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Old 03-29-2020, 08:00 PM   #1
b-dog
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Default Running a corruptive evil dungeon

The typical dungeon is one where the dungeon is filled with evil monsters and NCPs and they either wait to be attacked or they have bands of monsters go into the town and raid the towns and villages nearby. But I want a dungeon where the townspeople are seduced by evil into joining a dark cult in the dungeon. ( Just the way Jack Chick would have imagined) The dungeon would need to be defeated to save the souls of the townspeople who have fallen under the spell of the forces of evil. This would make the town part of the dungeon. So I am not sure how to handle the townspeople who have been tempted. They should not be evil, just under the spell of the dark cult. They would aid the cult when possible and also inform them as to what the PCs are up to. Not everyone in the town has been seduced so the PCs will have to do detective work to find out who is aligned with evil. Some townspeople will have made a pact with the forces of evil and they will detect as evil and likely have some evil powers. Any ideas on how to run this set up? Thanks.
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Old 03-29-2020, 09:09 PM   #2
tbone
 
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Default Re: Running a corruptive evil dungeon

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Originally Posted by b-dog View Post
But I want a dungeon where the townspeople are seduced by evil into joining a dark cult in the dungeon. ( Just the way Jack Chick would have imagined)
Let me guess: The townspeople, terrified by the nearby dungeon, dealt with their fears by gaming out heroic dungeon-cleaning adventures. Which led them straight into the Devil's clutches, just as Jack said it would. I like! : )

Now. Even if townspeople don't actually "join" the local dungeon as cultists, I've always been interested in the idea of locals who don't welcome delvers. If it's not a dire "please save our village!" scenario, then obviously the town is somehow getting by despite the dungeon - whether because of the hoary old trope of appeasing the monsters with sacrifices, or because they've effectively (?) sealed up the opening, or because it's a simple matter of "the monsters don't bother us if we don't bother them".

Delvers coming to raid the dungeon risk upsetting the peace. The townies are probably smart enough to know they're not going to talk the delvers out of their treasure hunt, and too smart (and scared) to try using force. I can see the townies – whether evil followers of the dungeon cult, or good people who are (justifiably) terrified – offering nothing but help to the PCs, while supplying them with foods known to attract dungeon crawlies, sugar-water "potions of invisibility", and flat-out lies about which tunnels are safe. And then barricading the entrance behind the PCs.*

*That's a particularly nasty tactic – though for any group that started with "I Smell a Rat", being barricaded inside the dungeon is old hat. : )
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Old 03-30-2020, 07:38 AM   #3
thrash
 
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Default Re: Running a corruptive evil dungeon

There is also the "Twilight Zone" (or maybe "Walmart") approach:

A new dungeon appears beyond the edge of town (say, half an hour's walk). The first few levels are easy. It's reasonably well lit. Anyone with a modicum of common sense can avoid or disarm the traps. Anyone with a club or staff can defeat the creatures. The loot isn't spectacular -- a few copper pennies, slightly better weapons (knives or hatchets), bits of leather armor, household goods (blankets, pots and pans), etc. -- but it's consistent. These items start to distort the town economy: it's quicker to run into the dungeon to look for a new cookpot than to wait for the wandering tinker to come around. The loot found near the entrance also makes it easier to go deeper...

Soon, the town is entirely dependent on the dungeon for even basic necessities. Vegetables and grain are still farmed in the surrounding villages and sold in the market, but leather and meat are provided as byproducts of monster kills rather than hunting or husbandry. None of the craftsmen produce much any more: the blacksmith makes a living sharpening weapons and adjusting armor found in the dungeon, and so on. Occasional merchants bring luxury items to trade for high-value loot (gems) but don't stay long -- the townspeople regard them with suspicion and encourage them to leave as soon as their business is done. The local lord is happy with the increase in cash payments of his taxes, and so leaves the town alone.

Eventually, the town's delvers (who include most of the able-bodied, one way or another) start bringing back more interesting items. Potions that make you look and feel younger. A mirror that shows you portentious events in your future, helping to choose which way to go. Censors that grant very vivid, very explicit dreams if you sleep while they're lit. The town's priestess finds a golden icon that is very similar to the holy symbol of her religion and sets it up on the altar. The former rite of passage for young people is replaced with delving to a particular fountain on the 10th level and bathing in its water.

Our adventurers face the problem that the townspeople don't want to be saved: they are happy with the status quo, and would have a very hard time reverting to their old ways of life. So what if a few travellers disappear from time to time? nobody asked them to come to the town, anyway.
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Old 03-31-2020, 02:59 PM   #4
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Default Re: Running a corruptive evil dungeon

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Originally Posted by thrash View Post
Our adventurers face the problem...
I'm sorry, I'm not seeing what the actual problem is. What problem are they faced with? Wealth, conveyance? In what manner are those problems?
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