HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
I will ...just not today. Work is requiring more of my attention than usual.
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
I don't currently have the time to do that last room for the upstairs, but here is how I see the downstairs roughly laid out. After going through the "portal" there should be a room of decent enough size for the freshly drugged Dreamer to be abducted forcibly to the laboratory room for his or her lobotomy and zombification. There definitley needs to be an encounter in this room to set the tone that the stealthy part of this mission is over and the combat/dungeon crawl has begun. After I think we need a staircase to get us to the lower level. I think the first several rooms should be conventional church rooms retrofitted to the perposes of the cult ie: The storeroom is the laborotory, the crypt is zombie storage etc. At some point after that (possibly 5 or so rooms in) there is a very large, very secured door. Beyond this door is all dungeon, this dungeon is purely designed by the previous residents to keep anyone from getting to the real portal to the demon snake's dimension. There are numerous traps and monsters, for those who are inclined to explanations, some monsters are trapped here and feed on the passerby's and smaller critters, some are here by choice to protect the portal, many of which should have the power to leave in some way, the ones that cannot may have gone mad at this point. This should make a really interesting rogues gallery as almost any creature could be in play as an encounter. Treasure is spread through out in an effort to make the intruders think that the true perpose of the dungeon is to protect the various expensive artifacts in a manner similar to the ancient egyptian practice of having a false horde to throw a thief off from finding the real, much larger one. Of course by this time unless they missed all the clues, our PC's know better. There should be many paths to get to the final chamber ( almost a maze but with 2-3 solutions as aposed to one ) but only one that the Cult has cleared to get back and forth, on this path all the encounters are set up by the cult, they could be traps, demons, undead, snakes etc... but they should have a very difinitive cultish feel, which may tip of wary players that they are headed in the right direction.
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
thread preserving bump of doooooommmm....I will try to find some time to work on this soon ...promise
I just want you all to know, I registered on this forum specifically to bump this thread.
You sir, are a saint. I'll (fingers-crossed) have time this weekend to work on this. I might even draw up a floor plan for the temple if time permits. Sweet jesus, I hope time permits.
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Oh freddled gruntbuggly...thy micturations are to me/ As plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee
The room is illuminated only by a dim candlelight, and everything about it seems different than the rest of the temple. The floors are all of better quality stonework, though they are damaged in several places. The walls are better constructed, but they too bear the scars of some past threat. Runes and script in a strange language cover a good portion of the walls, written in red and glowing, if only slightly.
An altar sits in the center of this room, pristine, though the rest of the room would suggest otherwise.
This is the room where all of the sacrificial ceremonies of the Sapphire Dreamers take place, and only the upper level Dreamers are allowed entry, even then only on official business.
The candles in this room are enchanted to be ever burning, but never end. Also, underneath the red script, a player may make a perception check to notice that there are other markings hastily erased underneath. These markings were once symbols of protection and binding, keeping the evil below from escaping.
That is also the reason for the damage to the floor and walls, as several times the "Great One" tried to escape his subterranean prison, but was each time driven back.
Under the altar, which is new, there is a trap door with the protective rune still almost intact. The trap door is not locked, but it takes a strength check in order to move the altar from its place.
This is the lower level of the Sapphire Dream temple complex. Once used by the previous inhabitants of the temple in order to keep the Dreamers' deity at bay, it is now his headquarters and base of operations.
The rooms here are barely constructed, if even so, relying more on supports and torchlight than actual structure. Example encounters below would consist of zombified or reanimated cultists, demonic and/or monstrous henchmen of the 'Great One,' up to and including the big cheese himself.
The underground area is not large, but consists of several chambers, linked together, each with a large barred door in between them, which used to have a rune of protection or other sealing enchantment placed upon it.
Unless otherwise noted, these rooms are dimly lit with torchlight.
There we are. We had some good activity before christmas, let's breathe some life into this project again!
Part 1 is complete, and we need to begin part 2, the dungeon section. I've done a rough description of the second part of the adventure above (Part 2: The Nightmare), so we can start on the cool action stuff now.
And as an added bit of incentive, after we finish this dungeon up, we'll both start a new one AND I will gather everything we put together into one place and release it as a document, so all us DM/GM/STs out there can use it in whatever games we happen to be running, if we so choose.
Or brag about it, or do whatever exactly we want to do. But, lets get this back up and running! Go go go!
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
Room 17: Into the depths
Size: 50x50
Description:
quote:
_____________________________________________________________________________________ You enter this very dimly lit room via a rusty iron stair jutting precariously from the sanctum above. There is a small drop from the last step to a damp and moldy looking stone floor. The walls here are a pastiche of roughly hewn dirt and the formerly smooth crafted walls of yore. Torches snap and hiss in brackets set several feet apart, leaving shadows to dance in and out of the darkest recesses. There appears to be a stout door in all four walls with large locks barring any egress.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
This is the entrance coridor to the lower level of the dreamers sanctum. Lurking in the shadows are undead former cultists who lie in wait for the unsuspecting. They are grotesque abominations many stiched together from multiple different bodies, they are excellent at hiding in the shadows but move with a shambaling gait and are far from dextrous. They depend upon catching their pray unaware. The doors are all locked and trapped, several undead have keys to these doors around their neck, though they lack the intelligence to use them. The undead are compelled to attack any non cultists and alternatively hand their keys to any cultist that come down the stairs. Any fighting on or from the stairs will result in their total colapse due to rust and disrepair. Any attempt to open the doors without a key or disarming the traps will result in a poison gas cloud expelling from the door.
Encounters: 4 trapped doors, a number of undead scalled in quantity and power suitable to party.
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
seeing as there are signs of life I thought it was time to dig in again...heres hoping that more show up soon.
So those four doors, where do they go, do you think? Is there one right and three wrong ones, or so they all converge to the same room afterward, or what?
I once had an enemy that resembled a pack of zerglings that traveled in groups of about 10. Each time one of them died, the rest got +x to something, like +1 to an attack roll, +hd to their HP, +1 to their AC, etc etc.
Thats not a bad idea, we could maybe incorporate something like that here. Possibly whenever one of them dies, its maximum HP are converted to healing and then split up between the remaining members of the group?
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
i think the doors should probably either all be dead ends but one ....or have maybe two end fairly abruptly with the other two running somewhat concurently until one ends in the false portal/treasure room scenario I supported previously, while the other is the true path....im still mulling the traps over in my head...I originally thought to leave them vague because of the nature of us not wanting to make this rules system specific, and also I think the type of trap may rachet up the difficulty of the room if needed. Now im leaning towards making them a generic gas trap with the idea that any GM can easily change it to something more creative. Input before I make any edits ?
One more question, who made the trap? The cultists, or the clergy that first made the place?
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
I would like to go on record as saying I am very in favor of teh huntsmen/zerg mob idea....perhaps a stray journal in the plannned laborotory / torture room could explain it as " an interesting side effect of the drug interacting with the undead creation process in a benifitial way to the cause"
also i am really liking that there are a few unique mobs/ game mechanics going into this with the crystalized drug golem and now the undead mobs...we should really try to keep that up.
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
I would say that reallly doesn't matter in terms of the fact that no one will ask or have means of finding out ....but at this stage probably the original ownership....I think the only traps created by the cultist would likely be on the main path to the snakes portal
I would say that reallly doesn't matter in terms of the fact that no one will ask or have means of finding out ....but at this stage probably the original ownership....I think the only traps created by the cultist would likely be on the main path to the snakes portal
So in this case the traps were originally placed to keep people from sneaking in to set the demon free. Possibly he had followers even a long time ago? This could lead to some backstory. Perhaps the original inhabitants were constantly battling them, and so they'd set up a trap like that in order to keep them from getting to their master.
Also, will there be any clue past a 'find traps' check of whatever sort to point to which door would be the correct one?
Was it ever explained where the dreamer-juice came from? Maybe you could put a spring of the stuff here. The description would have a mask in the wall, with the juice flowing from the mask’s mouth into a basin.
Also, one of my favorite tricks is to put a hidden passage submerged in the basin, the characters have to swim through it to find a hidden chamber.
Maybe put a puzzle in to drain the basin first, otherwise they have to resist the effects the whole way...
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
I believe the juice is made from the brains of dreamers and demon snake venom...hense the supply of bodies for the undead minions. Also, the nature of the traps would probably be different in some way on the correct path if you are insistant on leaving bread crumbs via the traps,it was just a suggestion. I am getting a little over whelmed at the answers you want. I am not sure what the level of detail you are after is accomplishing other than making me spend time I could devote to another room revisiting this one, there is no way the details of who makes a trap, or who feeds a snake are this crucial to the dugeon. I love the idea but im just not sure I have time to keep answering questions about things that any GM should be able to decide for themself if for some reason it where to come up, which I really do not think it will.
Door 1 (north) leads to a chamber with a fountain pouring a foul-smelling water into a pool. The fountain is shaped like a snakes head set into the wall like a mask, and the water pours forth from the mouth to be caught into the basin.
If the PCs examine the pool closely: There seems to be no overflow drain in the basin, it is not clear how it does not overflow. (this is a hint that there is a passage submerged in the pool.)
If the PCs examine the water: The water is a dirty black color and smells foul, like something dead left to long in the sun. It is too cloudy to see how deep the water is.
If the PCs taste the water: upon tasting the water, the PC must immediately make a fort save to avoid gagging and being nauseous for the next 1d4 rounds. Being submerged in the water makes a character sick, and ingesting it poisons a character's strength and vitality.
If a PC succeeds a moderately difficult check, they find a hidden tile that drains the pool enough that a medium sized PC can wade through the tunnel with the water only up to his chest.
Behind the pool’s tunnel, there is a chamber (with an air pocket if the passage is still submerged.) that contains a chest. Opening the chest reveals: <insert good treasure here>
Door 2 (east) leads into an enormous cavern that is filled with what appears to be average every-day trash. A shaft of light from the ceiling reveals a shaft in the center of the chamber's ceiling that seems to go to the surface.
This chamber serves the compound as a convenient place to dump their garbage. If the PCs dig around here they will find all sorts of trash: some of it as mundane as discarded letters, some of it as disgusting as nightsoil. Also, at the DMs discretion, this may be the perfect place to put a bit of evidence that can be presented to the local authorities to have the Cult’s quasi-legal status revoked. This could be an incriminating letter, or the body of an inconvenient magistrate.
Encounter: Several Giant Rats, Ants, Beetles, or other insect/vermin monsters could make this stinking pile of garbage home.
Door 4 (west) leads to a chamber with the same ancient walls you noticed earlier. This room is filled with ancient artifacts that have been meticulously cleaned, catalogued, and arranged. These artifacts seem to mostly be writing on tablets and common objects left behind by the ancient builders of this place. Everywhere in this room you find journals and volumes of notes, scattered about the various artifacts.
I don’t mean to imply magical artifacts, actually I am referring to archeological artifacts. This room is left over when this site was a scholarly inquest into the nature of the ruins, and here is the primary store room of the recovered knowledge. The various journals contain the written account of archeologists as they delved deeply into the tunnel, and the volumes are notes written as trained minds studied the artifacts found there. This room is an excellent way for a DM to exposition a bit more about where these caverns came from, and to give the PCs a bit more about what awaits them deeper in the dungeon.
The third door of course, would be the one that leads deeper into the dungeon. What I was aiming for here was sort of a natural break from the upper compound and the more dungeon crawl that follows. Here we have a way for a DM to insert some needed items, (the fountain room,) for clever PCs to clear the topside compound and find an alternate entrance, (the garbage cavern,) and a way for the party to be well informed before they venture further (the archeology lab.)
Beyond the southern door is a darkness that seems to swallow your light greedily. What little you can see suggests that beyond this doorway is a passageway, about 15 feet wide, with rough-hewn walls and a vaulted ceiling, and a sturdily-paved floor. Unfortunately, the unnatural darkness prevents you from seeing more than a couple of feet.
If an intrepid PC strains to hear anything hiding in the darkness, tell them they hear nothing, if they keep trying, tell them they hear nothing, as in a conspicuous absence of noise. It is as still as a grave…
With enough nudging, even the densest PC should soon surmise that this hallway is encased in magical Darkness and Silence. What this Darkness and Silence hides is, literally, hundreds of skeletons and zombies.
I can hear you, I know you are are saying, “But Chained! Hundreds of skeletons!?”
Here’s the thing, each of these skeletons and zombies should be easy enough for your combat characters to single shot at this point, so it becomes an excellent place for your Fighters to show off their stuff, and your Clerics to show off undead-effecting magic. It is an excellent way to let some of your non-stealth characters blow off some steam after sneaking up until this point, and if it doesn’t fit, then the DM can just as easily reduce it by 95%, leaving 10 skeletons and zombies.
Encased in the Darkness and Silence are 4 totems, grisly remains that emanate powerful necromancy. These totems can be destroyed with fire.
If the totems are not destroyed, than every undead defeated within this hall is restored in 1d4 days, also any PCs who die and are left for 1d4 days have Animate Dead cast on them, and are raised to guard the hall.
History: The history of this hallway, as revealed by the Archeology Lab, shows that this hallway was an ancient catacomb for both the ancient builders, and also served the original inhabitants of the church above. There are litterally generations of corpses resting on top of each other, and now they seems to be stirring restlessly.
What I'm going for here: This is an area that the cultists are using as a source of undead, and as a dumping ground for bodies, but they do not fully control it. This is a premonition that the cult is not as fully in control of the forces it is dealing with, as it likes to think.
well wait a minute, not to barge in, but to offer my thoughts... isn't the purpose of this to design a general-use encounter area that doesn't necessarily key to any system? You have a lot of DnD terms thrown about, and this might just be one lazy bastard's opinion but you might want to generalize those descriptors a little more
zum Beispiel: suppose I am Johnny Newb, aspiring Storyteller, and want to run this in Exalted. I don't know DnD (strange concept I know, but this is a hypothetical), what the bloody hell is a DC 15? why is Darkness italicized? What is Great Cleave? there aren't any Clerics in exalted, nor are there fighters... the problem is even more exacerbated if I wanted to run this in WFRP or Dark Heresy
well wait a minute, not to barge in, but to offer my thoughts... isn't the purpose of this to design a general-use encounter area that doesn't necessarily key to any system? You have a lot of DnD terms thrown about, and this might just be one lazy bastard's opinion but you might want to generalize those descriptors a little more
zum Beispiel: suppose I am Johnny Newb, aspiring Storyteller, and want to run this in Exalted. I don't know DnD (strange concept I know, but this is a hypothetical), what the bloody hell is a DC 15? why is Darkness italicized? What is Great Cleave? there aren't any Clerics in exalted, nor are there fighters... the problem is even more exacerbated if I wanted to run this in WFRP or Dark Heresy
*reading through* No, you're pretty much correct here, Arcanis. Chained, I like your ideas, but for an official repost, you should take out system-specific things like DC, or spell names. For instance, instead of Listen check, mention a perception check of some sort (check is a universal enough term, and perception is just as easily applicable to one system as the next. It just happens to be listen in D&D). As for spell names, we can note that the room is "magically dark, and silent," which we can again adapt to most any ruleset.
I do like the alternative you added to the bottom though of reducing the number of foes to 10, which would be a definite option for lower level encounters and such. 100 zombies and skeletons is a whole lot, after all.
Also, if you're of the mind: Go ahead and include exactly what these guys are doing there. This was probably a mass grave for people who perished keeping this thing back, and were thus tainted, or perhaps the casualties of the opposing side who tried to storm the temple in an effort to free their dark master.
Eh. sorry about that. I'm actually building a D&D campaign at the moment, so I guess I was thinking in D&D terms... I'll go back and edit my posts.
Ok they are edited, should be more acceptable now!
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
im going to bump this, but not post since I cannot figure out if Chained's rooms are getting posted or not ...im not sure where to pick up at. I dont want the thread to die but I am unsure how to continue.
The east door leads into an enormous cavern that is filled with what appears to be average, every-day trash. A shaft of light from the ceiling reveals a shaft in the center of the chamber's ceiling that seems to go to the surface.
This chamber serves the compound as a convenient place to dump their garbage. If the PCs dig around here they will find all sorts of trash: some of it as mundane as discarded letters, some of it as disgusting as nightsoil. Also, at the GMs discretion, this may be the perfect place to put a bit of evidence that can be presented to the local authorities to have the Cult’s quasi-legal status revoked. This could be an incriminating letter, or the body of an inconvenient magistrate.
With an archaeological/stonework/architecture knowledge check of considerable difficulty, the PCs can surmise that the trash chute is a new development, and that the temple's previous owners had not installed it during their time.
Encounter: Several Giant Rats, ants, beetles, or other insect/vermin monsters could make this stinking pile of garbage home.
The above quoted from Chained to Fate, the door exiting east from Into the Depths (I added the part about the room's altered history).
Lets assume that the north door, the one with the fountain, is the one leading further into the dungeon, and is room 18. 19 is east to the trash chute, 20 is west to the room with the artifacts, and 21 is south to the Hall of Bones.
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
I was going to get the fountain room in order, but I'm a little confused. Is this an unrelated fountain with a random poison or is this the source of the Dream Juice...because it does not resemble the concentrated form of the halucinagen as we have used it so far and it definitely doesnt match up with the working idea of how they make the stuff....I can change it to make it work if we want ...I like the room and it wouldnt take but a few edits to make the two ideas merge together ?
HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
Room 18 : Gastly Answers
Size: 40/40
Quote:
_____________________________________________________________________________________ The heavy iron shod door gives way to an immense room of grotesque horrors. Through the failing torch light you can see on the far wall there is a large black marble sculpture of the most vile serpent you have ever laid eyes upon, it's ruby eyes pierce your very soul as it's powerful jaws crush the alabaster body of a full grown human female form. The human part of the sculpture leaks an opaque azure fluid into a large basin from its wounds, where zombified workers dump large buckets containing what appears to be brains into the slurry. Another more lucid man stirs the concoction with a large paddle. On a raised dais off to the far left a slight balding man with a murderous gleem in his eye startles at your approach. He gestures at you with a bloody scalpel in his right hand demanding you identify yourselves. Before him are tables containing various instruments of terror and destruction as well as at least ten bodies, some very still, others still moaning and some little more than parts. There are two exits from the room flanking the serpent on each side. _____________________________________________________________________________________
This chamber is where the halucinagen is created, it is a concoction of demon snake venom and the serotonin producing glands of the brain. The man with the scalpel harvests the brains and the man with the paddle oversees the mixture, the undead are just labor. The men are slightly unhinged and may be bluffed into allowing the party to pass if the party is convincing enough. If a fight does break out they are very capable fighters but will try to use the undead to defeat the party first and will not enter the combat until it appears that they are in danger or the undead will fail in keeping the party from proceeding deeper into the dungeon. The fountain can be deactivated by removing the ruby eyes of the serpent and removing a drain plug cleverly concealed within the carved runes on the side of the basin. This causes the fluid to stop pouring from the statue and the remaining liquid to drain out onto the floor. In the bottom of the basin there is a network of tubes, piping the fluid out to various parts of the complex as well as a small locked box containing items that someone apparently did not want found. There is a very ornate dagger, several gems of differing size and quality, a finely woven cloak, and a journal. The journal details one mans story of stumbling upon the cult, to his initiation and on to an apparent excape attempt the text ends abruptly. Encounter: Two madmen, and 5 to 10 undead
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
sorry not sure why the double post...oh crap ..and i forgot the trap door in the well
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
hmmm well now that I am done I see you say its a different sort of fountain...ah well...use either one you like.
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
In addendum to that I had envisioned the two doors being the begging of my idea for a false path leading to treasure and a real one leading to the portal. I did this because the first room at the bottom of the stairs seemes to now have no extended paths other than this one with all the forks ending in just one room.
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HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
edited February 2008
so which room did we go with so that I can figure out how to proceed from here ?
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You sir, are a saint. I'll (fingers-crossed) have time this weekend to work on this. I might even draw up a floor plan for the temple if time permits. Sweet jesus, I hope time permits.
Size: 20x25
Description:
This is the room where all of the sacrificial ceremonies of the Sapphire Dreamers take place, and only the upper level Dreamers are allowed entry, even then only on official business.
The candles in this room are enchanted to be ever burning, but never end. Also, underneath the red script, a player may make a perception check to notice that there are other markings hastily erased underneath. These markings were once symbols of protection and binding, keeping the evil below from escaping.
That is also the reason for the damage to the floor and walls, as several times the "Great One" tried to escape his subterranean prison, but was each time driven back.
Under the altar, which is new, there is a trap door with the protective rune still almost intact. The trap door is not locked, but it takes a strength check in order to move the altar from its place.
Encounters: None, except the stairs downward.
The Sapphire's Reality (Table of Contents
Description:
This is the lower level of the Sapphire Dream temple complex. Once used by the previous inhabitants of the temple in order to keep the Dreamers' deity at bay, it is now his headquarters and base of operations.
The rooms here are barely constructed, if even so, relying more on supports and torchlight than actual structure. Example encounters below would consist of zombified or reanimated cultists, demonic and/or monstrous henchmen of the 'Great One,' up to and including the big cheese himself.
The underground area is not large, but consists of several chambers, linked together, each with a large barred door in between them, which used to have a rune of protection or other sealing enchantment placed upon it.
Unless otherwise noted, these rooms are dimly lit with torchlight.
The Sapphire's Reality (Table of Contents
Part 1 is complete, and we need to begin part 2, the dungeon section. I've done a rough description of the second part of the adventure above (Part 2: The Nightmare), so we can start on the cool action stuff now.
And as an added bit of incentive, after we finish this dungeon up, we'll both start a new one AND I will gather everything we put together into one place and release it as a document, so all us DM/GM/STs out there can use it in whatever games we happen to be running, if we so choose.
Or brag about it, or do whatever exactly we want to do. But, lets get this back up and running! Go go go!
Size: 50x50
Description:
quote:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
You enter this very dimly lit room via a rusty iron stair jutting precariously from the sanctum above. There is a small drop from the last step to a damp and moldy looking stone floor. The walls here are a pastiche of roughly hewn dirt and the formerly smooth crafted walls of yore. Torches snap and hiss in brackets set several feet apart, leaving shadows to dance in and out of the darkest recesses. There appears to be a stout door in all four walls with large locks barring any egress.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
This is the entrance coridor to the lower level of the dreamers sanctum. Lurking in the shadows are undead former cultists who lie in wait for the unsuspecting. They are grotesque abominations many stiched together from multiple different bodies, they are excellent at hiding in the shadows but move with a shambaling gait and are far from dextrous. They depend upon catching their pray unaware. The doors are all locked and trapped, several undead have keys to these doors around their neck, though they lack the intelligence to use them. The undead are compelled to attack any non cultists and alternatively hand their keys to any cultist that come down the stairs. Any fighting on or from the stairs will result in their total colapse due to rust and disrepair. Any attempt to open the doors without a key or disarming the traps will result in a poison gas cloud expelling from the door.
Encounters: 4 trapped doors, a number of undead scalled in quantity and power suitable to party.
Also, what do the traps do?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsmen_of_Annuvin
Specifically, they travel in bands and when one is killed the rest of the band gains a level or something. Nasty.
Thats not a bad idea, we could maybe incorporate something like that here. Possibly whenever one of them dies, its maximum HP are converted to healing and then split up between the remaining members of the group?
also i am really liking that there are a few unique mobs/ game mechanics going into this with the crystalized drug golem and now the undead mobs...we should really try to keep that up.
So in this case the traps were originally placed to keep people from sneaking in to set the demon free. Possibly he had followers even a long time ago? This could lead to some backstory. Perhaps the original inhabitants were constantly battling them, and so they'd set up a trap like that in order to keep them from getting to their master.
Also, will there be any clue past a 'find traps' check of whatever sort to point to which door would be the correct one?
Also, one of my favorite tricks is to put a hidden passage submerged in the basin, the characters have to swim through it to find a hidden chamber.
Maybe put a puzzle in to drain the basin first, otherwise they have to resist the effects the whole way...
If the PCs examine the pool closely: There seems to be no overflow drain in the basin, it is not clear how it does not overflow. (this is a hint that there is a passage submerged in the pool.)
If the PCs examine the water: The water is a dirty black color and smells foul, like something dead left to long in the sun. It is too cloudy to see how deep the water is.
If the PCs taste the water: upon tasting the water, the PC must immediately make a fort save to avoid gagging and being nauseous for the next 1d4 rounds. Being submerged in the water makes a character sick, and ingesting it poisons a character's strength and vitality.
If a PC succeeds a moderately difficult check, they find a hidden tile that drains the pool enough that a medium sized PC can wade through the tunnel with the water only up to his chest.
Behind the pool’s tunnel, there is a chamber (with an air pocket if the passage is still submerged.) that contains a chest. Opening the chest reveals: <insert good treasure here>
This chamber serves the compound as a convenient place to dump their garbage. If the PCs dig around here they will find all sorts of trash: some of it as mundane as discarded letters, some of it as disgusting as nightsoil. Also, at the DMs discretion, this may be the perfect place to put a bit of evidence that can be presented to the local authorities to have the Cult’s quasi-legal status revoked. This could be an incriminating letter, or the body of an inconvenient magistrate.
Encounter: Several Giant Rats, Ants, Beetles, or other insect/vermin monsters could make this stinking pile of garbage home.
I don’t mean to imply magical artifacts, actually I am referring to archeological artifacts. This room is left over when this site was a scholarly inquest into the nature of the ruins, and here is the primary store room of the recovered knowledge. The various journals contain the written account of archeologists as they delved deeply into the tunnel, and the volumes are notes written as trained minds studied the artifacts found there. This room is an excellent way for a DM to exposition a bit more about where these caverns came from, and to give the PCs a bit more about what awaits them deeper in the dungeon.
anyway, that's my $0.02
If an intrepid PC strains to hear anything hiding in the darkness, tell them they hear nothing, if they keep trying, tell them they hear nothing, as in a conspicuous absence of noise. It is as still as a grave…
With enough nudging, even the densest PC should soon surmise that this hallway is encased in magical Darkness and Silence. What this Darkness and Silence hides is, literally, hundreds of skeletons and zombies.
I can hear you, I know you are are saying, “But Chained! Hundreds of skeletons!?”
Here’s the thing, each of these skeletons and zombies should be easy enough for your combat characters to single shot at this point, so it becomes an excellent place for your Fighters to show off their stuff, and your Clerics to show off undead-effecting magic. It is an excellent way to let some of your non-stealth characters blow off some steam after sneaking up until this point, and if it doesn’t fit, then the DM can just as easily reduce it by 95%, leaving 10 skeletons and zombies.
Encased in the Darkness and Silence are 4 totems, grisly remains that emanate powerful necromancy. These totems can be destroyed with fire.
If the totems are not destroyed, than every undead defeated within this hall is restored in 1d4 days, also any PCs who die and are left for 1d4 days have Animate Dead cast on them, and are raised to guard the hall.
History: The history of this hallway, as revealed by the Archeology Lab, shows that this hallway was an ancient catacomb for both the ancient builders, and also served the original inhabitants of the church above. There are litterally generations of corpses resting on top of each other, and now they seems to be stirring restlessly.
What I'm going for here: This is an area that the cultists are using as a source of undead, and as a dumping ground for bodies, but they do not fully control it. This is a premonition that the cult is not as fully in control of the forces it is dealing with, as it likes to think.
zum Beispiel: suppose I am Johnny Newb, aspiring Storyteller, and want to run this in Exalted. I don't know DnD (strange concept I know, but this is a hypothetical), what the bloody hell is a DC 15? why is Darkness italicized? What is Great Cleave? there aren't any Clerics in exalted, nor are there fighters... the problem is even more exacerbated if I wanted to run this in WFRP or Dark Heresy
*reading through* No, you're pretty much correct here, Arcanis. Chained, I like your ideas, but for an official repost, you should take out system-specific things like DC, or spell names. For instance, instead of Listen check, mention a perception check of some sort (check is a universal enough term, and perception is just as easily applicable to one system as the next. It just happens to be listen in D&D). As for spell names, we can note that the room is "magically dark, and silent," which we can again adapt to most any ruleset.
I do like the alternative you added to the bottom though of reducing the number of foes to 10, which would be a definite option for lower level encounters and such. 100 zombies and skeletons is a whole lot, after all.
Also, if you're of the mind: Go ahead and include exactly what these guys are doing there. This was probably a mass grave for people who perished keeping this thing back, and were thus tainted, or perhaps the casualties of the opposing side who tried to storm the temple in an effort to free their dark master.
Ok they are edited, should be more acceptable now!
Assume that all of the rooms exist, but that only one of them leads further into the depths.
This chamber serves the compound as a convenient place to dump their garbage. If the PCs dig around here they will find all sorts of trash: some of it as mundane as discarded letters, some of it as disgusting as nightsoil. Also, at the GMs discretion, this may be the perfect place to put a bit of evidence that can be presented to the local authorities to have the Cult’s quasi-legal status revoked. This could be an incriminating letter, or the body of an inconvenient magistrate.
With an archaeological/stonework/architecture knowledge check of considerable difficulty, the PCs can surmise that the trash chute is a new development, and that the temple's previous owners had not installed it during their time.
Encounter: Several Giant Rats, ants, beetles, or other insect/vermin monsters could make this stinking pile of garbage home.
Lets assume that the north door, the one with the fountain, is the one leading further into the dungeon, and is room 18. 19 is east to the trash chute, 20 is west to the room with the artifacts, and 21 is south to the Hall of Bones.
Size: 40/40
Quote:
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The heavy iron shod door gives way to an immense room of grotesque horrors. Through the failing torch light you can see on the far wall there is a large black marble sculpture of the most vile serpent you have ever laid eyes upon, it's ruby eyes pierce your very soul as it's powerful jaws crush the alabaster body of a full grown human female form. The human part of the sculpture leaks an opaque azure fluid into a large basin from its wounds, where zombified workers dump large buckets containing what appears to be brains into the slurry. Another more lucid man stirs the concoction with a large paddle. On a raised dais off to the far left a slight balding man with a murderous gleem in his eye startles at your approach. He gestures at you with a bloody scalpel in his right hand demanding you identify yourselves. Before him are tables containing various instruments of terror and destruction as well as at least ten bodies, some very still, others still moaning and some little more than parts. There are two exits from the room flanking the serpent on each side. _____________________________________________________________________________________
This chamber is where the halucinagen is created, it is a concoction of demon snake venom and the serotonin producing glands of the brain. The man with the scalpel harvests the brains and the man with the paddle oversees the mixture, the undead are just labor. The men are slightly unhinged and may be bluffed into allowing the party to pass if the party is convincing enough. If a fight does break out they are very capable fighters but will try to use the undead to defeat the party first and will not enter the combat until it appears that they are in danger or the undead will fail in keeping the party from proceeding deeper into the dungeon. The fountain can be deactivated by removing the ruby eyes of the serpent and removing a drain plug cleverly concealed within the carved runes on the side of the basin. This causes the fluid to stop pouring from the statue and the remaining liquid to drain out onto the floor. In the bottom of the basin there is a network of tubes, piping the fluid out to various parts of the complex as well as a small locked box containing items that someone apparently did not want found. There is a very ornate dagger, several gems of differing size and quality, a finely woven cloak, and a journal. The journal details one mans story of stumbling upon the cult, to his initiation and on to an apparent excape attempt the text ends abruptly.
Encounter: Two madmen, and 5 to 10 undead