His Majesty The Worm: Horrors In A Garden Dungeon

Happy almost anniversary. 2024 was a tough year for creative brain and keeping games going both because of player fluctuation and my waning motivation. However, the last month or so has seen a resurgence for me in tackling the myriad of half finished projects while running a new campaign of His Majesty The Worm. The game is wonderfully designed and my last session saw a real workout of the Challenge phase card battle mechanics that really saw my players engage in a way with tabletop RPG combat I hadn't seen for a very long time. As every referee, DM, GM, and Keeper knows that joy is the grease for the gears so the machine chugs on.

Dungeon Seed: 

The Barrow of the Unrequited

Hundreds of feet beneath the ancient elven grove of The City is crypt of fallen martyrs. Elven parents forced to sacrifice themselves to sire children in this new world were entombed here after a civil war amongst the immortals from ages past. Unable to reconcile their differences the council chose instead to hasten their own demise and bring about a new age of peace by a mass ritual suicide which led to the creation of the White Tree and the veneration of The Tripartite Crown which has stood for a thousand years. Their lovers and children would venerate their sacrifice by bringing flowers which eventually sprouted into an entire underground terrarium that seems to stretch downwards for miles.

Sights

Sentinel trees. Hedge groves. Massive roots and vines intermingled with ancient stone. Surging water from above. Statues of elven heroes names lost to time.

Sounds

Singing. Insects. Deer calls. Deep reverberations. A primal call.

Smell and taste

Sickly sweet. Fruit and decay. Evergreens and rotten meat.

Lighting

Light shafts from the cracks in the ceiling refracted by mirrors. Torches of blue fire still lit by ancient enchantments. Half-light struggling through forest mist.

Structures

Tunnels hewn from colossal tree trunks. Necropolis chambers of carved stone. Groves of trees and cultivated gardens. 

Common monsters

Vampire Deer, Nyctweed Thralls, Topiary Beasts, Wayward Grail Knights, Dragon Beetles, Elven Vampires, Ego Wraiths

Dungeon Lord

Selagius The Unrequieted

Denizens of the Unrequieted

The Barrow of the Unrequited amounts to a dungeon crawl in an underground enchanted forest revolving around fated lovers, fae machinations, and enterprising knights searching for their own holy grail. While in construction I've found myself working with themes of rebirth and cycles making as many of the dungeon denizens into plants as possible. Here are some of my experiments so far. Maybe you'll find some fun in using them as much as I've had making them. 

Nyctweed Thrall

When vampiric vines and toxic spores are not enough to defend the garden nature finds far more cunning ways to protect itself. Taking root in the hearts of corpses the Nyctweed animates the corpulent flesh to use as fertilizer and a vessel from which to seek sustenance beyond the flower patch. Though blind the Thrall uses scent, the feeling of warmth, and sound to hunt its prey through the halls of the dungeon. Mostly congregating around sources of natural light or water they ambush prey with no regard for their hosts’ well-being striking in a storm of brambles and thorns. Should they survive the encounter novice adventurers often make the foolhardy mistake of seeing a fallen thrall as no longer a threat. However, while the company ventured deeper into the Dungeon the Nyctweed Thrall regrew its severed roots, and soon finds an exhausted party returning to what they thought was a safe camp site as easy prey.

Attributes: Swords 0 | Pentacles 0 | Cups 0 | Wands 0

Elemental Minion

Health / Defense: 3 / 0

Likes: Light, Water, Blood

Hates: Loud Sounds, Rats, Fire

Notes:

• Rosethorn Flesh: Touching without armored gloves or attacking the Thrall in melee causes Bleeding unless done with a long hafted weapon such as a spear.
• Root Sense: Blind but can see through strong smells, warmth from light, or loud sounds. Can’t see Illusions and immune to effects which target the mind.
• Resurrection Root: Unless the Nyctweed Thrall is killed by fire or it’s tumorous heart is ripped out it returns to life with full Health after three Watches have passed.

Lesser Dooms

• Grasping Vines: Discard a lesser doom to attempt to grapple towards target. If successful, the Thrall moves towards the target up to 1 zone away and they are Rooted.

Effect: Bleeding. Must discard a card before performing any action. Actions which require moving quickly, quietly, or with force incur Disfavor.

Affliction

(Still torn on whether to keep this as the outcome to grave robbing as a trap or something the Thrall can do to you.) 

Bloomthrush:

You’ve run your hands through the wrong corpse and now the seeds have found their way inside. Welcome to the garden. Without a cure your fate is to become soil.

Stage 1: Your sweat becomes sweet smelling and you are followed by a pleasant aroma. There are no other ill effects.

Stage 2: Your skin becomes brittle and itchy. Scratching too deeply causes a floral smelling blood to eek from your wounds causing insects to pursue you voraciously. You are permanently Stressed.

Stage 3: Your wounds begin to bloom blood red flowers. Cutting them causes extreme physical pain. The discomfort is relentless. When you take a Wound become Stunned.

Stage 4: What remains of your skin becomes a vibrant green. You are a beautiful garden walking among the unworthy set in this fleshy soil. You become Blind and Deafened but you can see through strong smells, warmth from light, or loud sounds.

Stage 5: You die and rise again as a Nyctweed Thrall.

Dragon Beetles

Dragon Beetles, so called for their thick carapace and ability to mimic their namesakes’ fiery breath, make their nests in the hollows of the most ancient tree roots found in the Underworld. The bark of the arch-trees is said to be infested with such creatures’ who feast on the sap hidden just beneath the iron boughs of the tree. With a combination of clicking their massive jaws and spraying the sticky sap they feast upon they are able to create gouts of fire to ward off any rivals to their hoard.

Beast Brute

Attributes: Swords 0 | Pentacles 0 | Cups 0 | Wands 0

Health / Defense: 1 / 4

Likes: Sap, Dragons, Orcs

Hates: Noise (Laughing), Criminals, Vermin (Squirrels especially.)

Notes:

• Flying Nuisance: Can scale walls and hang vertically with ease. Can fly albeit slowly. If Defense is reduced to 0 it can no longer fly.
• Tough. Actions that target the dragon beetle must exceed (not just match) its Initiative.

Lesser Dooms:

• Lesser Dragon’s Breath: When the beetle attacks, discard a lesser doom to discharge a gout of sticky fire
  • If the Attack is successful against a target not wearing metal armor, it deals 1 wound and sets them Ablaze.
  • If the Attack is successful against a target wearing metal armor, it deals 1 Piercing wound and the adventurer is Rooted in sticky burning sap.

Effect: Ablaze. Panic causes Stress. Worn equipment takes 1 Notch each turn until put out. If destroyed then moves to Belt equipment then Backpack equipment one at a time in order.

Topiary Cobra

A topiary given life by a powerful druid to serve as a guardian of the garden. When still, looks like an ordinary plant with gems for eyes and elaborate features. When sacred circles are crossed or the garden is threatened activates in a storm of fang and thorns.

Elite Elemental

Attributes: Swords 6 | Pentacles 4 | Cups 3 | Wands 0

Health / Defense: 4 / 6

Likes: Hunting, Its Master, The Garden

Hates: Fire, Vandals, Undead

Notes:

• Enchanted Flora: When still, the Topiary Cobra is indistinguishable from a cultivated plant, other than its sapphire eyes.
• Sidewinder: Can Move through natural obstacles and across sheer surfaces with ease.
• Striking Distance: The Topiary Cobra’s lightning speed and long reach allow it to Engage with adventurers in adjacent Zones.

Lesser Dooms:

• Constrictor: When the Cobra Roughhouses an Adventurer discard a lesser doom to also inflict a wound.

Greater Dooms:

• Sapphire Prism: The Cobra can play a greater Doom card as a Riposte. If successful, the target takes a Wound and is Blinded.

Godsfall Seedling

At the sight of duels between demigods and great beasts all are enthralled by the spectacle of monumental power down to the most humble saplings. Where such divine blood spills sometimes a seed is quickened and a plant sprouts with ambition burning within. It’s diminutive form not satisfied with being a mere flower among fields it sets out into the world taking its roots with it. Most appear as thin green humanoids who mask their slight stature with armor or symbols important to the area surrounding their birthplace. With this visage they set forth on a crusade to beat the greatest fighters and most powerful monsters or fall in the attempt. But, their fall is part of their plan. After every defeat they learn something new for true failure is not possible unless their roots are destroyed with the same force that brought them to life.

Though they do their best to keep their true origins secret unless in private company the Seedling’s roots are one of the few known ingredients to concoct potions of resurrection making bounty hunting of such creatures a lucrative trade for those in the know.

Elemental Strategist

Attributes: Swords 4 | Pentacles 4 | Cups 4 | Wands 4

Health / Defense: 4 / *0 (3 If wearing armor)

Likes: Heroes, Hidden Knowledge, Adventure

Hates: Staying Still, Villains, Bugs (Especially small ones)

Notes:

Empathetic Camouflage: Can stand perfectly still becoming indiscernible from a statue. If dressed in a disguise can perfectly emulate the mannerisms of their chosen identity and can even speak like them.

Martial Mirroring. Emulates the tactics and fighting style of their opponent able to pick up on subtleties master’s spend decades perfecting just by watching. When an enemy makes a Test of Fate or other action the Seedling gains on Favor the next time they perform the same action.

Lesser Doom:

Adaptable Arrangement: When the seedling watches an adventurer perform a talent from their Path discard a lesser doom, they gain the ability to use the talent until they use this Doom again to select another talent.

Greater Doom:

Nemesis: If the Seedling should fall in battle discard a Greater Doom. The seedling’s body is destroyed and deposited back into the soil for a number of days equal to the value of the Doom. When the allotted time has passed the Seedling Nemesis is reborn and permanently gains an ability or feature from the being that killed it.

Conclusion

Promising updates and layout of the dungeon as we go along has been a tall order in the past but if I have something more I find interesting it will find its way here. Happy new year! 

Thanks for reading.