Regarding Firewood for Gaming Purposes

From Here

As something of a backwoodsy person, I’ve gathered firewood on many occasions. Driftwood from Lake Ontario which had dried out on a rocky beach would often make up the bulk of any bonfire, and save for the spiders and occasional rusty nail, it was decent firewood but it was notably scavenged. 

I’ve also had the misfortune of preparing firewood from scavenged wood found in the forests of the same region, which is to say that I’ve been attacked by bees, wasps, fire ants, additional spiders, and no small amount of spores and dust which hid within the desiccated husk of what appeared to be nice dry wood. Which is all before we get into the issue of wet wood.

The good firewood that I’ve prepared was generally harvested from logs from a tree that was felled for this purpose. The timber was split into usable sized bits of wood, and the bark was either scraped off beforehand or left on because it wasn’t getting in the way. There wasn’t a lot of time for the spiders get into the wood. It made for pleasant burning.

This is all to say that firewood is interesting and important, maybe not worthy of great ruling considerations in your game; but worthy of the following considerations:

Is the firewood harvested/from civilization/from a woodcutter? 

If so, it burns well without any additional problems. You have a nice fire for the whole of your night. If you’ve somehow made an extremely good fire, roll on the following firewood comfort table.

Is the firewood scavenged/from the wilds/possibly wet or infested?

If so, then you roll on the following firewood calamity table and unless you can attend to the issue properly, you gain a level of exhaustion. 

For sake of definition: harvested wood has undergone some degree of quality assurance by a professional, it isn't wood stolen from a pauper's wooden grave marker or utterly/potentially infested with spiders. Scavenged wood makes no such promises.

Firewood Comforts [d6]

1. Pleasantly aromatic smoke. Foods cooked on the fire grant an additional dice in healing value.

2. Heavy, billowing smoke. Insects, mosquitos and other such vermin keep away from the fire for the duration of the night. 

3. Warm and comforting fires. Party members who rest by the fire gain a full night’s rest, even if they otherwise suffered exhaustion or were made to take watch.

4. Large and crackling fire. Forces a morale check on beasts, both benign and malicious, who wish to approach the campsite.

5. Low-burning and subtle fire. Casts little light out into the wilderness, 4-in-6 chance that intelligent beings outside camp will confuse it for a trick of the moonlight, fireflies, et cetera.

6. Humble, comforting fire. Perplexes small game animals who stumble towards the camp, allowing a 3-in-6 chance of catching/striking them before they flee off into the night.

Firewood Calamities [d12]

1. Burns brightly, quickly. Wood was filled with itching ants, ticks, fleas, and other blistering vermin. Fire-starter must strip or douse themselves to receive recovering benefits tonight. If the fire-starter does no such thing, they cannot rest and suffer Exhaustion. 

2. Explodes in a crackling burst of splintered wood. Those near the fire must Save or have their clothing and gear scratched up by the wood. Flammable goods will catch fire. The one who threw the wood on the fire must Save or begin loudly choking on the fumes.

3. Spiders, numerous and vile, crawl out of the wood and on to the hand of the fire-starter before they can burn the wood. Save or be bitten, suffering a point of damage and a reaction which makes that hand swollen and unusable for 24 hours. If already Exhausted, damage and duration is doubled. Wood burns otherwise just fine. 

4. Low flame with heady, miasmic smoke. A pocket of dried rot and spores in the wood carries with it the risk of poisoning and sickness. Those who breathe the smoke deeply or eat food cooked from this fire suffer a mild indigestion poisoning, granting them Exhaustion and forcing them some degree of dehydration.

5. Crackling flame which doesn’t seem to warm the bones. The tree this wood was taken from is furious and plotting its revenge. It will send creeper vines and hateful roots to drag away the harvester and fire-starter, causing them to Save or wake up far from camp in the middle of the night, crudely bound and suffering Exhaustion.

6. Burns white hot and in tall, anguished tongues of flame. The wood creaks and groans as the fire burns. This wood was not meant for burning. The forest will act with hostility to any who venture outside the light of the camp. Reaction rolls are rolled twice for the next 1d3 days, taking the more hostile result against the party.

7. Acrid, heavy, collapsing clouds of smoke. Becomes an issue once the party is asleep. Save or wake up choking, the fire out, and suffer exhaustion. 

8. Burns darkly, phantom figures in the smoke. Specters, demons, and other phantasmal beings find passage into the mortal world through the campfire. 3-in-6 chance they will try to possess the party and make them their thralls/hosts.

9. Loud, crackling fire that burns too high. 3-in-6 chance of attracting unwelcome company, roll a d8 to determine what. 1-2: Wayward judgmental pilgrims. 3: Bandits (who thought this was their camp. 4: Bandits (looking to rob campers). 5: Wolves in search of sleeping prey. 6: Bears in search of easy food. 7: Some terrible woodland cryptid who wishes to cause havoc and fear. 8: A wayward wyrm of the wood who is very cruel as they took this fire to be a mating flame.

10: Explosive and powerful fire. 5-in-6 chance it will catch the surrounding area on fire once everyone is asleep. If the surrounding area is wet, it will create a great wall of smoke which will not dissipate for 2d6 days and causes disadvantage on all rolls to get out of the wilderness; as well as bleary-eyed exhaustion to all players present.

Why should you use such rulings?

That’s entirely on you. This is meant for use with a Into the Wyrd & Wild type of woodland where it is notably your antagonist. Much like drinking from a well in a dungeon rather than from your canteen, risks should be plentiful. I’d likely use these sorts of rulings in my inevitable Dolmenwood campaign for use when starting fire in places like the Domain of the Nag-Lord or the Fever Marshes. 

OSE/BX: Cats of the Wildwood (2 of 2)

A continuation of the previous article; five more cats, and some further randomization listings for making them unique. The statistic line for cats, so as to make them useful in OSE, is as follows:

AC 9 [10], HD 1/2 (1hp), Att 1 x Natural Weapons (1d3-2), THAC0 19 [+0], MV 40' (25'), SV 16, ML 5, AL N, XP 5, NA Solitary or 1d3 (as Pets), 1d4+1 (as Feral Cats), 1d8+2 (as Alley Cats Pack).

I think I got the ascending/descending AC right, as well as THAC0 to Base Attack Bonus/To Hit Bonus. I'll compile a good portion of this up later in a pdf, with a revised Dogs of Dolmenwood; so as to allow for more ease of use.

But first, a much belated return to me writing about cats.

6. The Sweeperskit is a boon companion of the tenement house and the villein, as it preys on all manner of household vermin and pesky birds, and also assists in the cleaning of ones hearth. Sweeperskits are narrow things, with bulbous eyes nearly always of blue, and faces coated in a sooty point of black fur. They make use of spindly powerful limbs to climb up inside of chimneys during the day, basking in the latent heat of a previous night's fire, coating their fur in sooty ash, and killing any bird which might attempt to make its nest within. Their name comes from a habit of many a chimney-sweep simply placing such a cat in the chimney of a customer, letting it clear out any debris.

Sweeperskits are kindly to anything warm, and many are used in hospice care for the infirm as a means of keeping up body temperature. The internal temperature of a Sweeperskit is unnaturally high, such that if they were to sit in a vessel of water (which they would not appreciate) they could bring the water to a vague simmer in about five minutes with their violent vibrations. They are very lazy when not provided with a hearth, as such many a gentleman have been known to wear a live one as a stole under their winter coats.

7. The Bellworthy cat is a common breed, often found in the backwater parishes hunting fieldmice and making comfortable dens in floral fields. Notable for their ears which perk up and uniquely fold so as to make the feline appear to be wearing either a papal tiara or a church bell. Bellworthy cats of great pedigree have been found in the portraits of religious leaders for centuries, and more than a few saints have proclaimed them as being the only cat who can sense the fiendish familiars which often assume feline form; and thus by some Divine Grace, Bellworthy cats are unable to be possessed by evil. But such documentation regarding cats being possessed by demons is esoteric at best, and such powers are best left to old maid's tales.

Bellyworthy cats are of capricious and friendly attitude to most; though they are purely outdoor cats and if not allowed to frolic and hunt field vermin they will succumb to depression and overindulge in whatever scrap food they can manage to consume, often resulting in obesity. Bellworthy cats are held in esteem by the Host of Martyrs and the Fraternal Church of the Stone Dove; and any servant of the One True God will likely hold the owner of a well-kept Bellworthy cat as a person of good and honest means.

8. Ogrekit are of a sad reputation, for in truth they are incredibly loving creatures of great intelligence; enough to rival a tipple-drunk Grimalkin if one is being honest. They are round, spud-lie in shape, with narry much to their neck; their limbs are stubby but powerful and their claws always seem to be extended fully. Their face is better described as merely a maw, as if someone had taken the mouth of a lion and placed it unchanged in size upon the much smaller cat. Its eyes are beady, often oblong and uneven, and seem to possess an infinite sadness---as well as eye crusties that are a tarnished, tarry black. They are, according to legend, the cats born into the homes of ogreish and brutish men. Most believe them to be vicious, prone to violence, and the devourers of children and filth.

This is all hogwash, of course. Any owner of an Ogrekit knows them to be kind, loyal, and loving. They are hefty creatures, and their clacking nails upon the floors of a home are notable enough as if to announce to the One True God that the creature is a-coming. A notable trait perhaps where part of their reputation comes from, is how an Ogrekit seems to enjoy the consumption of snails (shells and all) and oozes. Its iron gullet seems to allow it to consume such things in abundance, albeit making the kit both gassy and gurgling for the remainder of the day.

Wilfred the Cat, who is just delightful.

9. Eyewideners may very well be a lesser sort of demon than a proper cat, as they are scabrous, cyclopean, leathery feline-esque creatures which possess an uncanny malice and a penchant for the consumption of spectral energies. Witches and wizards of great potential may conjure an Eyewidener out from whatever dark space within the dreamspace or mythic underworld they originate in; though enough have escaped their masters to occasionally appear in the elf-haunted groves and fetid grottos of the mortal world. They do not yowl or mew, their sound is a hissing cackle; like a tea pot boiling over while a snake is cooked alive inside it.

Eyewideners rest on the heads of their owners, and in mutual slumber the master is revealed terrible cosmic truths; such that upon awakening the owner is able to see invisible creatures for a scant number of minutes; with such creatures appearing as vague misty shapes. Eyewideners, despite their frightening appearance, have been known to be used by witch-finders and charlatans alike in the combating of wicked spirits or the removal of haunts. 

10. Common Wodecat are notably the most common sort of wild cat to be found in the woods and fields of the world, a mish-mashed blend of various breeds which appears otherwise like a normal village cat save for being a bit longer across the torso. Wodecats are renown climbers and can leap a good twenty feet from branch to branch. Arboreal hunters by nature, they feast primarily upon squirrels and small songbirds, whose eggs they enjoy swallowing whole. Their only true rival and competition in their hunts would be owls, whom they view with a vicious rivalry more befitting a dwarf in viewing of goblinoids than in such common creatures.

Wodecats are adequate pets, though often better left to roosting in a barn than being brought into the house proper. They view everything as beneath them, often quite literary, and if not given adequate room to climb and view from above they will cause a ruckus. They will clear out most vermin in a farm within a matter of days, expanding outward until they find a high enough place to perch and wait for more food to fill the gap.

What's unique about my cat? [d20]

1. It has a stubby naked tail, sort of like having a big nipple coming off its rump.

2. It has several additional toes on each foot and enjoys placing those on your face.

3. It gives often painful "love" bites, as if tenderizing your flesh for consumption.

4. It carries baby animals, like rats or possum, upon its back until it decides to kill them.

5. It always seems to be eating bees and hornets...

6. It enjoys licking your overly sensitive bits of skin with an extra sand-papery tongue.

7. It seems to urinate on things you enjoy when it is upset with you.

8. It wakes you up every morning by biting at your nose and screaming.

9. It seems to sway its head and spin when music is played, as if dancing.

10. It never takes its eyes off of a spiritual entity, as if a staring contest might hold it at bay.

11. When fed raw fish it only eats the heads.

12. It enjoys bringing you "treasures," which consist mostly of mutilated vermin.

13. It hates your traveling companions and toots in their general direction.

14. It hates the smell of alcohol and is always tipping over cups and bottles of the stuff.

15. It has notched and mangled ears.

16. Whenever it coughs up a hairball, the hairball seems to be a twitching mass until you blink.

17. It gets into mewling conversations with other cats and looks at you judgingly if you notice.

18. It enjoys screaming at the most unpleasant of times.

19. It likes to rub its head into pungent items, drooling all the while.

20. It constantly "bleps" out its tongue, like it is trying to play a woodpipe.

My cat is... [d12]

1. A lazy lump of a potato, save for when I need a moment to relax and then it has energy...

2. An elegant beast which demands more attention than it really deserves.

3. Not really my cat, it does what it pleases and I just get to witness its greatness by proximity.

4. An adequate bane to tiny crawling things which wish to spoil my house and kit.

5. Good company and soothing to pet after a hard day's work.

6. One of those cats that thinks its a dog. This causes no small amount of chaos.

7. A wild animal and I always seem to forget that. It loves reminding me.

8. More loving than any romantic companion and will never leave me.

9. An ugly little scrotum goblin who I would die for.

10. A snuggling companion who provides me comfort.

11. A maniac creature who will be the death of me.

12. A precious little baby, no matter how fat and old they are.

Next Up: I have a mostly completed Vagabond class I want to give another run-through before I publish, as well as a starting generator for Dolmenwooding purposes. I might put out some character deeds; which are little things that encourage play style which I've used before in games.

Also the Rakehell revision layout is done, it needs a few corrections and I'm putting the pamphlets in it; and then testing a proof; it should be on sale as soon as I get that; hopefully within a week or two. 

Dolmenwood: Names & Family Foundings

I'm to be starting up a new Dolmenwood campaign shortly, and as such I felt to add some material to my character generation documents. What follows are some listing of surnames and family foundings, for use with some of the generator content for Henchmen found in Wormskin #7. There's more content to come (I've been working on some Level 9 Stronghold/Gift stuff, but that's taking quite a bit of time), so here's some stuff in the mean time for making human characters for the setting.

Names & Families

Not all family lines are created equal, and even those of prominent means can fall into languid ruin. Use the following tables to determine your family name, common or vaunted.

Roll a d20, on a roll of 11+ your family was once vaunted and held power. On a roll of 10 or less, your family is common, but ambition only might change their stars.

If the roll was even, the founder of your family line was a woman, and her surname is what you carry. If the roll was odd, the founder was a man, and you bare his surname.

Only those knowing deeply of bloodlines and titles can tell the distinction, and seldom is there power to be gained in this.

Common Surnames [Man d20]

1. Slangbunke

2. Hoggswaddle

3. Falconkrief

4. Toppleman

5. Silver

6. Swift

7. Rumcraven

8. Doggersea

9. Alderlash

10. Redlock

11. Lobspound

12. Motherall

13. Blaggbook

14. Ginswain

15. Tumultide

16. Muckworm

17. Skegwit

18. Woodsmen

19. Culpit

20. Saints-Day

Common Surnames [Woman d20]

1. Nacky

2. Pittock

3. Owl-in-Ivy

4. Pannamloaf

5. Trantum

6. Clovers

7. Pensioner

8. Quipcove

9. Redletter

10. Lockbonder

11. Hearshill

12. Ragrattler

13. Sacheverel

14. All-a-Gog

15. Dugdropper

16. Mackelmace

17. Elmsown

18. Bridecrown

19. Switchgoggle

20. Wappenswhid

Vaunted Surnames [Man]

1. Dorian

2. Grimmcleu

3. Seldomsythe

4. Keyeslake

5. Magelfylte

6. Gravefend

7. Abbesser

8. Tosham

9. Bugaroch

10. Carvelring

11. Erlenger

12. Highpipple

13. Gorm

14. Skwilhammer

15. Yetch

16. Quartis

17. Blackwood

18. Aiderwine

19. Wolf-in-Womb

20. Salamie

Vaunted Surnames [Woman]

1. Pursons

2. Faustoon

3. Cromlechter

4. Silvershear

5. Wapperwash

6. Scratch

7. Woomblette

8. Garfengeld

9. Eench

10. Hardwater

11. Sternholm

12. Breunbrokkle

13. Xantippe

14. Yaffleneck

15. Zedland

16. Bowernock

17. Leddlemont

18. Pastor-Prudence

19. Toddy

20. Karnality

Common, Family Founding [d12]

1. Your ancestor took care of their spouse after a bandit raid on the settlement almost saw them dead. They held bitterness to those marauders, long after age and circumstance would’ve seen their enemies dead.

2. Your ancestors worked the same trade, they drank together, and soon enough were betrothed. They never really loved one another, but they respected none more than the other.

3. Your ancestor married the sibling of their true love, who was lost in a botched exorcism which saw the family line forever blighted in the books of witch-finders. Long has this whim of cruel fate tarnished the family line.

4. Your ancestors were hated enemies, forced to cooperate in the face of a greater threat, which lead to friendship and eventually to love. In their dying days, they laughed at the hate which once clouded their hearts.

5. Your ancestors met at the burial of a mutual friend, and though the weight of loss always seemed to bedraggle them, they wrote many a letter about their scant happy years. They seemed happy towards the end, as if appreciating a cessation of miseries.

6. Your ancestor was a brute, a vicious creature of rough hand and cold heart. How their spouse survived them all those years is a matter of family lore which changes depending on who is asked. The most common theory is the spouse murdered your ancestor, for their own survival.

7. Your ancestors were friends since childhood, raised on the same wet nurse some have said. They had a penchant for mischief and greed which followed them well into adulthood, and though they died penniless; their ambitions were always of note. Perhaps as a cautionary tale.

8. Your ancestor started their bloodline on a whim, because they could, because they wanted to forge something greater than themselves. It didn’t matter what anyone else wanted, or how they felt. Your ancestor took what they wanted, and your family line is still harangued by those actions.

9. Your ancestors served the Church, and their buggery was a breach of conduct which nearly saw them excommunicated. A sermon on the nature of mercy and hospitality towards the injured and tired was a controversial choice for your ancestor to preach, but it saved them from the lash.

10. Your ancestor was a nearly divine fool, often nude, often drunk, often freezing to death in the streets. They met their partner on a cold winter evening, shared a warm wassailing cup of cider and mint; and things felt less foolish soon after that.

11. Your ancestor stole their spouse from the Elflands, or so the family claims. It’s why your line is comely and beautiful to gaze upon, but also why the lot of you are sorrowful and prone to wanderlust. The Faeries have their own thoughts on this, most of which are mocking.

12. Your ancestors fought in a grand territorial dispute, Only after they’d claimed some degree of supremacy over all others would they marry and make merry. They were eventually undone by their many enemies, but the family line lives on.

Vaunted, Family Founding [d12]

1. Your ancestor was a bon vivant, powerful of word and aflush with coin. They had many suitors, and many more lovers. It is unknown if your branch of the family were the true born or the bastard born, but few in your family are as kind and carefree as its founder.

2. Your ancestors fell into diabolism and hedonism. They were debauched, sadistic, and felt that no righteous hand could ever stop them. One in your line was fierce enough to put the rest to the torch, to claim their filthy lucre, and to rebuild a more chatse and humble kindred.

3. Your ancestor held an estate of antiquated stone, and in isolation found only madness. They would marry, first their spouse, then the children produced by that spouse. They would create a brood, malformed and sick of mind. In recent years, things have been...cleaner.

4. Your ancestors were heroes, champions of the realm who waged blade against wicked foes. The family estate changed hands many times over the years, but you still bare a set of colors which any noble of worth can recognize from the stories of old.

5. Your ancestors wagered with coin and mercenaries at a time of great need. It earned them further coin and the force of arms to protect it, as well as the enmity of the ruling nobles. Even now they plot against your family for deeds done in ages long past. They call you an upstart.

6. Your ancestry can be traced to the upper echelons of the Church, to bastards born of bishops and cardinals, redeemed in the eyes of martyrs, and left to found a family with indulgent coin and unearned comfort. Many in your family find it hard to hold faith as easily as they hold a coin.

7. Your ancestors waged war against the heralds of Hell and all those who would bend the knee to infernal powers. They fell into paranoia and infighting, dark pacts with lesser fiends in exchange for the means to defeat greater beings. Your estate is in ruins, your family scattered or corrupt, and a dark hate clouds your heart at the worst of times.

8. Your ancestor was a fetch, a mock, a changeling; and you were born from its lines. It is a family secret, learned upon the passage into adulthood. You are a servant of an Elfland lord, a slave despite the wealth festooned about you. Your free will is your own, though it does not often feel that way.

9. Your ancestors were explorers, adventurers, and looters. Your family estate was built on the wealth pilfered from tombs raided and people’s plundered. You are in many ways devoid a sense of family identity that is not built upon conquest and the extortion of others.

10. Your ancestor was related to royalty, and though their claim was distant then and distant further still now, it saw them reason to hide among the common man. Your estates were never lavish, though they were comfortable. Your family line and colors appear more in ancient scholarly works than upon any banners.

11. Your ancestor was made to bed a progeny of the Goatlords, so as to secure an alliance of power between your factions. Every so often one in your line is born Goatish, and this is a mark of shame in these modern times. The Goatmen still acknowledge your house colors, for sake of hospitality between your people.

12. Your ancestors were scholars, aides to true nobility, and gained their name and power from noted discoveries at the start of now prominent crafts. They were skilled in their craft and skilled further in their studies. You know their penmanship, and those of their students, from countless hours spent reading their works as a child.

Dolmenwood: The Tumulheights - (Hex 1609)

One-page settings seem to be making the rounds as a concept, and while I'm totally in favor of that sort of framework I'm also really big on the three-hex starter situations as well. So I figured to combine a sense of those both, thwap together a map in a hex, and then place it in a setting near and dear to my heart. This is a hex-as-setting, meant to provide just enough to get the ball rolling. So these are the Tumulheights, a series of hilly barrow mounds located in Hex 1609; which on the Dolmenwood regional map is a few south of Castle Brackenwold and can be located beneath the map key. It is a thematically low level area, a place to learn a little bit about the setting, defeat some lesser villains, and to get away from the woods for a little bit. '

Click to Expand

Hex 1609: The Tumulheights

A patch of rough hills, scrubland and sparse woods to the south of Castle Brackenwold, the Tumulheights are a sacred burial ground or the ancient Emeraude warriors who beat back the Gomans. Man, Goat, and more than a few other stranger things lay buried beneath the mounds. 

From Culderhill, the Lichwards see that the anointed dead stay buried and at peace. But villains out of Pook’s Way know all too well that the Watchers and fouler sorts in High Hankle and Havenland would pay well for the blessed bones. 

Throughout the mounds swine gather in large numbers, trudging through the forest in troupes, snuffling the pungent hilly air for the seductive scent of truffles and other pungent fungal spores. On nights of the full moon, the Black Pig is said to be seen in the woods, and those who gaze upon his baleful magnificence will find themselves forever cursed. The Lichwards, as well as academics of folklore out of Castle Brackenwold, have their own theories as to the origin myth of the Black Pig; but the locals out of Pook's Way claim it to be a wicked fey prince.

All manner of bogun and goblin from the Dolmenwood make their occasional appearance upon the mounds, often as spectators watching the spirits of ancient Emeraude warriors butchering the damned shades of Goman legionnaires upon the blessed earth. When the bones of the fallen are removed from their mounds, these displays change. The Goman begin to win. The spirits, be they man or goat, fall into despair and in time become tortured and wretched wraiths who devoid of their stories, cast forth oblivion.

Mortal man does not tarry upon the mounds at night, lest the pucklemotes swarm them and steal them away to the Dredgemoot; where the Black Pig is said to slumber all other nights of the year in corpulent hateful bliss.

Key Features:

• Hilly - The grounds of the Tumulheights ebb and flow like waves upon the sea, and under each hill lie countless dead heroes from ancient days.
• Haunted - If not for the Lichwards out of Culderhill, the actions of the dead would be far more vicious to outsiders. They only appear deep underground, in the Dredgenmoot, or on starry nights.
• Windswept - Between the hills, the air blows quick and fierce. Smells carry for miles, as does laughter and whispers upon the wind.
• Wooded - The woods, while sparse, are primarily old pines that have long succumb to the rot and weight of bracket fungus which clings to their trunks.
• Temperate - It is as temperate here as in the rest of the Dolmenwood, though being just south of the wood proper, winter can be found here in its season--albeit reduced by proximity.
• Colors - The flora here is like smoke-stained juniper leaves, the browns are of deep earthy slate. The pigs are all black, but not as black as the Black Pig or the Pucklemotes.

Points of Interest:

Culderhill Abbey: A small, fortified tower of rustic stones hewn in elder days. Two stories, with a large stables which due to a lacking of many horses has been turned into a make-shift training grounds for those who make use of scourges and maces. A large stained glass window depicts St. Signis upon a hill, tending to flowers which grow from the skeleton of a woman whose spirit looks upon the incident fondly. Matron Superior Muccshab is almost always present here, alongside 1d8 acolytes (usually nuns), and 1d4 warriors, generally seeking blessings or knowledge of the undead.

Pook's Way Taphouse: A rickety wattle and daub building built like the long halls of old, with ramshackle gutters and the occasional chicken running wild outside its coop. A burnt wooden sign nailed above the door depicts a large orb-headed fairy of black, pointing a finger towards the door while a lantern sits on its lap. The interior is decrepit and the floor is uneven, with many loose boards and whole sections of dirt floor. The kitchen is well-stocked with sausages and rotgut beverages, and the goatman Tarridan Gresh is often singing a jaunty tune when not being berated by moss dwarf or more thuggish customers.

The Dredgenmoot: A section of the Otherwold, an underground maze where the mycellum of fungal deities once lived. They were consumed by the Black Pig and its predecessors. There are many ways out of the Dredgenmoot, but they require crawling through loose soil, eating hallucinogenic fractal molds, and being subsumed by slime molds that reflect forbidden suns on their shimmering masses. Moss Dwarfs can easily find there way out of here, often leading back to the real world by coming up under a garden of mushrooms. 

Cast of Characters:

Matron Superior Muccshab of St. Signis:
A grizzled woman in her late 60s, allegedly older if the hateful gossip of novice lichwards are to be believed. She bares an unearthly pallor and the chiseled face more befitting a mountain than a mortal; her habit is reinforced with leather tassets and she never leaves her chamber without her blessed jack-of-plates hauberk. A lover of poetry but a long sufferer of the ravages of the undead, she maintains many spells and trains others in the profession of a lichward cleric. She has long enjoyed her time in the Tumulheights, but recent bone thievery has forced her to take a hardline approach to any strangers she or her lackeys come across. She works from Culderhill Abbey.

[AC 9, HD 3 (12hp), Att 1 x scourge (1d6), THAC0 19, MV 90' (30'), SV D11 W12 P14 B16 S15 (CL3), ML 9, AL Lawful, XP 45]

• Spells: Matron Superior Muccshab can cast three spells from the Cleric list as a Level 3 Cleric, and she can Turn Undead as though she were a Level 5 Cleric.

Tarridan Gresh:
A freshly twenty-year old goatman, child of deserters who fled Lord Malbleat's wrath, and apprentice-turned-propreitor of the Pook's Way taphouse. Easily mislead and with a voice like an angel, Tarridan has fallen under the coercion of Bashwick and his goons, and has long suffered the abuses of moss dwarf truffle hunters even before his former master was devoured by a "fog of shadows." Is overworked but likes the challenge. Has never consumed human flesh and will become an insatiable man-eater should he develop the taste.

[AC 5, HD 1 (4hp), Att 1 × Frying Pan (1d4-1), THAC0 19, MV 120’ (40’), SV D8 W9 P10 B13 S12 (D1), ML 6, AL Neutral, XP 10]

Bashwick of Great Lunden:
A bastard of a Havenlander, he shows signs of ensorcellement to those with the gift to see it. He drinks with hooded men and talks of expeditions into the mounds and the profits he's made selling pagan bones and old Goman scrap to high society folk in Lunden. He knows the Watchers and speaks kindly of their patronage. They plan to kill him once he's unable to fund further mercenary endeavors which might steal the bones and disrupt the joyful entertainment of faerie-folk.

[AC 5, HD 2+1 (14hp), Att 1 x Goman Sword (1d8+1, Masterwork), THAC0 19, MV 120' (40'), SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (F2), ML 8, AL Neutral, XP 35]

• Bashwick is supported by a network of goons, lowlifes, and general thugs from Bellthorp and the Midderlands, all functionally equivalent as low morale henchmen. He has at least 1d4 with him at any time, and 1d12 when out in the field personally appraising or stealing bones.

The Black Pig:
A powerful fey spirit in the form of a repugnant and gargantuan swine the size of a cottage. It belches forth spoors, and breathes deep the sorrows of the damned. While it has a rapacious love of honey wines and stump dryads, it is a known enemy to moss dwarfs. Their scent is often too much for the Black Pig to readily tolerate.

[AC 4, HD 7 (32hp), Att 1 x Gore (2d4), 1 x Trample (1d8+1), or 1 x Spore Belch (3d4, Save vs Breath to halve), THAC0 13, MV 180' (60'), SV D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (F6), ML 11, AL Chaotic, XP 450] 

• Spore Belch targets all within a 90' cone in front of the Black Pig's mouth, those struck by it can be tracked with supernatural ease by pigs, pucklemotes, and moss dwarfs until the half-moon. Moss Dwarfs struck by this spore belch are instead healed an equal amount of damage, with any bonus HP over their maximum threshold blossoming into an equal number of random edible mushrooms.
• The Black Pig becomes enraged in the presence of less than it's HD in Moss Dwarfs, and dazed for 1d6 turns in the presence of more Moss Dwarfs than its HD.

The Pucklemotes: 

Lesser fey spores, sentient bits of black puffballs that chase and harass mortals who walk the mounds at night. They are attracted by candlelight and campfire, but oil lanterns perplex and disturb them. They serve the Black Pig and other faeries who watch the spiritual melee, acting as house servants and bootlicks. If they engulf a mortal, they will transport them into the Dredgenmoot. 

[AC 7, HD 2 (9hp), Att 1 x Swarm (d4) or Engulf, THACO 18, MV 90' (30') flying, SV D14 W15 P16 B17 S18 (NH), ML 9, AL Chaotic, XP 35, NA 1d3]

• Engulf: Engulfing an enemy requires the swarm to collapse into the area directly around a single enemy and succeed at dealing maximum damage on a Swarm attack. If successful the victim must make a Save vs Spells or find themselves taken to the Dredgenmoot.
• Size: 20' x 20' area, typically, acting like hooligans and shuffling about as though gravity didn't matter.
• Swarm Attack: Unlike normal swarms, Pucklemotes will be half biting and nipping and half attempting to cast a spell to pull the victim into the Dredgenmoot. Roll 1d4 to determine damage, and halve any HP loss on those wearing armor (to a minimum of 1).
• Warding Off: Characters wearing cold iron force a morale check to be attacked by the Pucklemotes.
• Escaping: Fleeing the Pucklemotes is hard, as they are quick and vicious when finding someone scared of their violence. Characters who serpentine in their movements or throw distracting mushrooms or shiny objects can flee from the inside of the swarm by doing so for 3 rounds.
• Pursuit: A damaged swarm of Pucklemotes will chase characters until they enter a religious establishment or an area where they must otherwise ask for permission to enter. If a character enters the "home" of another creature like a wolf's den, a bear's cave, or an owl's tree, there is a 50% chance the Pucklemotes will not pursue.

Randomizers for the Tumulheights:

Some specific and specialized randomizers for use in this Hex, or anywhere really. 

What is Tarradin singing? [d6]

1. O Darling Fangbone - And what a sight was she, with a bone so biting brutal, it stretched from mouth to knee. 
   A jaunty and comedic love song about a man who fell in love with an ogress and sang her a tune while she slowly cooked him, eventually he sings from inside her gullet.
   
   
2. Malbleat's Many Follies - "As boundless as the skies, as foolish as a goblin rump, as pointless as his spies!"
   An insulting tune about the idiocy and wretchedness of Lord Malbleat, mocking his abuses and his foolishness. Popular in Lord Ramius's army.
   
   
3. To Dine Again in Bellthorp - "Crying, Cockerels and taters, and turnips, my boy! Oh bloat me, oh save me, my sweet Bellthorp girl."
   A drunkard's tune about better times and family, sung in Bellthorp and by those who wish to mock the Emeraudish over in the Midderlands.
   
   
4. Blind Eyes Me God - "So I'm sure as a Wolder, with Drunegelt I came, and in my wyrm's greed, I feel now His shame..."
   A lament for shameful actions in the eyes of the One True God, generally based around pride and greed. Can be sung as a comedic tune, as if God is not judging but rather it is all in one's head.
   
   
5. Waulking the Elf-Maid's Tartan - "We washed her great gown, with starlights and lamb's silk; we wash-ed her veil, festooned with pearls..."
   A washing song, generally getting more and more embellished with each verse until someone sings a line of how the elf-maiden is crushed under the weight of her luxury and goblins pick her corpse clean. Gallow's humor tune. 
   
   
6. Lament of the Deorlings - "The Wood King bred me, for nine months and better, he stole me fair heart, and my soul to fetters..."
   A song about the King of the Woods, the deorling, and the loss of station and sense of self; a ballad of ego death. 

Concerning Truffles [d6]

Type...

1. Robust Black Truffle
   The robust black truffles of the Tumulheights grow only near the mounds, and to the common eye they look like either the spoors or eggs of some terrible basilisk. The taste is too rich to be consumed raw, leading to a drunken state if not properly prepared. When cooked it fills the belly as full as any steak or hauk of ham. If prepared into an oil, it is a bit greasy but greatly contributes to the speed of the cooking process and if left to ferment with garlic in it, can create a robust cordial. 
   
   
2. Ivory White Truffle
   A robust truffle that tastes like the richest and most earthy of breads, commonly found by both dogs and swine. When shredded or cut, it compliments most meals and greatly adds to their qualities. The most common sort of truffle to find itself exported both raw, and as an oil. Worth silver in either case.
   
   
3. Grue-apple Truffle
   Cluster truffles that sprout like red fungal caps deep underground, often consumed by woodgrue and lesser fey as they enjoy the taste---something akin to blue berries over a stinky cheese and onion skins. Grue-apple can be used to make exceptional cooking oil which allows flavors to fully reveal themselves; and if coated to flesh this same oil can make poisons all the more powerful. Worth silver raw, worth gold in high amounts or in oils.
   
   
4. Broom Truffle
   A truffle that grows like a bracket fungus underneath the bark of ancient trees, popping through the trunk of a tree like bristles on a broom. Bark must be carefully peeled back to allow for harvesting, which requires the use of specialized awls to fully dig out the fungus. Salty but sweet, like a baked apple left to ferment. Used to make fine cooking oils that peasants can afford. Worth silver.
   
   
5. Scag's Tuber
   A false truffle, but still a favorite of pigs and moss dwarfs alike. Scag's tuber is a fungus that grows in wild onions, tasting much like fermented garlic and robust earth. Worth copper pennies in an open market, silver to someone buying in bulk. Can be used to ferment semi-spoiled food back to satiability. 
   
   
6. Swinefavor Truffle
   A common truffle, most often consumed by boars, devil swine, pig seers, and common farm pigs. Seldom seen in kitchens for this reason. Cheap, worth copper pennies. Tastes salty but savory, almost like caramel. 

Quality...

1. Dreadful quality, barely ripe, molded over and maggoty. Worth 1d4 its coinage.
2. Poor, broken, and poorly harvested. Possibly half-bitten by swine. Worth 1d4x2 its coinage.
3. Harvested too early, not robust with spoors, or insufficient size and vintage. Worth 1d4x3 its coinage.
4. Adequate form, good shape, little damage. Worth 1d6x3 its coinage.
5. Perfect size, good shape, no damage, robust texture, and fine scent. 2d8x3 its coinage.
6. Huge, powerful, bountiful, possibly sentient. Almost a burden to carry, but too perfect and astounding not to. Worth 3d10*5 its coinage.

Random Encounters (Day)

1. Huntsmen with Truffle Hogs and Hounds, (1d3+1d8)
   1. Open to conversation. 2. Polite but cagey. 3. Professional and willing to barter. 4. Caustic.
2. Havenlander and South Emeraude Thugs and Lackeys (2d6)1. Casing a mound. 2. Hunting deer. 3. Arguing with leader (Bashwick, if present), 4. Drinking.
3. Lichward Friar and Exorcist Disciples (1+2d4)1. Ritual prayers for protection. 2. Contemplating signs of a struggle. 3. Reciting scripture in the field. 4. Contemplating signs of recent excavation.
4. Deer (2d12)
   1. Bounding over hills. 2. Grazing on grasses. 3. Fleeing wolves. 4. Fleeing hunters.
5. Swine (2d12)
   1. Consuming truffles. 2. Horrifying noisy sex. 3. Consuming a dead body. 4. Sleeping.
6. Pilgrims (2d6)
   1. Singing songs as they march. 2. Discussing philosophy. 3. Praying. 4. Foraging foods.

Random Encounters (Night)

1. Swine (2d12)
   1. Consuming truffles. 2. Horrifying noisy sex. 3. Consuming a dead body. 4. Sleeping.
2. Havenlander and South Emeraude Thugs and Lackeys (2d6)1. Excavating a mound. 2. Camping. 3. Fleeing from undead, 4. Drinking.
3. Deer (2d12)
   1. Bounding over hills. 2. Grazing on grasses. 3. Fleeing wolves. 4. Fleeing hunters.
4. Pilgrims (2d6)1. Camping around a fire. 2. Warding away Pucklemotes to little effect. 3. Praying. 4. Sleeping.
5. Moss Dwarfs (2d6)
   1. Hunting for truffles. 2. Hunting swine. 3. Tracking the Black Pig. 4. Making truffle oil.
6. Undead (Ghosts, 1d8 or Ghouls, 1d4)
   1. Fighting Goman Ghosts. 2. Making merry upon the mound. 3. Cavorting with faeries. 4. Seeking justice for bones stolen.
7. The Black Pig (if Full Moon), Elf Hunters (2d6, if not Full Moon)
   1. Reflecting upon nature's majesty. 2. Gazing upon the moon in strange sadness. 3. Rubbing bone weapons against fungus-infested trees. 4. Digging in the dirt, as if looking for something.
8. Pook Morels (Wormskin 8, p.35, 2d10)
   1. Speaking ghost stories upon the wind. 2. Mocking the party for their terrible fate. 3. Turning acorns into beetles. 4. Throwing centipedes and roaches at one another.
9. Pucklemotes (1d3)
   1. Laughing and giggling. 2. Engulfing a pig. 3. Bursting from the ground. 4. Eating truffles.
10. Lichward Nun (Unique)
    1. Seeking to prove her bravery. 2. Romantically embracing a spirit. 3. Praying above a corpse. 4. Eating bread upon a corpse. 5. Meditating as a ghoul sucks upon her breast, burning. 6. Cavorting with additional Random Encounter.