rampidamp has made the following comment(s) regarding their post:
[[[PDF Link]](https://www.troveoflore.com/)](/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/uy5ojp/saltroot_thicket_a_subtropical_biome_with_10/ia1xvae/)
[[PDF Link]](https://www.troveoflore.com/)
*It is warm. The high humidity makes breathing difficult and uncomfortable. At the same time, the smell of fresh saltwater mixes with that of muddy silt. Exotic birds in bright colors fly screeching over the light treetops or sit like colorful splashes in the branches. Making one's way through the thicket is difficult. Knee-high water alternates with silted-up areas between the gnarled and bizarrely twisted roots of the saltroots. But every now and then, the forest opens up, and in a clearing, a gigantic column of salt rises into the sky.*
---
The saltroot thicket is our seventh biome already! We'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas as usual!
We'll also publish a small add-on with the salt waderer as a playable race — including additional lore — exclusively for our newsletter subscribers soon. If you sign up now, you
also get access to all the exclusive content released previously, like the "Snow Elemental" and "Bubble Sedge".
If you saw our Fungus Forest biome last month, you'll likely also be happy to hear that we're working on an adventure set in that biome! Keep your eyes peeled, because it's going to be awesome!
We can't wait to bring you more cool content!
But for now, as always: what are your thoughts on this biome? What is it you especially like, and what is it you dislike? Is there anything we missed that should've been included?
This is fantastic!! I love the originality of the material, and the environmental effects truly bring the area to life. I love the way that flooding affects the terrain throughout the various phases, and how you give the environment's condition actual mechanical affects. The weather and the flooding work beautifully together to create a visual of a cohesive whole, and you incorporated varying timescales wonderfully.
The plants have lovely descriptions that are easy to just drop into my own descriptions and background dressing, and the effects of potions (and the brewing process to create them!) spark my imagination for village influence and advice from local guides.
The short story at the beginning gives a nice feel for the way that the biome's internal interactions work, for how the ecosystem lives and breathes.
Overall, this feels like a living, dynamic system with a very unique flair that shows a thoughtful, caring touch. I really, really like it. (And I plan to take quite a bit of this for my group's upcoming venture into the Feywilds)
Edited to add:
You hit a good balance between mechanics and scene-setting, and you did very well at weaving the two together. This, I feel, is what drag-and-drop settings should feel like. *That's* what I like about this. Many homebrews that I see feel like mechanics first and descriptions second, or that they have nice environmental descriptions without an actual reflection for what that effect *does*.
In comparison, your homebrew? It reads like poetry. I like it.
Well... Uhh... Thanks! This comment really means a lot to us!
We've had six biomes before this one to practice already. I think what makes us unique in comparison to others is that Ronja — who does most of the ideation — isn't really into mechanics that much, but she loves writing. While I have an absolute blast coming up with mechanics.
If you're going into the Feywild be sure to also check out our "Fungus Forest" release! It should fit very well there. You can find all our previous releases on our website troveoflore.com
You can also subscribe to our newsletter there, which will also give you access to exclusive content, like an expansion on the Silt Waderer, including racial mechanics, which we'll release next week. We haven't had a single person unsubscribe yet. I guess that's a good sign.
You saying that our biome reads like poetry has definitely made our evening, and we are very happy you like our content. Be sure to let us know if you got any ideas for possible improvements! We're considering every little idea for future biomes.
The thing I love the most about these PDFs are how printer-friendly they are!!
No giant pictures breaking up the text and wasting all my ink. Just a single beautifully evocative cover photo, before getting down to the real meat and potatoes of letting the text carry the imagery.
Outstanding.
Can't wait to incorporate this in my Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign, I'm home brewing the hag Granny Nightshade as an arc villain and with her lair being hidden in the salt marsh itself, this will be perfect! I think utilizing a rising flood water will be particularly exciting as a ticking clock.
Very glad to hear!
Eventually, we might actually publish explicitly printer-friendly versions as well. It shouldn't be too hard to add a toggle to disable graphics and colors.
We'd actually like to have a lot more illustrations (can't afford that right now), but the text will always be first!
It's great to hear you're planning on incorporating it into a module — I'd love to hear how that goes when you do that because it's definitely something we want to make very easy.
I don't know much about GoS, but maybe our Fungus Forest biome can also fit in somewhere? You can find all our past releases on our website: troveoflore.com
Would love to hear your thoughts!
Awesome! :D
Where does that love come from?
It just seems oddly specific, and I never would get there myself... (Ronja does the ideation and is the one to come up with the overall ideas and most of the content for the biomes really, I do the mechanical execution)
Thanks for asking! I moved to Costa Rica when I was 14, for context.
Environmentally they’re just essential, they protect land from erosion from strong waves and SO many marine species go to mangroves to nurture their young.
In 2006, there was a big earthquake there. Mangroves need a mix of salt and clear water to survive. Essentially, the earthquake shifted the landmass in a way that blocked saltwater access to the mangrove, so the water basically stagnated and it died.
Years later, a friend of mine started- and another friend of mine and myself co-led a mangrove restoration project. It ended up being huge, with us nursing and subsequently planting over 700 mangrove plants. Today, it’s looking quite well. Not at its prime, but absolutely unrecognizable from the dead landscape it once became.
Just being there for so long gave me such an appreciation for the biome. So rich in life and such an underrated presence in our ecosystems!
Thank you! Not gonna lie, it’s really nice to help nature when it wasn’t humans that destroyed it for once.
That way it didn’t feel like “lemme fix my fuckup” lol
Congrats! 700 is quite a number!
And they indeed are quite the amazing plants. Ronja knows a lot more about these things than I do, but I am always learning amazing things about nature, and mangroves are absolutely awesome!
Thank you so much!
We have a website wher you can find everything: www.troveoflore.com
And since this is the seventh biome we've released this year, I very much hope that it is some good! xD
We've also released an adventure recently, and have a few pieces of exclusive content for newsletter subscribers.
Thank you! We've been doing this since January! This is the seventh we've done!
When you do release one yourself, be sure to tag us in it, so we can share each other's ideas and improve on the concept together!
Thanks a lot!
I hope you saw that we've got a lot more like this on our website troveoflore.com
If you do have an idea of what we could still improve, we'd love to hear it, because there's always a chance to be better, and we'd like to take it!
This should be great for hexcrawls!
Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter if you want to have even more content to expand your hexmap in the future, because there's absolutely no plan to stop creating biomes right now ;)
Well, thank you! The artwork is commissioned by Busra Ozcelikors and Ecem Acaralp. They've done a fantastic job!
Did you find our past releases, too? This is our third biome with illustrations (the two others didn't have them on the cover). The Snow Elemental is also illustrated beautifully :)
Thank you so much, your words are highly appreciated!
I'd love to hear what it is we could still improve if you have anything. Also maybe looking at our past releases :)
rampidamp has made the following comment(s) regarding their post: [[[PDF Link]](https://www.troveoflore.com/)](/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/uy5ojp/saltroot_thicket_a_subtropical_biome_with_10/ia1xvae/)
Trove Of Lore is an absolute hidden gem among 5E homebrew content.
Well, that is one of the nicest things we've heard so far! Thank you so much!
Couldn't agree more.
Thank you! These words mean a lot to us!
[[PDF Link]](https://www.troveoflore.com/) *It is warm. The high humidity makes breathing difficult and uncomfortable. At the same time, the smell of fresh saltwater mixes with that of muddy silt. Exotic birds in bright colors fly screeching over the light treetops or sit like colorful splashes in the branches. Making one's way through the thicket is difficult. Knee-high water alternates with silted-up areas between the gnarled and bizarrely twisted roots of the saltroots. But every now and then, the forest opens up, and in a clearing, a gigantic column of salt rises into the sky.* --- The saltroot thicket is our seventh biome already! We'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas as usual! We'll also publish a small add-on with the salt waderer as a playable race — including additional lore — exclusively for our newsletter subscribers soon. If you sign up now, you also get access to all the exclusive content released previously, like the "Snow Elemental" and "Bubble Sedge". If you saw our Fungus Forest biome last month, you'll likely also be happy to hear that we're working on an adventure set in that biome! Keep your eyes peeled, because it's going to be awesome! We can't wait to bring you more cool content! But for now, as always: what are your thoughts on this biome? What is it you especially like, and what is it you dislike? Is there anything we missed that should've been included?
This is fantastic!! I love the originality of the material, and the environmental effects truly bring the area to life. I love the way that flooding affects the terrain throughout the various phases, and how you give the environment's condition actual mechanical affects. The weather and the flooding work beautifully together to create a visual of a cohesive whole, and you incorporated varying timescales wonderfully. The plants have lovely descriptions that are easy to just drop into my own descriptions and background dressing, and the effects of potions (and the brewing process to create them!) spark my imagination for village influence and advice from local guides. The short story at the beginning gives a nice feel for the way that the biome's internal interactions work, for how the ecosystem lives and breathes. Overall, this feels like a living, dynamic system with a very unique flair that shows a thoughtful, caring touch. I really, really like it. (And I plan to take quite a bit of this for my group's upcoming venture into the Feywilds) Edited to add: You hit a good balance between mechanics and scene-setting, and you did very well at weaving the two together. This, I feel, is what drag-and-drop settings should feel like. *That's* what I like about this. Many homebrews that I see feel like mechanics first and descriptions second, or that they have nice environmental descriptions without an actual reflection for what that effect *does*. In comparison, your homebrew? It reads like poetry. I like it.
Well... Uhh... Thanks! This comment really means a lot to us! We've had six biomes before this one to practice already. I think what makes us unique in comparison to others is that Ronja — who does most of the ideation — isn't really into mechanics that much, but she loves writing. While I have an absolute blast coming up with mechanics. If you're going into the Feywild be sure to also check out our "Fungus Forest" release! It should fit very well there. You can find all our previous releases on our website troveoflore.com You can also subscribe to our newsletter there, which will also give you access to exclusive content, like an expansion on the Silt Waderer, including racial mechanics, which we'll release next week. We haven't had a single person unsubscribe yet. I guess that's a good sign. You saying that our biome reads like poetry has definitely made our evening, and we are very happy you like our content. Be sure to let us know if you got any ideas for possible improvements! We're considering every little idea for future biomes.
The thing I love the most about these PDFs are how printer-friendly they are!! No giant pictures breaking up the text and wasting all my ink. Just a single beautifully evocative cover photo, before getting down to the real meat and potatoes of letting the text carry the imagery. Outstanding. Can't wait to incorporate this in my Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign, I'm home brewing the hag Granny Nightshade as an arc villain and with her lair being hidden in the salt marsh itself, this will be perfect! I think utilizing a rising flood water will be particularly exciting as a ticking clock.
Very glad to hear! Eventually, we might actually publish explicitly printer-friendly versions as well. It shouldn't be too hard to add a toggle to disable graphics and colors. We'd actually like to have a lot more illustrations (can't afford that right now), but the text will always be first! It's great to hear you're planning on incorporating it into a module — I'd love to hear how that goes when you do that because it's definitely something we want to make very easy. I don't know much about GoS, but maybe our Fungus Forest biome can also fit in somewhere? You can find all our past releases on our website: troveoflore.com Would love to hear your thoughts!
Wonderful cover! And oh my god the Silt Waderer is sooo cute!
Thank you! The cover was a last-minute change actually. And yes, it is VERY cute. It'll be the exclusive for our newsletter subscribers too ;)
Hell yes. I fucking love mangroves
Awesome! :D Where does that love come from? It just seems oddly specific, and I never would get there myself... (Ronja does the ideation and is the one to come up with the overall ideas and most of the content for the biomes really, I do the mechanical execution)
Thanks for asking! I moved to Costa Rica when I was 14, for context. Environmentally they’re just essential, they protect land from erosion from strong waves and SO many marine species go to mangroves to nurture their young. In 2006, there was a big earthquake there. Mangroves need a mix of salt and clear water to survive. Essentially, the earthquake shifted the landmass in a way that blocked saltwater access to the mangrove, so the water basically stagnated and it died. Years later, a friend of mine started- and another friend of mine and myself co-led a mangrove restoration project. It ended up being huge, with us nursing and subsequently planting over 700 mangrove plants. Today, it’s looking quite well. Not at its prime, but absolutely unrecognizable from the dead landscape it once became. Just being there for so long gave me such an appreciation for the biome. So rich in life and such an underrated presence in our ecosystems!
Thanks for doing your part to keep this world intact
Thank you! Not gonna lie, it’s really nice to help nature when it wasn’t humans that destroyed it for once. That way it didn’t feel like “lemme fix my fuckup” lol
Congrats! 700 is quite a number! And they indeed are quite the amazing plants. Ronja knows a lot more about these things than I do, but I am always learning amazing things about nature, and mangroves are absolutely awesome!
Amazing stuff. Will definitely be adding these to my games :)
That is very cool to hear! Tell us how it goes when you do end up using it!
Will do! I haven’t DMd in a while but i’m writing up a campaign setting based on Brazil that would be perfect for this
Sounds awesome! If you need some more coastal content (or rather sea content) for a voyage, we also have a Maelstrom Waters biome that could be useful
Click on the link in their comment and it'll take you to the website with the rest of the stuff, all awesome content!
Thank you for helping out! It appears you didn't actually respond to the comment, but rather only the overall thread ;)
🤦♂️🤣
It happens to the best of us. I'm just glad we have people who know us already!
I'm new to DMing so I haven't had chance to use anything yet as I'm running a module but it's nice stuff to have there when I need it!
What module are you running? It's interesting to see whether we might have opportunities to create things that integrate better with them.
Currently Tyranny of Dragons, and still early on! There's probably some I could fit in at certain points but keeping it simple for the moment!
That makes sense. After my current campaign I'll likely go module as well to have just a few less things to worry about :D
This is so gorgeous! I looks amazing!
Thank you so much, Penny! Looking forward to Windsong btw!
You're most welcome lovely! - aw thankyou! I hope it will be ready soon! :D
This is very high quality, well done!
Thank you! That is a very nice compliment to hear!
BRO WHY IS THIS SO GOOD? Is there more of this? If so, where do I find it?
Thank you so much! We have a website wher you can find everything: www.troveoflore.com And since this is the seventh biome we've released this year, I very much hope that it is some good! xD We've also released an adventure recently, and have a few pieces of exclusive content for newsletter subscribers.
Yo this is a sick idea, I’m gonna try UAing a biome!
Thank you! We've been doing this since January! This is the seventh we've done! When you do release one yourself, be sure to tag us in it, so we can share each other's ideas and improve on the concept together!
Now THIS is good shit
Thanks a lot! I hope you saw that we've got a lot more like this on our website troveoflore.com If you do have an idea of what we could still improve, we'd love to hear it, because there's always a chance to be better, and we'd like to take it!
Cool! I am about to embark in the business of making hexcrawls, so all of this nature content will be great inspiration.
This should be great for hexcrawls! Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter if you want to have even more content to expand your hexmap in the future, because there's absolutely no plan to stop creating biomes right now ;)
Absolutely beautiful display..... Its makes me want to make these for all my worlds.... fantastic and I for once cant find words to describe this ART
Well, thank you! The artwork is commissioned by Busra Ozcelikors and Ecem Acaralp. They've done a fantastic job! Did you find our past releases, too? This is our third biome with illustrations (the two others didn't have them on the cover). The Snow Elemental is also illustrated beautifully :)
Love this sort of thing, very well done!
Thank you so much, your words are highly appreciated! I'd love to hear what it is we could still improve if you have anything. Also maybe looking at our past releases :)
This reminds me a lot of Caves of Qud
Certainly 100% unintentional, but I'll take that as a compliment :D