The Dwindled Terrarium of Krivius Olzagrasst
A downloadable Troika! One Shot
Shrunken landscapes, spicy bogs, puzzling doors, painful memories, festive flowers, desperate demons, and powerful magic awaits in this 20 page one shot adventure dungeon for Troika! Intended for 2-4 players, it is designed to be fit into an ongoing campaign or act as a catalyst for a new one.
The Dwindled Terrarium of Krivius Olzagrasst was written as a submission for The Grande Troika! Spherical Faire and Exhibition 2024: Innovations in Art and Technology hosted by The Gonzo GM.
Written by Noah M. Bartel
Illustrated by Paris Parks
The Dwindled Terrarium of Krivius Olzagrasst is an independent production by Noah M. Bartel and is not affiliated with the Melsonian Arts Council.
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This seems super cool, planning to run this tomorrow evening, will let you know how we get on!
This was really fun, I had an absolute blast running this weird little adventure, full of strange little odds and ends and slightly threatening whimsy. Great vibes, everyone at the table had a great time.
I think one thing I was a bit lost on, in the Sorcerwood Grove it says the tree is looking for the staff of Olzzagrasst, but also there's a magic staff lodged in it? Was that just... a different staff? Or did the tree not realise it had grown over the staff it was seeking?
Hey wow! Thank you so much for your feedback! I'd love to hear how the adventure went beat by beat. What path did they ultimately take?
In regards to the Staff of Olzagrasst, the real one is located in the Childhood Home Illusion, and the staff broken in the Sorcerwood could be from another wizard who fell pray to the tree, Olzagrasst's walking stick, or anything else that would feel fitting. A party that did not access the childhood home illusion might conclude that the broken staff was in fact the storied staff of Olzagrasst only to leave the true staff behind.
I wanted the party who did find the real staff to feel they really achieved something by providing a red herring for those aware of the staff at all.
The party arrived in the spice swamps, sank into them a bit, and were immediately attacked by angry exploding spice crabs. Farkas the Journeyman of Sharp Corners performed an elaborate crab dance, to perplexed stares from the rest of the party. The crabs seemed unimpressed.
After picking crab meat off themselves, and a short rest, a tiny onion tottered over to them. Keith, the Fellow of the Sublime Society of Beefsteaks decided he would be a tasty morsel, and sprinted after him maul at the ready. A brutal murder scene (redacted in 17 countries) ensued just outside the flower wedding. Plato the Thinking Engine pronounces all biological life a mistake.
The Exographer Ferdinand XII, recalling their short anthropology elective from university, took charge at the wedding, artfully leading the ceremony as ringbearer to the applause and merriment of all involved. Keith looked suitably sheepish.
Picking up some clues at the wedding party, the last sighted location of Sir Reemulus was allegedly the Compost Caverns, so off they trot, into the reeking dark and the waiting trolls who had previously dispatched the errant knight. (I rolled "something is quickly rushing towards you, assemble the initiative stack" event here, and brought in trolls, although with hindsight I think the intent was to use the moulder mound, I'm putting this one down to heat of the moment brain crosswiring.)
Trolls put up a pretty good fight, but a beautifully thrown flask of oil and subsequent masterful trick shot from Ferdinand's pistolet sends one fleeing in terror from a mighty fireball while the other meets the heavy end of Keith's massive tenderising hammer.
Finding the heavily gnawed body of Sir Reemulus, and his journal of bad poetry, they discern he thought that the staff would be found in the Sorcerorwood Grove (which I now realise is incorrect, but that's on me). Once again, back to the flower gazebo where the reception is really getting going, a beetroot has set up a DJ booth.
Through the wasteland, the choking smog, and out to the grove. Spying the tree, the party keeps it talking, while Farkas the assassin gets up in the branches to douse it with oil (I was probably a little generous with that sneaking test, but it was a good plan so I let it ride). After everyone dramatically reveals their intentions for arboreal murder, the match is struck and the tree is engulfed in flames. Camera zooms in on Keith's face as he says, "so, how do we get out of here then?". fin
Oh gotcha, yeah, I can't believe I missed that on the staff! I picked "looking for Sir Reemulus (and possibly the staff)" as the reason to be going there. I added in a bit around that, like a clue to the staff's location on his corpse. For context as well, this was a drop-in game with 4 brand new to Troika! players, and honestly I thought this was a great adventure to introduce the game.
Wow! Thank you for sharing I am elated!!
Love your additions and cannot BELIEVE they killed Peat. So they're stuck forever in the Terrarium? Perfect karma! What a fun sequence of events they experienced. Fanscinating to hear how it went.
This is really valuable feedback, I'll make some minor edits to make it clearer that the Moulder Mound is the only enemy intended to be down there, but honestly the most fun part of Troika for me is coming up with something on the spot and codifying it into existence. I'll clean up the staff description too to make it unequivocal. I totally see the confusion.
Thank you so much!
Tell me about it, I was flabbergasted as well, the poor sweet onion was too pure and good for this world. Yeah, seemed a fitting end for the 4 miscreants!
Oh anytime, happy to help, thanks so much for writing it!