Various Artists Limited

What Went Wrong in the Stygian Garden: Random Encounters

In the first session, the party wandered across the area several times. The dice were lenient and they met no resistance; The area seemed nearly vacant.

I extended the charts to a full encounter matrix, and rolling on the extended charts every turn made the gardens really come to life in the next session. A copy of the maps to mark up with findings also helped.

Presented below are the (modified from the original) charts I used. A PDF version is also available -- that's what I actually used at the table.

For "Noises" or "Tracks", roll 1d8 to determine direction. 1 = North, 3 = East, 5 = South, etc.

On the Grounds

# 1 2 Traces 3 Traces 4 Tracks 5 Noises 6 Encounter
1 - hacked-up shrubbery crushed vermin deep boot-prints in the grass stone grinding Marble Knight
2 - gnawed and burned furniture small animal partially dissolved scrapes and large claw marks cracking sounds Grotesque Spouter
3 - stone arrow (50% broken) child-size finger or toe made of stone plants trampled by child-size feet rocks tapping Archer Cherubs (1d4)
4 - 1d3 shed feathers torn silk vest or breaches or hat trail of claw-prints cawing almost-speech Buzzard Dandies (1d6)
5 - smothered bird broken green egg shell in a nest moulted leaf-like skin rustling grass Ivy Viper (1)
6 - - - - woman's voice humming Ghost of Abelia Prem

Inside the Manor

# 1 2 Traces 3 Traces 4 Tracks 5 Noises 6 Encounter
1 - woodwork cleft by sword or axe crushed vermin dried-up muddy boot-prints stone grinding Marble Knight
2 - stains on the floor decomposing vegepygmy limb - - Russet Mold
3 - stone arrow stuck in wall child-size finger or toe made of stone sandy child-size foot-prints rocks tapping Archer Cherub (1d4)
4 - strands of webbing hanging animal partially cocooned and eaten large spider web chittering Giant Spider
5 - filthy chewed scraps of cloth smeared faeces foraging path along the wall scuffling Rat Swarm
6 - - - - woman's voice humming Ghost of Abelia Prem

Within the Stygian Garden

# 1 2 Traces 3 Traces 4 Tracks 5 Noises 6 Encounter
1 - smashed stonework crushed vermin wet and muddy boot-prints stone grinding Marble Knight
2 - chewed fruit remainders large patch of guano - squeaks and flapping Cave Bats (2d6)
3 - stone arrow (50% broken) child-size finger or toe made of stone wet child-size foot-prints rocks tapping Archer Cherubs (1d4)
4 - dark stains on the floor bleached vermin skeleton snotty droppings - Green Slime
5 - giant lilypad out of water fish bones wet slimy trail deep croak Poisonous Toad (1)
6 - - - - woman's voice humming Ghost of Abelia Prem