What Went Wrong in the Stygian Garden: Random Encounters

January 31, 2020

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

The Stygian Garden of Abelia Prem