What’s the big deal with reality any way?

Welcome to Thursday nights post where we look at maps, rulesets and extras to make our adventure pop out of the page and engage not only our players but ourselves.

Tonight I wanted to look at something that I think could turn a relatively simple enough encounter into something that we would want to use again to spice things up on the table. So let’s crack on.


Warped reality

207ThWaRe

Warped reality is really the concept of Hunter and the other worshipers of the blessed having a constant spell over an entire village that reality started to warp around them, the manor now a constant shift between stability and unpredictability. For our purposes this would take form in the rooms shifting between whats in them, their state of disrepair and their contents as the party move through the house and as they, hopefully, fell the foul beings that the once humble servants to an esteemed household have degraded into.

Each room will have different effects and the nature should be random and unpredictable. For the sake of this look below.


1st floor

Entrance hall

As the party enter the entrance a long set of stairs leads up the left hand wall of what appears to be a small hall. As they look around a piece of the stairs railing crumbles and falls to the ground, disappearing into dust before it hits the ground. As the party enter the room they notice to the right through open doors is a large table with serving plates served with steaming hot food. To the left is a hall that looks to have once been used for entertaining guests and visitors. As they look back up the stairs to a small balcony the same piece of railing falls again and once more disintegrates before it touches the floor in a small cloud of dust that disappears as quickly as it formed.

Roll on the below table infrequently (if the party are in the room maybe roll every 2-3 minutes (20-30 rounds).

D6 resultEnvironmental Outcome
1-2The room seems to shift, the wooden flooring that was once strong and pristine rots and and of the party standing on the floor must make a [DC12 dexterity saving throw] or fall partially through the floor, becoming prone and suffering 1d6 damage from the jagged shards of rotting wood.
3+The room remains as it is, the single part of the railing from the stairs leading up will continue its cycle of rotting and falling

Dining

As the party enter the large dining area they are greeted by the smells of great cooked food and a table set for entertaining a great many people. Across from the doorway into the dining room lies a set of double doors and the sounds of sizzling meat, and frantic preparation can be heard within the room.

Roll on the table below each time someone moves to interact with the food.

D6 ResultEnvironmental Outcome
1-2The room remains the same, the food smells great.
3+The food fades out of existence, a think coating of grease and muck cover the table. The party find that the plates and serving platters are instantly gone and replaced with the bones of humanoids scattered across the table in a big heap.

Gathering hall

Opposite the kitchen and just before the stairs leading up the party find themselves in a large festive all. Grand curtains cover the windows and many sets of tables and chairs can be found surrounding a dance floor in the centre of the room. The party swear that they can still even hear the faint strums of a lute or lyre and someone striking a drum to a soft beat.

When the party move more than 10 feet on the dance floor roll on the able.

D6 ResultEnvironmental Outcome
1-2The party member keeps walking, amazed at how spotless the floor is and how there seems to be a faint warmth in the room as if it were filled with eager dancers and mirth.
3+As the party members on the dance floor takes another step they feel a sudden chill and presence as they swear a ghostly shape steps back into them. Looking around they see nothing else and if they had all imagined the same thing. Each person can make a [DC10 Charisma saving throw] or suffer disadvantage on their next ability check.

Kitchen

As the party cross the dining room into the kitchen and open the door the sounds of food preparation are quickly revealed to be an illusion or an echo of a time long since gone. Large cleavers lie embedded in the wooden bench in the centre of the room and a large cold hearth lies opposite them. Large chunks of questionable meat litter the room. [DC12 perception check] As the party get closer to the centre of the room a iridescent pair of wings can e seen discarded on the floor near two doors, one leading to what one would imagine would be the servants quarters and the other to the entrance hall. These wings appear to be from a large insect or perhaps a fey of some kind.

If the party approach the benches where the knives are embedded within the boards roll on the table.

d6 ResultEnvironmental Outcome
1-2The room quickly becomes animated. Gone is the filth, grime and gore and a well maintained cooks kitchen is now presented before them. A great bout of flame gushes fourth from the stove flooding the room with warmth and the smell of baking bread. However those to close may get burned [DC 10 dexterity saving throw] or take 2d4 fire damage, half on a successful save to all within 5ft of the centre of the room. The knives also start swinging down and chopping at vegetables and fine cuts of meat – anyone touching the knives or the centre bench need to make the same saving throw or suffer 1d6 slashing damage.
3+This place sucks.

Servants quarters

Moving onward through the bottom floor they find a small separate dining room and a small hallway that leads to six bedrooms that each look to be rather small, big enough for a bed, a little table and chair as well as a wardrobe for personal affects.

As the party walk down the hall roll on the table below.

D6 resultEnvironmental Outcome
1-2Nothing occurs apart from the occasional creak above them and a small shower of dust.
3+Part of the wall connecting the hallway to the Entrance hall (3-4) or the Gathering hall (5-6) suddenly ruptures outwards showing the party members closest in debris. In the plume of dust that follows they swear they see a figure darting through it at incredible speed moving towards the stairs and the sound of retreating footsteps can be heard.

Stairs way and overlooking balcony

As the party climb up the stairs the wood shifts slightly under their feet, turning solid and polished one moment and then being tired and worn the next. At the top of the stairs a small portion of railing keeps materialising in place before falling over the edge and disintegrating as it falls down towards the floor of the entrance hall.

Opposite them lies many windows overlooking the yards beyond and to their left lies a hall taking then to a bedroom to the left and a library at the end of the hall. To their right another hallway that leads to a larger bedroom at the end of the hall, a smaller room much like a study just before that on the right and what appears to be a bathroom adjoining the study.

As the party approach any windows in the hallway roll on the below table.

D6 ResultEnvironmental Outcome
1-2A sudden image of one of the 4 tall, slender and impossibly gaunt residents (and former servants of Katya and her family) appear behind the party members who are looking into the windows. The image is so lifelike that when it suddenly reaches out and lunches at the party that they feel the hands of the person on them. As soon as the physical touch is made the phantom image disappears.
3+Moving up towards the windows the party members can see that the glass appears to have nail like scratches on the edge of each pane of glass as if someone was desperately trying to claw their way through the glass and outside.

Halls

The halls are 20ft long with doors at 10ft leading back towards the front of the missing boards that form sort holes in the ground. If the party isn’t carefully watching their steps it would be very easy to fall down one of many of the missing planks and to the room below.

Each 5ft step the party make roll on the below table. The every 10 ft the party must make a [DC10 dexterity saving throw or fall in the hole,

D6 ResultEnvironmental Outcome
1-2The sudden sound of rushing feet coming towards them from the nearest room can be heard, [DC12 wisdom saving throw] to recognise it as a phantom noise else the party member makes the saving throw to avoid falling down the missing planks at disadvantage.
3+Nothing spooky, they either roll for falling down a hole or carry on.

Katya’s room

Katya’s room being next to the library and its relatively large, 10ft deep by 20ft wide. This room appears to be untouched by the rapid changes present in the rest of the house and contains of a well maintained room, bed with clean sheet and a wardrobe filled with nice clothes. There appears to have been no expenses spared to keep Katya well maintained and her needs met.

Library

The library is huge, 30ft deep and 20ft wide. There are several ruined tables littering the room with old armchairs which have very little padding left on them. Books, scrolls and pages litter every inch in this room and only the odd one stands out as being somewhat decently kept [DC15 perception check] to notice the only properly maintained and well kept book is a prayer book to Chauntea. On the wall overlooking the front of the house is what used to be a large stained glass window.

When the party examine or look closer at the stained glass window they noticed that the shattered glass across the room is slowly floating through the room toward the window, the grime and dirt from the glass seems to smoke and fade away as the image of a saintly man and large hawk wings stands in the centre of the stained glass window. After a few moments though the wings start to fade in colour and the man becomes gaunt, pale and fangs start to grow from his now sinister smile. As the image now staring back at he party is of a mostly naked, gaunt yet muscular rotting man the window implodes showering the room with its tainted glass, which, slowly, began to reform and re-do the process.

Bathroom

The bathroom contains a tub and a shattered basin the mirror has only a sliver of the actual mirror left and the resto f it can not be found.

If the party look at the mirror a faint waft of steam comes up from the shattered basin, which begins to reform. The shard of the mirror begins to melt and stretch across the rest of the frame before a fully constructed mirror lies in its place. As they look towards the mirror the words appear on it “All praise the blessed one, in his light we find peace and are sated with his love”

Study

The study contains a large desk and a few chairs around it. It appears almost completely untouched. [DC12 arcana or religion check]. The room has been warded against evil, that much is sure. On the wall is another family portrait much like in the crypt where they met Katya but this time the divine energy that can be felt radiating from the painting is formidable. [DC12~14 investigation check] Looking behind the painting they will find a collection of holy relics and a holy symbol of Chauntea that seems to shine faintly.

Master bedroom

The master bedroom is a disaster. The entire room has been smashed to rubble and it appears as though this is where the family members who kept Katya imprisoned here lived and spent most of their time. Four large windows overlook the front yard which are replicated to look out the back yard. clothes seem to be piled in the corner of the room, some of it appears to be salvageable and there is a stench of rot, decay and malice that floats through the air.


Well, hopefully that paints an okay picture for tomorrow nights content and then the weekends!

Thanks for joining me tonight, I had a lot of fun writing up what we could do for a house that was shifting erratically as the magic that controlled its form for soo many years was leaving it. I only had a limited number of options available for each room to keep it simple, not all are created equal but this is just an option to what could be a theme for an encounter. Greater variety with more significant effects could lead to a more rewarding and enriched game.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe