Pages

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Strange Ovum I (Random Table/Wermspittle)

Strange Ovum: Table I (D30)
  1. Glistening black ovoids that resemble a pliable, cold, almost obsidian-like substance that is neither quite alive nor completely dead. Careful investigation will reveal that there is something inside, something that is slowly developing and that will ultimately hatch and wriggle forth into the world, but it is not truly alive nor dead in the normal sense of either definition. The level of necromancy required to accomplish such a thing pales in comparison to the blasphemy engendered by its very existence. There are many who would wish to learn about this thing, some to study it, others to destroy it, and a few who would serve it. Discretion is advised, should any attempt to keep the thing or try to sell it. Oh, and it seems to be attempting to communicate with whomever last touched it...
  2. A delicate bright yellow egg lovingly hand-crafted from layers of papier mache made with yellow mold. It rests upon a small tripod of delicate bones. It inflicts 1d4 damage on touch, but otherwise does not move, explode or really do much of anything else. There are rumors of such objects in certain scrolls and tomes. It might have some value to an occultist or sorcerer.
  3. (2d4) Gray-streaked, flabby-looking balls of warm glistening membranous stuff that quiver and squirm slightly. If incubated at human body heat or better for 1d4 days, the eggs will hatch, producing a clutch of telepathically-bonded three-eyed Pod-wolves. Anyone within 10' of a given egg has a good chance of having the hatchlings attempt to bond with them. This tends to take the form of the creatures attacking the potential bonded-one with their psychic abilities. Surviving this initial attack is a necessary step towards asserting dominance and forming a bond with these creatures. They tend to be ravenous, and grow rapidly, if properly fed, gaining 1 HD for every 2d10 pounds of fresh meat they consume until reaching their adult growth.
  4. (2d20) pinkish, spiky sac-like things that slosh ever so slightly when moved. These are Larva-soldiers of a Queen Lobster. They can survive outside the water for decades, but can only ever hatch in sea water. In the event that a group of these drones find themselves hatched more than 100 miles from the nearest Queen Lobster they will go into a frenzy of fighting among themselves to determine which one will become eligible to transform into a princess and assume command of the group.
  5. A disgusting, tumorous mass of rancid flesh that was clearly ripped out of someone's body with little regard for their well-being and a great deal of intent to rid them of this thing. It is still very much alive, and slowly growing stronger each day, until finally it can hatch and fill the world around it with the screams of its victims. This is what is left of an adventurer who was struck with a Terrible Conception spell. The abomination gestating inside this misshapen lump of flesh will be very hungry when it tears its way through its ersatz egg-sac.
  6. A dull lavender ellipse, this egg is completely inert until exposed to someone who is dying. Then it takes on a strange oily sheen and will siphon-off their soul. The extraction process takes 1d4 turns and works smoothly 90% of the time. The soul absorbed by this egg will form the nucleus of a new body that will resemble the original one, completely free of defects or impairments, and often with some enhancements. In any case, the child that emerges will be a helpless infant and develop normally upon hatching. That is, of course, unless things go wrong and they emerge deformed or mutated or worse.
  7. (1d4) Wrinkly, leathery blobs with random protruberant bulges and strange speckled knobs that sprout bristles that emit a faint reek of something toxic. These are Petrocloptrian eggs and they emit a psychic signal that can be sensed by their kind across great distances.
  8. Yellow-pink lozenge with distinct green markings. This pod is definitely fungal in nature. It is a Rulak spore-pod. It is unsafe to carry for any warm-blooded being as prolonged exposure to such a potential victim is almost certain to trigger the pod's attack response, eventually.
  9. A large, speckled off-white egg with a heavy, durable shell. It weighs up to 70 pounds and is bigger than a bowling ball. Inside is a Phorain chick. It will hatch in 2d6 weeks if it isn't deliberately cracked or crushed before then.
  10. A glistening, wriggling mass of tapering white pulpy little blobs stuck together with a translucent adhesive that is waterproof. Each egg-mass will produce 3d6 Flytaur maggots.
  11. The head of an unfortunate victim of a Cerebral Conception spell floats serenely within the brackish amber fluid of this heavy glass jar. The label was removed. Opening or breaking this vessel will cause the thing lying dormant within the severed head to resume its development until it bursts forth in a matter of hours.
  12. Muddy dull brownish lop-sided orbs dotted with vivid red spots. These are Pseudoblepas eggs.
  13. (4d4) Giant spider eggs.
  14. Gray-striped horny and ridged pillow-shaped packets of chitinous material. These are Glimp-Shell eggs, but no one knows how long they take to hatch. Newly hatched Glimp-Shells have 1HD and require regular rations of honey, nectar or mead to stay healthy. There is a slight 5% chance of one going feral if the eggs hatch without an adult Glimp-Shell present.
  15. Green and purple gas-bags floating a few inches above the ground, usually in damp tunnels or swampy ruins and along abandoned sections of old roads. Clusters of nodules dangle down from the central gas-bladder. These are tiny, highly flammable Grik-Flits that will slip free of the drifting egg-sac and flutter off into the world as a 1hit point newborn Grik-Flit. If captured right away, these creatures can be trained as porters, bearers, mounts or even companions. They do not make reliable familiars for any but a very few abhuman or homunculi-types.
  16. (1d4) Harpy eggs swaddled in filth and surrounded by shards of sharp bone and cast-off rags and remnants.
  17. (2d12) Stirge eggs in a sealed glass jar of filthy pond water. They will remain in suspension until the jar is opened, then the stirges will rapidly mature and come buzzing out of the jar to hunt down a source of good, warm mammalian blood within about an hour. There are some species that regard these things to be some sort of delicacy.
  18. (2d4) Squamous, bulgy lumps of stagnant-smelling membranes ridged with prickly spines. The interior is filled with a frothy greenish liquid that has the consistency of oatmeal. Each egg contains 1d4 troglodytes. If an egg hatches 4 trogs, they have 1 HD each, if only three are hatched then one is 2 HD, if two are hatched then either one is 3HD or both are 2HD, if only one is hatched it begins with maximum hit points or 4HD. Normally trogs keep the eggs submerged in warm water or slime-pools so that this pre-natal cannibalism is slowed down or prevented, as it tends to produce fewer, but more aggressive creatures.
  19. A dusty wine-bottle containing a strange-smelling solution that has left traces of greenish salts around the cork. A single giant squid egg floats within this goo, perfectly preserved and with a good chance to develop into a terrible sea monster, should it get released into a suitable body of salt water. Anyone using ESP on this egg can ask three questions as per a Contact Other Plane spell, only concerning the affairs and events of the Deep Sea Regions. All three questions will be answered honestly, but in the most cold-blooded, emotionless and inhuman terms. The egg then gains the ability to ask three questions of the character, but they can defer their three questions to a future day should it so decide.
  20. (1d6) Albino Cave Penguin eggs. They prefer colder environments, but are somewhat edible, if one can make a Save not to vomit.
  21. Dozens of translucent, oily-looking insect eggs that will hatch into a swarm of centipedes. There is a 10% chance of there being 1d4 giant centipedes in the swarm.
  22. A set of 2d4 metallic demi-casks filled with a thick, glutinous material. Each demi-cask is capable of producing 1d10 Urglun drone-troops.
  23. (2d4) giant snapping turtle eggs packed in damp sand within a waterproofed chest. They appear to be dormant, but still potentially viable.
  24. (1d4) Serpent-people eggs. Fossilized. Inert. There are rumored to be strange sorcerous applications for these things.
  25. (1d4) giant toad eggs caught within a translucent water bladder half-filled with stinky mud and some pink algae.
  26. A rubbery, moss-green sac of leathery-flesh that seems mostly deflated. It is a dormant troll-egg. Most trolls do not reproduce by laying eggs so this is most definitely the work of some twisted form of sorcery or mad scientific experimentation.
  27. (1d4) giant snake eggs.
  28. A smooth, partly translucent colorless sphere about the size of a typical crystal ball. It weighs surprisingly little and is not entirely on any one plane. It has the ability to levitate independently and the dreaming fetus within is quite aware of its surroundings, but is not very good at communicating with other beings as of yet. This is a Rattong egg. It will either Passwall or Planeshift to drift on its way within 1d4 hours.
  29. A tin of expensive caviar.
  30. An illicit, experimental Micro-hive capable of producing 2d6 non-Gronks. Possession of this item is strictly prohibited by Gronk Central Command and is punishable by death. They deny all knowledge of the device, and all records of those experiments were supposed to have been destroyed. All Gronk within 30' of this item will experience a -4 CHAR reaction to anyone associated with it.

1 comment:

  1. Blimey. That's really something. I'd say it's a great niche you've found - and who else could find it but you guys? - but it's less a niche than an opening, and one with wide scope and application. Eggs and other vessels like this must be out there, spread through most game worlds, but they're so rarely seen. This shows how relevant they can be - and a lot of those entries could be major plot points, even whole sessions or adventures. It's also the kind of thing you do wonderfully, icky and nighmarish in places, but rich and subtle.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment. We value your feedback and appreciate your support of our efforts.