Why delvers die. Abyss-Touched Dungeons rarely sit still. Rooms and corridors close, open, and rearrange, so no map stays true for long. The deeper you go, the heavier the Riftblight corruption grows, and it can bring hallucinations, sudden weakening, and waves of lesser Nihilith creatures. Anomalies strike without warning: gravity fails, time loops, a hall floods with fire or ice. And not every refuge is real, false safe zones are built to lure tired delvers into lowering their guard.
The black market. Not everyone delves with a keystone and a license. An entire underworld exists to get people past the Accord: counterfeit or stolen keystones, forged permits, bribed gatekeepers, secret tunnels through old mines and sewers, and illicit teleportation circles that tear straight into the depths. Freelance crews called Black Delvers work off the books for syndicates and anyone with coin, while shadow brokers connect buyers to smugglers, forgers, and saboteurs. Maps of hidden routes and disarmed traps sell for a fortune.
It is dangerous on every level. Illegal entry destabilizes dungeons and endangers everyone who follows. The Guild Accord hunts offenders with enforcers and bounty hunters, and fines, confiscation, or banishment await the caught. Worse, many of these methods tamper with Abyssal energy directly, and those who use them often come away cursed or corrupted, and marked for the attention of the Ebon Inquisition.
Descending an Elder Depth is the easy part. It is the climb back out that kills you. The Riftblight steeped in every Depth clings to a delver and turns venomous on the ascent, worse the deeper you went. This is why the Guild gates the Depths by keystone tier: your rank is the measure of what depth you can climb back out of alive.
Band | Clearance | Ascent Save |
|---|---|---|
Upper (surface → town) | Any licensed delver | None |
Deep (below the town) | Wanderer (Lv 8)+ | Fortitude DC 20 |
Far-Deep | Trailblazer (Lv 11)+ | Fortitude DC 26 |
Uncharted Reaches | Paragon (Lv 14) / contract | Fortitude DC 32 |
Making the ascent. Each time you climb up out of a band, attempt a Fortitude save at its DC. A critical success shrugs off the strain (and grants +1 to your next ascent save from this Depth as you acclimate); a success is clean; a failure rolls on the band's table; a critical failure rolls twice. Resting a full day at a waystation town before you climb drops the DC by 5 (slow ascent); a rushed climb, fleeing or hauling a wounded ally, raises it.
Deep Band — Fortitude DC 20 (d10)
d10 | Effect |
|---|---|
1-2 | Queasy. Sickened 1. |
3-4 | Wrung out. Fatigued until your next full night's rest. |
5-6 | Nosebleed. 1d6 persistent bleed damage. |
7-8 | The shakes. Enfeebled 1 for 1 hour. |
9 | Cold sweat. Drained 1. |
10 | Grey-out. Fall prone and unconscious for 1 round, then sickened 1. |
Far-Deep Band — Fortitude DC 26 (d10)
d10 | Effect |
|---|---|
1-2 | Wracking nausea. Sickened 2; can't reduce it for 10 minutes. |
3-4 | Swimming vision. Dazzled and off-guard for 1 hour. |
5-6 | Hemorrhage. 3d6 damage and 1d6 persistent bleed. |
7 | Waking nightmares. Frightened 2; each round, DC 11 flat check or the GM directs one of your actions toward a hallucination. |
8 | Deadened nerves. Drained 2 and clumsy 1 for 1 hour. |
9 | Convulsions. Stunned 3, then slowed 1 for 1 hour. |
10 | The deep clings. As 5-6, and one worn item or carried relic is corrupted (GM's choice). |
The Uncharted Reaches — Fortitude DC 32 (d10)
d10 | Effect |
|---|---|
1-2 | Agony. 6d6 damage and sickened 3. |
3-4 | Sensory collapse. Blinded and deafened for 1 hour. |
5 | The Blight takes root. Drained 3; recovers only 1 per day, and only in a sanctified safe zone. |
6 | Unmaking. Permanent -1 to one ability modifier (GM's choice) until Restoration or a comparable ritual. |
7 | Something didn't come up with you. A lost memory or piece of self; a lasting quirk or lost proficiency until recovered in play. |
8 | Riftblight bloom. A visible Abyssal mutation; you gain the Riftblight-Touched trait (a paired boon and bane). |
9 | Hollowed. You surface at 0 HP and dying 2; on stabilizing you are drained 2. |
10 | The Abyss keeps you. You surface at 0 HP and dying 3, and if you die here you rise below as a Voidborn thrall. |
Cypher: treat each ascent as a Might defense roll at difficulty by band (Deep 4, Far-Deep 6, Uncharted 8); on a failure the GM applies a GM Intrusion from that band's table. A day's rest at a waystation eases the difficulty by one step.
The Riftblight has an exposure face too, the Riftblight Infection you can catch lingering near a Dungeon Heart in a bloom. See Plagues & Diseases of Note.