[Dungeon Fantasy] The Wilderness of Hell

[Michael Thayne]

After Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 5: Demons got released a few weeks ago, I started thinking about what we can infer about the native plane of these creatures from their GURPS statistics. So I got out my copy of Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness Adventures and started working out how to adapt the rules therein for sending a high-powered group of PCs to Hell (using magic, a portal etc.—not by killing them). Here's what I came up with:

Hell is in many ways just as varied a place as the material plane. Only a few things are constant. First, there is no cycle of day or night—outdoors, Hell appears to be in a state of constant twilight, granting -3 in darkness penalties. Furthermore, even in the presence of a permanent or indefinitely-maintained sunlight spell, natural plants still wouldn't grow in Hell because the soil is, without exception, polluted. As a place of unspeakable evil, Hell has very high sanctity for Evil, and no sanctity for the forces of Good and Nature. Furthermore, Nature's Strength is at -10. Legends about heroes who willingly travel to Hell often mention the need to first acquire one or more powerful artifacts to mitigate this effect. Mana levels are normal on average, but may vary more than on the material plane.

In spite of these features, Hell contains twisted versions of every sort of terrain found on the material plane (see sidebar, DF16 p. 22). This is possible because just as Hell is home to numerous species of demonic animals, it is also home to demonic plants, which some demonic animals (such as the Third Circle Bull Demon, see Dungeon Fantasy Setting: Cold Shared Mountains p. 42) feed on because they lack Doesn't Eat or Drink. These examples of hellish flora always have Immunity to Metabolic Hazards and can grow in Hell's perpetual twilight just as well as ordinary plants grow outside on the material plane. They are unaffected by spells from the Plant college (though they are affected by any spell that could reasonably affect a mindless, immobile demon on its native plane).

In most respects, foraging for food in Hell follows the rules in DF16 pp. 42-44, except that any food prepared without an appropriate Recipe perk (Dungeon Fantasy 16: Henchmen p. 24) is guaranteed to be poisonous—and even food with that perk may have strange side effects. DMs who wish to minimize rolling would be justified in assessing 1 HP of toxic damage per meal to anyone lacking Immunity to Poison who dares eat food foraged in Hell. Devious DMs could alternatively use the rules for random poisons in Demons (pp. 11-12) though in this case especially even the most clueless PCs should be warned that the wildlife in Hell looks wrong and might not be a good idea to eat.

Hell is, of course, hot—except when it's freezing cold. In game terms, daily rolls HT for heat (DF16 p. 30) are always required except in arctic terrain, which require daily HT rolls for cold instead. Usually, these rolls will be at a penalty (GMs who wish to determine the penalty randomly can roll 1d6-1). Furthermore, in any non-arctic terrain (and even in certain arctic regions!) travelers can expect to encounter flame and smoke spewing fissures on a more or less daily basis (see the rules for fire in DF16, p. 32). GMs who wish to vary the number of encounters with fire each day can roll 1d and read the number of run-ins with fire from the following table:

• 1-2: 0
• 3-4: 1.
• 5: 2
• 6: Roll again and add 2.

Lava flows (DF16, p. 32) are also a danger, but are exceedingly rare except when travelers willingly go near a known volcano, lava pit, or similar—if it were otherwise, even most demons wouldn't be able to survive long in Hell.

Obviously, demons are the most common type of random encounter in Hell, but constructs, elder things, slimes, and undead are also good choices, since in most cases these will be able to survive for extended periods in Hell. Living creatures almost never take up permanent residence in Hell—wise mortals prepare carefully for trips to Hell and linger no longer than necessary. Note that demons lacking Immunity to Metabolic Hazards should generally be assumed to be mutated versions of material plane natives, not natives of Hell, and so are actually unlikely to be encountered there.

Thoughts on this? Anything you would change? Obviously a lot could be added, particularly in terms of specific sites, but I think this is a good baseline.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

Thoughts on this? Anything you would change? Obviously a lot could be added, particularly in terms of specific sites, but I think this is a good baseline.

Nothing to add right now, but I think you've done a pretty good job. I like it!

[Tymathee]

I like what I've seen so far; I'll give it a more through read once I'm not so busy. I really like the idea of exploring the "implied setting" of DF's supplements.

I swear I remember reading something about taking the implied setting assumptions baked into the various DF material, plus Pyramid articles, etc., into a more fleshed out setting... called "Fountain of ___", of what I can't recall. This is all from vague memory reading about it. The material was published in the old Pyramid? Dunno. Maybe someone else more GURPS-history savvy can chime in. Or maybe it is just fleeting fancy mistaken for a memory. Oh Well!

[Tyneras]

I rather like the idea of demonic "plants" being mindless, immobile demons!

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by Tymathee

I like what I've seen so far; I'll give it a more through read once I'm not so busy. I really like the idea of exploring the "implied setting" of DF's supplements.

I swear I remember reading something about taking the implied setting assumptions baked into the various DF material, plus Pyramid articles, etc., into a more fleshed out setting... called "Fountain of ___", of what I can't recall. This is all from vague memory reading about it. The material was published in the old Pyramid? Dunno. Maybe someone else more GURPS-history savvy can chime in. Or maybe it is just fleeting fancy mistaken for a memory. Oh Well!

You might be thinking of the Wellsprings of Creation?

[Pursuivant]

Good stuff!

The unliving terrain of Hell might also be inimical to life.

Hellish soil and water might be burning, corrosive, toxic, or septic. Even worse, it might actively try to blind, choke, or drown people, giving penalties to HT rolls to resist the effects of Hazards.

Hellish terrain might also randomly move, blocking movement, confusing navigation, or just creating pitfalls. The soil, or things living in it, might attack anything which remains in place too long, preventing the inhabitants from ever stopping to rest.

Solidified lava flows, or just ordinary rocks, will inflict damage to the feet of anyone who walks through the area. People who fall down in such areas take even more damage. Cinder cones, mud volcanoes, burning gas seeps, and similar volcanic features might bombard the area around them with molten lava or just flying rocks.

The air could also stink of decay or sulfur, requiring HT or Will rolls to avoid Retching in addition to whatever damaging effects the GM wishes to invent.

Hellish weather is inherently unpredictable and will always inflict some sort of damage when it happens, similar to various Area spells like Rain of Acid.

Demons will have advantages which allow them to ignore such problems, but intruders or captives face serious problems.

Finally, that since the nature of Hell is to torment all who dwell there for eternity, healing is impossible but so is death. Anyone in Hell eventually acquires the Unhealing disadvantage, the Recovery and Unkillable advantages, and Regeneration (Slow) and Restoration advantages with the limitations ("Only triggered when user reduced to HP x -10, and Temporary Disadvantage: Chronic Pain (Agony) while damage heals, and Nuisance Effect (Damage never quite heals properly).

This means that healing spells and powers don't work unless they have the Cosmic enhancement or they are granted as part of a Pact with a demon or have Power Modifier (Evil).

Badly injured people can't be killed or knocked unconscious. People reduced below -HP remain active, but in increasing Pain. Those reduced to HP x -5 don't die but are crippled by Agony. When they are eventually reduced to HP x -10, their ruined bodies start to slowly and painfully regenerate. Each cycle of regeneration from HP x -10 to full HP inflicts a physical Quirk of some sort - a minor disability or a Distinctive Feature. Eventually, these effects reduce Appearance and, at least for damned souls, permanent physical disadvantages.

This allows demons to constantly hone their fighting skills by fighting each other, without diminishing the size of the Army of Hell. It also allow demons to amuse themselves by constantly hunting and savaging the souls of the damned.

[Emerikol]

Some great ideas!

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Hellish soil and water might be burning, corrosive, toxic, or septic.

<snip>

Hellish weather is inherently unpredictable and will always inflict some sort of damage when it happens, similar to various Area spells like Rain of Acid.

Demons will have advantages which allow them to ignore such problems, but intruders or captives face serious problems.

A key thing about the OP is that I was trying to make it work with existing demon stat-blocks. I don't believe any of those grant immunity to DR loss from corrosive damage, which is why I steered clear of such effects in the OP—though certainly they could crop up on rare occasions. Instead, I emphasized poison because virtually all demons have Immunity to Metabolic Hazards (with a few exceptions that plausibly aren't actually native to Hell, like the demonic version of the Foul Bat in DF 2). It's worth noting that DF 16 makes the most likely consequences from a run in with fire hazards toxic damage from smoke inhalation, not actual burning damage, which is entirely realistic and allows weak demons with low DR to survive in Hell.

Toxic/septic water is something I considered mentioning but decided it could be rolled in under foraging for food in Hell resulting in guaranteed poisoning. If you make it a separate threat it might be interesting to say drinking the water in Hell results in guaranteed sewer rot as described in DF 2.

Solidified lava flows, or just ordinary rocks, will inflict damage to the feet of anyone who walks through the area. People who fall down in such areas take even more damage. Cinder cones, mud volcanoes, burning gas seeps, and similar volcanic features might bombard the area around them with molten lava or just flying rocks.

This would certainly make sense in some areas, but you need areas without these features so weaker demons can survive. Incidentally, it's not just rocks that can be sharp—the plains of Hell might also have something like knife grass from Mirror of the Fire Demon. Or forests might have undergrowth with extremely sharp thorns. Just as long as there are places doomchildren can hang out without immediately exploding.

Finally, that since the nature of Hell is to torment all who dwell there for eternity, healing is impossible but so is death. Anyone in Hell eventually acquires the Unhealing disadvantage, the Recovery and Unkillable advantages, and Regeneration (Slow) and Restoration advantages with the limitations ("Only triggered when user reduced to HP x -10, and Temporary Disadvantage: Chronic Pain (Agony) while damage heals, and Nuisance Effect (Damage never quite heals properly).

This means that healing spells and powers don't work unless they have the Cosmic enhancement or they are granted as part of a Pact with a demon or have Power Modifier (Evil).

Badly injured people can't be killed or knocked unconscious. People reduced below -HP remain active, but in increasing Pain. Those reduced to HP x -5 don't die but are crippled by Agony. When they are eventually reduced to HP x -10, their ruined bodies start to slowly and painfully regenerate. Each cycle of regeneration from HP x -10 to full HP inflicts a physical Quirk of some sort - a minor disability or a Distinctive Feature. Eventually, these effects reduce Appearance and, at least for damned souls, permanent physical disadvantages.

This allows demons to constantly hone their fighting skills by fighting each other, without diminishing the size of the Army of Hell. It also allow demons to amuse themselves by constantly hunting and savaging the souls of the damned.

You could do this, but I like the approach in Hellsgate where "readily tormentable but never die" is a feature of a the lost soul racial template, not something Hell does to short-term visitors.

[Tymathee]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

You might be thinking of the Wellsprings of Creation?

Indeed! More than anything I would love a Dungeon Fantasy Setting book, akin to DnD's core setting of Forgotten Realms. This then could be used as a focus point for publishing DF adventures. Seems genius to me, I would snatch that up so fast. Take my money, Steve Jackson Games!

I'd like to see something like The Wilderness of Hell in it too. :)

[Balor Patch]

Originally Posted by Tymathee

Indeed! More than anything I would love a Dungeon Fantasy Setting book, akin to DnD's core setting of Forgotten Realms. This then could be used as a focus point for publishing DF adventures. Seems genius to me, I would snatch that up so fast. Take my money, Steve Jackson Games!

I'd like to see something like The Wilderness of Hell in it too. :)

You are familiar with the Nordlond books, published by Gaming Ballistic, I trust? Doug mixes a lot of cultural details with his DFRPG.

There's also Cold Shard Mountains, which is a region overview for DF.