Chardaukan Hexcrawl: Adapting The Challenge of the Frog Idol (2)

In this series of articles, I will guide you through the process of designing a sandbox hexcrawl, illustrating each step with Chardauka, one of the continents of my world. Throughout these articles, I will cover both adventure content creation to populate the hexes and the worldbuilding elements that bring the setting to life.

This is the second installment of my adaptation of The Challenge of the Frog Idol module by Dyson Logos, reworked to fit into my hexcrawl, Chardauka. In the first part, I discussed how this module can enrich the worldbuilding of my setting. Now, let’s dive into how it can be integrated into key hexcrawl elements: locations to populate hexes, encounters for random encounter tables, and rumors for the rumor table.

The Troglodyte Village and the Frog God Idol

In my setting, the troglodytes, unlike other lizardfolk, continue to worship the Scaled Gods. However, they are typically an underground people, and I already have plans for them to feature prominently in one of the iconic adventures during the journey toward the Manzaya Savannah. Given this, I prefer not to use them here and am considering replacing them with a tribe of bullywugs.

As for the Frog God Idol's deity, I’m replacing it with one of my own: Y’rinriss, a divine figure associated with mutations. In this context, the cages suspended over cauldrons will remain as in the original module, but they will be tended by the deity’s priests, known as the Midwives of Horror. In the tribe, those born with mutations are considered blessed and destined to join the priestly caste.

An intriguing alternative is to retain Dyson Logos’ idea of the village inhabitants being humans mutated to adopt amphibian traits. This fits with the Chardauka backstory, where during the height of the aquatic empires, terrestrial inhabitants were altered through mutations to serve specific purposes. While I haven’t decided whether this detail will be part of this location or saved for another hex (perhaps tied to From Shore to Sea), I have decided that Y’rinriss will play a significant role in these practices, expanding her lore.

I envision the altar of Y’rinriss resembling the sinister tone of Boethiah’s shrine in Skyrim: a remote and eerie place surrounded by cultists, where fanatical followers allow visitors to approach to receive the “mutant blessing” of their goddess under their watchful, zealous eyes.

Finally, I have some ideas related to the froglings village from Evils of Illmire, but that deserves its own series of posts later. For now, this location would fit well in a remote area northeast of the swamp, like hexes 03.08 or 04.07. It’s not a critical location for the hexcrawl’s early adventures, but it’s a memorable point of interest for PCs to discover on their own.

Concept art of a grummite village, by Adam Adamowicz

The Zombie Float

This island, formed of zombie corpses and ruled by a necromancer, is a location I definitely want to include in my hexcrawl. Necromancy is a hallmark of Chardaukan culture, where necromancers, known as the Lords of Bone, are respected figures of the former Empire of the Sun and Moon. This location will serve as an early encounter for players, particularly if their characters belong to the Blazing Pact, providing an introduction to their neighbors' culture.

I don’t want Zombie Island to be too close to Garampur, so hexes like 04.09 or 05.10 seem like ideal locations. This allows players to discover it during their early expeditions, but without interfering directly with other critical plotlines.

To replace the ghoul wolves from the original module, I want something more fitting for Chardauka’s tropical climate. I’m considering creatures like a large feline or a feathered dinosaur—perhaps the former mount of the Lord of Bones. I also want players to investigate the cause of its madness. One possibility is that the necromancer discovered a forbidden book of Scaled knowledge, its contents amplifying his necromantic power but also eroding his sanity. This ties into the Lovecraftian tone I want to explore in other parts of the hexcrawl. Instead of the Frog God Idol’s “plot coupon,” the heart of this island could house this cursed book.

The Alabaster Cave

Originally intended to be the home of Coruvor’s oracle, my Automaton Prophetess will stay in Garampur, so the Alabaster Cave is taking a new direction in this adaptation. This location could house an old witch (likely a crone), devoted to Y’rinriss, whose connection to the deity grants her prophetic abilities. Her eyes, deformed by mutations, allow her occasional glimpses of the fates of those seeking her counsel. However, this gift comes at a cost: the quests she imposes are often morally ambiguous, forcing players to weigh how far they are willing to go for answers.

Another possibility is to completely change the setting, relocating the cave to the Chardaukan Jungle, where the crone would be guarded by vegepygmies or monkey-goblins acting as her servants and protectors. In either case, this location is remote and less accessible, isolated from the players’ main paths.

Nixie Pool

In Chardauka, magical springs are a recurring natural phenomenon with properties ranging from healing benefits to harmful effects. I want to reinforce this concept by adapting Dyson’s Nixie Pond.

Instead of using the nixies’ boat as a simple narrative device to move PCs through the swamp, I’m transforming it into a reusable magic item, like a Feather Token that players can activate whenever they need to travel by water. This provides the players with a functional and memorable reward, incentivizing them to find a way to negotiate with the fey (or steal it).

Since I want the pond’s magical waters to have special properties, I’ll likely place it in a small, isolated lagoon with minimal flow, ensuring it doesn’t feed into a major river. Two potential locations are: the Chardaukan Jungle, where the nixies could have a wild, tropical appearance reflecting the environment, or the banks of the Sulfurous River, with a thematic connection to the goddess Sulayra.     In this case, players could learn of its existence through city rumors. In exchange for a ritual offering (similar to Skyrim’s guardian stones), the water could grant a weekly boon, encouraging regular interaction.

Given the thematic importance of springs, this site should be located in a critical hex or at least one adjacent to it.

Labyrinth of the Rains

Originally designed as the place housing the final “plot coupon” for the Frog God, the Labyrinth of Rain strongly reminds me of the thorn maze from the Evils of Illmire module. I’m considering using that module’s concept instead of Dyson’s version, as it feels more evocative and better suited to the tone of my hexcrawl.

The Fortress on the Ironflow

Although I discarded using Kuln as a megadungeon, the map of the small fortress on the Iron Current could still be useful. The central idea is to place this structure at the mouth of an underground river.

Tying it to the Blazing Pact (a key faction in the setting) makes hex 03.12 an ideal location—far from critical hexes and, therefore, a place I can detail later.

The fortress could now be occupied by Chardaukans or ogres with elephant tusks.

Map of the fortress, by Dyson Logos

Random Encounters

I won’t be using the enchanted walkway random encounter table, as the specificity of my portal routes differs from Dyson’s. Instead, I’ve noted the following ideas for adding to the swamp’s random encounter table:

1. Crocodiles
2. Insect swarms
3. Giant leeches
4. Lizardfolk (both Green Scales and firenewts in my case)
5. Giant catfish
6. Frogmen (replacing Dyson’s troglodytes)
7. Trolls (I recall a swamp troll from the Tome of Horrors)
8. Treants (I imagine them resembling weeping willows)

Rumor Table

I’ll add the following entries to the rumor table, inspired by ideas from the module:

1. (True) The Tievan prostitutes have become an emerging faction in Garampur.
2. (Possibly false?) The delta where Garampur was built was originally a giant’s fort.
3. (False) The dead in the swamps around Garampur rise at night and plague those who live outside the city walls.
4. (Possibly false?) There’s a secret entrance to an ancient fort in the basement of a city building, where undead fire giants guard their treasures.
5. (True) In the Sulfurous Marsh, remnants of the old teleportation system from the Empire of the Sun and Moon remain. It’s cursed by the Scaled Ones and dangerous to use.
6. (True) Several tribes of lizardfolk and amphibians live in the marsh. They are not friendly to one another but might ally with explorers and adventurers.
7. (False) The moss hanging from the swamp trees is poisonous to the touch.
8. (True) “Skeewisss” is an Aquan term meaning “We seek no conflict.”
9. (True) Years ago, a Chardaukan sorcerer was lost in the marsh and now rules a small zombie island.
10. (False) Anyone who doesn’t toss a platinum coin into the nixie pond, southwest of Garampur, is cursed by Sulayra.

With this second part of my adaptation of The Challenge of the Frog Idol, I’ve explored how the module’s elements can be integrated into my Chardaukan hexcrawl, enriching it with new locations, creatures, and themes intertwined with the setting.

What do you think of these ideas? Would you include any other elements from the module or change something? I’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments!