Esoteric Enterprises Near-Future Cyberpunk Rules & Setting Resources

Once upon a time, back in the olden days of February, I was preparing to run an Esoteric Enterprises campaign set about 10-20 years in the future, blending some cyberpunk elements with the default concept of the game. 

I actually got to the point of getting a group together and nailing down a day and time we'd meet...and then covid hit.  I don't feel like running online so I've been playing a game run by one of the guys who was going to be in my group.  

I'd been waiting until I was ready to actually start my home campaign before posting some of the Esoteric Enterprises Stuff I've written, but it looks like that won't be until sometimes between September and March, so screw it, here you go.  

Esoteric Enterprises Cyberpunk Game Rules

Setting 

San Francisco, in the 2030’s. Alternate history where magic exists but is semi-secret, almost entirely illegal and underground.  Most people have heard of magic but many dismiss it as a dumb conspiracy theory.  Cyberpunk stuff like genetic enhancement and cybernetic implants is just starting to hit the market, but is still very rare.  There’s no “matrix,” but augmented reality interfaces are common. 

No corporate extraterritoriality because that’s always been a bit silly; it’s more like real life where the rich and the big corporations frequently get away with crimes, but in principle the law as written mostly applies to everyone.  Only, like, more so; corporate lawbreaking is often concealed with only the thinnest layer of plausible deniability.  Corporate espionage and sabotage are still uncommon but becoming more common, and everyone knows they happen.  

The campaign concept is a mix of underground exploration as expected in Esoteric Enterprises, and cyberpunk corporate shenanigans like in Shadowrun or Cyberpunk 2020.   

The closest cultural touchstones here are probably the movie Strange Days, or the Detective Inspector Chen novels by Liz Williams.  If anyone else has any good near future fantasy cyberpunk suggestions, please share in the comments.       

Core Mechanics

Adding in advantage/disadvantage as in D&D 5E.

For skill checks, particularly difficult or easy tasks will have modifiers to your chance of success.  

Under consideration: replacing the old-school saves with attribute-based roll-under saves, so like DEX for dodging stuff, WIS for resisting mental compulsions, INT for seeing through illusions, and so on.  Need to do more thinking about how balanced that would be; in general it would make characters tougher at most levels but a bit weaker at the highest levels, even with ability score advancement tests as described below.  

Skill System

Tech skill split into two INT-based skills– 

Electronics, which covers hot-wiring, computer hardware and other physical electronic stuff

Software, which covers programming and hacking.  Basic computer use does not require a skill.

Contacts skill split into two CHA-based skills– 

Contacts–Legitimate For businesspeople, journalists, cops, and generally law-abiding people

Contacts–Criminal for criminals and the occult

Vandalism skill is gone- breaking stuff with brute force is now a straight attribute (usually strength) test unless you’re using a specific skill for it. 

In place of vandalism is the Larceny skill, which covers lockpicking, safe-cracking, and the like.  Also can be used for hotwiring cars and basic knowledge of security systems, even though that overlaps with the electronics skill.  Mostly DEX-based.  

Characters and Classes

Every time you level up, you can test two attributes for advancement.  Pick two attributes and roll a d20 for each.  If you roll less than the attribute, it goes up a point. 

Every character receives two skill points at first level to assign as they see fit, and one at every level thereafter.  No skill can be raised above half your character level rounded up (not including attribute bonuses) using these skill points, unless you’re a criminal.  

Equipment 

Smart phones are ubiquitous and everyone gets one for free, except non-human spooks.  They are common items.  They’re similar to real-life smartphones, but more powerful in every respect and capable of being operated by natural-language voice commands.  They also have two cameras each on the front and back, allowing them to take crude 3-d images.    

Augmented reality rig: common item.  Consists of glasses or goggles, a pair of gloves, and optional microphone.  Used to operate a phone or laptop in augmented reality.  

Simple drones are common.  They’re like real-life drones, but with better sensors and longer battery life.  Prices range from 50 to 10,000 dollars.  

Cybernetic implants are still uncommon, but becoming more common as medical devices.  Implants that enhance human performance, rather than correcting medical issues, are cutting-edge and not quite yet on the market, but just about to start being sold.  No implants may be taken at character creation; they will become available as the campaign progresses both as they come on the market and as the party gets special hookups for items that aren’t commercially available.    

All kinds of other equipment exists that’s not in the book.  If it exists in real life or would most likely exist a decade from now, it exists in the game.  If you want to buy it just say so, we’ll determine the price, and you can try to buy it.  

Note: I don't have a list of cybernetic implants or anything like that.  I'll introduce them one or two at a time as the game goes on, pulling from a mix of Shadowrun, Stars Without Number, real-world news and science articles, and this list.

Wealth and Purchasing

Windfalls of cash will confer a temporary boost to your resource level (just realized this is actually in the rulebook and I overlooked it).  A big windfall will boost it until your next level-up or until you spend a lot of money.  Getting paid up front for doing a job will boost your resources for the duration of that job, helping you buy equipment for that job.

When buying things, the “budget” below which you can automatically afford things is rules as written; the mechanic for buying more expensive things is different.

Roll 2d6 and add your wealth level.  The DC is 6 for a ten dollar item, 9 for a hundred-dollar item, 12 for a thousand-dollar item, 15 for a ten-thousand dollar item, and so on.  Big purchases may temporarily reduce your wealth until you either level up or get a big cash windfall.    

Wealth is no longer capped at 9.

Spook characters whose wealth is stuck at zero can’t have band accounts or credit cards but can still carry cash around, although spending large amounts at once anywhere law-abiding will be nearly impossible.  

Setting Generation Resources

The setting generation resources in Esoteric Enterprises are amazing, but I added a few more things, for three reasons.  First and most obviously, to match the futuristic setting.  Second, I wanted to incorporate surface locations directly into the map.  And third, I'd like the game to occasionally get outside the city.  

Can't share my physical and faction maps unfortunately, since I am going to use them eventually.  

Alternate surface locations (rolled with different-colored dice)

1- Skyscraper, mostly business use 

2- Mall

3- Transportation infrastructure

4- Large house or small condo building

5- Government building

6- Warehouse

7- Park

8- Museum

9- Empty lot or ruined building

10+: Apartment/condo building, this many stories (larger ones will have shops on the lower levels)

Color-coding for connections between map locations

Surface- Purple

Natural caves- Blue

Subway- Brown

City infrastructure- Orange

Ruins- Green

Mines and artificial tunnels- Red

Note: I didn’t end up with any direct connections between surface locations.  Obviously getting around the surface is normally easy, so if two surface locations end up connected then say they’re connected by a special tunnel or skyway, or maybe they’re both in the same corporate compound that isn’t open to the general public. 

Alternate Factions (rolled with different colored dice)

1- Tech company- small

2- Tech company- large

3- Biomedical company- small

4- Biomedical company- large

5- Other company- small

6- Other company- large

7- Law enforcement

8- Other government

9- NGO

10- Wealthy collector

11- Academic institution 

12- Social club

13-20– Rival adventuring party.  Contains this many people, minus ten.

Color-coding for connections on the faction map

Open war- Red

Shadow war- Orange

Non-violent competition or exploitation- Yellow/Pink

Neutral or subtle manipulation- Green

Friendly Trade- Blue

Alliance or control- Purple

Locations outside the City

All locations generated using Silent Legions system.  Can't say much about this without either giving away too much about my setting, or plagiarizing the book.  I have three small town locations with 3 location tags each, and three isolated locations with 2 location tags each.  All within a couple hundred miles of San Francisco, and most within like 50 miles.

Overall I doubt the whole map will ever get used, but it was easy to generate because I can wait until the players get close to a given location or faction before I flesh out the details.  

That's it for now; I might post some other stuff like a review of the game, some short adventures, or the mission generator I wrote, sometime later. 

Ten Fantasy Races Made More Interesting

Tolkien is boring and so are most D&D races.  You could re-write them from the ground up, but there's an easier option: re-interpret their existing descriptions.  That is, come up with new explanations for why they behave the way they do and what that means for the world.

1. Dwarves

Dwarves eat gold.  They need it to be healthy and fertile; those who don't eat enough to at least be fertile are viewed as un-marriagable.  Also, they're not that much shorter than humans.

The moral associations of up and down are reversed.  A dwarf who gains money or status is moving down in the world.  Military leaders are called the deep command, not the high command.

2. Elves

Elves were cast out of faerie eons ago.  Or fled a disaster.  Or perhaps are descended from faeries who interbred with humans.  Nobody's quite sure.  Faeries are polite to them, if condescending.

Their exceptional lifespans make for intense inter-generational conflict; imagine if your parents grew up back when only white male landowners could vote.  Elven teens would probably love Twisted Sister.

3. Orcs

Orcs breed at a prodigious rate; they get pregnant more easily, and usually give birth to twins.  Orc populations can quickly grow out of control unless an iron-fisted government enacts strict population control measures.

As they become more overpopulated, orc societies are usually compelled to turn first to raiding for supplies, then invasion of neighboring territory in a desperate grasp for arable land.  Some orcs justify this, but many view it as a tragic necessary evil.

Orcs grow up faster than humans, reaching full maturity around 15-18 years old.  Contrary to popular belief, they're not less intelligent, but usually less educated and have less life experience due to being younger.  They tend to be more aggressive, but whether that's due to genetics or the pressure of living in an overpopulated environment is anyone's guess.

4.  Goblins

While not a hive mind, goblins are extremely group-oriented, and view the group rather than the individual as the basic unit of society.  They place little value on individual lives, even their own.  That's why they're willing to engage in all sorts of borderline suicidal experiments and military tactics, but also why they tend to flee when they start losing a battle: they don't mind some people dying, but can't stand the chance of the whole group dying.

This gives them a sense of ethics that seems alien to many races.  Goblins would view inflicting a modest amount of suffering on a whole village as worse than murdering one person, for example.

5.  Dark Elves

Descended from Unseelie who rebelled against the growing decadence and sadism of the Unseelie court and were cast out.  Cruelly, rather than lauding their integrity, the surface races hated them for their Unseelie associations (light elves most of all!) and drove them into the underdark.  After generations of the moral compromise necessary to survive in that environment, drow became what they are today.

Also, their skin is mottled in different shades of grey, and their hair is usually grey as well.  This provides some camouflage against most cave walls, at least at a distance.

6.  Halflings

Just like in Tolkien's books, halflings tend to be peaceful, friendly, and adventurous.  They mostly avoid conflict if at all possible.

Since they tend to be neutral in most conflicts, halflings are often entreated to serve as mediators in disputes or to host peace talks, much like Switzerland in real life.

7.  Lizardfolk

Lizardfolk are almost completely devoid of emotion.  They're extremely rational, but have trouble understanding other, more emotional races.  They're not sentimental and really can't understand why eating people who were dead anyway is such a big deal.

Their lack of emotion skews their decision-making in an odd way; lizardfolk are great at evaluating the likely outcomes of a course of action, but terrible at weighing how good or bad an outcome would be.  It might not be obvious to a lizardperson that losing an arm is worse than losing a horse, for instance.  They're smart about pursuing their goals but often pick odd goals to pursue.

I read one that this is how emotional intelligence works.  I think it was the book Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, but I don't remember at this point and how no idea if it's true.

8.  Dragons

Every dragon is unique.  Dragons hoard treasure for two separate reasons.

First, they hoard valuable treasure as an evolutionary fitness signal.  The more treasure they have, the more and stronger adventurers will try to take it from them, the tougher they must be to still be alive.  Their ability to survive with a target on their back proves their mettle to potential mates.

Their long life spans mean that dragons eventually have a hard time remembering everything.  They collect unique items as mementos to anchor their memories.  Dragons value these items mainly for the memories so anchored, not the item's inherent value.  Thus, a wooden toy may be more valuable than a silver statuette, which in turn may be worth more to the dragon than several thousand identical gold coins.

9. Beholders

Artist: Luciano Komorizono

Like dragons, all beholders are unique, with their own mix of magic eyestalk powers.  The beholder race is becoming more corrupted by mutation with every generation.  This is why they seek to kill beholders who don't look like themselves; they wish to save their race by purging it of mutation.

Of course, this isn't how heredity works.  By culling their gene pool of diversity, beholders ensure that they will become more inbred with every generation, hastening the very extinction they seek to prevent.

10.  Illithids

Like it says in the book, illithids are created by implanting a larva into a humanoid, turning it into an illithid.  An illithid larva implanted into a human will create a more human-like illithid, one implanted into an elf will make an illithid more elf-like in its personality, and so-on.  Combined with their psychic powers, this gives each illithid a great understanding of whatever race it was made from.

Illithids were originally created by a vast hive mind organism to serve as traders and diplomats.  The organism did not understand humanoids, but wished to get along with them, and it believed that its creations would make ideal emissaries.  Unfortunately it completely failed to anticipate how horrifying this whole process would seem to a race of individuals, or indeed why kidnapping and murdering individuals would be seen as more than a minor annoyance.  It was destroyed by an alliance of humanoids, and the surviving illithids became the mind flayers we know today.

7-Hex Setting #2: Isle of the Fae

You can assume this is an island with three more hexes of ocean around hex 2, or that it’s a peninsula; it works either way.  Note that the coastline extends very slightly into hexes 3 and 6, which contain seaside villages.

Hex 1- Central, Forrest

Feature 1-  Large town, population 3800

This town is inhabited by a mix of humans and elves.  It is located several miles inland, near the mouth of a river that flows southwest to hex 6.  The river is navigable to large boats, but not full-sized oceangoing ships.  

Control of the town is split between four powerful merchant houses.  While all merchant houses have some interest in multiple industry, each has one area that it focuses on.  An uneasy peace between the four houses currently prevails, but it may not last.

Merchant house #1 is composed of humans.  It runs most of the shipping on the island. It is the biggest employers in the port village in hex 6, but has a tepid relationship with the people there, who feel underpaid.  

Merchant house #2 is composed of a mix of humans and elves.  It controls most of the trade in food and practical crafts.  The people of the port village in hex 6 rely on this house for food and basic supplies, but also resent it for keeping the price of necessities artificially high.  

Merchant house #3 is composed of elves.  It deals mainly in art and magical items, which it buys from the Court of the Faerie Queen in hex #2.

Merchant house #4 is composed of humans.  It owns the gemstone mine in hex 1.

Feature 2- Emerald Mine

Emeralds have a special place in the culture of this island, as they’re viewed as sacred to the faeries.  They’re also a very valuable export commodity.

The managers of this mine want to take over the diving operation in hex 4- peacefully if possible, but ultimately by any means necessary.  

Owned by merchant house #4 from the town in hex 1. 

Hex 2- North, Forrest

Feature 1- The Palace of the Leprechaun King

The leprechaun king’s palace is located in Faerie, and can be reached by walking to the base of a rainbow in this hex after it rains.  He wants two things: treasure and slaves. 

Hated by the boat people in hex 3.

Currently in a state of entente with the faerie queen- cordial but distant.  He envies her power.

The leprechaun king wants to take over or destroy the diving operation in hex 4.  If he can’t have the gold, no one should have it!  Ideally, he’d like to enslave the divers by entrapping them into a magical pact, giving him both treasure and slaves.

Feature 2- The Court of the Faerie Queen

The faerie queen’s realm is located in the plane of faerie.  It can be reached by walking through a hedge in a magical glade at sunrise or sunset.  A few woodsmen in the area know the secret, as do the elves of merchant house #3.  It is located 4d100 miles from the leprechaun king’s palace, should adventurers try to travel between them within faerie.

Currently in a state of entente with the leprechaun king- cordial but distant.  She envies his wealth.  

Friendly relationship with the muse whale in hex 7.  The queen tries to get ships routed through hex 7 so the muse whale can inspire the sailors- then the queen can harvest their dreams and acquire the art they create.  

Sells magical items to the elves of merchant house #3 from the town in hex 1.  In return, they give her artwork and dreams- the dreams are often harvested from unwilling prisoners.  

Hex 3- Northeast, Ocean/Coastline

Feature- Village of the Boat People, pop. 200

The people of this village are refugees from a far-off land, driven here by persecution.  Widely mistrusted by the islanders, they live entirely on boats moored in a small cove in this hex.  They make their living mainly by fishing and creating artwork, and a few of them dive for treasure in hex 4.   

The boat people know about and dislike the leprechaun king in hex 2.  He was partly responsible for the strife in their homeland, which contains another portal to his realm.  They would happily aid any adventurers who seek to kill him. 

The boat people revere the muse whale in hex 7- they make regular pilgrimages and offerings to the whale.  In turn it inspires them to make great art and keep the hope alive that they may someday return to their homeland.  They don’t yet realize that this makes them a target for the faerie queen.  

Hex 4- Southeast, Ocean

Feature- Rocks, Shipwrecks, and Divers

A small area of jagged rocks lying just under the surface of the water.  Ships occasionally wreck here.  A group of boat people divers make a living recovering cargo from the wrecked ships.  

The divers are fending off hostile takeover attempts by the emerald mine in hex 1. 

The divers are being meddled with by the leprechaun king in hex 2, who wants to either control or destroy the diving operation.

Hex 5- South, Ocean

Feature- Female Sea Dragon

Can swim, fly, and breath underwater.  Has several young that she is raising.  Wrongly believed to attack ships- actually, the ships just crash into the rocks in hex 4.  In truth, she’s mostly indifferent towards humanoids, unless they bother her.   

Is revered- from a distance- by the people of the village in hex 6. 

Is a friend and neighbor of the muse whale in hex 7.

Hex 6- Southwest, Ocean/Coastline

Feature- Small village at the mouth of the river, pop. 200

This village in a rocky cover at the mouth of the river exists mainly for the purpose of transferring cargo between river-going boats and larger, ocean-going ships.  

Many are employed by merchant house #1, but they also resent it for under-paying them.

Reliant on merchant house #2 for food and other basic necessities- but resent it for price-fixing. 

The people of this village respect and fear the sea dragon in hex 5.  They occasionally leave offerings to her, which they believe is why she leaves them alone.    

Hex 7- Northwest, Ocean

Feature 1- Muse Whale

This beautiful narwhal looks like a unicorn of the sea.  It feeds on fish and positive emotions, and the sight and sound of it inspires humanoids to dream bigger and create beautiful works of art.

Revered by the boat people in hex 3- they make regular pilgrimages and offerings to the whale. 

Friendly relationship with the faerie queen in hex 2.  The queen tries to get ships routed through this hex so the muse whale can inspire the sailors- then the queen can harvest their dreams and acquire the art they create.  

Is a friend and neighbor of the sea dragon in hex 5.

7-Hex Sandbox #1: The Mountains of Terror

A year or so ago I started drawing up seven-hex sandboxes, inspired by Chicagowiz's three hex adventure post series.  I didn't really have any plans for them, wasn't blogging or running campaigns yet, just thought it was a fun way to pass the time.

Somehow now that I do have a blog, I forgot all about them until last night.  Turns out I have three of them saved on my laptop, so I'll release those over the next couple weeks and if there's interest maybe I'll start writing up some more.

The basic idea here is that every hex has two features, and every feature has connections to other hex features– usually one or two, sometimes three or four.  So these are written to provide not only stuff to explore, but hooks to get parties to explore them and also some dynamism with different things interacting with each other.

7-Hex Sandbox Setting: The Mountains of Terror

Hex 1- Central, Woods

Feature 1- Wood Golem

Can blend into the forrest, and regenerates in direct sunlight.  Under orders to prevent anyone from finding the scrying pool- the golem usually patrols 1-3 miles out from the pool, but once every day or two it stops by the pool to make sure nobody got past it.

Was created by the (deceased) wizard from the tower in hex 2 to guard the pool.  If killed, magical runes on the body can be deciphered- will include the wizard’s name.  

The golem will know if anyone other than the wizard uses the gate in hex 7 to travel to the tower.  When this happens, it will run to the tower to defend its master, arriving in 2d6+6 hours.  

Feature 2- Scrying Pool

A naturally occurring spring on the junction of two ley lines.  Decades ago, the wizard from the tower in hex 2 enchanted the spring into a scrying pool.  

Was created by the (now deceased) wizard from the tower in hex 2.

The golem occasionally passes by here.  It could potentially be found by tracking the golem to it.

Hex 2- North, Mountains

Feature 1- Wizard’s Tower

Formerly inhabited by a level 12 wizard.  The wizard recently died in a lab accident; the tower is now full of traps, treasure, and monsters created by the wizard.  

The wizard created the golem in hex 1.  Drawings of the golem can be found in the tower.

The wizard created the scrying pool in hex 1.  Instructions for using it can be found in the tower’s laboratory.  

Contains a magical gate that leads to the magical gate in hex 7.

Feature 2- Magophobic Human Village, Population 420

The inhabitants of this village hate magic due to bad experiences with the wizard in the nearby tower, and his creations.  They haven’t actively opposed the wizard- just avoid him and anything else magical. 

The people here trade with and are sympathetic towards the inhabitants of the haunted village in hex 3.  They will try to aid the people of the haunted village as much as they can as long as it doesn’t put themselves at risk.  

Hex 3- Northeast, Wooded Hills

Feature 1- Haunted Seaside Fishing Village

Located on the coast bordering hex 4.  Suffers occasional raids from skeleton warriors riding skeleton horses.  

Friendly trading relationship with the magophobic village in hex 2.  Both villages will aid each other against supernatural threats, though not at great cost/risk to themselves.

Main food source is the fish in hex 4.  Famine may ensue if the fish population gets too depleted.  

The skeletal raiders come from the dungeon in hex 5.  A typical raiding party consists of d6+2 skeleton warriors armed with shields and longswords, all riding skeleton horses. 

Feature 2- A Large Nest of Harpies

Located on top of the tallest hill in the hex.  Contains 3d6+3 adult harpies and 2d6+2 young.  The top of the nest is 250 feet above ground level; you can see the far edge of all neighboring hexes from there. 

Have trained the seagulls in hex 4 (who can communicate with them telepathically) to spot targets for them to raid.    

They don’t attack the haunted village due to fear of the monsters there.  They will likely start raiding it once the haunting ends.  

Hex 4- Southeast, Water

Feature 1- Fish

This hex is rich in fish of all kinds.

A staple food source of the haunted village in hex 3.  

Being over-fished by the flock of seagulls.  May become dangerously depleted if the seagull flock keeps growing, potentially causing starvation in the haunted village in hex 3.  

Feature 2- Flock of semi-intelligent seagulls.

These seagulls have an INT of 2 and can communicate telepathically with other flying creatures.  They continually migrate between the coastline of hexes 1, 3, and 5, overflying hex 4 on their travels.  With the aid of the harpies, this flock keeps growing bigger and bigger.      

They are allied with the harpies in hex 3- the seagulls spot targets for the harpies to raid, and the harpies protect the seagulls from predators, hunters, and people who would kill them as pests.  

Main food source is the fish in this hex.  If the flock keeps going, the fish population may plummet.

Hex 5- South, Mountains

Feature 1: Village of 150 people who fear the dark

This village has a strong taboo against darkness.  Nobody goes outside at night, and everybody keeps a fire lit all night, believing this keeps the skeletons from attacking.  In reality, the skeletons are under orders only to attack wanderers in the wilderness and not attack the village directly; the cleric who commands the skeletons actually hopes to someday convert the village to his faith.    

People who leave the village at night are sometimes attacked by skeleton raiders from the nearby dungeon.  

The hunter whose accidental death created the nightmare dungeon in hex 7 was from this village.  He died 14 years ago- most people will still remember him, and will wrongly assume he was killed by the skeletons.  

Feature 2: The Necromancer’s Lair

This is the lair of a level 7 cleric necromancer, a follower of an evil god of death.  He was cast out from the village in hex 5 after trying to proselytize on behalf of his deity, and now seeks revenge.  The lair is located in a pocket dimension tied to the negative energy plane; the entrance is in an ancient graveyard on the side of a mountain.  

Sometimes attacks the villagers from the nearby village if they venture out at night.  

The cleric sends raiding parties of skeleton warriors riding skeleton horses to terrorize the village in hex 3.  He has little desire to destroy the village- he’d rather make the villagers suffer.

The cleric has his minions hunt horses in hex 6 and bring him their corpses, which he raises as skeletons.  He also has them hunt anyone who would hunt the horses, however, to keep the herd large.    

Hex 6- Southwest, Prairie

Feature 1: Corpse with Rod of Darkness

A man, dead of multiple knife, club and arrow wounds.  Carries a rod can extinguish lights in the area.  The man was a traveler who had recently visited the village in hex 5; he died 2 years ago.

The villagers in hex 5, being afraid of the dark, freaked out and attacked this man after he used the rod in their village.  He managed to make it to this hex before dying of his wounds.  The villagers will try to cover up their crime- they know they overreacted, and feel guilty about murdering this man.

The seagulls in hex 4 know about this artifact- they witnessed it all while scouting the village on behalf of the harpies.  

Feature 2: Herd of wild horses 

There are hundreds of wild horses in this herd.  Physically, they’re suitable as riding or warhorses, but psychologically, very difficult to break.  Undead horses, however, are a different matter.  

Protected, hunted, and raised as skeletons by the evil cleric in hex 5, and his minions.  

Hex 7- Northwest, Prairie

Feature 1- Magical Gate 

This portal is built into the side of a small bluff.  It can be activated by tracing the runes on it with your fingers.  

Leads into the wizard’s tower in hex 2.  

The wood golem in hex 1 will know if anyone other than the wizard from the tower in hex 2 passes through the gate, and will respond by going to the tower to defend it.

Feature 2- Portal to the Nightmare Realm

This dungeon was created by the death of a hunter who was terrified of spiders, and died of fright after waking up to a spider crawling on his face.  Most of the monsters in it are spider-like in some way.  

It can be destroyed by removing the man’s longbow from it. If removed, the longbow is magical and can inflict fear on enemies with a critical hit, but also inflicts fear on the user with a critical failure.  Spider-monsters will sometimes roam the area around the dungeon, but won’t leave this hex.

The hunter was from the village in hex 5.  People there will still remember him.