Earlier I talked about a part of my setting called the Wild Primeval. It's one part Feywild, one part Wonderland, and one part Princess Mononoke. It's not an alternate dimension of magic, spirits, and fairies, but a true part of the world that covered the world in ancient times but has now been assarted by man to make room for civilization. Below are the rules I use, though translated to using D&D rules. I use these but for Savage Worlds. Hope you enjoy!
The Wild Primeval
Hexes that spawn on the map, having a 1% chance per day. This is Increased by several factors, some caused by the PCs.
Spells cast in the previous day: +2% per spell
Existing Wild Zone: 2% per Wild Zone Hex
Existing Wild Realm: 5% per Wild Realm Hex
Existing Ascended Wild Zone: 10% per Ascended Wild Zone
The percentage from spells cast are added the following day, then reset. These are all cumulative and go to a maximum of 75%.
When they spawn, check your 10 x 10 hex map and roll 2d10 to choose the random spawn coordinates. If you have a different sized hex map, you can choose different dice that would fit, or pick a 10 x 10 area on it. If it spawns on top of a settlement that is a town or larger, re-roll. The Wild Primeval tends to avoid civilization when first spawning.
Once spawned, every day you roll 1d6 to see if the origin Wild Zone continues to anchor itself into our reality or fades away. Rolling 4+ succeeds, raises (every 3 over the success DC for non-Savage Worlds players) count as additional successes, dice explodes. Three success means the origin Wild Zone is now permanent. Three failures means it dissipates.
Once it has become permanent, the origin Wild Zone starts spawning more Wild Zones in adjacent hexes. Every day, roll 1d6 to see which adjacent hex becomes a Wild Zone. Do this until the origin Wild Zone is surrounded by the secondary Wild Zones.
Once surrounded, the origin Wild Zone becomes an Ascended Wild Demesne and the surrounding six hexes the Wild Realm. Every week, roll 2d4 to see how much it expands. The numbers rolled are how many hexes are spawned. Each expansion must be adjacent to two existing Wild Zone hexes.. These can spawn over settlements that are towns or bigger. Wild Zone hexes that no longer border normal hexes become Wild Realms.
An Ascended Wild Demesne can erupt into something greater called an Unbound Wild Demesne. More on that later.
Multiple origin Wild Zones can spawn and it’s not unusual for a Wild Realm to have two or more Ascended Wild Demesne. When spawned, you can connect the realms with the spawning Wild Zones to form a larger Wild Realm.
Rules in the Wild Zone
In all Wild Zones, the laws of reality are warped. Magic is more random. All casters gain the Wild Magic backlash. Every time a spell is cast, there is a 10% chance they set off a Wild Magic event. Roll a d6 and see the results are below. Each result is simple and the GM or player can embellish as they see fit. The results are purposefully split between beneficial, neutral, and negative.
- The spell doesn't work, but still uses up a slot. You take 1d4 damage per spell level.
- A different spell on your list is cast, GM's choice.
- The spell's cosmetics changes. Fireball becomes purple and grease smells like lavender.
- Something cosmetic changes either you or the target(s). Hair color, smell, clothes, gender, whatever you or the GM decides. It lasts for 1d6 hours.
- The spell casts for free, without using a slot.
- The spell heals you or your target for 1d4 per spell level.
In addition, casting a spell adds to the chance of an Arcane Tempest forming. Arcane Tempests are terrifying storms that ravage the countryside with magical energies and fundamentally warp the area. The GM checks once a day for an Arcane Tempest to spawn in the PC’s hex. The percentages are listed below.
% of Tempest in a Wild Zone: 2%
% of Tempest in a Wild Realm: 5%
% of Tempest in an Ascended Wild Demesne: 10%
% of Tempest in an Unbound Wild Demesne: 20%
Spell Caster in the Hex: +2% per Spell Caster Level per Character
Spell Cast: + 5% per Spell Cast
Arcane Tempests unleash harsh winds and rain onto the countryside. The precipitation is always strange, ranging from unusual to the climate (snow in the desert, sandstorm in the jungle) to the downright weird (raining frogs or blood). These cause the usual penalties to sight and ranged attacks. In addition, eldritch energies surge through the area like lightning. These bolts of arcane lightning do 2d6 magic damage to anyone struck. Casters also lose a random spell when struck. Eldritch lightning has a 1 in 12 chance of striking a random character per 1 hour in the Arcane Tempest. Arcane Tempests disappear after 1d6 hours. When an Arcane Tempest is done, it changes the landscape drastically. Change one or more of the magical vistas in a hex when the storm is done. I usually change an amount equal to the hours the storm lasted.
The terrain in the Wild Zone becomes more treacherous. Forests become overgrown, deserts become hotter. Movement through all terrains are halved. Terrain in a Wild Realm and Wild Demesne become very chaotic. Floating islands, talking trees, rivers flowing into the sky, and fields of fire are all common vistas in these areas. These areas become great landmarks and potential adventures for the players and can be randomly rolled or placed appropriately. Each Wild Realm has one or two of these vistas. An Ascended Wild Demesne has three to four, and an Unbound Wild Demesne has five and up. I plan on making a list of these in a future post, but feel free to go crazy with this.
Monsters are more common in Wild Zones, and many are much more dangerous. Some monsters are spawned from the Wild Zones and will attack intruders to protect their home. The origin Wild Zone is the nexus of the all other Wild Zones. Within it is a strange glowing bulb called the Golden Blossom. It is what anchors the Wild Zones in our world. It has roots that extends out to all the other zones, making it easy to track.
Unbound Wild Demesne
Sometimes enemies or the PCs want to see the Ascended Wild Demesne grow even stronger. To do this, they can sacrifice creatures to the Golden Blossom to truly make it powerful. The blossom takes a lot of sacrifices to erupt. Below is a table that shows how many sapient mortals are needed to sacrifice to unchain the Golden Blossom.
Level of Sacrificed Creature Number Needed
1-4 625
5-8 125
9-12 25
13-16 5
17-20 1
When it has taken enough victims, it becomes an Unbound Wild Demesne. The surrounding six hexes become Ascended Wild Demesne. The Golden Blossom also uproots itself and becomes a colossal spirit plant monster I call the Primeval Guardian. It acts as a guardian of the Wild Primeval and will continue spreading the influence across multiple hexes and destroying any signs of civilization. Whoever created it doesn't control it and many times, the Primeval Guardian will try and kill its master. There is a way to control it, but I haven't figured that out yeah. I will definitely make some stats for this colossal monstrosity.
Destroying a Wild Zone
When you destroy the Golden Blossom, you destroy the origin Wild Zone and all hexes it spawned. Other Wild Zones cannot exist without the original one and disappear immediately.
Sometimes a large realm of Wild Zones and Wild Realms will have multiple origin Wild Zones. If one origin Wild Zone is destroyed, then the six surrounding hexes are also destroyed. In addition, 2d4 hexes disappear at the start of the next day, GM’s choice. After this, if there are any hexes that aren’t somehow connected to an origin Wild Zone, they too disappear.
The Players and the Wild Primeval
Whenever the players destroy or let a Wild Zone bloom, it affects the spawn rate in the area. Doing certain actions can also stymie the birth of these areas. In general, Civilization is anathema to the Wild Primeval, and taming the lands will make it harder for them to spawn. If there are four or more Wild Zones still in an area, the slider can’t go above 0.
Slider
5 -- All Wild Zones gain a -4 to all of their anchoring rolls
4 -- Roll the % to Spawn dice three times and take the lowest
3 -- All Wild Zones gain a -2 to all of their anchoring rolls
2 -- Roll the % to Spawn dice twice and take the lowest
1 -- All Wild Zones gain a -1 to all of their anchoring rolls
0 -- Spawns normally
1 -- All Wild Zones only need two successful anchoring rolls
2 --Spawns one extra Wild Zone on a success
3 -- All Wild Zones only need one successful anchoring roll
4 -- Spawns two extra Wild Zones on a success
5 -- Spawns three extra Wild Zones on a success and all Wild Zones anchor after one day
Building a Domain: +1
Building an Urban Settlement: +2
Destroying a Wild Zone: +1
Destroying an Ascended Wild Demesne: +2
Destroying an Unbound Wild Demesne: +4
Wiping out a horde of monsters/an alpha monster: +1
A Domain gets destroyed: -1
An Urban Settlement gets destroyed: -2
A Domain/Urban Settlement gets claimed by a Wild Hex: -2
A Wild Zone anchors: -1
A Wild Zone ascends into a Wild Demesne: -2
An Ascended Wild Demesne becomes Unbound: -4
Thanks for possting this
ReplyDelete