Aside from the usual herbs and plants you might find growing in an herbalist’s garden, you could also stumble (literally) across some unusual and potentially nasty surprises. Whether the adventurers are dealing with an herbalist or simply racing through a community after a vile creature, the herbalist’s garden can provide you with some unexpected fun and danger. You can roll randomly for a result below, or use the handy number provided with each entry to figure out your result on a d12. You can also pick the one that works for the area in which your characters currently linger.
d12. Curiosity
- A patch of flowers glow in a dizzying array of colors, humming to itself. A sense of peace descends on those who come into contact with the pollen, bringing with it an urge to lie down somewhere and zone out.
- Little fey are pollinating the flowers. They do not take kindly to interlopers, and now you itch. All over.
- A family of foxes is having tea in this garden. It looks very formal. You can hear them talking in Common, too.
- The fish pond in this garden has floating spheres hovering over it. Tendrils reach into the water from time to time, playing with the fish.
- This garden is arranged in a clock pattern. Destroying any of the plants in the “hours” of the clock take you into a flashback from the appropriate hour of the day before for 1d4 minutes.
- This herbalist clearly believes in humanoid fertilizer for one section of the garden. You can see a humanoid skull amid the plants growing in the darkest area.
- The young treant here wants to hear everything about the outside world. It also misses its dryad, who left over three moon phases ago to “check on something.”
- A ghostly form works at the plants, and it defends the area against intruders.
- Tiny little spiders are busy catching flies and other insects all over the garden. You’re not sure, but you think you see a larger spider lurking in the back corner of the place. Is it here to deal with larger vermin?
- No matter what time of day it is outside the garden, the inside of the garden has a soft golden glow about it always.
- The patches of “elemental” plants are stunning and dangerous — especially the fireball flowers.
- Glistening and enticing fruits in shades of reds ranging to purple hangs from trees that form the perimeter for this garden. You ache to try one of the fruits, but you’re not sure what type of fruit it is. Do you go for it anyway?