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The Underroot

Environments Designed by José Alexandre

At a glance

Tier
3
Type
Traversal
Difficulty
17
Impulses
Trap the living, erase purpose, transform visitors into residents

Environment overview

Beneath the roots of a World Tree lies a world where memory is the only currency and forgetting is the only death. Places that no longer exist drift through an endless mist, and the dead linger as long as someone above still speaks their name.

Potential adversaries

Underroot Ghosts (Forgottens, Sirens, Hunters)

Features

Passives

passive
  • Navigating the Mourning

    The Underroot offers no fixed roads — only drifting memories of forgotten places emerge from the mist called the Mourning. Finding a memory requires the party to complete a Progress Countdown (4), however the PCs can choose to linger in the mist after the countdown reaches 0. Every action spent in the mist that would advance progress instead adds 1 Navigation token. When the PCs choose to leave, roll 1d12 and add the number of Navigation tokens, then remove all tokens.
    • If the total is 8 or less, the party finds themselves in a previously crossed zone of the Mourning. Reset the Progress Countdown to 4 and tick down the Fading Existance.
    • If the total is 9–14, replace this environment with the ___________ memory.
    • If the total is 15–19, replace this environment with the __________ memory.
    • If the total is 20, replace this environment with a Siren's Hollow.

    Questions
    • What do you see in the mist that makes you doubt the path ahead? What familiar place appears where it should not?
  • Fading Existance

    The longer the living walk among the dead, the more the Underroot claims of them. When the PCs enter the Mourning start a Consequence Countdown (12). Tick it down everytime the PCs enter and leave a memory. When The Mourning reaches certain thresholds, the following effects trigger immediately:
    • 10: Each PC forgets a minor detail — the name of an NPC, a location visited, a recent conversation.
    • 7: Each PC must succeed on a Presence Roll (14) or forget a significant piece of their mission. On a failure, mark a Stress.
    • 4: Each PC loses one personal memory from their backstory. They know it existed. They cannot feel it anymore. Lose 1 Hope until the next Long Rest.
    • 1: Each PC is drawn toward sounds in the mist. 1d4 Sirens appear immediately.
    • 0: The party no longer remembers why they came. They stay.

    Questions
    • What are you starting to forget? What does it feel like when a memory goes quiet?
  • Not Welcome Here

    The dead are aware of the living. Everything in the UnderRoot watches, listens, and slowly closes in. Every time a PC takes the spotlight and the Progress Countdown is at 0, they must succeed on an Instinct Reaction Roll or mark a Stress.

    Questions
    • What do you hear in the silence that tells you something is watching? What shifts in the mist when you stand still too long?

Actions

action
  • Dead Geography
    Fear 2

    Spend 2 Fear to cause the mist to shift and disorient the party — tick the Fading Existance Countdown down by one and tick the Navigating Countdown down by 1d4. A memory-island the party was heading toward dissolves, replaced by something older and stranger.

    Questions
    • What familiar place dissolves into something unrecognisable? What do you hear when the mist closes in?

Reactions

reaction
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About this environment

The UnderRoot is an interpretation of the realm of the dead — a vast, mist-covered expanse where the souls of the departed linger for as long as the living still remember them. The more forgotten a soul becomes, the more erratic and aggressive it grows, until nothing remains but a hollow, hostile shell.
Lost within the ever-present mist known as The Mourning are islands of memory — reconstructions of places from the mortal world, built from the recollections of all who have passed through and died. These are not perfect replicas; they are layered, fractured, shaped by grief and time.
To travel through the UnderRoot, the party must navigate The Mourning itself, moving from memory-island to memory-island until they reach their destination. But time works against them — the longer a living soul spends in this place, the more the UnderRoot claims of them, slowly erasing their own memories until they can no longer remember why they came, or who they were.

The Underroot

Tier 3 Traversal

Beneath the roots of a World Tree lies a world where memory is the only currency and forgetting is the only death. Places that no longer exist drift through an endless mist, and the dead linger as long as someone above still speaks their name.

Impulses: Trap the living, erase purpose, transform visitors into residents

Difficulty: 17

Potential Adversaries: Underroot Ghosts (Forgottens, Sirens, Hunters)

Features

Navigating the Mourning - Passive: The Underroot offers no fixed roads — only drifting memories of forgotten places emerge from the mist called the Mourning. Finding a memory requires the party to complete a Progress Countdown (4), however the PCs can choose to linger in the mist after the countdown reaches 0. Every action spent in the mist that would advance progress instead adds 1 Navigation token. When the PCs choose to leave, roll 1d12 and add the number of Navigation tokens, then remove all tokens. • If the total is 8 or less, the party finds themselves in a previously crossed zone of the Mourning. Reset the Progress Countdown to 4 and tick down the Fading Existance. • If the total is 9–14, replace this environment with the ___________ memory. • If the total is 15–19, replace this environment with the __________ memory. • If the total is 20, replace this environment with a Siren's Hollow.
  1. What do you see in the mist that makes you doubt the path ahead? What familiar place appears where it should not?
Fading Existance - Passive: The longer the living walk among the dead, the more the Underroot claims of them. When the PCs enter the Mourning start a Consequence Countdown (12). Tick it down everytime the PCs enter and leave a memory. When The Mourning reaches certain thresholds, the following effects trigger immediately: • 10: Each PC forgets a minor detail — the name of an NPC, a location visited, a recent conversation. • 7: Each PC must succeed on a Presence Roll (14) or forget a significant piece of their mission. On a failure, mark a Stress. • 4: Each PC loses one personal memory from their backstory. They know it existed. They cannot feel it anymore. Lose 1 Hope until the next Long Rest. • 1: Each PC is drawn toward sounds in the mist. 1d4 Sirens appear immediately. • 0: The party no longer remembers why they came. They stay.
  1. What are you starting to forget? What does it feel like when a memory goes quiet?
Not Welcome Here - Passive: The dead are aware of the living. Everything in the UnderRoot watches, listens, and slowly closes in. Every time a PC takes the spotlight and the Progress Countdown is at 0, they must succeed on an Instinct Reaction Roll or mark a Stress.
  1. What do you hear in the silence that tells you something is watching? What shifts in the mist when you stand still too long?
Dead Geography - Action: Spend 2 Fear to cause the mist to shift and disorient the party — tick the Fading Existance Countdown down by one and tick the Navigating Countdown down by 1d4. A memory-island the party was heading toward dissolves, replaced by something older and stranger.
  1. What familiar place dissolves into something unrecognisable? What do you hear when the mist closes in?

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