Collaborative DFRPG Mega-Dungeon

[Tom H.]

Originally Posted by martinl

. . . and at least one just hunches down, grimaces, and explodes as a 7d explosive fireball.

That reminds me of the old Lemmings computer game of the early 1990's.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by Tom H.

That reminds me of the old Lemmings computer game of the early 1990's.

Guilty. Still cool though.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by martinl

The Greenskin Caves

Level: 1

/slow clap

That is literally the saddest and most horrible dungeon description I have ever read.

And I suppose it goes without saying that there is no way to cure these poor pitiful creatures of this infliction of eternity.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

And I suppose it goes without saying that there is no way to cure these poor pitiful creatures of this infliction of eternity.

All you have to do is convince the god of the underworld to release them. Easy, right?

[Tom H.]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

/slow clap

That is literally the saddest and most horrible dungeon description I have ever read.

And I suppose it goes without saying that there is no way to cure these poor pitiful creatures of this infliction of eternity.

Thanks for that.

It struck a similar nerve with me, but I didn't feel bold enough to readily express it.

I mean, it really fits the genre, but I too felt the pity. Martinl must have evoked it well.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by Tom H.

Thanks for that.

It struck a similar nerve with me, but I didn't feel bold enough to readily express it.

I mean, it really fits the genre, but I too felt the pity. Martinl must have evoked it well.

Thanks to both of you. The hope is the PCs also feel pity, and then side with the orcs etc. Never happens usually.

Backup plan - they slay them and move on. I try to make most of my DF encounters plausibly solvable by violence because a lot of DF folks want to do it that way.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by martinl

Thanks to both of you. The hope is the PCs also feel pity, and then side with the orcs etc. Never happens usually.

Backup plan - they slay them and move on. I try to make most of my DF encounters plausibly solvable by violence because a lot of DF folks want to do it that way.

Yeah... my personal style tends to go one of two ways: Diplomancer or Mr(s) Smash. So this dungeon plays well for both my character styles.

[Tom H.]

Originally Posted by Tom H.

Oh yeah, this visual suggested skeletal structures to me. I'm waiting for skeletons to materialize and attack as I'm traversing the bridges. ;-)

Maybe you have to fight every 13th plank as it transforms into such an adversary.

Wow, I had made this post regarding Martinl's Void of Knives room without realizing that Steven Marsh already wrote a similar, cool encounter for The Fantasy Trip.

In this free content named Encounter: The Skeleton Bridge, the bridge can be several hexes wide and more long. The gimmick is indeed that skeletons spawn from the bones of the bridge to fight the party. As the fight continues, the bridge becomes weaker and hexes will collapse. Fighting on Swiss cheese becomes increasingly perilous and fantastic.

It should be fun and easy to port this to DFRPG.

[martinl]

The Misty Cells

Level: 1

Faint ambient glow: -3 vision, but restricted to individual cells by the mist
Lower Purpose +1

Four corridors come in from the cardinal directions to this area. It is one giant square room, 40 yards on a side, divided up into a grid of 9x9 cells separated by open gothic archways on all sides. The ornately carved cell walls are two foot thick masonry, and each of the arches is filled by an opaque grey mist that also covers the floor to a depth of 2 feet. There is a faint smell of decay and rot.

The carvings on the walls are a nigh infinite collage of screaming faces, and the ones in the arches, if carefully examined, ooze the mist slowly from their empty eyes.

Some faces on the outside walls of the room conceal crossbow traps in their mouths that are triggered magically when certain interior rooms are entered. To the folks entering those rooms, there is a muffed “chunk” followed by a crossbow bolt flying through the mist in the opposite arch towards them. (A PC in the path of the bolt is hit on a 9(+SM) or less on 3d, damage is 2d-1 imp.) There are 10 such rooms in all, and if they are carefully mapped they make the pattern of a star.

Occasionally distant hoofbeats can be heard (hearing at -2), especially after a trap is sprung, but the source cannot be found.

Divination magic is at a penalty of -13 if cast in this area.

Any room may have something interesting hiding under the mist in a corner. If the PCs search roll 3d.

• On a 3 they find $(1d*1d*10) in loose coins.
• On a 4 or 5 they find the moldering corpse of a deceased adventurer, with equipment subjected to 1d*1d years’ worth of continuous lightly corrosive damp.
• On 6 or 7 they find a small stone statuette (1 lb) of a screaming head carved in the same style as the walls. These are worth $25 to art collectors in town.
• On an 8-10 they find a warped and blunted crossbow bolt from one of the traps.
• On an 18 they find a freshly severed hand that looks exactly like the hand of one of their party.

Keep track of how long the PCs spend messing around in here, because the mist is a slow onset poison. 6 hours after exposure, roll HT at a penalty based on total exposure time in this room:

• Less than 10 min – no penalty.
• Less than 1 hour – HT-1.
• One hour or more – HT-(2*hours spent). Increase the penalty to 3* hours spent if most of that time was spent in the arches or under the mist layer on the floor.

On a failed roll take 1 HP per hour for a number of hours equal to the square of the margin of failure as your lungs try to liquefy in your chest. During this entire time the victims are nauseous and vomiting blood and more of the poisonous mist. (This mist can further damage those nearby if the area is poorly ventilated.)

A poisons roll at -4 will id the mist as a slow poison after 10 min of exposure. Esoteric medicine at -6 (-2 if chi based) may roll after 1 hour. After symptoms appear, poisons or esoteric medicine at -2 will identify the problem as poison, and success by 4 or more will make it clear where the poison is from.

Connections -

• South to (TBD)
• North to (TBD)
• East to Terror bird junction
• West to (TBD)

[Johnny Angel]

Transdimensional Bunk Bed of Holding

Level: 1

hanging candelbra and fireplace: normal vision

The door opens to a small cube-shaped room which is 5 yards (length) by 5 yards (width) by 5 yards (height). The walls appear to be made of sturdy and well-crafted mahogany panels.

Immediately to the right (west) of the entrance is a lectern crafted from thick glass; upon the lectern is an open book, a quill pen in an inkwell, and a rolled piece of parchment which has yellowed with age. Further to the west, one of the wooden panels rather obviously appears to hide some sort of hidden chamber; small wheels on the bottom of the panel rest upon a thin metal track.

To the left (east) of the entrance, a long table rests against the eastern wall. Upon the table, immediately obvious items include a glass bowl containing a fish; a small wooden keg, and a silver plate holding a pile of cheese squares, meat hunks, and crackers.

The soft crackling of flames can be easily heard; a stone fireplace is built into the wall furthest (Southern wall) from the entrance. A nondescript and simple wooden chair is near the fireplace, and a variety of small items can be seen on the mantle. What exactly the items are cannot be discerned due to line of sight being impaired by other features of the room.

A black, wrought iron, dangling candelabra holding a collection of indigo blue candles dangles in the center of the room, providing ample light and hovering over one set of bunk beds. The bunk bed frame is also crafted from wrought iron. Both beds of the set are made. The bottom bed features a mattress covered in white sheets and a rugged (yet likely effective, warm, and comfortable) blanket made from a variety of animal furs, as well as a pillow. The top bed also has a pillow, and it features a red satin sheet along with a black blanket showcasing arcane symbols stitched in gold.

If the lectern is investigated more thoroughly:

• The open book appears to be a ledger containing a list of names.
• The inkwell and quill pen are exactly what they appear to be: writing utensils.
• The rolled piece of parchment is a note which says,"To whom it may concern, please sign in. I am currently on an adventure, and do not know when I will return. Help yourself to some vitals, but do not forget to feed the fish. You will find fish food under the table. Sleep at your own risk. All I ask is that you clean up after yourselves when finished, and repay the kindness by leaving a gift on the table. Sincerely, Zol P'dehm."

If the western wall panel is investigated:

• The panel slides to the right, revealing a small hidden alcove. A silver metallic rod (iron core, plated with silver) sticks into the walls and runs horizontally across the alcove. The metal rod and a series of small hooks with slabs of wood attached to them create a mechanism by which various clothing is suspended and stored.
• ...a closet
• If the clothing is moved around the and closet investigated more thoroughly (either roll versus Perception -1 or spend enough time interacting with it that the GM feels you would discover it), a hidden safe is discovered.
  1. The safe: a small door of thick opaque glass framed by some sort of composite material is embedded into the closet's back wall (behind the clothing); a handle made of bone is attached to the the top of the door, not too disimilar in design from that of a small oven door. Various arcane symbols are stained into the glass. A keyhole is in the center of the glass.
  2. Those with Magery or Power Investiture sense some sort of powerful malign magic on a Per -2 roll. Success by more than 3 gives a brief mental flash of blue light and being hunted by an ominous figured. Success by more than 5 or a critical success reveals the same vison, but also mentally reveals a password which can be used to suspend the magic ward for 2D hours.
  3. Forced Entry -2 can be used to open the door, but doing so immediately triggers the effects of the magic ward -see below.
  4. Doing 15 points of damage to the glass shatters the glass, but immediately triggers the effects of the magical ward -see below.
  5. Lockpicking -4 can be used to open the door. Doing so does trigger the effects of the magical ward (unless suspended; see below), but does so only after 3d+2 seconds.
  6. *If the magic has been suspended via having (and speaking) the password, the magic ward will trigger after the suspension period has ended. In this case, "immediately" means as soon as the period of suspension ends, and 3d+2 seconds means 3d+2 seconds after the period of suspension ends.
  7. When triggered, a blinding flash of blue light envelopes the room: HT-3 or mental stun for 3d minutes. Additionally, roll versus Will -6. Failure causes a target's skin to turn blue for 2d months; failure by 3 or more also causes a target to gain the following disadvantages for the same amount of time (2d months): Gregarious, Skinny, and Odious Personal Habit (Constant Humming and Singing).
  8. Inside the safe is found the following items: 100 gold pieces, a silver hatchet with symbols etched on the blade, and a list of herbs and spices for what appears to be a recipe for chicken. The hatchet functions as a silvered weapon (hatchet) and has an enchantment which removes the normal -2 to melee for hatchets.

If the long table along the eastern wall is investigated:

• The meat and cheese tray is edible and actually quite good. The silver tray upon which the food rests is actual silver, unbelievably well balanced, and could possibly serve as an improvised thrown weapon. Zol's Snack Tray (Thrown Weapon (Shuriken)-1, Thrown Weapon (Stick)-1, DX-5, or Throwing -3); thr+1 dmg, Acc 0, x0.5/x1, wgt 0.5, T(1), $50, ST 5, Bulk -1.
• The keg contains 3 gallons of Ginger Ale.
• The fishbowl contains what appears to be a typical fish kept as a pet (GM's choice). *However, if the PCs attempt to sleep in the room without first feeding the fish, they are tormented by horrible nightmares and must make a Will -4 roll upon waking. Failure costs 1FP which can only be recovered through sleeping. Critical failure causes loss of 2FP (which can only be recovered by sleep) and a sense of impending doom for the next day, which causes a PC to roll twice for Perception rolls, Fright Checks, and Self-Control Rolls -taking the worst result. Effects are cumulative, meaning that multple attempts by the same PC to sleep (without feeding the fish) trigger more FP loss.
• Somewhere under the table is a container with "Fish Food" written upon it. The contents do in fact appear to be fish food.

If the area near the fireplace is investigated:

• The fire appears to be relatively normal fire, perhaps with some minor enchantment to cause it to burn more efficiently.
• A small collection of wood is nearby, apparently for the fireplace.
• Upon the mantle are various figurines, knickknacks, and a tiny wooden box. The wooden box contains loose leaf tobacco and rolling papers.
• The wooden chair is a rather plain wooden chair.
• a wrought iron firepoker is nearby

The Bunk Beds:

• It defies logic, but -while lying in either bed- the beds somehow always seems to be have more room and be more spacious than seems possible. Despite being single-sized beds, the beds can each comfortably hold up to 4 SM+0 creatures.
• Assuming the fish has been fed, sleeping in the bottom bunk gives a good night's rest. Normal HP and FP recovery are doubled. If the fish has not been fed, any sleep is plagued by horrible nightmares, refer to the section on feeding the fish above.
• Sleeping in the top bunk is as listed for the bottom bunk, but with an additional feature. Any creature sleeping in the top bunk must roll 1D. On a roll of 1, no additional effect; on a roll of 2-5, the creature awakes in a room of the GM's choosing; on a roll of 6, the creature awakes in the center of The Misty Cells.

Connections -

• North to The Misty Cells
• Top Bunk/Sleep to (TBD or see above)