Further, here is a list of d8 types of cavern that will lead to a further d40 table to generate what type of cavern has been mapped using the table above.
Cavern types, d8:
1.
Underground water, flooding, lakes and rivers.
2.
Abandoned underground dweller architecture
3.
Underground vegetation
4.
Minerals and rocks
5.
Mud, death, blood
6.
Underground humanoid habitation
7.
Underground animal habitation
8.
Underground weirdness
1) Underground water, flooding, lakes and rivers
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
|
1
|
Soft, soothing drizzle leaks from the
ceiling in a constant rain.
|
Perfectly square cut geometric
canals, feet wide, turns the dry components of the cavern into a maze of
walkways.
|
Pools of clear water, illuminated
from below by glowing multicoloured ores and minerals.
|
Large still pools, fungal lily pads
floating atop surface.
|
2
|
Damp, vaguely muddy, recently drained
or emptied cavern lake bed.
|
Shimmering curtains of water flow in
sheets from the ceiling.
|
Some hidden wind tunnel billows water
from leaking roof, an underground squall.
|
Steady leaks pour through ceiling
like heavy rain.
|
3
|
Small puddles, dripped slowly from
the ceiling.
|
A large pool of perfectly
translucent, crystal clear water.
|
Incredibly high moisture content in
the air, everything dripping but seemingly no source.
|
A slightly green hued pool, drinking
the water has the mildest of restorative effects.
|
4
|
Cavern lake employed for a very long
time as a wishing well. Filled with bizarre coins and baubles.
|
Cavern is a waste high pool, filled
with surging, throbbing, brain like coral.
|
A red and black ichor choked pool
filled with corpses of local fauna.
|
Iridescent shimmering pools that give
perfect reflections of those that peer in. Sometimes the reflections act
differently to those being reflected.
|
5
|
A nigh perfectly circular ring of
water rims the cavern, the center of which has become an island.
|
Crushingly powerful waterfalls erupt
from the ceiling. They will pummel and pulverise those caught in its torrent.
|
White steaming pools/lakes, roll a
d4:
1) Slightly stings skin, but miraculously removes
all dirt/stench.
2) Will melt flesh but perfectly clean metals. 3) No physical effects but removes magic effects from person. 4) No physical effects but removes magic effects from item. |
Glooping and bubbling field of
quicksand like sinking mud.
|
6
|
White translucent vines and ferns
explode about the edges of several clear pools.
|
The visage of some enormous beast or
monster is crudely carved into the rocks, the maw of which is a waterfall or
lake.
|
A clear fresh pool surrounded by a
grove of spongy, fungi ferns. A collection of the less monstrous local fauna
lap peacefully at the pool.
|
Rock is mutated and warped into a
biological looking mass of fountains, natural spouts and pools. At times
appears to breath.
|
7
|
Bubbling, steaming and salty thermal
pools.
|
A deep dark lake, in which some
cyclopean ruins dwell. Great, ill formed pillars peak above the water line.
|
Swirling whirlpool, greedily pulling
those that enter it deeper down into the underworld.
|
A small, somewhat hidden pool, fed by
a stream that flows backwards from some crevice. Drinking it gives visions of
the future in dreams the next time the drinker sleeps.
|
8
|
A deep, dark lake, The shore is slimy
with muck and filth. Something foul lurks at the bottom of the water.
|
A lake so huge and wide it could be
considered an underground sea.
|
The water in this cavern is glue like
and viscous, whether it is slowly sludging down the walls or sitting still in
a pool, pudding like.
|
The stone is a porous limestone.
Flooding is rotting the stone and it is falling apart in deep fissures and
pits.
|
9
|
A stream or river that plunges over
the side of a bottomless pit or cliff in a thunderous waterfall.
|
Boulders, small and larger, rumble
and splash downstream from somewhere higher in the cavern complex, linked by
stream or river.
|
A Lake or pools in this cavern are
covered with thick layer of craggy scum that give the appearance of other
rock in the cavern, camouflaging the water.
|
The cavern houses some ancient
aqueduct system, overflowing and decrepit, of some long dead underground
civilisation.
|
10
|
Some deep electrical current surges
through the water of the cavern pool or lake, causing damage to those that
enter it. It glows faintly blue.
|
Ancient moss and mould covered
cyclopean stones have dammed up the cavern stream entering the cavern. One
exit out of the cavern is the now dry water course.
|
The water of the cavern
pool/stream/lake/river is fouled with some ink like substance. It runs black
and stains all it touches.
|
A poisoned, diseased pool. Dead
rotting bodies of local fauna surround body of water. Drinking either causes
instant death, a disease, or long endured poisoning.
|
Some wet cavern inspiration images:
If needed here is a generic stocking table for filling those caverns with additional things:
|
d4 d12
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
|
1
|
Empty, place of
rest.
|
Empty, place of
recreation.
|
Empty, place of
physical work.
|
Empty, place of
physical storage.
|
|
2
|
Empty, place of
sleep.
|
Empty, place of
ornamentation.
|
Empty, place of
ritual and worship.
|
Empty, place of
waste disposal
|
|
3
|
Empty, place of
eating.
|
Empty, place of
lavatory.
|
Empty, place of
mental work and research.
|
Empty, place of
mental storage
|
|
4
|
Empty, place of
bathing.
|
Empty, place of
mechanics and machinery.
|
Empty, place of
growing.
|
Empty, place of
secrets.
|
|
5
|
Foe, sleeping or
resting.
|
Foe, conducting
relaxation or recreation.
|
Foe, physically
toiling.
|
Foe, hidden and
watching.
|
|
6
|
Foe, eating or
drinking.
|
Foe, indisposed
through sickness or misadventure.
|
Foe, conducting
ritual or worship.
|
Foe, mentally
toiling.
|
|
7
|
Foe, ignoring
treasure.
|
Foe, indulging in
treasure.
|
Foe, transporting
or protecting treasure.
|
Foe, searching for
known of treasure.
|
|
8
|
Treasure, subsumed
in location.
|
Treasure, out of
place and unusual.
|
Treasure, focus of
work or worship.
|
Treasure, hidden.
|
|
9
|
Trap, natural
hazard inherent in environment.
|
Trap, set by nearby
foes, evidence of their work.
|
Trap, obvious and
menacing.
|
Trap, hidden and
deadly.
|
|
10
|
Foe, trapped in
natural hazard of environment
|
Foe, using traps to
their advantage against interlopers.
|
Foe, vaguely aware
of trap, but not knowledgeable of specifics.
|
Foe, unaware of
trap they may be about to trigger.
|
|
11
|
Device specific and
inherent to environment, expected but intriguing.
|
Device external and
unusual to environment, out of place sourced from elsewhere.
|
Device used in
regular work of environment, mundane but effective.
|
Device with
obscure, secret use that belies a shadow use of environment.
|
|
12
|
Foe, using device
to conduct relatively mundane activity.
|
Foe, puzzling over
the way in which a device is used.
|
Foe, using device
effectively to halt interlopers.
|
Foe, using device
for a dark, devious and deviant purpose.
|
