Jalamere: Encounters Within a 10 Mile Radius of the Black Ziggurat

This is a continuation of what we began in the previous Black Ziggurat of Jalamere post. We want to thank Blair of Planet Algol for his feed-back, encouragement and the contribution of a couple of entries to further flesh out the special encounters that might take place in the area surrounding this version of the Black Ziggurat.

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Encounters Within a 10 Mile Radius of the Black Ziggurat

1. Spatter Moths: 3d6 fluttering moths alight upon one randomly selected victim, taking 1d4 rounds to finally settle into place. They emanate a feeling of calm and peace and trust. Then they explode, covering the victim with a viscous, radioactive sludge that will provoke a CON check or Save to avoid incurring some minor, insectile mutation.
2. Cuneiform Tablet: Stained, pitted and chipped, but still legible...if you know this particularly rare, even extinct form of pre-human cuneiform made up of spiral impressions of ammonite shells that were pressed into the raw clay to form cyclic patterns. The Tablet is worth hundreds of gold to a linguist, sage or scholar and it only weighs about 20 pounds, so it could be carried out of here. However, anyone falling asleep near this thing will find themself dreaming of Malevolent Monoliths that will begin to hunt them down in their dreams for 2d4 nights, after which time the Malevolent Monoliths will begin to hunt the dreamer(s) down in the physical realm, taking 1d4 nights to reach them.
3. Transparent Humanoid Corpse: Only their bones are visible and their head is missing.
4. Writhing Mass (Type II): 1d4 bulbous, pulsating pustule-like conglomerations of what appears to be disparate types of acne-pocked flesh that roll and flop along the ground like blind slugs, always seeking any living thing smaller than itself that it can enfold, crush and absorb.
5. Poisonous Purple Radiance: Glimmering purple effulgences corruscate and perambulate across the rocky wasteland, teasing the edges of every surface like some weird sort of foxfire that leaves small droplets of dew condensing behind upon any and everything it touches. The dew is poisonous. Save or go blind.
6. Old Shoggoth: 1 very old, very large Shoggoth is seen slithering along in the far distance. It seems to be ignoring you. For now. Faint cries of Tekeli Li! in the course of the next 2d4 nights make it all but impossible to sleep. But then the thing seems to disappear. Maybe it has gone away for good?
7. Arachnocacti: 2d8 eight-limbed cactus-spider hybrids wait patiently for someone to come within reach of their grasping claws or venomous maws. Each Arachnocacti can spray a mass of prickly webbing equivalent to a Web spell up to 4 times a day, and anyone caught in these webs takes 1d4 points of damage per round that they attempt to move...or are moved about, like say if they were grasped and picked-up by the creature's claws and dragged towards the slavering fly-trap-like central fang-rimmed maw. The only good thing about these creatures is that they tend to be rooted and it takes them 4d6 turns to extricate themselves from the rocky soil before they can follow any prey that manages to get away. Oh, and their flesh is super-saturated with clean, pure water, so if you kill one, you can replenish your canteens and water-skins.
8. Rulak: 1d4 creepy fungal things come slithering through the shimmering air with bad intent. (as detailed for Labyrinth Lord HERE. )
9. Masked Watchers: 2d6 black robed and masked figures appear in the distance; waver like mirages; disappear in seconds although one PC may hear strange whispers on the wind. (From Blair of Planet Algol.)
10. Raging Blob: 3,000 pounds of succulent gristle and sweet-smelling skin rougher than an elephant's rump comes rolling and tumbling down the nearest slope right at the party. If the blob can catch anyone on the roll, it will extrude tentacles and attempt to grapple with them, otherwise it will come to a stop as close to the main cluster of the group and strike out at as many victims as it can reach at once. If a tentacle ensnares a victim (60%) it will attempt to reel them in towards a freshly opened mouth. If the tentacle pierces the victim, it will spew a larval froth into the wound and then rip the harpoon-like member free of their flesh, doing double damage. Anyone 'frothed' by the Blob will need to make a Save or fall into a coma as their body transforms into a micro-blob producing factory...[Raging Blob Labyrinth Lord stats (+Paper Mini)]
11. Spine Thieves: 3d4 eel-faced hominids clad in woven plastic armor and armed with either shock prods or burn-sticks slither quietly out of the shadows and attempt to subdue one or more stragglers or other likely-looking victims. They will render their target insensible, fetter them with quickloops and plastic manacles, then begin to extract the spine. It is very unlikely that a natural vertebrate will survive this process. If the PCs kill all of the Spine Thieves they will discover 2d4 spines preserved in durable sacs of translucent green fluid and 1d4 Cerebracrystals.
12. Glyph Block: Random PC trips over or stubs toe (save or take 1 pt. damage) on corner of corroded basalt tablet/block embedded in sand. Examination reveals glyphs worn away into illegibility but sinister in form. May be worth 1d100 gp to the right buyer but doubles chance of nocturnal random encounters while in possession. (From Blair of Planet Algol.)
13. Hovering Blue Pentazoid: 1d12 fractured poly-planar crystal formations that cut across 1d30 planar layers, creating conditions conducive for a roll or three on the Damned Things Tables every hour spent within ten miles of this spot. The Pentazoids are hyper-intelligent and with a little luck and a good Charisma reaction roll, they might teach a variant form of such spells as Contact Other Plane, Commune with Pentazoid, or Poly-Axial Realignment...but the Pentazoids will demand a grim price for this knowledge...
14. Petrocloptrian: 1d4 hovering telepathic alien beings who wield seven melee weapons at a time using a form of close-quarters telekinesis. They are hunting Bandersnatches and arrogantly disdain having any interactions with humans whom they see as coarse, vulgar and uninteresting. This is probably a good thing though, as the Petrocloptrians tend to hunt anything that they think is interesting in order to mount it upon the walls of their orbital estates. [Petrocloptrian S&W (White Box) stats] [Petrocloptrian Labyrinth Lord stats]
15. Aerial Jellyfish Swarm: 2d100 small but hyper-poisonous gelatinous sacs of living fluid flutter and squirm through the air, each one dangling a multitude of tiny thread-like tendrils that will sting anyone who comes into contact with them for 3d4 damage plus an immediate Save at -2 or suffer terrifying hallucinatory nightmares for 3d6 hours. Lizard-shamen often dance naked in the midst of these things in order to receive visions. Those that don't die are considered profoundly accomplished dreamers.
16. Malevolent Monoliths: 1d4 cyclopean slabs of intricately carved basalt that loom menacingly from their randomly sloping positions within the sand. If the Cuneiform Tablet (2) is present, the Monoliths will awaken and attack everyone in the immediate vicinity, beginning with Rays of Petrification and using Rock to Mud to convert the terrain to a gooey, sticky mess that will hamper their victim's ability to move.
17. Smoldering Lump of Radioactive Glass: Anyone approaching within a mile of this thing begins to make Saves of suffer increasingly negative radiation effects. Eventually a rise in the surrounding landscape will reveal the still-steaming shard of greenish glass sitting prettily at the very center of a crater that could well be over a mile in diameter...
18. Insectoid Cadaver: The scattered and defiled remains of 1d6 dismembered insectoids litter the immediate vicinity. There is a base 50% chance that these are Flytaur Type I Drone-Soldiers. [Flytaur Type I Labyrinth Lord Stats] [Flytaur Type I S&W (White Box) stats]
19. Pernicious Polyp: 1d6 black and tumorous masses of boils, bubbles and larva-like flesh, each one with a different configuration of eyes, mouths, feelers and tentacles circle around the PCs just out of range of any spell or fire-arms they might have. The Polyps will observe the party for 3d4 turns and then either attack in force if the group appears weaker than the Polyps, or else they'll leave. Wait for a day or two. Then circle back and see if luck has changed.
20. See the Writhing Masses & Worse Table.