is 20 feet deep. The mud is a warm, thick slurry with bugs skittering across the surface.
There is one survivor, Raleson Patter, barely alive and only 2 SKULLS in the pit though Raleson believes all 3 miners died in the pit.
Enhoff crawled free days ago dragging himself down to Unclaimed Cave #5
Urdrum Swarm
Clues for Adventurers
Faint trails of temporary bioluminescent slime marking their passage.
A blurred sound of clicking, echoing through the environment, a telltale sign of their rigid armored bodies tapping against each other as the writhing swarm approaches.
Paralysis Poison Sac Harvest
Basic Description
Harvesting a Urdrum poison sac is difficult and can only be performed on an individual that has not bitten a character and expelled the poison.
Each individual Urdrum posesses 1 tiny paralysis poison sac situated towards the front of it's mouth between the mandibles.
The sac will trigger with a successful bite injecting poison into the flesh of the bitten creature.
The sac can inject poison 1 time only.
Due to the density of fungi growth, normal vision is limited to 10 feet. Infravision is problematic in the heat.These fungi are not tougher than normal and can be pushed over or chopped down like you might expect a giant mushroom to behave.
Basic Description
Fungal Growths
Fungi come in various shapes, sizes, advantages and defenses. Species are forced to rapidly adapt utilizing various pathways to win some type of dominance factor within this contained ecosystem.
Felicity Vorn
Background
Felicity Vorn grew up in a prestigious learning institution, dedicated to the study of magical arts and geography. Her early life was marked by discipline and rigorous training, aiming to become a skilled mage. As she matured, her heart shifted towards her two orphaned charges—Jacob and Eli. After finding them struggling on the streets, Felicity fought to keep them close, becoming a protective sister and nurturing figure. Together, they form an unconventional but loving family, always supporting one another in their ambitions.
Acid Sac Harvest
Basic Description
Harvesting the acid sacs intact from the Chthonic Maw is a dextorous task and failure could result in acid damage.
Another method would be to take a take a portion of the Chthonic Maw and keep it till it regrows fully then establish a method to continously harvest the acid from the regenerative creature.
Mine Camp
Basic Description
The image of the camp on the map is simply representative. The camp only occupies an area of a few hundred feet.
See the complete map of the mine camp for better representation and description.
Mine Camp
If the adventurers arrive before Felicity cleans up the campsite, they will find the area with an unsettling stillness and abandoned feeling.
Mycelium Sentinel
Bypassing Defenses
The easiest way to bypass the defenses of the Sentinel without destroying the colony is to wrap your body in a large mushroom cap from the Fungi Forest and mimic your way past very carefully.
Fungi
Basic Description
There are a multitude of fungal growths in this system, and most are not necessarily going to be beneficial to humanoids.
Look in Story Element - 100 Mushroom Effects for a table to determine what happens when mushrooms get funky.
Coupled with the fact that the entire Fungi Forest can get killed off by the Hot Water Flood Trap, new varieties with new properties can regrow within hours.
Greenstone
Basic Description
The farming village of Greenstone needs help seeing who is left alive of 10 villagers still missing after a horrible attack.
Villagers of Greenstone are desperate. Elara Wynn, who is staying at the Blue Oasis tavern and seemed competent, has refused to help, calling it "too dangerous for one person."
The tiny village is made up of mostly farmers and nomadic tent dwellers that have made the Greenstone well a stop on their journey for generations.
The area is on the edge of a mountainous jungle region and receives plenty of rain during the year. The soil is sandy and easy to farm but nutrients leach out quickly. Local farmers have learned special crop rotation, leaving fields fallow and special composting methods to keep the soil fertile.
Traditions of utilizing large floor rugs and tea service are deeply rooted originally with the nomadic people. Expect tea to be served especially with friends, customers and during negotiations.
Permanent wooden farm constructions are appearing more often as more of the nomads settle to farming life.
Village Elders consist mainly of:
Wisk Ord, Tavern owner
Jun Patter, Farm owner - He has lost a son, Raleson Patter and 2 workers, Ashford and Gregor.
The List of Missing - Raleson Patter and Enhoff - both still alive. The rest are deceased - Ashford, Gregor, Clisp, Monteg, Weeko, Samlin, Ocuber, Deenshed.
Village map of Greenstone only shows the central selection of the village. The rest mainly consists of widespread sprawling farmhouses.
The rats, in particular, love to climb on the geyers and chew at the soft mineral deposits to supply their bodies with needed nutrients. This action will sometimes create side vents where jets of steam will spray horizontally instead of vertically.
Basic Description
Geysers
There are only a few active geyers in the forest basin. They form over cracks in the cavern floor where steam and hot water are forced up from water filled chambers below. Far below that are magma chambers that heat rock and water.
Cavern Basin Diagram
Basic Description
Side-View
10 FT
90 FT
Overhead-View
120 FT
Rain
Basic Description
The high humidity acumulates as water on all surfaces and the jagged ceiling gives the water thousands of drip points for the cave to act as if it is constantly raining though mainly only in the Geothermal Cavern.
Further away the dripping is less prevalent, but water is still running down the walls everywhere.
Ignis Shards
Basic Description
Oversized purple glowing quartz-like crystal contain magical energy. Exactly what this energy can do is unkown and needs to be studied.
Purported Properties: (no special harvesting method required other than to use care not to damage a crystal and release the energy.)
Healing: While very slow it is thought the warmth is mildly healing while in possesion of a crystal.
Magical Energy Storage: It is thought magical energy can be put in and removed at will allowing spell casters access to greater energy as needed
Explosive Release: Ignis Shards will release their energy all at once if a strong force breaks the crystal. Normal blows must be very hard to break a crystal. Magical energy can more easily break a crystal.
Due to the density of fungi growth, normal vision is limited tjust like anyone in a dense jungle. Heat vision is problematic in the high heat.These fungi are not tougher than normal and can be pushed over or chopped down like you might expect a giant mushroom to behave.
Basic Description
Fungal Growths
Fungi come in a myriad of shapes, sizes, advantages and defenses. Species are forced to rapidly adapt utilizing various pathways to win some type of dominance factor within this contained ecosystem.
Ankle Breakers
Basic Description
This area is strangely populated with pot holes or small sink-holes and most are hidden by the dense floor growth.
Most of the holes tend to be only a foot or so deep but there are plenty that will swallow a humanoid.
Bringing pack or riding animals through this area is nearly impossible without extremely slow testing of the walking path.
Animals and humanoids run a very high risk of twisted or broken body parts while traversing the area.
The holes are always narrow. Even the larger ones in depth that can accomodate a humanoid tend to be not much larger across than 3 or 4 feet.
Chthonic Maw
Tactics
Chthonic Maw is an ambush predator, making full use of its rapid burrowing to both attack from any direction and to immediately escape in any direction should it become too injured, allowing the regeneration ability to heal. Even if parts are cut off or severed, those parts can grow into a new separate creature.
A successful bite from the Chthonic Maw automatically means acid will be deployed up to 5 times.
Urdrum Swarm
Social Structure
The swarm operates under a hivemind, with no individual autonomy. Their shared consciousness allows them to act as a single entity, coordinating attacks and movements with unnerving precision. This structure collapses if the swarm is scattered or disrupted by external forces.
Paralysis Sac Harvest
What Does Elara Know?
Elara knows that the underworld prefers a good paralysis poison over acid most days of the week. She will also accept a dead Urdrum instead of the extracted tiny sac. She can extract them herself or just pay someone else to perform that service.
She will warn adventurers that one bite from an Urdrum will empty the sac and that smashing the heads of the Urdrum is a good way to lose their payment.
Harvesting the tiny sacs intact from the oversized insects is a dexterous task, and failure could result in paralysis.
Elara Wynn
Background
Elara hails from a lineage of scholars but shunned the formal academic route to pursue riches. Her father was an esteemed professor, but Elara found the confines of academia restricting. Driven by a desire for freedom and fast coin, she began utilizing her knowledge, collecting rare and exotic samples from the wilderness.
Mycelium Sentinel
Description and Physical Appearance
The Mycelium Sentinel is a stunningly intricate bioluminescent fungal organism made up of three symbiotic varieties of fungi.
At the center is the...
Mother Mushroom: A large, domed organism with a cap spanning up to 5 feet in diameter. Its cap exhibits a mesmerizing mix of pink and chartreuse hues, adorned with softly pulsing bioluminescent spots that shift in intensity depending on the time of day and environmental conditions.
Surrounding the Mother Mushroom are concentric rings of...
Sister Mushroom: Smaller replicas with squat, rounded caps that mimic the Mother’s colors.
Towering above both are the...
Protector Fungi: Slender stalks that stretch as high as 8 feet, crowned with caps that emit a bright, ethereal glow, like watchful sentinels over their domain.
Each type is connected underground by a sprawling network of tendrils hinting at intricate entertwined communications beneath the surface.
The rats, in particular, love to climb on the geysers and chew at the soft mineral deposits to supply their bodies with needed nutrients. This action will sometimes create side vents where jets of steam will spray horizontally instead of vertically.
Basic Description
Geysers
There are only a few active geyers in the forest basin. They form over cracks in the cavern floor where steam and hot water are forced up from water filled chambers below. Far below that are magma chambers that heat rock and water.
The steam pressure can be highly variable and will increase and decrease along with the noises the geysers make. Each one can sound different depending on the holes and how large they are.
They might sound somewhat delicate or create a deafening roar for minutes at a time.
They have a specific pattern just before a Hot Water Flood event with a rising pressure of steam and noise, then sudden quiet as the steam is replaced with hot water as it begins to flood the basin.
Mycelium Sentinel
Reproductive Method
Reproduction occurs via spores released by the Mother Mushroom (Sister or Protector), which can generate all three types of fungi. Spores are carried by wind or animals, creating new colonies when conditions are favorable.
Ignis Shards
Basic Description
Oversized purple glowing quartz-like crystal contain magical energy. Exactly what this energy can do is unkown and needs to be studied.
Purported Properties: (no special harvesting method required)
Healing: While very slow it is thought the warmth is mildly healing while in possesion of a crystal.
Magical Energy Storage: It is thought magical energy can be put in and removed at will allowing spell casters access to greater energy as needed
Explosive Release: Ignis Shards will release their energy all at once if a strong force breaks the crystal. Normal blows must be very hard to break a crystal. Magical energy can more easily break a crystal.
Due to the density of fungi growth, normal vision is limited to 10 feet. Infravision is problematic in the heat.These fungi are not tougher than normal and can be pushed over or chopped down like you might expect a giant mushroom to behave.
Basic Description
Fungal Growths
Fungi come in various shapes, sizes, advantages and defenses. Species are forced to rapidly adapt utilizing various pathways to win some type of dominance factor within this contained ecosystem.
Chthonic Maw Lair
Basic Description
This room feels extra warm due to the mild heat given off by the clusters of Ignis Shard. They also emit a soft purple glow bathing the cavern in an eerie dim light.
The odor shift is noticible with a foul earthy smell and an acidic bite in the nose. Very good chance of encountering the Chthonic Maw in its lair, lying hidden in the warm mud pool wrapped around a group of Ignis Shards.
Treasure consists of Ignis Shards and Chthonic Maw acid sacs.
The Fungi Forest contains two main sections, the Forest Carpet and various Fungal Growths.
Basic Description
Fungi Forest
The Fungi Forest is a very dynamic entity that developed in the high energy and heavy moisture environment and is made up a wide variety of fungi that can grow and evolve at a rapid pace.
A person cannot move through the thick Fungi Forest without contacting or breathing in spores that may affect the character.
Thousands of tiny fungi form a moss-like undergrowth, Bushy Lichen cling to rock cracks, myriad variety of taller mushrooms that range anywhere from inches tall up to 20 feet in height.
Jacob and Eli
Felicity's Two Assistants
Jacob is 10 and Eli is 8 now, but they were 8 and 6 years old surviving on the streets and had yet to be swept up by illfate as many children are, before Felicity took them under her protection. Left abandoned when their soldier father, of the Blackthorn Alliance, died and their mother assaulted and killed. Felicity saved them from a terrible fate and they are incredibly loyal to her and will protect her all the time.
They are now better fed, sheltered and wear tunics supplied by the institution and Felicity is teaching them to read and write.
The Fungi Forest contains two main sections, the Forest Carpet and various Fungal Growths.
Basic Description
Fungi Forest
The Fungi Forest is a very dynamic entity that developed in the high energy and heavy moisture environment and is made up a wide variety of fungi that can grow and evolve at a rapid pace.
A person cannot move through the thick Fungi Forest without contacting or breathing in spores that may affect the character.
Thousands of tiny fungi form a moss-like undergrowth, Bushy Lichen cling to rock cracks, myriad variety of taller mushrooms that range anywhere from inches tall up to 20 feet in height.
Felicity Vorn
Habitat
Felicity lives with her wards in sparse quarters at the institution, surrounded by rooms with bookshelves filled with ancient tomes and maps. It’s a cozy space where the three can gather, often filled with laughter and a sense of security.
Dense Vegetation
Basic Description
The vegetation in this area is extremely dense and requires tools like a machete to make headway.
Movement will be 1/4 speed through the dense portions of jungle.
Any attacks that occur while in this dense vegetation will create penalties for the adventures.
Sight is limited to 20 feet due to heavy growth.
Swinging a long blade is nearly impossible without hitting tree limbs or other plants that can affect attacks.
Ranged attacks are also nearly impossible due to lack of sight and vegetation obstruction deflecting missle type weapons.
Mycelium Sentinel
How to Harvest
If the harvest steps below are not followed the Mother Mushroom will expel all the healing nutrients into the colony .
The healing nutrients are normally stored in tiny nodules on the tendril network just below the stem of the Mother Mushroom. If Mother is severly damaged or harvested differently the nutrients are rapildly diffused out to the colony.
The Mother Mushroom is 5 feet across and the cap is very close to the ground, so long arms or a very small person is needed
- Tickle the gills at the edge to get the cap to curl up and lift about a foot off the ground.
- Reaching under or crawling under the cap use a very sharp knife to 1st cut a nick in the underside of the mushroom and wait 1 minute. (This draws the healing nutrients into the Mother Mushroom.
- Then cut quickly and cleanly through the thick base right at the surface level, leaving some stem underground.
- Quickly leave the area.
- Gently tie a leather pouch around the base of the stem and then the whole cap should be transported undamaged in a cloth sack.
The colony will attack if this procedure is messed up. The colony will delay attack for 2 minutes after the stem is cut cleanly.
Chthonic Maw
Social Structure
This creature is a solitary entity, showing extreme territorial aggression toward others of its kind.
One Chthonic Maw might tolerate another of its kind for a few days but no longer than a few weeks.
Heat and Humidity
Basic Description
Sustained exertion in the geothermal cavern will affect life force, constitution, strength, etc. over time and can cause weakness, exhaustion, dehydration, and death.
Water consumption is 4X normal usage at least.
Paralysis Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of paralysis poison
Diluted pools of paralysis poison can exist where the Urdrum Swarm nests. The paralysis concentration is reduced and therefore may only cause a numbness or mild paralysis of limbs.
Though the forest entity is not sentient nor agressive it operates mainly as an enviromental response platform for the whole of the forest.
Basic Description
Forest Carpet
The forest carpet is the thick sponge layer that is made up of decaying mushrooms, the mycelium forest "root" network that supports a host of bacteria, insects, other microbes and allows the Fungi Forest to operate as a single entity.
Mycelium Sentinel
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
The Mycelium Sentinel plays a vital role in its ecosystem, breaking down dead organic matter to enrich the soil and maintaining balance within its habitat. Its nutrient spores promote fungal growth in the surrounding area, indirectly supporting other plants and animals. The Sentinel's ability to regrow from any one of its components makes it a resilient cornerstone of forest floor ecology.
Razor Bush
Basic Description
2 different bushes dominate this area but seem to have developed a beneficial relationship where if you find one plant growth you will find the other plant growth
The Wire Bush is an incredibly dense and tough stemmed plant that makes passage all but impossible. It grows to be about 3x3
The Razor Vine likes to weave around and between the patches of Wire Bush.The Razor Vine will shred normal clothing and lacerate skin.
Together, the Wire Bush and the Razor Vine create the Razor Bush.
Acid Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of acid
Diluted pools of acid can exist where the Chthonic Maw nests. The acid concentration is greatly reduced and therefore will only barely damage skin, but will cause normal leather, cloth, silk etc. to weaken and begin to tear and disintegrate after a few minutes. The acid is not full strength so it does not completely dissolve fabric or leather but serves to make it weak and useless.
Chthonic Maw
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
Immense size and strength make it a nearly unstoppable force in direct combat.
Resistance to extreme heat and moderate toxins.
Regeneration makes it hard to kill.
Weaknesses:
Vulnerable to cold temperatures, which slow its movements and regeneration.
Susceptible to bladed weapons.
No eyesight so it relies strictly on vibrations to track prey, which can be exploited by minimizing movement or creating false vibrations.
It avoids pockets or veins of salt concentrations. Salt can damage its skin (much like a slug reacts to table salt rapidly drying out its skin)
Treasure
Mycelium Sentinel
If properly harvested and then prepared correctly the Mycelium Sentinel can prove valuable as a form of powerful healing.
Only Felicity Vorn has the information to harvest and prepare the healing mushroom.
To learn the details of harvesting and preparing the mushroom colony visit the Mycelium Sentinel creature.
Croc Culvert
Basic Description
Croc Culvert is a shallow but wide (2-3 feet deep and 100 feet across), muddy depression that fills with water daily that flows into a section of the Tepler stream.
The culvert contains water loving trees, bushes and other plants with long legged birds stalking around eating bugs, tadpoles and other food sources.
Of course there are crocodiles lurking and loving the mud and shallow waters to hide in.
Mycelium Sentinel
What Does Felicity Know?
There is no reason for Felicity to discuss her knowledge of the Mycelium Sentinel before the adventurers enter the caves.
The adventurers will have to enter the caves, discover the Sentinel mushroom colony, leave, return to discuss it with Felicity, and only then can they uncover some secrets about how to handle it.
She knows the details of the Mycelium Sentinel and what a rare find it is and believes it is not something they should harvest.
She can tell the adventurers the details of how to harvest, transport, and prepare a healing poultice.
Visit the Mycelium Sentinel creature to learn these details.
Treasure
Types of Treasure in this Cave
There are two basic types of treasure in this room.
The Ignis Shard is a magical treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - Ignis Shard and NPC Felicity Vorn.
The Chthonic Maw is a creature treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - The Alchemist Bounty and NPC Elara Wynn.
Mycelium Sentinel
Abilities and Traits
Nutrient Redistribution: The Mother mushroom efficiently shares nutrients through its vast underground tendril network, ensuring the health of its entire colony. It can also release nutrient rich spores into the environment, aiding other plants and fungi nearby.
Spore Hazards: Protector Fungi release incapacitating spores when triggered by nearby threats. These spores can paralyze musculature of intruders for several minutes, making them easy prey for Sister Mushrooms to extend their enveloping tendrils.
Decomposition and Absorption: The Sister Mushrooms with their far reaching tendrils will begin rapid bacterial decomposition process breaking down organic material into nutrients for storage and distrubution as decided by Mother.
Adaptive Symbiosis:The Sentinel colony can regrow any of it's components - Mother, Sister, or Protector from spores produced by the surviving types, ensuring resilience even in the face of significant losses.
Mycelial Communication Network: The tendril system allows instant communication across the colony, enabling coordinated defensive responses and environmental monitoring.
Dense Vegetation
Basic Description
The vegetation in this area is extremely dense and requires tools like a machete to make headway.
Movement will be 1/4 speed through the dense portions of jungle.
Any attacks that occur while in this dense vegetation will create penalties for the adventures.
Sight is limited to 20 feet due to heavy growth.
Swinging a long blade is nearly impossible without hitting tree limbs or other plants that can affect attacks.
Ranged attacks are also nearly impossible due to lack of sight and vegetation obstruction deflecting missle type weapons.
Village Map
Basic Description
This is only the central portion of the village as most farmers live in wide ranging homesteads that are a mixture of their ancient tent culture or new wood cabin constructions.
Any wooden structures have all been built within the past couple of years as a nomadic tent culture is shifting to more permanent dwellings.
Urdrum Swarm
How Many Urdrum Swarm?
GM can of course have as many creatures as they deem necessary for game balance.
There can easily be 10-20 individual Urdrum in a swarm but larger swarms are not unusual.
Powerful characters might need to face several swarms at once.
Tepler Gully Flood Zone
Basic Description
Tepler gully is a U shaped, marsh bottomed ditch hemmed in on the west and north by a long hill and on the east by the rising mountain. The open, southern end funnels flood water in and out of the Tepler stream.
The Tepler Gully typically is a marshy area but Flooding Events will quickly fill the gully up with water 1-4 feet deep. Most of the water spills in from the flooded Tepler stream with some additional water running down the hillsides.
The flood water will quickly drain back out into the Tepler stream once the storm passes.
Urdrum Swarm
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
Exceptional coordination.
Formidable natural armor.
Paralysis poison.
Quickly overwhelm opponents.
Weaknesses:
Vulnerable to loud sounds and bright flashes of light.
Area of effect attacks can disrupt their coordination.
Being grouped together, before they swarm a foe, makes them an easy target for area effect attacks.
Due to the density of fungi growth, normal vision is limited to 10 feet. Infravision is problematic in the heat.These fungi are not tougher than normal and can be pushed over or chopped down like you might expect a giant mushroom to behave.
Basic Description
Fungal Growths
Fungi come in various shapes, sizes, advantages and defenses. Species are forced to rapidly adapt utilizing various pathways to win some type of dominance factor within this contained ecosystem.
Mycelium Sentinel
Feeding and Energy Requirements
The Sentinel sustains itself by breaking down organic material, ranging from leaf litter to the occasional incapacitated intruder. It uses enzymatic decomposition to convert these materials into usable nutrients.
Since the rats chew hole in the thin sides of the geysers to obtain needed minerals the geyers can vent scalding steam in a variety of random directions at any time. Yes, there are occasional rats lying around scalded to death but their bodies quickly decompose in this high energy ecosystem.
Basic Description
Steam Vent Trap
GM discretion. You work out the % of being hit by random jet of steam and the damage it can do.
Felicity Vorn
Basic Description
Felicity is in her early 20s with a small frame who has lived and trained at a learning institution for years and is now performing fieldwork for the school.
Her family, besides the teachers and students at the institution, consists of her two assistants: two orphaned brothers she has fought to keep with her for years, and she is somewhere between their sister and mother.
She is normally friendly and approachable, though increasingly wary of strangers the more time she spends out in the world.
Cave Inhabitants
Basic Description
Most caves can't support many life forms because they are low energy; this cave system is different.
Many fungi, insects, and animals in this cave system don't interact with the external world and don't encounter the sun, but energy is introduced via the geysers along with nutrients. From there, normal life cycles occur based on this energy and the energy provided by the various life forms.
BacteriaFungi Flatworms Snails Crayfish Spiders
CentipedesMillipeds Springtails Cave Crickets Flies Beetles
SalamandersRoaches Rats Mice Bats Mold
Urdrum Swarm
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
Urdrum Swarms are both scavengers and opportunistic predators, playing a crucial role in breaking down organic matter in their ecosystems.
They reproduce by laying clusters of eggs in nutrient-rich soil, which hatch into tiny, larval forms. These larvae rapidly consume available organic material, growing to full size within weeks.
The swarm's population is naturally controlled by territorial disputes and the presence of larger predators that prey on individual members. No Urdrum individual lives longer than a year.
Direction
How This Map is Laid Out
Room Text Labels - offer quick overview of room.
Room Text Labels - offer quick overview of room.
Elara Wynn
Voice
Elara’s voice is melodic and smooth, with a hint of warmth that draws people in, making her seem approachable despite her stand-off attitude. She always exhibits a calm demeanor and voice even when stressed, serving her well when involved in shady dealings.
Greenstone
Abode
Elara is presently renting one of the few spare beds at the local tavern (Blue Oasis) and her horse is being stabled at a nearby farm.
She mostly is killing time like she always does by sketching and waiting on locals to return with her specimens.
Miner Campsite
Basic Description
The camp looks almost normal, but the fires are cold and the smell of death and acid hangs over the mine entrance area.
There are 6 tents for 11 miners, Jorrik got the privledge as foreman to get a tent by himself while everyone else doubled up.
The skeletal remains are spread around, some with flesh still attached. Bugs and scavengers are finishing up what the Urdrum Swarm and Chthonic Maw left behind.
Many of the trees in the area have been felled to help with building the supports used in the tunnels.
Tools around the mine entrance are broken and acid damaged. Tools in the outlying area are in good condition.
Raw Gold
Location
The raw gold the miners have extracted can be found in a leather sack in the purple tent, under a sleeping mat, in a shallow hole with a tuft of grass covering the hole.
If the adventurers arrive after Felicity has cleaned up the campsite then she will be in possesion of the pouch of gold.
Urdrum Swarm
Habitat and Behavior
Urdrum Swarms thrive in dark, humid environments such as underground caves, dense jungles, or abandoned ruins. They are drawn to areas rich in organic matter, particularly decaying vegetation and animal remains.
Typically avoiding confrontation, they attack only when provoked or hungry. During their multiple breeding periods they can also be aggressive. In their natural habitat, they exhibit highly organized movement, exploring their surroundings with careful precision. However, external disruptions can lead to chaotic, unpredictable behavior.
Since the rats chew holes in the thin sides of the geysers to obtain needed minerals the geyers can vent scalding steam in a variety of random directions at any time. Yes, there are occasional rats lying around scalded to death but their bodies quickly decompose in this high energy ecosystem.
Basic Description
Steam Vent Trap
GM discretion. You work out the % of being hit by random jet of steam and the damage it can do.
Urdrum Swarm
Description and Physical Appearance
The Urdrum Swarm is a horrifying collective of ancient arthropods resembling a rolling tide of segmented bodies. They range in size from a few inches up to two feet long when fully grown, with spindly, multi-jointed legs that allow for rapid, skittering movement. Their iridescent, chitinous exoskeletons shimmer in shades of deep green to rust red, lending a gruesome sight to the undulating mass. Their fearsome mandibles gleam with a venomous sheen, and their eyes are nearly non-existent.
Urdrum Swarm
General Creature Stats
Attacks:
Size:
1 Bite per individual
Small (Individuals up to 2 feet)
Large (Swarm)
Attack Methods:
Venomous paralysis
Movement:
Skittering (fast)
Overwhelming numbers
Dexterity (wall climb) Intelligence (low individual - Cunning Hivemind)
Primary Attributes:
Defense Methods:
Hard chitin shell
Coordinated swarm
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Paralysis poison bite, well armored, coordinated swarm movement.
High natural armor
Treasure
Mushrooms
Mushroom effects are delivered through a variety of vectors, spores, contact, consumption, vapors (chemical scents), visually (brain stimulus through visually mesmerizing effects)
The mass die-off event, through the Rising Hot Water Trap, makes it impossible to consistently identify mushrooms effects because the mushrooms are constantly evolving appearance, effects and other properties.
Unclaimed Cave
GM Notes
While this cave might seem like a relatively safe area to rest this cave directly connects to the Chthonic Maw Lair through the northern most Chthonic Maw Tunnel.
If the adventurers are too loud or want to crack some of the exposed gold out of the rock then they will very likely attract the attention of the Chthonic Maw.
Chthonic Maw
Abilities and Traits
Regeneration: Any severed part of the body can regenerate within hours unless cauterized with extreme heat or cold.
Acidic Slime: During any successful bite, it excretes a highly acidic solution, corroding organic material quickly and metals over time.
Burrowing Expertise: It can tunnel through soil with remarkable speed.
Sticky secretions: Its body mucus can harden into a weak adhesive substance, trapping prey or sealing tunnels.
Tremor Sense: Tiny cilia lining the body allow it to detect vibrations through the ground and air, pinpointing the distance and direction of movements from a great distance.
Urdrum Swarm
Abilities and Traits
Swarm Tactics: The swarm overwhelms opponents by sheer numbers, making it challenging for an individual to fend off 10 to 20 simultaneously biting giant bugs.
Chitinous Armor: Their tough exoskeletons provide excellent defense against physical attacks, requiring either strong, repeated bludgeoning or magical interventions to penetrate.
Venomous Bite: Each member of the swarm delivers a venomous bite capable of paralyzing smaller creatures entirely or the limbs of larger creatures, rendering them all immobile and easy prey.
Hivemind Coordination: The swarm operates with perfect unison, guided by a shared consciousness that allows it to anticipate and react as a single entity.
Erratic response: Exposure to unnatural light or loud sounds disrupts their coordination momentarily, causing the swarm to scatter before regrouping.
Felicity Vorn
Hobbies
Reading and Writing: She spends her free time documenting her findings in journals, translating spells, and hatching new ideas for research.
Exploring Nature: Felicity enjoys wandering in the wilds with Jacob and Eli; they create adventures from the smallest discoveries.
Razor Bush
Basic Description
2 different bushes dominate this area but seem to have developed a beneficial relationship where if you find one plant growth you will find the other plant growth
The Wire Bush is an incredibly dense and tough stemmed plant that makes passage all but impossible. It grows to be about 3x3
The Razor Vine likes to weave around and between the patches of Wire Bush.The Razor Vine will shred normal clothing and lacerate skin.
Together, the Wire Bush and the Razor Vine create the Razor Bush.
Felicity Vorn
Voice
Her soft voice carries a friendly tone, often laced with enthusiasm when discussing her research, the incredible wonders of the world,or plans.
Chthonic Maw
Feeding and Energy Requirements
Natural regeneration requires a lot of energy. The Chthonic Maw, using acid, liquifys and consumes vast amounts of organic matter, both plant and animal, to sustain its immense energy needs. This includes large predators, root systems, plants, bugs and fungal growths.
Journey to Mine
GM Notes
Distance from Greenstone to mine is approximately 10 miles.
If you use the hex map provided there are 15 hexes to the mine entrance, so each hex represents about 1.5 miles.
Adventurers should be able to hike through the forest and up into the hills in no more than half a day barring any delays.
The easiest path is to stick strictly to then north bank of the Tepler stream, without deviating into the dense forest on either side.
Since it rains often in this area the Tepler stream constantly swells, temporarily doubling in depth and width in many places.
Spores
Limited Area of Affect
Most spore activity will generally be limited to the area directly around the Fungi Forest where the geysers are located.
This is mainly due to the heavy moisture and cooling at the forest edge that keeps the spores from drifting too far.
Wet Floors
Basic Description
Everything is constantly wet, and the rock is either slippery from water or various growths, or the floor is muddy with small pools of water everywhere.
Dexterous or athletic tasks are a constant challenge, from making a simple leap to running or fighting.
Raleson
Surviving Miner
Raleson is one of two surviving miners trapped in the caverns. He is barely alive and not much help physically.
He honestly believes (wrongly) that all three companions died in the Mud Pit.
Raleson will be frantic to get out having been traumatized by the returning Urdrum Swarm multiple times.
Paralysis Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of paralysis poison
Diluted pools of paralysis poison can exist where the Urdrum Swarm nests. The paralysis concentration is reduced and therefore may only cause a numbness or mild paralysis of limbs.
Urdrum Swarm
How Many Urdrum Swarm?
GM can of course have as many creatures as they deem necessary for game balance.
There can easily be 10-20 individual Urdrum in a swarm but larger swarms are not unusual.
Powerful characters might need to face several swarms at once.
Urdrum Swarm
General Intelligence
While individual members lack independent thought, the collective intelligence of the swarm is formidable.
Jorrik Algar
Basic Description
Jorrik is in his late 40's with a sturdy body built from working hard every day of his life. He has lived in the area of Greenstone since birth. He has no direct family having lost a wife and two children to various hardships of life. He does not have any land but works daily as handyman or fieldworker in exchange for various goods and services.Normally a friendly but limited talker, Jorrik is now a surley man, broken physically forever and broken mentally at least temporarily. But his thoughts are very much on the gold his people discovered.
Main Map
General Cavern Description
This was a mostly closed cavern system until the tremor opened up an entrance...and exit. The entire cavern is warm and humid due to the steam geysers in the Geothermal Cavern. This area creates a positive pressure environment so all air flows outward from this cavern. This area is very wet, with water constantly dripping from ceiling and walls and accumulating into puddles or creating muddy passages that make stable footing and any type of infravision a challenge. The cavern contains more creatures than just a couple of predators. There are rats, bats, roaches and a myriad of other inhabitants that find their way in and out through small cracks and passages to the surface.
Entrance to Caves
Basic Description
Warm, humid breeze smelling heavily of churned, rich soil blows through the 6x3 foot irregular opening. About 100 feet N is the edge of the glowing Fungi Forest. Just inside the opening is a post pounded into the ground with the remains of a rope attached.
If the adventurers are loud or flashing lights around, Raleson, the survivor in the Mud Pit might become aware of them and start frantically shouting.
Treasure
Salt Deposit
Located in the western bulge at the back of the cavern wall is an exposed vein of crystaline salt. This amount of salt if utilized properly can badly damage the Chthonic Maw.
Mycelium Sentinel
Click Image to Enlarge
Stalagmite Wall
This image shows the view from Mycelium Sentinel, to the left is the stalagmite wall and to the right is the open tunnel that loops around to the main tunnel and the entrance to the Geothermal Cavern.
Mycelium Sentinel
Social Structure
The Mycelium Sentinel functions as a single, cooperative organism. The Mother Mushroom is the core leader, while the Sisters and Protectors operate as specialized units, ensuring the colony’s survival and defense.
Elara Wynn
Habitat
She owns a cluttered cottage on the outskirts of a town, filled with strange herbs hanging to dry and various jars of preserved samples lining the shelves.
Paralysis Poison Sac
Basic Description
Harvesting the tiny sacs intact from the oversized insects is a dexterous task, and failure could result in paralysis.
Acid Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of acid
Diluted pools of acid can exist where the Chthonic Maw nests. The acid concentration is greatly reduced and therefore will only barely damage skin, but will cause normal leather, cloth, silk etc. to weaken and begin to tear and disintegrate after a few minutes. The acid is not full strength so it does not completely dissolve fabric or leather but serves to make it weak and useless.
The rats, in particular, love to climb on the geyers and chew at the soft mineral deposits to supply their bodies with needed nutrients. This action will sometimes create side vents where jets of steam will spray horizontally instead of vertically.
Basic Description
Geysers
There are only a few active geyers in the forest basin. They form over cracks in the cavern floor where steam and hot water are forced up from water filled chambers below. Far below that are magma chambers that heat rock and water.
The Fungi Forest contains two main sections, the Forest Carpet and various Fungal Growths.
Basic Description
Fungi Forest
The Fungi Forest is a very dynamic entity that developed in the high energy and heavy moisture environment and is made up a wide variety of fungi that can grow and evolve at a rapid pace.
A person cannot move through the thick Fungi Forest without contacting or breathing in spores that may affect the character.
Thousands of tiny fungi form a moss-like undergrowth, Bushy Lichen cling to rock cracks, myriad variety of taller mushrooms that range anywhere from inches tall up to 20 feet in height.
Treasure
Raw Gold
The raw gold will be in nugget and flake form, while some will be lying on the ground most is still locked up in rock and unmined soil.
The gold in the purple tent in the miner camp has been sifted and is simply a leather pouch full of raw gold.
Mine Area
Basic Description
The main mine tunnel is a long down-slope with a narrow but variable size, mostly natural construction with some tool work to help the miners move wheeled carts.
There are many thick-beamed wooden supports holding the walls and ceiling in place since the soil is very heavy with water, and the recent tremors have cracked rock and loosened soil.
The mine cavern at the end of the tunnel has scattered broken and acid damaged mine tools and the mostly skeletal remains of a miner. One SKULL can be found.
Raw Gold Treasure
Acid Sac Harvest
Basic Description
Harvesting the acid sacs intact from the Chthonic Maw is a dexterous task, and failure could result in acid damage.
Another method would be to take a portion of the Chthonic Maw and keep it till it regrows fully then establish a method to continously harvest the acid from the regenerative creature.
Visit NPC's link to read details about Felicity Vorn.
Felicity Vorn Campsite
Encountering Felicity Vorn
Introduce Felicity Vorn at anytime you see fit.
The campsite for Felicity Vorn and her 2 assistants is about a mile north through the wilderness. (The Felicity Vorn campsite is not represented or on any map)
They have tried to stay clear and not encroach on the miners and have had no reason to visit Greenstone. Velicity did have a brief conversation with one of the miners a few days before the massacre and knows they are from the village of Greenstone.
The young boys reported to Felicity they heard men screaming while they were out gathering food and ran to tell her. She said they would check on the miners the next day.
When Felicity and her wards arrive they will drive off the scavengers, look the camp over and assume all the men are dead. They will then spend all day gathering up and burying body parts in a temporary shallow grave. They will then collect all personal belongings, tear down the tents and collect the tools into a pile.
They will also find the gold hidden in the purple tent.
Felicity and the boys will then return to their campsite after this exhausting and unsettling event, spend one more night and then proceed to take the gold and give it to someone at Greenstone along with the story of the buried dead and miner campsite equipment.
Rising Hot Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the Fungi Forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Mycelium Sentinel
Basic Description
Mother, the singular central mushroom is the controller of the colony.
Sisters break down nutrients with their far reaching tendrils.
Protectors in the outer ring are the only part of the colony that can attack.
Protectors
Mother
Sisters
Mining Camp
Abode
Felicity and her two assistants are camping near the mining camp.
They have kept a wide berth from the miners, trying to disturb the locals as little as possible.
Mycelium Sentinel
Habitat and Behavior
The Mycelium Sentinel is found in damp, nutrient-rich environments such as ancient forests, wetland groves, and deep caves. It thrives in shaded areas with minimal human interference, where its tendrils can spread undisturbed. The colony remains rooted in one location, slowly expanding its domain as it consumes organic material and enriches the soil around it.
The Mother Mushroom acts as the central hub, regulating nutrient flow and spore production.
Sister Mushrooms decompose organic material brought to the colony by tendrils and process it for distribution.
Protector Fungi serve as guards, sensing the area for threats and deploying paralyzing spores when danger approaches.
Spores
Limited Area of Affect
Most spore activity will generally be limited to the area directly around the Fungi Forest where the geysers are located.
This is mainly due to the heavy moisture and cooling at the forest edge that keeps the spores from drifting too far.
Chthonic Maw
General Intelligence
While not intelligent, the Chthonic Maw displays cunning predatory tactics, such as ambushes and tracking prey via vibration sensitivity.
Treasure
Bonus
Salt: Located in the Mycelium Sentinel Chamber #8, in the western bulge at the back of the cavern, is an exposed vein of crystalline salt deposit.
This large amount of salt if utilized properly can poison the nest of the Chthonic Maw or if applied directly can severly damage the creature.
Treasure
Types of Treasure in this Cave
There are two basic types of treasure in this room.
The Ignis Shard is a magical treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - Ignis Shard and NPC Felicity Vorn.
The Chthonic Maw is a creature treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - The Alchemist Bounty and NPC Elara Wynn.
Mycelium Sentinel Chamber
Basic Description
In the dark, this chamber would glow faintly with an odd chartreuse color given off by the massive three-part mushroom colony.
Protectors in the outer ring are the only part of the colony that can attack.
Mother, the singular central mushroom is the controller of the colony.
Sisters break down nutrients with their far reaching tendrils.
This room is several feet above the rim of the Fungi Forest basin so it does not experience the Hot Water Mass Die-off.
Treasure consists of Salt and Mycelium Sentinel healing by harvesting the Mother.
Felicity Vorn
Affiliations
Felicity is closely tied to her learning institution, viewing it as her home. She and her adopted brothers live there. She is developing a network of fellow scholars and a few contacts in other learning institutions, though her interactions with society at large are limited.
She only ventures outside the institutional walls when assigned tasks.
Mycelium Sentinel
General Creature Stats
Mother: Medium 5 feet across
Attacks:
Size:
1 spore dispersal
Sister: Small 1 foot across
Area paralysis spores, tendril entrapment, enzymatic decomposition
Protector: Large 8 feet tall
Attack Methods:
Movement:
Sationary, tendril movement is slow
Defense Methods:
Primary Attributes:
Rapid spore release, regrowth from spores
Constitution
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Communication, coordination, difficult to kill off.
Fleshy but resilient fungal tissue
Rising Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Rising Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Elara Wynn
Personality Traits
Resourceful and shrewd, Elara can be both charming and somewhat aloof. She is intelligent and insightful but tends to keep her emotions guarded . A calm demeanor in high-pressure situations allows her to navigate both academic circles and the underbelly of the dark market with ease.
She likes to leverage the work of others, poor locals or mercenaries, until about a year ago. Now she is questioning her callous relationship with nature.
Chthonic Maw
Tactics
Chthonic Maw is an ambush predator, making full use of its rapid burrowing to both attack from any direction and to immediately escape in any direction should it become too injured, allowing the regeneration ability to heal. Even if parts are cut off or severed, those parts can grow into a new separate creature.
A successful bite from the Chthonic Maw automatically means acid will be deployed up to 5 times.
Visit NPC's link to read details about Felicity Vorn.
Felicity Vorn Campsite
Encountering Felicity Vorn
Introduce Felicity Vorn at anytime you see fit.
The campsite for Felicity Vorn and her 2 assistants is about a mile north through the wilderness. (The Felicity Vorn campsite is not represented or on any map)
They have tried to stay clear and not encroach on the miners and have had no reason to visit Greenstone. Velicity did have a brief conversation with one of the miners a few days before the massacre and knows they are from the village of Greenstone.
The young boys reported to Felicity they heard men screaming while they were out gathering food and ran to tell her. She said they would check on the miners the next day.
When Felicity and her wards arrive they will drive off the scavengers, look the camp over and assume all the men are dead. They will then spend all day gathering up and burying body parts in a temporary shallow grave. They will then collect all personal belongings, tear down the tents and collect the tools into a pile.
They will also find the gold hidden in the purple tent.
Felicity and the boys will then return to their campsite after this exhausting and unsettling event, spend one more night and then proceed to take the gold and give it to someone at Greenstone along with the story of the buried dead and miner campsite equipment.
Mycelium Sentinel Information
Only Felicity Vorn
Felicity Vorn is the only person who can help with details about the Mycelium Sentinel. Visit Felicity to learn what she knows.
Visit the Mycelium Sentinel creature to learn the details about the creature itself.
Chthonic Maw
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
This apex predator plays a critical role in regulating populations of burrowing creatures and scavengers. Any abandoned tunnels can create habitats for smaller organisms. However, its indiscriminate consumption can devastate local ecosystems that lack resiliency, espcially if there is more than one.
Felicity Vorn
Deal Making
Felicity has no experience other than basic haggling skills and will voluntarily help most people after a bit of wariness.
She is friendly and intelligent and can assist the adventurers with book oriented magical and geographical knowledge but has little experience other than data gathering in the wilderness.
She, along with her two assistants, are taking geological survey information about the area, as she has been tasked by her institution to gather information on the Ignis Shard.
If the advenurers return to her with information about the Ignis Shard then she will pay for it without hesitation. Payment will be a signed letter that must be collected upon at her institution, she doesn't carry that much money on her.
Elara Wynn
Tattoo
Her right forearm features a small, intricate tattoo of a vine intertwining with a quill, symbolizing her ties to nature and knowledge.
Elara feels a powerful attachment to her only tattoo that was bestowed upon her by Inkweavers in an ink and tattoo ceremony that made an outsized impact on her thoughts the past year, ever since she made the unusual decision to get a tattoo.
The Inkweavers gentle devotion drew her in and after a strange consultation ceremony she described the tattoo she wanted.
Species
Human
AI
Artificial Intelligence
Some elements created with the assistance of AI tools.
Cavern Basin Diagram
Basic Description
Side-View
10 FT
90 FT
Overhead-View
120 FT
Mud Pit
Diagram
Basic Description
MUD PIT SIDE VIEW
PIT 40 FT DEEP
MUD 20 FT DEEP
PIT 40 FT WIDE
All the mud pits in these caverns oscillate between a thick and thin slurry, depending on the variable amounts of water that condenses out of the air, drips from the ceiling or walls, then drains out of the porous rock.
The mud temperature is warm just like the air.
Though the forest entity is not sentient nor agressive it operates mainly as an enviromental response platform for the whole of the forest.
Basic Description
Forest Carpet
The forest carpet is the thick sponge layer that is made up of decaying mushrooms, the mycelium forest "root" network that supports a host of bacteria, insects, other microbes and allows the Fungi Forest to operate as a single entity.
Chthonic Maw
Clues for Adventurers
Acid-damaged or corroded remnants of dense organic material and tools can signal its presence.
Vibrations in the ground are an early warning of its underground approach.
Sticky trails of its skin mucous harden and dry to crumbling flakes, often found near tunnels it has dug or at hunting grounds.
Since the rats chew holes in the thin sides of the geysers to obtain needed minerals the geyers can vent scalding steam in a variety of random directions at any time. Yes, there are occasional rats lying around scalded to death but their bodies quickly decompose in this high energy ecosystem.
Basic Description
Steam Vent Trap
GM discretion. You work out the % of being hit by random jet of steam and the damage it can do.
Paralysis Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of paralysis poison
Diluted pools of paralysis poison can exist where the Urdrum Swarm nests. The paralysis concentration is reduced and therefore may only cause a numbness or mild paralysis of limbs.
The rats, in particular, love to climb on the geyers and chew at the soft mineral deposits to supply their bodies with needed nutrients. This action will sometimes create side vents where jets of steam will spray horizontally instead of vertically.
Basic Description
Geysers
There are only a few active geyers in the forest basin. They form over cracks in the cavern floor where steam and hot water are forced up from water filled chambers below. Far below that are magma chambers that heat rock and water.
Urdrum Swarm
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
Urdrum Swarms favor ambush tactics, striking from darkness and relying on their numbers to overpower enemies. They encircle a target, focusing on incapacitating one individual at a time. If disrupted, they retreat briefly to regroup.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Adventurers may avoid confrontation by using fire, loud noises, or bright light to scatter the swarm. Offering large quantities of organic matter can also distract or placate them temporarily.
Raleson
Surviving Miner
Raleson is one of two surviving miners trapped in the caverns. He is barely alive and not much help physically.
He honestly believes (wrongly) that all three companions died in the Mud Pit.
Raleson will be frantic to get out having been traumatized by the returning Urdrum Swarm multiple times.
Mycelium Sentinel
Layout
Mother, the singular central mushroom is the controller of the colony.
Sisters break down nutrients with their far reaching tendrils.
Protectors in the outer ring are the only part of the colony that can attack.
Protectors
Mother
Sisters
Treasure
Payment
The villagers of Greenstone, even collectively, don't have a lot of money but can trade services or possibly later after discovery of gold can offer a portion.
Elara Wynn only pays full amount upon delivery, nothing up front except thin information, although her payments are relatively generous.
Felicity Vorn is not used to making deals with mercenaries and also does not carry the necessary money to pay for their services, but will sign a letter of promised payment that can be presented at her school.
Lean In To The Environment
GM Notes on Action Economy Rulesets
Many RPG Rulesets (like D&D) rely on an action economy in combat that places creatures at a disadvantage against multiple character parties.
The environment is the great equalizer for GM's.
Utilizing the environment surrounding characters can humble even powerful characters, especially when you ratchet up the experience with multiple layers of events all happening at once.
For example: The characters are crossing the Fungi Forest, crawling through the Hidden Tunnel when the steam geysers get so loud that the characters can't communicate. Then the Urdrum Swarm enters the tunnel, panicked combat ensues, and then the Chthonic Maw shows up. We need to take the scene up a notch again in this chaotic combat, the geysers go quiet signalling the onset of the Hot Water Flood Trap, sending every creature fleeing.
Mycelium Sentinel
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
The Protector Fungi will detect intruders within 10 feet, they will straighten up and begin to raise their caps a little. Upon further approach the cap will begin to open and swell, then release spores to incapacitate intruders. While paralyzed, the Sisters’ tendrils will reach out and begin encasing the victim in hairy tendrils for moving and decomposition.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Mushroom Mimic. An adventurer can wrap their body completely with another mushroom cap to pass between the Protector Fungi without raising alarm.
Mushroom Information
Only Felicity Vorn
Felicity Vorn is the only person who can help with details about the Mycelium Sentinel. Visit Felicity to learn what she knows.
Visit the Mycelium Sentinel creature to learn the details about the creature itself.
Good Job - now click the image to see a larger version and see more details.
Elara Wynn
Deal Making
Elara has been operating the same way for years. She structures deals to only pay out to each individual, paid in full upon delivery. If the group returns the prize with fewer adventurers, she pays less.
She has heard the tale as told by the surviving miner and recognized both the Urdrum Swarm and the Chthonic Maw from past library research, but has never encountered either creature and would love live specimens. Or, at least the good parts, the poison and acid sacs. With her connections she could turn a really good profit.
She knows more about the local monsters than she lets on and will downplay dangers and feed false "helpful" information.
Chthonic Maw - She will verify the public information that it uses acid. She will reveal it likes warm areas and is a hefty size. She will hold back information about regenerative capabilities and the fact that it uses hairs to sense movement.
Urdrum Swarm - She will verify the public information that the bugs have paralyzing poison. She will reveal the Swarm move in a writhing lump and have hard shells like giant lobsters. She will hold back information about how they react to loud noises or bright flashes and how quickly they can spawn.
Urdrum Swarm
General Creature Stats
Attacks:
Size:
1 Bite per individual
Small (Individuals up to 2 feet)
Large (Swarm)
Attack Methods:
Venomous paralysis
Movement:
Skittering (fast)
Overwhelming numbers
Dexterity (wall climb) Intelligence (low individual - Cunning Hivemind)
Primary Attributes:
Defense Methods:
Hard chitin shell
Coordinated swarm
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Paralysis poison bite, well armored, coordinated swarm movement.
High natural armor
Acid Sac Harvest
Basic Description
Harvesting the acid sacs intact from the Chthonic Maw is a dexterous task, and failure could result in acid damage.
Another method would be to take a take a portion of the Chthonic Maw and keep it till it regrows fully then establish a method to continously harvest the acid from the regenerative creature.
Chthonic Maw
Habitat and Behavior
The Chthonic Maw thrives in subterranean environments, particularly near geothermal vents where heat and moisture are abundant. It tunnels through the earth, creating extensive networks of passages that often collapse behind it, making pursuit nearly impossible.
Typically solitary, this creature only emerges to hunt or defend its territory. It is known to devour anything it encounters, from animals to plant life, leaving barren patches in its path.
Chthonic Maw
Description and Physical Appearance
This immense, worm-like creature can stretch up to 20 feet in length and 2 feet in diameter. Its body is segmented and glistens with a mucous coating. Its flattened head resembles the shape of a hammerhead shark, with eyeless sensory pits on the top side, and a wide mouth lined with needle-like teeth on the underside of the head. Its coloration ranges from deep earth tones to muted blues and purples, aiding in camouflage in its natural environment. This burrowing creature prefers warm, wet environments and eats most anything, liquifying prey with its acid.
GM Note: This creature is based on the real life Planarian
Felicity Vorn
Tattoo
None, but she has a faint birthmark shaped like a star on her wrist, and the little girl in her always wondered if it meant anything more than just a skin discoloration.
Lights Out Map
Main Map Depicting View Without External Lighting
This map is mainly for the GM to visualize the secret tunnel path through the Fungi Forest.
Acid Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of acid
Diluted pools of acid can exist where the Chthonic Maw nests. The acid concentration is greatly reduced and therefore will only barely damage skin, but will cause normal leather, cloth, silk etc. to weaken and begin to tear and disintegrate after a few minutes. The acid is not full strength so it does not completely dissolve fabric or leather but serves to make it weak and useless.
Treasure
Mycelium Sentinel
If properly harvested and then prepared correctly the Mycelium Sentinel can prove valuable as a form of powerful healing.
Only Felicity Vorn has the information to harvest and prepare the healing mushroom.
To learn the details of harvesting and preparing the mushroom colony visit the Mycelium Sentinel creature.
Treasure
Types of Treasure in this Cave
There are two basic types of treasure in this room.
The Urdrum Swarm is a creature treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - The Alchemist Bounty and NPC Elara Wynn.
The eggs of the Urdrum Swarm are not special or valuable beyond containing unhatched Urdrum.
Elara Wynn
Hobbies
Beyond her alchemical pursuits, Elara enjoys sketching the creatures she encounters. She is also an avid reader of both herbal and creature lore.
Unclaimed Cave
Basic Description
This tunnel and cavern contains no nesting creatures but two Chthonic maw Tunnels exit the cave.
One miner survivor named Enhoff lays exhausted and wounded in the tunnel near the cavern room. He knows nothing about any of his friends but has seen the Chthonic Maw slither through.
Raw Gold Treasure
Mycelium Sentinel
Lore and Myths
The role of the Mother as healer and protector is intertwined deeply with the lore of the Mycelium Sentinel. It is rumored that the Mother has powerful healing abilities
Treasure
Mycelium Sentinel
A little-understood multi-mushroom colony with little common value due to the lack of widespread information about its healing capabilities.
This colony is unique and unchanging unlike the mushrooms in the Fungi Forest as it is not subject to the mass die-off event of the Rising Hot Water Trap.
The Mycelium Sentinel can also be found out in the world as long as the environment is conducive.
Dense Vegetation
Basic Description
The vegetation in this area is extremely dense and requires tools like a machete to make headway.
Movement will be 1/4 speed through the dense portions of jungle.
Any attacks that occur while in this dense vegetation will create penalties for the adventures.
Sight is limited to 20 feet due to heavy growth.
Swinging a long blade is nearly impossible without hitting tree limbs or other plants that can affect attacks.
Ranged attacks are also nearly impossible due to lack of sight and vegetation obstruction deflecting missle type weapons.
Tepler Fields
Basic Description
Tepler fields are for a variety of local crops that are entirely consumed by the large Tepler family.
Like a lot of local farm land the fields are wood fenced and they utilize goats to keep the jungle encroachment pushed back.
The soil closer to the hills and mountains is less sandy and more nutrient dense loam based than the sandy soil around Greenstone.
Since the rats chew hole in the thin sides of the geysers to obtain needed minerals the geyers can vent scalding steam in a variety of random directions at any time. Yes, there are occasional rats lying around scalded to death but their bodies quickly decompose in this high energy ecosystem.
Basic Description
Steam Vent Trap
GM discretion. You work out the % of being hit by random jet of steam and the damage it can do.
Location of Mine
Basic Directions
The mine is located approximately 10 miles east of Greenstone. A half-day hike up into the hills.
Multiple people, including Jorrik, city elders etc., can tell the adventures how to get there.
Specialized Knowledge: Only Jorrik can warn the party to stick strictly to the north bank of the Tepler stream and not to wander through the wilderness. He can also warn about the daily flooding of the Tepler stream and Tepler gully.
Tepler stream can be found about a mile outside of Greenstone.
Elara Wynn
Weapons/Equipment
She carries a small dagger for protection and utilizes an assortment of vials and flasks filled with variety of dangerous poisons. Elara often dons a satchel filled with her sketching materials and notes. She travels by horse but sometimes uses a cart if her field collection grows too large to carry on horseback.
Elara Wynn
Skills
Proficient in alchemy, botany, and field research, Elara's skills allow her to identify rare flora and fauna effectively. Her ability to sketch and take detailed field notes helps her create cohesive studies of her alchemical discoveries, which she can later sell.
Elara Wynn
Relations
Her father is her only family left alive and his health is poor. She doesn't visit him often and has always been a distant daughter. She has no bed partner at present and only some business friendships with a few of her contacts.
Urdrum Swarm
Feeding and Energy Requirements
Urdrum swarms sustain themselves on a diet of decomposing plant and animal matter, though they are capable of hunting live prey when necessary. Their venomous bite enables them to immobilize prey quickly, conserving energy while feeding. During lean times, they will not hesitate to consume their own.
EAS Remix License v1.0
Copyright © 2025 Todd Massey and Web Werks LLC. All rights reserved except as granted under the EAS Remix License.
Full License (EAS Remix License v1.0)
Purpose
The Emergent Adventure System (EAS) is designed to help Game Masters create, share, and publish interactive, non-linear RPG adventures. This license encourages creativity and collaboration while protecting the original creator’s intellectual property.
You Are Free To:
1. Use & Play – Use this module, its maps, NPCs, creatures, and other assets in your games for personal or commercial use.
2. Remix & Adapt – Modify, adapt, and build new works using these assets, including commercial adventures.
3. Distribute Derivatives – Share your remixed or derivative works publicly (for free or for sale).
You Must:
Provide Attribution – All public or commercial uses must include the following credit:
“Built using the Emergent Adventure System (EAS) by Todd Massey and Web Werks LLC" (with a link to https://doyouopenthedoor.com where possible).
You May Not:
Resell or Redistribute As-Is – You cannot resell, republish, or distribute this module, its raw map files, or other unaltered content without express permission.
Claim Ownership of EAS or This Module – The EAS method, name, and original content remain the property of Todd Massey and Web Werks LLC.
Remove Attribution – Credit must remain intact for any public or commercial use.
Additional Permissions
Paid download access to raw maps, NPCs, creatures, and related assets grants you the right to use those materials for your own game content and commercial modules under this license.
WWW.DOYOUOPENTHEDOOR.COM
Disclaimer
These materials are provided “as is” without warranty. Todd Massey and Web Werks LLC are not responsible for derivative works or their use.
For questions, commercial licensing, or special permissions, contact toddmassey@webwerks.biz
Mycelium Sentinel
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
The Protector Fungi will detect intruders within 10 feet, they will straighten up and begin to raise their caps a little. Upon further approach the cap will begin to open and swell, then release spores to incapacitate intruders. While paralyzed, the Sisters’ tendrils will reach out and begin encasing the victim in hairy tendrils for moving and decomposition.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Mushroom Mimic. An adventurer can wrap their body completely with another mushroom cap to pass between the Protector Fungi without raising alarm.
Felicity Vorn
Personality Traits
Intelligent: Felicity possesses a wealth of knowledge, especially in magical theory and geography.
Cautious: The dangers of the outside world have made her instinctively wary of strangers.
Empathetic: She deeply cares for her brothers and is always aware of their needs and feelings.
Unclaimed Cave
GM Notes
While this cave might seem like a relatively safe area to rest this cave directly connects to the Chthonic Maw Lair through the northern most Chthonic Maw Tunnel.
If the adventurers are too loud or want to crack some of the exposed gold out of the rock then they will very likely attract the attention of the Chthonic Maw.
Velvet Worm
Basic Description
Onychophora - is a real worm-like creature that lives on our planet. It is tiny and excretes a very sticky slime substance to capture prey and to defend itself. It even has the ability to shoot a stream of the sticky slime.
This worm could easily be developed into a giant attack creature if you wish but in this scenario we are mainly just using the sticky slime.
This area is experiencing a large infestation of the Velvet Worm and most leaves and surfaces are coated with this sticky substance.
The sheer volume of slime and the heat of the jungle has turned the area into a dripping, silvery nightmare of jungle adhesive.
The worms are not the danger but trying to pass through the area means sticks, leaves, plants and other debris are glomming on to every part of an adventurer, weighing them down and restricting movement.
Mycelium Sentinel
Clues for Adventurers
The soft pulsing pink bioluminescence is only visible in the dark.
The Mycelium Sentinel is the only fungi that adopts this special concentric arrangement.
Rising Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Mycelium Sentinel
General Creature Stats
Mother: Medium 5 feet across
Attacks:
Size:
1 spore dispersal
Sister: Small 1 foot across
Area paralysis spores, tendril entrapment, enzymatic decomposition
Protector: Large 8 feet tall
Attack Methods:
Movement:
Sationary, tendril movement is slow
Defense Methods:
Primary Attributes:
Rapid spore release, regrowth from spores
Constitution
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Communication, coordination, difficult to kill off.
Fleshy but resilient fungal tissue
Felicity Vorn
Relations
Her parents, in another land, sold her into slavery as a young girl but she was very lucky when she ended up at the learning institution as a worker and then a student.
Jacob and Eli: The two orphaned brothers (10 and 8) she cares for deeply. She rescued them off the streets and begged the institution to let her keep them. They work around the institution and help her. They are fiercely loyal to her.
Razor Bush
Basic Description
2 different bushes dominate this area but seem to have developed a beneficial relationship where if you find one plant growth you will find the other plant growth
The Wire Bush is an incredibly dense and tough stemmed plant that makes passage all but impossible. It grows to be about 3x3
The Razor Vine likes to weave around and between the patches of Wire Bush.The Razor Vine will shred normal clothing and lacerate skin.
Together, the Wire Bush and the Razor Vine create the Razor Bush.
Chthonic Maw
Reproductive Method
The Chthonic Maw reproduces by fragmentation. If sections are badly damaged or severed it can heal through regeneration or each severed section can grow into a fully grown individual (within days or weeks).
Example: If cut into 4 sections within days there will be 4 whole Chthonic Maws to deal with.
Temporarily 2 or more Chthonic Maws may inhabit the same area until one moves away or is eaten by another.
Paralysis Poison Sacs
Basic Description
Each individual Urdrum posesses 1 tiny paralysis poison sac situated towards the front of it's mouth between the mandibles.
The sac will trigger with a successful bite injecting poison into the flesh of the bitten creature.
The sac can inject poison 1 time only.
Chthonic Maw
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
The Chthonic Maw uses its rapid burrowing ability to ambush prey. In combat, it lashes out with its body, attempting to crush or stun foes. Sticky secretions from the skin can slow or trap animals and then a successful bite releases an acid that dissolves many substances except bone.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Adept adventurers might use cold, heat or vibrations to attract or repel the creature. Offering a large pile of food to sate its hunger. Lines of salt will block it from crossing surfaces.
Enhoff
Surviving Miner
Enhoff is one of two surviving miners trapped in the caverns. He is barely alive and not much help physically.
Enhoff can reveal what he knows about the Chthonic Maw (which is very litle) but he can point out the difficult to spot Chthonic Maw tunnels.
Treasure
Types of Treasure in this Cave
There are two basic types of treasure in this room.
The Urdrum Swarm is a creature treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - The Alchemist Bounty and NPC Elara Wynn.
The eggs of the Urdrum Swarm are not special or valuable beyond containing unhatched Urdrum.
Mycelium Sentinel
Layout
Mother, the singular central mushroom is the controller of the colony.
Sisters break down nutrients with their far reaching tendrils.
Protectors in the outer ring are the only part of the colony that can attack.
Protectors
Mother
Sisters
Chthonic Maw
How Many Chthonic Maw?
GM can of course have as many creatures as they deem necessary.
There can easily be 2 Chthonic Maw creatures since it has a regenerative capability.
Miner, Jorrik, nearly cut the head off so when it returned to it's lair it shed the body parts and both regrew a new portion, creating 2 Chthonic Maws.
Species
Human
Jorrik Algar
Healing Jorrik's Wounds
Jorrik's wounds are very severe and deep and need powerful healing to return him to normal.
There are 2 ways for adventurers within the adventure to help Jorrik.
The Ignis Shard crystal will slow heal over time as long as you are in posession of a shard.
The Mycelium Sentinel Mother Mushroom has powerful healing properties when properly harvested and prepared.
Felicity Vorn
Motivations
Felicity seeks to prove herself as a capable field researcher, eager to apply her book knowledge in the real world. Her desire to protect Jacob and Eli drives her to succeed, as she dreams of creating a stable future for them. Casting spells may or may not be her future, it is not a driver at present.
Enhoff
Surviving Miner
Enhoff is one of two surviving miners trapped in the caverns. He is barely alive and not much help physically.
Enhoff can reveal what he knows about the Chthonic Maw (which is very litle) but he can point out the difficult to spot Chthonic Maw tunnels.
Mycelium Sentinel
How to Prepare Healing Poultice
If there is time, the stem is lightly bruised with the fingers, then marigold leaves and petals are worked in a mortar until weak, then bound around the stem for a day.
If the wound is fresh, work yarrow to a pulp with sputum. If the wound is crusted, skip yarrow.
Combine yarrow with chamomile, worked in a mortar and blended with aloe, if available. Then, tip with warmed ale and lavender honey.
Break the stem from the cap, chop it into pieces, and work it in a mortar with the marigold, adding the ale and honey. Mix until ready for the poultice.
2 Ways
2 Basic Ways to Reach Chthonic Maw Lair and Hive Nexus
1. Use the tiny, dangerous Chthonic Maw Tunnels.
2. Cross the Fungi Forest
2 Basic Ways to Cross the Fungi Forest Without Coming into Contact with the Fungi
1. Fly through the air gap over the forest canopy.
4A
2. Crawl through the Hidden Path tunnel.
Players will no doubt generate many creative ways to accomplish this task. This represents the basic, obvious paths.
Cave Inhabitants
Basic Description
Most caves can't support many life forms because they are low energy; this cave system is different.
Many fungi, insects, and animals in this cave system don't interact with the external world and don't encounter the sun, but energy is introduced via the geysers along with nutrients. From there, normal life cycles occur based on this energy and the energy provided by the various life forms.
BacteriaFungi Flatworms Snails Crayfish Spiders
CentipedesMillipeds Springtails Cave Crickets Flies Beetles
SalamandersRoaches Rats Mice Bats Mold
Rising Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Elara Wynn
Affiliations
Elara is connected with local scholars and higher learning individuals, wizards, often attending intelectual conferences to showcase her findings. Simultaneously, she maintains ties with underground dealers, assasins and guilds looking for rare specimens or ingredients, making her a pivotal figure in both realms.
Though the forest entity is not sentient nor agressive it operates mainly as an enviromental response platform for the whole of the forest.
Basic Description
Forest Carpet
The forest carpet is the thick sponge layer that is made up of decaying mushrooms, the mycelium forest "root" network that supports a host of bacteria, insects, other microbes and allows the Fungi Forest to operate as a single entity.
Mycelium Sentinel
Value
Mother Mushroom contains all the healing and restorative nutrients, so if you harvest her correctly, you get a potent healing ingredient. The healing nutrients will not last long (2 days), once harvested.
The Protector Fungi paralysis spores have never been succesfully utilized.
Rain and Flooding
Basic Description
It rains pretty much every day. Mostly heavy, short downpours but sometimes it can rain longer.
Even the short storms can produce Flooding Events.
The Tepler stream is normally 10-20 feet wide and equally as deep with small falls and rapids moving into the higher elevations.
Flooding Events will double the size of the stream for a couple of hours as long as the rain was a short storm.
The Tepler Gully typically is a marshy area but Flooding Events will quickly fill the gully up with water 1-4 feet deep. Most of the water spills in from the flooded Tepler stream with some additional water running down the hillsides.
The flood water will quickly drain back out into the Tepler stream once the storm passes.
Mycelium Sentinel
General Intelligence
Though not intelligent in the traditional sense, the Mycelium Sentinel exhibits remarkable problem-solving abilities through its tendril network, effectively responding to environmental changes and threats.
Chthonic Maw
Lore and Myths
Legends speak of the Chthonic Maw as a harbinger of environmental destruction, appearing when subterranean ecosystems are disturbed.
It is mainly feared and poses a deadly menace to homesteads and villages whenever it begins roaming on the surface.
The regenerative properties are highly desired but little understood. Tales relate how a prominent official consumed a tail portion, hoping to absorb the regenerative properties, only to have a Chthonic Maw eat its way out of his body weeks later.
The acid sacs are desirable but extremely rare due to the danger of the Chthonic Maw.
Creatures
Basic Description
Populate the area with jungle or rainforest creatures.
Snakes (Venomous, Constrictor)
Crocodile (mainly on the Eastern portion of the map)
Dinosaurs
Frogs
Insects (swarm - flying, crawling)
Simians (Ape, Gorilla, Monkey)
Trolls and Giants
Cats (Tiger, Panther, Leopard, Puma, Jaguar)
Boars, wild pigs
Elephants
Birds
Treasure
Salt Deposit
Located in the western bulge at the back of the cavern wall is an exposed vein of crystaline salt. This amount of salt if utilized properly can badly damage the Chthonic Maw.
Tepler Farm House
Basic Description
A narrow dirt path leads to a poorly contructed but massive farm house, built long-house style but the length has been extended multiple time as the Tepler family kept growing.
The Elder Tepler (Otten) is around 50 and is presently married to the third Mrs. Tepler (Eshian) who is in her 30's and pregnant.
There are 18 children from ages 2-20 that work the farm.
They will be friendly but very busy with farm chores. There are goats, chickens and the fields. Getting information from them will take some social effort.
They can warn the adventurers of all hazards and the locations. For payment one of the children can safely guide them to the mine camp.
They have noticed the distant campfires had not been visible for several days but that there was still some campfire smoke visible further north (this would be the camp of Felicity Vorn and her 2 helpers).
There is a small graveyard with 8 graves. The two previous Mrs. Tepler's and 6 children. Life is hard out here.
Urdrum Swarm
Lore and Myths
Some believe that their hivemind is linked to a greater, unseen entity that watches over the swarm and guides its actions.
Explorers tell of glowing, chittering nightmares that decimate and consume entire caravans whole, warning travelers to avoid their nesting grounds.
Mycelium Sentinel
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
The Protector Fungi will detect intruders within 10 feet, they will straighten up and begin to raise their caps a little. Upon further approach the cap will begin to open and swell, then release spores to incapacitate intruders. While paralyzed, the Sisters’ tendrils will reach out and begin encasing the victim in hairy tendrils for moving and decomposition.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Mushroom Mimic. An adventurer can wrap their body completely with another mushroom cap to pass between the Protector Fungi without raising alarm.
Chthonic Maw
How Many Chthonic Maw?
GM can of course have as many creatures as they deem necessary.
There can easily be 2 Chthonic Maw creatures since it has a regenerative capability.
Miner, Jorrik, nearly cut the head off so when it returned to it's lair it shed the body parts and both regrew a new portion, creating 2 Chthonic Maws.
Tremors
Basic Description
Are the tremors still occurring? It's a great way to shake the adventurers up with unsteady ground, falling debris, and sudden changes in the geysers or hot water cycles.
What is causing the tremor? Is it the earthquakes, is it geysers increasing pressure, or is the Chthonic Maw tunneling nearby?
Most subterranean species, Dwarves, etc., after experiencing one of these types of tremors, can better identify it during the next identical occurrence.
Chthonic Maw
General Creature Stats
Attacks:
Size:
2-3 (Bite, Acid Spray, Sticky Tail Lash)
Enormous (20 feet Long, 2 feet diameter
Movement:
Attack Methods:
Physical (Piercing Bite, Blunt Tail) Acid
Surface (average), Burrowing (fast)
Primary Attributes:
Defense Methods:
Heat Resistant, Regeneration,
Strength, Constitution
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Regeneration, Acid, Burrowing, Tremor Sense, Sticky Secretions
Natural metal armor
Exit to Camp
Basic Description
Approximately 100 foot long and a maximum of 20 feet wide, mostly natural cavern slopes upward to the surface with a couple of shallow bends and big boulders blocking a straight shot. The miners dug earth and chipped stone enough to clear path to get their hand carts up and down the tunnel.
Geothermal Cavern
Side-View
10 FT
90 FT
Overhead-View
120 FT
Basic Description
This large cavern is an elongated bowl 120 feet long and 90 feet wide. Constant rain falls in the Fungi Forest where steam vents reside on the spongy floor.
Many cavern residents come here to feed on the mushrooms and each other.
There is a hidden tunnel through the forest offering passage to stay unaffected by the mushrooms only revealed in the dark. Another passage is the 10 foot air gap over the top of the fungi forest.
The Fungi Forest contains two main sections, the Forest Carpet and various Fungal Growths.
Basic Description
Fungi Forest
The Fungi Forest is a very dynamic entity that developed in the high energy and heavy moisture environment and is made up a wide variety of fungi that can grow and evolve at a rapid pace.
A person cannot move through the thick Fungi Forest without contacting or breathing in spores that may affect the character.
Thousands of tiny fungi form a moss-like undergrowth, Bushy Lichen cling to rock cracks, myriad variety of taller mushrooms that range anywhere from inches tall up to 20 feet in height.
This irregular wall consists of multiple stalagmites and stalactites that had formed a large pillar that blocks all but the most nimble as a person would have to climb 20 feet up to cross to the other side.
Stalagmite Wall
Geothermal Cavern
Click Image to Enlarge
Elara Wynn
Appearance
Elara stands around 5'6" with a slightly wiry frame, suggesting agility over strength. Her long, raven-black hair is often hastily tied back with a green ribbon. She has piercing emerald eyes that seem to observe and analyze everything around her. Elara wears a dark green tunic and sturdy black trousers, ideal for her excursions into the wild. Her attire is often stained with various plant matter and dirt.
Acid Sac Harvest
What Does Elara Know
Elara is only interested in turning the acid for profit. She is not interested in the regenerative properties and knows that no person has yet to discover how to safely utilize it. She has no interest in raising a Chthonic Maw.
She might can be bargained with to buy a piece of the Chthonic Maw but she knows she would have to unload the creature fairly quick.
Harvesting the acid sacs intact from the Chthonic Maw is a dexterous task, and failure could result in acid damage.
Another method would be to take a portion of the Chthonic Maw and keep it until it regrows fully, then establish a method to continuously harvest the acid from the regenerative creature.
Urdrum Swarm Eggs
Basic Description
The eggs are the size of a large berry with a soft but firm shell. They glow yellow due to the bioluminescent fungi diet.
An egg will hatch about once an hour. As it cuts its way out of the shell, it will join the rest of the swarm within minutes, with its carapace hardening.
Elara Wynn
Basic Description
Elara is in her mid 30's with a wiry frame and a face that is begining to reflect a hard life of constant travel. There is no significant other and never has been. She has a goodly amount of treasure stashed at her cottage and with her knowledge and skills could easily switch to a different type of life, if she so desired. She is nearly impossible to intimidate, she deals with assassins and thieves, though she keeps a business-like demeanor and can easily walk away from a deal as she is not desperate.
Treasure
Ignis Shards
This treasure might not integrate well into your world as envisioned here, but the idea is the crystals act like a battery to store energy in general and can store magical energy.
For the purposes of this adventure they have been imbued with minor slow mind and physical healing properties.
The energy is meant to be limited and exhaustible but restorable. The size of the crystal is important to the amount of storable energy.
Deeper research is definetely required to fully understand the full powers of the Ignis Shards.
Felicity Vorn
Skills
Field Researcher: Skilled in gathering and analyzing magical flora and fauna.
Mage-in-training: Felicity has a deep understanding of magical theory but is still mastering practical spells.
She much prefers constructive or helpful spells as opposed to destructive or harmful ones.
Though the forest entity is not sentient nor agressive it operates mainly as an enviromental response platform for the whole of the forest.
Basic Description
Forest Carpet
The forest carpet is the thick sponge layer that is made up of decaying mushrooms, the mycelium forest "root" network that supports a host of bacteria, insects, other microbes and allows the Fungi Forest to operate as a single entity.
Spores
Limited Area of Affect
Most spore activity will generally be limited to the area directly around the Fungi Forest where the geysers are located.
This is mainly due to the heavy moisture and cooling at the forest edge that keeps the spores from drifting too far.
Rising Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Chthonic Maw
General Creature Stats
Attacks:
Size:
2-3 (Bite, Acid Spray, Sticky Tail Lash)
Enormous (20 feet Long, 2 feet diameter
Movement:
Attack Methods:
Physical (Piercing Bite, Blunt Tail) Acid
Surface (average), Burrowing (fast)
Primary Attributes:
Defense Methods:
Heat Resistant, Regeneration,
Strength, Constitution
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Regeneration, Acid, Burrowing, Tremor Sense, Sticky Secretions
Natural metal armor
The Miner Discovery
Gold and Death
The miners discovered a rich vein of gold and had yet to inform the villagers of Greenstone before the attack.
Jorrik thinks anyone, certainly outsiders, are going to steal the villagers gold. Traumatized Jorrik is convinced all 10 miners, who were family and friends, are all dead from the viscious attack he survived.
Location of Mine
Basic Directions
The mine is located approximately 10 miles east of Greenstone. A half-day hike up into the hills.
Multiple people, including Jorrik, city elders etc., can tell the adventures how to get there.
Specialized Knowledge: Only Jorrik can warn the party to stick strictly to the north bank of the Tepler stream and not to wander through the wilderness. He can also warn about the daily flooding of the Tepler stream and Tepler gully.
Tepler stream can be found about a mile outside of Greenstone.
Tremors
Basic Description
Are the tremors still occurring? It's a great way to shake the adventurers up with unsteady ground, falling debris, and sudden changes in the geysers or hot water cycles.
What is causing the tremor? Is it the earthquakes, is it geysers increasing pressure, or is the Chthonic Maw tunneling nearby?
Put a Time Clock on the Adventurers - During the adventure have the frequency and duration of the tremors continue to increase, maybe accelerating to a really big cave collapsing earthquake.
Most subterranean species, Dwarves, etc., after experiencing one of these types of tremors, can better identify it during the next identical occurrence.
Paralysis Poison Sac Harvest
Basic Description
Harvesting a Urdrum poison sac is difficult and can only be performed on an individual that has not bitten a character and expelled the poison.
Each individual Urdrum posesses 1 tiny paralysis poison sac situated towards the front of it's mouth between the mandibles.
The sac will trigger with a successful bite injecting poison into the flesh of the bitten creature.
The sac can inject poison 1 time only.
2 Ways
2 Basic Ways to Reach Chthonic Maw Lair and Hive Nexus
1. Use the tiny, dangerous Chthonic Maw Tunnels.
2. Cross the Fungi Forest
2 Basic Ways to Cross the Fungi Forest Without Coming into Contact with the Fungi
1. Fly through the air gap over the forest canopy.
4A
2. Crawl through the Hidden Path tunnel.
Players will no doubt generate many creative ways to accomplish this task. This represents the basic, obvious paths.
The rats, in particular, love to climb on the geyers and chew at the soft mineral deposits to supply their bodies with needed nutrients. This action will sometimes create side vents where jets of steam will spray horizontally instead of vertically.
Basic Description
Geysers
There are only a few active geyers in the forest basin. They form over cracks in the cavern floor where steam and hot water are forced up from water filled chambers below. Far below that are magma chambers that heat rock and water.
Mud Pit
Basic Description
All the mud pits in these caverns oscillate between a thick and thin slurry, depending on the variable amounts of water that condenses out of the air, drips from the ceiling or walls, then drains out of the porous rock.
The mud temperature is warm just like the air.
Felicity Vorn
Appearance
Felicity is petite, with wavy chestnut hair that curls around her shoulders. Her soft features are often lit up with a smile, though a hint of worry lingers in her hazel eyes. She wears practical, comfortable clothing suitable for fieldwork, often in earthy tones. A leather satchel filled with research notes hangs at her side.
Acid Sacs
Basic Description
The Chthonic Maw posesses 2 large acid sacs situated towards the rear of it's mouth.
Both sacs will trigger simultaneously with a successful bite spraying acid onto the flesh of the bitten creature.
The sacs can emit acid 5 times before empty.
The Chthonic Maw is resistant to it's own acid.
Ignis Shard
What Does Felicity Know?
Felicity is in the area gathering geographical data related to the Ignis Shard. Particularly rock formations.
In conversation she will voluntarily talk about why they are here and if the adventurers find any information about the Ignis Shard in the caves the institution would reward them.
She knows the Ignis Shard can be 6 inches to 2 feet long, glows purple, is comfortably warm, durable crystal, but the energy contained can be unstable and released if the crystal is broken. It is thought to act as a device capable of storing or releasing magical energy and that the natural energy contained is thought to soothe the psyche and heal the body.
Use caution when digging the shards out of the ground not to break them with tools or to smash them.
Felicity and her wards will not venture into the caves.
2 Ways
2 Basic Ways to Reach Chthonic Maw Lair and Hive Nexus
1. Use the tiny, dangerous Chthonic Maw Tunnels.
2. Cross the Fungi Forest
2 Basic Ways to Cross the Fungi Forest Without Coming into Contact with the Fungi
1. Fly through the air gap over the forest canopy.
4A
2. Crawl through the Hidden Path tunnel.
Players will no doubt generate many creative ways to accomplish this task. This represents the basic, obvious paths.
Elara Wynn
Motivations
Elara aims to create a comprehensive compendium of rare specimens, and her chosen path has allowed her to begin to accomplish this personal goal.
She has developed an unrivaled knowledge focused on dangerous flora and fauna, with her artistic skills, stashed wealth and connections she could actually stop wandering and pursue her project.
The past few months she has found herself thinking often about how she treats people and the creatures she harvests.
Urdrum Swarm Eggs
Basic Description
The eggs are the size of a large berry with a soft but firm shell. They glow yellow due to the bioluminescent fungi diet.
An egg will hatch about once an hour. As it cuts its way out of the shell, it will join the rest of the swarm within minutes, with its carapace hardening.
Felicity Vorn
Weapons/Equipment
Felicity carries no weapon. If she uses spells they will be low level or cantrip-like in nature and will tend to be distractful in nature instead of harmful. She carries blank parchments and writing supplies plus any books that relate to whatever task she has been assigned.
The Writhing Depths - Etsy
Todd Massey
Created on October 4, 2025
RPG Adventure Module
Start designing with a free template
Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:
View
Practical Interactive Image
View
Akihabara Square Interactive Image
View
Akihabara Interactive Image
View
Essential Interactive Image
View
Interactive Team Image
View
Image with Audio
View
Image with interactive hotspots
Explore all templates
Transcript
The Writhing Depths
The Writhing Depths
Welcome and thank you for investing your time with me.
I hope this module system and rule agnostic RPG adventure is easy to use and fun for you and anyone else along for the journey.
You will find complete instructions on the CONTENTS page
To see the cover page click the door icon.
Do You Open The Door?
CONTENTS
The Writhing Depths
The Writhing Depths
START HERE: HOW TO USE THIS MODULE
Emergent Adventure System
Story
Elements
Icon Key
GM Cheat Sheet
Summary
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
Journey to Mine
Mine Camp
Timeline of Miner Massacre
Adventure Hooks
NPC Selection
General Cavern Description
Clues
Jorrik Algar
Environmental Challenges
Jorrik's Story
Raleson's Story
Elara Wynn
Enhoff's Story
Treasure
Felicity Vorn
100 Mushroom Effects
Creature Selection
Map Selection
Chthonic Maw
Main Map
Lights Out Map
Mycelium Sentinel
Main Map Descriptions
Urdrum Swarm
Mine Camp
Todd Massey
The Writhing Depths
The Writhing Depths
PAGE 1 OF 2
EMERGENT ADVENTURE SYSTEM
Emergent Storytelling - A type of storytellng where a story develops naturally and unexpectedly through a player's actions.
How This Module is Designed
This RPG module introduces a fresh and flexible approach to storytelling in adventure campaigns, designed with Game Masters in mind. Its innovative linking structure means you are never more than one or two clicks from the information you need. It offers a more dynamic and versatile image based alternative to the rigid formats of traditional print or PDF modules.
Rule Agnostic Design for Maximum Flexibility
Unlike conventional modules tied to specific game systems, this adventure is presented in a rule-agnostic format. This means there are no predefined stats or proprietary game mechanics. As a result, the module can seamlessly integrate into any game system, any world, and any character level.
Tailored to Your Players, Game and World
The only prerequisite for the GM is a good understanding of their players and their characters. GMs will assign target numbers and customize essential stats for opponents and obstacles such as Hit Points, Armor Class, or Skill Checks based on the game system they are using and the party's level. This ensures gameplay that is balanced, engaging, and suited to the specific dynamics of your group.
Perfect for Homebrew Worlds
Because of the open-ended design, this system is particularly well-suited for integration into homebrew worlds. Its malleability ensures it can adapt seamlessly to your unique setting, enhancing the world you've built rather than imposing rigid external structures.
No Character Restrictions
One of the standout advantages of this system is its adaptability. It can be tailored to characters of any ruleset and level, freeing your party to play with their established characters rather than being constrained to pre-made module characters or specific level requirements. This freedom allows for a more organic and immersive experience, as the story evolves around their choices and the heroes your players love.
PAGE 1 OF 2
How to Use this Module
This RPG adventure module is a complete story but is presented in a new format. Rather than a PDF or print format, it contains clickable elements that reveal additional information.
My goal was to solve common problems that Game Masters experience with other formats. The technology is nothing new, but the presentation for an RPG module is unique.
This way, the GM is never more than 1 or 2 clicks away from critical information and can easily return to whatever element they were at originally.
Information is layered, with brief notes available first and then if needed the GM can go deeper for more details.
The Home button takes you to the CONTENTS page where all major links are located.
There are 4 Main Categories
NPC's
Creatures
Maps
Story Elements
Each Main Category allows for deeper branching information
Text, Images and Icons can be Clickable
While not everything is clickable, don't hesitate to click.
CLICK TO OPEN CLICK TO CLOSE
Some pages only have a few clickable elements while the Main Map page has close to 50 clickable elements.
Leaving a page will cause all elements on that page to reset to original starting point.
Story Elements
The Writhing Depths (Dungeon Adventure)
GM Cheat Sheet
Summary
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
Journey to Mine
Mine Camp
General Cavern Description
Adventure Hooks
Timeline of Miner Massacre
Clues
Treasure
Environmental Challenges
Jorrik's Story
Raleson's Story
Enhoff's Story
100 Mushroom Effects
PAGE 2 OF 2
EMERGENT ADVENTURE SYSTEM cont...
It is Up to the Game Master
This is a complete adventure story like any campaign setting, except there are no stats. After reading through the entire module's story, the GM should have a good idea of what level and how many hit points, etc., should be assigned to create interesting encounters.
No Read Aloud
Controversial, I know. There are no read-aloud descriptions. The GM does what they have always done: describes the scene in their own voice. Overhead and Point-of-View images help to guide basic scene descriptions.
Treasure
Outside of some general ideas or suggestions for what might be considered valuable (creature parts, etc.), no monetary quantities are used. Again, this allows the GM flexibility in slotting the adventure into their own world with minimal effort. Reward your players as you see fit.
No Planned Attacks
The Writhing Depths adventure has no planned attacks written into the storyline. There are two aggressive natural-type creatures (Chthonic Maw and Urdrum Swarm) that inhabit the cave system. The GM should have these creatures attack based on story pacing, player choices, and appropriateness.
Lean into the Environment
Based on what your party is ready for, you can make this particular adventure a wondrous, head-spinning romp through a glowing mushroom forest or a gritty, constant fight against never-before-encountered creatures in this bizarre place.
PAGE 2 OF 2
The Writhing Depths
The Writhing Depths
RPG FANTASY ADVENTURE
Summary
Beneath the earth lies a vast, humid cavern system that connects to geothermal vents and distant magma pools. Within this labyrinth, two predators, the Chthonic Maw and the Urdrum Swarm, dominate in a precarious balance. Adventurers are drawn to these hidden caves after a series of earthquakes reveal a new passage and rumors of lives lost for a vast wealth of gold. However, the caverns hold deadly secrets, and the expedition quickly turns into a desperate fight for survival.
The basic premise is that the adventurers are assisting the poor villagers of Greenstone to see if there are any additional survivors besides Jorrik Algar, the sole known surviving member of a group of miners who were attacked at their mining camp.
If the party is not very altruistic, and willing to help the villagers for a pittance, there are multiple paths to earn rewards, just mix and match some of the suggested adventure hooks.
General Cavern Description
This was a mostly closed cavern system until the tremor opened up an entrance... and exit. The entire cavern is warm and humid due to the steam geyers in the Geothermal Cavern. This area creates a positive pressure environment so all air flows outward from this cavern.
In the midst of the Geothermal Cavern and the steam vents is the Fungi Forest. A highly dynamic forest made up entirely of various fungi.
The air is intensly humid, with water constantly dripping from ceiling and walls, accumulating into puddles or creating muddy passages that make stable footing and any type of heat based vision a challenge.
The cavern contains more creatures than just a couple of predators. There are rats, bats, roaches and a myriad of other inhabitants that find their way in and out through small cracks and passages to the surface.
Adventure Hooks
The Disappearing Miners:
A rescue hook that targets the miners for low payment. Recently, after some local tremors, Greenstone, a town on the edge of the jungle, lost 10 local citizens while tunneling within nearby mountain caves in search of gold. The villagers have lost many men and the leaders implore the adventurers to help search and rescue any survivors.
To utilize this part of the adventure have the party encounter NPC Jorrik Algar
The Alchemists Bounty:
A monetary hook that targets creatures for profit. An alchemist working around the village suspects, based on the surviving miner's tale, that the creatures are a Chthonic Maw and Urdrum Swarm. She will hire people for the retrieval of the intact acid-storing sacs of the Chthonic Maw and the Urdrum paralysis venom, rumored to have extraordinary properties. The rewards are great, but the dangers are greater.
To utilize this part of the adventure have the party encounter NPC Elara Wynn.
Ignis Shards:
A magical hook that targets minerals for power. Rare geothermal crystals known as "Ignis Shards." These luminous, heat-emitting stones are highly valued by various magic-using powers for their energy-storing capabilities. These crystals are known to exist in this mountainous area.
To follow this path of the adventure have the party encounter NPC Felicity Vorn.
Treasure
Here are the obvious treasures that can be obtained on this adventure.
Payment for Services:
There are 2 ways to earn money
Working with Elara Wynn (Alchemists Bounty) for creature parts.
Working with Felicity Vorn (Ignis Shards) for magical minerals.
Adventure Hooks
Raw Gold:
There are 3 places to easily gather raw gold
Miners stashed some in the mining camp purple tent
There is gold in the Mining Area #1.
There is gold in the Unclaimed Cave #5.
Mushrooms from the Fungi Forest:
While it is hard to determine which mushroom created desirable effects, it is possible to harvest mushrooms from Geothermal Cavern #4 and utilize them later.
100 Fungi Effects
Still valuable even if they don't get paid by Felicity Vorn.
Ignis Shards:
Ignis Shards can only be found in Chthonic Maw Lair #6
Acid Sacs:
Still valuable even if they don't get paid by Elara Wynn.
Acid sacs can only be harvested from the Chthonic Maw.
Paralysis Poison Sacs:
Still valuable even if they don't get paid by Elara Wynn.
Poison sacs can only be harvested from the Urdrum Swarm.
Mycelium Sentinel:
Only Felicity Vorn can assist with knowledge of the Mycelium Sentinel.
Mycelium Sentinel can only be found at Mycelium Sentinel #8
NPC's
Jorrik Algar:
The Disappearing Miners - All the miners were working this side project hoping to hit it rich for the village of Greenstone. Jorrik was elected foreman of the 11 person team. He is a grizzled, acid burned survivor of the attack, who is presently unwilling to re-enter the tunnels or even help the adventurers with rescue information due to both the shocking horror of the attack and his desire to ensure the village benefits from their find before anyone else can.
Jorrik Algar's Story
Greenstone
The Miner Discovery
Description
Elara Wynn:
The Alchemist Bounty - A shadowy alchemist hanging around Greenstone offering casually high prices for creature samples.
Recently arrived in the area Elara has been sketching local flora and fauna. Making deals with the locals for live samples.
Full Profile
Deal Making
Greenstone
Description
Felicity Vorn:
Ignis Shards - An apprentice scholar working in the area studying the Ignis Shard.
She and her two assistants are camping in the mining area and are willing to aid adventurers with book-oriented magical and geographical knowledge.
Deal Making
Full Profile
Mining Camp
Description
Jorrik Algar's Story
When talking with Jorrik the conversation can easily go wrong if he suspects the adventurers are out to steal the gold they have discovered.
If talks do go poorly with Jorrik the local leaders will beg the adventurers to help them anyway and will relay Jorrik's story second hand.
Here is what Jorrik can reveal if the conversation goes well.
5 miners were down in the mine digging while he and the other 5 were on the surface.
He can describe the 2 predators, Urdrum Swarm and Chthonic Maw, that attacked them and how they attacked.
The tremor had opened another chamber but they had not explored it due to being excited about their gold find.
The tremor caused some stability problems in the mine but no one had been hurt yet and they spent extra time shoring up the ceiling.
They have some gold hidden in the purple tent.
The following tale is written as if you were encountering Jorrik as he stumbled into the small local tavern after having made his way back to Greenstone.
Location of Mine
The Writhing Shadows
The room was silent save for the faint creak of the tavern's beams. Jorrik looked at the scarred table, his voice dropping to barely a whisper. “That’s when it came. The Maw.” He shook his head, his breath hitching. “I felt it before I saw it, this deep vibration in the ground, like the bones of the earth were groanin’. And then, it burst outta the cave. Huge, slimy, and stinkin’ of acid and death. Its mouth opened wide, needle teeth glistenin’, and it went straight for the boys still fightin’ off the swarm. No time to scream. Just a wet crunch and.” He slammed a fist against the table, making several of the listeners jump. “Four of ‘em gone. Just like that.”
Jorrik’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the mug. “Bugs. Never seen the like of ‘em. Rust-red shells and legs sharp as knives, skitterin’ faster than anything should. They came pourin’ out of the mine like a black tide. Poor Gregor was the first—they swarmed him, the lot of ‘em, bitin’ and tearin’. He went stiff as a board, limbs jerkin’ like a puppet, and then he dropped. The sound, gods, I’ll never forget the sound. Like meat bein’ shredded.” He paused, his gaze distant. “We didn’t have much time to think. Grabbed whatever we could—shovels, planks, even a damn blanket—and started swingin’. Thought maybe we could beat ‘em back. But every swing was a gamble. They’d crawl up your arms, bite you, and your muscles’d lock up like iron. I got hit on my leg first—crippled me good, but I kept swingin’. We managed to kill a lot of ‘em. But Gregor, he was gone. Dead before we could pull those bastards off him.”
Jorrik Algar sat hunched over the tavern table, his face a craggy landscape of scars and melted flesh, half-hidden beneath the edge of a dark hood. His once sturdy frame now appeared gaunt, his movements stiff and pained as he cradled a mug of ale with trembling hands. Around him, the townsfolk leaned in, their faces pale in the flickering lamplight as he began his tale. “It was the tremor that did it,” Jorrik rasped, his voice a hoarse whisper that silenced the room. “Shook the whole camp like the ground was tryin’ to spit somethin’ out. Day after, the air felt wrong, thick and heavy, like the earth itself was holdin’ its breath.” He took a long drink, then wiped his mouth with a freshly scarred hand. “We were outside the cave that morning, me and five others, sortin’ through the tailings. Just another day, y’know? Diggin’ deep, five of the boys still inside the mine. Then the shoutin’ started.”
He stopped and touched gingerly at the edges of his ruined face. “But before I got away, I don’t know what came over me. I grabbed a shovel off the ground and swung it as hard as I could. Thought it’d be my last act before it got me. Landed the blow right behind its head. The damn thing screeched like the earth itself was dyin’, and its head hung limp, nearly severed. I took a spray of acid for it, felt it eat into my body, but I kept crawlin’. I looked back, and there it was, thrashin’, its head barely holdin’ on. I don’t know if it’s dead or not, but it bought me enough time to get away.” Jorrik’s voice broke as he continued, his words tumbling out in a rush. “I was half-paralyzed already, could barely crawl. The acid, it sprayed me, burned my face, my chest. Thought I was done for. But somehow, I kept goin’. Crawled past the bodies, past the bugs still chewin’ on ‘em, and out into the trees.”
The room sat in stunned silence, the weight of Jorrik’s words pressing down on everyone like the depths of the cave itself. After a long pause, he added, his voice bitter, “Whatever’s down there, it ain’t natural. It’s death, waitin’ to crawl out and take the rest of us. Mark my words, leave the caves alone. Or end up like Gregor and the others.” With that, Jorrik pushed himself to his feet, his legs trembling under him. He left the tavern without another word, leaving the crowd behind to murmur in uneasy whispers about the horrors that dwelled beneath the earth.
Elara Wynn Profile
Species:
Appearance:
Background:
Personality Traits:
Motivations:
Paralysis Poison Sacs
Acid Sacs
Skills:
Read details on Chthonic Maw
Read details on Urdrum Swarm
Hobbies:
Weapons/Equipment:
Affiliations:
Habitat:
Cottage
Quill & Ivy Tattoo
Tattoo:
Voice:
Relations:
Dagger
Sketches
Felicity Vorn Profile
Species:
Appearance:
Background:
Personality Traits:
Motivations:
Ignis Shard Information
Skills:
Mycelium Sentinel Information
Hobbies:
Weapons/Equipment:
Visit Mycelium Sentinel to learn Value, Harvest and Preparation information
Affiliations:
Habitat:
Jacob and Eli
Tattoo:
Voice:
Relations:
Enhoff's Story
Enhoff:
Three miners slipped into the Mud Pit but became increasingly frantic when the remains of the Urdrum Swarm arrived, causing Raleson Patter to slip and join his companions struggling in the Mud Pit.
During the swarm attack, Enhoff, like the others, was thrashing around and cracked his head on some stone but was able to gain just enough of a purchase on the pit walls to pull himself out of the mud.
Suffering a bleeding concussion and multiple paralyzing bites to his legs and body, he was able to drag himself blindly down a tunnel, where he passed out.
Later, he awoke in complete darkness and wondered if he was blind from his pulsing head wound. Feeling was beginning to return to his legs, but he could feel some of his wounds still bleeding as consciousness left him again.
Waking again, he was thirsty and crawled toward the sound of dripping water, where he drank from a tiny puddle of cave water.
He tried crawling blindly in a direction and finally stopped from exhaustion, completely lost in the pitch-black cave, unaware of how much time had passed. He fell unconscious again.
Enhoff awoke with a feeling of dread; the bizarre giant worm that had attacked them in the Mine Area was slithering down the tunnel towards him, glowing from bioluminescent goo smeared along its glistening length.
Enhoff crammed his body down between a couple of rocks he found himself between and froze solid like a scared rabbit with the predator approaching.
As the Maw passed Enhoff, he dared to watch it as it began to disappear into a deep crack at the back of the room, where it slipped into a tiny tunnel.
But now Enhoff realized that his eyes were working and he was not blind, and what he had seen from the dim glow coming off the giant snake gave him hope.
He had seen that he was at the end of the tunnel and needed to turn around to escape. He had also seen a rich vein of gold glistening in a cracked open boulder that he could lay first claim to as his own.
If he could get out alive.
100 Mushroom Effects
Simply choose an image or roll %
Sneezes mushrooms for 1d6 hours. They are harmless but persistent.
Hallucinations of tiny, dancing mushroom people for 1d6 hours.
Eyes rotate through different types of vision every hour for 8 hours.
Skin develops a faint bioluminescent glow for 24 hours.
Itchy rash that smells like cheese develops; lasts 1d4 days.
Develops permanent aversion to consuming mushrooms - violently ill if consumed.
Speak gibberish uncontrollably for 1d4 hours (no verbal spell casting).
Hair turns into thin, writhing fungal tendrils that can 2 way communicate base thoughts with mushrooms 1d12 hours.
Loss of coordination, dexterity based abilities badly affected 1d4 degrees of severity for 2d6 hours.
Ears sprout delicate mushroom caps causing all sounds to be muffled, then fall off in 1d6 hours.
10
13
Tingling extremities and persistent thirst for 1d4 hours.
12
Develops a taste for raw fungi, cannot resist found mushrooms,
Eyes bulge out becoming compound insect eyes with wider vision but disorientations for 1d6 hours
15
Breath smell like moldy earth for 1d6 days, affects charisma, persuasion type abilities.
18
11
All attributes temporarily max out for 1-2 hours before the character collapses from exhaustion.
14
Hands become sticky and adhesive for 1d6 hours.
Nightmares of giant fungus destroying the world, no restful sleep for 1d6 days.
17
19
Skin takes on a tough, bark-like texture, bonus protection 1d8 hours.
Mild euphoria, feelings of peace and unity with the universe 2d8 hours.
20
Body temperature drops 10 degrees for next 24 hours (stiff limbs, uncontrollable shivers).
16
21
Large mushroom cap grows on head, intelligence bonus 1d4, energy consumption x4, lasts 1d4 hours.
22
Sudden inability to process spoken language (hear or speak) 1d4 hours, written language is understandable.
Ears and brain develop echolocation ability, lasts 2d8 hours.
24
27
All hair develops brightly luminous, flowing and pulsing color from root to tip, permanently. Color reflects mood.
Feels very hot and strips off ALL objects on self for 1d4 hours. (clothes, jewelry, packs - can still carry a weapon)
28
30
Feels invulnerable for 1d4 hours.
23
Experiences changing (every hour) waves of Lethargy, Joy, Depression (d6) for 2d8 hours. (1,2 = L; 3,4 = J; 5,6 = D)
Paranoia and suspicion rule the thoughts for 2d4 hours.
25
26
Uncontrollable muscle twitches for 1d4 hours. Any delicate or strong movements outside of walking will trigger spasms 40% of time.
Develops an irrational fear of all metal objects 3d6 hours.
29
36
Expanded mind, boost to wisdom type abilities for 1d4 hours.
37
Expanded mind, boost to wisdom type abilities for 1d4 hours
38
Thinks they win all discussions because they pointed their finger in someone's face. 1 hour duration.
35
Percieved false increase in strength and dexterity type abilities, but no actual increase except to ego.
Converts to a lawn ornament for 1d4 hours.
40
31
Skin temporarily takes on a slimy, soft texture for 1d6 hours. Hard to hold objects
32
Constantly loses direction, develops wanderlust 1d4 days.
33
Hears distant, eerie voices only they can perceive 1d8 hours.
34
Skin tingles, all hair grows rapidly for 1d6 hours.
39
Clothes sprout colorful mushrooms, begins to commune and play with faeries that are not visible to others for 1d6 hours.
49
Any movement leaves an aerial trail of sparkling, colorful dust making them a standout target for 2d8 days.
50
Mushrooms rapidly decay within 10 feet of character’s presence 1d4 hours.
41
Develops a faint, pleasant fungal scent that attracts insects 1d4 hours.
42
Reflexes become sluggish and apathy reigns for 1d6 hours.
43
Skin become bioluminescent for 1d4 days. Walking night light 10' radius.
44
Full beard of lichen grows from face reducing physical appearance 1d8 days.
45
Develop electrogenesis as "battery organs" grow on back, hands deliver mild electrical shocks for 24 hours (limit total damage of battery before recharged.
46
Everyone else affected by fungi at all will worship this character for 1d4 hours.
47
Eyes emit faint bioluminescence, reveals foe weakspots, increased chance to hit, but glow attracts moths, 2d4 hours.
48
Inexplicable hostility towards anyone who damages a mushroom 1d6 hours.
53
Believes they can communicate with fungi, thinks fairies are coming to save the mushrooms 1d4 hours.
Continously emits spores that collect on all light sources, building up and eventually smothering or blocking the light within 30 minutes, 1d4 hours.
54
51
Each hour stack a new symptom, Sweating, Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea, then each hour remove a symptom (weakness, constitution) .
Feels compelled to 'pet' mushrooms, 'coo' and baby talk when encountering them 1d8 days.
52
55
Very little matters anymore so acts like bull in china shop 1d4 hours.
56
Fingers develop patterns resembling fungal gills, emits mildly healing spores at will 2d4 hours.
57
Loud noises or bright lights cause character to involuntarily release skunk-like odor along with large amounts of methane that nearby open flame will ignite. 1d6 hours.
58
Squirrel!!! Easily distracted 1d4 hours.
59
Fall asleep for 1 hour, cannot be wakened. After waking up physical attributes are increased for 1 hour.
60
Gains immunity to poison but becomes weak to sunlight 2d8 days.
61
Move speed increases, double physical attacks 1-2 hours.
62
Claustrophobia 2d6 hours. Roll % for severity 01-45=Mild 46-86=Moderate 87-100=Severe.
63
Feels detached from their body, physical movement and combat slowed for 1d4 hours.
64
Sudden minor beneficial mutations, useful extra appendage, Armor Class bonus bumpy skin, etc.revert in 1d12 hours.
Develops a sickening aversion to alcohol for 2d6 days.
65
66
Feels deeply for all living creatures 1d4 days.
67
Footsteps create a wet squelching sound even on dry ground, shoed or shoeless, no quiet movement for 2d4 days.
Hypersensitive to all odors, amazing ability to individually identify odors for 2d12 hours.
68
69
Tremors in their hands, affects any tasks involving hands 2d6 hours.
70
Character's tongue turns black, everything tastes metallic, spits mild acid for 1d8 hours.
Skin begins secreting a phosphorescent fungal slime, can slither (naked) across ground for 1d4 days.
76
Affinity for and strong interest in cultivating mushrooms 1d6 years.
77
79
Cillia sensor growth all over body allows air/ground detection of creatures/events before they arrive, increased accuracy for 1d4 hours.
71
Resist acid for 1d6 hours.
Begins emitting a fungal aroma causes everyone (Save against influence is reduced) to agree with their arguments and decisions 1d4hours.
72
Fear of all water 2d6 hours. Roll % for severity 01-45=Mild 46-86=Moderate 87-100=Severe.
73
74
Body size increases X2, no benefit, just larger, for 1d4 hours (only physical body, not objects change size).
75
Body size shrinks 75%, no benefit, just smaller, for 1d4 hours (only physical body, not objects change size)..
78
Develop fire breath weapon, 10 foot cone as per character level for 1d4 hours.
80
Hallucinates multiple foes but only during times of stress, combat, etc for 1d4 hours.
84
Instantly poisoned, no health damage, fall into coma for 1d4 hours.
85
Instantly poisoned, health is at zero and cannot be healed for 1d4 hours.
86
Voice becomes very loud, cannot whisper, Loud Bellow stun breath weapon 10 foot cone as per character level 1-2 hours.
89
Instantly 5 years older.
81
Develops an overwhelming fear of personally damaging mushrooms, might attack others for same 1d4 hours.
82
Instantly poisoned, massive random health damage (normal poison saves can apply).
83
Lose their sense of smell, everything tastes bland, uninterested in eating for 2d6 days, after 2 days of not eating, strength related activites suffer.
87
All damage, disease is healed immediately, hair and skin becomes gorgeous for 2d4 days.
88
Instantly 5 years younger.
90
All body hair falls off but will grow back normally, develops familiar only they can see and thinks the familiar is very helpful for 1d4 hours.
00
Become Super Humanoid, all abilities increase for 1 hour, exhausted and requires rest afterwards.
99
Roll two more times and use both results, effects can stack.
92
Vision is massively improved along all spectrums and distance for 1d4 days.
96
Exhales a glowing mist, confidence building breath weapon 10 foot cone for 1d6 hours, singular task gains bonus.
98
All events are funny, the longer the event the more uncontrollable the laughter, abilities reduced due to distraction and tiredness lasts 1 hour.
91
Vertigo (affecting dexterity based abilities) brought on by fast movement such as turning head, running, combat lasts 1d4 hours.
93
Tiny, white, hairy "veins" develop on skin absorb nutrients from the air and ground if stay still long enough no need to eat for 1d8 days.
94
No physical changes but strength based abilities increase 1d4 hours.
95
Power of levitation for 1d4 hours.
97
Hands glow with tiny attached glowing orbs and can be launched like fireflies and directed up to 60 feet for 1d4 hours.
Mushroom effects are stackable.
Some details will be missing, be prepared to make rulings.
Have fun with mushrooms!
Clues
Trail of Destruction:
If the adventurers are looking at rescuing miners, they need to pay attention to the number of SKULLS they discover to make sure they have not missed any survivors.
There were a total of 11 miners at the site: 6 above ground and 5 below ground.
One miner, Jorrik, returned, leaving five miners above ground, dead.
Of the 5 miners underground, 3 are dead and 2 are still alive, unless the party takes too long to reach them.
Chitinous Clicks:
The sound of the Urdrum Swarm moving in their writhing lump can be heard before encountering them.
Their shells and legs tapping and scrabbling on each other's bodies and surrounding stone is a terror-inducing noise.
Tremor Variations:
After comparative samples of Chthonic Maw digging, geyers and earth tremors, Dwarves and other earth sensitive species can tell the difference.
Bioluminescent Tracks:
Only visible in the darkness (unseen with torch or lamp light), tiny glowing Urdrum insect dot-sized footsteps lead deeper into the caverns through the Fungi Forest and act as a direct trail to their Hive Nexus egg lair.
To reveal the hidden tunnel through the Fungi Forest visit the Lights Out Map
Slime Trail:
The Chthonic Maw leaves a slime trail that dries to a flaky white.
That same slime can act as a weak glue to help the Chthonic Maw form more permanent tunnels.
Rising Water Trap:
Preceding the irregular flooding of the Fungi Forest basin with hot water will produce some predictable effects after encountering the event one time.
1. Increased pressure will cause geyers to increase steam and noise output.
2. Then just as the water begins to flood the Forest Carpet the steam and noise will suddenly stop as all the steam has been replaced with water.
3. As the spongy Fungi Carpet begins to become soaked the heat in the basin will rise dramatically.
4. Mushroom Soup - The hot water will kill the Fungi Forest but it will begin to restore itself starting in the first hour of destruction.
Raleson Patter's Story
Raleson Patter:
The surviving miner in the Mud Pit is Raleson Patter, stuck in the mud for two days and up to his neck in a constant struggle to keep from slipping further under the mud.
He is completely exhausted, alive simply by luck that the bugs and rodents running around did not finish him off. Slurping muddy water and eating bugs has helped to keep him alive.
The four miners had fled into the Geothermal Cavern area to escape the giant worm creature that had cut off their retreat to the surface. They had run blindly into the Mud Pit area, and three of them ended up slipping down the muddy slope and becoming mired in the mud.
Raleson ran to get some equipment to rescue them, found the worm was gone, and returned with a lantern, hammer, post, and rope. During the process of trying to rescue his friends, the Urdrum Swarm, with their numbers greatly diminished, were returning to the Hive Nexus when they startled Raleson.
Raleson flailed about at the swarm of insects and slipped into the mud, dragging all the loose equipment with him and extinguishing the lantern. The swarm ate the hemp rope that was lying on the ground, then crawled over the screaming men in the darkness, biting them as the mass of the swarm exited the Mud Pit to return to their hive to replenish.
During this attack, one of the miners, Enhoff, was able to pull himself out of the mud in the darkness and drag his partially paralyzed and bleeding body down into the Unclaimed Cave in a frantic attempt to escape, collapsing into unconsciousness.
Raleson is completely unaware that Enhoff had escaped the mud and assumed during the beginning of all the yelling and blind thrashing during the first Urdrum Swarm attack, Enhoff was simply the first to quickly succumb to his fate in the darkness.
After a bit of time, Raleson's eyes adjusted to the faint, bioluminescent light created by the Fungi Forest. He was able to make out the fleeting shapes of the various cave creatures darting around in the mud. He could vaguely see his two other friends and clearly heard their screams as the Urdrum Swarm continuously returned over the next couple of days, slowly killing them off.
GM Cheat Sheet
The Writhing Depths Adventure on One Page
Adventure Flow
Hear about miner tragedy at Greenstone
Encounter miner camp site
Investigation - Rescue begins
Search through Caverns for survivors
Decide whether to destroy the main predators
Rescue survivors
Click Icon To Close
A vast underground cavern system has been disturbed by recent tremors, unleashing deadly creatures. 10 miners from the village of Greenstone, digging for gold, have gone missing.
The adventurers can go on a search and rescue mission, eliminate the aggresive creatures the Chthonic Maw and Urdrum Swarm.
Greenstone: Small farming village that has lost 10 men.
Miner Camp: The bodies of 5 dead miners can be recovered here.
Caverns: 8 cavern sections to explore searching for 2 survivors.
Main Cavern Rooms:
Mine Area #1
Mud Pit #3
Geothermal Cavern #4
Unclaimed Cave #5
Chthonic Maw Lair #6
Hive Nexus #7
Survivor Locations
Adventure Hooks
The Disappearing Miners:
5 miners are known dead - the fates of 5 miners down in the mine are unknown. (3 are dead 2 are still alive)
See NPC Jorrik Algar
The Alchemist's Bounty:
Acid and Poison sacs from deadly creatures.
See NPC Elara Wynn
The Ignis Shards:
Energy crystals known to form in the area.
See NPC Felicity Vorn
There are 3 major NPC's and several minor NPC's
No NPC will help physically with the rescue mission.
Jorrik Algar: A burly miner who survived the attack is physically ruined and mentally in shock but can reluctantly provide information.
Elara Wynn: Presently in Greenstone, a shady dealer will pay for creature parts and provide creature information.
Felicity Vorn: Presently in the miner camp area, collecting data for Ignis Shards will pay for information regarding these crystals.
Village Elders: Facilitators between the adventurers and Jorrik
Raleson: Miner survivor in Mud Pit #3
Enhoff: Miner survivor in Unclaimed Cave #5
Adventure Summary
Click Icon To Close
There are 3 main, new creatures introduced in this adventure
Chthonic Maw: An aggressive, tunneling, giant snake-like creature with regenerative powers, utilizing a tail bash, bite and acid spray to consume prey.
Mycelium Sentinel: A defensive, 3 part mushroom colony that posseses healing properties if properly utilized.
Urdrum Swarm: A hive mind arthropod insect that moves as a single unit and attacks with a paralysis bite.
Many common cave creatures also inhabit this high energy cave ecosystem.
The main objective for the adventurers should be to assist the poor people of Greenstone in rescuing any survivors from the creature attack that devastated their families and friends.
A secondary objective could be to eliminate the aggressive Chthonic Maw and Urdrum Swarm. Rumors will spread that both creatures can devastate the villagers' crops if they leave the confines of the cavern.
Tertiary objectives are getting paid by Elara Wynn for delivery of acid sacs and paralysis poison sacs. Also getting paid for delivering any information about Ignis Shards to Felicity Vorn.
If the adventurers do NOT completely eliminate both aggressive creatures (and eggs) then some time later they will menace the farmers and fields.
Sealing the cave won't keep the tunneling Chthonic Maw trapped for long.
Adventure Hooks
Click Icon To Close
Key Locations
Click Icon To Close
Key NPCs
Click Icon To Close
Creatures
Click Icon To Close
Resolution
Click Icon To Close
Creatures
Chthonic Maw:
A worm-like creature that uses its burrowing and ambush tactics to keep the party on edge. Along with a tail bash it also has a bite and an acid followup attack that dissolves soft tissue, which it then slurps down, leaving bone behind.
It can quickly retreat if damaged or outmatched, but it returns stronger if allowed to regenerate. It is sensitive to ground and air vibrations.
General Creature Stats
Read the details on the Chthonic Maw
Mycelium Sentinel:
This defensive colony is unrelated to the adventure other than the fact that there is a vein of crystaline salt deposit behind the Sentinel. This form of salt can cause severe damage to the Chthonic Maw.
A mushroom colony that has value only if harvested correctly.
General Creature Stats
Read the details on the Mycellium Sentinel
Urdrum Swarm:
A swarming mass of arthropod insects that overwhelm with their numbers. Their bites can paralyze limbs.
Disrupt their hive mind with loud noises or bright flashes of light for a temporary advantage.
General Creature Stats
Read the details on the Urdrum Swarm
Urdrum Swarm
A swarming mass of arthropod insects that overwhelm with their numbers. Their bite can paralyze limbs.
Disrupt their hive mind with loud noises or bright flashes of light for a temporary advantage.
A Swarm can easily contain 10-20 individual Urdrum but larger swarms are not unusual.
General Creature Stats
Description and Physical Appearance
Abilities and Traits
Habitat and Behavior
Paralysis Poison Sacs
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
Reproductive Method
Feeding and Energy Requirements
Social Structure
General Intelligence
Strengths and Weaknesses
Interaction with Adventurers
Clues for Adventurers
Lore and Myths
Chthonic Maw
A worm-like creature that uses its burrowing and ambush tactics to keep the party on edge. Along with a tail bash it also has a bite and an acid followup attack that dissolves soft tissue, which it then slurps down, leaving bone behind.
It can quickly retreat if damaged or outmatched, but it returns stronger if allowed to regenerate. It is nearly blind but very sensitive to ground and air vibrations.
General Creature Stats
Description and Physical Appearance
Abilities and Traits
Habitat and Behavior
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
Acid Sacs
Reproductive Method
Feeding and Energy Requirements
Social Structure
General Intelligence
Strengths and Weaknesses
Interaction with Adventurers
Clues for Adventurers
Lore and Myths
Mycelium Sentinel
This defensive colony hides two important pieces of the adventure. The fact that there is a vein of crystalline salt deposit in the wall behind the Sentinel. This form of salt can cause severe damage to the Chthonic Maw.
The second important piece is that correctly harvesting the Mother Mushroom can produce a powerful healing ingredient.
General Creature Stats
Description and Physical Appearance
Abilities and Traits
Layout
Habitat and Behavior
Mushroom Mimic
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
Reproductive Method
What Makes it Valuable?
How to Harvest
Feeding and Energy Requirements
Social Structure
General Intelligence
How to Prepare
Strengths and Weaknesses
Interaction with Adventurers
Heal Jorrik?
Clues for Adventurers
The healing power of the Mother Mushroom could heal Jorrik Algar of his severe acid wounds.
Lore and Myths
Environmental Challenges
Lean into the Environment
Irregular hot water flooding of the Fungi Forest basin.
Steam geysers.
Heat prostration from the relentless heat and high humidity.
Constant rain-like conditions in the Geothermal Cavern area.
Muddy, slippery conditions.
Bizarre and deadly fungi.
Tremors: Collapsing tunnels, unstable walls and ceiling, Chthonic Maw tunneling. geysers.
Toxic pools created by excess acid from the Chthonic Maw.
Toxic pools created by excess paralysis poison from the Urdrum Swarm.
Other local inhabitants such as roaches, centipedes, rats, snakes, bats and hordes of other cave insects.
MYCELIUM SENTINEL CHAMBER
HIVE NEXUS
7A
MAIN MAP
CHTHONIC MAW LAIR
8A
6A
UNCLAIMED CAVE
4A
GEOTHERMAL CAVERN
5A
3A
MUD PIT
2A
ENTRANCE TO CAVES
1D
EXIT TO CAMP
1B
1A
1C
MINE AREA
1C
Icon Key
Main Icons
People Icon - Jump to NPC Selection.
Creature Icon - Jump to Creature Selection.
Map Icon - Jump to Map Selection.
Key Icon - Jump to Story Elements.
Main Map Icons
Area Identifier: Blue square with a number (1-8) is an Area Identifier. Click each one to discover more information.
#L
Point of View: (POV) Orange or green square with number and letter is a POV identifier. Click each one to discover more information.
#L
POV Direction: White arrow indicates direction of POV.
Air/Water Flow: Blue arrows show direction of air/water flow.
Chthonic Maw Tunnels: Pink arrow indicates weak, permanent 2 foot diameter tunnels dug by the Chthonic Maw.
Main Map Icon - Turn Lights OFF
Lights Out Map Icon - Turn Lights ON
Main Map Icon - Turn Square Grid ON/OFF
Main Map Icon - Turn Hex Grid ON/OFF
Map Selection
Jump to a Map
MAIN MAP Lights On Info spots Grids
MAIN MAPLights On Grids Clean
MAIN MAP Lights Out
Jump to a Map Description
POV Map
1A
1D
1B
1C
Mine Area
2A
Entrance to Caves
3A
Mud Pit
4A
Geothermal Cavern
Journey to Mine
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
5A
Unclaimed Cave
6A
Chthonic Maw Lair
7A
Hive Nexus
8A
Mycelium Sentinel Chamber
Mine Camp
LIGHTS OUT MAP
Read About the Hidden Tunnel
4A
Clean Map No Grid
CLEAN MAP WITH GRID
Clean Map with Grid
Main Map
Mine Area
1A
The mine tunnel is approximately 250 feet long down-slope with a variable width from 10-20 feet wide and a ceiling that is 10 high at most. There are a couple of northerly offshoot tunnels carved and expanded from a natural tunnel. The air is thick with the scent of damp stone and churned soil, water-darkened wooden beams prop up the precarious ceiling.
1B
1C
There are a couple of wooden hand carts filled with chunks of stone and dirt. Here and there, burned-out lanterns hang, depleted of any fuel.
1D
Pools of stagnant water collect on the uneven muddy floors, and the occasional distant sound of shifting rocks serves as a grim reminder of the ever-present danger of cave-ins.
The end of the mine tunnel, contains broken and acid damaged mine equipment and the remains of a miner. One SKULL can be seen in this cavern.
Raw Gold Treasure
1D
1B
1A
1C
Chthonic Maw Tunnels: Hard to see at the back of caverns, small and high up at the ceiling
Main Map
Entrance to Caves
2A
Stone and earthen rubble are piled around this area, a warm and humid breeze blows steadily through the newly formed hole in the wall.
The miners had not wasted any effort down this short natural tunnel because all the gold had been found further down in the main mine tunnel.
The scarred opening is about 6 feet high and 3 feet wide at the largest point. Looking North, the eyes are drawn about 100 feet down range to the mystical glow of the Fungi Forest.
Oddly, just a few feet away is a pole driven into the ground with some rope wrapped around the top.
If the rescue party is loud and carrying sources of light, the survivor Raleson Patter, still stuck in the Mud Pit might become aware of this and will begin to weakly shout for help.
2A
Main Map
Mud Pit
This cavern is approximately round in shape, about 50-60 feet across, 20 foot high ceiling at the highest point in the dripping, irregular formation. 4 down sloping tunnels feed into the Mud Pit.
3A
The actual mud pit is cone shaped, about 40 feet across, 40 feet deep and the mud level is 20 feet deep.
See side view diagram
In the Mud Pit is a survivor, Raleson Patter, plus the remains of two other miners. One SKULL is still above the mud, the other SKULL has sunk down into the bottom of the mud pit.
The party will need to dredge or dive the mud pit to determine the number of skulls contained here.
READ RALESON PATTER'S STORY
Raleson Patter will insist all 3 companions died in the Mud Pit. He never noticed one of his friends, Enhoff, escaped.
3A
MUD PIT SIDE VIEW
PIT 40 FT DEEP
MUD 20 FT DEEP
PIT 40 FT WIDE
Main Map
Geothermal Cavern
This is an enormous cavern approximately 90 feet wide and 120 feet long with 5 tunnel off-shoots. The ground slopes gently down 10 feet from all directions with the main part of the Fungi Forest and concentrations of steaming geyers located around the bottom of the broad bowl of the cavern floor.
4A
See Diagram
The very irregular ceiling, constantly dripping with water, arcs about 20 feet high at most. Down on the forest floor the ceiling can be as high as 30 feet overhead.
The chamber has multiple stalactites and stalagmites, some that have bridged the ceiling with the floor forming colorful pillars.
The Fungi Forest has developed in the high heat and humidity with rich mud silt and creatures expiring; it is itself a very active entity. The densely packed mushrooms constantly evolve to gain dominance over other varieties within this concentrated hothouse.
Fungal Growths
Forest Carpet
Fungi Forest
100 Fungi Effects
Spores
2 Ways
Steam Vent Trap
Rising Water Trap
Geysers
4A
Cavern Basin Diagram
Side-View
10 FT
90 FT
Overhead-View
120 FT
Main Map
Unclaimed Cave
The tunnel entrance is up a muddy slope but after cresting the small rise, any type of light will reveal a slowly widening rocky tunnel 10-20 feet high and approximately 180 feet long with egg shaped end room about 60 feet long and 30 feet wide at most.
5A
Mixed in the tan mud of the floor is a dark rust stain, smeared up the slope and down into the darkness of the tunnel. As if a miner dragged his bleeding body around the rocks scattered on the floor.
If the adventurers seem to be at any point exiting the dungeon, leaving without investigating this cave, the miner Enhoff, can start yelling for help. (this yelling can attract creatures)
The name - Unclaimed Cave - is appropriate for a couple of reasons. Enhoff is making a first claim on the gold vein at the end of this tunnel. Ownership hinges on whether Enhoff lives or dies. The second reason is because no creature has claimed this cave to nest in.
Enhoff is the miner that escaped the Mud Pit and much like Raleson Patter, is barely alive. Enhoff and Raleson are the only two surviving miners left in the caverns.
Read the Story of Enhoff
GM Note on Party Actions
Raw Gold Treasure
Enhoff - Survivor
5A
Main Map
Chthonic Maw Lair
The tunnel entrance is up a 10-foot gradual slope from the Fungi Forest. A faint purplish steady glow can be seen emanating from the end of the approximately 150-foot-long tunnel. The width gradually opens up from 20 to 30 feet across and ends in a roughly circular room about 40 to 50 feet in diameter.
6A
The floor appears muddy and has an oddly smooth surface towards the center of the room. The floor coloration is a swirl of tans and darker earthy colors. Careful observation will reveal air bubbles occasionally breaking the surface of the floor. The floor is actually a large shallow muddy puddle about 2 feet deep at the lowest point near the center of the room.
The purplish glow comes from groupings of large crystals (Ignis Shards) rising from various places in the floor. Each Ignis Shard emanates a gentle warmth that keeps the muddy puddle very warm.
2 small Chthonic Maw tunnels exit the back of the cave one headed North then turning West and the other headed South.
1 or 2 Chthonic Maws?
If the Chthonic Maw is in the lair it will be submerged in the shallow warm pool.
Acid Pool Trap
Acid Sac Harvest
6A
Ignis Shards
Shards & Sacs Treasure
Main Map
Hive Nexus
The tunnel leading to the Urdrum Swarm Hive Nexus is roughly 70 feet long and starts out about 30-40 feet wide but narrows to about 20 feet wide at the egg nest and then continues to narrow behind the nest. The tunnel turns East and then becomes a Chthonic Maw tunnel high off the ground.
7A
Urdrum Swarm are all over this cavern, mostly concentrated in the egg nest area. Upon sensing an intruder, they will coalesce into their swarm and attack.
There are carapace sections lying all around since Urdrum molt as they grow larger. Plus the Chthonic Maw enters this area often to eat Urdrum and leaves their shells behind.
The egg nest is down in a shallow, muddy depression. There are hundreds of sickly yellow, glowing eggs the size of a large berry, and the eggshells glow due to the Urdrum Swarm consuming bioluminescent fungi as part of their diet.
A Swarm typically contains 10-20 Urdrum
Urdrum Swarm will be scattered throughout the cave until threatened.
Paralysis Pool Trap
Eggs
Paralysis Poison Sac Harvest
Poison Sac Treasure
7A
Mycelium Sentinel Chamber
Main Map
The southern tunnel is the only open approach to this chamber as the eastern approach is choked with a stalagmite wall that is difficult to pass through.
8A
The central portion of the Mycelium Sentinel chamber is roughly 30 feet wide and 40 feet deep, and the Mycelium Sentinel creature occupies all of the chamber space except for some irregular cavern bulges at the rear of the chamber.
The bulges contain stalagmites that an adventurer could hide behind to keep the Sentinels from sensing their presence. The western bulge contains an exposed vein of crystaline salt deposit that can be used against the Chthonic Maw.
Anyone approaching within 10 feet of the tall, outer Protector fungi will see them straighten up and slightly lift their caps. If they sense further encroachment they will fully alert and respond with a spore attack.
One Colony, 3 parts: Protectors, Sisters, and central Mother
The tall Protector fungi will shift to a warning stance first
Mushroom Information Division
Read details on Mycellium Sentinel
Read details on Felicity Vorn
Healing Treasure
Salt Treasure
8A
Main Map
Point of View
1A
View from Cave Entrance Down Mine Tunnel
1A
1B
1C
1D
Looking East down this tunnel it slopes away into darkness.
1B
About 60 feet down this long tunnel is the mine junction.
1D
Looking North the tunnel is more naturally formed.
Earth and stone dug out creating just enough room for the miners to move through the tunnel
The 10 foot high mine walls and ceiling are not in great shape due to the heavy moisture, cave-ins can be a real danger.
Main Map
Point of View
1B
View from Mine Junction Looking Down Both Tunnels
1A
1B
1C
1D
Looking East down the main tunnel it splits into two tunnels
The main tunnel continues East, sloping down into darkness toward the end of the cavern.
1C
The more northerly tunnel curls away into darkness. This tunnel is mostly natural. No supports have been used here as the miners were not actively digging this direction yet.
Both of these caverns contain the small Chthonic Maw tunnels that are hard to see without close examination with good lighting.
Main Map
Point of View
1C
View Into End of Mine Cave
1A
1B
1C
1D
Any lighting will immediately draw attention to the exposed veins of gold glittering in the dim light.
There are mining tools and equipment scattered around, some of which are broken or eaten away by acid. Only a few shreds of clothing remain, the rest eaten away by acid or creatures.
Nearly lost among the blood-stained stone and earthen rubble are fresh (2 days old) humanoid remains that are now mostly bone.
The adventurers can find one skull in this area.
The remains belong to one of the miners. Originally killed by the Chthonic Maw, the rest of the body has been picked over by the denizens of the cavern system.
Deep in the northern end of this cavern high up on the wall is one of the permanent tunnels of the Chthonic Maw.
Main Map
Point of View
1D
View Towards Entrance to Caves
1A
1B
1C
1D
The irregular tunnel goes about 60 feet where rocky rubble piles up around a hole that leads into the Geothermal Caverns
The initial approach shows some tool work where the miners worked the tunnel a bit before the tremor but generally most of this tunnel is natural.
Approaching the hole, a humid, warm breeze heavy with the scent of churned earth and mineral soup escapes through the narrow opening.
Faintly, in the dark distance the Fungi Forest gives off a dim, pulsating glow of ethereal light, brokenly reflected by the wet cavern walls.
Main Map
Point of View
2A
View of Entrance to Caves
Standing in the newly formed cavern entrance among the pile of rubble, gives a better view of the edge of the bioluminescent mushroom forest.
The flow of the warm, humid air is strongest at this narrow opening.
Just a few feet away, inside the Geothermal Cavern, is a wooden pole pounded into the ground. There is a rope attached, wound around the top a few times and then trails off to the ground, But the rope has been chewed through and ends after a short length.
The insects and rats ate most of the rope.
If the rescue party is loud and carrying sources of light, the survivor Raleson Patter, still stuck in the Mud Pit might become aware of this and will begin to weakly shout for help.
Main Map
Point of View
3A
View of Mud Pit from Cavern Entrance
All four approaches to the Mud Pit are muddy down-slopes. Nearby soil and rocks are damp and slippery. Large fungal growth patches make skirting the edges of the pit a treacherous risk.
Looking directly across the Mud Pit is the tunnel that leads into the Unclaimed Cave. Not directly visible from this position, are two other tunnel entrances to the Mud Pit on the northern side.
Insects and rodents will scurry away from the approach of the party. At the top of the slope is a post pounded into the cave floor with a bit of rope tied around it, the length of rope trailing away has been eaten.
There is one survivor, Raleson Patter, barely alive. The remains of the two other miners are partially visible. One miner with some flesh and SKULL still attached to his bones is mostly buried in the depths of the warm mud. A few scattered bones are in the mud and a second SKULL has sunk to the bottom of the pit.
MUD PIT SIDE VIEW
PIT 40 FT DEEP
MUD 20 FT DEEP
PIT 40 FT WIDE
Raleson Patter: READ HIS STORY HERE. He thinks all 3 companions are dead in the Mud Pit.
2 SKULLS: The party needs to find a way to verify the number of skulls in the Mud Pit.
Main Map
Point of View
4A
High Angle View Across Top of Fungi Forest
Low Angle View into Fungi Forest
Peering into the dense Fungi Forest filled with a rainbow of fluorescent colors and the pulsating glow of bioluminescent fungi, one would feel transported.
Then a noisy gout of steam draws the eye downward toward the forest floor to a nearby mineral tower, the surface damp and shiny with glittering water droplets.
The sound of fat raindrops thudding ceaselessly on the mushroom caps, from the water condensing and dripping from thousands of points on the ceiling, gives the illusion of a forest rainstorm that never ends.
Various cave insects are abundant, along with rats crawling on fungi here and eating a mushroom there, all interacting with the Fungi Forest in some fashion to support each other's life cycles.
The Hidden Path (2 foot diameter Tunnel):
The environmental response platform of the Forest Carpet keeps this tunnel pathway open for the Udrum Swarm.
The Urdrum Swarm would consume all the fungi in their path everytime they crossed the forest. So, the Fungi Forest creates this path of least resistance for the Swarm to move through and the response platform remembers to recreate the tunnel even after every hot water flood event kills the forest, temporarily.
The camouflage offered by the dense fungal growth and the positioning of the entrance serves to naturally hide the tunnel entrance from casual observation while using normal lighting methods.
The hidden tunnel is easily seen if all lights are extinguished. The dark outline of the tunnel stands out from the glow. Tiny green bioluminescent dots on the floor, left by the Urdrum Swarm, track through the fibrous tunnel. The footprints only last a couple of hours.
Discovering the Hidden Path (Tunnel) can be a reward for adventurers by allowing them to traverse the Fungi Forest without encountering 100 Fungi Side Effects.
Fungi Forest
100 Fungi Effects
Fungal Growths
Forest Carpet
Steam Vent Trap
Geysers
Rising Water Trap
2 Ways
Spores
Main Map
Point of View
5A
View into Unclaimed Cave
Peering into the dense Fungi Forest filled with a rainbow of fluorescent colors and the pulsating glow of bioluminescent fungi, one would feel transported.
Then a noisy gout of steam draws the eye downward toward the forest floor to a nearby mineral tower, the surface damp and shiny with glittering water droplets.
The sound of fat raindrops thudding ceaselessly on the mushroom caps, from the water condensing and dripping from thousands of points on the ceiling, gives the illusion of a forest rainstorm that never ends.
Various cave insects are abundant, along with rats crawling on fungi here and eating a mushroom there, all interacting with the Fungi Forest in some fashion to support each other's life cycles.
Stone and earthen walls glisten with moisture though the air is slightly cooler here since it is not directly fed by the geyers. Just ahead from this position the tunnel opens up into a what appears to be a dead end cave somewhat egg shaped about 30 feet wide and 60 feet long
laying on the floor of the tunnel mostly hidden among the rocks is an exhausted miner covered in mud and blood. Enhoff is overjoyed to be rescued but will become scared that his rescuers will either kill him for the gold claim or steal it all.
He will also recall after a few minutes and warn the adventurers about the horrible glowing worm that crawls through this passage. (please note the Chthonic Maw does not normally glow unless it passes through the Fungi Forest smearing bioluminescent goo on its body as it crushes mushrooms underneath as it moves)
If the adventurers seem to be at any point exiting the dungeon, leaving without investigating this cave, the miner Enhoff, can start yelling for help. (this yelling can attract creatures)
Raw Gold Treasure
Read the Story of Enhoff
GM Note on Party Actions
Main Map
Point of View
6A
View into Chthonic Maw Lair
A pale purplish glow emanates from the cavern ahead, where large Ignis Shard crystals can be seen rising from the muddy floor.
A mild shift in the warm, humid air can be felt as the heat generated in this cave is amplified by the Ignis Shards.
The air has a slight acidic tinge from the puddles and the small mud pool centrally located that has diluted acid swirling around in it.
Acid Pool Trap
1 or 2 Chthonic Maws?
If the Chthonic Maw is in the lair, it will be lying mostly submerged in a shallow (2 feet deep) mud pool wrapped around a cluster of Ignis Shards.
Acid Sac Harvest
Shard & Sac Treasure
Ignis Shards
Main Map
Point of View
7A
View into Hive Nexus
Feeding around the edge of the Fungi Forest, crawling across the floor or up the walls is an unsettling sight of 2-foot-long arthropods undulating their way around the cave.
The Urdrum, segmented, hard shelled and poison mandibles that can paralyze limbs. Most any disturbance will cause them to coalesce into a swarm.
The narrowing corridor slopes down to a slimy pool glowing a sickly yellow-green with hundreds of translucent, firm-jellied shells the size of a large berry.
Curving to the right out of sight the tunnel finally narrows to a Chthonic Maw tunnel that leads back to the Chthonic Maw Lair.
Urdrum Swarm will be scattered throughout the cave until threatened.
A Swarm typically contains 10-20 Urdrum
Eggs
Paralysis Poison Sac Harvest
Paralysis Pool Trap
Poison Sac Treasure
Main Map
Point of View
8A
View into Mycelium Sentinel Chamber
The oddly intense chartreuse glow coming from a large set of mushrooms that fills the end of the tunnel makes for a fairy setting without the fairies.
At first what seems to be a large cluster of random mushrooms reveals the variety of mushrooms appear to be a singular colony laid out in an unusual concentric pattern that appears to be about 30 feet wide and 40 feet deep.
The cavern appears to be a dead end except for the wall of stalagmites to the east that requires a nimble character to traverse.
At the first step into the area the tall outer mushrooms seem to rise to attention with their caps lifting slightly.
The tall Protector fungi will shift to a warning stance first
One Colony, 3 parts: Protectors, Sisters, and central Mother
Salt Treasure
Mushroom Information Division
Read details on Felicity Vorn
Read details on Mycellium Sentinel
Healing Treasure
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
Journey to Mine
Mine Camp
Click for Interior Map
Click Interior Map to Enlarge
Village of Greenstone
Location of Mine
Well & Market
Blue Oasis Tavern
Farmhouse
2 Tent Homes
Workhouse
Click Map labels for Details
Cookhouse
Jorrik Algar
Hide Roofs
Cookhouse
Farmhouse: Jun Patter owns and runs the propsperous farm carefully applying the land techniques learned over generations and passing that information on to his family. The Patter family is waiting on word of their son Raleson and 2 cousins that lived in the Workhouse, Ashford and Gregor.
Village Map
Workhouse: The Patter farm is growing so much they had to turn a large workshed into the Workhouse where field workers (mostly family) live and work. It has been difficult to convert some of the jungle fruits and vegetables into crops that can be repeatedly raised under farm conditions.
Cookhouse: Due to the growth of the farm Patter had to add not only the Workhouse but then had to add the Cookhouse to act as a work house, additional sleeping quarters and a large kitchen to feed all the workers. The Cookhouse mainly houses single women of the family.
Workhouse
Farmhouse
Blue Oasis Tavern: While there is an old proprietor, Wisk Ord, who can barely walk, the running and growth of the tavern now turned inn is due to Wisk's two daughters Deita and Meig.
Jorrik Algar: Often works for Mr. Patter but Jorrik and other farm help took advantage of a slow month of field work to mine gold. He lives alone in his shack and is presently laid up badly injured with acid burns. See NPC details to read more about Jorrik Algar.
Well & Market: The Greenstone well is a widely known water stop particularly for the area nomadic people who will stop here for months at a time. The open tent market is becoming more of a staple for the growing residents of Greenstone. Selling local fruits and vegetables, crafts of rugs, baskets and products created with the resources of the land.
Blue Oasis Tavern
Jorrik Algar
2 Tent Homes: Nomadic family of Brassberry consists of missing son Enhoff, father Evan, Mother Rashida living in one tent and married daughter Neena, son-in-law Haver and baby Eshawn in the other tent. They all travel together and are awaiting the return of Enhoff before moving on.
Well & Market
2 Tent Homes
Mine Camp
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
Journey to Mine
If the adventurers arrive before Felicity cleans up the campsite, they will find the area with an unsettling stillness and abandoned feeling.
Scavengers
Raw Gold Treasure
5 SKULLS can be found in the area.
Two Tents
1B
1C
1A
1A
1B
1C
Todd Massey
Thanks for investing some of your life hours with me.
I have been playing RPGs since 1980. I absolutely love building and designing RPG worlds and stories.
I have had a vision for some time that, as a GM, I should be able to look at a map and have all the story and stats information quickly available at my fingertips without having to flip pages or scroll through a PDF. Interactive pages help solve this problem.
Do You Open The Door?
Do You Open The Door? is my vision coming to fruition. Anyone can now build One-Shots utilizing the effect of a One-Page design. While more complicated stories may require more pages, the visual effect is essentially the same; the Game Master is never far from the essential information they need quickly.
DoYouOpenTheDoor.com
Questions or Comments?
Have fun!
SERVICE@WEBWERKS.BIZ
Journey to Mine
GREENSTONE
GREENSTONE
Mine Camp
Include the journey to the mine for fun but it can be skipped as it contains no information to assist the adventurers in the rescue of the miners.
Notes
The journey to the mine is mainly meant to slow the adventurers, if they lose focus and become distracted or delayed they run the risk of losing the 2 survivors.
Show Grid
POV: Journey to Mine
1A
Flood Map
Creatures
Terrain
Rain and Flooding
Croc Culvert
Tepler Gully Flood Zone
1A
Mycelium Sentinel
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
Highly adaptive and self-regenerative, coordination through the mycelial network enables swift defensive actions and resistant to conventional attacks due to its decentralized nature.
Weaknesses:
Immobile, vulnerable to fire and drought, large-scale disruptions to the tendril network can impair communication and nutrient flow.
Urdrum Swarm
Reproductive Method
Breeding occurs multiple times during warm periods as food supplies allow. Males and females are required as males fertilize the eggs. The female lays hundreds of eggs in hidden, damp locations, which are fiercely protected until they hatch.
Hive Nexus
Basic Description
This cavern slopes down to a shallow egg nest filled with slimy mud and hundreds of small soft shelled eggs glowing a sickly yellow-green from a bioluminescent diet.
The back of this cave narrows to a Chthonic Maw tunnel high off the ground.
The Urdrum will coalesce and swarm at any sign of disturbance.
Even if the Swarm is away from the Hive Nexus there are almost always some Urdrum left behind or newly hatched.
The only treasure here is to harvest Urdrum poison sacs.
2 Ways
2 Basic Ways to Reach Chthonic Maw Lair and Hive Nexus
1. Use the tiny, dangerous Chthonic Maw Tunnels.
2. Cross the Fungi Forest
2 Basic Ways to Cross the Fungi Forest Without Coming into Contact with the Fungi
1. Fly through the air gap over the forest canopy.
4A
2. Crawl through the Hidden Path tunnel.
Players will no doubt generate many creative ways to accomplish this task. This represents the basic, obvious paths.
Greenstone
Abode
Jorrik is presently living in his cabin, a modified shed on farmer Jun Patter's property.
Jorrik is recovering from his severe injuries and will likely never physically be the same again.
Urdrum Swarm
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
Urdrum Swarms favor ambush tactics, striking from darkness and relying on their numbers to overpower enemies. They encircle a target, focusing on incapacitating one individual at a time. If disrupted, they retreat briefly to regroup.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Adventurers may avoid confrontation by using fire, loud noises, or bright light to scatter the swarm. Offering large quantities of organic matter can also distract or placate them temporarily.
Urdrum Swarm
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
Urdrum Swarms favor ambush tactics, striking from darkness and relying on their numbers to overpower enemies. They encircle a target, focusing on incapacitating one individual at a time. If disrupted, they retreat briefly to regroup.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Adventurers may avoid confrontation by using fire, loud noises, or bright light to scatter the swarm. Offering large quantities of organic matter can also distract or placate them temporarily.
Terrain
Basic Description
Greenstone is around 30 feet above sea level
The mine camp is 400 feet above seal level
The mine camp is 10 miles from Greenstone.
The western side of the map is mostly sandy soil.
Above Templer Gully where the terrain begins to rise sharply, the land becomes more rocky and the type and density of vegetation begins to shift.
Jacob and Eli
Basic Description
Jacob is 10 and Eli is 8 but they were 8 and 6 years old surviving on the streets and had yet to be swept up by illfate as many children are. Their soldier father died and their mother assaulted and killed. Felicity saved them from a terrible fate and they are incredibly loyal to her and will protect her all the time.
Spores
Limited Area of Affect
Most spore activity will generally be limited to the area directly around the Fungi Forest where the geysers are located.
This is mainly due to the heavy moisture and cooling at the forest edge that keeps the spores from drifting too far.
Trail of Destruction
Skull Locations
5 Skulls above ground in the camp area.
3 Skulls underground in the caves.
1 Skull in the end of the Mine Area
2 Skulls in the Mud Pit
Mud Pit
Basic Description
MUD PIT SIDE VIEW
PIT 40 FT DEEP
MUD 20 FT DEEP
PIT 40 FT WIDE
The Mud Pit is a 40 foot diameter cone 40 feet deep and the mud is 20 feet deep. The mud is a warm, thick slurry with bugs skittering across the surface.
There is one survivor, Raleson Patter, barely alive and only 2 SKULLS in the pit though Raleson believes all 3 miners died in the pit.
Enhoff crawled free days ago dragging himself down to Unclaimed Cave #5
Urdrum Swarm
Clues for Adventurers
Faint trails of temporary bioluminescent slime marking their passage.
A blurred sound of clicking, echoing through the environment, a telltale sign of their rigid armored bodies tapping against each other as the writhing swarm approaches.
Paralysis Poison Sac Harvest
Basic Description
Harvesting a Urdrum poison sac is difficult and can only be performed on an individual that has not bitten a character and expelled the poison.
Each individual Urdrum posesses 1 tiny paralysis poison sac situated towards the front of it's mouth between the mandibles.
The sac will trigger with a successful bite injecting poison into the flesh of the bitten creature.
The sac can inject poison 1 time only.
Due to the density of fungi growth, normal vision is limited to 10 feet. Infravision is problematic in the heat.These fungi are not tougher than normal and can be pushed over or chopped down like you might expect a giant mushroom to behave.
Basic Description
Fungal Growths
Fungi come in various shapes, sizes, advantages and defenses. Species are forced to rapidly adapt utilizing various pathways to win some type of dominance factor within this contained ecosystem.
Felicity Vorn
Background
Felicity Vorn grew up in a prestigious learning institution, dedicated to the study of magical arts and geography. Her early life was marked by discipline and rigorous training, aiming to become a skilled mage. As she matured, her heart shifted towards her two orphaned charges—Jacob and Eli. After finding them struggling on the streets, Felicity fought to keep them close, becoming a protective sister and nurturing figure. Together, they form an unconventional but loving family, always supporting one another in their ambitions.
Acid Sac Harvest
Basic Description
Harvesting the acid sacs intact from the Chthonic Maw is a dextorous task and failure could result in acid damage.
Another method would be to take a take a portion of the Chthonic Maw and keep it till it regrows fully then establish a method to continously harvest the acid from the regenerative creature.
Mine Camp
Basic Description
The image of the camp on the map is simply representative. The camp only occupies an area of a few hundred feet.
See the complete map of the mine camp for better representation and description.
Mine Camp
If the adventurers arrive before Felicity cleans up the campsite, they will find the area with an unsettling stillness and abandoned feeling.
Mycelium Sentinel
Bypassing Defenses
The easiest way to bypass the defenses of the Sentinel without destroying the colony is to wrap your body in a large mushroom cap from the Fungi Forest and mimic your way past very carefully.
Fungi
Basic Description
There are a multitude of fungal growths in this system, and most are not necessarily going to be beneficial to humanoids.
Look in Story Element - 100 Mushroom Effects for a table to determine what happens when mushrooms get funky.
Coupled with the fact that the entire Fungi Forest can get killed off by the Hot Water Flood Trap, new varieties with new properties can regrow within hours.
Greenstone
Basic Description
The farming village of Greenstone needs help seeing who is left alive of 10 villagers still missing after a horrible attack.
Villagers of Greenstone are desperate. Elara Wynn, who is staying at the Blue Oasis tavern and seemed competent, has refused to help, calling it "too dangerous for one person."
The tiny village is made up of mostly farmers and nomadic tent dwellers that have made the Greenstone well a stop on their journey for generations.
The area is on the edge of a mountainous jungle region and receives plenty of rain during the year. The soil is sandy and easy to farm but nutrients leach out quickly. Local farmers have learned special crop rotation, leaving fields fallow and special composting methods to keep the soil fertile.
Traditions of utilizing large floor rugs and tea service are deeply rooted originally with the nomadic people. Expect tea to be served especially with friends, customers and during negotiations.
Permanent wooden farm constructions are appearing more often as more of the nomads settle to farming life.
Village Elders consist mainly of:
Wisk Ord, Tavern owner
Jun Patter, Farm owner - He has lost a son, Raleson Patter and 2 workers, Ashford and Gregor.
The List of Missing - Raleson Patter and Enhoff - both still alive. The rest are deceased - Ashford, Gregor, Clisp, Monteg, Weeko, Samlin, Ocuber, Deenshed.
Village map of Greenstone only shows the central selection of the village. The rest mainly consists of widespread sprawling farmhouses.
The rats, in particular, love to climb on the geyers and chew at the soft mineral deposits to supply their bodies with needed nutrients. This action will sometimes create side vents where jets of steam will spray horizontally instead of vertically.
Basic Description
Geysers
There are only a few active geyers in the forest basin. They form over cracks in the cavern floor where steam and hot water are forced up from water filled chambers below. Far below that are magma chambers that heat rock and water.
Cavern Basin Diagram
Basic Description
Side-View
10 FT
90 FT
Overhead-View
120 FT
Rain
Basic Description
The high humidity acumulates as water on all surfaces and the jagged ceiling gives the water thousands of drip points for the cave to act as if it is constantly raining though mainly only in the Geothermal Cavern.
Further away the dripping is less prevalent, but water is still running down the walls everywhere.
Ignis Shards
Basic Description
Oversized purple glowing quartz-like crystal contain magical energy. Exactly what this energy can do is unkown and needs to be studied.
Purported Properties: (no special harvesting method required other than to use care not to damage a crystal and release the energy.)
Healing: While very slow it is thought the warmth is mildly healing while in possesion of a crystal.
Magical Energy Storage: It is thought magical energy can be put in and removed at will allowing spell casters access to greater energy as needed
Explosive Release: Ignis Shards will release their energy all at once if a strong force breaks the crystal. Normal blows must be very hard to break a crystal. Magical energy can more easily break a crystal.
Due to the density of fungi growth, normal vision is limited tjust like anyone in a dense jungle. Heat vision is problematic in the high heat.These fungi are not tougher than normal and can be pushed over or chopped down like you might expect a giant mushroom to behave.
Basic Description
Fungal Growths
Fungi come in a myriad of shapes, sizes, advantages and defenses. Species are forced to rapidly adapt utilizing various pathways to win some type of dominance factor within this contained ecosystem.
Ankle Breakers
Basic Description
This area is strangely populated with pot holes or small sink-holes and most are hidden by the dense floor growth.
Most of the holes tend to be only a foot or so deep but there are plenty that will swallow a humanoid.
Bringing pack or riding animals through this area is nearly impossible without extremely slow testing of the walking path.
Animals and humanoids run a very high risk of twisted or broken body parts while traversing the area.
The holes are always narrow. Even the larger ones in depth that can accomodate a humanoid tend to be not much larger across than 3 or 4 feet.
Chthonic Maw
Tactics
Chthonic Maw is an ambush predator, making full use of its rapid burrowing to both attack from any direction and to immediately escape in any direction should it become too injured, allowing the regeneration ability to heal. Even if parts are cut off or severed, those parts can grow into a new separate creature.
A successful bite from the Chthonic Maw automatically means acid will be deployed up to 5 times.
Urdrum Swarm
Social Structure
The swarm operates under a hivemind, with no individual autonomy. Their shared consciousness allows them to act as a single entity, coordinating attacks and movements with unnerving precision. This structure collapses if the swarm is scattered or disrupted by external forces.
Paralysis Sac Harvest
What Does Elara Know?
Elara knows that the underworld prefers a good paralysis poison over acid most days of the week. She will also accept a dead Urdrum instead of the extracted tiny sac. She can extract them herself or just pay someone else to perform that service.
She will warn adventurers that one bite from an Urdrum will empty the sac and that smashing the heads of the Urdrum is a good way to lose their payment.
Harvesting the tiny sacs intact from the oversized insects is a dexterous task, and failure could result in paralysis.
Elara Wynn
Background
Elara hails from a lineage of scholars but shunned the formal academic route to pursue riches. Her father was an esteemed professor, but Elara found the confines of academia restricting. Driven by a desire for freedom and fast coin, she began utilizing her knowledge, collecting rare and exotic samples from the wilderness.
Mycelium Sentinel
Description and Physical Appearance
The Mycelium Sentinel is a stunningly intricate bioluminescent fungal organism made up of three symbiotic varieties of fungi.
At the center is the...
Mother Mushroom: A large, domed organism with a cap spanning up to 5 feet in diameter. Its cap exhibits a mesmerizing mix of pink and chartreuse hues, adorned with softly pulsing bioluminescent spots that shift in intensity depending on the time of day and environmental conditions.
Surrounding the Mother Mushroom are concentric rings of...
Sister Mushroom: Smaller replicas with squat, rounded caps that mimic the Mother’s colors.
Towering above both are the...
Protector Fungi: Slender stalks that stretch as high as 8 feet, crowned with caps that emit a bright, ethereal glow, like watchful sentinels over their domain.
Each type is connected underground by a sprawling network of tendrils hinting at intricate entertwined communications beneath the surface.
The rats, in particular, love to climb on the geysers and chew at the soft mineral deposits to supply their bodies with needed nutrients. This action will sometimes create side vents where jets of steam will spray horizontally instead of vertically.
Basic Description
Geysers
There are only a few active geyers in the forest basin. They form over cracks in the cavern floor where steam and hot water are forced up from water filled chambers below. Far below that are magma chambers that heat rock and water.
The steam pressure can be highly variable and will increase and decrease along with the noises the geysers make. Each one can sound different depending on the holes and how large they are.
They might sound somewhat delicate or create a deafening roar for minutes at a time.
They have a specific pattern just before a Hot Water Flood event with a rising pressure of steam and noise, then sudden quiet as the steam is replaced with hot water as it begins to flood the basin.
Mycelium Sentinel
Reproductive Method
Reproduction occurs via spores released by the Mother Mushroom (Sister or Protector), which can generate all three types of fungi. Spores are carried by wind or animals, creating new colonies when conditions are favorable.
Ignis Shards
Basic Description
Oversized purple glowing quartz-like crystal contain magical energy. Exactly what this energy can do is unkown and needs to be studied.
Purported Properties: (no special harvesting method required)
Healing: While very slow it is thought the warmth is mildly healing while in possesion of a crystal.
Magical Energy Storage: It is thought magical energy can be put in and removed at will allowing spell casters access to greater energy as needed
Explosive Release: Ignis Shards will release their energy all at once if a strong force breaks the crystal. Normal blows must be very hard to break a crystal. Magical energy can more easily break a crystal.
Due to the density of fungi growth, normal vision is limited to 10 feet. Infravision is problematic in the heat.These fungi are not tougher than normal and can be pushed over or chopped down like you might expect a giant mushroom to behave.
Basic Description
Fungal Growths
Fungi come in various shapes, sizes, advantages and defenses. Species are forced to rapidly adapt utilizing various pathways to win some type of dominance factor within this contained ecosystem.
Chthonic Maw Lair
Basic Description
This room feels extra warm due to the mild heat given off by the clusters of Ignis Shard. They also emit a soft purple glow bathing the cavern in an eerie dim light.
The odor shift is noticible with a foul earthy smell and an acidic bite in the nose. Very good chance of encountering the Chthonic Maw in its lair, lying hidden in the warm mud pool wrapped around a group of Ignis Shards.
Treasure consists of Ignis Shards and Chthonic Maw acid sacs.
The Fungi Forest contains two main sections, the Forest Carpet and various Fungal Growths.
Basic Description
Fungi Forest
The Fungi Forest is a very dynamic entity that developed in the high energy and heavy moisture environment and is made up a wide variety of fungi that can grow and evolve at a rapid pace.
A person cannot move through the thick Fungi Forest without contacting or breathing in spores that may affect the character.
Thousands of tiny fungi form a moss-like undergrowth, Bushy Lichen cling to rock cracks, myriad variety of taller mushrooms that range anywhere from inches tall up to 20 feet in height.
Jacob and Eli
Felicity's Two Assistants
Jacob is 10 and Eli is 8 now, but they were 8 and 6 years old surviving on the streets and had yet to be swept up by illfate as many children are, before Felicity took them under her protection. Left abandoned when their soldier father, of the Blackthorn Alliance, died and their mother assaulted and killed. Felicity saved them from a terrible fate and they are incredibly loyal to her and will protect her all the time.
They are now better fed, sheltered and wear tunics supplied by the institution and Felicity is teaching them to read and write.
The Fungi Forest contains two main sections, the Forest Carpet and various Fungal Growths.
Basic Description
Fungi Forest
The Fungi Forest is a very dynamic entity that developed in the high energy and heavy moisture environment and is made up a wide variety of fungi that can grow and evolve at a rapid pace.
A person cannot move through the thick Fungi Forest without contacting or breathing in spores that may affect the character.
Thousands of tiny fungi form a moss-like undergrowth, Bushy Lichen cling to rock cracks, myriad variety of taller mushrooms that range anywhere from inches tall up to 20 feet in height.
Felicity Vorn
Habitat
Felicity lives with her wards in sparse quarters at the institution, surrounded by rooms with bookshelves filled with ancient tomes and maps. It’s a cozy space where the three can gather, often filled with laughter and a sense of security.
Dense Vegetation
Basic Description
The vegetation in this area is extremely dense and requires tools like a machete to make headway.
Movement will be 1/4 speed through the dense portions of jungle.
Any attacks that occur while in this dense vegetation will create penalties for the adventures.
Sight is limited to 20 feet due to heavy growth.
Swinging a long blade is nearly impossible without hitting tree limbs or other plants that can affect attacks.
Ranged attacks are also nearly impossible due to lack of sight and vegetation obstruction deflecting missle type weapons.
Mycelium Sentinel
How to Harvest
If the harvest steps below are not followed the Mother Mushroom will expel all the healing nutrients into the colony .
The healing nutrients are normally stored in tiny nodules on the tendril network just below the stem of the Mother Mushroom. If Mother is severly damaged or harvested differently the nutrients are rapildly diffused out to the colony.
The Mother Mushroom is 5 feet across and the cap is very close to the ground, so long arms or a very small person is needed
The colony will attack if this procedure is messed up. The colony will delay attack for 2 minutes after the stem is cut cleanly.
Chthonic Maw
Social Structure
This creature is a solitary entity, showing extreme territorial aggression toward others of its kind. One Chthonic Maw might tolerate another of its kind for a few days but no longer than a few weeks.
Heat and Humidity
Basic Description
Sustained exertion in the geothermal cavern will affect life force, constitution, strength, etc. over time and can cause weakness, exhaustion, dehydration, and death.
Water consumption is 4X normal usage at least.
Paralysis Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of paralysis poison
Diluted pools of paralysis poison can exist where the Urdrum Swarm nests. The paralysis concentration is reduced and therefore may only cause a numbness or mild paralysis of limbs.
Though the forest entity is not sentient nor agressive it operates mainly as an enviromental response platform for the whole of the forest.
Basic Description
Forest Carpet
The forest carpet is the thick sponge layer that is made up of decaying mushrooms, the mycelium forest "root" network that supports a host of bacteria, insects, other microbes and allows the Fungi Forest to operate as a single entity.
Mycelium Sentinel
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
The Mycelium Sentinel plays a vital role in its ecosystem, breaking down dead organic matter to enrich the soil and maintaining balance within its habitat. Its nutrient spores promote fungal growth in the surrounding area, indirectly supporting other plants and animals. The Sentinel's ability to regrow from any one of its components makes it a resilient cornerstone of forest floor ecology.
Razor Bush
Basic Description
2 different bushes dominate this area but seem to have developed a beneficial relationship where if you find one plant growth you will find the other plant growth
The Wire Bush is an incredibly dense and tough stemmed plant that makes passage all but impossible. It grows to be about 3x3
The Razor Vine likes to weave around and between the patches of Wire Bush.The Razor Vine will shred normal clothing and lacerate skin.
Together, the Wire Bush and the Razor Vine create the Razor Bush.
Acid Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of acid
Diluted pools of acid can exist where the Chthonic Maw nests. The acid concentration is greatly reduced and therefore will only barely damage skin, but will cause normal leather, cloth, silk etc. to weaken and begin to tear and disintegrate after a few minutes. The acid is not full strength so it does not completely dissolve fabric or leather but serves to make it weak and useless.
Chthonic Maw
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
Immense size and strength make it a nearly unstoppable force in direct combat.
Resistance to extreme heat and moderate toxins.
Regeneration makes it hard to kill.
Weaknesses:
Vulnerable to cold temperatures, which slow its movements and regeneration.
Susceptible to bladed weapons.
No eyesight so it relies strictly on vibrations to track prey, which can be exploited by minimizing movement or creating false vibrations.
It avoids pockets or veins of salt concentrations. Salt can damage its skin (much like a slug reacts to table salt rapidly drying out its skin)
Treasure
Mycelium Sentinel
If properly harvested and then prepared correctly the Mycelium Sentinel can prove valuable as a form of powerful healing.
Only Felicity Vorn has the information to harvest and prepare the healing mushroom.
To learn the details of harvesting and preparing the mushroom colony visit the Mycelium Sentinel creature.
Croc Culvert
Basic Description
Croc Culvert is a shallow but wide (2-3 feet deep and 100 feet across), muddy depression that fills with water daily that flows into a section of the Tepler stream.
The culvert contains water loving trees, bushes and other plants with long legged birds stalking around eating bugs, tadpoles and other food sources.
Of course there are crocodiles lurking and loving the mud and shallow waters to hide in.
Mycelium Sentinel
What Does Felicity Know?
There is no reason for Felicity to discuss her knowledge of the Mycelium Sentinel before the adventurers enter the caves.
The adventurers will have to enter the caves, discover the Sentinel mushroom colony, leave, return to discuss it with Felicity, and only then can they uncover some secrets about how to handle it.
She knows the details of the Mycelium Sentinel and what a rare find it is and believes it is not something they should harvest.
She can tell the adventurers the details of how to harvest, transport, and prepare a healing poultice.
Visit the Mycelium Sentinel creature to learn these details.
Treasure
Types of Treasure in this Cave
There are two basic types of treasure in this room.
The Ignis Shard is a magical treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - Ignis Shard and NPC Felicity Vorn.
The Chthonic Maw is a creature treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - The Alchemist Bounty and NPC Elara Wynn.
Mycelium Sentinel
Abilities and Traits
Nutrient Redistribution: The Mother mushroom efficiently shares nutrients through its vast underground tendril network, ensuring the health of its entire colony. It can also release nutrient rich spores into the environment, aiding other plants and fungi nearby.
Spore Hazards: Protector Fungi release incapacitating spores when triggered by nearby threats. These spores can paralyze musculature of intruders for several minutes, making them easy prey for Sister Mushrooms to extend their enveloping tendrils.
Decomposition and Absorption: The Sister Mushrooms with their far reaching tendrils will begin rapid bacterial decomposition process breaking down organic material into nutrients for storage and distrubution as decided by Mother.
Adaptive Symbiosis:The Sentinel colony can regrow any of it's components - Mother, Sister, or Protector from spores produced by the surviving types, ensuring resilience even in the face of significant losses.
Mycelial Communication Network: The tendril system allows instant communication across the colony, enabling coordinated defensive responses and environmental monitoring.
Dense Vegetation
Basic Description
The vegetation in this area is extremely dense and requires tools like a machete to make headway.
Movement will be 1/4 speed through the dense portions of jungle.
Any attacks that occur while in this dense vegetation will create penalties for the adventures.
Sight is limited to 20 feet due to heavy growth.
Swinging a long blade is nearly impossible without hitting tree limbs or other plants that can affect attacks.
Ranged attacks are also nearly impossible due to lack of sight and vegetation obstruction deflecting missle type weapons.
Village Map
Basic Description
This is only the central portion of the village as most farmers live in wide ranging homesteads that are a mixture of their ancient tent culture or new wood cabin constructions.
Any wooden structures have all been built within the past couple of years as a nomadic tent culture is shifting to more permanent dwellings.
Urdrum Swarm
How Many Urdrum Swarm?
GM can of course have as many creatures as they deem necessary for game balance.
There can easily be 10-20 individual Urdrum in a swarm but larger swarms are not unusual.
Powerful characters might need to face several swarms at once.
Tepler Gully Flood Zone
Basic Description
Tepler gully is a U shaped, marsh bottomed ditch hemmed in on the west and north by a long hill and on the east by the rising mountain. The open, southern end funnels flood water in and out of the Tepler stream.
The Tepler Gully typically is a marshy area but Flooding Events will quickly fill the gully up with water 1-4 feet deep. Most of the water spills in from the flooded Tepler stream with some additional water running down the hillsides.
The flood water will quickly drain back out into the Tepler stream once the storm passes.
Urdrum Swarm
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
Exceptional coordination.
Formidable natural armor.
Paralysis poison.
Quickly overwhelm opponents.
Weaknesses:
Vulnerable to loud sounds and bright flashes of light.
Area of effect attacks can disrupt their coordination.
Being grouped together, before they swarm a foe, makes them an easy target for area effect attacks.
Due to the density of fungi growth, normal vision is limited to 10 feet. Infravision is problematic in the heat.These fungi are not tougher than normal and can be pushed over or chopped down like you might expect a giant mushroom to behave.
Basic Description
Fungal Growths
Fungi come in various shapes, sizes, advantages and defenses. Species are forced to rapidly adapt utilizing various pathways to win some type of dominance factor within this contained ecosystem.
Mycelium Sentinel
Feeding and Energy Requirements
The Sentinel sustains itself by breaking down organic material, ranging from leaf litter to the occasional incapacitated intruder. It uses enzymatic decomposition to convert these materials into usable nutrients.
Since the rats chew hole in the thin sides of the geysers to obtain needed minerals the geyers can vent scalding steam in a variety of random directions at any time. Yes, there are occasional rats lying around scalded to death but their bodies quickly decompose in this high energy ecosystem.
Basic Description
Steam Vent Trap
GM discretion. You work out the % of being hit by random jet of steam and the damage it can do.
Felicity Vorn
Basic Description
Felicity is in her early 20s with a small frame who has lived and trained at a learning institution for years and is now performing fieldwork for the school. Her family, besides the teachers and students at the institution, consists of her two assistants: two orphaned brothers she has fought to keep with her for years, and she is somewhere between their sister and mother. She is normally friendly and approachable, though increasingly wary of strangers the more time she spends out in the world.
Cave Inhabitants
Basic Description
Most caves can't support many life forms because they are low energy; this cave system is different.
Many fungi, insects, and animals in this cave system don't interact with the external world and don't encounter the sun, but energy is introduced via the geysers along with nutrients. From there, normal life cycles occur based on this energy and the energy provided by the various life forms.
BacteriaFungi Flatworms Snails Crayfish Spiders
CentipedesMillipeds Springtails Cave Crickets Flies Beetles
SalamandersRoaches Rats Mice Bats Mold
Urdrum Swarm
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
Urdrum Swarms are both scavengers and opportunistic predators, playing a crucial role in breaking down organic matter in their ecosystems.
They reproduce by laying clusters of eggs in nutrient-rich soil, which hatch into tiny, larval forms. These larvae rapidly consume available organic material, growing to full size within weeks.
The swarm's population is naturally controlled by territorial disputes and the presence of larger predators that prey on individual members. No Urdrum individual lives longer than a year.
Direction
How This Map is Laid Out
Room Text Labels - offer quick overview of room.
Room Text Labels - offer quick overview of room.
Elara Wynn
Voice
Elara’s voice is melodic and smooth, with a hint of warmth that draws people in, making her seem approachable despite her stand-off attitude. She always exhibits a calm demeanor and voice even when stressed, serving her well when involved in shady dealings.
Greenstone
Abode
Elara is presently renting one of the few spare beds at the local tavern (Blue Oasis) and her horse is being stabled at a nearby farm.
She mostly is killing time like she always does by sketching and waiting on locals to return with her specimens.
Miner Campsite
Basic Description
The camp looks almost normal, but the fires are cold and the smell of death and acid hangs over the mine entrance area.
There are 6 tents for 11 miners, Jorrik got the privledge as foreman to get a tent by himself while everyone else doubled up.
The skeletal remains are spread around, some with flesh still attached. Bugs and scavengers are finishing up what the Urdrum Swarm and Chthonic Maw left behind.
Many of the trees in the area have been felled to help with building the supports used in the tunnels.
Tools around the mine entrance are broken and acid damaged. Tools in the outlying area are in good condition.
Raw Gold
Location
The raw gold the miners have extracted can be found in a leather sack in the purple tent, under a sleeping mat, in a shallow hole with a tuft of grass covering the hole.
If the adventurers arrive after Felicity has cleaned up the campsite then she will be in possesion of the pouch of gold.
Urdrum Swarm
Habitat and Behavior
Urdrum Swarms thrive in dark, humid environments such as underground caves, dense jungles, or abandoned ruins. They are drawn to areas rich in organic matter, particularly decaying vegetation and animal remains.
Typically avoiding confrontation, they attack only when provoked or hungry. During their multiple breeding periods they can also be aggressive. In their natural habitat, they exhibit highly organized movement, exploring their surroundings with careful precision. However, external disruptions can lead to chaotic, unpredictable behavior.
Since the rats chew holes in the thin sides of the geysers to obtain needed minerals the geyers can vent scalding steam in a variety of random directions at any time. Yes, there are occasional rats lying around scalded to death but their bodies quickly decompose in this high energy ecosystem.
Basic Description
Steam Vent Trap
GM discretion. You work out the % of being hit by random jet of steam and the damage it can do.
Urdrum Swarm
Description and Physical Appearance
The Urdrum Swarm is a horrifying collective of ancient arthropods resembling a rolling tide of segmented bodies. They range in size from a few inches up to two feet long when fully grown, with spindly, multi-jointed legs that allow for rapid, skittering movement. Their iridescent, chitinous exoskeletons shimmer in shades of deep green to rust red, lending a gruesome sight to the undulating mass. Their fearsome mandibles gleam with a venomous sheen, and their eyes are nearly non-existent.
Urdrum Swarm
General Creature Stats
Attacks:
Size:
1 Bite per individual
Small (Individuals up to 2 feet)
Large (Swarm)
Attack Methods:
Venomous paralysis
Movement:
Skittering (fast)
Overwhelming numbers
Dexterity (wall climb) Intelligence (low individual - Cunning Hivemind)
Primary Attributes:
Defense Methods:
Hard chitin shell
Coordinated swarm
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Paralysis poison bite, well armored, coordinated swarm movement.
High natural armor
Treasure
Mushrooms
Mushroom effects are delivered through a variety of vectors, spores, contact, consumption, vapors (chemical scents), visually (brain stimulus through visually mesmerizing effects)
The mass die-off event, through the Rising Hot Water Trap, makes it impossible to consistently identify mushrooms effects because the mushrooms are constantly evolving appearance, effects and other properties.
Unclaimed Cave
GM Notes
While this cave might seem like a relatively safe area to rest this cave directly connects to the Chthonic Maw Lair through the northern most Chthonic Maw Tunnel.
If the adventurers are too loud or want to crack some of the exposed gold out of the rock then they will very likely attract the attention of the Chthonic Maw.
Chthonic Maw
Abilities and Traits
Regeneration: Any severed part of the body can regenerate within hours unless cauterized with extreme heat or cold.
Acidic Slime: During any successful bite, it excretes a highly acidic solution, corroding organic material quickly and metals over time.
Burrowing Expertise: It can tunnel through soil with remarkable speed.
Sticky secretions: Its body mucus can harden into a weak adhesive substance, trapping prey or sealing tunnels.
Tremor Sense: Tiny cilia lining the body allow it to detect vibrations through the ground and air, pinpointing the distance and direction of movements from a great distance.
Urdrum Swarm
Abilities and Traits
Swarm Tactics: The swarm overwhelms opponents by sheer numbers, making it challenging for an individual to fend off 10 to 20 simultaneously biting giant bugs.
Chitinous Armor: Their tough exoskeletons provide excellent defense against physical attacks, requiring either strong, repeated bludgeoning or magical interventions to penetrate.
Venomous Bite: Each member of the swarm delivers a venomous bite capable of paralyzing smaller creatures entirely or the limbs of larger creatures, rendering them all immobile and easy prey.
Hivemind Coordination: The swarm operates with perfect unison, guided by a shared consciousness that allows it to anticipate and react as a single entity.
Erratic response: Exposure to unnatural light or loud sounds disrupts their coordination momentarily, causing the swarm to scatter before regrouping.
Felicity Vorn
Hobbies
Reading and Writing: She spends her free time documenting her findings in journals, translating spells, and hatching new ideas for research. Exploring Nature: Felicity enjoys wandering in the wilds with Jacob and Eli; they create adventures from the smallest discoveries.
Razor Bush
Basic Description
2 different bushes dominate this area but seem to have developed a beneficial relationship where if you find one plant growth you will find the other plant growth
The Wire Bush is an incredibly dense and tough stemmed plant that makes passage all but impossible. It grows to be about 3x3
The Razor Vine likes to weave around and between the patches of Wire Bush.The Razor Vine will shred normal clothing and lacerate skin.
Together, the Wire Bush and the Razor Vine create the Razor Bush.
Felicity Vorn
Voice
Her soft voice carries a friendly tone, often laced with enthusiasm when discussing her research, the incredible wonders of the world,or plans.
Chthonic Maw
Feeding and Energy Requirements
Natural regeneration requires a lot of energy. The Chthonic Maw, using acid, liquifys and consumes vast amounts of organic matter, both plant and animal, to sustain its immense energy needs. This includes large predators, root systems, plants, bugs and fungal growths.
Journey to Mine
GM Notes
Distance from Greenstone to mine is approximately 10 miles.
If you use the hex map provided there are 15 hexes to the mine entrance, so each hex represents about 1.5 miles.
Adventurers should be able to hike through the forest and up into the hills in no more than half a day barring any delays.
The easiest path is to stick strictly to then north bank of the Tepler stream, without deviating into the dense forest on either side.
Since it rains often in this area the Tepler stream constantly swells, temporarily doubling in depth and width in many places.
Spores
Limited Area of Affect
Most spore activity will generally be limited to the area directly around the Fungi Forest where the geysers are located.
This is mainly due to the heavy moisture and cooling at the forest edge that keeps the spores from drifting too far.
Wet Floors
Basic Description
Everything is constantly wet, and the rock is either slippery from water or various growths, or the floor is muddy with small pools of water everywhere.
Dexterous or athletic tasks are a constant challenge, from making a simple leap to running or fighting.
Raleson
Surviving Miner
Raleson is one of two surviving miners trapped in the caverns. He is barely alive and not much help physically.
He honestly believes (wrongly) that all three companions died in the Mud Pit.
Raleson will be frantic to get out having been traumatized by the returning Urdrum Swarm multiple times.
Paralysis Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of paralysis poison
Diluted pools of paralysis poison can exist where the Urdrum Swarm nests. The paralysis concentration is reduced and therefore may only cause a numbness or mild paralysis of limbs.
Urdrum Swarm
How Many Urdrum Swarm?
GM can of course have as many creatures as they deem necessary for game balance.
There can easily be 10-20 individual Urdrum in a swarm but larger swarms are not unusual.
Powerful characters might need to face several swarms at once.
Urdrum Swarm
General Intelligence
While individual members lack independent thought, the collective intelligence of the swarm is formidable.
Jorrik Algar
Basic Description
Jorrik is in his late 40's with a sturdy body built from working hard every day of his life. He has lived in the area of Greenstone since birth. He has no direct family having lost a wife and two children to various hardships of life. He does not have any land but works daily as handyman or fieldworker in exchange for various goods and services.Normally a friendly but limited talker, Jorrik is now a surley man, broken physically forever and broken mentally at least temporarily. But his thoughts are very much on the gold his people discovered.
Main Map
General Cavern Description
This was a mostly closed cavern system until the tremor opened up an entrance...and exit. The entire cavern is warm and humid due to the steam geysers in the Geothermal Cavern. This area creates a positive pressure environment so all air flows outward from this cavern. This area is very wet, with water constantly dripping from ceiling and walls and accumulating into puddles or creating muddy passages that make stable footing and any type of infravision a challenge. The cavern contains more creatures than just a couple of predators. There are rats, bats, roaches and a myriad of other inhabitants that find their way in and out through small cracks and passages to the surface.
Entrance to Caves
Basic Description
Warm, humid breeze smelling heavily of churned, rich soil blows through the 6x3 foot irregular opening. About 100 feet N is the edge of the glowing Fungi Forest. Just inside the opening is a post pounded into the ground with the remains of a rope attached.
If the adventurers are loud or flashing lights around, Raleson, the survivor in the Mud Pit might become aware of them and start frantically shouting.
Treasure
Salt Deposit
Located in the western bulge at the back of the cavern wall is an exposed vein of crystaline salt. This amount of salt if utilized properly can badly damage the Chthonic Maw.
Mycelium Sentinel
Click Image to Enlarge
Stalagmite Wall
This image shows the view from Mycelium Sentinel, to the left is the stalagmite wall and to the right is the open tunnel that loops around to the main tunnel and the entrance to the Geothermal Cavern.
Mycelium Sentinel
Social Structure
The Mycelium Sentinel functions as a single, cooperative organism. The Mother Mushroom is the core leader, while the Sisters and Protectors operate as specialized units, ensuring the colony’s survival and defense.
Elara Wynn
Habitat
She owns a cluttered cottage on the outskirts of a town, filled with strange herbs hanging to dry and various jars of preserved samples lining the shelves.
Paralysis Poison Sac
Basic Description
Harvesting the tiny sacs intact from the oversized insects is a dexterous task, and failure could result in paralysis.
Acid Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of acid
Diluted pools of acid can exist where the Chthonic Maw nests. The acid concentration is greatly reduced and therefore will only barely damage skin, but will cause normal leather, cloth, silk etc. to weaken and begin to tear and disintegrate after a few minutes. The acid is not full strength so it does not completely dissolve fabric or leather but serves to make it weak and useless.
The rats, in particular, love to climb on the geyers and chew at the soft mineral deposits to supply their bodies with needed nutrients. This action will sometimes create side vents where jets of steam will spray horizontally instead of vertically.
Basic Description
Geysers
There are only a few active geyers in the forest basin. They form over cracks in the cavern floor where steam and hot water are forced up from water filled chambers below. Far below that are magma chambers that heat rock and water.
The Fungi Forest contains two main sections, the Forest Carpet and various Fungal Growths.
Basic Description
Fungi Forest
The Fungi Forest is a very dynamic entity that developed in the high energy and heavy moisture environment and is made up a wide variety of fungi that can grow and evolve at a rapid pace.
A person cannot move through the thick Fungi Forest without contacting or breathing in spores that may affect the character.
Thousands of tiny fungi form a moss-like undergrowth, Bushy Lichen cling to rock cracks, myriad variety of taller mushrooms that range anywhere from inches tall up to 20 feet in height.
Treasure
Raw Gold
The raw gold will be in nugget and flake form, while some will be lying on the ground most is still locked up in rock and unmined soil.
The gold in the purple tent in the miner camp has been sifted and is simply a leather pouch full of raw gold.
Mine Area
Basic Description
The main mine tunnel is a long down-slope with a narrow but variable size, mostly natural construction with some tool work to help the miners move wheeled carts.
There are many thick-beamed wooden supports holding the walls and ceiling in place since the soil is very heavy with water, and the recent tremors have cracked rock and loosened soil.
The mine cavern at the end of the tunnel has scattered broken and acid damaged mine tools and the mostly skeletal remains of a miner. One SKULL can be found.
Raw Gold Treasure
Acid Sac Harvest
Basic Description
Harvesting the acid sacs intact from the Chthonic Maw is a dexterous task, and failure could result in acid damage.
Another method would be to take a portion of the Chthonic Maw and keep it till it regrows fully then establish a method to continously harvest the acid from the regenerative creature.
Visit NPC's link to read details about Felicity Vorn.
Felicity Vorn Campsite
Encountering Felicity Vorn
Introduce Felicity Vorn at anytime you see fit.
The campsite for Felicity Vorn and her 2 assistants is about a mile north through the wilderness. (The Felicity Vorn campsite is not represented or on any map)
They have tried to stay clear and not encroach on the miners and have had no reason to visit Greenstone. Velicity did have a brief conversation with one of the miners a few days before the massacre and knows they are from the village of Greenstone.
The young boys reported to Felicity they heard men screaming while they were out gathering food and ran to tell her. She said they would check on the miners the next day.
When Felicity and her wards arrive they will drive off the scavengers, look the camp over and assume all the men are dead. They will then spend all day gathering up and burying body parts in a temporary shallow grave. They will then collect all personal belongings, tear down the tents and collect the tools into a pile.
They will also find the gold hidden in the purple tent.
Felicity and the boys will then return to their campsite after this exhausting and unsettling event, spend one more night and then proceed to take the gold and give it to someone at Greenstone along with the story of the buried dead and miner campsite equipment.
Rising Hot Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the Fungi Forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Mycelium Sentinel
Basic Description
Mother, the singular central mushroom is the controller of the colony.
Sisters break down nutrients with their far reaching tendrils.
Protectors in the outer ring are the only part of the colony that can attack.
Protectors
Mother
Sisters
Mining Camp
Abode
Felicity and her two assistants are camping near the mining camp.
They have kept a wide berth from the miners, trying to disturb the locals as little as possible.
Mycelium Sentinel
Habitat and Behavior
The Mycelium Sentinel is found in damp, nutrient-rich environments such as ancient forests, wetland groves, and deep caves. It thrives in shaded areas with minimal human interference, where its tendrils can spread undisturbed. The colony remains rooted in one location, slowly expanding its domain as it consumes organic material and enriches the soil around it.
The Mother Mushroom acts as the central hub, regulating nutrient flow and spore production.
Sister Mushrooms decompose organic material brought to the colony by tendrils and process it for distribution.
Protector Fungi serve as guards, sensing the area for threats and deploying paralyzing spores when danger approaches.
Spores
Limited Area of Affect
Most spore activity will generally be limited to the area directly around the Fungi Forest where the geysers are located.
This is mainly due to the heavy moisture and cooling at the forest edge that keeps the spores from drifting too far.
Chthonic Maw
General Intelligence
While not intelligent, the Chthonic Maw displays cunning predatory tactics, such as ambushes and tracking prey via vibration sensitivity.
Treasure
Bonus
Salt: Located in the Mycelium Sentinel Chamber #8, in the western bulge at the back of the cavern, is an exposed vein of crystalline salt deposit.
This large amount of salt if utilized properly can poison the nest of the Chthonic Maw or if applied directly can severly damage the creature.
Treasure
Types of Treasure in this Cave
There are two basic types of treasure in this room.
The Ignis Shard is a magical treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - Ignis Shard and NPC Felicity Vorn.
The Chthonic Maw is a creature treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - The Alchemist Bounty and NPC Elara Wynn.
Mycelium Sentinel Chamber
Basic Description
In the dark, this chamber would glow faintly with an odd chartreuse color given off by the massive three-part mushroom colony.
Protectors in the outer ring are the only part of the colony that can attack.
Mother, the singular central mushroom is the controller of the colony.
Sisters break down nutrients with their far reaching tendrils.
This room is several feet above the rim of the Fungi Forest basin so it does not experience the Hot Water Mass Die-off.
Treasure consists of Salt and Mycelium Sentinel healing by harvesting the Mother.
Felicity Vorn
Affiliations
Felicity is closely tied to her learning institution, viewing it as her home. She and her adopted brothers live there. She is developing a network of fellow scholars and a few contacts in other learning institutions, though her interactions with society at large are limited. She only ventures outside the institutional walls when assigned tasks.
Mycelium Sentinel
General Creature Stats
Mother: Medium 5 feet across
Attacks:
Size:
1 spore dispersal
Sister: Small 1 foot across
Area paralysis spores, tendril entrapment, enzymatic decomposition
Protector: Large 8 feet tall
Attack Methods:
Movement:
Sationary, tendril movement is slow
Defense Methods:
Primary Attributes:
Rapid spore release, regrowth from spores
Constitution
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Communication, coordination, difficult to kill off.
Fleshy but resilient fungal tissue
Rising Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Rising Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Elara Wynn
Personality Traits
Resourceful and shrewd, Elara can be both charming and somewhat aloof. She is intelligent and insightful but tends to keep her emotions guarded . A calm demeanor in high-pressure situations allows her to navigate both academic circles and the underbelly of the dark market with ease.
She likes to leverage the work of others, poor locals or mercenaries, until about a year ago. Now she is questioning her callous relationship with nature.
Chthonic Maw
Tactics
Chthonic Maw is an ambush predator, making full use of its rapid burrowing to both attack from any direction and to immediately escape in any direction should it become too injured, allowing the regeneration ability to heal. Even if parts are cut off or severed, those parts can grow into a new separate creature.
A successful bite from the Chthonic Maw automatically means acid will be deployed up to 5 times.
Visit NPC's link to read details about Felicity Vorn.
Felicity Vorn Campsite
Encountering Felicity Vorn
Introduce Felicity Vorn at anytime you see fit.
The campsite for Felicity Vorn and her 2 assistants is about a mile north through the wilderness. (The Felicity Vorn campsite is not represented or on any map)
They have tried to stay clear and not encroach on the miners and have had no reason to visit Greenstone. Velicity did have a brief conversation with one of the miners a few days before the massacre and knows they are from the village of Greenstone.
The young boys reported to Felicity they heard men screaming while they were out gathering food and ran to tell her. She said they would check on the miners the next day.
When Felicity and her wards arrive they will drive off the scavengers, look the camp over and assume all the men are dead. They will then spend all day gathering up and burying body parts in a temporary shallow grave. They will then collect all personal belongings, tear down the tents and collect the tools into a pile.
They will also find the gold hidden in the purple tent.
Felicity and the boys will then return to their campsite after this exhausting and unsettling event, spend one more night and then proceed to take the gold and give it to someone at Greenstone along with the story of the buried dead and miner campsite equipment.
Mycelium Sentinel Information
Only Felicity Vorn
Felicity Vorn is the only person who can help with details about the Mycelium Sentinel. Visit Felicity to learn what she knows.
Visit the Mycelium Sentinel creature to learn the details about the creature itself.
Chthonic Maw
Lifecycle and Ecological Role
This apex predator plays a critical role in regulating populations of burrowing creatures and scavengers. Any abandoned tunnels can create habitats for smaller organisms. However, its indiscriminate consumption can devastate local ecosystems that lack resiliency, espcially if there is more than one.
Felicity Vorn
Deal Making
Felicity has no experience other than basic haggling skills and will voluntarily help most people after a bit of wariness.
She is friendly and intelligent and can assist the adventurers with book oriented magical and geographical knowledge but has little experience other than data gathering in the wilderness.
She, along with her two assistants, are taking geological survey information about the area, as she has been tasked by her institution to gather information on the Ignis Shard.
If the advenurers return to her with information about the Ignis Shard then she will pay for it without hesitation. Payment will be a signed letter that must be collected upon at her institution, she doesn't carry that much money on her.
Elara Wynn
Tattoo
Her right forearm features a small, intricate tattoo of a vine intertwining with a quill, symbolizing her ties to nature and knowledge.
Elara feels a powerful attachment to her only tattoo that was bestowed upon her by Inkweavers in an ink and tattoo ceremony that made an outsized impact on her thoughts the past year, ever since she made the unusual decision to get a tattoo.
The Inkweavers gentle devotion drew her in and after a strange consultation ceremony she described the tattoo she wanted.
Species
Human
AI
Artificial Intelligence
Some elements created with the assistance of AI tools.
Cavern Basin Diagram
Basic Description
Side-View
10 FT
90 FT
Overhead-View
120 FT
Mud Pit
Diagram
Basic Description
MUD PIT SIDE VIEW
PIT 40 FT DEEP
MUD 20 FT DEEP
PIT 40 FT WIDE
All the mud pits in these caverns oscillate between a thick and thin slurry, depending on the variable amounts of water that condenses out of the air, drips from the ceiling or walls, then drains out of the porous rock.
The mud temperature is warm just like the air.
Though the forest entity is not sentient nor agressive it operates mainly as an enviromental response platform for the whole of the forest.
Basic Description
Forest Carpet
The forest carpet is the thick sponge layer that is made up of decaying mushrooms, the mycelium forest "root" network that supports a host of bacteria, insects, other microbes and allows the Fungi Forest to operate as a single entity.
Chthonic Maw
Clues for Adventurers
Acid-damaged or corroded remnants of dense organic material and tools can signal its presence.
Vibrations in the ground are an early warning of its underground approach.
Sticky trails of its skin mucous harden and dry to crumbling flakes, often found near tunnels it has dug or at hunting grounds.
Since the rats chew holes in the thin sides of the geysers to obtain needed minerals the geyers can vent scalding steam in a variety of random directions at any time. Yes, there are occasional rats lying around scalded to death but their bodies quickly decompose in this high energy ecosystem.
Basic Description
Steam Vent Trap
GM discretion. You work out the % of being hit by random jet of steam and the damage it can do.
Paralysis Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of paralysis poison
Diluted pools of paralysis poison can exist where the Urdrum Swarm nests. The paralysis concentration is reduced and therefore may only cause a numbness or mild paralysis of limbs.
The rats, in particular, love to climb on the geyers and chew at the soft mineral deposits to supply their bodies with needed nutrients. This action will sometimes create side vents where jets of steam will spray horizontally instead of vertically.
Basic Description
Geysers
There are only a few active geyers in the forest basin. They form over cracks in the cavern floor where steam and hot water are forced up from water filled chambers below. Far below that are magma chambers that heat rock and water.
Urdrum Swarm
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
Urdrum Swarms favor ambush tactics, striking from darkness and relying on their numbers to overpower enemies. They encircle a target, focusing on incapacitating one individual at a time. If disrupted, they retreat briefly to regroup.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Adventurers may avoid confrontation by using fire, loud noises, or bright light to scatter the swarm. Offering large quantities of organic matter can also distract or placate them temporarily.
Raleson
Surviving Miner
Raleson is one of two surviving miners trapped in the caverns. He is barely alive and not much help physically.
He honestly believes (wrongly) that all three companions died in the Mud Pit.
Raleson will be frantic to get out having been traumatized by the returning Urdrum Swarm multiple times.
Mycelium Sentinel
Layout
Mother, the singular central mushroom is the controller of the colony.
Sisters break down nutrients with their far reaching tendrils.
Protectors in the outer ring are the only part of the colony that can attack.
Protectors
Mother
Sisters
Treasure
Payment
The villagers of Greenstone, even collectively, don't have a lot of money but can trade services or possibly later after discovery of gold can offer a portion.
Elara Wynn only pays full amount upon delivery, nothing up front except thin information, although her payments are relatively generous.
Felicity Vorn is not used to making deals with mercenaries and also does not carry the necessary money to pay for their services, but will sign a letter of promised payment that can be presented at her school.
Lean In To The Environment
GM Notes on Action Economy Rulesets
Many RPG Rulesets (like D&D) rely on an action economy in combat that places creatures at a disadvantage against multiple character parties.
The environment is the great equalizer for GM's.
Utilizing the environment surrounding characters can humble even powerful characters, especially when you ratchet up the experience with multiple layers of events all happening at once.
For example: The characters are crossing the Fungi Forest, crawling through the Hidden Tunnel when the steam geysers get so loud that the characters can't communicate. Then the Urdrum Swarm enters the tunnel, panicked combat ensues, and then the Chthonic Maw shows up. We need to take the scene up a notch again in this chaotic combat, the geysers go quiet signalling the onset of the Hot Water Flood Trap, sending every creature fleeing.
Mycelium Sentinel
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
The Protector Fungi will detect intruders within 10 feet, they will straighten up and begin to raise their caps a little. Upon further approach the cap will begin to open and swell, then release spores to incapacitate intruders. While paralyzed, the Sisters’ tendrils will reach out and begin encasing the victim in hairy tendrils for moving and decomposition.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Mushroom Mimic. An adventurer can wrap their body completely with another mushroom cap to pass between the Protector Fungi without raising alarm.
Mushroom Information
Only Felicity Vorn
Felicity Vorn is the only person who can help with details about the Mycelium Sentinel. Visit Felicity to learn what she knows.
Visit the Mycelium Sentinel creature to learn the details about the creature itself.
Good Job - now click the image to see a larger version and see more details.
Elara Wynn
Deal Making
Elara has been operating the same way for years. She structures deals to only pay out to each individual, paid in full upon delivery. If the group returns the prize with fewer adventurers, she pays less.
She has heard the tale as told by the surviving miner and recognized both the Urdrum Swarm and the Chthonic Maw from past library research, but has never encountered either creature and would love live specimens. Or, at least the good parts, the poison and acid sacs. With her connections she could turn a really good profit.
She knows more about the local monsters than she lets on and will downplay dangers and feed false "helpful" information.
Chthonic Maw - She will verify the public information that it uses acid. She will reveal it likes warm areas and is a hefty size. She will hold back information about regenerative capabilities and the fact that it uses hairs to sense movement.
Urdrum Swarm - She will verify the public information that the bugs have paralyzing poison. She will reveal the Swarm move in a writhing lump and have hard shells like giant lobsters. She will hold back information about how they react to loud noises or bright flashes and how quickly they can spawn.
Urdrum Swarm
General Creature Stats
Attacks:
Size:
1 Bite per individual
Small (Individuals up to 2 feet)
Large (Swarm)
Attack Methods:
Venomous paralysis
Movement:
Skittering (fast)
Overwhelming numbers
Dexterity (wall climb) Intelligence (low individual - Cunning Hivemind)
Primary Attributes:
Defense Methods:
Hard chitin shell
Coordinated swarm
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Paralysis poison bite, well armored, coordinated swarm movement.
High natural armor
Acid Sac Harvest
Basic Description
Harvesting the acid sacs intact from the Chthonic Maw is a dexterous task, and failure could result in acid damage.
Another method would be to take a take a portion of the Chthonic Maw and keep it till it regrows fully then establish a method to continously harvest the acid from the regenerative creature.
Chthonic Maw
Habitat and Behavior
The Chthonic Maw thrives in subterranean environments, particularly near geothermal vents where heat and moisture are abundant. It tunnels through the earth, creating extensive networks of passages that often collapse behind it, making pursuit nearly impossible.
Typically solitary, this creature only emerges to hunt or defend its territory. It is known to devour anything it encounters, from animals to plant life, leaving barren patches in its path.
Chthonic Maw
Description and Physical Appearance
This immense, worm-like creature can stretch up to 20 feet in length and 2 feet in diameter. Its body is segmented and glistens with a mucous coating. Its flattened head resembles the shape of a hammerhead shark, with eyeless sensory pits on the top side, and a wide mouth lined with needle-like teeth on the underside of the head. Its coloration ranges from deep earth tones to muted blues and purples, aiding in camouflage in its natural environment. This burrowing creature prefers warm, wet environments and eats most anything, liquifying prey with its acid.
GM Note: This creature is based on the real life Planarian
Felicity Vorn
Tattoo
None, but she has a faint birthmark shaped like a star on her wrist, and the little girl in her always wondered if it meant anything more than just a skin discoloration.
Lights Out Map
Main Map Depicting View Without External Lighting
This map is mainly for the GM to visualize the secret tunnel path through the Fungi Forest.
Acid Pools
Basic Description
GM discretion to use pools of acid
Diluted pools of acid can exist where the Chthonic Maw nests. The acid concentration is greatly reduced and therefore will only barely damage skin, but will cause normal leather, cloth, silk etc. to weaken and begin to tear and disintegrate after a few minutes. The acid is not full strength so it does not completely dissolve fabric or leather but serves to make it weak and useless.
Treasure
Mycelium Sentinel
If properly harvested and then prepared correctly the Mycelium Sentinel can prove valuable as a form of powerful healing.
Only Felicity Vorn has the information to harvest and prepare the healing mushroom.
To learn the details of harvesting and preparing the mushroom colony visit the Mycelium Sentinel creature.
Treasure
Types of Treasure in this Cave
There are two basic types of treasure in this room.
The Urdrum Swarm is a creature treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - The Alchemist Bounty and NPC Elara Wynn.
The eggs of the Urdrum Swarm are not special or valuable beyond containing unhatched Urdrum.
Elara Wynn
Hobbies
Beyond her alchemical pursuits, Elara enjoys sketching the creatures she encounters. She is also an avid reader of both herbal and creature lore.
Unclaimed Cave
Basic Description
This tunnel and cavern contains no nesting creatures but two Chthonic maw Tunnels exit the cave.
One miner survivor named Enhoff lays exhausted and wounded in the tunnel near the cavern room. He knows nothing about any of his friends but has seen the Chthonic Maw slither through.
Raw Gold Treasure
Mycelium Sentinel
Lore and Myths
The role of the Mother as healer and protector is intertwined deeply with the lore of the Mycelium Sentinel. It is rumored that the Mother has powerful healing abilities
Treasure
Mycelium Sentinel
A little-understood multi-mushroom colony with little common value due to the lack of widespread information about its healing capabilities.
This colony is unique and unchanging unlike the mushrooms in the Fungi Forest as it is not subject to the mass die-off event of the Rising Hot Water Trap.
The Mycelium Sentinel can also be found out in the world as long as the environment is conducive.
Dense Vegetation
Basic Description
The vegetation in this area is extremely dense and requires tools like a machete to make headway.
Movement will be 1/4 speed through the dense portions of jungle.
Any attacks that occur while in this dense vegetation will create penalties for the adventures.
Sight is limited to 20 feet due to heavy growth.
Swinging a long blade is nearly impossible without hitting tree limbs or other plants that can affect attacks.
Ranged attacks are also nearly impossible due to lack of sight and vegetation obstruction deflecting missle type weapons.
Tepler Fields
Basic Description
Tepler fields are for a variety of local crops that are entirely consumed by the large Tepler family.
Like a lot of local farm land the fields are wood fenced and they utilize goats to keep the jungle encroachment pushed back.
The soil closer to the hills and mountains is less sandy and more nutrient dense loam based than the sandy soil around Greenstone.
Since the rats chew hole in the thin sides of the geysers to obtain needed minerals the geyers can vent scalding steam in a variety of random directions at any time. Yes, there are occasional rats lying around scalded to death but their bodies quickly decompose in this high energy ecosystem.
Basic Description
Steam Vent Trap
GM discretion. You work out the % of being hit by random jet of steam and the damage it can do.
Location of Mine
Basic Directions
The mine is located approximately 10 miles east of Greenstone. A half-day hike up into the hills.
Multiple people, including Jorrik, city elders etc., can tell the adventures how to get there.
Specialized Knowledge: Only Jorrik can warn the party to stick strictly to the north bank of the Tepler stream and not to wander through the wilderness. He can also warn about the daily flooding of the Tepler stream and Tepler gully.
Tepler stream can be found about a mile outside of Greenstone.
Elara Wynn
Weapons/Equipment
She carries a small dagger for protection and utilizes an assortment of vials and flasks filled with variety of dangerous poisons. Elara often dons a satchel filled with her sketching materials and notes. She travels by horse but sometimes uses a cart if her field collection grows too large to carry on horseback.
Elara Wynn
Skills
Proficient in alchemy, botany, and field research, Elara's skills allow her to identify rare flora and fauna effectively. Her ability to sketch and take detailed field notes helps her create cohesive studies of her alchemical discoveries, which she can later sell.
Elara Wynn
Relations
Her father is her only family left alive and his health is poor. She doesn't visit him often and has always been a distant daughter. She has no bed partner at present and only some business friendships with a few of her contacts.
Urdrum Swarm
Feeding and Energy Requirements
Urdrum swarms sustain themselves on a diet of decomposing plant and animal matter, though they are capable of hunting live prey when necessary. Their venomous bite enables them to immobilize prey quickly, conserving energy while feeding. During lean times, they will not hesitate to consume their own.
EAS Remix License v1.0
Copyright © 2025 Todd Massey and Web Werks LLC. All rights reserved except as granted under the EAS Remix License.
Full License (EAS Remix License v1.0)
Purpose
The Emergent Adventure System (EAS) is designed to help Game Masters create, share, and publish interactive, non-linear RPG adventures. This license encourages creativity and collaboration while protecting the original creator’s intellectual property.
You Are Free To:
1. Use & Play – Use this module, its maps, NPCs, creatures, and other assets in your games for personal or commercial use. 2. Remix & Adapt – Modify, adapt, and build new works using these assets, including commercial adventures. 3. Distribute Derivatives – Share your remixed or derivative works publicly (for free or for sale).
You Must:
Provide Attribution – All public or commercial uses must include the following credit: “Built using the Emergent Adventure System (EAS) by Todd Massey and Web Werks LLC" (with a link to https://doyouopenthedoor.com where possible).
You May Not:
Resell or Redistribute As-Is – You cannot resell, republish, or distribute this module, its raw map files, or other unaltered content without express permission.
Claim Ownership of EAS or This Module – The EAS method, name, and original content remain the property of Todd Massey and Web Werks LLC.
Remove Attribution – Credit must remain intact for any public or commercial use.
Additional Permissions
Paid download access to raw maps, NPCs, creatures, and related assets grants you the right to use those materials for your own game content and commercial modules under this license.
WWW.DOYOUOPENTHEDOOR.COM
Disclaimer
These materials are provided “as is” without warranty. Todd Massey and Web Werks LLC are not responsible for derivative works or their use. For questions, commercial licensing, or special permissions, contact toddmassey@webwerks.biz
Mycelium Sentinel
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
The Protector Fungi will detect intruders within 10 feet, they will straighten up and begin to raise their caps a little. Upon further approach the cap will begin to open and swell, then release spores to incapacitate intruders. While paralyzed, the Sisters’ tendrils will reach out and begin encasing the victim in hairy tendrils for moving and decomposition.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Mushroom Mimic. An adventurer can wrap their body completely with another mushroom cap to pass between the Protector Fungi without raising alarm.
Felicity Vorn
Personality Traits
Intelligent: Felicity possesses a wealth of knowledge, especially in magical theory and geography. Cautious: The dangers of the outside world have made her instinctively wary of strangers. Empathetic: She deeply cares for her brothers and is always aware of their needs and feelings.
Unclaimed Cave
GM Notes
While this cave might seem like a relatively safe area to rest this cave directly connects to the Chthonic Maw Lair through the northern most Chthonic Maw Tunnel.
If the adventurers are too loud or want to crack some of the exposed gold out of the rock then they will very likely attract the attention of the Chthonic Maw.
Velvet Worm
Basic Description
Onychophora - is a real worm-like creature that lives on our planet. It is tiny and excretes a very sticky slime substance to capture prey and to defend itself. It even has the ability to shoot a stream of the sticky slime.
This worm could easily be developed into a giant attack creature if you wish but in this scenario we are mainly just using the sticky slime.
This area is experiencing a large infestation of the Velvet Worm and most leaves and surfaces are coated with this sticky substance.
The sheer volume of slime and the heat of the jungle has turned the area into a dripping, silvery nightmare of jungle adhesive.
The worms are not the danger but trying to pass through the area means sticks, leaves, plants and other debris are glomming on to every part of an adventurer, weighing them down and restricting movement.
Mycelium Sentinel
Clues for Adventurers
The soft pulsing pink bioluminescence is only visible in the dark.
The Mycelium Sentinel is the only fungi that adopts this special concentric arrangement.
Rising Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Mycelium Sentinel
General Creature Stats
Mother: Medium 5 feet across
Attacks:
Size:
1 spore dispersal
Sister: Small 1 foot across
Area paralysis spores, tendril entrapment, enzymatic decomposition
Protector: Large 8 feet tall
Attack Methods:
Movement:
Sationary, tendril movement is slow
Defense Methods:
Primary Attributes:
Rapid spore release, regrowth from spores
Constitution
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Communication, coordination, difficult to kill off.
Fleshy but resilient fungal tissue
Felicity Vorn
Relations
Her parents, in another land, sold her into slavery as a young girl but she was very lucky when she ended up at the learning institution as a worker and then a student. Jacob and Eli: The two orphaned brothers (10 and 8) she cares for deeply. She rescued them off the streets and begged the institution to let her keep them. They work around the institution and help her. They are fiercely loyal to her.
Razor Bush
Basic Description
2 different bushes dominate this area but seem to have developed a beneficial relationship where if you find one plant growth you will find the other plant growth
The Wire Bush is an incredibly dense and tough stemmed plant that makes passage all but impossible. It grows to be about 3x3
The Razor Vine likes to weave around and between the patches of Wire Bush.The Razor Vine will shred normal clothing and lacerate skin.
Together, the Wire Bush and the Razor Vine create the Razor Bush.
Chthonic Maw
Reproductive Method
The Chthonic Maw reproduces by fragmentation. If sections are badly damaged or severed it can heal through regeneration or each severed section can grow into a fully grown individual (within days or weeks).
Example: If cut into 4 sections within days there will be 4 whole Chthonic Maws to deal with.
Temporarily 2 or more Chthonic Maws may inhabit the same area until one moves away or is eaten by another.
Paralysis Poison Sacs
Basic Description
Each individual Urdrum posesses 1 tiny paralysis poison sac situated towards the front of it's mouth between the mandibles.
The sac will trigger with a successful bite injecting poison into the flesh of the bitten creature.
The sac can inject poison 1 time only.
Chthonic Maw
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
The Chthonic Maw uses its rapid burrowing ability to ambush prey. In combat, it lashes out with its body, attempting to crush or stun foes. Sticky secretions from the skin can slow or trap animals and then a successful bite releases an acid that dissolves many substances except bone.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Adept adventurers might use cold, heat or vibrations to attract or repel the creature. Offering a large pile of food to sate its hunger. Lines of salt will block it from crossing surfaces.
Enhoff
Surviving Miner
Enhoff is one of two surviving miners trapped in the caverns. He is barely alive and not much help physically.
Enhoff can reveal what he knows about the Chthonic Maw (which is very litle) but he can point out the difficult to spot Chthonic Maw tunnels.
Treasure
Types of Treasure in this Cave
There are two basic types of treasure in this room.
The Urdrum Swarm is a creature treasure attached to the Adventure Hook - The Alchemist Bounty and NPC Elara Wynn.
The eggs of the Urdrum Swarm are not special or valuable beyond containing unhatched Urdrum.
Mycelium Sentinel
Layout
Mother, the singular central mushroom is the controller of the colony.
Sisters break down nutrients with their far reaching tendrils.
Protectors in the outer ring are the only part of the colony that can attack.
Protectors
Mother
Sisters
Chthonic Maw
How Many Chthonic Maw?
GM can of course have as many creatures as they deem necessary.
There can easily be 2 Chthonic Maw creatures since it has a regenerative capability.
Miner, Jorrik, nearly cut the head off so when it returned to it's lair it shed the body parts and both regrew a new portion, creating 2 Chthonic Maws.
Species
Human
Jorrik Algar
Healing Jorrik's Wounds
Jorrik's wounds are very severe and deep and need powerful healing to return him to normal.
There are 2 ways for adventurers within the adventure to help Jorrik.
The Ignis Shard crystal will slow heal over time as long as you are in posession of a shard.
The Mycelium Sentinel Mother Mushroom has powerful healing properties when properly harvested and prepared.
Felicity Vorn
Motivations
Felicity seeks to prove herself as a capable field researcher, eager to apply her book knowledge in the real world. Her desire to protect Jacob and Eli drives her to succeed, as she dreams of creating a stable future for them. Casting spells may or may not be her future, it is not a driver at present.
Enhoff
Surviving Miner
Enhoff is one of two surviving miners trapped in the caverns. He is barely alive and not much help physically.
Enhoff can reveal what he knows about the Chthonic Maw (which is very litle) but he can point out the difficult to spot Chthonic Maw tunnels.
Mycelium Sentinel
How to Prepare Healing Poultice
If there is time, the stem is lightly bruised with the fingers, then marigold leaves and petals are worked in a mortar until weak, then bound around the stem for a day.
If the wound is fresh, work yarrow to a pulp with sputum. If the wound is crusted, skip yarrow.
Combine yarrow with chamomile, worked in a mortar and blended with aloe, if available. Then, tip with warmed ale and lavender honey.
Break the stem from the cap, chop it into pieces, and work it in a mortar with the marigold, adding the ale and honey. Mix until ready for the poultice.
2 Ways
2 Basic Ways to Reach Chthonic Maw Lair and Hive Nexus
1. Use the tiny, dangerous Chthonic Maw Tunnels.
2. Cross the Fungi Forest
2 Basic Ways to Cross the Fungi Forest Without Coming into Contact with the Fungi
1. Fly through the air gap over the forest canopy.
4A
2. Crawl through the Hidden Path tunnel.
Players will no doubt generate many creative ways to accomplish this task. This represents the basic, obvious paths.
Cave Inhabitants
Basic Description
Most caves can't support many life forms because they are low energy; this cave system is different.
Many fungi, insects, and animals in this cave system don't interact with the external world and don't encounter the sun, but energy is introduced via the geysers along with nutrients. From there, normal life cycles occur based on this energy and the energy provided by the various life forms.
BacteriaFungi Flatworms Snails Crayfish Spiders
CentipedesMillipeds Springtails Cave Crickets Flies Beetles
SalamandersRoaches Rats Mice Bats Mold
Rising Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Elara Wynn
Affiliations
Elara is connected with local scholars and higher learning individuals, wizards, often attending intelectual conferences to showcase her findings. Simultaneously, she maintains ties with underground dealers, assasins and guilds looking for rare specimens or ingredients, making her a pivotal figure in both realms.
Though the forest entity is not sentient nor agressive it operates mainly as an enviromental response platform for the whole of the forest.
Basic Description
Forest Carpet
The forest carpet is the thick sponge layer that is made up of decaying mushrooms, the mycelium forest "root" network that supports a host of bacteria, insects, other microbes and allows the Fungi Forest to operate as a single entity.
Mycelium Sentinel
Value
Mother Mushroom contains all the healing and restorative nutrients, so if you harvest her correctly, you get a potent healing ingredient. The healing nutrients will not last long (2 days), once harvested. The Protector Fungi paralysis spores have never been succesfully utilized.
Rain and Flooding
Basic Description
It rains pretty much every day. Mostly heavy, short downpours but sometimes it can rain longer.
Even the short storms can produce Flooding Events.
The Tepler stream is normally 10-20 feet wide and equally as deep with small falls and rapids moving into the higher elevations.
Flooding Events will double the size of the stream for a couple of hours as long as the rain was a short storm.
The Tepler Gully typically is a marshy area but Flooding Events will quickly fill the gully up with water 1-4 feet deep. Most of the water spills in from the flooded Tepler stream with some additional water running down the hillsides.
The flood water will quickly drain back out into the Tepler stream once the storm passes.
Mycelium Sentinel
General Intelligence
Though not intelligent in the traditional sense, the Mycelium Sentinel exhibits remarkable problem-solving abilities through its tendril network, effectively responding to environmental changes and threats.
Chthonic Maw
Lore and Myths
Legends speak of the Chthonic Maw as a harbinger of environmental destruction, appearing when subterranean ecosystems are disturbed.
It is mainly feared and poses a deadly menace to homesteads and villages whenever it begins roaming on the surface.
The regenerative properties are highly desired but little understood. Tales relate how a prominent official consumed a tail portion, hoping to absorb the regenerative properties, only to have a Chthonic Maw eat its way out of his body weeks later.
The acid sacs are desirable but extremely rare due to the danger of the Chthonic Maw.
Creatures
Basic Description
Populate the area with jungle or rainforest creatures. Snakes (Venomous, Constrictor) Crocodile (mainly on the Eastern portion of the map) Dinosaurs Frogs Insects (swarm - flying, crawling) Simians (Ape, Gorilla, Monkey) Trolls and Giants Cats (Tiger, Panther, Leopard, Puma, Jaguar) Boars, wild pigs Elephants Birds
Treasure
Salt Deposit
Located in the western bulge at the back of the cavern wall is an exposed vein of crystaline salt. This amount of salt if utilized properly can badly damage the Chthonic Maw.
Tepler Farm House
Basic Description
A narrow dirt path leads to a poorly contructed but massive farm house, built long-house style but the length has been extended multiple time as the Tepler family kept growing.
The Elder Tepler (Otten) is around 50 and is presently married to the third Mrs. Tepler (Eshian) who is in her 30's and pregnant.
There are 18 children from ages 2-20 that work the farm.
They will be friendly but very busy with farm chores. There are goats, chickens and the fields. Getting information from them will take some social effort.
They can warn the adventurers of all hazards and the locations. For payment one of the children can safely guide them to the mine camp.
They have noticed the distant campfires had not been visible for several days but that there was still some campfire smoke visible further north (this would be the camp of Felicity Vorn and her 2 helpers).
There is a small graveyard with 8 graves. The two previous Mrs. Tepler's and 6 children. Life is hard out here.
Urdrum Swarm
Lore and Myths
Some believe that their hivemind is linked to a greater, unseen entity that watches over the swarm and guides its actions.
Explorers tell of glowing, chittering nightmares that decimate and consume entire caravans whole, warning travelers to avoid their nesting grounds.
Mycelium Sentinel
Interactions with Adventurers
Combat Tactics:
The Protector Fungi will detect intruders within 10 feet, they will straighten up and begin to raise their caps a little. Upon further approach the cap will begin to open and swell, then release spores to incapacitate intruders. While paralyzed, the Sisters’ tendrils will reach out and begin encasing the victim in hairy tendrils for moving and decomposition.
Non-Violent Tactics:
Mushroom Mimic. An adventurer can wrap their body completely with another mushroom cap to pass between the Protector Fungi without raising alarm.
Chthonic Maw
How Many Chthonic Maw?
GM can of course have as many creatures as they deem necessary.
There can easily be 2 Chthonic Maw creatures since it has a regenerative capability.
Miner, Jorrik, nearly cut the head off so when it returned to it's lair it shed the body parts and both regrew a new portion, creating 2 Chthonic Maws.
Tremors
Basic Description
Are the tremors still occurring? It's a great way to shake the adventurers up with unsteady ground, falling debris, and sudden changes in the geysers or hot water cycles.
What is causing the tremor? Is it the earthquakes, is it geysers increasing pressure, or is the Chthonic Maw tunneling nearby?
Most subterranean species, Dwarves, etc., after experiencing one of these types of tremors, can better identify it during the next identical occurrence.
Chthonic Maw
General Creature Stats
Attacks:
Size:
2-3 (Bite, Acid Spray, Sticky Tail Lash)
Enormous (20 feet Long, 2 feet diameter
Movement:
Attack Methods:
Physical (Piercing Bite, Blunt Tail) Acid
Surface (average), Burrowing (fast)
Primary Attributes:
Defense Methods:
Heat Resistant, Regeneration,
Strength, Constitution
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Regeneration, Acid, Burrowing, Tremor Sense, Sticky Secretions
Natural metal armor
Exit to Camp
Basic Description
Approximately 100 foot long and a maximum of 20 feet wide, mostly natural cavern slopes upward to the surface with a couple of shallow bends and big boulders blocking a straight shot. The miners dug earth and chipped stone enough to clear path to get their hand carts up and down the tunnel.
Geothermal Cavern
Side-View
10 FT
90 FT
Overhead-View
120 FT
Basic Description
This large cavern is an elongated bowl 120 feet long and 90 feet wide. Constant rain falls in the Fungi Forest where steam vents reside on the spongy floor.
Many cavern residents come here to feed on the mushrooms and each other.
There is a hidden tunnel through the forest offering passage to stay unaffected by the mushrooms only revealed in the dark. Another passage is the 10 foot air gap over the top of the fungi forest.
The Fungi Forest contains two main sections, the Forest Carpet and various Fungal Growths.
Basic Description
Fungi Forest
The Fungi Forest is a very dynamic entity that developed in the high energy and heavy moisture environment and is made up a wide variety of fungi that can grow and evolve at a rapid pace.
A person cannot move through the thick Fungi Forest without contacting or breathing in spores that may affect the character.
Thousands of tiny fungi form a moss-like undergrowth, Bushy Lichen cling to rock cracks, myriad variety of taller mushrooms that range anywhere from inches tall up to 20 feet in height.
This irregular wall consists of multiple stalagmites and stalactites that had formed a large pillar that blocks all but the most nimble as a person would have to climb 20 feet up to cross to the other side.
Stalagmite Wall
Geothermal Cavern
Click Image to Enlarge
Elara Wynn
Appearance
Elara stands around 5'6" with a slightly wiry frame, suggesting agility over strength. Her long, raven-black hair is often hastily tied back with a green ribbon. She has piercing emerald eyes that seem to observe and analyze everything around her. Elara wears a dark green tunic and sturdy black trousers, ideal for her excursions into the wild. Her attire is often stained with various plant matter and dirt.
Acid Sac Harvest
What Does Elara Know
Elara is only interested in turning the acid for profit. She is not interested in the regenerative properties and knows that no person has yet to discover how to safely utilize it. She has no interest in raising a Chthonic Maw.
She might can be bargained with to buy a piece of the Chthonic Maw but she knows she would have to unload the creature fairly quick.
Harvesting the acid sacs intact from the Chthonic Maw is a dexterous task, and failure could result in acid damage.
Another method would be to take a portion of the Chthonic Maw and keep it until it regrows fully, then establish a method to continuously harvest the acid from the regenerative creature.
Urdrum Swarm Eggs
Basic Description
The eggs are the size of a large berry with a soft but firm shell. They glow yellow due to the bioluminescent fungi diet.
An egg will hatch about once an hour. As it cuts its way out of the shell, it will join the rest of the swarm within minutes, with its carapace hardening.
Elara Wynn
Basic Description
Elara is in her mid 30's with a wiry frame and a face that is begining to reflect a hard life of constant travel. There is no significant other and never has been. She has a goodly amount of treasure stashed at her cottage and with her knowledge and skills could easily switch to a different type of life, if she so desired. She is nearly impossible to intimidate, she deals with assassins and thieves, though she keeps a business-like demeanor and can easily walk away from a deal as she is not desperate.
Treasure
Ignis Shards
This treasure might not integrate well into your world as envisioned here, but the idea is the crystals act like a battery to store energy in general and can store magical energy.
For the purposes of this adventure they have been imbued with minor slow mind and physical healing properties.
The energy is meant to be limited and exhaustible but restorable. The size of the crystal is important to the amount of storable energy.
Deeper research is definetely required to fully understand the full powers of the Ignis Shards.
Felicity Vorn
Skills
Field Researcher: Skilled in gathering and analyzing magical flora and fauna. Mage-in-training: Felicity has a deep understanding of magical theory but is still mastering practical spells. She much prefers constructive or helpful spells as opposed to destructive or harmful ones.
Though the forest entity is not sentient nor agressive it operates mainly as an enviromental response platform for the whole of the forest.
Basic Description
Forest Carpet
The forest carpet is the thick sponge layer that is made up of decaying mushrooms, the mycelium forest "root" network that supports a host of bacteria, insects, other microbes and allows the Fungi Forest to operate as a single entity.
Spores
Limited Area of Affect
Most spore activity will generally be limited to the area directly around the Fungi Forest where the geysers are located.
This is mainly due to the heavy moisture and cooling at the forest edge that keeps the spores from drifting too far.
Rising Water Trap
Basic Description
GM discretion to use. Decide when it happens, how fast the water rises and what kind of damage the hot water does.
Most of the forest floor is contained within a giant elongated bowl that is 10 feet deep. This bowl, when conditions are just right, can flood with near boiling water.
GM discretion on how high the muddy water reaches within the bowl (up to 10 feet deep) before it quickly recedes through the vents and cracks.
Chthonic Maw
General Creature Stats
Attacks:
Size:
2-3 (Bite, Acid Spray, Sticky Tail Lash)
Enormous (20 feet Long, 2 feet diameter
Movement:
Attack Methods:
Physical (Piercing Bite, Blunt Tail) Acid
Surface (average), Burrowing (fast)
Primary Attributes:
Defense Methods:
Heat Resistant, Regeneration,
Strength, Constitution
Special Abilities:
Armor Equivalent:
Regeneration, Acid, Burrowing, Tremor Sense, Sticky Secretions
Natural metal armor
The Miner Discovery
Gold and Death
The miners discovered a rich vein of gold and had yet to inform the villagers of Greenstone before the attack.
Jorrik thinks anyone, certainly outsiders, are going to steal the villagers gold. Traumatized Jorrik is convinced all 10 miners, who were family and friends, are all dead from the viscious attack he survived.
Location of Mine
Basic Directions
The mine is located approximately 10 miles east of Greenstone. A half-day hike up into the hills.
Multiple people, including Jorrik, city elders etc., can tell the adventures how to get there.
Specialized Knowledge: Only Jorrik can warn the party to stick strictly to the north bank of the Tepler stream and not to wander through the wilderness. He can also warn about the daily flooding of the Tepler stream and Tepler gully.
Tepler stream can be found about a mile outside of Greenstone.
Tremors
Basic Description
Are the tremors still occurring? It's a great way to shake the adventurers up with unsteady ground, falling debris, and sudden changes in the geysers or hot water cycles.
What is causing the tremor? Is it the earthquakes, is it geysers increasing pressure, or is the Chthonic Maw tunneling nearby?
Put a Time Clock on the Adventurers - During the adventure have the frequency and duration of the tremors continue to increase, maybe accelerating to a really big cave collapsing earthquake.
Most subterranean species, Dwarves, etc., after experiencing one of these types of tremors, can better identify it during the next identical occurrence.
Paralysis Poison Sac Harvest
Basic Description
Harvesting a Urdrum poison sac is difficult and can only be performed on an individual that has not bitten a character and expelled the poison.
Each individual Urdrum posesses 1 tiny paralysis poison sac situated towards the front of it's mouth between the mandibles.
The sac will trigger with a successful bite injecting poison into the flesh of the bitten creature.
The sac can inject poison 1 time only.
2 Ways
2 Basic Ways to Reach Chthonic Maw Lair and Hive Nexus
1. Use the tiny, dangerous Chthonic Maw Tunnels.
2. Cross the Fungi Forest
2 Basic Ways to Cross the Fungi Forest Without Coming into Contact with the Fungi
1. Fly through the air gap over the forest canopy.
4A
2. Crawl through the Hidden Path tunnel.
Players will no doubt generate many creative ways to accomplish this task. This represents the basic, obvious paths.
The rats, in particular, love to climb on the geyers and chew at the soft mineral deposits to supply their bodies with needed nutrients. This action will sometimes create side vents where jets of steam will spray horizontally instead of vertically.
Basic Description
Geysers
There are only a few active geyers in the forest basin. They form over cracks in the cavern floor where steam and hot water are forced up from water filled chambers below. Far below that are magma chambers that heat rock and water.
Mud Pit
Basic Description
All the mud pits in these caverns oscillate between a thick and thin slurry, depending on the variable amounts of water that condenses out of the air, drips from the ceiling or walls, then drains out of the porous rock.
The mud temperature is warm just like the air.
Felicity Vorn
Appearance
Felicity is petite, with wavy chestnut hair that curls around her shoulders. Her soft features are often lit up with a smile, though a hint of worry lingers in her hazel eyes. She wears practical, comfortable clothing suitable for fieldwork, often in earthy tones. A leather satchel filled with research notes hangs at her side.
Acid Sacs
Basic Description
The Chthonic Maw posesses 2 large acid sacs situated towards the rear of it's mouth.
Both sacs will trigger simultaneously with a successful bite spraying acid onto the flesh of the bitten creature.
The sacs can emit acid 5 times before empty.
The Chthonic Maw is resistant to it's own acid.
Ignis Shard
What Does Felicity Know?
Felicity is in the area gathering geographical data related to the Ignis Shard. Particularly rock formations.
In conversation she will voluntarily talk about why they are here and if the adventurers find any information about the Ignis Shard in the caves the institution would reward them.
She knows the Ignis Shard can be 6 inches to 2 feet long, glows purple, is comfortably warm, durable crystal, but the energy contained can be unstable and released if the crystal is broken. It is thought to act as a device capable of storing or releasing magical energy and that the natural energy contained is thought to soothe the psyche and heal the body.
Use caution when digging the shards out of the ground not to break them with tools or to smash them.
Felicity and her wards will not venture into the caves.
2 Ways
2 Basic Ways to Reach Chthonic Maw Lair and Hive Nexus
1. Use the tiny, dangerous Chthonic Maw Tunnels.
2. Cross the Fungi Forest
2 Basic Ways to Cross the Fungi Forest Without Coming into Contact with the Fungi
1. Fly through the air gap over the forest canopy.
4A
2. Crawl through the Hidden Path tunnel.
Players will no doubt generate many creative ways to accomplish this task. This represents the basic, obvious paths.
Elara Wynn
Motivations
Elara aims to create a comprehensive compendium of rare specimens, and her chosen path has allowed her to begin to accomplish this personal goal.
She has developed an unrivaled knowledge focused on dangerous flora and fauna, with her artistic skills, stashed wealth and connections she could actually stop wandering and pursue her project.
The past few months she has found herself thinking often about how she treats people and the creatures she harvests.
Urdrum Swarm Eggs
Basic Description
The eggs are the size of a large berry with a soft but firm shell. They glow yellow due to the bioluminescent fungi diet.
An egg will hatch about once an hour. As it cuts its way out of the shell, it will join the rest of the swarm within minutes, with its carapace hardening.
Felicity Vorn
Weapons/Equipment
Felicity carries no weapon. If she uses spells they will be low level or cantrip-like in nature and will tend to be distractful in nature instead of harmful. She carries blank parchments and writing supplies plus any books that relate to whatever task she has been assigned.