This mighty forest spreads for miles upon miles. Many hundreds of different kinds of trees grow here, from the pines of the west to the oaks of the deep forest. Though the furthest edges are occasionally visited by men, the vast majority remains unseen by human eyes. This is an ancient forest, one that has stood for countless millennia. The first ages of the world when gods walked the earth and men were but a whisper in the minds of their creators saw this forest come to being from a single tree. That tree, the Eversource, still stands in the heart of the forest. Its trunk is so wide that fifty men could not encircle it. It is so tall that its canopy dwarfs even the mighty ironoaks, whose branches reach a hundred heights of man into the air. No disease or infestation has ever dared to take hold in the Eversource, and through its power the trees around it have flourished and spread.
The forest holds many wonders, and many horrors. There are beasts within that would shake the bravest hearts. Even the trees in some places have grown wild and angry, and do harm to any animal large enough to make its notice. The rains that come frequently nourish the beasts as well as the trees, and there are things in the deepest parts of the wood that have grown to sizes equal to the titanic ironoaks.
What follows here are some inspirations your games can take from such a forest as this one. I present a handful of creatures, new materials, and adventure ideas to make your Saturday a little more entertaining. The creatures are presented using the Labyrinth Lord format.
Creatures
Fearwillow
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| No. | 1 (1d2) |
| Align | Chaotic |
| Move | N/A |
| AC | 6 |
| HD | 6 |
| Att | 3 (branches) |
| Dmg | 1d8/1d8/1d8 |
| Save | F3 |
| Morale | 8 |
| Hoard | None |
| XP | 320 |
These trees occur when the seed of a willow tree takes its sustenance and incubation from the corpse of a demon. They are the same size and shape as a regular willow tree, but their trunks, branches, and leaves are all white. Red spots run the length of the trunk. Whenever a living thing passes within a few yards of a fearwillow, the tree’s branches will shake and shiver as if in anticipation. If a living thing passes under the willow, then the wispy tree’s branches will caress it gently. Every touch of a fearwillow causes a sense of growing dread. If something spends too long in the grasp of the tree, the fearwillow will suddenly seize it and draw it towards the trunk, where an unholy maw will open. Unless the creature breaks free, the abomination will devour it whole, feeding on the terror it has been cultivating. It takes two full days for a fearwillow to consume its prey. When finished, the entire body will have been incorporated into the tree, and it will grow in size in proportion to the terror of the victim.
The bark of a fearwillow can be dried, ground up, and steeped to make a tea. This tea grants the ability to sense fear and feed on it, letting the imbiber recover 1 HP per round spent in the immediate vicinity of something that is afraid. This ability lasts for one month for every pot of fearwillow tea consumed.
Hunter Beetle
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| No. | 1d4 (1d4) |
| Align | Neutral |
| Move | 120’ (40’) |
| AC | 3 |
| HD | 4 |
| Att | 1 |
| Dmg | 1d6 |
| Save | F2 |
| Morale | 7 |
| Hoard | None |
| XP | 80 |
These insects grow to be a hand’s length in size at adulthood and live in dark parts of the wood that have little light beneath the canopy. It has three horns coming from its head and is a ghostly grey in color. When it flies, its wings create a buzzing tone that sounds like the hum of a gargantuan tuning fork. Its preferred method of attack is to eject a stream of foul-smelling liquid onto its prey. This bile has a paralyzing effect, causing total paralysis within 8 rounds. The hunter beetle is content to wait for its prey to stop moving before it advances and begins to feed. It will attack anything up to an elephant in size, as anything bigger than that is unaffected by the bile. Creatures the size of a squirrel or smaller are generally ignored.
A hunter beetle’s bile can be harvested from its body after it dies and retains its potency for a full year. Only an ounce is necessary to paralyze a man. The paralysis wears off after an hour.
Adventure Ideas
Long-dead civilizations are not the only source of treasure to be found in this world. Clever and knowledgeable adventurers can discover many things within the depths of an ancient forest. Here I present some single-line adventure ideas to get your mind working.
- An alchemist hires the party to retrieve an ingredient that can only be found in the heart of the forest.
- One of the party is attacked by a poisonous creature of the forest, and they must find the antidote before it’s too late.
- The party finds an old hermit in the forest who offers to teach them a strange new spell if they assist him in finding his “daughter.”
- A talking tree asks the party for help against a company of orcs that are felling trees to make a war camp.
- A royal chef is tasked with preparing a delicacy for a tyrant, and needs the party’s help in order to procure the ingredients.