Page 139 - Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

GOLGARI SWARM The bottom level might be a basement excavated in
the floor of a chasm, or it could hang above still more
A dominant force in the undercity, the Golgari Swarm open space like a giant stalactite. It includes living quar-
is ideally suited for dungeon-based adventures. The ters for the owners, servants, and guests.
Golgari represent corruption and decay, counting many
villains among their ranks even though most members GOLGARI VILLAINS
are mainly concerned with the balance of the natural
Examples of Golgari villains appear in the Golgari
cycle of life and death.
Villains table.
UNDERCITY M ANSION
GOLGARI VI LLAI NS
The Golgari are a strange underground aristocracy
d8 Villain
in a city that mostly lacks a noble class; they are like
Armed with a powerful magic item found among
throwbacks to an ancient time when one's birth deter-
mined one's station. The mansion depicted in map 4.4 the dead in the undercity, a Golgari shaman (see
is a stately relic of such a time- a grand hall that hap- chapter 6 for the stat block) enacts a plan of re-
pens to be buried hundreds of feet beneath the streets venge against another guild.
of Ravnica. 2 A kraut death priest (see chapter 6 for the stat
block) is seeking a way to revive the ancient gods
UNDERCITY MANSION ADVENTURES
of Ravnica and destroy the world.
The Undercity Mansion Adventures table provides some
3 A Devkarin lich (see chapter 6 for the stat block) is
possible challenges based in and around the Golgari
capturing living subjects and infecting them with
undercity mansion.
an insidious, mind-controlling fungus.
UNDERCITY MANSION ADVENTURES 4 A trophy-hunting undercity medusa (see chapter 6
for the stat block) is on a killing spree, petrifying
dl 0 Adventure Goal
victims in interesting poses.
Find the source of a noxious fog rising from the un-
dercity and poisoning a surface neighborhood. 5 A Golgari shaman (see chapter 6 for the stat block)
is spreading a fungal infection that transforms its
2 Rescue several citizens being held hostage by
dead victims into zombies.
Ochran agents.
6 An elf child lures citizens into the sewers, where a
3 Find the daytime lair of an elusive monster that
monstrous "pet" is waiting to kill and eat them.
hunts on the surface at night.
7 Pursuing a personal vendetta, an Ochran assassin
4 Rescue a guild member petrified by an undercity
is targeting members of a certain guild and trying
medusa (see chapter 6 for the stat block) that uses
to ensure that their bodies are never found.
the mansion as its lair.
s Take shelter in the mansion to escape a horrible 8 A kraut death priest (see chapter 6 for the stat
block), angry at the way the Golgari have treated
monster prowling the undercity.
the kraul in the past, is killing the elves and medu-
6 Win a bet by surviving a night inside.
sas of the guild, hoping to eventually take Jarad's
7 Escape from captivity here.
place as guildmaster.
8 Find a fugitive hiding here.
9 Find and claim a treasure hidden in the mansion.
GOLGA RI AS CAMPAIGN VILLAINS
10 Attend a masked ball held in the mansion in order
Given their affinity for death, necromancy, and decay,
to get information from another guest. the Golgari make excellent villains. Because they con-
sider life and death as equal parts of the natural cycle,
UNDERCITY MANSION MAP they have no qualms about subjecting entire neighbor-
This structure is built in a large depression, perhaps hoods to poisonous gas or strangling vines to achieve
part ofDeadbridge Chasm. A bridge crosses just above their various goals. When a Golgari assassin goes on
it, and a wide, curving stair leads down from the bridge a killing spree, when a patch of their vegetative growth
to the grand ballroom on the top level of the mansion. begins "reclaiming" an area that isn't yet abandoned, or
The rest of the structure is built down from there, with when their fungus-bearing zombies emerge from the un-
the main, elegant halls and parlors on the second level. dercity to haunt the city streets, heroes are duty bound
Notably, a wide hallway on this level connects with a to act against the threat.
passage leading to other areas of the undercity. A couple The Golgari possess a combination of ambition and
of areas on this floor have crumbled with the weight of ruthlessness that makes them extremely dangerous
the ages, but the place retains its stately grandeur. adversaries. The tension among the various factions of
the swarm (the elves, the medusas, the krauJ, and the
rising erstwhile) adds an element of instability to the

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