Exploration Challenges of the Tropical Forests

Places of darkness, oppressive heat, and air so thick with humidity it feels like you could drink it—jungles and other tropical rainforests are dangerous even before you encounter the wildlife that hunts even the hunters. Included here are a series of challenging environments for your players to encounter while moving through such an environment, though many would work well for dense forests of all climates.

Note: In some entries, challenges list the trait Dense Canopy, along with the alternate trait, Dense Undergrowth, allowing Narrators to tweak the exploration challenge to reflect the aspects of the forest. Rainforests, for example, are old growth forests featuring large, towering trees that block so much light that it is difficult for smaller plants to grow beneath them. Jungles, on the other hand, are younger forests, often on the edges of older forests and where natural effects or disasters have thinned the trees, meaning they have much thicker undergrowth.

Alternate Challenge Trait: Corrupt

Exploration challenges such as Maddening Twilight would be fitting places to introduce the Corruption mechanics, as seen in “Perverse Contamination: Corruption Mechanics” in Gate Pass Gazette Issue #20. Narrators who wish to do so can add the following trait or use it in place of the Cursed trait:

Corrupt. Upon entering the area, each adventurer must make a Constitution saving throw . On a failure, they suffer one level of corruption. At the end of each short or long rest in the area, each adventurer makes another Constitution saving throw, suffering an additional level of corruption on a failure.

Carnivorous Fish || Corpse Plant Stench || Follow the Waystones || Maddening Twilight || Perpetual Twilight || Sacred Garden of the Ancients || Treetop Bridge || Wilderness Garden

Alternative Challenges: Corrupting Twilight || Corrupted Garden of the Ancients