I often write boxed text for new in-game events and locations. I find it easier to think through the sights, smells, and other sensations during GM prep and write them out, rather than improv’ing when I’m trying to write a game. Here’s one such moment.
The party heads south, encountering a strange blight that has been creeping north in recent years.
You walk out onto the farmland, most of which has been cleared after the growing season, leaving bare dirt. It reveals an odd sight: there seem to be several large swatches across this farmland where the dirt is a dull, faded gray color, instead of a healthier brown. The swatches are at least five to ten feet wide in most places, and they stretch across this entire section of fields. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the pattern, at least that you can tell from here.
In the distance, there are brown, dry patches of plants at the edge of the field. From here, it looks like they may still be covered in a thin layer of snow, even though there’s no other snow to be seen for a mile or so.
Blightooze is a substance that forms on living beings in areas that have been affected by the blight. It is caused by some sort of necrotic effect.
It forms thick, grayish fungal-like ooze across anything infected by it. The strands are moist and sticky, clinging to whatever touches them and releasing clouds of white dust when absorbed.
Blightooze is typically found on dead, nearly-rotting plants surrounded by gray streaks of dirt.
Removing blightooze
It is possible to remove or destroy blightooze in several ways:
- Slashing or piercing damage will cut it down, but release dust
- Bludgeoning damage will cut it down, release dust, and subject everyone within 5 feet to blightooze strands (if they make the first Dexterity saving throw, they are unaffected).
- Necrotic damage will cause it to grow and fester. You see it bubble and warp, and new strands begin working their way out of the spot where the damage was done.
- Radiant damage destroys it entirely with no dust released.
- Other types of magical damage do nothing. An Intelligence (Arcana) check or Detect Magic will reveal that the magic almost seems to be absorbed by it.
Investigating blightooze
An Intelligence (Nature) check reveals this isn’t any sort of fungus you have seen before. It might not even be a fungus; you don’t see any of the structures of a fungus you’d expect, only a sticky, viscous substance that looks like mycelium.
An Intelligence (Arcana) check or Detect Magic reveals a mild necromantic aura on the substance. You can’t tell exactly what it’s coming from but it doesn’t seem to be the direct result of a spell.
Detect Magic on the gray streaks of dirt reveals no aura–and actually, a lack of most natural aether that you’d expect to be present. You can’t tell whether this is some type of intentional anti-magic aura or whether the naturally-occurring magic has simply been removed from it.
Hazards from blightooze
These conditions are for a level 12 party; you can adjust DCs and damage as necessary.
Blightooze Strands (Touch)
If blightooze comes in contact with the skin (either directly or through porous cloth), make a DC 15 Dexterity save every 15 minutes. On a failed save, you cannot get the sticky substance off and it deals 4d10 necrotic damage. On a successful save, it becomes blightooze residue which immediately triggers.
The skin around the blightooze becomes red and puffy, with tiny black veins becoming visible around the point of contact. Contact with the affected surface can spread blightooze.
Blightooze Residue (Touch)
Blightooze residue deals 2d10 necrotic damage per hour. It can only be removed by about 1 gallon of water, some type of soap (or other acidic or basic substance, which may be caustic), or a great deal of scrubbing (1d6 damage).
Blightooze residue is the sticky remnant of blightooze, and there’s no way to remove it without some substance that can dissipate it. You cannot spread it.
Blightooze Dust (Inhalation)
Breathing in too much dust from broken blightooze will cause a form of temporary dementia. For every hour of exposure, make a DC 10-20 Wisdom save (depending on the severity of the exposure). This save has disadvantage if the area lacks good ventilation.
A failed save gives the Incapacitated status.
Once every 24 hours that they have been removed from contact with blightooze dust, they make retry the save at disadvantage. If they are treated, they may make this save without disadvantage.
The victim can still move around, but does not have much energy or ability to think clearly. If threatened, they must make a DC 18 Wisdom save. On a failure, they physically attack whatever the threat appears to be. During this time:
- Attacks they make against the perceived threat have advantage
- Attacks others make against them have advantage
- They have disadvantage on other saving throws
- They are resistant to necrotic damage and vulnerable to radiant damage