#Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

[ericthered]

14 Apr 2023 etr

Description: A 3 yard by 3 yard room. There is strongbox on the left, a large chest on the right, and carved text on the wall opposite the door.

The Left Strongbox: 12 DR, 10 HP, with a Heavy Lock (9 DR 18 HP) that requires lockpicking at -5. A magical trap attacks the room for 3d6 fire damage per second for 1 minute if the lock is attempted to be picked, or if the chest is attacked or attempted to be forced. Traps or Thaumatology can spot the trap (small runes), and a second roll against either but at -4 can disable it. The Strongbox is held to the floor by Heavy bolts (9 DR 18 HP). The strong box contains an iron and ivory wand of stone to flesh, intricately shaped like rocks and parts of a skeleton. Can function as an ornate (+3) mace . Worth $20,500, 5lbs. The strongbox itself is worth $250, and weighs 15 lbs.

The Right Strongbox: 12 DR, 10 HP, with a Heavy Lock (9 DR 18 HP) that requires lockpicking at -5. No trap on this strongbox, though it IS bolted to the floor by Heavy bolts (9 DR 18 HP). Contains a set of chains and manacles designed to completely immobilize a victim. Weighs 20lbs, costs $200, takes a full minute to put on or take off a subject. The strongbox itself is worth $250, and weighs 15 lbs.

The Message: The message is carved deeply into the stone, in common. It will grow back in an hour if the surface is damaged. The text reads:

To revive your master though needs live flesh of the worthy
They lie about bound in magic and stone
Bind one in iron, free them from stone,
Then bring them to the cradle of death and life
The key is of bone and stone

[ericthered]

17 Apr 2023

Description: A 4 yard by 20 yard sandy beach. Three life-sized statues stand on the beach. The sand counts as bad footing. An inscription is carved on the wall.

The Statues: Three statues looking dejected, and with no equipment aside from their clothing. They are the victims of flesh to stone spells.

• Vancilia Requalion: Sea Elf Wizard, specializing in the movement college and light and darkness college. Turned to stone 136 years ago, she belonged to a party with a distinctive gift for thievery.
• Haruk the Ember: An enthusiastic and bombastic fire mage with a fierce temper and proud aspect. Haruk is also good with Body Control and Metamagic, and has a particular hatred for (and knowledge of) elder things. Haruk was a member of a party crusading against evil in general and polriket in particular. He was turned to stone 82 years ago.
• Johan Trell: A Human Necromancer with a deep booming voice who will tell anyone who asks he's a minor wizard. The spells he'll talk about are mostly communication and mind control. He was turned to stone 172 years ago. Johan knew Polriket personally and at one point was his apprentice. He will tell characters that his teacher was turned to stone with him, but is no longer there.*

The Wizards will stick with the party as long as it takes for them to leave the dungeon. Johan just wants to leave, and knows the cultist areas of the cave. Vancilia wants to get out quickly, but might fight aggressively if offered some of the treasure (and might talk or steal her way into some treasure regardless). She knows about the water routes of the dungeon. Haruk is happy to lend his magic, as well as his advice, criticism, and pontificating.

The Inscription: Deep letters carved in stone:
Enemies of Mystic Strength Shall Serve Me Longest and Most Terribly

Entrances: This is the "southeast" Beach of Mar 3, more east than south.

[ericthered]

And that's completes the beach section. It took a while, though its small, because I was working on a bunch of other things at the same time. I'm not happy with the state of the stats for the wizards you find, but I can build them out later. This area essentially lacks wandering monsters, but feels historically rich: the places visited have a strong sense of purpose.

This area sports 1 custom monster, plus a reused custom monster, and a total of six encounters. It has three exits: two of them are portals, and one is a little off the beaten path and will take some creativity to get to.

Here is a map: its less immediately useful in say, a VTT, than some of the others I've made, because of the scale of the lake.

[ericthered]

18 Apr etr

Description: A roughly 15 yard by 20 yard round natural rock pool. 90 degrees of the pool is open to a 6 yard drop, while the rest has natural limestone walls. The pool is shaped like a gentle bowl, with a maximum depth of five feet, but being only inches deep around the edges. A small sprinkling of water runs over the edge, as does a chain. As the edge leads to a deep pool, no damage is taken from falls.

Visibility: -7 (glow from room below illuminates a little)

Exits: An Underwater channel leads to Feb 6. A brass (+1 CF, doesn't corrode) chain is anchored to the stone 4 yards into the pool. Climbing up and down is at -1. The chain is covered with limestone: its been here long enough that rock is forming around it (decades).

Treasure: The chain is worth $300, and weighs 60 lbs. It has DR 6 HP. Harvesting the venom from the eyeless serpent takes a survival roll and something to collect it in, but is worth $200.

Monsters: an eyeless serpent lives in this pool. Use the Basic set stats for a rattlesnake, but add amphibious, vibration sense, and blind, change the poison cycles to 2 hours, and make the poison also cause moderate pain instantly (-2 to DX, IQ, skill, and self control rolls). It counts as a dire animal. If disturbed it will bite once and then try to escape.

[ericthered]

19 Apr etr

Description: A circular pool 11 yards across. It looks natural, but is a little too perfectly circular. The pool is 7 yards deep. Several small stones in the walls of the pool glow with bluish light, and a little bit of algae clings to the sides of the pool.

Exits: A bronze chain leads 6 yards up a cliff to Apr18. A glowing bluish portal on the same wall at the bottom of the pool leads to the portal in Mar 3. To the left of the bronze chain, a channel 2 yards high and filled 4 feet with water heads out, and on the opposite side of the bronze chain is a ledge a mere 6 inches above the water.

Monsters: An eyeless Serpent (Apr18) lives here. It will only attack if disturbed.

Vision: -5 (glowing blue stones and portal provides some light)

Treasure: the serpent's venom. The glowing blue stones are called marlum, and only glow underwater. Each is half a pound and worth $50, illuminating out to six yards at -5. There are 11 of these stones. Identifying and harvesting them requires a successful prospecting roll.

[ericthered]

20 apr etr

description: A 10 yard by 5 yard room, carved out of rock, with one side open to a pool (Apr 19). Four Stone benches are found here, and the walls have six hooks each.

lighting: -8 (from glow in pool in Apr19)

exits: The room leads to the pool in Apr19. Opposite it, is a pair of large Heavy Ironbound Double Doors (DR 15, HP 39). They are locked, but its a big simple lock (+2 to be picked, DR 9, 18 HP).

Monsters: Two erupting slimes lie on the floor. These ones are not amphibious (this can be identified with a naturalist roll).

Treasure: Unchargeable baton of blindness ($12,000, 1lb, wizardly, baton). seven fine balanced Large Knives ($320, 1 lb each)

[ericthered]

21 Apr etr

description: A circular room 25 yards across. In the center is a circular altar 3 yards across with a oversized golden skull on it, two feet across. A three yard wide three yard deep Moat runs around the altar, at a distance of 3.5 yards from the center to 6.5 yards from the center. Skeleton soldiers line the walls, and the floor is littered with bones.

The altar: The altar detects as evil and magic. It is covered with magical runes, and has eight spikes coming up from the center, each with a skull on it. As long as it is active, all undead in the room regenerate 1 HP/sec, all corpses in the room are reanimated as zombies, and undead get +3 vs holy effects. The altar uses a combination of divine and arcane magic. Deactivating it requires removing all eight skulls from the altar, plus the larger sculpture. (deducing this requires Thaumatology, Religious Ritual, Theology, or Hidden Lore (undead or Magic Items). -5 to the roll if they don't have a good way to inspect the runes on the altar.

Treasure: The gold off of the skull weighs 3 lbs... $60,000 worth! The giant stone head is heavy though: its 300 lbs. Getting the gold off requires some sort of smith or prospecting roll to avoid leaving some behind and scattering a bunch on the floor. The Skeleton's weapons are valuable in aggregate, if heavy: 20 long bows ($4,000, 60lbs), 20 short swords ($8,000, 40lbs), 25 medium shields ($1,500, 375 lbs), 15 axes ($750, 60lbs), 10 maces ($500, 50 lbs), and 15 long spears ($900, 75 lbs).

Monsters: 60 skeletons are in this room. They will try to kill any living being that enters. 20 of them are archers with short swords. 15 use a shield and an axe. 15 use long-spears in two hands (+1 to spear damage, reach 2,3). 10 use a shield and mace.

Lighting: -10 (None)

Notes: Yes, this is meant to be really hard, and possibly require trickery to pull off. Its supposed to look super intimidating, and that golden Skull is meant to look super valuable. I'm debating putting an undead leader in here to make things a bit tougher.


Exits: Four archways, equally spaced out.

[ericthered]

24 Apr etr

Description: A 20 yard by 4 yard hall, lined with seven doors and six lantern hooks on each side. Each door leads to a three by three room. The area is littered with smashed wood, torn cloth, old stuffing, broken pottery, and various bits and bobs. The doors are in sorry shape: the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th on the left are open but intact, as is the 1st and 3rd on the right. The others have been ripped off of their hinges. Careful inspection will reveal these rooms and their former furnishings are shaped for dwarves.

Monsters: Three Elder Rippers. These are massive creatures covered with some sort of strain alien hide, sporting cruel beaks, a fine covering of tentacles on their back and in a crest They have Four arms, and four eyes with dark irises and white pupils. A successful Hidden Lore (Elder Things) roll identifies them, and tells of their sense of smell, their stupidity, and their purpose of cleansing the material realm of humanoid life. They Use the stats for Seige beasts, but with the following changes:

• No Hammer
• Add Darkvision, Doesn't Eat, Drink, or Sleep, and Resistant to metabolic Hazards +3, and Discriminatory Smell
• Add extra arm 2, and extra attack
• Change the Class to Elder thing

Treasure: The beaks and eyes of Elder Rippers are powerful alchemical ingredients. A successful survival or alchemy roll gives organs worth $1500 and weighing 2 lbs. The eyes require protection or they will be squished all over the luggage and become worthless. Just the beak is worth $500 and it weighs half a pound. Careful and time consuming searching can pull up to 500 lbs of scrap out of this area (30 minutes per 100 lbs).

Vision: -10 (no light)

Exits: A smashed door leads into and out of the hall.

[ericthered]

25 Apr etr

Description: A 4 yard by 4 yard chamber with an inscription written on the wall.

The Inscription: A Thuamotology+4, Occultism, or Hidden Lore (Magic Items) +4 roll will reveal this wall to be a scroll of sorts: a mage can recite the words to perform a custom summoning spell, which function much like Planar summons, but it has no control effect, only costs 10 energy, and only summons the subject for about 10 minutes. The target is not apparent, but a Thaumatology-4 roll will reveal it is the ghost of a mortal named Polriket. The spell will only work if Polriket is dead (not undead). It does not provide energy to cast, its universal scroll, has a skill of 20, and it doesn't disappear when cast. By default, Polriket is dead.

Monsters: The spell summons Polriket's spirit essense for 10 minutes if summoned. The Spectre can take any visible shape, but when summoned deep in his lair, generally appears as Polriket did in life: a Dark One Wizard fond of rat motifs. Destroying this spectre will not destroy Polriket, only this manifestation of him, and it will vanish after 10 minutes. Use the stats of a spectre with the following changes:

• Use DX 12, IQ 16, Per 16, Will 20
• Add the skills Hidden Lore (undead, elder things, demons) -20, Thaumatology -20, Stealth-16, Fast-Talk -16, Intimidation -16, and public speaking -16.
• The spectre can't cast, but knows a lot of necromancy, body control, Gate, and communication and control, and metamagic spells, should it matter
• The spectre can take the appearance (but not stats) of anything between SM+3 and SM-5
• The spectre's class is elder thing

Entrance: A single archway, leading to Apr21

[ericthered]

26 Apr etr

Description: A 5 yard by 5 yard chamber. A stone bed or altar with chains to hold down a victim stands in the center. It is covered in runes. Pots of strange substances are stacked.

The Altar: The runes are in common, but simply support some process related to necromancy. An Occultism -4, Thaumatology, Or Hidden Lore (Undead or Magic Items) roll will reveal this Altar is for transforming the victim into an intelligent undead loyal to a master, retaining things like spell casting and high skill levels. It is stained with blood.

Treasure: An ornate knife made of human bone ($500, 1lb, armor is doubled), . 10 doses of Paut ($1350, 5 lbs) in a glass jar. $2,000 of dark alchemical ingredients for necromancy, in glass jars, weighing 20 lbs. These can only be sold on the black market. $2,000 of hazardous alchemical ingredients weighing 20 lbs: if they are transported or in combat, the carrier must make a hazardous materials (magical) roll or have $400 of the ingredients wasted and turned to corrosive gunk doing 1d6 corrosive damage to whatever its spilled on and 1d6 toxic damage if touched by a living creature. There is also 100 lbs of cheap but specialized ingredients like dried maggots, Raw Salt, putrified corpse, graveyard earth, and so forth, worth 100$ all together. A merchant, Alchemy, or hidden lore (undead) roll can identify the valuable items.

Entrance: A single archway, leading to Apr21