Blog Carnival - It's Not Easy Being Green
Introduction
My addition to the RPG Blog Carnival this month is Grody Gardens, a beginner dungeon for players in the OSR style set in an overgrown hedge maze. This maze will also feature in my upcoming At the Base of Blue Mountain (although most everything beyond the layout will be different), a system agnostic setting-adventure hopefully going up somewhere by the end of August.
This adventure is mostly untested (a slapped-together compilation of previous elements I've run in other contexts) and written in the course of about 24 hours. It's rough around the edges and brand new. Might even be green, depending on how you see things :)
The Actual Adventure
What's Going on?
A long time ago, the Wizard IzyMichtus made a magical hedge maze to serve as a nice place to have visitors and other events. Eventually the garden fell into ruin and its secrets forgotten and disused. Recently (1-2 days), Olmi and Amayo, two teenagers from the nearby village of Shatermo were exploring here when Barrino (see room 2) found them, who chased them to the gazebo (see room 10).
Hook/Setup
The Village of Shatermo has in its vicinity a large abandoned hedge maze from an age long ago. Recently, as they are wont to do, teenagers have begun to sneak to the maze despite the consternation of their parents. A little mischief is normal in the village, but when Olmi and Amayo didn't come back for supper, people started to worry.
So, either due to familial relations or the promise of a high reward from Olmi's affluent parents, you've strapped on your armor, donned your weapons and set out for the maze.
The Outside of the Maze
The dimensions of the maze are roughly 300' x 180' and incredibly irregular due to the overgrown shrubbery. The garden reaches about 15' into the air. A single, snaking path on the northern edge of the maze leads deeper into the garden.
Burning the hedge in any way will cause 2d6 Topiary Vultures (As Stirges, or 1HD) to spring from the maze and beat out the fire with their leafy wings.
Inside the maze
Random Encounter Table
Roll every turn, 1-in-6 chance of an encounter here.
d6 | Result |
---|---|
1 | Barrino the Skeleton, on a routine (and mandatory) patrol of the garden |
2 | 1d6 - 1 Topiary Vultures (As Stirges, or 1HD), hopping between the hedges and searching for temporary relief from their foliage cage. If none come from this roll, 1d6 + 1 appear next turn after very loud rustling. |
3 | 2 Giant Rats, scrounging for food around here. |
4 | 1 Lost animal herder, in above their head. |
5 | Expired magic spurts from the leaves of the hedge garden; the room is covered in berry juice and grass water. Attracts Topiary Wolves. |
6 | 1d6 Topiary Wolves, trapped in themselves |
A Note on the Topiary Creatures
Imagine being taken from the formless void and given shape. A powerful hand thrust into the dark part of the well, wrapping its fingers around the soul and throwing it into a vessel. Their existence is an ink cartridge in a world of pencils. They long to roam the earth, but they are trapped in their shells and bound to the hedge. It has made them angry and unafraid to die. The only thing that deters them, if only slightly, is fire.
Dungeon Key
A map can be found here.
Unless otherwise noted, there is not enough light to see through the thick foliage of the hedge maze.
A tall statue, half moss-covered, welcoming visitors with open arms. An inscription is half covered in moss at the base of the statue. Two passageways at either end of the room head deeper into the maze.
- The Inscription: "Welcome to IzyMichtus's Grand Hedge Garden!"
A small stone platform and an old stone bench. A skeleton is sitting on the bench, head in his hands and a spear made from petrified sitting on his lap.
- Barrino the Guardsman never got relieved from his duty and the latent magic of the garden kept his soul trapped here in his skeletal form. He has figured this out and is dying (haha) for someone to come take his spot. One problem with this: Barrino can't speak. He'll make wild, aggressive gestures to sit in the chair until his bones have been crushed to dust.
A small topiary garden amidst the maze here, horrendously misshapen and overgrown. A large lumpy shrub resembling a wizard looms over everything else. A skeleton (truly dead this time) lays face-down in front of the statue.
- Buried in the hedge in front of the skeleton is a magical pair of large gardening shears (as greatsword, +4 vs. Foliage)
The walls of the Hedge Maze are overgrown here; magic tendrils of ivy whip out from the northern wall of this room and snag small, torch-sized objects from the hands of passerby. Any flames started this way trigger the same effect as stated before.
A bed of straw and 2 ancient bottles of brandy are here. It may be possible (1-in-6) to see the glint of the bottles through the hedge as players pass through the passages nearby.
An old, worn red carpet in this area and some old unlit braziers. There is rat poop and grime everywhere.
- There is a 4-in-6 chance there are 2 giant rats here sleeping.
Three 7' stone statues covered in moss. One depicts a warrior, wielding a wicked stone blade. Another depicts a king, with a simple stone crown and a tired look in his eyes. The last depicts an old man, bent over in study of a book in his lap.
- The forehead of the old man is a brighter, less worn color than the rest of the statue. Smashing it reveals a pink gemstone shaped like a brain (100gp).
The hedge maze opens up into a wide open-air passageway. A tall oak tree (not visible from the outside of the maze) reaches up into the sky here and sunlight shines into the hedge.
- Climbing the tree shows an ancient view of the region, where tall wizard towers and beautiful public works ruled the horizon. The illusion breaks into disappointing reality if someone tries to leap into this new world from the tops of the tree.
- Buried at the base of the tree (the earth here is overgrown with foliage) is a blue gemstone shaped like an acorn (100gp).
- There is a 2-in-6 chance every turn spent in here that 2 Topiary Wolves will leap from the hedge here and attack the person closest to the statues. Their absence reveals a hidden passage to Room 9.
A large fountain here, depicted as a little boy peeing into a pond. The fountain is overgrown with plants and algae.
- shimmering inside the fountain is a single coin mimic (1hp) and a handful of other coins with large bite marks in them (could be melted down and sold for 1d6x5gp). It is otherwise indistinguishable from a normal coin save for a bite-mark in the side. When left in the presence of other coins, it consumes them at a rate of 5 coins per hour.
A large, open section of the hedge maze allows a gazebo to sit here. Underneath the gazebo is a large brown forcefield containing Olmi and Amayo, a small offering bowl, and a small marble stone completely covered in moss.
- The forcefield is one way; people and objects may enter it but may not leave.
- Written on the stone is a poem:
Civilization and Serenity/ Two Halves of a whole/ The Origin of each/ Placed inside the bowl
- If the gemstones from room 7 & 8 are placed in the bowl, the forcefield suspends itself, freeing anyone stuck inside and melting the gems together.