The Dire Forest: An OSR Sandbox for Levels 1-5+

THE SETTING

At the edges of the kingdom, far from the reaches of the king, lies a thickly forested belt known for its shadowed boughs and foreboding secrets.

They call it…the Dire Forest.

Ruled by gloom, fed by haunted glacial waters, and filled with a strange fungal disease which turns normally docile animals aggressive, the forest is a graveyard for all those who attempted to claim her innermost riches. Not just travelers, but legends, kings, empires and more, that long ago ventured into the wood in search of glory only to become fodder for the forest floor and all her malevolent secrets.

Venture forward if you dare to this legendary place, for its dangers are not to be taken lightly. Least of all the Chaos Gnomes…

Inspired by a mixture of Eastern European and Eurasian cultures, primarily Germany, Russia, and Scandinavia, the Dire Forest is a delightfully deadly blend of dark fantasy, ensuring your party is always one step behind the heart of the wilderness itself.

THE PRODUCT

The Dire Forest is a B/X sandbox module, meaning it is compatible with 1st Edition D&D, 2nd Edition AD&D, Old School Essentials, and over 50 years of related content.

There is no single way to play the Dire Forest, but it contains everything a DM needs to build a successful campaign. It is primarily geared towards levels 1-4, but also contains content for levels 5-8 and beyond.

The Base Set contains:

• Over 40 “dark forest” themed monsters for levels 1-18
• Over 20 unique plant and fungi encounters to fit into any campaign
• Over 20 scripted encounters, including 2 mid-sized dungeons
• 15 OSR style maps of selected areas
• 3 General encounter maps
• 8 New magic items
• 3 Spells
• Unique encounter tables for 8 different types of terrain
• A world map of all scripted locations, with additional adventure seeds to be filled in as the sandbox evolves

And the Deluxe Set Contains:

• All of the above plus…
• 15 additional scripted encounters such as Highland Grove and Furlbolg Fen
• All maps available as VTT assets
• Expanded encounter tables
• 20 additional monsters
• 20 additional plant and fungi encounters
• 6 additional magic items
• 3 additional spells

…All in digital format and 100% human made.

DESIGN ETHOS

The Dire Forest is a modern take on classic OSR principals, meaning every element is carefully crafted, containing tried-and-true methods of game design. Things like variable entrances in dungeons, different overland travel options, and a host of RP and puzzle encounters help to ensure the game never becomes stale.

For example…

When travelling overland back to town from Sleeping Giant’s Barrow, players may: 

• Walk back to civilization
• Walk with a special horse, found earlier through gameplay
• Hire a boatman ahead of time, and use the river route
• Use a smaller boat found earlier through gameplay
• Risk using an item that teleports the party and their gear instantly, but will eventually cost everyone their lives

Each option comes with its own cost/benefit tradeoff, ensuring that the “easiest” option isn’t necessarily the safest, helping keep gameplay interesting, dynamic, and best of all…repeatable.

The Dire Forest also addresses common issues with sandboxes by:

• Utilizing lock and key elements, ensuring engagement with multiple locales
• Breaking the map into leveled tiers, giving guidance to the DM on challenge levels
• Scattering “bread crumb” tie-ins which ensure the module has good internal logic and consistency

Lastly, The Dire Forest respects the diversity of player’s horrible approaches to gameplay. Each of the below sections of the wood contains a different design ethos and set of encounters, to ensure wandering level 1s and 2s won’t be beheaded if they’re being smart.

Unless of course the Chaos Gnomes find them…

                                                                      …Then they’re toast.

STRETCH GOALS

Heres how the camapaign stretch goals break down:

(REACHED!) $400 -> More plant and fungi encounters included

(LOCKED) $475 -> 5 additional general encounter maps, plus “Dire” versions of humanoids like gnolls and bugbears

(LOCKED) $550 -> Giant Ant Colony dungeon included

(LOCKED) $700 -> Glowstone Mine now has 2 additional floors

(LOCKED) $850 -> Molding Castle now has 2 additional floors

(LOCKED) $1050 -> 5 additional, high level scripted encounters in the upper forest