Cruciphere

Warren's Butchery - Upper Floor

This is the fourth part of an adventure that I've been working on for awhile. It is inspired by the Warrens zone of Darkest Dungeon. 

• The first post in this series, describes the enemies encountered.

• The second post describes the exterior areas surrounding the Butchery.

• The third post describes the first level of the Butchery proper. This is where the crawl-able dungeon-proper begins.

On reflection, my earlier posts felt a little over-wrought and were more tedious than fun to assemble. I'll try to stick to the highlights on this one.

This post continues the description of The Butchery, a two story building with a wrap-around porch. The Boss Hog and his Wretch attendants reside here. So does most of the treasure.

Underground

Original art. Brush and metallic pens on colored paper.

The layer of soil and stone which covers our world is but a thin cover, like the skin of an apple. The vast, unseen interior is stranger than we imagine.

In places, it peeks through and grants access to explorers daring enough to descend into the shrouded unknown.

Warren's Butchery - Ground Floor

Click to enlarge

This is the third part of an adventure that I've been working on for awhile. It is inspired by the Warrens zone of Darkest Dungeon and the Isle of Doctor Moreau.

• The first post in this series, describes the enemies encountered.
• The second post describes the exterior areas surrounding the Butchery. 

The Butchery is a two story building with a wrap-around porch. The Boss Hog and his Wretch attendants reside here. So does most of the treasure.

Warren's Butchery: The Grounds

This is the second part of an adventure that I've been working on for awhile. It is inspired by the Warrens zone of Darkest Dungeon. 

• The first post in this series, describes the enemies encountered.
• This post describes the exterior areas surrounding the Butchery. 

Everyone knows:  For years, Warren has operated a hog farm supplying the surrounding villages with pork, bacon and sausage. A small still produced harsh liquor. He is a skilled veterinarian who, in desperate moments, has operated on people (the stitches were never pretty but they usually survived).

#	Rumors
1	If you visit the compound at night you'll hear awful beastly screams.
2	Warren is a bit crazy. He talks to his animals constantly.
3	Warren's hogs reproduce and mature at an unnatural rate.
4	Warren is a sadistic freak. If you stray from the paths, his land is strewn with traps.
5	Warren once grafted the hand of an ape onto a man who had lost his limb in an accident.
6	Warren practices his veterinary skills on his herd and performs many unnecessary surgeries.
7	Warren is a wizard and protects his lands with magic. Sometimes he sells potions.
8	No one has heard from Warren in months.

Unbeknownst to his neighbors, Warren experimented on his stock. With arcane surgeries and cultic ritual, he elevated  many of them to human like sentience. This led to his downfall, when the Swine rebelled, enraged by the torments they suffered.

Now their ranks are swelling. Their hunger drives them ever further afield, in search of flesh to feed the growing horde and satisfy their enormous king.

Tier List: 5e Races

Inspired by the latest episode of GG NO RE, I've created my own tier list of 5e races:

My rankings are 100% based on how well these races fit into my vision of D&D-land. It's a place that draws more inspiration from Bas-Lag, Warhammer, Darkest Dungeon and Carcosa than vanilla Tolkien or the Forgotten Realms.

A few notes:

• Like the GG NO RE crew, I am profoundly human-centric. I do like the Carcosan rainbow people.
• Devil's infiltrating the world... cool! Angels... ok. (Tieflings and Aasimar)
• Robot-golem boys (and girls) - yep
• Short people are awful and should be portrayed as sneaky, psycho bastards (Goblins, kobolds: fine. Halflings, dwarves*, gnomes: shite)
• My comparatively high estimation of Kenku is entirely based on Matt Finch's portrayal. 
• Elves are boring.

It could be better: 

• If orcs and/or goliaths become Beastmen. Or maybe just sentient apes.
• Halflings could be Arnold's varicose morlocks
• Are Yuan-Ti the ancient snakemen? Or maybe that's dragonborn.

What do you think? Come at me!

Little Piggies Go to Market

I'm assembling a dungeon for my 5e game based on Darkest Dungeon's Warrens locale with inspiration from the Isle of Doctor Moreau.

Mostly for my own use, I'm collecting my monsters (art & stats) here: