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scenario_e_navigating_the_forest

Level 1 Exploration Scenario

Forests are best traveled using roads or at least existing trails, but sometimes adventurers have little choice but to forge a new path. This scenario is useful for just such a situation. Here, the PCs must navigate the wood in order to reach their destination in the nearby mountain.

This scenario is part of The Icon Curse quick adventure and has a number of narrative elements specific to that storyline. However, you can fairly easily modify these to adapt this scenario to a wide range of similar applications.

Map

Setting Wilderness
Type Normal
Lighting Lit (except B and F)
        B       F – G – (goal)
        | \     | /  
(start) A – C – E 
          \   /
            D

Regions

(Region A) Nests
The wood grows thicker and thicker the farther you progress. Thorns lash at you as insects and vermin nip your skin. It becomes increasingly difficult to keep a sense of where you are, and this would be a most unpleasant place to get lost.
Notes
PCs with proper Background or Craft (such as Hunter, Witch, Vagabond, or Fae Lineage) are aware of the poisonous thorns on the Wall of Foliage.
Exit To Obstacle
North B -
East C Wall of Foliage
Southeast D -
Hazards
Ant Swarm Respawn: 1; Pursues along A-C-E-G path ignoring Obstacles


(Region B) Smokebrush [dark]
At first, it looked as though this area was dark simply because of the thick canopy overhead. However, a peculiar smell quickly became overbearing as you realize you've wandered into a thicket of Smokebrush, foul plants that fend off herbavores by secreting an awful gas similar to smoke.
Exit To Obstacle
South A -
Southeast C -
Hazards
Acrid Smoke
Secrets
Fortune Hidden: 1d6


(Region C) Fungal Thicket
Typical underbrush has been strangled by the towering trees nearby, leaving only a bed of strange fungal growth in this area.
Exit To Obstacle
West A Wall of Foliage
Northwest B -
East E -
Hazards
Noxious Fungi


(Region D) Muddy Stream
This stream swells pretty substantially during a rain, but right now it's only about waist-deep. The ground beneath and to the sides of the stream, up to the thick forest brush, is a strange sludgy mud.
Note
This region requires swimming.
Exit To Obstacle
Northwest A -
Northeast E -
Hazards
Mud Hands Hidden: 1d6


(Region E) Ruined Cabins
Cabins once stood here, probably used as a base for hunters. There's a steep path to the northeast that climbs the mountainside. To the north, a short path disappears into a dark cave opening in the rock.
Exit To Obstacle
West C -
Southwest D -
North F -
Northeast G Steep Incline (Height 1 up)
Hazards
Shallow Pits


(Region F) Caves [dark]
It seems the ancient hunters used these natural cave tunnels as an alternate route, as old walkways and ladders make traversal much easier than it would otherwise be.
Note
This region is dungeon setting.
Exit To Obstacle
South E -
East G -
Hazards
Small Gelatinous Skulk Hidden: 1d8
Secrets
Fortune Hidden: 1d6


(Region G) Mountain Trails
You get a glimpse or two of the surrounding terrain over mountain cliffs that overlook the region. Based on what you see and the notes on your map, you believe you are quite close to the ruins.
Exit To Obstacle
West F -
Southwest E Steep Incline (Height 1 down)
East Goal Rough Trail
Hazards
None

Two Players

  • As Three Players
  • Start in C (remove A, B, & D)

Three Players

  • Ant Swarm in A does not respawn or pursue

Five Players

Six Players

  • Add a second Small Gelatinous Skulk in F
  • Add Jagged Stone to G

Tweaks

If you need a time crunch, convert this into a chase scenario by adding a Round Limit of 6.

Don't want to add caves and mountain paths? Swap out those regions for more forest-themed regions that include Spider Webs, Vermin Swarms, Rainbow Moths, and/or Fright Beetles.

Convert to a jungle or taiga theme with Sweltering Humidity, Chilled Winds, a Thunderstorm, a Blizzard, and/or some Cracked Ice.

Simulate longer travel with a chokepoint region or two that include Long Paths.

More level 1 exploration scenarios

scenario_e_navigating_the_forest.txt · Last modified: 2019/05/30 13:27 by triptycho