G75 Challenge: Week Four of Zorn

 Week Four is a major town for the party to exist outside of the dungeon, with plenty of places to explore and people to talk to.

Week Three  Week Two  Week One  Zorn Hub Post

Districts

1. Ravenhill: The largest district of the city, comprising almost entirely of residential houses and community services.

2. Blackwoode Fortress: This district is composed only of Lord Theodore Blackwoode’s castle and the dwellings of its support staff. It also houses The Luminous Soul. The true heart of the city and first area built.

3. Oxford: this district is made up of academic buildings, as the Lord of the city is quite generous to the city’s educated folk. Many of these places have strange research laboratories doing obscure or nonsensical work in an effort to understand Zorn.

4. The Harbour: This district contains all the cities warehouses, logistics, and support, used to bring in supplies from the outside world, as well as maintain the city and ships that keep everything running smoothly.

5. Stagpass Gate: This district holds almost all of the city’s commercial business. Despite being the most recently built, it is also the most developed of the city. 

Places

a. Weatherby’s Fine Armaments: This shop, owned by Peter Weatherby, supplies most of the city with weaponry. The shop handles everything from generic orders to custom fabrication to repair. Wares tend to be a bit expensive here though.

b. The Royal Ironworks: This is the only place in the city where melted is worked. Managed by a British knight, this place is well known for buying old metal to reuse, as well as selling armor and forging services.

c. The Iron Lobster: This is the finest restaurant in all of Port Blackwoode. Their main specialty is the lobster from just off the coast, delicious but covered in a shell as strong as iron. They might also be willing to buy or appraise interesting ingredients if brought to them fresh.

d. John’s General Shop: This is one of the many general stores within Stagpass. Many adventurers widely believe John’s to be the most reputable source for adventuring gear. His wares may be pricey but many adventurers have learned the hard way that buying cheap rope may be the final nail in their coffin.

e. Where the Wild Things Are: Few will find a shop as strange as this one, even within Zorn. Run by a man named Maurice, this store contains plenty of “domesticated” animals and supplies to keep them fed and “safe”. The most popular of which is a species of large and vicious dog-like creatures called ashmongrels for their furless and ashy hide.

f. The Stump and Board: This plaza has a large stump in the very center, right in front of the Lord’s mansion gate, a large notice board is posted right on the fortress walls beside it. This place is used both for large public gatherings and announcements, as well as a common meetup spot for adventurers and other residents of the city.

g. O.R.C. Headquarters: This is the main building for a very secretive and exclusive scholarly group known as the O.R.C., the Occult Research Coalition. Their public goal is to study the strange magicks and other effects on Zorn, but many claim that there is a more sinister side to their research.

h. Adventurers’ Guild: This building is where the main body of Zorn’s independent adventuring guild is located. Here, adventurers gather to buy, sell, and trade information, equipment, and other services. Signing up for the guild is costly but useful, and in some cases, necessary as guild jobs are one of the surest ways a budding adventurer is going to make any kind of money without getting very lucky.

i. Ackermath Keep: This keep was built to house and feed British soldiers in case the city came under attack. Now that the adventurers guild is providing most of the active protection of the city, the soldiers themselves are making use of their free time about the city. The military power that this keep is in charge of is enough to threaten Lord Blackwoode, and relations between him and foreign powers are tense.

j. The Bunks: This area comprises a series of small, cramped bunkhouses with a small kitchen available for those eating on a budget. Sleep and rations are cheap but horrible here. The Adventurers’ Guild will pay for food and lodging for any adventurers who need it.

k. The Twilight Bazaar: An open secret among the residents of Ravenhill, this large building is abandoned most of the time, but once a week for a couple hours near twilight, this building bustles with merchants peddling all sorts of goods. These goods range from everything from the mundane to the magical, the legal to the illicit, and everything in between.

l. The Church of the Meek: the largest church of the town. This small church preaches about the dangers of Zorn and how we should all refrain from agitating it. They speak of how unnatural and otherworldly it is and how it will kill us all if we do not treat it with the respect and caution that it demands. Most of its followers are former adventurers, broken from past journeys in. Many people find the sentiment of them to be crazy and ridiculous, but the church is popular nonetheless as they have been known to provide charity to adventurers, particularly the injured and poor.

m. The Luminous Soul: a giant spire of glowing crystal that stretches deep into the sky. This is why Lord Blackwoode settled here. It is common knowledge that it protects the city and its inhabitants, though only Lord Blackwoode knows exactly how and why. Dark rumors occasionally circulate that the crystal has a much more sinister purpose and intention but these rumors are almost always laughed off as foolish and wrong.

People

NPCs

Lord Theodore Blackwoode, (Leader of Port Blackwoode):

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: Self-appointed adoptive parent of everyone who lives in Port Blackwoode, especially adventurers.
• Needs: To expand and protect Port Blackwoode, though his current worry is being forced into military service with one of the allied powers occupying the port.
• Agenda: (Secret) Lord Theo Blackwoode uses The Luminous Soul in order to psychically drain energy from those dwelling within the city in order to slow his aging and grant him unnatural powers. He intentionally avoids draining adventurers and tries to avoid draining anyone of too much energy, but the stone is slowly corroding his will and his greed for power will eventually cause him to doom the port if no one stops him.

Lt. Col. Gwenevere Teale, (Leader of British Military Occupation in Port Blackwoode):

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: Harsh but caring. (Secret) Very suspicious of Lord Blackwoode but only shares these beliefs with those she trusts.
• Needs: More support and clout within her own organization.
• Agenda: She believes that Zorn is a hellhole that she was sent to for pissing off the wrong superior. She hates how many lives will likely be thrown away in the pursuit of whatever unnatural things lurk here. Ideally, she gains enough support that she can force a full military retreat from Zorn.

Petre Serghei, (Leader of Adventuring Guild):

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: Endlessly greedy. (Secret) will do anything for a quick buck including ratting people out, petty thievery, and blackmail.
• Needs: Money and power.
• Agenda: (Secret) Has accrued a massive gambling debt back home and if he ever stops sending money, they will kill his sister.

Sofia Dinara, (ORC researcher searching for resources to help Angolan Independence):

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: Highly intelligent and coarse. (Secret) Also selfless and caring to a fault.
• Needs: Something immensely powerful or valuable, knowledge or otherwise.
• Agenda: Hoping to either gain something immensely powerful or to trade something to a foreign power in exchange for help freeing her country from colonialist powers.

Rhys Zdislav, (Runs the Twilight Bazaar):

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: Highly cunning, will play all sides. (Secret) Can smuggle artifacts in and out, bypassing any taxes.
• Needs: As many luxuries as possible. Is currently taking advantage of the situation in Zorn to its fullest.
• Agenda: To live as comfortably as possible with as little danger as possible. (Secret) Is taking a kickback from a foreign mob to keep an eye on Petre in case he stops paying his debts.

Hirelings

Uthyr Avrum:

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: An average-looking man of Welsh descent. Looking to make a quick buck and retire.
• Needs: A promise of a fair cut.
• Assets: Heavy Axe, Thick clothing, Level 0

Elisabeth Roger (Female):

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: An average-looking bookish woman who has just arrived on Zorn. Desperate and in need of money and help.
• Needs: A promise of a fair cut.
• Assets: Bag of books, Sharp pen, Level 0

Amadi Chetan:

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: A large burly man of African descent. Wears ragged military fatigues of indeterminate origin. Quiet. Hungry.
• Needs: Good food and money for provisions. 
• Assets: Rifle, 6 Bullets, Medium Armor, Soldier 1

Séphora Ivah:

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: Tall female french exile. She's always in need of money and willing to do nearly anything to get a hold of it. Exceptionally greedy. (Secret) former nobility.
• Needs: Upfront payment of whatever the party looks like they can afford, plus a fair cut of whatever they uncover.
• Assets: Small Intricate Dagger, Light Armor, Criminal 1

Toma Roland:

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: An average-looking man of European descent. Always clean looking and carries a bible. Believes Zorn to be a blight on God. 
• Needs: In lieu of payment, desires to destroy every unnatural item and being that the party comes across.
• Assets: Bible, +1 Staff, Priest 2

Eva Sorina:

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: A small, thin, Romanian woman. Nondescript, good at blending in and hiding. Loves books and magic.
• Needs: Wants to examine all found magic items and first pick of their distribution as well as enough payment for provisions such as bullets.
• Assets: Handgun, 6 Bullets, Arcanist 1, Adventurer 1, 1d4 random magical trinkets

Akira Taiki:

• Distinguishing Traits or Features: A large Japanese man covered in scars. Believes strongly in the power of delicious food. Gruff.
• Needs: Wants payment in the form of rare ingredients. At least one HD meal out of every kill made while he's employed, possibly more.
• Assets: +1 Cursed Cleaver, Hunter 1, Chef 1, Light Armor

G75 Challenge: Week Three of Zorn

 Week three was definitely one of the first major hurdles for me finishing this challenge, requiring an entire dungeon's worth of work. Anyways, here's what I got.

Week Four  Week Two  Week One  Zorn Hub Post

The Lost Temple of Azumen

Entrance: A trapdoor hidden in an old ransacked ruin.

Rooms (Exits) by level: 11 (4), 7 (4), 8 (3)

Themes (Budget): Nazi Tombraiders (4), Traps (4), Twisted Magic (5)

Monsters: 

1. Two Nazi Soldiers guard the entrance 
2. The first room inside features two more Nazi Soldiers ransacking the place and a Nazi Officer leading them 
3. A Nazi Soldier being controlled by a Brainmaggot wanders room three 
4. One Brainstirge is lying in wait on the ceiling of room four 
5. Two more Brainmaggot-Infested Soldiers with broken legs pathetically crawl around in room 7 
6. A nest of 1d4+2 Brainstirges lay in the ceiling of room 8. 
7. 1d4 Faceless Acolytes are doing strange rituals in room 12. 
8. 1d4 Faceless Sacrifices limply exist in room 12.2. 
9. 1d8 Faceless Hunters are caged up in room 12.3. 
10. A Faceless Abomination (as gibbering mouther) is trapped in room 12.6 by a barred door and many strange magical seals on the door and walls. 
11. A Faceless Priest blankly stares from his stone throne in room 13.

Features (5): 

1. A hidden trapdoor covers most of the center of room 4, dropping anyone who passes over it 20’ down into room 7 before automatically resetting itself. 
2. The door from room 8 to room 9 is held open by a small rock, if this rock is removed and the door is allowed to close the heavy stone door will be unable to open (from room 9).
3.  Room 9 is covered in perpetually swinging axes every 5 feet, a rotting skeleton lays against the western wall of room, missing an arm and leg. 
4. The southern wall of room 10 has a waterfall with a less than hidden alcove behind it, this alcove contains a metallic silvery sculpture that will react in a large explosion the second it comes into contact with water. 
5. The door to the staircase in room 11 is blocked by a barred stone door, when the bar is lifted, a large hammer (inset in the ceiling) will swing from the right and possibly crush the openers against the western wall.

Wondrous Items (3): 

1. Staff of Blood Magic held by the Faceless Priest in room 13 
2. Peerless Scalpel laying around in room 12.2 
3. Bag of runestones in the corner of room 12

Basic layout mapped in Paint.Net. T's indicate treasure... I honestly have no clue what I was indicating with the E's. Blue lines are ways up and down between floors, red are secret doors/pathways, and black are regular ones.

Rooms:

Unless otherwise noted, all rooms are dark.

P.S. I have no clue what horrible demon possessed me when I numbered these rooms but I'm not really in the mood to remake the map and renumber all the writing to fix it at this current stage.

        1. A dark and dusty entrance hall, old stonework makes up the walls while the floor is rough unpolished stone large open crates are scattered around the room. Two Nazi Soldiers are running around, looting various icons and statuettes off of their small, unadorned, pedestals. A Nazi Officer stands in the middle barking orders at them. To the northern wall, a section of it appears to have been pried open, revealing a room behind it. This room is lit by some torches on the wall that the soldiers have presumably lit.

        1.5. This hidden room behind the pried open wall reveals three empty chests, presumably looted by the nazi soldiers in the first room.

  2. This room seems relatively empty, a few crates lay on the dusty stone floor near the east door. Closer inspection of the dusty walls reveals that a variety of murals cover them. (Figure out what they depict later) pressing a certain part of the mural inward reveals the entrance to room 2.5. This room is also lit by torches on the walls, presumably lit by the soldiers.

2.5. The floor quickly devolves into dirt within this room, ancient mosses and mold have covered the walls, and an old well sits in the center of this room. Going down the well leads into room 9.1. Water slowly drips down from the ceiling and flows down the well.

3. This room is filled up to the ceiling in what seems to be crudely constructed crates, a small path exists between some of them (function as maze). All of the crates are filled with some kind of ancient pemmican, looking like some kind of disgusting mass of rotting flesh, it is impossible to discern what kind of meat is in there. Removing a crate from anywhere but the very top requires a luck save not to topple them all. Should they get toppled, the path inside is lost, anyone within 5 feet of the crate maze must make a dex save or take 2d6 damage, anyone inside the crate maze must make a dex save or take 4d6 damage, half on a success. After the pile has been toppled, no path exists and the party must spend 2d6 hours excavating the boxes to reach the other side or anyone trapped inside. A Nazi Soldier being controlled by a Brainmaggot wanders the crate maze. (maybe write some rules about squeezing or knocking boxes over in combat?) one deadend in the maze contains a loose crate with (Insert Treasure)

4. A large hexagonal room, a door in the center of each side, A single torch lies on the ground near the east side of the room, flickering out but still dimly lighting the room. Crossing through the center of the room causes the central trapdoor to open, dropping anyone standing on it into room 7 below, the drop is 20 feet and will deal 2d6 falling damage. Within a few minutes of entering the room, the Brainstirge lying in wait in the ceiling will swoop down and attack the nearest adventurer, after getting it’s fill, it will retreat to a small crack in the center of the ceiling where it came from.

4.1. This room is filled with old stone beds, an ancient stone desk lies in the far corner, covered in old writing, too degraded to read or understand, an ancient bottle of blood red ink sits next to the papers.

4.3. This room contains nothing but an intricately carved slab of basalt in the very center. The top is carved with a series of grooves in a similar shape to the human body. Following these grooves leads down the sides of the slabs and into small pinholes in the floor, these grooves are concealed with a very of much lighter art carvings around the slab, depicting scenes of a dragon made out of humanoid body parts (wings made out of masses of human arms, human face, etc) eating corpses. Some of the grooves and parts of the ground have faint specks of dried blood on them upon closer inspection. Plenty of various rusted metal instruments hang from the back wall, these once were finely honed blades of exotic shapes and purpose but have since rusted into uselessness.

4.5. This room opens up to a variety of small stone slabs, surrounded by rotting ancient mats and tapestries. Presumably these were once small shrines to pray at but they have long since been destroyed or removed.

4.7. A Large statue sits in the center of this room, It shows the human/dragon hybrid previously depicted in its full glory, upon closer inspection one of its eyes is glassy and wet looking, as if it might be alive. The other eye is missing. Hidden behind the very large statue is a staircase downwards leading to room #6

4.9. collapsed half room, not much of interest

6. Staircase leads to this room, the floor is a mural of a long stylized snake (think aztec), it winds around the room, starting from the staircase and leading to the opposite door in a very convoluted path. Stepping off the path triggers a poison dart trap

7. A large hexagonal room, the exact dimensions as the one above but with only two doors and a large hole in the ceiling (if the trapdoor trap in room #4 was triggered), much of the ceiling has degraded and much of it is covered in mold. On the floor, Two Brainmaggot-Infested Soldiers with broken legs pathetically crawl around and will attempt to kill the adventurers. 

8.  This room is full of old stone desks, some splattered with dried crimson. A large section of the northeast corner ceiling has cracked and a nest of 1d4+2 Brainstirges has settled there, they will quickly attack any adventurers who enter the room. The western door is held open by a small stone. If the stone is removed or the door is allowed to close, it will instantly lock. It (like most other doors in this dungeon) is very sturdy and will take 1d4 days of repeated beating to break down, unless the party has something built for breaking stone which will cut the time it takes by 75%, or some other way of bypassing the door.

9. More strange dragon murals on the floor, the trap will only activate if the eastern door (to room 7) is fully closed (swinging axe traps).

9.1. The room appears to have once been an altar room, but age and erosion has caused it to degrade and generate its own micro ecosystem, water from the ‘well’ above has formed a small pond around the original altar, moss and vines line the walls, and strange fish swim in the water below. Inspecting the water reveals that it is quite clear and drinkable, and there are 2d20 shiny silver coins at the bottom. (Come up with fish details)

10. What was once a decadent shrine here has decayed into more natural elements. A fountain in the back has busted and formed a waterfall down the western wall, the water has formed a small stream that flows into a crack in the wall towards room 9.1. Most of the room is barren or decayed, however inspecting the waterfall reveals that there is a small alcove behind it, containing a large silvery statue. If recovered, this heavy statue is worth about 400 silver pieces, however it is not made out of silver, but sodium. If no precautions are taken and it is dragged through the waterfall, then it will explode dealing 5d6 damage to everyone within 10 feet, or half on a successful dex save. If the statue is chopped up then the straight value of the metal alone is about 100 silver as sodium, or 200 if they can convince someone that it is silver.

11. A lavish room containing a variety of tapestries surrounding yet another strange statue. This time of some kind of human/hound hybrid. It’s human skull has been elongated to support a larger nose with gaping nostrils, its legs have been cut off at the knee and then given hands so that it can run and manipulate objects on all fours. Its mouth is wide open and its teeth are jagged and haphazardly pointed as it’s jaw was obviously not meant to support the elongation of its skull. Its entire pointed face is covered in what looks like dried blood. The door to the staircase is behind the tapestry that the dog/man statue is looking at. It’s a large stone door, barred shut with a heavy stone bar. Lifting up the bar triggers a hammer trap that is inset into the ceiling (visible if the party looks up/around). Triggering it forces a dex save or take 4d6 damage as the hammer hits you and throws you into the mouth of the dog statue at high speed.

12. Large octagonal room, ritual being done in center by 1d4 Faceless Acolytes, using a variety of chalk and a very rusty bucket containing what appears to be blood.  Loud chanting can be heard echoing from room 13. If lots of noise is made here, loud groaning and pounding can be heard from room 12.6, the door to which is currently carefully sealed and blockaded.

12.1. Ritual Ingredients storage, bag of runestones in here, various chalks, bucket of gross red liquid, etc

12.2. Four basalt altar slabs are placed around this room. The entirety of the floor is stained red with blood and each altar contains a Faceless Sacrifice. These creatures can do nothing but moan and squirm and appear to just be a mass of living flesh. There is a Peerless Scalpel lying in the bottom of a bucket of flesh near the door.

12.3. This room contains 10 locked cages, 1d8 of which contain living Faceless Hunters. These are the doglike creatures shown by the statue in room 11. They are mindlessly violent and will attempt to kill anything nearby if let loose. They make strange gurgling noises.

12.4. This Room is empty save for a very large vat inset into the floor. The stench is horrendous and the vat seems to be filled with some kind of flesh slurry. Any character that jumps in, screams in pain as they take 1d20 damage per turn. If they die, they awaken in 1d4 days as a Faceless Monstrosity. If they survive and manage to climb out, gain a level in the Abomination Class.

12.5. This Room is mostly barren, however most of the floor has given way and collapsed into a large pit. You cannot see the bottom, and dropping something into it will yield no sound. Treat this as a bottomless pit.

12.6. This room is blockaded against for good reason. The room is splattered with fresh blood, leaking out of a Faceless Monstrosity, a pile of living flesh, dangerous and insane. If it is killed and the room searched; a staff of blood magic can be found within the corpse of the monster.

13.  This room contains nothing but a very large stone throne in the very center. Sitting in the throne is a Faceless Priest, he is chanting very loudly and staring blankly forward. Approaching within 15ft of him causes him to attack. He is wearing the Eye of Azumen.

There are definitely gaps in some of the information here, but I figure I'll slowly refine that after I get everything down. So far, it is a usable-ish dungeon

Zorn: G75 Beastiary

 In my recent G75 post, I created a random encounter table and I have yet to describe some of the creatures available on it. That's what this post is for.

Ashmongrels

Hellhound - Alex Kuhn, 2021

Ashmongrels are furless doglike creatures with an ashy textured hide. They are brutal and savage creatures that hunt in packs, primarily at night. There is one strange quirk about them however; a few people have discovered a way to "tame" them. The process on how to do so is a closely guarded secret by those who do, but at least one of these people sell tamed Ashmongrels to the public of Zorn.

Tame is a relative term, though. A "tamed" Ashmongrel has a series of rules to follow, lest the taming be broken and the savage beast within is unleashed. The rules are as follows:

1. No feeding between the hours of Midnight and Dusk. The number of adventurers killed because their Ashmongrel stole a bit of jerky in the middle of the night is staggering.
2. Do not congregate large amounts of Ashmongrels in one place for too long. When in doubt, if three or more Ashmongrels congregate near a tamed one (whether they are tame or not), roll a d20 every 5 minutes, with a result of less than the total amount of Ashmongrels present breaking the taming.
3. Do not let an Ashmongrel taste human flesh. This may not break taming, but it has been known to cause tamed Ashmongrels to attack humans unprompted, usually when no one is looking, but sometimes when it's least expected or most likely to cause problems.

In general, tamed Ashmongrels are great for a party looking for a cheapish creature to help fill out their combat ability. Typically speaking, a tame ashmongrel will sell for about 50 SP in the cities.

Wild Ashmongrels prefer to hunt at night, though day hunting is not entirely uncommon either. They tend to sleep in small dens, dug deep in the dirt. Like cats, they can crawl through nearly any hole they can fit their head through, and they make use of this to keep their dens protected from larger creatures. Wild Ashmongrels are known for their stalking abilities and a party being chased by a pack at night will need to be particularly cautious as they will keep following until you either let your guard down, kill them, or become entirely unavailable to them.

Ashmongrel

Basic Stats:

# Encountered: 1d8 (2d6 at night)

HD: 1 

HP: 6

Defense: 6

Speed: 6

Attack Bonus: 2 (See Night Stalkers trait)

Attacks: 

Bite: 1d6 Damage

Special Traits:

Night Stalkers: At night, gain +1 Damage and Attack Bonus for every other Ashmongrel adjacent to the target of the attack

Cooking Information:

The flesh of Ashmongrels is tough, dry, and generally unpleasant. It requires no special preparation. Eating a rations worth of Ashmongrel flesh in any form triggers a roll on the following mutation table (1d10).

1. Ashhide. Your skin grows drier and ashier. If this happens ten times, lose 1d6 con as your skin becomes unbearably dry and thin, flaking off at the slightest provocation.
2. Really Rancid. Take 1d8 damage.
3. Rancid. Take 2 damage.
4. Rancid. Take 2 damage.
5. Rancid. Take 2 damage.
6. Particularly Nourishing! Fills your belly for an extra day.
7. Particularly Nourishing! Fills your belly for an extra day.
8. Particularly Nourishing! Fills your belly for an extra day.
9. Ashclaws. Your fingernails grow sharper and longer. If this happens five times, nails are long and sharp enough to do 1d6 damage as claws.
10. Eyes of the Hound. Your eyes begin to glow orange and darken the edges of your eyesockets. Gain perfect sight in darkness within 30'

Burrowing Wurms

Boreworm Swarm - PF2e

Burrowing Wurms are small, thin, slender worm-like creatures that attempt to burrow under the skin of passerby and slowly eat the life out of them as a parasite. They are usually about 6 inches long and 2 inches wide, but particularly successful ones can grow to be up to 12 inches long.

Their favorite entrance is through the mouth or rectum of a sleeping victim, but when cornered they have been known to violently create their own entrance with their razor-sharp mouth. Their sharp teeth and highly acidic saliva mean that they can burrow through nearly anything, and when they are not in a host, they usually burrow deep into the surrounding terrain and subsist upon small woodland creatures until they can find larger prey.

Being the host of a burrowing worm is a truly horrific experience. Their large size means that they press on the victim's organs as they move throughout the body, and that's before the pain of them actually tearing through your flesh. Most hosts are dead within hours from the excruciating pain or simple organ loss. Drinking highly basic compounds has been rumored to expel such a creature, but the level of base needed is likely toxic to the drinker as well.

They prefer warm, damp locations and despise fire. They tend to gather into swarms when hunting seriously.

Burrowing Wurm

Basic Stats:

# Encountered: 2d6

HD: 1 

HP: 3

Defense: 8

Speed: 4

Attack Bonus: 2

Attacks: 

Bite: 1d4 Damage

Rupture Organs: 1d8 (See Horrific Parasite trait)

Special Traits:

Horrific Parasite: After this creature successfully bites another, this creature can spend its next action entering the bitten creature. After which it can spend its actions using the Rupture Organ attack, which does not require an attack roll. This can be prevented if a creature can spend an action removing the Wurm before it enters. After it enters, the Wurm can be expelled by; drinking basic compounds (such as bleach), surgery, magic, or by killing the Wurm. Attempting to hit the Wurm while it is inside you grants the attack disadvantage, and always does an equal amount of damage to yourself.

Cooking Information:

The flesh of Burrowing Wurms is highly acidic, if such precautions are not taken to lower the acidity, then eating the flesh causes 1d6 Damage from the acid. The following mutation table is only to be rolled on if the acid is not diminished (2d6-1). Flesh, where the acid has been diminished, is considered a delicacy among Zorn residents as it takes on a very soft spongey texture with a slightly sweet taste, although it still looks disgusting.

1.  Live Egg Sac. As you finish your meal, you feel a wriggling in your gut as many Burrowing Wurms hatch inside you. 1d6 of them to be exact, and they are hungry.
2.  Poisonous Meat. Take 1 permanent Con damage as you feel weakened from the meal.
3.  Highly Acidic. Take 1d4 Damage as the acid burns your innards.
4.  Highly Acidic. Take 1d4 Damage as the acid burns your innards.
5.  Highly Acidic. Take 1d4 Damage as the acid burns your innards.
6.  Highly Acidic. Take 1d4 Damage as the acid burns your innards.
7.  Hairless. Lose all the hair on at least one part of your body, that part becomes slightly longer, strangely meaty, and worm-like.
8.  Extra Saliva. You now generate about twice as much saliva as you did.
9.  Bulbous Flesh. A small growth appears on a random part of your body, similar to a tumor...
10.  Strong Jaws. Your jaws gain a large amount of strength, -2 on checks and attacks related to biting things.
11.  Acidic Saliva. Your throat builds up a layer of acidic saliva, horribly burning and scarring it, lose the ability to speak but you can now melt things weaker than iron with your saliva. Organic material melts almost immediately while metals and minerals take time.

Metallisk

Dragon - Kostiuk Petro

Metallisks are strange creatures. They resemble the dragons of old world myth but are longer and lankier, their "wings" are closer to vestigial nubs that can double as claws, and their scaly skin is as hard as metal.

The reason for their strong skin is the saliva that they produce. Metallisk saliva is molten hot and contains metal that they then lick across their scales with, producing a metallic coat. This requires quite a lot of metal and in order to facilitate this, a metallisk eats nearly as much metal as it does flesh. Metallisk coats vary quite a lot as it is made out of the metal that a metallisk devours. Rumours even speak of lost cities guarded by golden metallisks who feasted on lost treasure.

Due to the intense heat of the molten saliva, the metallisk's bite and spit are highly dangerous. This is especially true because metallisks have been known to spray their molten saliva in response to danger.

Metallisks are highly territorial creatures, anything caught trespassing will be cruelly hunted down and eaten. The only time one will cross a wandering metallisk will be in the case of a starving one, something most adventurers could never survive.

Hunting metallisks are usually relatively carefree and sadistic, preferring to play with their food rather than quickly killing it, particularly clever adventurers may survive this if they can make a timely retreat. Threatened, cornered, or starving metallisks are much more dangerous however, making sure to kill or maim as much as they physically can in as little time as possible.

Metallisks prefer life in solitary ruins that contain a large supply of metal and treasure.

Metallisk

Basic Stats:

# Encountered: 1

HD: 10

HP: 75

Defense: 4

Speed: 3

Attack Bonus: 5

Attacks: 

Bite: 1d4 + Spit Damage

2x Claw: 1d8 each

Molten Spit Cone: 3d8 in a 15' cone, usable once a day

Special Traits:

Cooking Information:

Metallisk flesh is tough and gamey but has a deeper flavor that can be greatly enjoyed by Zorn residents. The flesh itself is not dangerous but has been known to contain chunks of scale and metal that can be choked on if not careful. 

Special Preparation: Boiling an entire metallisk in its own saliva for an entire day can produce a stew that can bring out the mutagenic properties of the flesh. The rest of the stew is absolutely delicious but whoever eats the heart of the metallisk from such a stew, rolls on the following table (1d4).

1. Scaly Armor. Your unarmored AC is now lowered by 2 as your flesh scales over.
2. Vestigial Wings. Gain two fleshless wings on your back that you can control as claws (1d8 damage). Any armor you wear must be custom-produced. Control all your Vestigial Wings as one action.
3. Molten Spit. Your saliva is molten hot, You can melt metal with your mouth. You lack the physical ability to spit a cone of it though.
4. Clawed Visage. Your feet and hands morph into something resembling a meaty version of a reptile's claws. Gain -3 bonus to climbing.

Parrot Mantis

Fairy - Kostiuk Petro

Parrot mantises are strange creatures. They are small mantis-like creatures that resemble twisted versions of old-world fae. Their name comes from the fact that they can seemingly speak human languages.

Cursory research shows that, also like parrots, they do not understand a word of what they speak. Typically this "voice" is used to signal distress. When threatened it will attempt to distract its oppressor through loud yelling, screaming, or pleading. This sometimes has the intended side effect of calling in confused adventurers.

In addition, the parrot mantis has a few unique abilities that some would only describe as "magic". First off, adventurers gathering near it have reported strange hallucinations. These hallucinations range from everything from the stuff of nightmares to mundane objects to heavenly decorations and everything in between. The hallucinations seem at least loosely tied to its mood. Also, it emits a very pleasant smell that seems to nullify any hostile feelings one may have towards it until the scent is removed.

When not threatened, the parrot mantis has been known to enjoy tricking any manner of creatures it comes across, beast and human alike.

All being told, the parrot mantis is one of the few creatures that will not immediately threaten the life of the adventurers that stumble across one. For this reason (and a few others), many have offered large sums of gold for possession of a captured and tamed one, none have succeeded yet.

Parrot Mantis

Basic Stats:

# Encountered: 1

HD: 1

HP: 1

Defense: 2

Speed: 10

Attack Bonus: 0

Attacks: 

Bite: 1d4

Special Traits:

Mimic Noise: The parrot mantis can mimic any noise, it prefers voices and will use them for deception liberally

Create Hallucination: The parrot mantis passively creates shared hallucinations within 50' of it. These hallucinations are loosely controlled by it and its mood. The mantis can stop them if it wishes to hide.

Mantis Pheremones: Anyone within 25' of the parrot mantis must make a con save every round or lose the ability to even contemplate acting against the will of the mantis. Attempting to attack the mantis directly will force another save against this effect.

Cooking Information:

Parrot mantises are crunchy. In a blind taste test, one might describe them as tasting like a "leafy cracker". There isn't a whole lot to enjoy, but there isn't a whole lot to dislike either. Some claim that they taste better fried, but very few of these have ever been killed so none can back up that claim. 

Special Preparation: Swallowing a parrot mantis alive and whole will cast a random spell centered on yourself and then force a roll on the following table (1d6).

1.  Part of your body permanently turns invisible, this does not include equipment.
2.  Gain an additional ten types of photoreceptor cells, like the famed Mantis
3.  You begin passively generating strange hallucinations based on your mood within 5' of you. Suffer from horrible nightmares.
4.  You smell very nice, -2 bonus to social checks that would be improved by this.
5.  Gain the ability to mimic any noise with your mouth.
6.  Gain 1 MD permanently, cannot benefit from this a second time, lose 1d6 Wisdom or Charisma

Carnis Dreţe

Every once in a while, in a moment of immense bloodshed. A sapling is created. This is the Carnis Dreţe.

At first, it will be small and weak, but if the bloodshed does not cease, it will continue to grow and grow. 

Soon it will kill on its own, It will seek to end as much life as it physically can.

Eventually, when its neverending hunger ends, it will bloom a beautiful flower.

It is said that eating this flower grants immortality and god-like power.

But usually, it dies as a sapling.

Carnis Dreţe

As a sapling, any damage dealt to anything living is multiplied by 2 when within 15 feet of it.

As a small tree, the damage multiplier is 3x within 30 feet of it.

As a grown tree, the damage multiplier is 5x within 120 feet.

As an elder tree, the damage multiplier is 10x within 240 feet, and the flower grows,'

Every step after the small tree phase gives the tree 10 tendrils that can independently attack for 1d8 damage each (before multipliers). It will refrain from attacking anyone who conciously feeds it.

The sapling requires 10-25 kills to hatch from whatever mysterious machinations spawned it.

Each phase after requires 10x the amount of kills to feed it.

If it does not meet the kills required to grow within (5 x the damage multiplier of the next phase) days, then it immediately dies, blighting the surrounding area.

Cooking Information:

The carnis dreţe is a deadly meal that few ever have the chance to eat, let alone survive. Eating the flesh of the plant itself will immediately kill you from it's toxicity. You will feel your blood boil until the flesh surrounding it begins to bubble and peel off. Your bones will develop minute cracks until the painful seizures caused by its poison causes you to shatter them through your disintegrating flesh. You will die a horrible and painful death. No preparation will change this.

Eating the flower, however, is a very different story. Immediately, you will gain the powers of a 4th level sorcerer, this is separate from whatever class templates you may already have. Then roll a d4, if you roll a 3 or lower, you immediately lose your mind, go insane, and mutate into a beautiful but horrifying outsider, Carnis Magi.

Outsiders

Demon - Kostiuk Petro

Outsiders are the strange, unknowable, and incomprehensible denizens of Zorn. Nearly every single Outsider is uniquely strange, but there are a few similarities between them. 

To start, most of them are humanoid in shape, many contain strange shapes, appendages, and alterations, but usually, there appears to be some strange familiarity to their frame. In addition, nearly all of them have some form of sapience and intelligence, very few communication attempts render anything results outside unbridled violence or horrifying magick, but many have been seen acting outside of pure instinct. Finally, they all contain bizarre abilities that seemingly defy logic and physics as the greater world knows it.

There are many theories to what Outsiders are and where they come from. Some say that they are the true natives of Zorn, some claim that they are demons from some greater plane like Hell, and others fear that they are past adventurers claimed by greed and death. In truth, all of these theories are correct, though some more than others. There are a variety of ways that an Outsider is formed and none of them are pleasant.

If a PC becomes an Outsider through any means, they are put under DM control unless some very special interactions come into play somewhere.

Outsiders are deadly.

Orc - Kostiuk Petro

Ogre - Kostiuk Petro

A Note on Humanity

Humans are weak. In general, you should build human enemies as player characters. You can afford to skimp fine details like classes, but things lie HP and HD should stay within the human range (A good rule of thumb is 8-16). Truly heroic enemies or allies may appear as "peak" humanity or mutated variants that can slightly surpass this limit, but humans should never be the scariest things your players see.

G75 Challenge: Week Twoish of Zorn

 Thanks to a blog post by DIY&Dragons, I was reminded that I actually started this project. It's been, well nearly a year, I think? In reality, I actually finished it on my private Google Drive documents but I never did get around to posting the results onto here thanks to a rough year. So I'm doing that now. 

Better late than never, right?

Anyways, this week features a Hex Map and Encounter Table.

Week Four  Week Three  Week One  Zorn Hub Post

Week Two

Made With OGREMap2 (Six Mile Hexes)

Hex Locations

0313, 0414, 0413, The South Haven; the only truly safe settlement within a hundred miles, one of the main gateways into Zorn for adventurers (Southwest Coast)

0612, An old destroyed Haven; and a warning against those who think they can safely civilize Zorn. Most usable signs of civilization have been looted from this place but it’s less dangerous than most of Zorn, and a few places to make camp exist. (Middle of the Marsh)

1206, An abandoned city of unknown origin;  it's filled with strange buildings and stonework and has been mostly picked clean of all valuables, but a few secrets may remain. (Middle of the Clearing)

1311, Stracony Peaks; Local rumors state that a powerful group of cultists reside in these mountains. While it would explain some of the disappearances in that region, adventurers go missing in Zorn for an infinite number of reasons, these claims are dismissed. (Middle of the Lake)

0806, The Mountains of Hope; one of the few places actually in Zorn that is considered safe. Also one of the only places in Zorn that non-adventurers have settled. Protected by the local whitewater rivers, deep caves, and surrounding swamps, The Mountains of Hope are as safe as they get, and even then, attacks on this location are monthly at least. (Central Mountains)

Countless other ruins and small settlements may be found hidden in the deep jungles or mountains, but these are the only things obvious enough and permanent enough for a new adventurer to take note of.

Encounter Table (2d6)

2. 1 Outsider

3. 1d8 Ashmongrels

4. 1 Carnis Dreţe Sapling

5. 2d6 Soldiers

6. 3d4 Fresh Adventurers (0 Level)

7. 2d6 Burrowing Wurms

8. 1d4 Veteran Adventurers (1d4 Level)

9. Merchant Caravan (Roll 1d4 for guards: 1. Military 2. Adventurers 3. Mercenaries 4. Your Choice)

10. 1 Parrot Mantis, flip a coin (heads it is calling in distress, tails it is feeling mischievous)

11. 1d4 Soldiers covered in blood, fleeing something awful

12. 1 Metallisk

For more information on the creatures above, read here.

DM adjudication should be used to make sure every encounter is unique and fits the situation at hand, no matter how many times the same result is rolled.

Zorn: Zero Level Characters

 Zorn has always been a setting about diegetic character advancement, telling stories about the world changing your characters rather than the other way around. To better serve that purpose, I took a note from DCC and ripped the idea of a group of zero-level characters going on a deadly adventure and the survivors becoming the player party.

Here's the overarching process of this.

1. Roll for your stats as you normally would (3d6 down the line for base stats, 2d6 for fortune)
2. Derive Substats as normal, except for HP which is Con-6 for Level 0, and attack bonus, which is 0. This does mean you can start with negative HP, you don't immediately die, but you might soon,
3. Roll 1d50 on the table below for background and note the results down where applicable.
4. Pick one stat off your background's Reroll column, you can roll that stat again and take the better result
5. Write down your background's starting inventory, items denoted with (Light), (Medium), or (Heavy) are automatically considered corresponding melee weapons. Details on these weapons can be found here.
6. Note down your background's starting skill. This provides a -2 bonus to any flat attribute check that would benefit from relevant knowledge or experience.
7. Choose a character flaw. This is a small roleplaying quirk used to spice up your character and to provide interesting complications to the narrative. These are things like "Alcoholic", "Loves Exotic Food", "Anger Issues", "Overly Honest"
8. Repeat this until you have 4 functioning characters.

Once these characters survive their first adventure (or at least escape it with 50 Silver), one of the survivors can level up and become a true adventurer, the remaining survivors decide that this is not the life for them and retire, die, go insane, or otherwise leave the narrative. If a player has zero survivors, they may claim a survivor from another player or generate one zero-level character that can level up if there is enough Silver remaining to do so.

After the campaign is in full swing, dead characters should probably be replaced by level one characters rather than zero-levels, but this is a nice way to set the tone at the very beginning.

The Backgrounds listed below is a quick and dirty list, maybe I'll come back later and rewrite this one to be a bit better, but I really wanted a playable draft as soon as possible. Feel free to add suggestions, comments, or other notes in the comments below as tables like this really benefit from group brainstorming.

I've also provided a few lists of random items and weapons below for posterity's sake.

1d50 Backgrounds

#	Name	Reroll	Starting Items	Skill
1	Farmer	Con/Wis	Shovel (Medium), 3 Carrots	Agriculture
2	Hunter	Dex/Wis	Hunting Shotgun, Bear Trap	Tracking
3	Hobo	ANY	Large Stick (Heavy), 3 Crappy Rations	Survival
4	Nobility	Cha/Dex	Fine Clothes, 3 Pieces of Sharp Silverware (Light)	Courtesy
5	Housekeeper	Wis/Dex	Broom (Medium), Fine Clothes	Restraint
6	Bartender	Cha/Wis	3 Bottles of Mysterious Liquor (Light), Set of Drinking Glasses	Alcohol
7	Distiller	Con/Int	Heavy Keg of Cheap Swill (Heavy)	Brewing
8	Chef	Dex/Int	3 Sharp Knives (Light), Cutting Board	Cooking
9	Sailor	Cha/Wis	Dueling Sabre (Medium), Naval Uniform	Sailing
10	Soldier	Dex/Str	Rifle, 3 Awful Tasting MREs, Active Enlistment	Military
11	Mechanic	Wis/Int	Large Wrench (Heavy), Coveralls, Small Bottle of Oil	Jury-Rigging
12	Detective	Int/Wis	Service Handgun, Handcuffs	Investigation
13	Pilot	Dex/Int	Small Knife (Light), Parachute, Small Goggles	Aircraft
14	Ship Crewman	Str/Wis	Small Club (Medium), Hammock	Navigation
15	Ship Spotter	Wis/Dex	Small Club (Medium), Binoculars	Weather
15	Machinist	Con/Int	Wrench (Medium), Coveralls, Small Bottle of Oil	Manufacturing
16	Industrialist	Int/Cha	Sharp Pen (Light), Box of Paperwork	Capitalism
17	Nurse	Int/Con	Syringe (Light), Book on Natural Medicine	Medicine
18	Doctor	Int/Wis	Heavy Medical Book (Heavy), Doctor's Robes	Medicine
19	Dentist	Dex/Int	Pliers (Light), Hand Drill, Small Tool Bag	Surgery
20	Travelling Salesperson	Cha/Con	5 Cheap Knives (Light), Cheap Suit	Trade
21	Attorney	Int/Cha	Heavy Legal Text (Heavy), Nice Suit	Legal
22	Engineer	Int/Dex	Fancy Pen (Light), Drafting Paper	Engineering
23	Teacher	Wis/Int	5 Children's Books (Light)	Teaching
24	Banker	Wis/Int	Abacus (Medium), Large Sack, Precise Scales	Money
25	Bill Collector/Loan Shark	Str/Dex	Club (Medium), Black Book naming 3 Debtors	Scheming
26	Archeologist	Int/Con	Shovel (Medium), Fine Brush, History Book	History
27	Spy	Dex/Wis	Sharp Pen (Light), Foreign Soldier's Uniform, Fine Clothes	Espionage
28	Thief	Dex/Str	Prybar (Medium), Dark Clothes	Thievery
29	Hired Killer	Str/Dex	Handgun, Stiletto (Light), Cheap 3 Piece Suit, Note with Target's Name	Assassination
30	Cardsharp	Cha/Dex	Stiletto (Light), Deck of Cards, Small Bottle of Ink	Gambling
31	Smuggler	Wis/Cha	Prybar (Medium), Large Bag	Concealing
32	Construction Worker	Con/Str	Heavy Tool (Heavy), Sack of Tools	Construction
33	Foreman	Cha/Con	Clipboard	Oversight
34	Miner	Con/Str	Pickaxe (Heavy), Miner's Helmet with Light	Mining
35	Gardener	Dex/Con	Trowel (Light), 5 Mysterious Seeds	Gardening
36	Lumberjack	Str/Con	Axe (Medium)	Axe Demolition
37	Train Conductor	Wis/Con	Shovel (Medium), Sack of Coal	Steam Power
38	General Laborer	Con/Str	1 Random Weapon, 2 Random Items	ANY
39	Tailor	Dex/Wis	Set of 5 Large Needles (Light), Colorful Thread	Fabric
40	Barber	Dex/Cha	Barber's Razor (Light), 3 Rags	Cutting
41	Delivery worker	Dex/Con	Running Shoes, Backpack	Running
42	Telephone Operator	Cha/Int	50' Length of Copper Wire	Fast Talk
43	Mathematician	Int/Wis	Very Heavy Abacus (Heavy)	Math
44	Artist	Cha/Wis	Set of Paint and Brushes	Artistry
45	Philosopher	Wis/Int	Heavy Book on Philosophy (Heavy), Human Skull, Shiny Rock	Philosophy
46	Writer	Wis/Int	Pencil (Light), Notepad	Writing
47	Priest	Wis/Cha	Religious Text, Religious Icon, Bottle of Sacred Fluid	Religion or Occult
48	Scientist	Int/Wis	Set of Scientific Tools	Science
49	Oil Baron	Cha/Dex	Cane (Medium), Box of Fine Cigars, Fine Clothes	Money
50	Exiled	ANY	Locked Shackles (Heavy), Tattered Clothing	ANY

1d50 Random Weapons

#	Name	Type
1	Hunting Knife	Light Melee
2	Chef's Knife	Light Melee
3	Stiletto	Light Melee
4	Pencil	Light Melee
5	Metal Straw	Light Melee
6	Brick	Light Melee
7	Throwing Knife	Light Melee
8	Small Statuette	Light Melee
9	Pen	Light Melee
10	Scalpel	Light Melee
11	Icepick	Light Melee
12	Small Paperweight	Light Melee
13	Blackjack	Light Melee
14	Very Sharp Fork	Light Melee
15	Very Sharp Spoon	Light Melee
16	Golf Club	Medium Melee
17	Katana	Medium Melee
18	Cane	Medium Melee
19	Suitcase	Medium Melee
20	Axe	Medium Melee
21	Prybar	Medium Melee
22	Shovel	Medium Melee
23	Club	Medium Melee
24	Wrench	Medium Melee
25	Sabre	Medium Melee
26	Rapier	Medium Melee
27	Frying Pan	Medium Melee
28	Rebar	Medium Melee
29	Tire Iron	Medium Melee
30	Baseball Bat	Medium Melee
31	Heavy Book	Heavy Melee
32	Large Rock	Heavy Melee
33	Longsword	Heavy Melee
34	Antique Glaive	Heavy Melee
35	Sledgehammer	Heavy Melee
36	Pickaxe	Heavy Melee
37	Massive Wrench	Heavy Melee
38	Locked Shackles	Heavy Melee
39	Antique Maul	Heavy Melee
40	Long Rusty Pipe	Heavy Melee
41	Service Revolver	Handgun
42	Military Sidearm	Handgun
43	Pepperbox Pistol	Handgun
44	Homemade Pipe SMG	SMG
45	Military Issue SMG	SMG
46	Hunting Rifle	Rifle
47	Sniper Rifle	Rifle
48	Antique Musket	Rifle
49	Hunting Shotgun	Shotgun
50	Antique Blunderbuss	Shotgun

1d50 Random Items

#	Name	#	Name
1	Bottle of Oil	26	Chicken
2	Small Bottle of Ink	27	Sheep
3	Small Bottle of Blood	28	Cat
4	Pen	29	Binoculars
5	Pencil	30	Tent
6	Prybar	31	3 Flares
7	50' Rope	32	50' Thin Wire
8	50' Chain	33	3 Small Handbells
9	Pickaxe	34	10 Pitons
10	Shovel	35	Bag of Ball Bearings
11	Axe	36	Handheld Radio
12	Hammer	37	Pocket Knife
13	Wrench	38	100' Twine
14	Large Backpack	39	Small Bucket of Paint
15	Sleeping Bag	40	Canteen
16	5 Rations	41	Oil Lantern
17	50' Colorful Thread	42	Flashlight
18	Bear Trap	43	Guitar
19	Fine Clothes	44	5 D Batteries
20	Fine Furs	45	20 Bullets
21	5 Bottles of Beer	46	Fishing Pole and 15' Line
22	Parachute	47	Silver Mirror
23	Small Goggles	48	Magnifying Glass
24	Horse	49	Gallon of Gasoline
25	Pig	50	Hammock