Once upon a time, the sun set—or was eclipsed by the moon, or was shrouded by the thickest clouds—and it never appeared again. The lands outside this region have normal day and night cycles, but for whatever the reason, this place doesn’t. At what passes for noon, the sky is as dark as late twilight. At night, the sky is black as pitch.

Unending Night regions can be found anywhere, but are often strategically afflicted on remote or rural regions with plenty of life to feed on.

Born of Darkness. Native creatures gain an expertise die on Constitution and Wisdom saving throws against spells from the obscurement, prismatic, radiant, and shadow schools of magic. At the Narrator’s discretion, this may also apply to certain adventurers, such as those with the Newblood or lycanthrope synergy feats (Issue #0), the shadowcast heritage (Issue #23), or the Darkness destiny (Issue #10).

Dark Secrecy. The very land seeks to obscure truth of all kinds. Deception and Stealth checks gain an expertise die in this region. Checks made to Gather Information or Research are made at advantage .

Smothers the Light. When outside during the day the entire region is lit by dim light . At night, it is covered in darkness . Mundane sources of light only shed dim light, and the radius of light shed by magical light is halved. Spells and magical effects that produce sunlight produce bright light instead, not sunlight. Mundane darkvision or that granted by spells like darkvision is also halved. Casters that succeed on a spellcasting ability check each time they cast such a spell find their magic unaffected. Inside, light sources act as normal.

Journey Activities. The Unending Night eats dampens positive emotions and saps the will to live. Checks made to Befriend Animal , Busk , Gossip , Pray (except to gods of darkness or night), and Track are made at disadvantage . However, checks made to Cover Tracks and Rob are made at advantage . It is not possible to Entertain .

Wolflands are places that have been claimed by large, vicious carnivores, such as wolves, great cats, vicious hyenas, predatory dinosaurs, carnivorous apes, and the like. The predators here hunt with a purpose, cruelty, and intelligence not seen in normal animals. They aren’t mere beasts—they are creatures that have been emboldened by supernatural hunger: the presence of a primal spirit, a vampire lord, or generations of lycanthropes spreading their curse. They don’t limit themselves to hunting the weak and sick and they lack a fear of fire and loud noises. They want healthy meat, and to them, humanoids are among the tastiest. And they are always hungry.

Wolflands can start from many regions, including Blasted Badlands, Country Shire, Frozen Wastes, Rolling Grasslands, and Tangled Forests.

Bolstered Beasts. The Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores of Wolfland predators increases by 2, and they have the following traits:

Bold. The predator has advantage on saving throws against being frightened .

Blood Thirst. The predator has advantage on attack rolls made against a creature that is bloodied .

Clever Beast. The predator gains an expertise die on any ability check or saving throw to spot, avoid, or escape a trap.

Fearful Prey. Prey animals—which includes most steeds and pack animals—can smell the predatory musk that permeates the Wolflands, and as such are unusually nervous, while other types of animal companions feel challenged and on edge. Animal Handling checks in this region are made at disadvantage .

Inhospitable. Region traits and mundane class abilities or other features can’t create a haven outside of a settlement, even if they would be able to normally. Magically created havens are unaffected. 

Journey Activities. Checks made to Befriend Animal and Hunt and Gather are made at disadvantage .

A Note on Predators

When using this region, choose your predator. While the base predator should be a beast, such as a wolf , don’t limit yourself to just that creature. Instead include related creatures such as dire wolves , worgs , winter wolves , werewolves , undead versions of those creatures, and even hell hounds and death dogs . Create dire, giant, and elite versions of these animals for higher-CR parties, or reskin more powerful creatures as predators, such as creating a “wolf king” using the forgotten god stat block.

When rolling on the encounter table, replace any beast or monstrosity with your predator type of the appropriate tier.

The trees drip corrosive toxins or bear poisonous fruit that attracts swarms of stinging insects. Oversized snakes and spiders crawl among the branches and roots, giant frogs show their poisonous colors, and slimes and molds slowly push their way across the forest floor. These woods are lush with life, but everything within it brings death—it provides a bounty of poisons for assassins and alchemists alike. Those who are careful to not eat or drink anything found here and to bring antidotes in case of accidental exposure can expect to make it through, but it’s far too easy to make a mistake. Most of the natives are resistant to these poisons, which can cause non-natives to be lulled into a false sense of security. After all, if they see someone eat a fruit or drink from a pond, then surely that means it’s safe for them to do the same.

Poisoned Woods usually start as Feywood or Tangled Forest regions.

Infections. Even if the weapon that caused it was clean, wounds easily become infected here. The first time each day a creature becomes bloodied , it must make a Constitution saving throw at the end of its next long rest , suffering a level of fatigue on a failure. It repeats this check at the end of each long rest, removing the effect on a success or suffering an additional level on a failure. Creatures native to the woods are immune to this effect.

Tinged With Toxins. Most of the poisonous plants and venomous creatures are tinged with bright colors to warn off predators. But not everything that is poisonous will be colorful, and not everything colorful will be poisonous. A Survival or Nature check is needed to tell the difference. The DC is equal to the region’s DC +2, instead of a corrupted region’s usual +1. If a creature consumes something poisonous here, it must make a Constitution saving throw . On a failure it takes poison damage based on the region’s tier: tier 1—3 (1d6); tier 2—10 (3d6); tier 3—21 (6d6); tier 4—31 (9d6). On a success, it instead takes half damage. At the Narrator’s discretion, other results such as the paralyzed , poisoned , or unconscious conditions may occur on a failed save instead of or in addition to poison damage.

Toxic Supply. If an exploration challenge causes an adventurer to lose Supply , they lose only half the Supply, but the other half is poisoned and will need to be magically purified (such as with purify food and drink ) before it can be consumed or used for any other purpose. A Survival check is necessary to identify the Supply as poisoned. 

Journey Activities. Checks made to Gather Components , Harvest , or Hunt and Gather are made at advantage , but on a Success anything obtained through such a check is poisonous until purified as above or treated by a local with alchemic skill. On a Critical Success the result is unaffected.

Like a cross between a grassland and a swamp, fens are peaty wetlands with only a few stunted trees and bushes to break up the monotony of endless grasses and inches of standing water, which is thick and opaque with silt and weeds. It’s filled with wildlife: small creatures crawl about in the waterlogged undergrowth and waterfowl and large herbivores are common. It is also filled with death. A cold mist hovers just over the surface, masking deep, muddy pits that pull down any creature who missteps. The fen’s victims, whether from murder or mud, often return as ghosts, will-o’-wisps, and tannin-preserved bog mummies.

Misty Fens usually start as Unrelenting Marshes.

Bogged Under. Critical failures on certain Perception or Survival checks (determined by the Narrator) result in the creature getting sucked into the quicksand-like ground. The fallen creature is restrained and starts sinking 1d4 feet each round, to a maximum 15 feet. It can escape with a successful Athletics check, but makes the check with disadvantage . Other creatures can help pull the victim out by making a Strength ability check; otherwise, the creature must hold its breath or begin to suffocate .

Muddy Ground. The entire region is affected by the Swampy environment.

Undeath’s Abode. Undead creatures gain an expertise die on saving throws to avoid being turned.

Journey Activities. Attempts to Scout or Track are made at disadvantage. However, adventurers gain advantage on checks to Gather Components and Hide Tracks . It is not possible to Busk .

This solitary mountain is shrouded in fog. The pathways and handholds are slimy with moss and fungi, making travel dangerous, and worse yet, the thick fog makes it all but impossible to see more than a few feet ahead and dampens sound as well. A few settlements and outposts cling to the mountainside, all in states of severe disrepair. Those who did not succumb to monster attacks or clannish battles survive alone or in tiny groups, wary of any they meet.

Mist-Shrouded Mountains usually start as Lofty Mountains.

Muted and Fogged. Some portions of the mountain are affected by the Hazy environment and most of the rest are lightly obscured . In this case, creatures also suffer disadvantage on Perception checks that rely on hearing or smell.

Secrets and Lies. The mountain protects its mysteries. Insight checks made to determine motivations or see through illusions are made at disadvantage.

Unclimbable. The mountain is difficult to climb. Attempts to do so without proper equipment can’t benefit from expertise dice .

Journey Activities. Rolls made to Scout or Track are made at disadvantage (this does not stack with the effects of Muted and Fogged). Additionally, should a Success or Critical Success on an exploration challenge indicate the discovery of a Boon or Discovery , only one such reward can be gained per day.

Foul entities once dwelled at the heart of this shrubland—and may still be there, as their cancerous presence continues to spread, turning the land sullen and strange. Animals slink about warily, plants bear rotting flowers and fruits and the natives are stolid and selfsufficient, but also suspicious and apathetic. Ancient ruins dot the heath, producing an unnerving hum almost too faint to hear. They are partially submerged in acidic soil that has corroded their surfaces, but oddly, the glyphs inscribed on their surface are legible. It’s as if the land wants its foul secrets to spread.

Blasted Heaths usually start as a Rolling Grasslands or Unrelenting Marsh region.

Alien Artifacts. Trinkets and other magic items found in the area are often of unknown origin and bear ancient writings. An adventurer who attempts to read this writing must make a Wisdom saving throw . On a failure, they take 3 (1d6) psychic damage per tier.

Paranoia. In this xenophobic place, adventurers that are not local to the settlement or who have left for over a week can’t benefit from expertise dice on Deception or Persuasion checks to influence the populace.

Unnerving Knowledge. If a creature casts a spell from the knowledge school, the spell works normally, but the caster and target of the spell (if any) will have eerie, unsettling dreams informed by the spell the next time they take a long rest . They must make a Constitution saving throw or suffer a level of strife .

Journey Activities. When using the Pray activity, an adventurer suffers a level of strife on a Failure or Critical Failure. Checks made to Befriend Animal , Busk , or Entertain suffer disadvantage . It’s easy (maybe too easy) to record the horrors that occur in the heath, so checks made to Chronical are made with advantage .

“If you go into the woods, always keep a fire burning and never let your sword leave your hand.” The look on the innkeeper’s face suggested that even those precautions wouldn’t be enough, so Sarreth had assured her that he was a strong warrior who had survived many battles. He had rolled his eyes, though. Peasants! They hid behind their village walls and trembled at every little noise from outside. Now, though, Sarreth was beginning to wish he had listened. It was afternoon, but the woods were dark as night. Even though he could normally see in the dark quite well, his eyes just couldn’t adjust; he’d been forced to light a torch. It was silent here, and suffocatingly still without even a breeze to ruffle the leaves. But then came growls and cries like nothing he’d ever heard come from the throat of any person or animal. Trembling, he drew his sword as he looked all around, trying to find the source. From out of nowhere came a wind, blasting Sarreth. His torch flickered wildly and died, plunging him back into darkness. But just before it went out, he saw the flames reflected all around him in a dozen pairs of hateful white eyes. Behind their walls, the villagers trembled when they heard his screams.

Sometimes a region is so saturated with dark influence that forbidden magic and foul monsters just aren’t enough—sometimes you need to turn the corruptive force of the very land against your players! This article presents mechanics and examples to help Narrators turn any region into a place of dread.

Corrupted Regions

This template is meant to give Narrators a simple way to introduce additional horror elements to existing regions. For higher level parties, the penalties and complications listed may be increased in accordance with their abilities. At the same time, caution is advised with Tier 0 parties, as some challenges may prove unexpectedly deadly with their current resources. Most corrupted regions are at least tier 1 and many are higher.

To begin, choose a base region and an appropriate tier for your party. You can use any region for this purpose, but Blasted Badlands, Fiery Hellscape, and Haunted Lands tend to be less effective narratively, as part of the horror of a corrupted region comes from the loss of what once was. Additionally, due to the intrinsic unpleasantness of the area, corrupted regions are often less-populated. Cursed Urban Townships are not uncommon, but their tier rarely correlates to population size, even if geographically they are quite large—the whole population of a metropolis is unlikely to stay in such an area unless magically prevented or compelled.

Next, consider the corruption’s origins—this is not merely a haunted estate or a blighted town, it’s a whole region or even several adjoining regions. Was the land cursed by a dying archmage, the place of apotheosis for a dark deity, the location of a great saint’s unjust execution, a battlefield between celestials and fiends, or something as old as a profane stain on the world from the time of creation? Is this a recent development or has the land been cursed for as long as even the elves can remember? What do the inhabitants know about the source of the curse, what stories do they tell travelers about it, and what advice, charms, or superstitions do they use to keep each other safe?

Corrupted Region Template

Any region can be used with this template. Such a region retains all its traits and encounters except those noted here.

Conflicting Mechanics. If the trait or journey activity mechanics would conflict with those of the base regions|region]] mechanically or thematically (such as a base region that serves as a haven and a new trait that limits havens), the corrupted mechanics take precedence. Their effects do not stack, however.

Difficulty Class. The DCs of effects caused by a corrupted region’s traits, including journey activities, are equal to that of the base tier’s DC +1, in addition to any other modifiers.

Traits. A corrupted region should have 2–3 new traits that reflect the way in which it has been tainted. Examples are listed below.

Encounters. To fit the theme, Narrators can re-work the flavor of the region’s existing encounters or replace them with those from other regions, such as the Haunted Lands .

Journey Activities. A corrupted region hides additional dangers—and occasionally additional opportunities. Based on the nature of the corruption, determine which certain journey activities are made with disadvantage or entirely impossible and, less frequently, which are made with advantage .

Active Corruption (Optional). Corrupted regions often have profound effects on those that travel them. The rules found in “Perverse Contamination: Corruption Mechanics ” ( Gate Pass Gazette Issue #20 ) detail how a creature might suffer corruption from a variety of sources and how that manifests. In corrupted regions this may occur from interacting with items, creatures, or even knowledge. For instance, an adventurer who discovers a strange tablet with alien writing in a Blasted Heath and decides Research (as the downtime activity), Chronicle (as per the journey activity), or cast spells such as comprehend languages or legend lore on it makes a Wisdom saving throw . On a failure, they suffer a level of corruption . This saving throw repeats at the end of each “session”—every five days for a downtime activity, the period of a journey activity, or the casting of a spell—but the Narrator may call for it more often in the case of particularly corruptive material.

Corrupted Region Encounters

Narrators can integrate the following into their existing encounter tables in addition to reskinning existing entries. For added thematic variety, the following heritages can be substituted for some of those on the Unusual NPC Heritage table: doppelganger , mycelial , motley (Dungeon Delver’s Guide), chrysalian (Issue #15), garoul (Issue #8), shadowcast (Issue #23), and trollkin (Issue #24).

Table: Corrupted Region Social Encounters

Table: Corrupted Region Scenery

Weapon Jam (2 Dice)

Action, Save (Construct creatures, Starfighters, Vehicles, Weapon Decks)

Even the most advanced weaponry is made up of multiple moving parts with their own exploitable vulnerabilities.

The next time the device makes an attack or an attack is made using one of the device’s weapons, it or its operator makes a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save the weapon jams and cannot be used to make attacks while you are hacking the device. The device or the device’s operator may then immediately make an attack using a different weapon with the same Attack action, assuming they have another weapon to use. Once your hack ends, the device returns to normal functionality.

Spoof Readings (2 Dice)

Action, Check (Science Decks, Scientific Devices)

Armies sometimes march on one piece of trusted data and scientific equipment is just so precise. All it takes is a little unseen tweak to make a huge difference.

You determine the result of the next test or Scan the device makes. Your fictitious result must be a possible result of this next action, but you can determine the displayed result. Examples include detecting dangerous radiation where there is none, concealing implants from an x–ray scan, or fabricating different results from a ship Scan. 

Spam (1 Die)

Bonus Action, Check (Communications Devices, Computing Devices, Construct creatures, Hackable Armors, Starfighters)

You fill the device with pop–up images and nonsense, drowning out its actual functions with useless and distracting chatter.

While you are hacking the device it is rattled, or if the device is operated the creature operating it is rattled until it is no longer operating the device. Once your hack ends, the device returns to normal functionality.