Glacier Hex Encounter Table

Deep Ice, Polar Wastes, Ice Caps of Reisa Use north of the taiga, permanent glaciers, ice shelves, and polar deserts

Roll: 1d100 Expected HD Range: 2–10+ HD Sources: GFN, OSE, Reisa Campaign

Visibility: Extreme on clear days; zero in storms Sound: Wind strips all direction from sound Retreat: Often impossible — distance and weather foreclose options Themes: Preservation, the failure of past expeditions, cold as patient killer, things that should not still be here

Encounter Notes

24–25 — Remorhaz

The ice ahead shows a long irregular channel of faint melt — the trail of something that passed through recently, warm enough to partially liquefy the glacier surface. The channel is perhaps 10 feet wide and 200 feet long, ending where the creature went back under.

The Remorhaz itself is beneath the surface. It detected the party's heat from below and is tracking them. It erupts without warning — a save vs. Surprise for the whole party, difficulty escalated by the fact that the ice gave no sound before it broke. Use OSE Remorhaz statistics. After combat, the body radiates significant heat for 1d4 turns — enough to warm the party, melt snow for water, and draw every predator within detection range.

30–31 — Glacier Cave

A dark opening in the ice face, large enough to enter. Inside: the cave goes back further than a torch illuminates, freezing meltwater has pooled in depressions on the floor, and something has been here recently — tracks, debris, a smell.

The cave is structurally unstable. Any significant noise (combat, loud voices, a spell with an audible component) requires a save vs. Paralysis from everyone inside or the ceiling shifts and drops ice: 1d6 damage, possible separation from the exit. The party has roughly one turn before the ceiling becomes dangerous after entering.

Roll 1d6 for occupant: 1–2 empty; 3 polar bear sheltering; 4 ice ghouls feeding on something; 5 a surviving member of the expedition from result 50–51 (hypothermic, barely conscious); 6 the Remorhaz from 24–25 is denning here.

38–39 — Geothermal Vent

A circle of open water in the ice, steaming, approximately 20 feet across. The water is genuinely warm — not hot, but survivable and remarkable at this altitude and latitude. The air above it is fog.

The vent is a genuine resource: warm water, shelter from wind if the party rigs something over it, a place to thaw frozen gear. It is also a known landmark to anything that lives on this glacier. On a 3-in-6 chance something is already here when the party arrives: roll 1d4 — 1 polar bear, 2 frost salamanders (1d3), 3 yeti (1), 4 the expedition survivor from 50–51.

If the party camps here, the wandering encounter chance increases to 2-in-6 for the duration. Warmth on a glacier is a beacon.

42–43 — Bardo Wanderer

A figure moving across the ice ahead — upright, deliberate, dressed for conditions that existed perhaps decades ago. They are moving with purpose, following a route. They do not respond to shouts. When the party closes distance they can see the figure leaves no tracks.

This is a ghost that has not yet understood it is dead. It died during a crossing and is still completing that journey. It is not hostile. It will walk through the party if they stand in its path, causing a cold shock (save vs. Spells or 1d4 cold damage and one turn of disorientation).

The wanderer is following its last known route. If the party follows it for one full turn without interfering, they gain accurate route knowledge to its destination — which may lead to the frozen battlefield (58–59), the abandoned camp (50–51), or a location not yet mapped.

A Cleric who speaks the bardo acknowledgment — stating clearly that the person has died, naming what they can observe of them, releasing them with a few words — causes the wanderer to stop, turn, and look at the Cleric for a long moment before fading. This earns 1d6 × 100 XP and resolves a small wrongness in this hex.

50–51 — Abandoned Expedition Camp

A tent, still standing. The design is not recent — the materials are a generation old at least. The stakes are driven properly, the ropes correctly tensioned. Whoever set this up knew what they were doing.

Inside: sleeping rolls, a camp stove with fuel remaining, food in sealed containers (still edible, frozen solid), personal effects for 1d4+2 people, and a journal or field notes. The journal is legible with careful handling. It describes an expedition with a specific goal and ends mid-entry. The last entry is calm and practical: a weather observation, a navigation note, a plan for the morning. There is no indication of distress.

The crew is not here. No blood, no signs of violence, no tracks leading away.

The journal contains accurate route information for 1d6 hexes in the direction they were traveling, a partial description of what they were looking for, and at least one detail that connects to something the party is currently investigating.

64–65 — Preserved NPC in Ice

Visible through the ice surface: a figure, perfectly preserved, perhaps 10 feet down. They are in a posture of movement — walking, reaching, not lying down. Whatever happened, happened instantly.

Thawing them requires significant heat over 1d4 hours. Once thawed: roll 1d6. On 1–3, they remain dead but their gear is intact and may include something significant. On 4–5, they animate as a wight or ghoul within 1d4 turns. On a 6, they are alive, severely hypothermic, and have been in the ice for a period they cannot account for — they remember exactly what they were doing when they went in, which was not here and was not now.

The living survivor is a practitioner preserved by their own practice rather than simple freezing, having entered a state resembling the bardo. What they know is accurate but potentially very old.

66–67 — Frozen Ship or Vehicle

Locked in the ice at an angle, partially emerged, partially buried. The hull or frame is intact. Ice has forced its way into every opening. Inside: cargo that may be preserved, personal effects of the crew, navigation or cargo records, and 1d4 crew members frozen in place. Apply the rules from 64–65 for each frozen crew member individually.

Roll 1d6 for cargo: 1 mundane trade goods (valuable, heavy); 2 religious materials from a known tradition; 3 weapons or armor of unusual quality; 4 sealed Church administrative containers — internal records in transit; 5 something alive in a sealed cold-box, dormant; 6 the hold is empty and has been deliberately emptied, which is its own puzzle.

72–73 — Multiple Bardo Wanderers

Not one figure but 1d4+1 — moving in loose formation. The same rules as 42–43 apply to each individually, but collectively they present a more disorienting encounter. They interact with each other normally: appearing to speak, gesture, wait for each other, point. They were traveling together and are still doing so.

Following them for a full turn reveals their destination. Releasing all of them through the bardo acknowledgment stabilizes something in this hex: a ward that was degrading holds, a specific hazard from this table does not occur for the rest of the session.

The referee should decide before the session whether this group is connected to the frozen ship (66–67), the abandoned camp (50–51), or the frozen battlefield (58–59). They are the crew, the expedition, or the soldiers. Connecting the dots is the reward.

86–88 — White Dragon

The white dragon has been aware of the party since result 46–47 if that result was already rolled this session — or since the party entered this hex if not. It has been watching. It is not hungry. It is curious and territorial.

Use OSE White Dragon statistics. It does not attack immediately. It circles above for 1d6 turns before descending. A party that stops and waits — does not run, does not prepare weapons openly, simply waits — gives the dragon something to evaluate. What breaks the standoff: any aggressive action, any attempt to flee (it will immediately pursue), or the dragon deciding on its own timeline.

The dragon's lair is within two hexes and contains accumulated debris from a long life of predation — including items from every deadly result on this table.

Design Notes

Undead are common because glaciers preserve failure, not erase it. Every expedition that ended badly is still here in some form.

Many undead are passive until disturbed. The frozen procession, the bardo wanderers, and the preserved NPC are all potentially non-combat if the party reads the situation correctly.

The geothermal vent and glacier cave create decision points around resources — warmth and shelter are available but carry cost. The party must decide whether the short-term benefit is worth the long-term danger.

Connecting encounters across a session rewards a referee who treats the table as a coherent world: the wanderers lead to the battlefield, the dragon has been watching since the griffon result, the camp journal points to the NPC in ice.

High-end results should change the map. Result 98–100 is not a larger version of the other results. It is a statement about the state of the world.