Into the Research Garden Adventure
Sep 28th, 2020 by FayOnyx
Illustration of tree with red bark that is dramatically lit by sunlight in a lush green forest.
Adventure Overview
You are part of a team of investigative journalists working for the Crossroads Observer. The Observer has obtained a sample that could finally expose the dirty dealings of the wealthy Steward Family. Your job is to convince the expert Juniper Huckleberry to analyze this sample. The only problem is that Juniper is an infamously reclusive gnome druid who lives in her research garden, which is full of dangerous magical plants.
This comedic adventure is all about the player characters encountering the strange, wonderful, and dangerous magical plants and fungi of Juniper’s research garden. While some of the plants are directly hostile, most of them are just using magic to do standard plant things like get pollinated, spread their seeds, and avoid getting eaten. It is the way that all of these different quirky plant abilities come together within the Magic Goes Awry game system that provides the wild situations and humor of this game.
Magic Goes Awry is a rules-light game system with in-depth character creation that supports player creativity. (A set of vivid, quirky, premade characters are available for those who want them.) This system is built around the principles of accessibility and inclusion, with game play that focuses on creative problem-solving. Magic Goes Awry is a fail forward system that turns failure into humorous complications. Combined with its whimsical, high fantasy setting, this system supports game play that is imaginative and heartfelt, where humor naturally arises from the wild moments that happen when magic has gone awry.
Please note that this page is currently a work in progress.
Outline
What Is Going on in the Research Garden
How Investigative Journalism Works
Nonplayer Character Summary (Will include links to character sheets for Juniper and Plip when they are done)
Challenge #1: Entering Juniper’s Garden
Challenge #2: Temperate Grassland vs. Swamp
Challenge #3: Tropical Forest vs. Temperate Forest
Challenge #5: The Tree of Eternal Sleep
Background
The History of Lampstones
For many generations people living in desert regions have been combining the gel inside of Flashing Stone Cactuses with the nectar from the Tree of Eternal Sleep to produce a strong white light. This glowing mixture is kept in glass jars and used for illumination. If the jar is well sealed it can last for several years, but it still fades over time.
The nectar from the Tree of Eternal Sleep is a stimulant that allows pollinators to resist the tree’s sleep-inducing magic. This stimulating quality is the reason why it causes the gel from Flashing Stone Cactus to continuously emit a steady light, rather than a sudden overwhelming flash of light, like it normally does.
Fifty years ago, Juniper Huckleberry led the team that created Glowing Stone Cactus from Flashing Stone Cactus. Glowing Stone Cactus can only live in ground that is infused with magic, but it produces a steady light without the need for the nectar of the Tree of Eternal Sleep, which is important because the Tree of Eternal Sleep is both dangerous and difficult to cultivate. Glowing Stone Cactuses also have a high degree of magical stability, which is important for the production of lampstones.
Lampstones are made by alchemically treating Glowing Stone Cactus extract, mixing it with resin, shaping it into a ball, and sealing it with binding magic. This produces a fist-sized, stone-like ball that has three brightness levels: a dim light that makes nearby things easier to see without ruining night vision, a medium light that is like an average lantern, and a bright light that illuminates the surrounding area the way a bonfire would. The binding magic allows the lampstone to cycle through these three brightness levels on its owner’s command, which can be either verbal or signed. A lampstone’s heatless light lasts five to ten years.
What the Stewards are Doing
Glowing Stone Cactus extract is expensive because Glowing Stone Cactus is a slow growing plant that requires magical soil. As a way to cut expenses, the Steward family is diluting the Glowing Stone Cactus extract with the extract of illegally harvested Flashing Stone Cactuses. This is causing significant harm to the wild populations of Flashing Stone Cactus, which is of particular concern because its flowers are an important source of nectar for pollinators, especially migratory pollinators like humming birds, bats, and butterflies.
In addition, adding Flashing Stone Cactus extract into lampstones creates magical instability. Most commonly, this instability results in the gradual development of an unpleasant flickering in the lampstones’ light (like an obnoxious fluorescent bulb). However, more serious consequences can develop, such as sudden bright flashes of light that temporarily blind nearby people. More than a few collisions and other accidents have been caused by these bright flashes. Most concerning of all, extremely unstable lampstones can explode when they come into contact with water.
Normally these dangerous instabilities take years to develop, a fact that makes it easy to blame them on other causes, like magic that has gone awry. However three months ago, a workshop run by the Steward family created a batch of thirty lampstones that had too much Flashing Stone Extract in it. This made them develop their instabilities much more quickly than usual. One of them exploded, injuring five people.
The Steward family is now desperately trying to track down and collect these lampstones. But the staff at Crossroads Observer were able to get to one of them first. While magical and alchemical analyses were being done on the lampstone, the lead reporter, Elora Veracity, was able to contact Juniper Hucleberry. Juniper hates poaching and the way that the Stewards financing it, so she agreed to analyze the lampstone to find out if it contained Flashing Stone Cactus extract.
Unfortunately, the Stewards found out that the Observer had one of the lampstones and they trashed the Observer’s office looking for it. While they didn’t find it, it is certain that they will use any means necessary to obtain it. This means that it is imperative that this lampstone is taken to Juniper right away. But Juniper is a recluse who is impossible to contact on short notice. So someone needs to take this lampstone to her. The only problem is that she lives in a gigantic research garden full of dangerous plants and anti-poacher protections.
This is where the player characters come in. While Elora Veracity causes a distraction, it is their job to go into Juniper’s research garden, get the lampstone to her, and give her any help that she needs to analyze it.
Juniper’s Analysis
When a small amount of Flashing Stone Cactus extract is added to Glowing Stone Cactus extract, the Flashing Stone Cactus extract starts to glow. This makes it hard to distinguish whether or not Flashing Stone Cactus extract is present. But if there is a large amount of Flashing Stone Cactus extract in the mixture, then the overall glow is dimmer. In addition, nectar from a freshly harvested flower of the Tree of Eternal Sleep strongly increases its brightness. This makes it a good test for Flashing Stone Cactus extract in this lampstone. The challenge is that the flower needs to be picked within a minute of opening and on the day that the player characters arrive with the lampstone, everyone in Juniper’s garden is needed to work on a dangerous project.
What Is Going on in the Research Garden
Today is the day that everyone in Juniper’s garden is working on transplanting the Lava Pine. A Lava Pine is best thought of as living molten rock that subsists on the geothermal energy that it absorbs through its roots. When a Lava Pine is thriving, it absorbs enough energy to keep the rock inside its trunk and branches fully molten. If a Lava Pine is struggling, the rock inside its trunk and branches cools and thickens, causing blockages that can lead to an eruption. The cooler the tree is, the more violent the eruption will be.
The Lava Pine in Juniper’s garden is fed geothermal energy by a magical power source that periodically needs to be replaced. Every moment that the Lava Pine is disconnected from its power source is dangerous. This is why the most effective way to switch the power source is to set up a new power source in a nearby location and then quickly transplant the Lava Pine from its old power source to its new one.
This dangerous project is the reason that the player characters get so far into Juniper’s garden before they encounter anyone. When the player characters first enter the garden, Juniper, her wife Estella, and their two assistants, Plip and Ha-Joon, are just starting the first stage of transplanting. This stage involves separating all of the roots that aren’t connected to the geothermal power source from the ground—including the roots that are holding the Lava Pine upright.
If the player characters cause an excessive amount of chaos or set off the guard bushes, Juniper and Plip will leave the transplanting to go investigate the situation together. However, if the player characters make it to the place where the transplanting is occurring, then Plip will come over and great them while the others continue to work.
Communication with the player characters is rushed and as soon as everyone knows what is going on, the player characters are informed that the analysis of the lampstone can only be done today if they are willing pick a flower from the Tree of Eternal Sleep. Once the player characters agree, Plip quickly shepherds them along to the tree and then leaves them there with limited instructions, some confusing comments about the dangers of the tree, and no indication of how to proceed.
How Investigative Journalism Works
In progress.
Nonplayer Character Summary
Elora Veracity (she/her): Pronounced ah-lohr-rah vehr-AH-sih-tee. Elora is the lead reporter of the Crossroads Observer. She is a dwarven arcane investigative journalist. Elora is the one who briefs the player characters and sends them off their mission to get the lampstone to Juniper.
Description: Elora is a four foot tall dwarven woman with brown skin that has warm undertones. She is wearing a simple, dark red sari and her black hair is pulled back into a thick braid.
Amar Ramsey (he/him): Pronounced uh-muhr RAM-zee. Amar is the Observer’s on staff teleporter. He is a human mage that specializes in teleportation. Amar teleports the player characters to Juniper’s garden.
Juniper Huckleberry (she/her): Juniper is a prominent magical plants expert who has agreed to analyze the lampstone sample. She is a gnome druid that can talk to plants. Juniper led the team that created the Glowing Stone Cactus for lampstone production fifty years ago. She is also extremely reclusive. Juniper’s garden is in the druid community of Sacred Grove.
Description: Juniper is just over two feet tall. She has dark brown skin and the tight, black curls of her hair are pulled back into a messy bun.
Plip (they/them): Plip is one of Juniper’s two assistants. They are the one that interacts with the player characters the most. Plip is a type of sapient plant called a Pitcher Crab. They speak telepathically and are able to communicate with all species of plants. Plip’s familiar is a small, green frog named Leaf that lives inside their pitcher.
Description: They have a single large red pitcher in the center with a bush of oval leaves behind it and eight thick roots that form crab-like legs on either side of the pitcher. The pitcher has a lid that can raise or lower and a pair of black eyestalks that rise alertly from each side of the pitcher. Those who look closely can see a little frog peaking out from the pitcher. Like a crab they tend to walk sideways, which they do quite quickly, but they can only move forward slowly.
Estella (she/her): Estella is Juniper’s wife. She works collaboratively with Juniper on bigger projects, but she also has her own projects. Estella is a type of sapient plant called a Vine Collective. She is telepathic and can also talk to other plants. When Juniper goes off to interact with the player characters, Estella stays behind to keep working on transplanting the Lave Pine.
Description: A humanoid person made out of a group of animated vines that twist and weave together to form her entire body.
Ha-Joon (he/him): Pronounced hah-juun. Ha-Joon is the assistant that stays with Estella when Juniper and Plip go off to interact with the player characters. He is a dwarf druid that can talk to plants.
Wanda (she/her): Pronounced WAAN-Dah. Wanda is Juniper’s close friend. She is a half-orc, half-elf druid. Once a week Juniper comes out of her garden to have tea with Wanda, who also lives in Sacred Grove. The only reliable way to communicate with Juniper is to convince Wanda to pass something along to Juniper.
Random Names for Plants: Because everyone who lives or works in Juniper’s garden can talk to plants, any of them could directly address injured or misbehaving plants. To give these interactions more character, these are some possible names those plants.
Person type names: Walter, Dante (DAHN-tay), Riko (RIY-Kow), Mei (May), Trixie (TRIK-see), Ren (REHN), Kevin, Elsa (EL-sah), and Andres (ahn-DRAYS).
Pet type names: Dart, Jelly, Pickle, Bella, Fluffy, Fang, Bear, Rex, Boots, Noodle, Freckles, and Tiger.
Opening the Adventure
Safety Tools
In progress.
Flashback Mechanic
In progress.
Setting the Scene
In progress.
The Briefing
In progress.
In the Research Garden
Challenge #1: Entering Juniper’s Garden
Outside the Garden
You arrive at the entrance to an enormous magical dome that is over a mile wide. Its kaleidoscopic surface makes it impossible to see what is inside, but you can tell that there are many different shades of green. Directly in front of you in the side of the dome is a shimmering portal that serves as the entrance to the dome. You’ve seen this type of portal before. It is a magical membrane that lets people pass through, while preventing things like seeds and spores from going in or coming out. Just to the right of this portal is a weather-beaten mailbox that is overflowing with letters.
Details: This dome is an enormous magical greenhouse. It is solid to the touch and it blocks all types of magic. The dome lets light in, but from the outside there is no way to make out any useful visual details through its kaleidoscopic surface. The portal into the garden is the dome’s only entrance.
The Surrounding Area: Juniper’s research garden is on the outskirts of Sacred Grove, a druid community that grows and responsibly harvests many rare plants. Because poaching is such a problem in Crossroads, the whole community of Sacred Grove has a lot of plant-based security. There are several other kaleidoscopic domes in Sacred Grove, but Juniper’s is by far the biggest.
The Tunnel In
Passing through the shimmering portal, you find yourselves in a hedge tunnel that that turns first left, then right, and left again. Then it opens up into a circular courtyard surrounded by hedge walls that grow all the way up to the dome above. In the center of the courtyard is a large tree with irregular, spreading branches. Behind the tree, on the opposite side of the courtyard from you, is a doorway in the hedge wall that leads further into the garden.
The Hedge: The hedge here is made of Fast Healing Wall Bush, which is a bush so dense that even small animals, like rats and squirrels, struggle to get through it to the other side. In addition, any time that a hole is made in this bush, it immediately starts healing and the hole quickly closes. It is possible for the characters to go through this bush, but it will take effort.
The Tree in the Courtyard: This tree is one of the protectors of Juniper’s Garden. It is a Catapult Walnut that flings its nuts at high speed toward anything that moves. Any character that is not being stealthy when they enter the courtyard will be attacked.
Here is a description of the tree attacking for the first time.
The branches of the tree start moving. They slowly stretch backward. Suddenly, one branch releases and swings forward violently, sending multiple walnuts flying through the air straight at you.
Details: The courtyard is thirty feet across. If the characters look closely at the doorway on the other side of the courtyard, they can glimpse a grove of fruit trees through it. Perceptive characters might notice a few small gaps between the top of the hedge and the dome.
The Grove of Fruit Trees
When the characters get past the Catapult Walnut or go through the hedge wall, they emerge into the grove of fruit trees that surrounds the entrance to the garden.
You emerge into a small grove of fruit trees. A carefully maintained path leads through this grove toward the center of the garden. Looking around, you can see glimpses of the enormous garden that surrounds you. This garden is divided into sections, each with different types of plants in them. Above you, fluttering in the treetops nearest to the curve of the dome, are flocks of gray-purple, bat-like things.
Bat-like Things: These mysterious, bat-like shapes in the treetops are bat seeds from the Bat Seed Bush. Bat seeds are the garden’s defense against flying intruders. When someone approaches a bat seed flock, the bat seeds start flying in a mesmerizing pattern that entrances or disorients anyone that sees it. In addition, the presence of the bat seeds limits visibility.
Details: The grove of fruit trees has a wide selection of different trees in it. If the players are interested, they can each suggest a special fruit tree that is in the orchard. Also, if the characters look closely at the outer edge of the garden, they will see the twelve-foot tall Fast Healing Wall Bush hedge that grows in a giant ring that encircles the whole of the garden.
The Apple Tree
When the characters move farther into Juniper’s Garden, they come to a fork in the road.
As the path exits the grove of fruit trees, it branches in two directions. The left fork leads into a grassy meadow, and the right fork goes into a dense patch of lush bushes and trees. Growing at the spot where the paths branch off is a beautiful apple tree with shining, golden apples.
Discord Apple: When each character first gazes upon the Discord Apple Tree they are affected by its entrancing, emotion-altering magic. Once the effects of the Discord Apple’s magic are resolved, the characters can attempt to do a Nature knowledge roll to identify it.
Fork in the Road: The characters can also roll their knowledge of Nature to recognize the grassy meadow that the left fork goes to as a temperate grassland and the dense patch of bushes and trees that the right fork goes to as the outer edge of a swamp.
Challenge #2: Temperate Grassland vs. Swamp
The Left Fork: Temperate Grassland
There are many different kinds of grass in this meadow, creating a patchwork of different textures and colors. Oddly, despite the still air in rest of the garden, a constant breeze blows through this meadow, creating shining ripples as the grass dances in the wind.
Details: The wind in this meadow is caused by Wind Grass.
Hidden Dangers: Hidden in this field are patches of Invisible Grass that are there to trip the characters. The Invisible Grass is a garden security measure designed to slow intruders down. For this reason, patches of Invisible Grass have been deliberately grown throughout the field and across the path. Long tendrils of Pickpocket Vine are also hidden throughout the field. These tendrils come from the Pickpocket Vines growing in the trees of the nearby swamp. The primary purpose of the Pickpocket Vine is to distract intruders and lead them into the swamp.
Once the characters start to move through this field, any character not probing the ground in front of themselves needs to roll the Perception skill to find out whether they perceive the signs of the Invisible Grass before they trip over it. Any character that fails this roll will fall down and drop an item. Dropped items are immediately grabbed by a Pickpocket Vine tendril. The tendril then rapidly retracts back toward the swamp, taking the item with them.
If someone trips on the grass and falls down without dropping anything (a partial success), then a Pickpocket Vine tendril will try to stealthily grab one of their items. Spotting this attempt is a Perception skill roll. If the Pickpocket Vine is successful, the results are the same as for a dropped item—the vine retracts, dragging the item into the swamp.
It is possible for the characters to chase after the items and catch them before they are pulled into the swamp, but the characters will have to contend with the patches of Invisible Grass scattered throughout the field. Fortunately, once the characters know about the Invisible Grass, they are prepared on their Perception rolls to spot the subtle signs that indicate its presence. Characters that go exceptionally slowly, or that probe the ground in front of them, can move through the field without risk of tripping.
Optional: If additional fun and chaos are desired, there can also be a Sparkling Red Fairy Circle hidden in the grass of this meadow.
The Right Fork: Swamp
The first thing you notice about this swamp is the soft, ethereal flute music that hovers in the air around it. As you go deeper in, the trail weaves around patches of water and soggy ground. Lush growth is everywhere, and the trees above create a tapestry of dappled light on the bushes, reeds, and shining water beneath them. This peaceful scene is completed by the white puffballs that float lazily through the air.
Details: The ethereal music is coming from a patch of Flute Grass that is growing near the adjoining meadow. There is just enough of a breeze created by the Wind Grass in the meadow to make the Flute Grass play. Meanwhile, the white puffballs are the fruiting bodies of Floating Puffball Fungus. They float in the air like soap bubbles and they pop just as easily, releasing harmless foggy wisps of spores. In addition, characters that are looking around alertly will spot a Green Heron standing motionless in the water.
Scorpion Tails: As the characters move through the swamp, they come upon a deer carcass that is lying across the pathway.
Towering above the carcass is an eight-foot-tall, green and brown scorpion tail that has a sharp, blade-like stinger. This enormous tail emerges from a many-legged body the size of a large dog.
If the characters are not being stealthy, this scorpion tail will turn toward them and aggressively brandish its stinger, ready to strike anyone that approaches. Getting a good look at this scorpion tail makes the characters prepared on their Nature knowledge roll to identify this as Scorpion Tail Fungus.
Scorpion Tail Fungus is one of the most dangerous fungi in Juniper’s garden. This scorpion tail already has a carcass, so it isn’t on the hunt, but it will aggressively defend its carcass from anything that approaches it. To the left of the carcass is a patch of water and on the right are dense bushes, so going around it is going to be a bit of a challenge for the player characters.
As the characters continue to move through the swamp they get to roll Perception to notice a scorpion tail stalking them. Any character that is specifically looking for scorpion tails is considered prepared on this roll. Unless the characters are able to do something to stop it, this scorpion tail will stalk them until it gets close enough to attack one of them. If the characters are able to keep track of where the scorpion tail is, then they each get to take an action before the Scorpion Tail attacks someone. Otherwise the Scorpion Tail attacks before the characters get actions.
Hidden Thieves: This swamp is also full of Pickpocket Vine. Its tendrils hang down from the branches of trees, hidden in the abundant trailing mosses and lichens. Once the characters are surrounded by Pickpocket Vine tendrils, they each roll their Perception skill to find out if they spot any of the tendrils moving as those tendrils grab their items. Any grabbed items are rapidly retracted up into the pods in the tree tops.
The Pickpocket Vine would only be an inconvenience if it wasn’t for the presence of the Scorpion Tail Fungus. If the characters become distracted by the Pickpocket Vine, one of the Scorpion Tail Fungi will move in and attack.
Challenge #3: Tropical Forest vs. Temperate Forest
Challenge #4: Juniper’s House
Challenge #5: The Tree of Eternal Sleep
Conclusion
