Marlinko Canton Random Encounter Table

Roll a d6 once a day, or when camping in the wilderness at night. On a 6, roll 1d6.

1d6
1-2 Personality
3-4 Creature
5 Location, Mishaps, and Magic
6 New Development

Based on the result, roll on the relevant table below.

Personality – 1d6
1: Secret Tryst
2: Monster-Hunting Party
3: The Impaled Gribble Adventuring Company
4: Dwarves Looking For Work
7 dwarves are whistling on their way to work, hewing a coal seam, or whatever suits the situation.
They can be hired as a group of 0 Level Fighters for 3d6x10sp, will share food, and can give
information about the local area. They carry a bag of magically poisoned apples, with which they
hope they memorywipe a maiden who will look after them.
5: Spirit Maiden
6: Lost Children
4 children (Magda and her younger brother and sister, and their neighbour Lev) have become lost
and are looking for their home village, Stinking Pit. Taking them home will lead to a reward but
require 1d4 days of travel. For their reward, roll d6:
1: a sack of beets (convertible to 10 standard rations with effort)
2: 27sp
3: a silver-plated ring worth 16sp and a deck of badly-drawn pornographic
playing cards worth very little
4: a warm thankyou and some half-accurate information about the local area
5: a Healing Potion
6: a magical emerald which glows in the presence of gold but gives off a
high-pitched whine when its owner is camping or in poor lodging

Creature – 1d12
1. 1d4+3 Gribbles (30 total)
1 in 4 chance these will be Martial Gribbles. Attempt ambush either way.
2: 1d10 Reverse Centaur Foragers (20 total)
3: 1d6 War Bear Pilgrims
4: 1d3 Revocan Honeyback Bears
1 in 3 chance it is in its cave
5: 2d4 Dirt Gnomes Mushroom Hunters (30 total)
6: 1d4+3 Bandits (30 Competent, 12 Incompetent total)
50% chance each that the group of Bandits are Competent (Morale 8, positioned well in
surrounding positions and led by one of Libor's lieutenants) or Incompetent (Morale 5, sort of
standing around in a gaggle and led by an obvious loudmouth/idiot/pacifist).
7: 1d8 Pelgranes
Minimum 2.
8: Stalking Deodand
9: 1d4+1 Lost Pirates
a long way from the shore.
10: 1d4 Badgerfolk (12 total)
11: 1d3 Cockatrices
12: 1d6+2 Bland Travellers
Rolling along in a cart or two. There is a 1 in 4 chance that one of them is a merchant, and another
is his guard (stats as per Type 1 Brigand). If robbed, non-merchant travellers carry about 10sp worth
of goods per person; merchants carry about 100sp in stock. Merchants can also sell their stock to
more scrupulous adventurers! On a further 1 in 4 chance, the merchant stocks weapons and armour;
otherwise they only stock basic supplies.

Locations, Mishaps, and Magic

1: Ear Seeker
2: Marshy Environs
stinging insects, rust on exposed metal, etc
3: Mind-Focussing Arch
An ornate purple metal arch stands at the top of some intricately carved stone steps. Any character
who passes through the arch via the steps gains a Style Point.
4: Burnt-Out Caravan
5: Flash Lightning Storm
6: Ancient Hyperborean Shrine
a wayside shrine to the Space Gods

New Development

Fixed Locations
The Faux Mead Hall of the Hyperboreans – North of Marlinko, at the end of the Straight Road
Libor's Bandit Lair – South-West of Marlinko, in the Unrewarding Hills
The Towers of the Weretoads – East of Marlinko, in the Stenchswamp Forest
The Slumbering Ursine Dunes – South of Marlinko, by the Persimmon Sea

The Faux Mead Hall of the Hyperboreans

The Approach
The Switch-Back Road
roll to see if there is an additional random encounter

The Willow Pool

strange reflections of things to come

The Ladder
30ft up a 30ft cliff at end of Switch-Back Road; a little loose; unless fastened, each character has a 1
in 4 chance of making it loose, requiring an Athletics check to stay on, otherwise they fall and take
1d6+3 damage; if it's loosened 3 times, it falls, taking the third person down with it (no check,
1d6+3 damage)

Level 0
No Random Encounter Checks on this Level, though the Giant Rats in the Guest Hall may steal
food by night from adventurers who camp in that building.

Gatehouse
full light in daytime
A: Portcullis – closed; Small characters can squeeze through; 40 points of Strength can be applied;
or it can be destroyed by applying 40hp of damage (it has Resistance to Slashing and
Piercing weapons)
B: Winch Room – small window which can be squeezed through, but requires an Athletics check;
stones round window have decaying mortar, could be bludgeoned or painstakingly removed;
inside is the rusty but functional winch for the portcullis; the portcullis closes at midnight
every day (a mechanical deadlock)

C: Guard Room – wooden door still miraculously on hinges, there is a loose flagstone with a animal
skin painting of a peasant girl hidden underneath (worth 100sp to a collector of Hyperborean
art)

Mead Hall
courtyard, statues at door; full light in daytime
A: Great Hall - stone throne and central table, 25ft statues of heroes either side of table in centre
with sapphires in their circules worth 100sp each (requiring Athletics check if unsecured);
evidence of campfires and visitors, including a recently abandoned campsite with a
longsword (Medium), 2 standard and 1 iron ration and a bedroll

B: Lord's Suite – bath in second room, mildewy and mossy, moss can be harvested to provide a up
to 3 x 1hp Healing Poultices; there is an engraved star on one wall of the bedroom itself

C: Chill Room – buried under a heap of rubble in the corner is a Lava Lamp (worth 260sp to lame
people)

D: Kitchen – the Aga here is still intact though nonfunctional (could be scrapped for about 100sp
total, would take 8 slots), and above the door through to the kitchen is an inscription
depicting the descent of strange-looking angels to the mountain

E: Pantry – this has been ransacked and left thoroughly empty except for a few empty, largely
decayed sacks, except for a chalk board on the wall with a wood sign above it with “Pantry
Contents” carved on it in Ancient Hyperborean

F: Kitchen Balcony – this was a balcony but has now collapsed down the cliff; if someone stands on
the remains, they must make an Acrobatics check or fall 20ft, taking 1d6+1 damage –
looks out west, towards hills and Ostrovo

G: Staircase – down to Cellars (0.5)

Guest Hall
full light in daytime
A: Guest Quarters – rootled out and largely empty; three have crumbled down the southern slope,
amidst the rubble there is a gold ring worth 200sp, finding it involves a successful Search
check, and if the climber is unsecured, a successful Reflex Saving Throw; a fall causes
3d6+3 damage

B: Steward's Suite – empty save for 4 x Giant Rats who are nested here (and who will try to steal
food from anyone who camps in the Guest Hall); there is a secret door, given away by the
lack of dust in front of it. The door hides stairs to Level -1.

C: Roof – reached by stairs, this gives a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside; there is an
architectural niche on the southern wall, which if looked through focusses the eyes on the
tower at the Slumbering Ursine Dunes
Ruined Watch Tower
red dragon wyrmling, Sizzthrax, on a pretty small pile of gold and gems (worth 427sp); won't give
up its treasure but will make friends and talk to adventurers

Level 0.5
No Wandering Monster Checks.

Cellar
dark; broken up crates and chests, including iron bands cover a trapdoor, underneath is a ladder to -
1.H

Level -1

¦---E---E---F I
¦ + ¦ ¦
E D F--H--J
¦ ¦ ¦
A--B--C---F--G

Dimensional Transport Suite

A: Dimensional Transport Pod Room – 30x30, well-lit by fire; includes the pod itself, holding
Waylter; a control panel, with sigils in Ancient Hyperborean; camping gear beside the fire
(including a tinderbox, five torches, a messkit, and 8 standard rations); Marko and Dmitri
(both Type 1 Brigands) and Marko's semi-tame Giant Ferret are here; there is an acid bucket
tripwire trap at the archway to B (whoever triggers it must make a Reflex Save to halve 1d6
damage if triggered); the access door to E has a recessed button which opens it, marked in
Ancient Hyperborean – it cannot be knocked down by ordinary means, and any attempting
must make a Fortitude Save to halve 1d4 damage from an electric shock countermeasure)

Marko is an egomaniac who found his way in and got to the dimensional transport pod, hit
some buttons, and thought he'd come up with an ectoplasmic trap. He plans to use “ghost
energy” (no such thing) to power his “weapons of doom”, which he will use to punish those
who have hurt him. He wears lead-lined gloves (for science!) worth 150sp, and carries a
glass mirror worth 50sp.

B: Decontamination Room – 20/20, dim light from fire in A; the archway through to A is tripwired,
see above; the archway through to C has a pressure plate trap which releases gas (Fortitude
save or fall asleep); the archways are metal, ornately carved, and marked in Ancient
Hyperborean (“Decontamination Room”); Sharp Trevor, a dimwit Man-at-Arms hired by
Marko, is here on watch; there is a 1 in 6 chance he is asleep when encountered; if not there
is a 1 in 6 chance he is somehow ready for the characters and is hiding, waiting to pounce

C: Waiting Lounge – fluted metal benches, relief on wall of amoeboid figure (a space god), still has
a number of tiny carnelians set into it (worth 120sp); access to B, D, and F

D: Mini-Museum – crumbling wall can be smashed to E corridor; no exhibits, but weird

descriptions in Ancient Hyperborean of things long-gone, e.g. “Civic Works Constructed By
Megafauna”, “Impressionistic Statue of Gods In Flight”, “Defeat of Hot Hell Invaders”

E: Service Access Room – some controls, if messed with Reflex save to halve 2d6 from them
fritzing out. ladder with hatches to Level -2, -3, and -4; the access doors to A and D have
button access marked in Ancient Hyperborean, they cannot be knocked down by ordinary
 means, and any attempting must make a Fortitude Save to halve 1d4 damage from an
electric shock countermeasure

F: Plaza – 60x60, bat swarm, crumbled floor and gray ooze, stairs to Steward's Suite and to
antechamber of Level -2 – exits to D, G, and H, and metal door to C with a recessed button,
which cannot be knocked down by ordinary means, and any attempting must make a
Fortitude Save to halve 1d4 damage from an electric shockcountermeasure

G: Office – single metal chair on floor, a brass plaque on the wall in Ancient Hyperborean
(qualification from Dimensional Travel School), safe in wall with trapped lock (5d6 test,
electric, 2d6), contains 2000sp in hexagonal Ancient Hyperborean coins

H: Games Room – gigantic air hockey table, there is a locked metal compartment in it which has
the pieces, there's a switch on the side to turn it on, and a coinslot (takes Ancient
Hyperborean currency); open portals to F, I, and J

I: Space God Larder – empty larder area with metal shelves, with 4-foot tall metal containers in
strange shapes; there is an empty Standing S-Shape with an open hatch, and a Moebius Strip
with a closed hatch which can be simply opened – it is full of a musty, fungal-smelling
liquid, which if tasted causes 1 damage, if drunk causes 1d8 damage; ladder to 0.5

J: Sitting Room – now just living quarters for a Gribble (Jimby, wears a striped orange-and-grey
woollen technician's suit); he just wants to be left alone and for Marko to go away, and will
give info to adventurers. He will give any one who helps an emerald worth 500sp
(though to him it is worthless); he also has a single hexagonal Ancient Hyperborean silver
piece in his little bag of possessions, along with a whistle; he will trade these for things he
likes, such as animal pelts for his bedding

Level -2
temple with golem guardians and traps
hidden and trapped antigrav shaft to level -6

Level -3 & 4
morlocks with albino ape vs Martial Gribbles vs undead across funerary complex

Level -5
inexplicable cats in rooms full of engraved metal walls
laser pistol
deformed mutant

Level -6
cryogenic pods

Level -7
underground lake, entrance to Veins of the Earth
giant crabs