Dungeon World: Flora & Fauna, Part 1

The plants and creatures of Dungeon World are a diverse mix of those natural to our own world, those found in fiction, mythology, and legend, and those that are unique to Dungeon World itself. Here we have a trio of creatures indigenous to Dungeon World, each deadlier and weirder than the one before it…

Giant Spider, Death’s Head

At 6′ long and bearing the black body and distinctive red hourglass markings of the giant black widow, this spider can – at a glance – be mistaken for that deadly creature. However, the death’s head spider possesses an unmistakable feature: a grayish skull with fang-like pincers and a trio of glowing red eyes that radiate a magical aura of terror (see below). Solitary creatures, death’s head spiders are notoriously aggressive and will attack anything they don’t view as a threat – including others of their own species, to whose venom and aura of terror they are immune. At the start of each round, any creature approaching the spider from the front must save vs. Spells or be paralyzed with fear for 1-8 rounds. (Creatures that are normally immune to magical fear are not affected by the spider’s aura. Dispel magic cast on a paralyzed victim will remove the paralysis.) The bite of a death’s head spider has the same effect as that of a giant black widow.

It is almost certain that death’s head spiders are the result of magical manipulation of existing giant black widows. In fact, a recently discovered grimoire – purported to have been brought back by a bold expedition into The Blighted Lands – is alleged to have been authored by one of Califrax’s cabal of wizardly underlings, and is rumored to contain the rituals used to create the spiders. Unfortunately, said grimoire disappeared shortly after the expedition’s return to the east, and its current whereabouts is unknown.

The plants and creatures of Dungeon World are a diverse mix of those natural to our own world, those found in fiction, mythology, and legend, and those that are unique to Dungeon World itself. Here we have a trio of creatures indigenous to Dungeon World, each deadlier and weirder than the one before it…

Slime Flies (Insect Swarm)

Slime flies are large (1-inch or so) insects that are always found near a green slime patch, in swarms of 100 or so (enough to fill a 10′ x 10′ area). They have a symbiotic relationship with the slime: the flies ingest the slime (to which they are immune), which they use to digest their food by regurgitating it onto its surface. They gain nourishment by feeding on matter as it dissolves into green slime. Once it has finished feeding (after any food sources have been completely turned into green slime) the swarm flies off to the shadows to lay its eggs. Whatever remains of its food source may be absorbed into the host green slime patch. A slime fly swarm attacks all creatures within it, just as a standard insect swarm, but instead of doing damage its attacks have a 50% chance of having the same effect as being struck by green slime. If a slime fly swarm is reduced to half its hit points or less, it breaks from combat and retreats to safety. Otherwise, a slime fly swarm is treated the same as any other insect swarm.

Dungeon World scientists believe that slime flies are the result of natural changes to an existing fly population, and not some sort of magical or otherwise artificial creation.

The plants and creatures of Dungeon World are a diverse mix of those natural to our own world, those found in fiction, mythology, and legend, and those that are unique to Dungeon World itself. Here we have a trio of creatures indigenous to Dungeon World, each deadlier and weirder than the one before it…

Wicked Tongue

Some of Dungeon World’s most bizarre entities, wicked tongues are almost certainly magical constructs. No one knows for sure how they are created, but legend has it that they are the result of failed or rogue magic mouth spells. Others claim that they are the result of curses bestowed upon liars and gossips – curses that slowly and painfully transmute the victims’ tongues into giant monsters.

Regardless of their origin, wicked tongues are capricious and dangerous creatures. They roam ancient ruins, licking every surface they encounter. When they find a particularly tasty morsel, they lick – and lick and lick and lick. Being that they are the size of a large dog or a halfling and have very rough “skin,” such behavior often proves fatal to their unfortunate victims. A wicked tongue will attempt to first immobilize its target to better lick it; if an attack succeeds against a mobile target, it takes no damage but must save vs. Dragon Breath or be knocked down. The attacking tongue will immediately climb onto the fallen victim to immobilize him, and on the next and subsequent rounds all attacks are licks (two per round, each at +4 to hit), each doing 1d4 damage. Wicked tongues are immune to sleep and charm spells, but must make a morale check if exposed to a significant amount (an oil flask or more) of any particularly foul-tasting or excessively spicy substance.

This mini-monster-manual can be downloaded in .PDF form here.

Chris Brackett is a web monkey by trade, but in real life he’s a veteran gamer and author of several tabletop miniatures games. He spends far too much of his time working on his RPG-focused game blog, A Rust Monster Ate My Sword.