- 4 Acolytes inhabit the hovel-like Shrine of the Sacred Plow. A barely domesticated (and thus easy to anger) Elephant works the farmlands around the temple.
- Three small burrows, surrounded by a stone circle. 34 Halflings live there, trapped inside the circle: the only person who can pass through the barrier is Sylvia, a psionic Halfling. She trades for food for her village and wants to find a way to break the spell.
- 3 Thouls, brothers, live in a small shack next to a fishing pond. They are equally eager to consume human flesh and/or serve as mercenaries. The eldest knows a lot of stories about heroes, champions, great warlords.
- A system of narrow underground tunnels criss-crosses the area: the work of the local band of 30 Pixies. They have the power to create and change these tunnels to their whim. The passages allow them to quickly disappear and pop up in a completely different place.
- 19 Driver Ants in the process of meticulously consuming a small settlement. The only thing they cannot chew is a set of magical armor in the half-eaten temple building. One of the ants behaves in a strange way – perhaps it is breaking away from the hivemind?!
- Permanent camp of 15 Berserkers, their rage triggered by the fumes emanating from a grotto in the middle of the camp. They are led by a married couple: Anadha and Ghear. Their herd of 34 Goats with braided fur grazes nearby.
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Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Six Grasslands Lairs/Encounters
Six grasslands/steppe/open ground locations created using my quick lair generator and random encounters on the OSE SRD site.
Monday, September 26, 2022
Six Desert Lairs/Encounters
Six desert locations created using my quick lair generator and random encounters on the OSE SRD site.
- 30 Nomads camping near a deep well. Unbeknownst to them, their leader Paranur was turned into an undead bloodsucking creature (like a Zombie, but sentient) by a cursed ring he’d picked up in the City Under the Sands.
- Abandoned military camp, back from the time of the Great War, yet the Cursed Lord’s banner still stands proud in the middle. A pride of 4 Lions lives here; the alpha male wears a jewel-encrusted collar.
- Spiritual retreat gone wrong: 6 Magic-Users, young, ambitious and foolish, rebelled against their elderly master. Now they are lost in the desert, haunted by things they summoned but couldn’t put down.
- A small village of craftsmen (weavers of magic carpets!) terrorized by a Wyvern. All children are given to the monster as provender.
- 50 Orcs who bury themselves under the sand during the day and terrorize caravans by night. Their chief, Oldhorn, carries the Blade that Sucks, a Cursed Sentient Sword created to detect magic and slay wizards.
- This red sandstone cave is home to Aloyseus the snake-charmer, with 2 Giant Rattlers in his service. He extracts their poison so the real danger lies not in the bite of the snakes (which mostly distract enemies), but in the poison darts he fires from a blowpipe and the numerous pit traps in the area.
I wrote some of these in a bad mood, and I think that is kind of noticeable? Sorry. Take care!
Friday, September 23, 2022
Six Jungle Lairs/Encounters
Six jungle locations created using my quick lair generator and random encounters on the OSE SRD site.
- A small burnt-out settlement. The natural steam vent (goes off every hour) attracted 4 Flame Salamanders. Valuable sulfur deposits crust the nearby ground and ruins, giving the place an eerie black-yellow look.
- 20 Brigands camp out here in tents. Their situation couldn’t be worse: they were recently defeated by a party of highly-skilled adventurers and lost their leader. Oh, and the adventurers took the treasure map the Brigands were following.
- 4 Spitting Cobras nest in a rock crevice, right next to a spring of fresh, potable (and untainted!) water. A cart with a broken axis stands abandoned.
- Two towers connected by a bridge at mid-level. For some reason, the place is always surrounded by mist. 6 Dracos, starving and weakened, cling the vines and masonry, ready to drop onto any unsuspecting victim. At the top floor of the second tower, there is a stash of six Potions of Flying.
- Well-built manorhouse, recently taken over by a swarm of 17 Killer Bees and their Queen (she even has a name, Elizzzzabuzzz III). The previous inhabitants are dead. Their treasured collection of expensive tapestries is intact on the walls of the main building.
- Herd of 13 Antelopes graze peacefully in an abandoned caravanserai (the trade route moved decades ago). The nearby pond holds tasty fish. It’s truly a paradise on earth! …or is it?
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Six Forest Lairs/Encounters
Six forest locations created using my quick lair generator and random encounters on the OSE SRD site.
- 2 Centaurs, Roxtrix and Rebha, live in a moss-covered hovel. They are lovers but cannot bear child. A domesticated pack of 13 Wolves serve them.
- 4 Merchants and 12 Caravan Guards hiding out in a gorge. They were attacked by a Basilisk and left their precious cargo behind (two wagons full of mummified bodies from the tombs of the Beast Tyrants – such bodies fetch great prices at the arcane black market).
- 30 Orcs squat in a tower with a magical mysterious water cycle – rising on one side and falling on the other. Their leader is the ambitious Maradok, who is currently trying to come up with a plan to profit from that weird feature.
- Smoke and the noise of metal against rock betrays the presence of 13 Bugbears running a mining operation in a small valley. Little do they know that they are actively digging towards an ancient cursed artifact buried underground.
- Crashed metallic flying vessel, encampment of 3 Cyclopes – explorers from another dimension, two of them (Jad and Hrau) want to find a way back home, while the third (Zes) secretly likes it here and thwarts the attempts. He hid an important element of the vessel in a nearby cave.
- Overgrown, but intact shrine to the patron god of travelers, staked out by 4 Warp Beasts. Fresh grave marked with stone actually hides treasure.
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Six Mountain Lairs/Encounters
Six mountain/hill locations created using my quick lair generator and random encounters on the OSE SRD site.
- The log chalet of Adalbert the Weretiger, with 24 Goats in a nearby enclosure and a nice smokehouse. The dwelling might look abandoned at first – Adalbert is suspicious (but also curious) of people. He lives here as a hermit, conflicted about his double nature.
- Old copper mine occupied by small tribe of 21 Goblins, under the leadership of the young and cunning Sheila the Bitter. They are on the payroll of the lord of the nearby stronghold and hold the lord’s ambitious younger brother in prison (supposedly “gone missing” during a hunt).
- High up in the mountains stands Keep Agher, a foreboding blackstone castle, surrounded by abundant springs. Four towers topped with large brass spheres – an elaborate weather control device. 3 Cloud Giants (Ergha, Gareh and Hraeg), identical triplets, live here, unaware of the function of the device. 16 Dire Wolves patrol the area.
- Doomsday prepper cult of 40 Brigands, swayed by the paranoid visions of their charismatic leader, Lukretis, who thinks the end is neigh. Snares and pit traps all around the place. They also obsessively dig wells.
- 22 Troglodytes serve Abglu, the hedonistic Stone Giant. Abglu has grown lazy and near-immobile, he just hangs out at his cave, and waits for the next meal to be served. He is especially fond of human meat and strong mead. The Trogs keep a couple of prisoners in a covered pit.
- The tower-like temple of a long-forgotten hawk-god is now occupied by 6 Harpies. The monsters bicker a lot and can never decide how to divide up the prey. The god’s statue is covered in silver feathers.
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Six Swamp Lairs/Encounters
Six swamp locations created using my quick lair generator and random encounters on the OSE SRD site.
- Camp of 16 Lizard Men rebels, in opposition to the Reptile Lord. The group is led by Garmorzu, a one-eyed beastmaster, who successfully trained 3 Giant Crabs to serve as mounts.
- Large decrepit manorhouse with seven gables, constantly surrounded by 4 Wyverns. Embullion the Wizard hides in the basement: he stole a Wyvern egg for his magical experiments, but drew a protective circle around the building. The circle will hold for 3 more days.
- Half-flooded cave, home to 3 Trolls. The eldest has a laser blaster (an ancient alien artifact) attached to its arm. Inside their cave, there is a magical spring that grants the power of regeneration, but turns the imbiber into a troll after 12 days.
- A creepy fairground, half-sunken into the morass. 21 Skeletons (former carnies and visitors) continue their routine of riding the merry-go-round, firing rifles at the shooting gallery, devouring toffee apples... An animated Cave Lion skeleton inhabits a cage.
- Five-strong adventuring party (2 Dwarfs, 1 Thief, and 2 Magic-Users who always bicker) at the entrance of a haunted cave. They plan to sacrifice somebody at the altar in the first chamber to rid the area from the ghostly presence.
- A herd of 5 Pegasi with clipped wings guard a shimmering amethyst grotto. Inside, there is a map of the local ley-line network carved onto black rock.