Location: Charnel Valley of Reverse Life

Occasionally a strong wind will crawl down the Southern faces of the Weeping Children towards the Flowering Expanse, and bring with it the stench and mind-scrambling sound of newly birthed beasts living life in reverse. 

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The few Vymrrysian scholars versed in such matters disagree as to the true nature of the Charnel Valley; some argue that beasts born from the Valley are simply the result of a powerful and unsettling necromantic spell, while others pursue the line of thought that such a place could only exist at the behest of a great and sick deity. Regardless of their reasoning, those who have witnessed its horrors firsthand rarely wish to speak of such things again. Currently missing scholar Izrid Yildirim spoke of it thusly:  

"I sat perched on the edge of a great rib bone which was growing slowly out of the rock face and looked down on the Valley. Below there was a furious and seething churn of activity. Freshly birthed beasts screamed as their bones were formed, their old and wrinkled flesh growing slowly over them, blood coalescing out of the putrid air to fill their newly old veins. Finally made, the beasts crawled, slithered, and slugged along on old and rickety limbs, growing younger by the day, each meal renewing their bodies. Within days, they became as wildling children, fresh and vivacious, slaughtering each other with abandon. The metalic stink of viscera fills the valley. Finally, they shrank, becoming infants amongst the carnage. Those lucky enough to go undisturbed in this kismet simply progressed back to fetal nothingness, the soil absorbing their remaining essence. By the time I was done watching, a week had passed, and the large bone I had been occupying had grown another several feet. I believe there is little to be gained by visiting such a place." 

OSR Class: Beetlefolk Defender (WIP)

Beetlefolk Defender*

Native to the Flowering Expanse, Beetlefolk tend to confine themselves to the territory of the Proletariat, rarely leaving its borders. Defenders can be found guarding larvae at the gigacacti root systems, patrolling the borders, or occasionally out on scouting missions. In the rarest of occurrences, a Beetle may leave and venture out into the world.

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Prime Attribute: Strength [13+]

HD: 1d8

AC (base): as Ringmail [13]

Armor/Shield Permitted: Any

Weapons Permitted: Any

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About The Class

Alignment: The vast majority of Beetlefolk are Lawful Good due to their eusocial nature as a species/race. However, occasionally some leave their clans for unknown reasons and venture out into the wider world seeking fortune, fame, or the like. These Beetles may be of any alignment. 

Magic Items: May use any magical items that fit their bodies. Use common sense. 

Charity: Beetles that retain contact with the Proletariat must send half of all earned treasure back to their clan as part of the public good. This restriction is never lifted. 

Armor: Due to their unique bodily proportions, Beetlefolk wishing to purchase armor from human or demi-human smiths will have to pay double or otherwise negotiate a fee. 

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Class Abilities

Natural Armor: A hard exoskeleton and fused wings lend Beetlefolk a natural armor that is 2 points better as starting AC than any other race.

Circularly Polarized Vision: Due to their unique ocular structure, Beetlefolk are highly resistant to illusions and blinding effects, granting them a 4 in 6 chance of either ignoring blinding magic or seeing through an illusion of any kind.

Insectoid Psyche: All Beetlefolk, and hence any Defender, have near-immunity to any attempts by another race to charm, mind control, or otherwise tamper with their minds. A Defender has a 5 in 6 chance of ignoring this completely at level 1, increasing by 5% per level. By 4th Level, a Defender is completely immune. 

Natural Shielding: On any turn, a Defender can take their action to turn their back to an opponent, granting  +1 AC vs. Missile Attacks. When in this position, a Beetlefolk Defender can not take a reaction. 

Beetle Horns (2nd): At 2nd Level, a Defender learns to use its horns more effectively in combat. On a successful horn attack, roll 1d6 damage. At base, 2 in 6 chance of goring an enemy, allowing a Defender to grapple and move with the opponent in any direction at 3/4 speed. This chance increases by 5% per level, capped at 90%. 

Many Arms, Many Weapons (5th): At 5th Level, a Defender becomes capable of holding two weapons of different types on one side of its body (i.e. a short bow and a sword), plus a shield on the other, negating the need to take a turn to switch weapons. 

Establish Brood-Clan (9th): At 9th Level, a Defender may return to the Proletariat and convene the political council and request to begin its own clan within a new Gigacactus. The new brood will start small with 1d12 new larvae and 1d6 Defenders. Each level after 9th, roll 1d20 to see how many new clan members have been born. Of this new number, 1 in 4 will be a Defender, rounded up. 

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Class Advancement Table

Level	Experience Points Required for Level	Hit Dice (d8)*	Saving Throw
1	0	1	13
2	2,000	2	12
3	4,000	3	11
4	8,000	4	10
5	16,000	5	9
6	32,000	6	8
7	64,000	7	7
8	128,000	8	6
9	256,000	9	5
10	350,000	9+2 hp	4
11	450,000	9+4 hp	3
12	550,000	9+6 hp	3
13	650,000	9+8 hp	3
14	750,000	9+10 hp	3
15	850,000	9+12 hp	2
16	950,000	9+14 hp	2
17	1,050,000	9+16 hp	2
18	1,150,000	9+18 hp	2
19	1,250,000	9+20 hp	2
20	1,350,000	9+22 hp	2
21+	+100,000 per level	+2 hp/level	2

*Advancement table uses the S&W Complete Paladin table

Social Ecology: The Beetlefolk Proletariat of the Flowering Expanse

Far to the Northwest of Vymrrys, as the rolling dunes of the Stone-Crushed Sea level off into an arid and rocky wasteland, a lost traveller might happen upon the Flowering Expanse, and potentially the always aloof brood-clans of the Beetlefolk Proletariat. 

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Social Structure

The eusocial Beetlefolk Proletariat makes its home among the flowering giga-cacti that grow out of the cracked and desiccated scrublands, with each individual brood-clan occupying a single cactus. As a cactus grows, so too does the clan - slowly - able to hatch more larvae within the root system under the arid soil. As the larvae grow into adult Beetlefolk, they are given roles within the brood, and though some might seem more important than others to a traveller, all roles within the Proletariat are treated with equal dignity and respect. These roles fall into one of two castes within the brood: the reproductive caste, and the sterile caste. Among the sterile Beetlefolk, roles include defense, foraging, larval care, mercantile, and architecture/construction. The reproductive caste are mainly preoccupied with making sure the intra- and inter-clan economy is running smoothly, that all roles are filled, and that each mature member has a role. 

Each clan (and thus the Proletariat as a whole) maintains a standard ratio of 1:3 reproductive to sterile Beetlefolk, with the reproductive members of the brood living near the heart of the cactus. Political representation is afforded at this ratio as well. Every few years, a meeting of all clan representatives occurs and discusses when the next clan should be formed, and which clans will need to donate reproductive members. All decisions are made based on the best interests of the Proletariat in terms of long-term survivability. 

View from the base of a mature Gigacactus.
A clan of about 600 could live here with room to expand.

Defense

The Proletariat is aloof and fiercely defensive of their borders, and the clans which occupy gigacacti closest to the edge of the Proletariat's territory usually produce the strongest and most capable Defenders. Attempts by other civilizations to obtain nectar from the cactus flowers have made the Proletariat intensely wary of all outsiders, regardless of their intentions. In a typical clan 1/3 of all sterile caste members will be assigned to roles in defense, though in the border clans, this fraction can rise as high as 2/3. Within clan defense units, specialization occurs, as some Beetlefolk will be assigned positions in flower defense, larval and root defense, scouting parties, or warbands (in times of conflict). The clans never fight amongst themselves, though there are occasionally disagreements which need political intervention, and all fighting units are preoccupied with outside threats. 

Traditional Enemies

Longtime enemies of the Proletariat include raiding parties of Arakokra from the mountain range to the North - The Weeping Children - as well as Bullywugs from the Vexatious Chlorine Marshes to the East. 

Vat-Brain Part 2: Map and Details

Here's the map I sketched up before my Monday night group made their way to the Pillar. I decided to (poorly) ape Zak S' style from Vornheim, since it was easy and didn't require the time I normally need to make a standard top-down or isometric map. I looks better in my notebook, but it scanned in alright. 

I didn't key the map with numbers, so I'll go room-by-room for the descriptions. You can add your own enemies, traps, and items, but I'll put in what I went with. As your party adventures throughout the structure, have them experience frequent visual and auditory hallucinations (tests, if you will, from the Vat Brain to test their mental fortitude). When you do so, utilize some form of insanity table, calm stat, etc. Remember, the Vat Brain is looking for only the strongest potential hosts for its intelligence, and will test those it's pulled to the Pillar both physically and mentally.

GROUND FLOOR

Entrance Hall

• The entrance hall looks as if it were carefully carved from inside the monolith of stone, its walls curving upward with strange and intricate designs. Those entering would notice that the old cloth draped from the walls and ceiling are decaying and dusty, but light sources are still kept burning. Strange crystals have begun to erupt from the stonework, slowly growing to cover other nearby surfaces. The crystals are a grey-blue and emit a faint light, and if broken, turn completely into dust. 
• There are no enemies present in the entrance hall, though there are corpses and various states of decay. If they are examined, patterns emerge: joints twisted at odd angles, eyes which have completely bulged out of their sockets, dried blood in ears, and several self-inflicted wounds. 
• Against the far wall stand several motionless figures. They look alive, but sickly and twisted: tongues hanging out, eyes bulging and unblinking. They will not defend themselves if attacked. 
• Doors lead East and West.

Botanical Room

• The crystals grow here too, having consumed some of the many plants. The room has several long tables covered in various plant species as well as hanging hydroponics and wall-mounted drip systems. One or two figures move jerkily around the room tending to the plants and look similar to the figures in the previous room. They can not speak or defend themselves.
• Feel free to include a variety of plants from your campaign setting here which could be harvested and used as ingredients in potions or magic rituals. 
• This room has a Southern door that links to the Library on the floor above.

Storage Room

• The storage room is dark and mostly empty save for boxes of completely decayed goods. Thorough searches might yield useful and old items that could be sold for a decent profit to the right merchants or collectors. This room has a Southern door that links to the Assistant's Quarters on the floor above. 

SECOND FLOOR

Library

• The Library is extensive, with long shelves of books covering the floor as well as  the walls along the balcony tier above. Two ladders on swivels/wheels can get PCs and NPCs from the floor to the balcony and vice-versa. The room can be searched like any other, but if looking for books, use whatever library-searching rules you employ. 
• Several more mindless husks roam the stacks here, the Vat Brain searching for even the smallest bits of usable information hidden among the tomes. 
• The grey-blue crystals jut out from the ceiling, but it seems as if they have been kept from overtaking the books. 
• I tested my party often if they spent time here, one of them suffering a potentially permanent insanity. 
• The room was also patrolled by an mentally enslaved Knight of the Karxican Isles (7 HD, 16 AC, +3 to hit, 2d6+3 damage with a massive Bastard sword), a wild Kirre (5 HD, +3 to hit, 12 AC, 1d8+3 damage with claws), and a bowman (3 HD, 13 AC, +4 to hit, 1d8+2 damage with longbow).  All are controlled by the Vat Brain, though the Karxican Knight has retained enough of himself to rasp out apologies to the party as he attacks. He will weep when killed. 
• The Library has a Western door to the Dining Area, and a secret Southern door to the old Wizard's Quarters. 

Dining Room

• The Dining Area is old and decrepit, with not much left of use. Corpses are scattered about in various states of decomposition. Crystals have overtaken much of the room, but if thoroughly searched, an adventuring party might find dining utensils of strange metals that could be sold. 

Assistant's Quarters

• The old Assistant's Quarters contains a variety of old tomes (including several on low-level psionics and necromancy) as well as a few on geology, alchemy, and botany. There is also an expansive alchemy/chemistry set which has been disassembled and has some essential parts removed. If the party could find the necessary parts elsewhere, they could make a very useful potion-brewing set. 
• 3d4 mindless husks occupy this room, seemly awaiting orders. Per usual, they will not defend themselves if attacked. 

THIRD FLOOR

Wizard's Quarters

• The magic door from the Library leads directly to the Sick Wizard Hagai's old living quarters. This area has been kept in meticulous condition, as the future living quarters for the Vat-Brain's future host body. As such, it is also guarded well by any enemies of your choosing. Keep in mind that any enemies within the Pillar are psionically enslaved by the Vat-Brain, and would move as if controlled by a puppeteer's strings: jerkily and painfully. 
• The Sick Wizard's quarters contain old tomes on advanced psionics and necromancy, and potentially suitable magic items and artifacts of great value. 

Study

• The old Study is a large and airy space where the Sick Wizard and his assistants worked on experiments, rituals, and compared notes from the assembled literature. Here they had space to think and act. Within, Husks measure and mix ingredients into large glass containers, alchemical steam forming a haze within the room. The sickly blueish mixture is sucked via a sort-of siphon tube system up through the ceiling into the room directly above.
• If the party has made it this far, the Vat-Brain should attempt to hijack their bodies. Players must save vs. intelligence.
• On a Natural 1 - the PC becomes enslaved to the Vat-Brain's inhuman intellect. They will attempt to fight the party. To free them the Vat-Brain must be destroyed or reasoned with.
• On any other unsuccessful save - the PC will take 2d6 points of psionic damage and may also have to roll on an insanity table or something similar. 
• On a successful save - the PC is able to resist the psionic pressure of the Vat-Brain and remains themselves. 
• On a Natural 20 - the PC is able, through sheer force of will, redirect some of the psionic pressure back at the Vat-Brain, doing 2d6 points of damage.
• The Study links directly to the Vat Room on the floor above.

Collapse

• The magical door opens directly into a rock collapse. Anyone walking through the door without paying attention will have to roll a dex save or fall and take 30 feet of falling damage. Without another way back in, they can either climb back up to the doorway, or scale down the side of the Pillar back to the entryway. If they fail to scale the side of the Pillar and fall, they will take falling damage in addition to piercing damage if they land on a crystal formation. 

FOURTH FLOOR

The Vat Room

• The Vat Room is massive, and takes up nearly the entire top floor of the Pillar. The floor is soaked in dank, blue, viscous liquid (the same that was seen in the Study) and blue crystals erupt from the floor, ceiling, and walls. At the center of the room sits a large reinforced glass vat, roughly 50 feet by 50 feet (3 HD, 16 AC). Tubes snake up through the floor and connect into the top surface of the vat, continuously pumping in fresh feeding liquid. The Vat-Brain (10 HD, 6 AC, uses psionic attacks, hyper-intelligent) floats within, taking up the majority of the space, its grey matter hideous and pulsating. 
• 4d4 Husks tend to the Vat-Brain, making sure the feeding tubes are working and the slave pens in the adjacent room are watched over. 
• The Vat-Brain can be reasoned with and will not immediately attack; remember its main goal is to find a body and mind strong enough to become the host for its intelligence so it can finally leave the Pillar. 
• If combat ensues, the Vat-Brain will attack the party psionically, and enslaved guards will protect the feeding tubes and the vat itself. In my campaign, an NPC named Tomak was the main foe here. 
• If the feeding tubes are disconnected or the vat itself is destroyed, the Vat-Brain will begin loosing HP each round. 

Slave Pens

• The Vat-Brain keeps still-unenslaved travelers in the slave pens, ready to serve as husks once older ones die. These people can be freed after the Vat-Brain is killed or reasoned with. Some have been there a very long time.

Aviary

• Strangely enough, the old aviary in the tower was kept in good shape, with a variety of desert birds still living there. The opening through which the birds come and go is the only other opening besides the front entrance and the magical door near the collapse. 
• If searched, old notes to and from other wizards can be found. These notes seem to indicate similar experiments were taking place elsewhere in the world...

Enter the Blood Ring (WIP)

Somewhere among the vast sandstone sprawl of Vymrrys, by moon and candle-light, the always-moving Blood Ring is constructed from wooden boards and packed sand. A crowd gathers around the edges, awaiting the first fight of the night. As word of the event spreads through the slum, more spectators gather on nearby roofs, balconies, and bridges, looking down through the clotheslines to see the ring. Stars glimmer in the night above, the crowd grows restless, and some minor drug-fueled scuffles break out. Finally, the first two combatants are led to the circular fighting pit by their trainers, already grunting and sweating in the nighttime heat. A hush falls over the assembled audience as the two half-orcs enter, staring intensely at each other. Each bends down and scatters a fist-full of sand into the hot breeze – a sign of respect before the bout. The elven referee paces the ring, reminding the fighters of the rules that must be observed: no weapons, no eye pokes, no strikes below the belt. When both men agree, he rings the bell and the fighters charge towards each other. The crowd roars as the combatants rain blows upon each other, and dark orcish blood splatters the earth. As the night goes on, many fighters enter the ring, and some even manage to leave relatively unscathed. By first sunlight, the ring is destroyed, and the audience disperses, the location for next weeks’ bouts having been decided. The Blood Ring never stays in one district for long, but the records of its fighters are kept and tallied by many, and its great champions are known far and wide.

If the party stumbles upon the Blood Ring, or seeks it out using gathered information, here are some things that might happen:

Roll 1d20 on the following random table

1. The party encounters a fighter preparing in a nearby alleyway, but he looks weak and weary. He thinks he’s been poisoned by his opponent ahead of the fight!
2. A brawl breaks out between 2d4 attendees. 
3. A bookie approaches the party and offers them inside information for betting on the next fight, in exchange for a favor the following day: she needs them to collect payment from someone who’s overdue.
4. 3d4 city guards approach the crowd and attempt to arrest anyone who doesn’t run!
5. A coach approaches the party, recognizing their potential, and offers to train them to fight in the Blood Ring, for a price. 
6. A fighter challenges the weakest party member to a match in the ring, and the crowd nearby erupts into applause! 
7. 1d4 shady aristocrats sit on private palanquins near the ring, surrounded by their bodyguards. The party overhears them discussing sending hitmen after a fighter who wasn’t supposed to win…
8. The party finds a dejected fighter under a nearby building canopy. He tells them that he needs to fight to feed his family, but can’t handle another loss in the ring.
9. A former adversary of the party is also at the Blood Ring! He/she calls them out for a group brawl to settle their beef once and for all. 
10. The party hears screaming as one of the combatants pulls a knife and charges his opponent!
11. Final fight of the night! A party member accidentally spills their drink as a challenger walks up to the Blood Ring through the crowd. He slips and knocks himself out on a misplaced stone. The promoter coerces him/her to enter in his laid out fighter’s stead against the reigning champ Dooran of the Stone.
12. As the party observes the fights, a group of cloaked thieves are stealing money from distracted audience members.