Compendium
Five acts of five dungeons, each ending in an act boss. Every dungeon has its own look (30 in all), a roster, a named elite for the bounty board and a first-clear reward. Past Act V the Endless Descent goes down forever.
A maze of dug-out burrows and looted crypts beneath the Hearthold hills. Grukk has united every warren under one crown — and one crude, brutal will.
A shallow warren choked with thorns, freshly dug.
Overgrown Warren Fresh-dug burrows strangled by roots and thorn.
Roster
Snagtooth, the Bramble Poacher (named Goblin Grunt, hunted from the bounty board)
Sets snares for rabbits, travellers and, twice now, himself. The Watch wants the snares gone and Snagtooth with them.
Cramped burrows that stink of tallow smoke and worse.
Goblin Warrens Cramped tunnels shored with scavenged timber.
Roster
Old Whiskerjaw, Sheriff of the Warrens (named Warren Wolf, hunted from the bounty board)
A warren wolf so old its howl creaks. The rats elected it sheriff. It took the job very seriously.
An older grave the goblins broke into and never left.
Old Crypt Cold stone halls and side tombs.
Roster
Brother Mould, of the Endless Vigil (named Skeleton Warrior, hunted from the bounty board)
A crypt-monk who never stopped his vigil after death. He's very polite. He will still kill you.
Bones stacked to the ceiling, and something still moving among them.
Bone Ossuary Catacombs walled and paved with the dead.
Roster
Gallows Gert, and Duchess (named Goblin Boar-Rider, hunted from the bounty board)
Rides a boar called Duchess. Everyone agrees Duchess is the dangerous one.
The goblin king's throne room, ringed with the skulls of every party that came before.
Goblin Warcamp Palisades, war-drums and bonfires around a crude throne.
Roster
Auditor Skrit, Grukk's Taxman (named Goblin Hexer, hunted from the bounty board)
Grukk's tax collector. He hexes anyone who pays late, and everyone pays late. Lately he's been using a very familiar ledger.
A buried city of the dead, its bone-white avenues lit by cold necrotic fire. Morvaine has raised its every citizen to serve her a second, unwilling life.
Rows of shallow graves, tended by things that should not tend anything.
Grave Gardens Rows of shallow graves under a fog that never lifts.
Roster
The Gardener, Pruner of Visitors (named Gravetender, hunted from the bounty board)
Tends the Bone Gardens with shears and a smile. Prunes whatever wanders in.
Grand tombs looted long ago, now looted again by their own dead.
Marble Mausoleum Gilded tombs of the old nobility, broken open.
Roster
Sir Rattleby, Knighted Posthumously (named Bone Knight, hunted from the bounty board)
Knighted after he died, which he feels undercuts the achievement. He's been trying to earn it ever since.
Walls slick with something that isn't water, and never was.
Flooded Vaults Standing black water in the burial halls; the walls weep.
Roster
Mother Maggot, of the Weeping Vaults (named Bloated Zombie, hunted from the bounty board)
She was a very large woman in life. She is a very large problem now.
Every dead voice in the necropolis seems to converge here at once.
Whispering Archive Stacks of the dead's own words, read by candle and rune.
Roster
The Echo, Who Speaks Last (named Mirror Shade, hunted from the bounty board)
Repeats the last thing you said, in your voice, from right behind you.
The necromancer's inner sanctum, where the newest dead are still being made.
Necrotic Sanctum Ash-grey stone lit by cold green corpse-fire.
Roster
Marrowmere, the Tithe-Taker (named Bone Golem, hunted from the bounty board)
Built from the bones of everyone who didn't pay Morvaine's toll. He is, technically, the toll.
A drowned lowland of sinking sewers and stagnant caves where nothing decays cleanly. Old Gutrot has claimed the deepest mire as his own festering throne.
Old stonework half-swallowed by the rising fen.
Old Sewers Channels of black water between slick brick.
Roster
The Sump Queen, Swallower of Spoons (named Ochre Jelly, hunted from the bounty board)
A jelly the size of a cottage. Most of Hearthold's missing cutlery is inside her.
A flooded cave where the water never quite stops moving.
Drowned Mire Mud islands in bog-water that never stops moving.
Roster
The Mire Mother, Keeper of the Clutch (named Swamp Lurker, hunted from the bounty board)
Guards a clutch of stolen eggs in the reeds. Wren would very much like a word. With the eggs.
Orc raiding parties have carved a foothold deep in the fen.
Fungal Grotto A hollow lit by glowing caps and drifting spores.
Roster
Krag Two-Tusk, Holder of Grudges (named Orc Bloodrager, hunted from the bounty board)
Lost a tusk to a sellsword called Garrick in a bar fight. Garrick doesn't remember. Krag does.
Pale lights bob over the water, luring the unwary off the path.
Drowned Ruins Half-sunk temple stones where pale lights bob over the water.
Roster
Granny Bogwort, Tea at Four (named Bog Witch, hunted from the bounty board)
Brews a tea that shows you your future. Your future is being eaten by Granny Bogwort.
The swamp ogre's throne, half-submerged in the filth he calls home.
Rot Wallow A festering den of sludge pools, bones and flies.
Roster
Big Gulp, Gutrot's Taster (named Ogre Brute, hunted from the bounty board)
Old Gutrot's food taster. Has never met a poison he couldn't finish.
A once-holy bastion turned to ruin, its ramparts held by orc warbands and worse. Seraphel fell from grace within these walls and has never truly left.
The fortress's outer wall, breached and never repaired.
Broken Bastion Thick walls, breached courtyards, rubble.
Roster
Sergeant Grimsby, Voice of the Gatehouse (named Masked Orc Soldier, hunted from the bounty board)
Holds the gatehouse by shouting. It works on orcs. See if it works on you.
Orc warbands billeted in halls that once housed holy knights.
Occupied Barracks Knights' halls turned into an orc billet.
Roster
The Quartermaster, Keeper of Forms (named Blackguard, hunted from the bounty board)
Signs out swords, collects souls, loses the paperwork on purpose.
A shattered chapel now serving a very different congregation.
Profaned Chapel Pews and stained glass, the altar-light gone violet.
Roster
Deacon Ashvane, Who Rings the Other Bell (named Dark Acolyte, hunted from the bounty board)
Preaches that the fire is kind. His sermons are very, very warm.
Wind howls through the upper walls, thick with imps and worse.
Storm Ramparts Wind-scoured battlements under a cold, open sky.
Roster
Pyrewick, the Lit Fuse (named Powder Imp, hunted from the bounty board)
Carries a lit fuse everywhere he goes. Nobody knows where the other end is.
The fallen one's seat, where her light curdled into something else entirely.
Fallen Sanctum White-gold halls where holy light curdled to violet.
Roster
The Last Squire, Still at His Post (named Soulbound Warden, hunted from the bounty board)
Still waiting for his commander's order to stand down. It isn't coming. Somebody should tell him. Gently.
The last stair, a wound torn straight down into the burning dark. Vhoruun waits at its bottom, patient as only something eternal can afford to be.
The threshold into the burning dark, already unbearably hot.
Ashen Wastes Grey drifts over cooling crust; the air itself is burning.
Roster
Scorchmaw, Good Boy of the Gate (named Hell Hound, hunted from the bounty board)
The Cinder Chief's favourite hound. Fetches souls. Does not drop them.
Corridors of black glass, cooled from something that once flowed.
Obsidian Halls Corridors of black glass, cooled from something that flowed.
Roster
Frostwick, the Unburnt (named Frostbitten Corpse, hunted from the bounty board)
The one corpse in the Halls the fire could never warm. It is absolutely furious about it.
A cavern of singing lava vents and things that sing along.
Molten Depths Basalt islands in a sea of fire.
Roster
Cantor Brimstone, Hymnwright of the Choir (named Doom Scribe, hunted from the bounty board)
Writes the Choir's hymns. Every verse is a curse. The chorus is worse.
A fortress of fused ash and bone, the last defense before the pyre.
Brimstone Forge Iron galleries over channels of running fire; anvils, chains.
Roster
The Chainwright, Forger of Shackles (named Chain Devil, hunted from the bounty board)
Forges the Bastion's shackles and tests every single one personally.
The bottom of everything — an ember tyrant's throne, and the end of the descent.
Abyssal Rift Rock shelves hanging over nothing at all.
Roster
Ember-Eyed Varra, Mother of a Thousand Imps (named Imp Matron, hunted from the bounty board)
Mother of a thousand imps. Has strong opinions about how you're raising yours.
Unlocked after the campaign. Every 5 depths a boss; World Tiers above Veteran open at Descent depths (see World Tiers).
| Depths | Family | Looks it rotates through |
|---|---|---|
| 1–5, then every 25 | crypt | Old Crypt Bone Ossuary Marble Mausoleum Grave Gardens Whispering Archive Flooded Vaults Necrotic Sanctum |
| 6–10, then every 25 | cave | Deep Caverns Overgrown Warren Fungal Grotto Frozen Depths Dwarven Mines Goblin Warrens Drowned Mire Rot Wallow Goblin Warcamp |
| 11–15, then every 25 | sewer | Old Sewers Drowned Ruins Flooded Vaults Rot Wallow |
| 16–20, then every 25 | fortress | Broken Bastion Occupied Barracks Storm Ramparts Profaned Chapel Clockwork Halls Fallen Sanctum |
| 21–25, then every 25 | infernal | Molten Depths Ashen Wastes Obsidian Halls Brimstone Forge Blood Cathedral Abyssal Rift |
Floors, walls, props, lights, water and drifting ambience. Some also change the layout: mires are islands, warcamps have palisades.
Old CryptCold stone halls and side tombs.
Deep CavernsRaw rock, dripping and close.Old SewersChannels of black water between slick brick.Broken BastionThick walls, breached courtyards, rubble.Molten DepthsBasalt islands in a sea of fire.Overgrown WarrenFresh-dug burrows strangled by roots and thorn.Goblin WarrensCramped tunnels shored with scavenged timber.Bone OssuaryCatacombs walled and paved with the dead.Goblin WarcampPalisades, war-drums and bonfires around a crude throne.Grave GardensRows of shallow graves under a fog that never lifts.Marble MausoleumGilded tombs of the old nobility, broken open.Flooded VaultsStanding black water in the burial halls; the walls weep.Whispering ArchiveStacks of the dead's own words, read by candle and rune.Necrotic SanctumAsh-grey stone lit by cold green corpse-fire.Drowned MireMud islands in bog-water that never stops moving.Fungal GrottoA hollow lit by glowing caps and drifting spores.Drowned RuinsHalf-sunk temple stones where pale lights bob over the water.Rot WallowA festering den of sludge pools, bones and flies.Occupied BarracksKnights' halls turned into an orc billet.Profaned ChapelPews and stained glass, the altar-light gone violet.Storm RampartsWind-scoured battlements under a cold, open sky.Fallen SanctumWhite-gold halls where holy light curdled to violet.Ashen WastesGrey drifts over cooling crust; the air itself is burning.Obsidian HallsCorridors of black glass, cooled from something that flowed.Brimstone ForgeIron galleries over channels of running fire; anvils, chains.Abyssal RiftRock shelves hanging over nothing at all.
Frozen DepthsIce shelves over black meltwater; the cold has teeth.
Dwarven MinesOld workings: rails, carts, lanterns and bright ore.
Clockwork HallsBrass plates and ticking gearwork no one wound.
Blood CathedralA nave of red stone where the fonts never run dry.