Westen Isles
Look just to the west and out to sea from Kinstow proper, or widdershins from a Heave sunset, and you’ll make out the nudge against the horizon that is the Westen Isles.
This tiny archipelago consists of three islands:
- Westen, to the west, marked by a highland spine that protects the northerly town of Spur from the barbarous of the island’s flatlands
- Thim, to the east, whose town of Plank suggests the source of the deforestation. Thim has become the focus of recent interest as a dungeon structure has risen from the ashen plain north of town
- Nub, between the two, without true civilisation of which to speak
Westen, the leftmost isle
Spur is primarily a commune of scoundrels and thieves, built upon an ancient mageopolis and ruled by committee. Its only hardfast law is “no extradition”.
Highlands
Encounters 3-in-6 per watch, roll d6 for specifics then d% for how many from the roster are present (round up).
- 1: Two GREEN DRAGONS {} {}
A mated pair who are only recent to the island, drawn by the plentiful shoals of fish and highland game.
- 2: One MANTICHOR {}
Old as the hills themselves — quite literally — this mantichor has been here since the time of the mageocracy.
- 3–4: Twenty-two DWARFS [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][]
A small retinue of precision miners here to extract bismuth.
- 5–6: Twenty-one BESERKIRS [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] []
Initially coming to Westen to hunt the barbarous, the tribe has now made its home the mountains in order to bring home the head of a dragon.
Grassland
Encounters 1-in-6 per watch, roll d6 for specifics then d% for how many from the roster are present (round up).
- 1: Eleven HOBGOBELINS [][][][] [][][][] [][][]
What remains of a cohort from the mainland, harvesting the priséd-herb of goblinkind.
- 2: Nine GNOLLS [][][] [][][] [][][]
Shipwrecked after a mutiny, then their matriarch was eaten by a dragon.
- 3: One RED DRAGON {}
Artificially aged, thanks to a cache of chrono-steroids it found in Spur harbour.
- 4: Five TIGER BEETLES [][][][][]
The remnants of the most recent prime-year brood.
- 5: Ten BANDITS [][][][][] [][][][][]
Arseholes who refuse to agree to the shared terms of Spur’s treaties.
- 6: Nine MERCHANTS [][][] [][][] [][][]
Adventure-capitalists looking to bolster their seasonal stock.
Forest
Encounters 2-in-6 per watch, roll d6 for specifics then d% for how many from the roster are present (round up).
- 1–2: Three PANTHERS [][][]
Three generations of a family who swam over from Nub.
- 3–5: Twelve HIPPOGRYPHS [][][][] [][][][] [][][][]
Supplementing their diet with overripe stonefruit and psychotropic bark.
- 6: xhaotic NPC party — led by LV11 dwarf with fifteen measures of ointment of invisibility, with LV10 fighter, LV9 dwarf, LV8 thief, LV5 cleric
They seek the new dungeon on Thim, not knowing they’re not on Thim.
Nub, the smallest isle
Recent discovery of extensive natural caverns beneath Nub brought a crew of smugglers, who seek to wipe out or drive off the indigenous neanderthals.
Forest
Encounters 2-in-6 per watch, roll d6 for specifics then d% for how many from the roster are present (round up).
- 1–4: Forty BRIGANDS [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][]
- 5–6: Forty NEANDERTHALS [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][]
Thim, the wooded isle
Plank is half-ghost town these days, having lost the momentum of its once glory-days of crafting ships-timber. Opportunists and madmen now roam its streets and squat its empty woodshops, drawn by the new dungeon to the north.
Fir forest
Encounters 2-in-6 per watch, roll d6 for specifics then d% for how many from the roster are present (round up).
- 1–2: One PEGASUS {}
Gnarled as the fir-roots themselves, this pegasus has been here since the time of the mageocracy.
- 3–6: Thirty-three GOBELINS [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][]
A population explosion from an unlucky squad of bugbears, this tribe knows no other lands and venerates the pegasus.
Grassland
Also use this table for the region of felled trees. Encounters 1-in-6 per watch, roll d6 for specifics then d% for how many from the roster are present (round up).
- 1–4: Four GREEN DRAGONS [][][][]
A rare set of littermates, born of three eggs long buried in the forest floor.
- 5–6: Twenty-seven BANDITS [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][]
The deer here are huge and worth an excellent price on the mainland.
The How
Late last year, my partner and I finally got hold of a copy of Harmonies. It’s an excellent drafting and pattern-making game, which comes with the added benefit of leaving you with a working hex-map at the end of play.
I then spent an hour or so with the OSE wilderness tables, letting the dice fall as they may. Typically I really enjoy this sort of input randomness and the later rationalisation it brings.
Working with a limited roster is something that I’ve enjoyed when playing Fever Swamp and I’m keen to see how this turns out in play. I might instead use 2d10×5% of any given roster instead of the flat percentile if I find the numbers encountered are way too swingy.
