[GLÅUGUST 2026] Ztalloc

(An intricate fractal deicide tree dungeon enabling resurrection, perpetual motion and the ability to breathe new life into your old blog posts.)

In the Distant South lies the Tree God Ztalloc, which guards the Fruit of Life. It is possible to climb the Tree and steal its Fruit, which are said to be able to grant life to that which lacks it. Resurrection (life into a corpse), perpetual motion (life into a system of gears) and even inspiration (life into an old idea) are possible. Supposedly. Nobody has actually ever come back with any Fruit.

The map of the tree is the map of the Collatz Conjecture. You don't actually need to know what that means, because I'm giving you a map, courtesy of Wikipedia. What you do need to know is that in each room, you read the room number (for example: 24576) and then have the Tree perform the indicated attacks in that order (for example: 2, 4, 5, 7, 6), attacking once per PC action. The PCs get to move up a step whenever a sequence of attacks finishes.

Tree Moves:
1. Striking. The tree swings at +HD for Xd6 damage vs. the weakest target.
2. Splinter. Splinters spray. 1d6 damage, no save, against against HD targets.
3. Striking. The tree swings at +HD for Xd6 damage vs. the strongest target.
4. Grasping. Vines reach out, grabbing and strangling. +X vs. strongest target.
5. Sporing. Spores spray, paralyzing all. Save to breal free at start of turn.
6. Grasping. Vines reach out, grabbing and strangling. +X vs. weakest target.
7. Weakness. The tree is vulnerable. No attack. No supernatural HD. Strike!
8. Throwing. Wham! Xd6 damage plus save vs. being flung away from the tree.
9. Squirrel. A giant squirrel (stats as bear with X HD) appears, chasing party. 
0. Patience. The tree skips its turn. Each zero doubles X for the whole sequence.

The Trunk of the Tree has 20 supernatural HD. You need to do 10 normal damage to deal 1 supernatural damage. Each branching point on the tree reduces HD by half but increases X by one on the above moves. (X starts at 2). So the lower branches are HD 10 but do 3d6 damage, the medium branches are HD 5 and to 4d6 and so on and so on.  Fruit is obtained by cutting off an endless fractal branch (ie. killing that part of the tree) and letting it fall to Earth. Magic deal normal damage to the Tree once before going dull and suitably supernal god-slaying weapons deal normal damage to the tree always. Use your judgement as to if something works.

If a character jumps off or is flung off the tree, ask the player name a number. If the number is lower than their previous room number, they fall onto that branch, taking HD damage. Otherwise, they keep falling for a round and the damage they'll take on impact doubles. If they come up with a clever way to save themselves, good for them.