Thursday, March 20, 2014

Sandbox Wonders 8

I've been fighting a cold for a week now.  It isn't bad, but I feel too tired to be very creative.  Here are a few wonders just to keep the blog active:

73. Wandering Grove - Within a large area of plains, a particular grove of trees is never seen moving but often found in different locations.  Some say it hides a ancient shrine and moves to keep it safe.
74. Cypress Stands - These low, rolling hills are peppered with lines and stands of Italian Cypress.  Close inspection reveals they outline former lanes and villas.  Somehow, the trees survived the complete destruction of the rest.  Reading a map here will cause ancient dwellings, cities, and roads that no longer exist, to appear on the map.
75. Winter Boulders - Above the tree line there is a area that looks clear, but in winter fallen snow reveals the shapes of invisible boulders.  The boulders have centuries of graffiti and recesses carved into them.  Placing objects into recesses will make them invisible too.

4 comments:

  1. The Wandering Grove reminds me a little of one of the more interesting (in my opinion) adventures from Dragon magazine, "The Wandering Trees".

    ReplyDelete
  2. That Wandering Grove put me in the mind of this real-live moving tomb:
    http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/649-tomb-of-doom-could-turkeys-tiny-exclave-drag-it-into-syrias-war

    Seems to me that a situation like that might have some potential for RPGs in a variety of genres.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @faoladh: Interesting. I missed that one back in the day. It is also trees hiding a shrine, but because the paths to the shrine are constantly shifted about.

    @umbrielx: I had heard of enclaves before but not that one and it having been moved is fascinating. Yeah, I keep thinking of man-made wonders like colossi and such, but it is hard to make them without presuming a lot about the DM's world who will use this table. Maybe at a more abstract level, like "political enclave," without specifying culture or anything, it might work

    Thanks to both of you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In your context the Turkish enclave got me thinking about the possibilities of fantasy enclaves. There's potential even at a mundane level ("You're digging in the wrong place" -- a map reveals that a legendary treasure isn't at the site everyone thinks because the markers were moved), but even more at the supernatural. Perhaps a nation or cult having claim to the area around a certain tomb or menhir, or somesuch that moves around magically and unpredictably. Such an enclave moving somewhere significant in a hostile nation could result directly in war, or other intrigue could result -- Players could have to escort a garrison through hostile territory, or loot a normally inaccessible tomb before guards arrive.

      Delete