I for Islet [Sea of O'SR: Wraithstone Island]

[Note: Any non-gamers tuning in to this series of posts are invited to consult my New Reader Introduction for some RPG-specific definitions and a general introduction to the Lands of Ara blog.]

Ball's Pyramid, an erosional remnant of a shield volcano and caldera that formed about 7 million years ago in the Pacific. Also the model for the Wraithstone Wall off the NE shore of Wraithstone Island.

Several weeks ago, Paul Gorman of Quickly, Quietly, Carefully officially proposed a collaborative OSR quasi-adventure path project (originated by Telecanter) called the "Sea of O'SR."  This would be a treasure-hunt-style adventure centering upon a series of small islands -- Paul's specific suggestion was that each contributor write up a 3-hour islet.  Here, at long last, is mine.

[Note: I am particularly indebted to Spawn of Endra, who added the numbered hexes to my hand-drawn map, and to ckutalik at Hill Cantons, whose How to "Awesome Up" Fantasy Maps post inspired me to add the jungle tree icons to the previously released, functional-but-bland "teaser version" of the Wraithstone Island map.]

 

Wraithstone Island

Wraithstone Island consists of two small proximate land masses: the main island to the west, which consists of the upper fourth of Mount Gorarr, a still-active oceanic volcano; and the Wraithstone Wall, an erosional remnant of a shield volcano caldera from a far older (and now extinct) volcano. The Wraithstone Wall lies just off the northeast shore of the main island, and is likely the feature most responsible for giving this spooky locale its fear-inducing name (see below). Both portions of the Island are tropical and humid, with persistent mists clinging to the lower areas at and just above sea level. The Wraithstone Wall is barren volcanic rock and has no denizens except the sea-rocs who nest in its upper caves. The larger Island to the west has two small black-sand beaches, and is otherwise heavily jungled. Only the ominously smoldering top of Mount Gorarr pierces the dense jungle canopy.

The Wraithstone Wall
A barren, jagged tooth of black volcanic rock sticking out of the Sea of O'SR, the Wraithstone Wall is so named for the many vertical lava trails and two gaping caverns that pock the wall's northeastern surface, creating the appearance of a ghost-like figure with two hollow eyes rising out of the tropical mists. Furthermore, near-constant winds in the area whistle through the Wall's caverns in such a way as to cause a constant, high-pitched, and terrifying howling noise that can be heard anywhere within a half-mile. It is this piercing, unearthly noise that drives most denizens of the neighboring Wraithstone Island somewhat mad over time; for new visitors to the region, the Wall's howling noises cause fear (as per the 4th Level MU spell, AEC p. 62) unless the hearer saves vs. petrify / paralyze. This save is required once per day spent within earshot of the Wraithstone Wall, and the sounds may also have some subtle cumulative effects upon hearers, at the DM's discretion.
Nesting inside the Wraithstone Wall's two large upper caves -- called "The Wraith's Eyes" by regional sailors -- are a pair of huge sea-rocs (see "Large Roc" LL p. 93). The two rocs will attack any ship or boat that approaches the Wall or the black sand beaches north of Area B. They will not attack any of the Sprite People. The rocs are impervious to the effects of the Wall's incessant howling noises.
There are no wandering monster encounters in or around the Wraithstone Wall. Most sea creatures and seagoing monsters avoid the place, due to the noise and the rocs.

Wraithstone Island and Mount Gorarr
Wraithstone Island proper consists of black sand beaches to the east, below the 100' contour line; dense jungle from the 100' to 900' contour lines; and black, volcanic rock above the 900' line, leading to the smoking caldera of Mount Gorarr at an altitude of 1300'. The island's shoreline consists of the two sand beaches and sheer cliff faces; nothing else. Thus the eastern beaches are the only two safe landing points for boats; however, note that the sand beach north of Area B lies within the two sea-rocs' territory (see The Wraithstone Wall above). There are no wandering monster encounters on the black sand beaches. In the jungle, there is a 2 in 6 chance every hour of a wandering monster. On the caldera's edge (above the 900' contour line) there is a 1 in 6 chance of a wandering monster every hour.

Wandering Monster Table - Jungle (100' to 900') - 1d12

1-2	Ant, Giant	7-8	Snake, Giant Python
3	Fly, Giant Carnivorous	9-10	Tropical Dryad (see Area B)
4	Scorpion, Giant	11	Lesser Wraith (NOT in Dryad jungle; re-roll)
5	Sprite Villager (see Area B)	12	Will-o-wisp (AEC p. 140)
6	Wraith Villager (see Area C)

Wandering Monster Table - Caldera (900' to 1300') - 1d12

1-2	Lesser Wraith (see Area C)	9-10	Magma Elemental (see Area F)
3-4	Salamander, Flame	11	Fire Elemental (see Area F)
5-6	Wraith	12	Sark's Undead Homunculus (see Area E)
7-8	Ghast (AEC p. 127)

Wraithstone Island Key
A. Village of St. Corky: Home of the shipwrecked crew of the Valiant, a merchant vessel commanded by Captain Roger Dorian. The captain and 3rd Mate Shawn Grog-Blossom are both possessed by Lesser Wraiths (see Area C below) and will do everything possible to entice the adventurers to climb Mount Gorarr and enter the Necromancer's Cave (Area E). They will insinuate that the treasure (or whatever the PCs seek) lies in that cave, but they will say nothing about the existence of Sark. Other wrecked shipmates suspect something strange is going on with their captain but volunteer nothing, fearing reprisals.

B. Village of the Sprite People: This beach village is inhabited by the Tribe of the Sprite, humanoids (statted as Neanderthals or 0-Level Humans) who worship tropical dryads (see "Dryad" LL p. 72) living in the jungle immediately northwest of here. Sprite people consider it a divine calling and a deep honor to be asked to join a "jungle spirit" (Dryad) in her tree. They may attempt to persuade PCs to feel the same way. Note: whatever major treasure (hunt) item brought the PCs here in the first place is currently stored in one of the Tropical Dryad's trees. The Sprite People know nothing about this specific item, but they wax rhapsodic over legends of "divine treasures" guarded by the "jungle spirits."

C. Village of the Wraith People: Dwelling place of the Tribe of the Wraith, humanoids (statted as Neanderthals or 0-Level Humans) who worship Sark's Lesser Wraiths (AL C, MV 120' (Fly 240'), AC 3, HD 3, #AT 1 (touch), DG 1d6 and energy drain, SV F3, ML 12, have the same characteristics as typical Wraiths except that they take full damage from magical and silver weapons, and only drain a life level on an attack roll of natural 20) and who conduct seasonal sacrifices to their "spirits" at the Wraithstone Wall. The Wraith People will attempt to convince PCs to stick around their village until nightfall when the "true spirits" (wraiths) will come visit.

D. Inland Great White Shark Pool: A huge (300' x 300') dark blue pool filled with Great White Sharks (see "Great White Shark" LL p. 95) that lurk at the bottom, waiting for someone to jump in. Sark feeds these sharks regularly.

E. Necromancer Sark's Cavern: The dwelling-place and lab of Sark, 9th level necromantic magic-user, (AL C, MV 120', AC 4 (-2 DEX bonus and +3 ring), HD 9, #AT 1 or spell, DG 1d4+2 or spell, SV MU9, ML 12) with a +2 dagger, a +3 ring of protection, and the following spells: Read Magic, Sleep, Darkness, Auditory Illusion, ESP, Invisibility, Feign Death, Hold Person, Fire Ball, Charm Monster, Arcane Eye, and Animate Dead. He is accompanied by Sark's Undead Homunculus (AL C, MV 30' (Fly 90'), AC 8, HD 3, #AT 1 (bite), DG 1d3, SV MU9, ML 11, see "Homunculus" AEC p. 129) as well as 2d4 zombies and 1d3 Lesser Wraiths (see Area C). Sark and his undead minions will do everything in their power to destroy impudent intruders; Sark turns many of those he kills into zombies, and feeds the rest to the sharks at Area D.

F. Caldera of Mount Gorarr: The topmost region of Mount Gorarr represents a steep, treacherous climb over loose lava rock, with no established trail. There is a 2 in 6 chance of PCs slipping (1 in 6 for mountaineering types including dwarves, rangers, etc.) and taking 2d6 falling damage. Anyone descending into the smoldering caldera will be attacked by the fire elemental (HD 16, see "Elemental" LL p. 73) and its two magma elemental minions (AL N, MV 60', AC 3, HD 12, #AT 1, DG 4d6, SV F12, ML 12, cause heat metal effect in 20' radius, adapted from "Para-Elemental" MM2 p. 95), who all fight to the death. Mount Gorarr has mini-eruptions every 1d4 weeks; these eruptions spit hot magma into the caldera but rarely (1 in 6 chance per eruption) ooze over the top. Even lava that comes over the edge usually solidifies before reaching the 900' contour line and the jungle.

+ Complete Wraithstone Island Map and Key downloadable pdf here.

+ Wraithstone Island Hexmap-only downloadable .png file here.

Other Tactile Maps: Polynesian Stick Charts

Mahalo, says thine Spawn:
Yesterday Mr. Telecanter posted an image of an Inuit tactile map carved in wood, that allowed Inuit folks to navigate shorelines by feeling the contours of the object. The beauty of this (one of the beauties anyway) is that it could be used in the dark, and of course served as a navigational aid when compass, sextant, and astrolabe weren't available. I imagine some really exquisite pieces of this kind being carved from walrus teeth, narwhal horns, and sperm whale baculums (look it up), as scrimshaw maps ... very cool treasure indeed. I like Mr. JDJarvis's example of a very literally coded map that could lead to a specific destination.

This brought to mind another tradition of navigational maps that work on different principles than most western folks are used to think about, but they obviously worked. That is, the Polynesian colonization of Pacific islands in the last 1500 years or so was the last expansion of anatomically-modern humans into uninhabited lands short of the establishment of bases in Antarctica.

These are the "stick charts" made by Polynesian sailors up until fairly recent times that represented the direction of swells, currents, and the location of reefs and islands. This blogpost seems to have concentrated a bunch of great examples in one place (and also belongs to a blogger that stopped blogging but left the blog as an archive ... a great exemplar of the no-nuke blog option).

 

Apparently individual sailors made their own charts, and so some of these are really idiosyncratic representations of how certain people perceived the response of their boat to the conditions of the sea. Put another way, here's a record of the kinesthetic gestalt perception of sea travel, rendered in palm fibers and shell beads (the islands). Maybe some folks could interpret another's chart for navigation, but not necessarily.  It might be too personal.

This would be an interesting hook for an adventure. Say the party finds such a thing (in a dry cave, we'll say, to explain why it's preserved) and they figure it must mean something. They find an islander to help pilot their ship on the Sea of O'SR that recognizes what it is, but isn't sure how the thing is supposed to be oriented, what scale the thing is at, whether the shell beads mean islands, treasure, danger, sea monster lairs, whirlpools of flailing mayhem, zebra congresses of vitriol spit, or so on. And so the party sails on to their particular version of glory or doom. With enough sailing and mapping maybe they can figure out the proper scale and orientation of the map and use it to find their goal. Hmmm.

Well, thanks again to Telecanter for finding images of things that I wish existed, and then sharing them.

2D Barcodes as Mapping Inspiration

For your consideration, the Spawn submits:

Recently Carter and I have been working on various maps, together and separately, and I've been trying to apply my skills with Illustrator to figure out how to help Carter make some existing maps functional for game tasks, like being able to add a hex grid to his awesome hand-drawn continental scale map. So maps and map generation have been on my mind lately. Oddly, with that and images like Telecanter's Black Pylon -- "a truncated pyramid of black basalt" -- in my head, I saw a little product code on an item while brushing my teeth one morning and tried to figure out what it was about. After doing some research I found it was a 2D barcode, this one using the Data Matrix symbology, e.g.:

This just encodes the letter "I". But as I tried to figure it out, I imagined a party coming up on an enigmatic structure with walls and columns of smooth black basalt out in the middle of nowhere, or maybe a group of these things. Possibly a ruin, but more likely a monument with all sorts of images and inscriptions on every surface. After a little bit of investigating they'd see that the layout is square, the west and south walls are complete, but the north and east walls are alternating pillars. And then what's inside may appear to be random ... but the regular pattern of the walls might suggest the arrangement within is somehow meaningful. Neat. (I also figure that there's actually enough space between pillars meeting at corners to slip through, or at least see through.)

So then I found this site that allows you to generate 2D (and other) barcodes out of whatever text you want (I suggest you set the module width to the max of 5mm for good resolution). So I started with the Data Matrix symbology and put in "Telecanter's Receding Rules":
 

Not bad. I think it would be cool to have this in a open place, and have it be tall, but not impossible to scale, so that PCs could climb on top of it for a bird's eye view while other PCs explore within. Another cool feature of the website is you can set the foreground and background colors in a wide range of colors. To illustrate, let's have "D&D with Porn Stars" in Data Matrix:

Some symbologies have other obligatory structures within them so scanners can orient the label. Some of these suggest towers, or something else. Here's "Castrate the Dwarf" in QR Code, where the black and white are inverted:

Maybe these squares are guard towers or shrines or tombs. But you (you meaning the Old School gamer trained in interpreting gridded top-down dungeon maps into the on-the-ground perspective) already start to imagine what these look like if you were exploring them, right?  When you see that little square in the southeast quadrant you want to know what's in there, or if you're the DM you want to put something in there.

The Aztec symbology puts a box in the middle. Here we have "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here", also inverted:

And last but not least, let's say you need some help getting together a hex-map for the Sea of O'SR project. Nothing perfect, but just something to get you going, and you want to have some enigmatic circular structure jutting up out of the sea. Well, take your usual UPS shipping label MaxiCode for "Adrift in the Sea of O'SR", change the colors and voila:

Maybe you cut out a bunch of the little 2-hex bits if you want. Or not. Raggi's Weird New World supplement has a lot of little islands in it. As does this MaxiCode of "Lamentations of the Flame Princess: Weird New World":

Or maybe you don't need a wilderness hex-grid, maybe it's a place like the Giant's Causeway in Antrim, Eire, with hexagonal pillars of columnar basalt because you're running a Led Zeppelin-themed campaign! AAAAAAGH! Too awesome! I'm losing my mind! (That's what the kid in the middle background is saying with his arms raised.)

 

Now, you can't really manipulate these with vector graphics programs (my background), but photo editors like PhotoShop and GIMP can probably handle them pretty well (if the stuff that Telecanter does with public domain images in GIMP is any indication ... and by the way, next time you or someone you know talks shit about Fresno, remember it produced Telecanter. So shut yourselves up.) At any rate, there you go. An odd new way to get some graphical inspiration.

UPDATE: I later remember maybe another vague inspiration for this, the maps from Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, specifically this one I borrowed from a Brazilian Old School blog named Vorpal, on a post called (using my 2d6-Bard Read Languages skill) "Eight 'Easter Eggs' of D&D":

And you know what? Me and my sister saw that EGG way back in the day, and never realized it was about E. Gary Gygax. We just thought, "Ha! Egg! They put Egg in their map! Funny!" As I've said elsewhere, 5th graders are fucking stupid.

Sea of O'SR: Wraithstone Island Teaser

As you can see, I have completed a freehand map of Wraithstone Island, and as this goes to post Spawn of Endra has already added numbered grayscale hexes to this map at the scale indicated.  The hexed version will be the "final" version and will accompany the key and wandering monster tables in the pdf.

I have most of the Island key written up, and should be ready to post that (along with the hexmap) sometime later this afternoon or early tomorrow.

I drew the Wraithstone Island map and wrote the bulk of the key while watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull yesterday.  It's a pretty fun movie IMO -- it is awesome to have Karen Allen back onboard as Marion Ravenwood, and Cate Blanchett is really stellar as the Russian villain Spalko. The movie is pretty wild science-fantasy, and my favorite sequence is the weird fire ant attack, where bazillions of fire ants swarm out of these huge nests and sweep whole people away to their doom.

 Spalko escapes the fire ant attack.

This guy isn't so lucky.

In you go!  You're just in time for lunch!

What a great encounter idea for D&D . . .

Sea of O'sr: Call For 3-Hour Islet Submissions

First, Telecanter asked:

what if there were one page islands and people wrote a bunch of them? Then you might have a campaign that you could pick and choose from a variety of isles.

Then Planet Algol mused about whether or not the OSR could produce a Paizo-esque "Adventure Path," rightly surmising that:

There's no reason that an Adventure Path has to be a tasteless save-the-world railroad. It can be a series of interconnected sandbox-ish environments with an overarching narrative. A picaresque pulp serial instead of Dragonlance.

Then Paul Gorman at Quickly, Quietly, Carefully posted this call to action:

Will anyone join me in jump starting the island hopping "Sea of O'sr" project with a 3-hour islet?

And the project is underway!

Tell your friends, spread the word: The Sea of O'sr Sandbox-Style Adventure Path is seeking 3-Hour Islet submissions. As Paul suggests, you may consult the wikipedia "Islet" page for inspiration, and I would urge you to look at migellito's completed Islet map and Paul's just-posted Isle map teaser as well.  There is some vague consensus around generating the islet maps on a roughly 300'-per-hex scale, but nothing is set in stone -- anything goes!  See Paul's blog and the comments to the original proposal post for the latest brainstorming around the project.

Fight On!