Rime of the Winter Saint encounter tables

For Rime of the Winter Saint. For the contents of a HEX, roll d%. For its concealed contents, roll d30. For a random villain, d12 from the end. For a random quest, roll hex contents+villain and improvise/prep from there.

ENCOUNTERS IN THE ICE

1 An inviting, but empty, lodge awaits; everything in it is either a mimic or animated

2 An empty campsite sits abandoned. 50% stocked:

1 Corpse-Burner, a bloodthirsty sentient glaive

2 Psi crystal

3 50g of refined quartz gem

4 Mad map scrawlings that function as a scroll

5 Steam mephits cavorting

6 Kazgat, the mad time wizard

7 Hungry Bulette

8 Snow Owlbear

9 Trails of blood lead off somewhere else

10 Roll twice

3 The Dark Dutchess

4 Cave of the Berserkers

5 Elvish Moon-Crypt

6 Caves of Hunger

7 Wyrmdoom Crag

8 Skytower Shelter

9 A small fishing hole that never fails to procure magical fish

10 A passage leads to tunnels under the ice

11 A small clutch of eggs lies under a thick bank of snow

1 d6 Frost Worm eggs (EGtW)

2 d6 Remorhaz eggs

3 d8 Yeti eggs

4 d6 Bulette eggs

5 2d4 Owlbear eggs

6 d3 of Arveiaturace’s eggs

12 2d6 chwingas cavort, 75% they’re mad

13 A pulverized corpse lies in crimson snow, 50% is undead, 25% has loot

14 A piece of loot is frozen under the ice

15 A Brain in a Jar is partially frozen in the ice

16 A coven of hags (50% Annis, 50% Night) approaches in a moving house

17 Bountiful berry bushes give off 3 HEXES of supplies

18 A cold, dead tree with 3 purple pears protrudes from the ice

19 A treasure chest; 50% loot, 50% mimic

20 A bag of valuable arcane components sits abandoned

21 A Living Spell wanders the wastes

1 Blade of Disaster

2 Bigby’s Hand

3 Demiplane

22 A burned wizard sits on a blacked stake. 50% chance of treasure

23 d3 Coldlight Walkers silently stalk

24 Karkolohk caravan (2d4 goblins and an orc pulled by 2 polar bears)

25 Hilga the Hammer, a Dwarvish Paladin, greets warmly

26 Dzaan and his Wight bodyguard wander

27 A Frost Giant riding a mammoth appears on the distance

28 Veneranda seeks the Necropolis

29 Two cyber-barians named Terr and Gox are frozen in the ice

30 The Bloodseeking Box burns the ice

31 Keep of the Black Swords

32 Tomb of the Worm (EGtW)

33 Kobold Gem Mine

34 The crashed Id Ascendant

35 Cackling Chasm

36 Karkolohk

37 Rheged Tribe Camp

1 Elk

2 Wolf

3 Bear

4 Tiger

38 Marrow Vortex

39 Lost Spire of Netheril

40 Bergschloss

41 A remorhaz lurks

42 A chardalyn obelisk, covered in runes, lets out mild bursts of arcane power

43 Below the ice, a massive kraken swims

44 Lava flows glow bright in the dark

45 Lone animal (30% chance Awakened)

1 Polar bear

2 Arctic fox

3 Moose or reindeer

4 Knucklehead trout

5 Mountain goat

6 Crag cat

7 Hare

8 Seal

9 Walrus

10 Sabertooth tiger

46 Herd of animals (25% led by an Awakened)

1 d6+2 polar bears

2 3d4 foxes

3 One Giant Walrus with d6+ walruses

4 2d3 Sperm Whales

5 2d6 Winter Wolves

6 2d6 reindeer

47 A mad frost druid wanders, 30% accompanied by animal (see 45)

48 Avalanche!

49 A mage seeks the source of the surge

50 A lone Abominable Yeti seeks their pack

51 2d4 Yetis hunt (50% led by Abominable, 25% with 1d4 Tykes)

52 A Frost Worm bursts from the ice (EGtW)

53 d3 Frost Giant Zombies trudge

54 d4 Frost Giant Skeletons spar absentmindedly (EGtW)

55 d6 Duergar Hammerers led by a Taskmaster

56 2d4 Duergar (50% led by a Warlord)

57 2d6 Kobolds set to ambush (10% chance that d4 are Urds)

58 d6 peaceful Kobolds out exploring

59 2d6 Chardalyn Berserkers, one of which with a Shift Ring

60 An ownerless Snow Golem goes mad

61 An Ice Troll squats in ambush

62 An Awakened Pine Tree is prepared to animate and attack

63 d3+1 Frost Giants wander in plunder or patrol

64 d3 Snowy Owlbears defend their nest

65 A Bloodseeker Gear whirls

66 A ghost whose body is frozen under the ice, 25% the body has loot

67 A Banshee wails in the dark

68 2d4 Orcs wander, seeking diplomacy (75% with a Chieftain)

69 3d4 Orc rebels violently raiding (50% led by a Chieftain)

70 A wall of 4d4 Dwarvish Shieldtoters

71 2d4 Goliaths in a warband

72 1d10 Goliaths led by a Goliath Werebear

73 2d3 Goliaths led by a Goliath Frost Druid: Dreamseekers

74 2d6 Rat-Men scuttle from below the ice

75 2d8 Rat-Men lead a Siege Bell from below the ice

76 d10 Rheged Tribal Warriors hunt

1 Elk

2 Wolf

3 Bear

4 Tiger

77 A Rheged Tribal Leader

1 Jarund Elkhardt, Elk

2 Isarr Kronenstrum, Wolf

3 Gunvald Halraggson, Bear

4 Bjornhild Solvigsdottir, Tiger

78 d6 Crag Cats prowl

79 A Tressym mewls

80 A rune carved in (50% Giant, 50% Elemental) gives terrifying portents

81 Graffiti mars the ice

82 Roll again, but a Mimic has infiltrated (25% Spitting)

83 A Snow Octopus emerges from hibernation

84 A massive sword is imbedded in the ice

85 Roll twice to see what mess the Dwarves are in now

86 Roll twice to see what’s ambushing an expedition

87 Roll twice to see what surrounds a chunk of chardalyn

88 The Claw, servant of Vaelish Gant

89 Sephek Paltro, servant of Vaelish Gant

90 Jarl Dammen Berg

91 Nildar Stoneblight

92 Durth Stoneblight

93 Vecna’s Simulacra

94 Avarice

95 The Crimson Rider

96 Kanan-Garai, The Great Wolf

97 Arveiaturace

98 Xardorok Stoneblight

99 The Colleagues Three

100 Auril the Owl soars overhead

The Amulet of Tha'Haar, and GLoGtober 23

 THE AMULET OF THA’HAAR

An urban Cthulhu campaign framework, intended for use with the Cthulhu ICRPG Loot, Classes, and SAN rules outlined in this post. I got into running this campaign, but I didn’t get the chance to finish, so I put it here for your use.

NEW YUGGOTH

• Districts of New Yuggoth:

• Banker’s Ward: where the rich live, doing dark deeds behind closed doors

• Buxtable’s Antiquities: If you have an occult artifact, this is where you go to identify it. He’ll even take them off your hands for cash, muttering about how ‘she will find this delicious’.

• Maid’s Quarter: The teeming working class live in the shadows of the Banker’s Ward ever-extending skyscrapers

• Whatley Park: an idyllic favorite of New Yuggoth, filled with laughing children and bursts of color. Tales of tunnels below the park and visitors disappearing are quickly suppressed.

• The Scraps: If the city has forgotten you, you go here. Gang and cult activity abound in litter-choked alleys

• The Yellow King Opera Haus: The German couple who run the establishment often host illicit activity, to the delight of the hoi polloi. Below the theatre is a strange shrine to Hastur...

• The Seaboard: the stink of fish and spray of sea follow those who make a living against the lakeside

• The Fish Markets: The bustling market, sitting directly lakeside, sees much traffic each day. Unsubstantiated rumors of half-fish corpses dredged up from the lake and chopped up for meats abound.

• The lake

• Arkham Penitentiary: Where they put the worst of the worst. Strange runes scrawled on the wall with rusty scraps line the cells of starved, maddened, and bitter inmates of all types.

THE MAJOR PLAYERS

• Thaddeus Hurstin, filthy rich synesthete artist

• He has tortured nightmare of color-vortexes and screams that smell of blood and writhing worms, and has for a year

• This is a message from Shub-Niggurath, commanding him to seek the Amulet for her own gains

• He seeks the Amulet because it can transfer his nightmares to the wider population, which he thinks will rid him of them

• This is untrue. When he secures the amulet and spreads the nightmares, they will only get worse

• Currently has hired out the Red Rose to secure the amulet for him, creating terrifying new art and hosting lavish galas and auctions to fund his pursuit

• The Red Rose: The classiest mercenaries in the city, led by Juliano Hermosa

• The art is modeled off of Hurstin’s nightmares-perhaps it can provide clues as to what’s going on?

• Charles Vrathagan, deep-spawn thrall of Dagon

• Current leader of the Euclid Network

• The Euclid Network: A congregation of cults devoted to their collective safety and interests against those who oppose their eldritch evil

• Wants to secure the Amulet to raise Dagon, his spawn-lord, from the bottom of the lake

• Owns Vrathagan Coalworks

• Many sacrifices had been disappearing from the factory floor...

• Prodigal arcanist, slippery bastard

• Jimmy “The Shrew”, leader of the Eye

• Currently VERY insane, surreptitiously skins people and wears them like a suit

• The smell in his office gets worse and worse…

• The Eye: An espionage organization, opposite the Hand, a gang

• His madness calls him to the amulet…

• ...because Shub-Niggurath wants him to give it to Erich Zann

• Zann: the Mad Musician. His music can open doorways into and out of the Drowned City

THE DROWNED CITY

• Like a mirrored reflection of New Yuggoth, but a version that has been devastated by a fungal apocalypse

• In the center of the lake rises a mammoth cluster of malignant fungus, spewing thick clouds of spores into the air

• This is Shub-Niggurath, the fungal mother

• She seeks to bring the Drowned City into our world, and the Amulet can help her do that

• Entering the City is all too easy

• Shadows, malignant fungi, and wrong turns can all result in accidental shifts into the Drowned City

• There’s a permanent window into the City in Hurstin’s study

• Leaving is significantly more difficult

• Follow Zann’s music

• Negotiate with Shub-Niggurath’s servants

• A mad boatswain knows the way, for a terrible price…

THE CENTER OF IT ALL:

• The Amulet of Tha’Haar

• Forged from nightmare itself, woven into the collective psyche

• Has the power to...

• Hypnotize

• Induce hallucinations and madness

• Create illusions and simulacra

• Bring Great Old Ones into this world

• Dagon and Shub-Niggurath are sending their minions for the amulet

• The catch: the PCs unwittingly have it in their posession

• Perhaps it could be destroyed by being fed to the monster below the docks?

ADVENTURE HOOKS

• Sent by the police to covertly investigate the disappearances from Vrathagan Coalworks

• Hired by the Shrew to check in on a contact gone missing

• Attendees of a Hurstin exhibition when a scared-looking fellow passes a parcel into their hands

MOMENTS

• Killing the shuddering mass of eyes that lives below Whatley Park and guards the gates to the Euclid Network’s tunnels

• Racing towards Zann’s music, and the doorway out of the Drowned City, before the rising tide drowns you in brackish water

• Finding the abandoned basement of Vrathagan Coalworks, and the sacrificial horrors therein

• Closing the portal to the Drowned City through which the Mi-Goh Enforcers are invading

• Meeting in Hermosa’s opulent lounge to negotiate an assassination

• Rowing out to Arkham Penn when tentacles wrap around your boat

If I did my job right, with a little planning, this situation could unfold into a dynamic, tense mini-campaign with mystery and thrills to spare. Happy gaming, and have fun trying to contain… the Amulet of Thahaar!

Mob name generator (d66):

1 Bloody Cudgels

2 [color] Guns

3 Big [body part]

4 Dark Hawks

5 Strong Cloaks

6 *none* [letter]

Also, check out Phlox’s GLoGtober entry today. It’s a depthcrawl through Hell inspired by Hadestown, a musical very close to my heart. It’s a really cool adventure I want to run at some point, so if the pitch interests you, you should check it out! As my entry for today’s prompt, HELL, here is a magic item for your players that is really just campaign prep in disguise:

HEREMANCER’S HANDBOOK: Once a day, roll contested CHA to have someone do the opposite of what they want to do. If in MARROW, this LOOT grants a Level in Heremancer.