Dungeon Dressing: Tapestries
A tapestry can be nothing more than decoration. However, a tapestry can also hide a concealed door, be climbed on or even be used to enfold an enemy (when pulled from the wall). More importantly, they can also be loot!
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Major Features
A cosy cottage nestles amid pleasant woodland on this tapestry. The tapestry can create an extradimensional shelter once a week.
This simple tapestry is a tribute from a nomadic desert tribe and shows the location of two hidden wells.
The tapestry is a tribute to a powerful wizard, who in the tapestry, is defeating a legendary lich.
The tapestry is an encyclopaedia of local plants and their medicinal purposes.
Bearing the coat of arms and seal of a ruler, the tapestry outlines the (numerous) crimes punishable by a long, drawn-out death.
The coats of arms of prominent noble houses feature on the tapestry. They appear in order of precedence.
Almost mirror-like in appearance, the tapestry can cast divination once per day and shows the result of the spell upon its surface.
The tapestry is a folio of magical beasts embellished with myths and legends.
Void of images, the tapestry is a written document outlining the will and testament of an ancient king.
The tapestry portrays the lives of two elven nobles growing up, marrying and having a beautiful child.
A large bull-headed humanoid is fighting a barbarian barehanded atop a mountain on this tapestry.
Depicting images of gratuitous torture, this grisly tapestry has a magic pain-causing rune woven into it.
This intricate tapestry depicts the solar system; small diamonds (worth 50 gp each) represent stars.
A sweeping battle of immense proportions is taking place on this tapestry; corpses litter the battlefield.
Vividly coloured and highly decorative, this tapestry depicts a symbolic telling of a famed children’s story.
The tapestry depicts a life-sized rampant griffon; the creature’s plumage is real.
A large ship is portrayed ensnared in the tentacles of a gigantic octopus in this doom-laden tapestry.
Richly adorned with precious stones and metallic thread, this tapestry was a rich dowry gift and depicts the bride and groom (worth 500 gp).
The highly detailed tapestry shows the instruction and recipe for brewing potions of superior healing.
Made from a fine silk-like thread, the tapestry portrays a stunning image of a unicorn deep in a forest.
Minor Features & Dressing
Written in vivid yellow paint, a message has been scrawled across the tapestry: “Only the wary survive.”
The tapestry covers part of a phantasmal force which is flickering and unstable. Characters automatically spot the illusion.
The tapestry has been pinned back to reveal a small, hidden (and now empty) compartment in the wall.
A large javelin has pierced the tapestry, impaling a roguish-looking halfling to the wall.
The tapestry—used as a door covering—has been torn asunder; pieces cover the floor.
A snoozing gnome sleeps soundly in a niche behind this tapestry’s heavy, voluminous folds.
The tapestry lies half submerged in a pool of thick, viscous liquid. A trail of foot- and handprints lead away from the pool.
One ripped half of a tapestry depicting a map lies next to an open and empty chest and a freshly dug hole.
The tapestry lies in tattered strips on the floor as if it has been shredded by a sharp set of claws.
Heavily repaired, the tapestry is a patchwork of stitching and small pieces of fabric overlaying the original image.
The face of one of the tapestry’s subjects has been burnt away. The tapestry still smells faintly of smoke.
Heavily damaged by moths, this tapestry is threadbare, faded and virtually worthless.
The tapestry has been fastened to the wall by a dagger in each corner.
A small bundle lies on the floor. It is a thick tapestry being used as a swaddle for a baby goblin.
A wooden stake has been driven through the tapestry; around it is thick white dust that smells of the grave.
Snagged in a ripped tapestry, the badly mauled body of an adventurer hangs above the floor.
The tapestry lies on the floor and is covered in gigantic muddy footprints.
Sodden and covered in clumps of wet mud, the tapestry is ruined; only magic can restore it to its former glory.
The tapestry has unravelled partially; threads of silk lead away down the corridor.
The tapestry has been embellished with small jewellery pins and ribbons.
Credit
This is a short system-neutral extract from GM’s Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing. The book is available in 5e, System Neutral and Pathfinder 1 editions. The OSR edition will be available in early 2023.
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