Perhaps someone has done something like this before, I am designing the map for my home game, am using a lot of the kingmaker rules since the party ended up starting a town and eventually took over the remains of a kingdom. I made a map up so I know what hexes contain what terrain and junk but wanted help making some sort of random chart for what can be found in the hexes.
Like monsters, ruins, mines, ect. Need interesting ideas that will keep the party running into different things as they continue to explore the huge map. I have somewhat determined the Cr of each area but not much past terrain type and CR.
Figured some stuff should lead into short quests, others should aid there kingdom and others should be combat hazards or just some fun RP. The main goal is to make a large enough list of things to keep each newly explored hex fresh and interesting as they will be exploring a TON
I have the map made that was the easy part, What I am trying to put together is a list of random things that might be found in the hexes maybe a few different lists for the different terrain type.
Thus when the players are exploring each hex I can have a decent idea of what they find, some will be blank others will have wondering monsters, I know once in a while they will run into a friendly or hostile monster tribe. I am trying to gather ideas for other things they can occasionally run into. Stuff like ruins, perhaps magical plants hazardous and helpful Ect Stuff to make the exploration process fun and entertaining, Figure I need to toss in a decent amount of RP perhaps 10% worth of RP events, prob 25% worth of combat events maybe 4% chance of finding a town Ect ect
Any ideas of fun things that they might run into???
Resource -Some form of natural resource, will aid the kingdom or perhaps the characters directly. If don't own a kingdom could be sold to a close kingdom
Hazardous Plant - A plant that posses some form of danger to the party, perhaps man eating or perhaps poisonous ect ect, should be a mild to hard challenge to overcome and get away from, possibly terrain difficulty or plant monsters.
Helpful plant - A plant that helps the party, perhaps a friendly plant creature or healing berries. Should help the party in some way
Easy encounter - A encounter of even or lower Cr then the parties APL.
Difficult encounter - A encounter above the parties APL
Very difficult encounter - A encounter that's 3-5 CR above the parties APL
Impossible encounter - A encounter more then 5 CR above the parties APL that the party is ment to run from. Possibly a chase scene as they run?
Friendly Tribe -A tribe of creatures that starts with friendly disposition to the party
Hostile Tribe - A tribe that starts with hostile disposition to the party. Possibly allowing the party to improve the disposition with tasks and work if they try, perhaps combat, perhaps even requiring the party to flee for there lives.
Ruins -A abandoned ruin, perhaps leading to clues as to what happened to the former inhabitants perhaps a short dungeon or some other encounter that takes place or revolves around the ruins. Could be used as a resource to a kingdom if rebuilt
Adventuring party - Friendly or hostile adventuring party, perhaps from a nearby tribe or perhaps from the players own kingdom. Could be a fight or good RP.
These are the quick Ideas I have so far but need a lot of work to fine tune them and to think of a lot more, want to make a % chart and have least 25% chance that the hex has nothing in it so up to 75 events can fill the charts but likely less with some eating up a few % or being entered a few different times to fill it out. Still would like at least 30 different events or more.
This is kinda like a random encounter chart except it gives details of the event found in the hex when explored instead of a specific encounter.
The old DM's Guide from 1e has a wilderness exploration chart like this. As you wander into a hex it tells you the kind of terrain, if there's a settlement etc. I don't think it went into the kind of specifics you're looking for.
Anyway if you're looking for encounters you've got it pretty well down. I'd add a few supernatural elements:
Undead/haunt - a respawning source of undeath; consult encounter level sub chart
Planar gate - some location/tool/object that serves as a connection to another plane or demiplane
Elemental cyst - choose one elemental type; the surroundings here a greatly influenced by a node of elemental energy intersecting the material plane
These are just a few to get you going but you might continue on with permanent environmental effects to explore, freak weather in a hex or what have you.
Roadside shrine - Knowledge: religion (DC 20) to receive the effect of a Bless spell as long as the god of the shrine is w/in one alignment step of the person performing the knowledge check. Bless spell lasts for a 24 hour period.
Ancient burial site - may hold clues to older civilizations, may represent a dungeon or lair
Fungal bog - an area of lowland with poor drainage contained w/in the larger terrain type of the hex. May contain an encounter, a resource or both
Regional warning - some kind of symbol or construction to warn of nearby occupants; consult encounter sub level chart
* Encounter - a encounter is a one time event within a hex, once overcome or resolved it will not be found within the same hex though the NPC or monsters might be found in other hexes or be encountered again later. Wondering monsters is a common encounter but other encounters like NPC or buried treasure might exist. The encounter chart also has a hazards and locations section, when these are rolled you roll on the proper chart instead of the encounters chart.
>Adventuring party - Friendly or hostile adventuring party, perhaps from a nearby tribe or perhaps from the players own kingdom. Could be a fight or good RP.
>Easy encounter - A encounter of even or lower Cr then the parties APL.
>Difficult encounter - A encounter above the parties APL
>Very difficult encounter - A encounter that's 3-5 CR above the parties APL
>Impossible encounter - A encounter more then 5 CR above the parties APL that the party is ment to run from. Possibly a chase scene as they run?
>Ambush Easy encounter - A encounter of even or lower Cr then the parties APL Ambushes the party.
>Ambush Difficult encounter - A encounter above the parties APL Ambushes the party.
>Ambush Very difficult encounter - A encounter that's 3-5 CR above the parties APL Ambushes the party.
> Warring Encounter - Roll twice both encounters happen at once and are apposed to each other. IF a Hazard or location is rolled the encounter is apposing the location or encounter perhaps sacking the location or destroying it or trying to survive the hazard. The encounter will half react half ignore the PC.
> Hazard -Roll once on the hazard chart
> Location - Roll once on the Location chart
> Encounter + Hazard -Roll once on the hazard chart and again on the encounter chart -Ignore this result if rolled again for this hex.
> Encounter + Location - Roll once on the Location chart and again on the encounter chart -Ignore this result if rolled again for this hex
>Extra encounter - Roll twice more on the encounter chart both encounters happen ether at the same time or during the travel threw this hex. This can be rolled multiple times allowing for a very eventful day.
----------------Hazards------------------:
* Hazards - unlike encounters hazards are a recurring event within a hex, the hex they are in will always spawn a encounter related to the hazard until the hazard is taken care of further the these encounters will generate no experience instead only giving experience when the hazard is resolved.
> (Swamp) Hazard Bog fungal - This area has a unusually high number of fungus Many of which are harmful. If harmful fungus can be removed then the helpful ones can be harvested for various potions. Hazardous fungus cause disease and poison and may be fatal if ignored. Knowledge Nature Check to identify.
> Hazard Plant - The plants in this area pose a significant threat, some may just need destroyed while other might be monstrous.
>Elemental Connection - The land is connected to a particular element, spells of that element gain +1 DC to resist. Elementals May spawn here regularly. This might be used as a resources but is also a hazard, can't be claimed without dealing with the spawning elementals.
>Haunted - Site contains something causing undead to gather or spawn, the site must be cleared before undead will stop spawning and may not be claimed or safely traveled threw until it is cleared. Possible Quest lead.
>Hostile Tribe - A tribe that starts with hostile disposition to the party. Possibly allowing the party to improve the disposition with tasks and work if they try, perhaps combat, perhaps even requiring the party to flee for there lives.
-----------Location---------------:
* Location -Locations are events that are not in and of themselves dangerous, they might contain monsters or hazards within them but the location itself isn't harmful and in fact are often times helpful if used correctly. Like hazards locations remain in the hex even after resolved unless they are removed or destroyed. Locations are like ruins, or temples. Even a cave or friendly tribe can be a location though hostile tribes should be considered hazards.
>Ruins -A abandoned ruin, perhaps leading to clues as to what happened to the former inhabitants perhaps a short dungeon or some other encounter that takes place or revolves around the ruins. Could be used as a resource to a kingdom if rebuilt
>Forgotten shrine -possible guardian or NPC - knowledge religion check to know the god, Prey to obtain 24 hour Buff spell that fits the god.
>Ancient burial site - may hold clues to older civilizations, may represent a dungeon or lair
>Planar gate - some location/tool/object that serves as a connection to another plane or demiplane
>Friendly Tribe -A tribe of creatures that starts with friendly disposition to the party
>Helpful plant - A plant that helps the party, perhaps a friendly plant creature or healing berries. Should help the party in some way
>Resource -Some form of natural resource, will aid the kingdom or perhaps the characters directly. If don't own a kingdom could be sold to a close kingdom.
This is what I got so far, Would love more advice so I could make a much larger and more versatile list.
had a bunch types but clicked the wrong button now I goto retype it all, searched the net and found a few more ideas. Soon as I get enough ideas will organize the charts and junk, figure not only will this help me I am sure there's bound to be some Dm's who can really use some good solid encounter charts to help detail things out.
That said any ideas original or barrow from some other source are welcome. I figure the first chart will have a few options including no encounters, random encounter, random location, random hazard.
Locations I will add in some resources and positive locations and will try to include some hazards that turn into positive locations once resolved. Also realty really trying to include skill checks saves and stuff like that. I plan to make all charts CR neutral so that the Cr for the area can be entered in and all DC for rolls and damages and junk can be determined from the spaces determined CR. But am getting ahead of myself gather events,encounters,locations,hazards and junk first.
Hmm should random encounters represent one time encounters and maybe a events section represent stuff that is more nutral one time things like wandering merchants thus the encounters are more combat focused and events be more RP focused OR should the events and encounters just be in a random encounter chart
A update on the lists I have thus far, any other ideas you guys might have cuz this is about all I can think of right now but then brains a little fried from doing this much lol. Thanks a lot to those who have already given ideas.
---------------Encounters---------------:
* Encounter - a encounter is a one time event within a hex, once overcome or resolved it will not be found within the same hex though the NPC or monsters might be found in other hexes or be encountered again later. Wondering monsters is a common encounter but other encounters like NPC or buried treasure might exist. The encounter chart also has a hazards and locations section, when these are rolled you roll on the proper chart instead of the encounters chart.
>Adventuring party - Friendly or hostile adventuring party, perhaps from a nearby tribe or perhaps from the players own kingdom. Could be a fight or good RP.
>Easy encounter - A encounter of even or lower Cr then the parties APL.
>Difficult encounter - A encounter above the parties APL
>Very difficult encounter - A encounter that's 3-5 CR above the parties APL
>Impossible encounter - A encounter more then 5 CR above the parties APL that the party is ment to run from. Possibly a chase scene as they run?
>Ambush Easy encounter - A encounter of even or lower Cr then the parties APL Ambushes the party.
>Ambush Difficult encounter - A encounter above the parties APL Ambushes the party.
>Ambush Very difficult encounter - A encounter that's 3-5 CR above the parties APL Ambushes the party.
> Warring Encounter - Roll twice both encounters happen at once and are apposed to each other. IF a Hazard or location is rolled the encounter is apposing the location or encounter perhaps sacking the location or destroying it or trying to survive the hazard. The encounter will half react half ignore the PC.
> Hazard -Roll once on the hazard chart
> Location - Roll once on the Location chart
> Encounter + Hazard -Roll once on the hazard chart and again on the encounter chart -Ignore this result if rolled again for this hex.
> Encounter + Location - Roll once on the Location chart and again on the encounter chart -Ignore this result if rolled again for this hex
>Extra encounter - Roll twice more on the encounter chart both encounters happen ether at the same time or during the travel threw this hex. This can be rolled multiple times allowing for a very eventful day.
> Bookworm - Perception check or else paper goods become damaged, 10% chance of having a spell in a book or scroll ruined and lost. Healing skill check will allow found worms to be used in a special healing poultice that doubles normal healing rates.
> Ear Seeker - Small insects that crawl into the parties ears while they sleep, Fort save or lose hearing, Save means you notice the insects and are able to remove them before any damage is done. Craft alchemy check can be made, success allows the character to turn the insects into a ingredient used in some poisons, reduces craft poison DC by 2 and can be sold for 5 GP +1 GP for each DC you exceed the check by
> Leeches - Leaches in this area manage to attach themselves to the PC as they travelers this land, each PC must roll a Fort check , Success means they not only resist the effects but notice the leaches and can remove them failure means they lose 2 con and must roll again. The leaches will drop away naturally after 10 damage has ben done.
> Ghost Leeches - These invisible leaches Lach onto the character and slowly sap there strength, each PC must make a Will save, Failure causes 2 Wis Damage And cause the PC to roll again. Success causes the leach to fall harmlessly away. The leaches will drop away naturally after 10 damage has ben done.
> Poison Oak - This seemingly harmless plant causes extreme itching and discomfort easily spreading all over the PC body and gear. The PC suffers -2 to all rolls until cured of the infliction which takes a week and cleaning of all gear and objects handled often while afflicted.
> Mercenary - Fight, converse or possibly hire - Diplomacy check to determine initial reaction.
> Merchant/Peddlers - May be dishonest but offers to sell goods to party, dishonest will steal or sell cursed/false goods to the party.
---------------Hazards---------------:
* Hazards - unlike encounters hazards are a recurring event within a hex, the hex they are in will always spawn a encounter related to the hazard until the hazard is taken care of further the these encounters will generate no experience instead only giving experience when the hazard is resolved.
> Bog fungus - This area has a unusually high number of fungus Many of which are harmful. If harmful fungus can be removed then the helpful ones can be harvested for various potions. Hazardous fungus cause disease and poison and may be fatal if ignored. Knowledge Nature Check to identify.
> Hazard Plant - The plants in this area pose a significant threat, some may just need destroyed while other might be monstrous.
>Elemental Connection - The land is connected to a particular element, spells of that element gain +1 DC to resist. Elementals May spawn here regularly. This might be used as a resources but is also a hazard, can't be claimed without dealing with the spawning elementals.
>Haunted - Site contains something causing undead to gather or spawn, the site must be cleared before undead will stop spawning and may not be claimed or safely traveled threw until it is cleared. Possible Quest lead.
>Hostile Tribe - A tribe that starts with hostile disposition to the party. Possibly allowing the party to improve the disposition with tasks and work if they try, perhaps combat, perhaps even requiring the party to flee for there lives.
> Gas Spore - Fungus in this area generate a toxic and acidic spore, All creatures traveling in this hex must make a Fort Save or suffer 1D4 con damage and 1d4 Str damage from the spores.
> Memory Moss - A rare moss grows here that saps the recent memories of those nearby. Only memories of the last 24 hours can be sapped but the most recent memories are lost first often causing the person to forget what was so dangerous about the moss. Creatures at times can get stuck for months in such areas and not even realize a day has past. Will Save to prevent memory loss and realise something isn’t right, Sense motive will allow a PC to know the moss is effecting the party by observing his fellow party members when they pass over the moss. Spell craft can be used to harvest this moss as a powerful spell component that grants +2 DC to charm effects or can be sold. Older moss is stronger and worth more base value off of proper loot for the CR.
> Russet Mold - A quick growing mold that grows particularly fast on metal objects, when removed it releases a spore that causes rust to the object. Fire causes the spore to release 3X as many spores as a defense mechanism. Cold kills the moss without causing it to release spores. Knowledge dungeoneering check will allow a character to reconise the mold and how to safely remove it. ((Deals 5D6 damage to metal objects. This damage ignores hardness.))
> Winter Bloom - This pleasant smelling flower produces a chilling effect on the air around it. This effects the hex to always be treated as artic conditions producing snow and cold winter winds. Fire started near one of these flowers causes such conditions to steadily worsen.
> Accursed Pool - This fresh clean looking pool has actualy ben cursed afflicting any who drink from it as if they had ben effected by a curse spell from a 20th lvl caster. DC 22.
> Mnemonic Crystals - These Light Blue crystals produce a large dispelling field around them, All creatures entering the area are effected as if dispel magic had ben cast on there space. The caster lv for this effect is equal to the Hexes CR. The party must make a Perception Check against a hard DC to notice the crystals effects. Once notices a Knowledge Arcane check can be made to find the source and a spell craft can be made to harvest or disable the crystals. If the spell craft check is sucesfull the Character can harvest Some arcane dust worth GP equal to appropriate loot for the Cr of the Hex. This dust can be used as a substitute to any spell component with a value equal or less then the Dusts own value. Once harvested the crystals become inert. Failure causes the crystals to explode doing 2 int, wis, and char damage to all creatures in the area.
> Blink Spores -- Randomly Teleports party around the Hex they may not leave unless they make a will save; Knowledge Nature to identify; Perception to find; Survival to safely remove without hard. May take 20 on perception with will save, May not re-roll Knowledge check and failed survival deals damage to the PC as it Explodes with magical energy. Dispelling the plants also kills them.
> Choke Spores -- Fort Save To safely traverse Failure Causes 2 Con Damage and a new save
> Fey Mist -- Non-fey Living creatures Roll Will save to avoid mental injuries, failure results in a mental damage decided by DM (possibly roll once on insanity chart or cause damage to a mental stat)
> Haunted Ground -- Will Save to enter the hex - May be cleansed Failure means you may not enter the hex. New save once per day.
---------------Location---------------:
* Location -Locations are events that are not in and of themselves dangerous, they might contain monsters or hazards within them but the location itself isn't harmful and in fact are often times helpful if used correctly. Like hazards locations remain in the hex even after resolved unless they are removed or destroyed. Locations are like ruins, or temples. Even a cave or friendly tribe can be a location though hostile tribes should be considered hazards.
>Ruins -A abandoned ruin, perhaps leading to clues as to what happened to the former inhabitants perhaps a short dungeon or some other encounter that takes place or revolves around the ruins. Could be used as a resource to a kingdom if rebuilt
>Forgotten shrine -possible guardian or NPC - knowledge religion check to know the god, Prey to obtain 24 hour Buff spell that fits the god.
>Ancient burial site - may hold clues to older civilizations, may represent a dungeon or lair
>Planar gate - some location/tool/object that serves as a connection to another plane or demiplane
>Friendly Tribe -A tribe of creatures that starts with friendly disposition to the party
>Helpful plant - A plant that helps the party, perhaps a friendly plant creature or healing berries. Should help the party in some way
>Resource -Some form of natural resource, will aid the kingdom or perhaps the characters directly. If don't own a kingdom could be sold to a close kingdom.
> Bad Air - The air in this area is unusually stagnant making natural flight impossible and breathing difficult. Further the semi magical effects dispel all wind based powers and effect and grant a +20 to save and SR against such abilities. Fatigued condition causes double the normal penalties.
> Burning Geyser - Random spaces threw out this hex burst with a hot liquid at random intervals, this makes navigating this hex very dangerous. Roll Reflex failure means the PC get hit with a hot blast suffering damage of a trap 2 CR higher then this hex. --Can be used as a heat source if hex is adjacent to a town.
> Dweomersink - The Rocks in this area slowly drain magic away from enchanted goods, Each character makes a hard will save every day they remain within this Hex. A failure causes 1 random magical item to be permanently disenchanted. (DM may rule that some items are not effected by this to prevent important gear from being disenchanted.)
> Mushrooms - Edible Mushrooms, Can be cooked to make a filling meal, they don’t keep well but no survival check needs to be made while in the hex and looking for food. Survival check to recognize the mushrooms as edible, Failure indicates the PC thinking these mushrooms are poisoned instead.
> Slippery Terrain -- Hex has slick Terrain - Reflex save or take 4X the time to travers or explore.
> Jagged Terrain - Hex has sharp dangerous terrain -Reflex Save to avoid injury while traversing, Failure causes Damage equal to a trap of the Hexes CR.
> Magnetic Earth - This Hex contains Magnetic Ores that Triples metallic weights, check carrying capacity for all characters traveling threw the area. Can be negated by dealing 100 Fire damage to a area or by digging them up and burning them, will take months to dig it all up.
> Hot springs -Rest may attract creatures -Full rest grants +2 moral rest bonus for next 24 hours & 3Xlv HP recovery
> Abandoned farmland overgrown with wrecked home in the middle -Some food can be gathered and makes a good rest spot, if claimed it can be converted to farmland with only a road needing to be built.
> Ancient, dried riverbed cuts a swath across an otherwise bleak landscape - Good rest spot, potentially loot found in the river bed
> Broken ground torn asunder by a recent earthquake or magical activity - Risk of falling in, Climb check needed to explore, possibly a cave within.
Encounter
Abandoned Nest - It appears like the parents that belong to this nest where killed, most of the eggs/young have ben killed or destroyed. With a perception check though one last 1 has survived, Handle animal to calm/hatch the baby and also to train it. there is no magic compelling ti to obey you however it will see you as it's mother, failure means the creature needs put down or left as it sees you as a threat no retry.
need encounters locations and hazards that use the other skills so that there's a few encounters that use each skill and thus different characters have the ability to shine and so that some skills aren't downplayed in importance. So perhaps someone who knows about skill challenges from 4th ed or skill challenges and junk from 3.5 books might have some ideas they can post
Hrm. I wouldn't have much fun with bookworms if I were a wizard.
I'd probably just have adventure locations be adventure locations, rather than having PCs stumble in while wandering monsters attack them. I like my PCs to be the ones taking the risk and getting the reward of exploring.
On the other hand, I'm absolutely for making adventure locations where the PCs come up on two forces that are hostile to each other, but in those cases, that location is specifically for those groups.
The game really is based around exploration right now, I plan to roll for each hex figure out what it has in it if anything and right it all down then add fluff and extra details down. as for the bookworms there not supposed to be fun but encounters even non combat ones are given a CR and grant XP thus they are supposed to be rather mean since PC prob only have 1 encounter per day. Could also use the bookworms from the SRD instead of ones listed here, ones listed here really are for a hex that is infested with them.
These look about right to me. A trap can also be a hazard: a pit trap could just be a sinkhole with a sudden drop; a scything blade trap could be converted to bludgeoning damage as a falling log.
In the old DMG from 1e they had random hexes and the advice of the game's creators was not to wait for players to explore a hex, but rather to start them in an area and prep ahead of them the neighboring 6 or 8 hexes. This way their exploration might still appear random (you could fake a roll on the table or something) but the monsters/terrain might still relate to one another.
actually I plan to randomly make all the hexes with set CR and junk then detail them out to a much larger degree, some of the work will be wasted as they skip a hex here or there but largely most of the work will be encountered though perhaps out of CR though Cr should steer the PC to explore certain areas more fully before moving to far on past it
to me a trap is a encounter, and natural traps such as falling logs are also encounters, now sinkholes I classify as a hazard cuz it stays around until it is dealt with but yea prob have to make a more complete chart that includes some Encounters by CR or something but for most part just working on a general chart to cover a larger scale of CR's
Well you can't MAKE a group have a RP type encounter. That being said, some that I've put into my current campaign that had the potential for the party to RP were:
- Angry treants: the trees around the party become animate, using their branches and roots to trip, harras and otherwise hinder the party, slowing their overland movement in this area as if Difficult Terrain. This is the result of treants in the region currently at an attitude of Unfriendly. A Perception or Survival check (DC 20) hears their angry muttering on the breeze; at this point the PCs may attempt to deal with these treants. This confrontation may be resolved by combat. If dealt with by non-combat means the treants' attitudes must be reduced to Indifferent to allow the party to pass freely; if reduced further to Friendly they offer a minor NPC boon, revealing hidden paths and granting a +2 to Survival rolls for 24 hours, while reducing it all the way to Helpful provides the above plus knowledge on a current threat to the PCs or the region.
- Dwarven patrol: passing through the foothills the party comes upon a group of LN dwarves on patrol. These dwarves s/be a CR +2 encounter; difficult, but not impossible to defeat. Currently they are Unfriendly though they will not outright attack the PCs. They do however urge the party to leave the hills, forcing them into the lowlands which will greatly inconvenience the party's travel. This encounter may be resolved through combat. If dealt with by non-combat means the dwarves' reactions would be as follows: Indifferent - the party is given an escort through the foothills to the edge of the hex; Friendly - the party is given a token allowing them free passage through the foothills and told of a track hidden among the stony crags which speeds their travel (PCs go from overland rates at Trackless to Road or Trail on the Table: Terrain and overland Movement); Helpful - the party is given the token of free passage but also invited to follow the patrol along the dwarven highway which winds through their stronghold where they will be permitted to rest among the dwarves as honored guests before continuing their journey (PCs go from overland rates at Trackless to Highway on the Table: Terrain and overland Movement).
Skill challenges are largely subjective and I have used them infrequently in PF. I mainly use them as filler for overland movement. Ex: the PCs are crossing wilderness swamp terrain they were just portaled into. They have no idea where they are or how to get out. One of the players however asked me if he could see ANY landmarks since these swamps are known to have many ruins of an elven society that dwealt here before the land was corrupted by a black dragon.
I asked the party to make Perception checks and recorded their success/failures; then since no one had knowledge: geography I asked for a tough knowledge: history. They were able to locate a stony outcropping covered in moss and vines that in fact was once a portion of an elven shrine. From here they made a Survival roll to figure direction but everyone failed. I ruled that they'd failed the Skill Challenge; they still got the info (they figured out West roughly by being able to see where the sun was setting) but they also triggered a random encounter in the process (2 ankhegs which, despite their low level they trounced mightily).
Then they were off through the swamps. The PCs rolled survival checks, Perception checks, and did helpful things like climbing trees (climb check; success = +2 to next roll), jumping up and over obstacles to help others' travel (acrobatics check; success = 3/4 move for one hour as opposed to 1/2), and finally more knowledge: history checks along the way for identifying other landmarks. This time they succeeded phenominally so I decided to throw them a boon: they ran into a dryad in a clearing who gave them an hour's rest and interacted with them to grant them a +2 on any other survival rolls through the area. She also knew of an adventure site in the area so not only did they figure out the general way home but they also scored a dungeon hack and some loot out of the bargain!
The final day of travel from the dungeon to civilization was the same rolls as the overland through the swamps. Despite their +2 to survival they failed so many other times that I put in a shallow bog, a quicksand hazard, and finally a random encounter with a giant snake. They ended up moving 1/2 speed the whole day, 2 party members got caught in the quicksand and the snake was not even a blip on their radar, but overall they moved so slow that it took them the whole day to go the last few miles back to their home town. They came up, out of the swamps covered in mud and soaked to the bone, stinking and weary. The players however remembered it as a fun, tough journey that left them beat but better off.
well used it a little, ended up porting the party to utopia. That's a fed up plane by the way. I made it relatively easy to return allowing for a short trip within utopia before returning them back to where they started, plan to detail things a lot more think the random charts work pretty well but would work a lot better if I rolled them before and had them properly detailed out in advance
