Beast Feast

When a small village’s monster defense system fails, the local heroes must venture into the endless caverns below to fix it—and cook up trouble for the creatures that stand in their way!

Designed by Banana Chan, Rowan Hall, & Spenser Starke

Complexity Rating: ••

The Pitch

Read this section to your players to introduce them to the campaign.

The rustic, peaceful village of Elmore sits atop the Plover Caves, a labyrinthine system of caverns full of dangerous and delectable creatures. When the powerful magic keeping the villagers safe begins to fail, the bravest among them must descend into the caves to save the day. In a Beast Feast campaign, you’ll play everyday heroes diving into the Plover Caves to reignite the magic lure that lies in its depths—and cook up delicious meals. Welcome to a culinary world of zoophagous delight, where the beasts you fight become the food you eat!

Tone & Feel

Absurd, Comedic, Creepy, Fun, Lighthearted, Silly

Themes

Circle of Life, Friendship & Loyalty, Nature’s Bounty, Overcoming Fear, Violence & Peace

Touchstones

Delicious in Dungeon, Monster Hunter World, One Piece

Overview

If your group decides to play this campaign, give your players the following information before character creation.

Long ago, within the heart of the Plover Caves, Hylaeus the Forest Mage (she/her) cast a powerful spell, creating a Lure that draws dangerous creatures from the surrounding area into the caverns. For centuries, this kept any harm from coming to the village of Elmore. However, the caves are now filled to the brim with strange, unexpected creatures from across the region—and the remnants of outsiders brave or foolhardy enough to venture into them. But nobody from Elmore is foolish enough to be caught dead in the caves. The quiet, rustic village is full of bakers and weavers, farmers and cobblers, with ne’er a sword in sight. The villagers are more concerned about not mucking up their contribution to the yearly Stewpot Festival than the dangers outside their walls.

That was until the village’s beloved halfling mayor Doug Dougle (he/him) was attacked by a dangerous creature during his daily hike through Plover Woods. The Lure created by Hylaeus all those years ago is fading, and with it, Elmore’s protection. As increasingly dangerous beasts stalk the woods, the villagers have banded together to reignite the ancient spell, calling on anyone who might pick up a blade to descend into the caves and save their people. Unfortunately, the defenseless people of Elmore have ceased hunting and foraging in Plover Woods for fear of attack until the Lure is reactivated—there isn’t much to spare, so every bite in town is precious. Anyone venturing into the caves will have to hunt and prepare their own food while they’re down there!

The easiest way to find the Plover Caves is to take the western road out of Elmore and follow the birdsong of piping plovers. Old tales from this area say these small birds are the only creatures that move freely in and out of the tunnels without losing themselves to the depths, so following them almost always leads to an entrance—or an exit.

The old tales also say the Plover Caves are endless—this isn’t true, but it might as well be. They stretch on for hundreds of miles underground, deeper and more sprawling than even the most adventurous explorer could map in their lifetime. The entry path leads down on a sharp decline for miles until it finally splits into many branches leading to various regions within the cave system. Here, different biomes are home to unique creatures, wonderous flora, and valuable treasures left behind by adventurers past. The deeper you go, the more dangerous and delicious the creatures are, and the more precious and powerful the treasure is. And even deeper still lies the Lure.

Those from Elmore might be surprised to find there are many people happily living and working in the dark, dangerous caverns. Most reside in camps, but more permanent residents have small cabins carved out of rock along the tunnels. The culture in the Plover Caves is very communal, and ambitious folks have set up shops for bartering or trade. Most major caverns even host a Berry’s—the chain of small restaurants that serve the catch of the day, fresh and hot, in exchange for gold. Residents might stop in when they’re too tired or ingredient-poor to cook for themselves, but Berry’s restaurants are also hubs for gossip, entertainment, and warnings about what dangerous beasts might be lurking nearby.

Communities

All communities are available, but some have unique aspects within a Beast Feast campaign. As needed, provide the following information to your players and choose one or more of the questions to ask them during your session zero.

All Communities

In a Beast Feast campaign, the characters are villagers from Elmore. If a player wants to create a character whose chosen community wouldn’t be found in this peaceful village, work with them to determine where their character originally came from. Perhaps they grew up in an orderborne community and moved to Elmore to be in a less restrictive environment, or they were a slyborne adventurer who settled in the village after retiring from their shady deeds. The following sections describe a few communities in more detail and how they could tie into this campaign.

Underborne

Underborne folk may be from the Plover Caves, but even if not, they will likely thrive in this labyrinth. Their eyes need not adjust to the darkness, nor do their hands quake at the touch of the sour ants crawling in the dirt. This is home for them.

• Despite being accustomed to your own underground environment, what’s something you’ve heard is unique about the Plover Caves?
• You have a particular dish from your own cave system that you’re hoping to cook on this adventure. What makes it special?
• You were injured by a cave creature once. How did that experience change you?

Ridgeborne

The rocky, rough environment is familiar to ridgeborne characters. Though the cuisine is probably much different than they’re used to, they’re likely accustomed to catching, killing, and preparing their own food.

• What specific dish do you miss from home?
• You struggle with a lack of open space. What do you plan to carry with you to help steady your nerves?
• You think a lesson from the mountains will help you in the Plover Caves. What did you learn, and how did you learn it?

Loreborne

As devourers of knowledge, loreborne characters might believe the Plover Caves provide a unique opportunity to observe a strange ecosystem that brings together beasts that would never normally live in the same environment.

• What rumor about the beasts in Plover Caves have you heard? How has that changed how you operate in the caverns?
• What specific piece of knowledge are you seeking while underground?
• You plan to record information to bring back to someone. Who is it, and why is this so important to you?

Ancestries

All ancestries are available, but some have unique aspects within a Beast Feast campaign. As needed, provide the following information to your players.

Clanks

Clanks can consume organic matter, but they may lack the ability to taste the food. Instead, they might enjoy the culinary arts for other qualities, such as texture or aesthetics.

Fungril

Fungril can hear mushrooms screaming as they are harvested. Unfortunately, a majority of plant life in the Plover Caves is fungi—adventurers might need to find alternative ingredients if it helps make cooking a more shame-free activity.

Classes

All classes are available, but some have unique aspects within a Beast Feast campaign. As needed, provide the following information to your players.

All Classes

The people of Elmore have lived peacefully for generations. Thanks to Hylaeus, the region’s dangerous creatures are enticed to the caves; meanwhile, other towns or armies have largely left the unassuming village alone. When players select martial abilities or spells, they should consider how and why their characters learned these techniques or what skills they’ve adapted on this journey.

Player Principles

If your group decides to play this campaign, give your players the following information before character creation.

Build on Humble Origins

When you make a character for this campaign, they should be a villager from Elmore who has gathered what tools they can to descend into the Plover Caves in hopes of saving their people. Think about what quaint or mundane job your character holds in the village and how it might have prepared them for their new role as a hero. Perhaps they’re a florist who knows about plants, a clockmaker with dexterous fingers, a mage who runs a humble potion shop, a blacksmith with a strong hammer-arm, or a chef with a particular adeptness for knives. Use your character’s occupation as inspiration for their experiences, the kind of weapon they carry, and how to flavor any features you choose for your character.

Slay and Filet

Have you tried eating it? No? Well, then how do you know it’s not food? Carry a curious mindset with you as your character explores the caves, learning about the various beasts and blooms that could make a delicious meal (and potentially an excellent addition to your cookbook).

Balance Comedy and Heart

If there’s a place for a silly character name, a low-stakes yet important life goal, a weird personality quirk, or a zany aesthetic, it’s this campaign frame. Embrace the fun, make bold choices, and look for opportunities to set up your character’s allies for comedic moments. Additionally, let your character experience vulnerability, reveal a hard personal truth, or bond with another character over something important to them. Strive to balance comedic and heartfelt moments.

GM Principles

Keep the following guidance in mind while you GM this campaign.

Make It Delicious

Describe the world through a fun, over-the-top culinary lens. When describing beasts, highlight the parts of them that could be particularly useful in a dish or valuable to a specific recipe. When describing the environment, lean on the PCs’ senses—especially smell and taste—to draw them in and provide details they don’t see. Use food-related colors (“the glass orb you find is the color of rich honey”), names (“she introduces herself as Penelope Pepperbottom”), and comparisons (“you march your way through the sludge of the tunnel, thick like molasses”) to immerse your players in the world.

Give Them Purpose

Though it can be fun to slay some beasts and make some meals, the novelty will soon wear off if the story you’re telling doesn’t have purpose and stakes. While the long-term goal might be to reach the Lure and revitalize its magic, ensure you introduce short-term goals and break the adventure up into more session-to-session story developments. Give players a reason to return to Elmore every few sessions to contrast the world above and the world below.

Create Personal Conflict

Crafting meals isn’t just about slaying beasts to make great dinner; it’s also about competing with other Plover Caves delvers for the finest ingredients! Introduce conflict, such as rivals who want to see the PCs fail so they can gain control of the Plover Caves. Make ingredients scarce so that when word breaks out that a popular protein is nearby, the party must race to claim it before others do.

Distinctions

Use this information to prepare your campaign. You can also share it with your players as needed.

A Cave of Wonders

Plover Caves’ biomes are as varied as any surface biomes, and often stranger and more disconcerting. A windstorm might whip through the tunnels, uprooting massive plants and blocking exits. A sudden, excessive expulsion of moisture from the weeping skyflowers overhead might cause a torrential downpour that floods a cave. A cavern’s ground might be so soft and thick that you begin to sink if you stand still too long. Some even refer to the Plover Caves as a distinct entity itself—not just a cave system, but a massive creature of its own.

Additionally, there are distinct features within the caves most adventurers will stumble across:

Layers of the cavern represent how deep an adventurer is within the Plover Caves, with each layer representing between 200 and 500 vertical feet. Common adventurers generally stay within the first layer, but the most ambitious venture deeper. Most stories describe four distinct layers (The Shallows, Twilight, Abyss, and Hadral), but veteran explorers have told tales of many, many more.

Brilliance is a geodesic dome that shines so brightly it mimics the sunlight from the outside world. Some veteran explorers practice meditation and morning rituals in this dome, often asking one another, “Will you be at Brilliance today?”

Reflection of the Stars is Plover Caves’ primary lake. It’s fed by an underground spring and sits beneath a ceiling dotted with bioluminescent morsels, such as the glowing mantis and the brightclaw scorpion. The aquatic creatures who call this place home range from small almond guppies to medium-sized jellyfish to the dreaded ironshark and the massive angler squid, whose many eyes are considered a delicacy.

The Catacombs are the deepest point of the third layer of the cavern, thus named because the ground is covered in so many layers of bones, one cannot step without breaking a few and drawing attention to themself. Some of Plover Caves’ residents say the most horrifying beasts bring their prey to the Catacombs for consumption, making it a hotbed of dangerous creatures. Passing through the Catacombs successfully is the only way to explore deeper than the Abyss.

Beasts and Blooms

This campaign uses the terms beasts and blooms for the animals and plants/fungi that are edible in this world. Anything with distinct personhood isn’t considered a beast or a bloom, even if they resemble something that would otherwise be edible—for example, fungril and drakona. Because the magical Lure compels creatures from across the region into the Plover Caves, an endless variety of strange beasts and blooms live within them—not just ones normally found in caves! In this world, it would make sense to find a pack of velociraptors descending on a six-legged dire ostrich that is, in turn, snacking on a patch of starfish mushrooms. These caves hold an ecosystem unlike any other, and every edible thing that could exist down here likely does.

The Lure

The Lure is the orb of concentrated magic created by Hylaeus the Forest Mage to trap dangerous creatures within the Plover Caves. It’s most commonly believed the Lure resides somewhere in the lowest levels of the Hadral layer, but no one is certain where. Because so little is known about this great source of power, there are many questions to answer about it over the course of the campaign:

• How was it made?
• What was sacrificed to create it?
• Why has its power started to fade?
• What will the PCs need to do to activate it again?

The Inciting Incident

You can use the prompt below to start your campaign, or create your own.

After the attack on Mayor Dougle, the local alchemist, Carat (they/them), approaches the party. Worried for the safety of the town, they ask the party to delve into the Plover Caves to locate a particular ingredient—ghost scorpion venom. Carat can transmute twelve drops of this venom into a spicy paste, which they can spread around the borders of the village to temporarily keep dangerous creatures at bay.

Carat explains that ghost scorpions tend to make their nests by flattening the tall grasses of the Overgrowth into strange circular patterns. To get to the Overgrowth, the party can follow the smell of jasmine through the northernmost chamber of the Shallows. But if they ever smell lavender—RUN.

What will the characters encounter that makes them realize the failing Lure is a problem that needs addressing? What will they accomplish that shows them they’re capable of exploring further in? What about the community will coax them into returning—and what competition will light a fire in their veins? And most importantly, what culinary experience will change their view on beast-feasting forever?

Campaign Mechanics

The following mechanics are unique to this campaign.

Beast Feast Starting Equipment

As everyday heroes with no access to standard weapons, PCs must choose their Tier 1 starting equipment from the following tables instead of the equipment tables in chapter 2.

Primary Physical Weapons

Name	Trait	Range	Damage	Burden	Feature
Cleaver	Agility	Melee	d8 phy	One-Handed	Reliable: +1 to attack rolls
Sharpened Rake	Agility	Melee	d8+3 phy	Two-Handed	—
Butcher’s Axe	Strength	Melee	d12+3 phy	Two-Handed	Heavy: −1 to Evasion
Iron Skillet	Strength	Melee	d8+1 phy	One-Handed	—
Pitchfork	Strength	Melee	d10+3 phy	Two-Handed	—
Sledgehammer	Strength	Melee	d10+3 phy	Two-Handed	Massive: −1 to Agility; on a successful attack, roll an additional damage die and discard the lowest result.
Cooking Knife	Finesse	Melee	d8+1 phy	One-Handed	—
Walking Staff	Instinct	Melee	d10+3 phy	Two-Handed	—
Rolling Pin	Presence	Melee	d8+1 phy	One-Handed	—
Sickle	Presence	Melee	d8 phy	One-Handed	Quick: When you make an attack, you can mark a Stress to target another creature within range.
Forge Poker	Strength	Very Close	d8+2 phy	Two-Handed	—
Crop Scythe	Finesse	Very Close	d8+2 phy	Two-Handed	—
Fishing Rod	Agility	Far	d6+3 phy	Two-Handed	—
Slingshot	Finesse	Far	d6+3 phy	Two-Handed	—
Firework Launcher	Agility	Very Far	d6+3 phy	Two-Handed	Cumbersome: −1 to Finesse

Primary Magic Weapons

All magic weapons require a Spellcast trait.

Name	Trait	Range	Damage	Burden	Feature
Enchanted Hammer	Strength	Melee	d10+1 mag	One-Handed	—
Enchanted Mop	Strength	Melee	d10+3 mag	Two-Handed	—
Enchanted Scissors	Finesse	Very Close	d10 mag	One-Handed	—
Enchanted Broomstick	Instinct	Very Close	d10+2 mag	Two-Handed	—
Exploding Potions	Finesse	Close	d8 mag	One-Handed
Enchanted Forge Lighter	Instinct	Close	d8 mag	One-Handed	—
Enchanted Boomerang	Instinct	Far	d6+3 mag	Two-Handed	—
Enchanted Kite	Presence	Far	d6 mag	Two-Handed	Versatile: This weapon can also be used with these statistics—Presence, Melee, d10.
Whisk Wand	Knowledge	Far	d6+1 mag	One-Handed	—
Sparkling Staff	Knowledge	Very Far	d6 mag	Two-Handed	Powerful: On a successful attack, roll an additional damage die and discard the lowest result.

Secondary Weapons

Name	Trait	Range	Damage	Burden	Feature
Large Fork	Agility	Melee	d8 phy	One-Handed	Paired: +2 to primary weapon damage to targets within Melee range
Barrel Lid Shield	Strength	Melee	d4 phy	One-Handed	Protective: +1 to Armor Score
Table Shield	Strength	Melee	d6 phy	One-Handed	Barrier: +2 to Armor Score; −1 to Evasion
Paring Knife	Finesse	Melee	d8 phy	One-Handed	Paired: +2 to primary weapon damage to targets within Melee range
Festival Whip	Presence	Very Close	d6 phy	One-Handed	Startling: Mark a Stress to crack the whip and force all adversaries within Melee range back to Close range.
Towline Hook	Finesse	Close	d6 phy	One-Handed	Hooked: On a successful attack, you can pull the target into Melee range with you.
Flare Launcher	Finesse	Far	d6+1 phy	One-Handed	Bright: This weapon temporarily lights up the area the flare lands in.

Armor

Armor	Base Thresholds	Base Score	Feature
Quilted Clothing	5 / 11	3	Flexible: +1 to Evasion
Leather Apron	6 / 13	3
Tree Bark Armor	7 / 15	4	Heavy: −1 to Evasion
Baking Tray Breastplate	8 / 17	4	Very Heavy: −2 to Evasion; −1 to Agility

Making A Beast Feast

A Big Book of Recipes!

The party will create a cookbook together as they play through this campaign frame. The players should choose a small notebook they can share, then decorate it as they’d like (stickers, colored markers, and paint are highly encouraged). This notebook is their cookbook—during downtime, they’ll record each recipe they make, including its name, the ingredients, the cooking method, and how it turned out. The cookbook is shared by the players, who should all get the chance to contribute to it. The more the characters practice making meals with the same flavor profile, the easier that combination becomes to prepare!

The Beast Feast!

During downtime, the PCs recover from their adventuring by making a meal from the bounty of ingredients gathered from the caverns.

Every ingredient PCs gather has a flavor profile, which is determined by the 1–3 flavors that comprise it and the strength of those flavors.

Each flavor has a die size associated with it:

• Sweet (d4)
• Salty (d6)
• Bitter (d8)
• Sour (d10)
• Savory (d12)
• Weird (d20)

A flavor’s strength is a value between 1 and 3, which is the number of the flavor’s associated dice the players roll when cooking with the ingredient. A PC can hold a number of ingredients equal to the value of their highest character trait. The following list provides examples of ingredients and their flavor profiles:

• Mushroom caps: Bitter (1), Savory (2)
• Wyvern tongue: Sour (1), Savory (1), Weird (1)
• Ooze marrow: Sweet (1), Bitter (2)
• Direbear meat: Savory (3)
• Acid dragon saliva: Sour (2)
• Cave boar milk: Salty (1), Savory (1)
• Rileroot: Bitter (1)
• Ogre kidney stone: Sweet (1), Weird (1)

Hunting Beasts for Ingredients!

Every beast that PCs fight provides ingredients they can harvest. A beast’s maximum Hit Points determine how many ingredients they produce.

Hit Point Guide

• 4 or lower: 1 ingredient
• 5–7: 2 ingredients
• 8–10: 3 ingredients
• 12 or higher: 4 ingredients

While the adversary’s Hit Points determine the number of ingredients, you set the flavor profile and strength. Use the narrative details of the adversary to inform these choices. Often, less difficult adversaries have flavor profiles with smaller dice (Sweet, Salty, and Bitter), and more powerful adversaries have flavor profiles with larger dice (Sour, Savory, and Weird).

Gathering Blooms for Ingredients!

PCs can also obtain ingredients from their environment—these are called blooms. Once per rest, each PC can spend a Hope to gather blooms from their surroundings. You can tell them what they find or have them roll their Hope Die and gain one bloom with a flavor profile based on the following table:

1–2	3–4	5–6	7–8	9–10	11–12
Sweet (1)	Salty (1)	Bitter (1)	Sour (1)	Savory (1)	Weird (1)

Making a Feast!

During downtime, players can’t choose downtime moves to clear Stress, clear Hit Points, or gain Hope. Instead, they have a new downtime move: Make a Feast. When they choose this move, the PCs can contribute any ingredients they’re carrying to the party’s collective meal and gain the benefits of the resulting feast.

The PCs who choose to Make a Feast during downtime prepare the food together. They should collaborate to decide which ingredients they’re using, then erase those ingredients from their inventory. Then they come up with a name and description for the dish and record it in their party’s cookbook.

When the PCs begin cooking, they roll the appropriate number of flavor dice. For example, the party decides to make a steak dinner with the following recipe:

• 1 serving of direbear meat → 3d12
• 1 serving of mushroom caps → 2d12 + 1d8
• 1 serving of ooze marrow → 2d8 + 1d4

This gives the party 5d12, 3d8, and 1d4 as the meal’s flavor dice. They roll the dice and look for any matching values. If there are no matching values, they discard a single die of their choice, then roll the pool again to continue cooking. When they get any number of matching values, players collect those dice off to the side and continue rolling. When they have only one die left, the meal is done!

Next, players take each set of matched dice (which can consist of two or more dice per set) and add their values together. For example, a d6 and a d8 that rolled matching 3s would be worth 3. A d10 and d12 that rolled matching 4s would be worth 4. A d8 and a d20 that rolled matching 4s (on a different roll) would also be worth 4. Together, they have a Meal Rating of 11.

All PCs who eat the meal can individually use the value of the Meal Rating to clear Hit Points, clear Stress, and gain Hope, dividing this value however they’d like. For example, with a Meal Rating of 11, one PC might choose to clear 6 Hit Points, clear 4 Stress, and gain 1 Hope. Another might choose to clear 5 Hit Points, clear 4 Stress, and gain 2 Hope.

Anytime a party makes a dish with the same flavor profile as another recipe they’ve previously recorded in their cookbook, they should add a number of tokens equal to the party’s current tier to their pool of flavor dice. When they must discard a die, they can instead discard one of these tokens.

Quick Ingredient Generator!

When the PCs harvest an ingredient, roll a d20 on each relevant table and use the combination to inspire what they gather. If one of the options doesn’t fit the scenario, choose another that does.

Beast:

What kind of ingredient is it?

1	Feet
2	Powder
3	Limb
4	Belly
5	Fat
6	Eggs
7	Marrow
8	Tongue
9	Brain
10	Ribs
11	Organ
12	Flesh
13	Stones
14	Eyes
15	Jelly
16	Horn
17	Meat
18	Scales
19	Wings
20	Secretion

Bloom:

What kind of ingredient is it?

1	Flower
2	Roots
3	Stems
4	Leaves
5	Bulbs
6	Nuts
7	Seeds
8	Bark
9	Berries
10	Fruit
11	Sap
12	Pollen
13	Fungi
14	Nectar
15	Pods
16	Herbs
17	Algae
18	Moss
19	Grain
20	Rind

Any Ingredient:

What’s interesting about it?

1	It’s particularly tender.
2	It’s still wriggling.
3	It looks like something it isn’t
4	It has a pungent smell.
5	It’s brightly colored.
6	It’s completely translucent.
7	It’s an odd size or shape.
8	It has unique markings.
9	It recoils from the light.
10	It withers in the dark.
11	It smells unbelievably good.
12	It has an unexpected texture.
13	It’s encased in something.
14	It’s filled with something.
15	It’s emitting a colorful gas.
16	It comes apart in layers.
17	It must be prepared in a strange way.
18	It’s leathery or cartilaginous.
19	It’s brittle.
20	It’s deadly when consumed raw.

Next Level Feast!

Once your table is comfortable with the basics, you can give the PCs opportunities to gather specific ingredients they’re looking for based on what they’ve learned about the world. You might also create ingredients that include features, giving them additional details to consider when making their dishes. These should be rarer than typical ingredients, only harvested from Leader or Solo adversaries.

Example Ingredients with Features

Diregazelle Skull Marrow

Sweet (1), Salty (1), Sour (1)

Built for Speed: You gain a +1 bonus to your Agility until your next short rest.

Holy Cow’s Milk

Weird (1)

Last Drop: When you have only one die remaining while cooking, roll it and add the result to your Meal Rating.

Ghost Scorpion Venom

Sour (1), Savory (1)

Spicy: If your flavor dice match on results of 8 or higher, you can’t clear Stress using this dish.

Deathflower

Bitter (2)

Risky: If you roll no matches on your flavor dice, you clear all Hit Points and Stress and gain 3 Hope. If you roll any matches on your flavor dice, your Meal Rating is 0 and you must make a death move.

Berry’s Restaurant

When the PCs are near an open Berry’s Restaurant during their downtime, they can each spend a handful of gold to order food and choose a downtime move to clear Stress, clear Hit Points, or gain Hope. Only 2 handfuls of gold can be spent per PC during downtime.

Session Zero Questions

Ask any of these questions to your players, or make your own.

• What dangerous creature attacked Mayor Dougle in the Plover Woods?
• While your character is in the caves, who will they miss the most back in Elmore?
• What personal life goal does your character feel they may be able to finally accomplish while in the caverns?
• Why was your character so eager to leave Elmore to go on this adventure?
• What rumor did your character hear about the caves?
• If your character is able to reestablish the Lure’s power, what favor do they plan to ask of the mayor?

Maps