⭗ REDIRECTIONS: TINY BIOMES #1 ⭗
⭗ FIVE SMALL SETTINGS FOR OSR RPGS ⭗
What follows is one of the biomes featured as part of my newest publication, REDIRECTIONS: Tiny Biomes #1.
You can get the whole issue (An 80 page volume that contains the Burnbrush Scrubland, the Briny Milkflats, the Spritefire Shallows, the Difool Fields, the Bottomless Battlefield and a collection of assorted weird encounters from the cutting room floor for only $5.99 over on Itch.io, DriveThru RPG and Gumroad.
⭗ BURNBRUSH SCRUBLANDS ⭗
You see it from a distance as a bricolage of rugged red, orange and yellow hues. When the weak breezes turn and blow toward you from across the scrubland, they carry the smell of woodsmoke with them, but nothing ahead of you appears to be burning. The closer you get, the more the traces of soot and ash build beneath the mats of dead grasses tangled together under your feet. Only when you reach the edge of the burnbrush scrubland do you realize that the ground beneath you is more charcoal than soil, a rich and powdery loam from which all manner of thorny, waxy plants have sprouted, their oily stems heavy with sack-like fruits full of a glistening, volatile liquid.
Burnbrush scrubland is a biome of dense clay soil covered in a thick layer of rich, blackened dirt and ash. A fast-growing, brightly-colored chaparral of oil apple brush and crawling firevine weave a sprawling, flammable and oxygen-rich tapestry across the dark soil, fruiting heavily with waxy, thin-skinned “berries” infused with a thick slurry of volatile juices. The chaparral of the burnbrush scrubland grows so fast that it takes only about 2d4 days for the oil apples and firevines to reach full fruiting maturity from seed. Once the plantlife reaches full maturity, it takes only a lightning strike, a stiff wind on a hot day or a careless passerby to start a fire, and once a fire starts in the scrubland, there’s nothing to stop it. The plants want to burn. They’ve evolved to fuel the fires that ravage this biome, to make them burn hotter, spread faster, and whip up the thermals that will become the firenados needed to germinate the seeds of the oil apples and firevines.
You see it from a distance as a bricolage of rugged red, orange and yellow hues. When the weak breezes turn and blow toward you from across the scrubland, they carry the smell of woodsmoke with them, but nothing ahead of you appears to be burning. The closer you get, the more the traces of soot and ash build beneath the mats of dead grasses tangled together under your feet. Only when you reach the edge of the burnbrush scrubland do you realize that the ground beneath you is more charcoal than soil, a rich and powdery loam from which all manner of thorny, waxy plants have sprouted, their oily stems heavy with sack-like fruits full of a glistening, volatile liquid.
Burnbrush scrubland is a biome of dense clay soil covered in a thick layer of rich, blackened dirt and ash. A fast-growing, brightly-colored chaparral of oil apple brush and crawling firevine weave a sprawling, flammable and oxygen-rich tapestry across the dark soil, fruiting heavily with waxy, thin-skinned “berries” infused with a thick slurry of volatile juices. The chaparral of the burnbrush scrubland grows so fast that it takes only about 2d4 days for the oil apples and firevines to reach full fruiting maturity from seed. Once the plantlife reaches full maturity, it takes only a lightning strike, a stiff wind on a hot day or a careless passerby to start a fire, and once a fire starts in the scrubland, there’s nothing to stop it. The plants want to burn. They’ve evolved to fuel the fires that ravage this biome, to make them burn hotter, spread faster, and whip up the thermals that will become the firenados needed to germinate the seeds of the oil apples and firevines.
⭗ CROSSING THE SCRUBLANDS ⭗
Crossing burnbrush scrubland is generally foolish. When the oil apples and firevines are mature, it is only a matter of time before the whole biome will go up in flames. Simple things like the scuff of a steel-toed boot against a stone, a discarded smokable or a bit of static electricity from a cleric’s heavy robes are enough to kick off ignition in the scrubland, and once the fire gets going, there’s no way to stop it. Vines and fruits infused with volatile juices burst, burn hot and catch fast, creating a deadly firestorm that takes a day or two to completely burn itself out. After such a fire has passed, crossing the scrubland is generally safe, except for a heavy, acrid smoke which hangs over the ashy remnants, insulating the sprouting seeds of the oil apples and firevines until their hungry leaves absorb it and the subtle breezes dissipate what remains. When crossing small patches of burnbrush scrubland, it is generally best to wait at a safe distance until the next firestorm passes, then hurry over the ashes with heavy clothing, using breath magic and/or breathing filtration masks. Generally it is inadvisable to cross large stretches of burnbrush scrubland, as any journey of more than a few days through this biome carries a risk of being caught in the middle of an inescapable firestorm.
Crossing burnbrush scrubland is generally foolish. When the oil apples and firevines are mature, it is only a matter of time before the whole biome will go up in flames. Simple things like the scuff of a steel-toed boot against a stone, a discarded smokable or a bit of static electricity from a cleric’s heavy robes are enough to kick off ignition in the scrubland, and once the fire gets going, there’s no way to stop it. Vines and fruits infused with volatile juices burst, burn hot and catch fast, creating a deadly firestorm that takes a day or two to completely burn itself out. After such a fire has passed, crossing the scrubland is generally safe, except for a heavy, acrid smoke which hangs over the ashy remnants, insulating the sprouting seeds of the oil apples and firevines until their hungry leaves absorb it and the subtle breezes dissipate what remains. When crossing small patches of burnbrush scrubland, it is generally best to wait at a safe distance until the next firestorm passes, then hurry over the ashes with heavy clothing, using breath magic and/or breathing filtration masks. Generally it is inadvisable to cross large stretches of burnbrush scrubland, as any journey of more than a few days through this biome carries a risk of being caught in the middle of an inescapable firestorm.
⭗ PEOPLE OF THE SCRUBLANDS ⭗
No one lives in the burnbrush scrubland, but there is an oiler guild from a nearby trading town that regularly sends teams of harvesters into the scrubland to collect the volatile fruits before they completely ripen. It’s dangerous work, but it pays well, and the oiler guild always seems to have a shortage of harvest workers.
Sheriff Gregor Blackpaw is tired of pulling ignorant caravaners out of the scrubland. Seems like people see the place as a shortcut to everywhere, but every time a caravan tries to cross it, the whole thing goes up and the innocent (or ignorant) folks get stuck in the middle of a firestorm. The grim, scar-covered sheriff patrols the edges of the scrubland on his large, featherless biped mount, watching for anyone bold enough (or foolish enough) to try to make the crossing. If he spots anyone, he’s quick to intercept them and sternly drive them away from the place.
Ceril Malphori has an obsession with collecting plants. Lately, Ceril has set her sights on a number of specimens from the burnbrush scrubland, but their quick germination and inherent volatility has made this difficult. Ceril’s dream is to gather up and cultivate not only the common oil apple brush and crawling firevines of this biome, but also some of the rarer plants that thrive here, like tinder lettuce, steaming toyon brush, and spiny fuelberry. Whether you encounter her here or in a nearby town, she is likely to ask for help searching for these rarer plants, gathering them up, transporting them to her botanical garden, and even caring for them so that they don’t burn her house down. Of course, being a plant collector, she also has a number of other useful specimens from all over the known world that she has cultivated, so it’s a sure bet that if there’s an herb or remedy that you are seeking, she will either have it or know where to find it. Either way, it’ll come at a price, and that price might just be helping her with getting viable specimens out of the burnbrush scrubland.
Spack Odometre is a wily old prospector with a questionable reputation who is always chasing his next big score. Lately, he has become fixated on the burnbrush scrubland, as he has reason to believe that it is a magical, unnatural defense created by a wizard to protect a relic of great power. He claims to have obtained a series of poems copied from standing stones which provide the song-based keys for accessing an arcane vault buried under the scrubland. How much of this is rumor and how much is true is up to the referee, but Spack is actively recruiting heroes to lead into the scrubland in search of the arcane vault.
No one lives in the burnbrush scrubland, but there is an oiler guild from a nearby trading town that regularly sends teams of harvesters into the scrubland to collect the volatile fruits before they completely ripen. It’s dangerous work, but it pays well, and the oiler guild always seems to have a shortage of harvest workers.
Sheriff Gregor Blackpaw is tired of pulling ignorant caravaners out of the scrubland. Seems like people see the place as a shortcut to everywhere, but every time a caravan tries to cross it, the whole thing goes up and the innocent (or ignorant) folks get stuck in the middle of a firestorm. The grim, scar-covered sheriff patrols the edges of the scrubland on his large, featherless biped mount, watching for anyone bold enough (or foolish enough) to try to make the crossing. If he spots anyone, he’s quick to intercept them and sternly drive them away from the place.
Ceril Malphori has an obsession with collecting plants. Lately, Ceril has set her sights on a number of specimens from the burnbrush scrubland, but their quick germination and inherent volatility has made this difficult. Ceril’s dream is to gather up and cultivate not only the common oil apple brush and crawling firevines of this biome, but also some of the rarer plants that thrive here, like tinder lettuce, steaming toyon brush, and spiny fuelberry. Whether you encounter her here or in a nearby town, she is likely to ask for help searching for these rarer plants, gathering them up, transporting them to her botanical garden, and even caring for them so that they don’t burn her house down. Of course, being a plant collector, she also has a number of other useful specimens from all over the known world that she has cultivated, so it’s a sure bet that if there’s an herb or remedy that you are seeking, she will either have it or know where to find it. Either way, it’ll come at a price, and that price might just be helping her with getting viable specimens out of the burnbrush scrubland.
Spack Odometre is a wily old prospector with a questionable reputation who is always chasing his next big score. Lately, he has become fixated on the burnbrush scrubland, as he has reason to believe that it is a magical, unnatural defense created by a wizard to protect a relic of great power. He claims to have obtained a series of poems copied from standing stones which provide the song-based keys for accessing an arcane vault buried under the scrubland. How much of this is rumor and how much is true is up to the referee, but Spack is actively recruiting heroes to lead into the scrubland in search of the arcane vault.
⭗ DANGERS IN THE SCRUBLANDS ⭗
Amber-scaled dragon whelps from the nearby mountains periodically fly in to feast on the ripening oil apples. It seems that the volatile juices in the fruits help them build up their fire breathing ability. These fireproof whelps are generally curious about travelers, have a taste for livestock, and are quick to snort sparks into the volatile plantlife if they feel threatened. Occasionally, they will be accompanied by a parent or an elder dragon, especially if the dragons know there is a potential for violence or for good feasting.
Spark Beetles are an integral part of the ecosystem in this biome. Scarab-like, they spend most of their lives burrowed in the hot ash of the scrubland, but when the oil apples and firevines start to ripen, these black, thumb-sized beetles begin to emerge and buzz around, looking for a mate. The mating dance of the spark beetle is a noisy one, and whenever they rasp their wings together in excitement, tiny blue sparks are produced. Inevitably, this has the potential to set the scrubland ablaze, and when the fires start to catch, the beetles swarm and scream through the flames, driven to mate and carry their eggs high into the sky on the mighty thermals that will rise with the fire. At this stage, they turn bright red and violent, biting and burrowing into the flesh of anyone who gets in their way. The bile secreted out along their razor-sharp mandibles can eat through plate armor, but it is also a highly sought-after reagent among alchemists.
A glassy crack in the densest part of the scrubland periodically belches out hot sulfur and sparks, but it may be the safest place to seek shelter if the whole place goes up in flames. This could be just an ordinary cave system, or it could be the entrance to a stinky, steamy series of lava tubes that could lead into a compelling underworld, the sunken tower of a mad alchemist and / or the source of the seeds that first spawned the burnbrush scrubland. Maybe there is a sprawling vault system under the scrubland which can be used to traverse it, but such a place could also house its own unique ecosystem of horrors.
Amber-scaled dragon whelps from the nearby mountains periodically fly in to feast on the ripening oil apples. It seems that the volatile juices in the fruits help them build up their fire breathing ability. These fireproof whelps are generally curious about travelers, have a taste for livestock, and are quick to snort sparks into the volatile plantlife if they feel threatened. Occasionally, they will be accompanied by a parent or an elder dragon, especially if the dragons know there is a potential for violence or for good feasting.
Spark Beetles are an integral part of the ecosystem in this biome. Scarab-like, they spend most of their lives burrowed in the hot ash of the scrubland, but when the oil apples and firevines start to ripen, these black, thumb-sized beetles begin to emerge and buzz around, looking for a mate. The mating dance of the spark beetle is a noisy one, and whenever they rasp their wings together in excitement, tiny blue sparks are produced. Inevitably, this has the potential to set the scrubland ablaze, and when the fires start to catch, the beetles swarm and scream through the flames, driven to mate and carry their eggs high into the sky on the mighty thermals that will rise with the fire. At this stage, they turn bright red and violent, biting and burrowing into the flesh of anyone who gets in their way. The bile secreted out along their razor-sharp mandibles can eat through plate armor, but it is also a highly sought-after reagent among alchemists.
A glassy crack in the densest part of the scrubland periodically belches out hot sulfur and sparks, but it may be the safest place to seek shelter if the whole place goes up in flames. This could be just an ordinary cave system, or it could be the entrance to a stinky, steamy series of lava tubes that could lead into a compelling underworld, the sunken tower of a mad alchemist and / or the source of the seeds that first spawned the burnbrush scrubland. Maybe there is a sprawling vault system under the scrubland which can be used to traverse it, but such a place could also house its own unique ecosystem of horrors.
⭗ WONDERS IN THE SCRUBLANDS ⭗
A caravan that got caught in a firestorm while attempting to cross the burnbrush scrubland waits half-buried in ash and surrounded by a grove of overripe oil apple plants. Rumor has it that they were carrying golden chips or smuggling empyrean artifacts to bolster a war effort in a nearby, impoverished fiefdom. Some of their goods might have survived the last blaze, but with all of the plants in the area maturing, the next one is coming soon and whatever the caravan was carrying might not survive the next firenado that will surely pass over it.
Charlin Peltier makes what is arguably the strongest pottery in the world, and all without using magic! Charlin’s clay is so strong that it has been used to make ceramic armor which can take blows better than full plate, yet it weighs half as much. Charlin’s methods are secret, so there are always those trying to discover the technique, and those he must hire to protect it. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, the secret is simple: Charlin uses the dense clay beneath the ash of a burnbrush scrubland to make the ceramics, then fires them in a kiln he has built in the same scrubland, hardening them with the force of the biome’s ubiquitous firenados.
An ancient relic, glyph-covered monolith or wandering wizard encountered in the burnbrush scrubland may be able to teach spells generated using the table below. Roll once on each column, combine the words, and then determine the effect (and other factors) to define the spell. The GM will have discretion on all of the effects and qualities of the spell, though the GM should, of course, work with the player obtaining the spell to create something they will enjoy wielding as well.
A caravan that got caught in a firestorm while attempting to cross the burnbrush scrubland waits half-buried in ash and surrounded by a grove of overripe oil apple plants. Rumor has it that they were carrying golden chips or smuggling empyrean artifacts to bolster a war effort in a nearby, impoverished fiefdom. Some of their goods might have survived the last blaze, but with all of the plants in the area maturing, the next one is coming soon and whatever the caravan was carrying might not survive the next firenado that will surely pass over it.
Charlin Peltier makes what is arguably the strongest pottery in the world, and all without using magic! Charlin’s clay is so strong that it has been used to make ceramic armor which can take blows better than full plate, yet it weighs half as much. Charlin’s methods are secret, so there are always those trying to discover the technique, and those he must hire to protect it. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, the secret is simple: Charlin uses the dense clay beneath the ash of a burnbrush scrubland to make the ceramics, then fires them in a kiln he has built in the same scrubland, hardening them with the force of the biome’s ubiquitous firenados.
An ancient relic, glyph-covered monolith or wandering wizard encountered in the burnbrush scrubland may be able to teach spells generated using the table below. Roll once on each column, combine the words, and then determine the effect (and other factors) to define the spell. The GM will have discretion on all of the effects and qualities of the spell, though the GM should, of course, work with the player obtaining the spell to create something they will enjoy wielding as well.
⭗ OTHER WAYS TO USE THIS BIOME ⭗
In place of a moat, a local lord has employed a talented botanist to cultivate a stretch of burnbrush scrubland around his castle as a defense against invading forces. The plants are carefully maintained at peak maturity (using verdant magic and specialized pruning techniques) so that the whole place is ready to go up at a moment’s notice. Under the guidance of the botanist, the warriors employed by the local lord have also built up huge stockpiles of the volatile fruit juices from which they brew potions of fire breathing and from which they make fire bombs for lobbing over the walls with slings, catapults and other high-speed delivery methods.
Villages keep burning down along the wartorn frontier. The Reports coming in from the survivors of the villages that have been torched are weird and don’t make sense. Most survivors talk of flying islands ringed with lattices of lift crystal, saying that these are populated by brilliantly red baboons wearing gilded armor who throw waxy sacks of volatile liquid from the island, bombarding villages until they are reduced to ash. Even if the rumors are true, who would target these villages and why? Why use such a strange delivery method? Is it all a mad wizard’s experiment gone wrong? Are the baboons invaders from another dimension? Is it a bid to increase the territorial range of an army that is not above using terror attacks to gain a few kilometers of land?
The Great Burnbelt of the West is a swath of burnbrush scrubland so vast that some say it has never been crossed. Many have tried, and surely there was a time when it was not there (who planted it? How long ago? Where did it come from? Why was it put there?) but for now, it exists as an impenetrable barrier that would take weeks to cross even if it wasn’t regularly catching fire and fostering blazing megatornadoes that cycle endlessly up and down the Burnbelt, reducing everything they touch to fine ash. There could be a lot to gain from finding a way to make the crossing. If the land on the other side of the Burnbelt is known, one could possibly do a lot of good (or make a lot of money) if they could forge a shortcut through the vast burning land. If it is unknown, anyone who crosses to the other side could be the first of their kind to witness whatever biomes wait to be discovered on the other side. A vast Burnbelt like this could be used to tantalize players, giving them a goal to strive against, even if that goal is as simple as “get everyone talismans of fire resistance so we can see what’s on the other side.”
In place of a moat, a local lord has employed a talented botanist to cultivate a stretch of burnbrush scrubland around his castle as a defense against invading forces. The plants are carefully maintained at peak maturity (using verdant magic and specialized pruning techniques) so that the whole place is ready to go up at a moment’s notice. Under the guidance of the botanist, the warriors employed by the local lord have also built up huge stockpiles of the volatile fruit juices from which they brew potions of fire breathing and from which they make fire bombs for lobbing over the walls with slings, catapults and other high-speed delivery methods.
Villages keep burning down along the wartorn frontier. The Reports coming in from the survivors of the villages that have been torched are weird and don’t make sense. Most survivors talk of flying islands ringed with lattices of lift crystal, saying that these are populated by brilliantly red baboons wearing gilded armor who throw waxy sacks of volatile liquid from the island, bombarding villages until they are reduced to ash. Even if the rumors are true, who would target these villages and why? Why use such a strange delivery method? Is it all a mad wizard’s experiment gone wrong? Are the baboons invaders from another dimension? Is it a bid to increase the territorial range of an army that is not above using terror attacks to gain a few kilometers of land?
The Great Burnbelt of the West is a swath of burnbrush scrubland so vast that some say it has never been crossed. Many have tried, and surely there was a time when it was not there (who planted it? How long ago? Where did it come from? Why was it put there?) but for now, it exists as an impenetrable barrier that would take weeks to cross even if it wasn’t regularly catching fire and fostering blazing megatornadoes that cycle endlessly up and down the Burnbelt, reducing everything they touch to fine ash. There could be a lot to gain from finding a way to make the crossing. If the land on the other side of the Burnbelt is known, one could possibly do a lot of good (or make a lot of money) if they could forge a shortcut through the vast burning land. If it is unknown, anyone who crosses to the other side could be the first of their kind to witness whatever biomes wait to be discovered on the other side. A vast Burnbelt like this could be used to tantalize players, giving them a goal to strive against, even if that goal is as simple as “get everyone talismans of fire resistance so we can see what’s on the other side.”
⭗ TINY BIOMES: ISSUE #1 ⭗
REDIRECTIONS: Tiny Biomes #1 is a collection of five "setting seeds" which are wondrous places for your RPG characters to visit and explore in an odyssey into the weird. The biomes in this setting are designed to be system neutral so you can use the TTRPG system that you like best. They can be used as unique places for characters to encounter and return to, or as recurring biomes that sprawl out across a larger world. This 80 page volume contains the Burnbrush Scrubland, the Briny Milkflats, the Spritefire Shallows, the Difool Fields, the Bottomless Battlefield and a collection of assorted weird encounters from the cutting room floor.
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