RPGaDay: Forest

Forests in RPGs tend to be dark, wild places, filled with giant spiders and other random encounters.  But when I think of a forest in the real world, I think of the Forest of Dean.

It's weird to think of a forest as a hive of industry, but that's what the Forest of Dean used to be.  Logging and charcoal burning on the surface, mining for iron ore underneath.  About the only wild thing about the place is the wild boar, who are still mentioned on the random encounter tables that you can find placed around the forest.

(I'm sure there's a proper name for those boards that isn't 'random encounter table' but I started calling them that about ten years ago and it seems to have stuck.)

So why not use the industrial forest in your games?  Perhaps a symbiosis has formed between the dwarven mining colony and the elven forest settlement, pooling their resources to create iron to trade with the human city.  Caring for the forest doesn't have to mean fanatic hatred of anyone who harms a tree.  Carefully managed felling and replanting, managing game populations and removing invasive species could be far more interesting.

The modern day Forest of Dean is a popular tourist destination, with attractions including Puzzlewood, Clearwell Caves and the Sculpture Trail.

The first two are both used for filming, particularly sci-fi and fantasy.  Rey's fight with Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens took place in Puzzlewood, and episodes of Doctor Who have been filmed in both locations.  If you're looking for interesting location imagery for a game, there's plenty to be found here.

And then there's the sculpture trail.  There are seventeen current statues, plus several more that have been decommissioned, and they're a mine of inspiration.

Observer

Where does this staircase go?  What happens if you climb it?

Dead Wood

Who is buried here?

Melissa's Swing

This aeolian harp invites you to sound its chimes by climbing into its swing.  What does it summon?

Grove of Silence

The plaques on the trees command silence.  What might happen, should you choose to disobey?

House

This is fine.

For more of these, see the Sculpture Trail website, and some more photographs.  These bizarre structures could show up in a fantasy forest, but could just as easily be part of a Call of Cthulhu investigation.  For a modern day game, the sculture trail itself could form part of the plot.  What if a new sculpture appeared and nobody knew where it came from?

That's me inspired.  I hope you are too.