Wandering Anomalies & Planar Disturbances
What Are Anomalies?
Anomalies are reality disruptions—temporary events or creatures that don't belong, reacting to the party's presence or Void's reawakening. They act like roaming hazards or mini-encounters, shifting the Keep's mood, layout, and pressure.
They occur when:
- The Escalation Die rolls high (see Planar Escalation System)
- A player violates planar logic (e.g., damaging a mirror door, copying a reflection)
- An encounter demands more tension, mystery, or foreshadowing
Deploying Anomalies
- Drop during travel between rooms or while solving puzzles
- Tie to character fears, lost memories, or previous illusions
- Roll on the table below (or choose one that fits your story)
Wandering Anomalies Table
| d8 | Anomaly | Description / Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drift Echo Loop | A corridor seems to repeat endlessly. PCs loop unless they walk backward or speak truths out loud. 3-round mental puzzle challenge. |
| 2 | Glyphstatic Bloom | Reality flickers with glyph-spores. Casters must succeed DC 14 INT saves or forget last spell cast. Effects last 10 minutes. |
| 3 | Reflected Hunger | A mirror duplicates one PC, but its reflection doesn't stop moving. It attacks in 1d4 rounds (CR 6 doppleganger variant). |
| 4 | Temporal Lag Field | All initiative counts are reversed next round. Anyone who acted first now acts last, and vice versa. |
| 5 | Chromatic Cascade | Walls pulse with random elements. One PC's next spell becomes randomly altered (roll d4: cold, fire, thunder, psychic). |
| 6 | Inverted Wake | Player footprints lead away from them. Following them might recover a memory or trigger a trap. |
| 7 | Void Residual | A message from Void's broken memory plays midair: incomplete, glitching. May provide a cryptic clue about a future room. |
| 8 | Sentient Room Fragment | Architecture warps into a guardian. Initiates dialogue or combat unless appeased by matching a reflection or offering a secret. |
Sample Anomaly Stat Blocks
See Custom Stat Blocks for:
- Reflection Wraith (Anomaly 3)
- Recursive Simulacrum (Anomaly 8)
- Refraction Wisps (Ambient hazard or swarm)
- Choir Echo Fragment (anomaly from Room R5)
DM Tips
- Use anomalies to reinforce illusion themes, memory distortion, or Void's evolving presence
- Let players occasionally befriend or interact with anomalies rather than always fighting
- Chain anomalies into larger planar events if escalation tiers climb too high—rooms may merge, laws may bend, and time may spiral
"These are not invaders, but leftovers—truths abandoned when memory was rewritten."
– Prism Warden Anomaly Study Log, recovered near Room R7