And now for something a little different . . .
Swamp Ritual Site
Location: Outside Rook City
Wildlife: Crocodiles, mosquitoes, herons, zombies, tree monsters
Terrain: Mixture of mud, vegetation, and toxic waste
Frequent Visitors: The Cult of Gloom, goth teenagers
Purpose: Performing foul rites of unspeakable magicks, picnics
Refreshments: IPAs
The villainous Cult of Gloom is at it again. Their members have congregated in a foul swamp, gathered the necessary mystical ingredients, and have begun another one of their trademarked evil rituals.
What are they up to this time? Are they once again attempting to free their dark lord and master GloomWeaver from his imprisonment in the extradimensional Realm of Discord, or are they attempting some other mysterious, arcane rite? Either way, our intrepid heroes will have their hands full dealing with all the cultists, stopping the ritual, and navigating the hazardous mires of the swamp.
Swamp Ritual Site
The Cult of Gloom 
Dark Magic 
Swampy Terrain 
Green
Minor Twists
- A Sticky Situation: Someone stumbles into a previously-unseen sinkhole. Roll the environment dice. Hinder one target with the Mid die.
- Lost Relic: Someone finds a magical artefact that has been lost in the swamp’s murky depths for years. Roll the environment dice. Boost one target with the Mid die.
Major Twist
- The Grove That Walks Like a Man: The lumbering, magic-infused mass of vegetation known as Man-Grove wanders into the fray. Introduce Man-Grove (see below) to the scene.
[color= #ffcc00]Yellow[/color]
Minor Twists
- Gathering Cult: Members of the Cult of Gloom arrive to fight back against the heroes. Roll the environment dice. Introduce a number of Gloom Cultist minions (see below) to the scene equal to the Mid die.
- Risen Dead: The present cultists use their dark powers to raise some of the many corpses that lay rotting in the foul swamp as undead servitors. Roll the environment dice. Introduce a number of Zombie minions (see below) to the scene equal to the Max die.
Major Twist
- Hasten the Ritual: The cultists of GloomWeaver redouble their arcane efforts. Advance the scene tracker by one space.
Red
Minor Twists
- Aura of Power: The Cult’s infernal ritual charges the air with magic. Roll the environment dice. Boost all magic creatures and magic-users with the Mid die.
- Necromantic Wave: The dark ritual generates a devastating pulse of infernal energy. Roll the environment dice. Attack all targets in the scene with the Mid die.
Major Twist
- Extraplanar Portal: The ritual conjures a swirling portal to the Realm of Discord, which immediately pulls several people through. Select up to four targets, and move them to the Realm of Discord.
Escape from the Realm of Discord
If the above challenge has not been completed when the scene tracker reaches its end, the portal closes and those characters are trapped in the Realm of Discord!
Swamp Ritual Site Threats
Gloom Cultist
Description
These misguided souls have, for one reason or another, joined up with the Cult of Gloom.Abilities
Fanaticism: Gloom Cultists have +1 to Attack actions, Hinder actions, and save rolls while a higher-ranking cultist is nearby.Tactics
The Cultists’ devotion to GloomWeaver drives them to do everything they can in service to their dark master.
Man-Grove
Description
Man-Grove was once a simple grove of trees. But now, thanks to toxic waste and dark magic, it is a hulking mass of writhing vines and creaking limbs that walks like a man.Abilities
Strength of the Swamps: As an action, Man-Grove can increase its die by one size (maximum).
Swinging Limbs: When Man-Grove Attacks, it can Attack up to 2 nearby targets.Tactics
Man-Grove is more instinctual than logical, and it is not inherently hostile, so it only engages characters who try to harm it.
Zombie
Description
These undead servants were originally corpses that were animated by dark magicks.Abilities
Walking Dead: Zombies have +2 to save rolls.Tactics
Being mindless servitors, zombies typically shamble towards whomever their masters direct them to.
Editor’s Notes
The first four environments that I’ve posted in this thread have been fairly generic — Gang Hideout, Deep Space, Time Cataclysm, and Realm of Fantasy. They don’t really have much story attached, could represented several different locations, and could be utilized in a range of different issues.
This environment, however, breaks that trend. It is a specific place with a specific event and story tied to it. Now, of course, that does not mean that one could not use it for other similar locations, but the distinction remains (in my mind, at least).
I do expect that the remaining environments that I shall post here will be more like this one than the previous ones.
Now, I do realise that making more specific environments is somewhat less useful for other GMs out there, but if I’m being honest, I’m doing this thread to share the environments that I want to make.
Anyways, speaking of plots, this environment should likely be accompanied by one or more Challenges for the heroes to thwart the Cult’s magical machinations.
Here’s a fun fact: this environment was actually the first of these that I came up with.
I was original going to include a couple of twists about the swamp life (crocs, bugs, etc.), but I was short on room, so I opted to cut them in favour of what I think are more evocative twists.
So, I may have overused the “grove that walks like a man” line just a little bit, but it’s my environment so shush. And as is mentioned in Man-Grove’s Tactics section, it only really attacks those who harm it. (I’m unsure as to wether this is canonical or not, but it’s what I decided to go with.) This means that it could enter the scene and not attack anyone because no one has attacked it, but then the heroes could try to persuade it to help them, which I think is cool.
On the topic of Man-Grove, his Strength of the Swamps ability took me literally forever.* It went through many iterations, including some in which he could increase his die size when taking Boost, Defend, and/or Attack actions, and some where it happened in response to succeeding in a damage save. I think that the version that I ultimately ended up with is properly balanced.
I am aware that the Extraplanar Portal and Aura of Power twists are somewhat similar to the Lost in Time and Ambient Mana twists of my Time Cataclysm and Realm of Fantasy environments, respectively. But, what can you do? There are only so many possible twists.
Regarding the minions in this environment, I was originally going to have two varieties of cultist — spellcasters and non-spellcasters — but, as you can see, I changed that. Also, these Zombie minions are virtually identical to the Zombies that I posted over in my Iron Five thread.
Well, that seems like all for today!
*Figuratively speaking.
Next Environment: THE X-TREMEVERSE!!!