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Old 01-06-2023, 06:15 AM   #11
Dammann
 
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Default Re: #Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

Galdurnaut in a Porcelain Emporium

A series of octagonal rooms are joined at alternate walls by a three yard wide arch. The rooms stretch into the darkness. Players who explore will find that the arcade of rooms has 45 octagonal cells arranged into a 5x9 grid. None of these spaces are lit.

In each octagonal cell is a wooden table balanced on a single slender leg. The tables are filled with delicate and ornate porcelain urns, bowls, chalices, and statuary. A fine, even dust covers everything, and while moving at 1 hex per turn through a room poses no risk to the objects, running past, swinging weapons, or making any sudden motions like a dodge or a retreat will knock a piece to the floor and shatter it.

After explorers spend a minute or two examining the clearly valuable objects, a galdurnaut charges from the darkness toward the party, smashing aside tables and porcelain in a mindless cascade of destruction.

Hazards
Walking through any room with broken porcelain requires no roll at Move 1. Moving any faster requires a DX roll at a penalty equal to hexes moved minus one. Using any weapon with a reach greater than C is also an automatic failure of this DX roll, as is a dodge or retreat; so a retreating dodge equals two failures, moving at move 3 requires a DX-2 roll for failure. Failure spreads broken fragments of pottery to cover the floor. Multiple failures cause multiple pieces to be broken. Broken pottery does 1d-5 per piece in a room to anyone wearing less substantial footwear than boots. Each room contains 10+2d beautiful and fragile porcelain objects.

Also, a 15’ long metal bull with poison breath is trying to trample and kill everyone, while destroying objects d’art at a dizzying rate.

Treasure
After the galdurnaut is dealt with, any surviving pieces weigh 4d pounds and are worth 1d times 1d times $750. They are a hassle to carry out, most will probably get smashed into ad hoc caltrops, but it’s a decent haul if you happen to have a padded wheelbarrow handy.
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Old 01-10-2023, 03:04 PM   #12
ericthered
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Default Re: #Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dalin View Post
I love the reverse-gravity pool on the ceiling. Perfect DF flavor.
Thanks.

Quote:
A combat-focused party will likely make short work of the tentacles. Maybe they grow back quickly so you really need to take out the main body to defeat it. I would also change "10 damage" to "10 injury" to sever a tentacle. Might boost DR a bit too (rubbery skin).
Thanks for the summary. I changed the 10 damage to 10 injury, and boosted DR to 4... which still feels high to me.

Fighting the tentacles is a really valid tactic, as long as no one gets pulled into the pool. So I made the tentacles slowly come back... it will take about five hours. So either next time you pass, or if you really dally, when you're coming back home low on resources.

Quote:
With that said, it doesn't need to be a boss. It would definitely be a threat to the main group that I GM for (they're not optimized for combat).
Yeah, its not intended to be a boss. Its intended to be a sort of puzzled room.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dammann View Post
Galdurnaut in a Porcelain Emporium
Ok, this is clever. I love the battle concept: how do you maximize the surviving treasure? if you act to fast, you loose treasure. If you act too slow, you loose treasure.



The numbers on the treasure are confusing though. Are you supposed to place less than 45 art pieces before the battle? or does the amount of damage control the players do not matter and they just end up with 10+2d objects afterwards no matter what? both of those feel weird to play with.

The money here feels a little high: the median art piece is worth $7,500. I get that you have to do a little extra work, but that's enough that making home with just the best piece makes the whole delve worth it... I think. I'm still getting my feet under me in regard to DF economics.
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Old 01-10-2023, 03:32 PM   #13
ericthered
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Default Re: #Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

Jan 10 etr

Description: A 5 yard by 5 yard chamber, with low ceilings. In the center is a stone dias with an singed Ivory cube on it, resting in a depression. A loud tone emanates from the cube, as does a faint glow. In the dias is a small receptacle for something to drop into.

The Dias and the Cube: The ivory cube, about six inches on each side, has animals inscribed on all six sides: Bear, Hare, Wolf, Stag, Rat, and Boar. Its initially found in the Wolf Position. Removing the cube more than a yard from the dias causes everything in the room to take 3d6 fire damage, repeated every three seconds until the cube is returned or is farther than 20 yards away. Rotating the cube in the dias has an effect depending on which side is placed facing up.

Bear or Stag: Everything in the Room takes 3d6 fire damage
Hare: magical darkness fills the room, as via the blackout spell
Wolf: A Clear loud Tone emanates from the Cube. If this is started back up after its been gone for a minute or more, roll for wandering monsters.
Rat: A key drops out of a cornucopia enchantment in the Dias. This key goes to some other room in the dungeon, but which?
Boar: A booming raucous voice calls out: "Stop insulting me with your guesses. You will never get the key". roll for wandering monsters

vision: -3 (soft glowing cube)
hearing: -7 (if the tone from the cube is on)

exits: None
treasure: The cube is worth about $500. The Cornucopia enchantment will fail if moved. The keys are essentially scrap metal. This is a world with Cornucopia enchantments
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Old 01-12-2023, 11:48 AM   #14
Dalin
 
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Default Re: #Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

We had two snow days at my school (I'm a middle school teacher) in Minnesota last week. This led to a whimsical title of a room called "Snow Day." As happens with gaming, this ballooned into a whole thing. I'm finally ready to start posting some of it.

——————————

1/4 — Gear Room

Description: The stone passage gets notably colder as the party proceeds. Ahead, there’s the sound of wind, and occasional flurries of snow gust from the darkness. To the left side, a rough opening leads into a messy cave filled with various bits of gear relating to cold weather. There are makeshift skis and snowshoes in a variety of sizes (including some that are clearly intended for non-human limbs). There are also a few rank heaps of rags, mangy fur, and bits of leather that could be cobbled together to provide some protection from the wind. Any furs of decent quality have been absconded with.

A successful Scrounging roll will find appropriate gear quickly (~1 minute per person). A failure (or no roll) will take longer: 2 minutes × margin of failure, max 10 minutes per person. A critical success finds gear rapidly and reveals a valuable item that was accidentally left in the room (GM’s choice).

Vision: -10 (total darkness)
Hearing: normal
Exits: One entrance from the main passage.

Hazards
Encounters: This is a well-traveled portion of the caves. Roll 3d once upon arrival and again after every 15 minutes in this room (see Encounter Table, below). Monsters may not be immediately aggressive, especially in the face of a strong, well-organized party; use a reaction roll to determine their demeanor with penalties or bonuses as appropriate to the party’s deportment.
Encounter Table (3d)
Code:
3–6	1d hobgoblins (Monsters, p. 34) + twice as many goblins (Monsters, p. 33)
7–8	1d goblins (Monsters, p. 33)
9–12	No encounter
13–15	2d coleopterans (The Bugstiary, p. 48)
16–18 	Nýi, a Dvergr scout (~375 points) on a mission. A loner with high
	Stealth (17), she will only interact with the group if they appear
	friendly. On a good reaction, she would be willing to guide the party 
	through the snow caves (see 1/5 — Snow Day) in exchange for 
	information about areas that the PCs have explored.
Treasure
If any gear from the chamber is kept, it can be resold for 15% of standard retail, at best. For reference (prices already marked down):
  • Makeshift skis [$25, 10 lbs.]
  • Makeshift snowshoes [$15, 5 lbs.]

Last edited by Dalin; 01-12-2023 at 12:10 PM.
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Old 01-12-2023, 12:09 PM   #15
Dalin
 
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Default Re: #Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

1/5 — Snow Day

Description: This area of natural caverns—see the map—is magically filled with wind and snow. Because it connects to a number of areas, it is well-traveled despite the hostility of the environment. A few feet of loose snow covers the deeper snowpack making for slow movement without skis or snowshoes (see Movement, below). The ceiling rises 3 yards above the snow at the edges of caves and in the smaller passages and rises another 2d yards above that in the larger caves. Walls and ceilings are often coated in layers of frost and ice.
Vision: -10 (total darkness); max -4 with illumination (due to blowing snow)
Hearing: -3 (moaning wind)
Exits: Six passages, approximately 4-yards wide.

Hazards
Movement: Hiking through the caves in regular boots (or worse) is at Move ×0.20 (minimum 1). Snowshoes increase this to Move ×0.50. Skis allow full Move if the PC either has the Skiing skill or succeeds at a default roll (for this purpose, use the higher of HT-6 or DX-6) . In all cases, encumbrance and fatigue affect movement normally.

Bitter Cold: The raw temperature hovers around 0°F, but wind chills drive the effective temperature down another 20–25°. Each PC must roll vs. HT for exposure when they first enter the cave and again every 10 minutes. The base roll is at a -2 penalty, minus another point after every 10 minutes until it bottoms out at -5. Moreover, apply the following additional modifiers: -5 for normal clothes; 0 for regular winter clothes; +5 for genuine arctic clothing; +3 for the Warmth spell; automatic success for Resist Cold. Using the rags from 1/4 — Gear Room can offset three points of penalty. In all cases, success allows the character to proceed unhampered. Failure means losing FP equal to margin of failure. This is not cumulative, but PCs should take the penalty for their worst margin of failure (i.e., they won’t warm up while in the caves without supernatural help).

Random Events: Roll 2d
Code:
2	1 ice wyrm (Monsters, p. 38); 1 in 6 chance of a coleopteran rider 
	(see 1/7 — Chtiksizz and the Ice Wyrms).
3	The Dvergr scout, Nýi, referenced in 1/4 — Gear Room. If the party 
	already met her there (or she is accompanying them), treat this 
	roll as an ice alf, below.
4 	1 ice alf (Norđlondr Óvinabókin, p. 115).
5	Snow well — The wind and uneven floor of the cavern create a few
	nearly-invisible “pits” of loose snow that can be quite dangerous,
	especially to skiers. Roll vs. Per-8 to spot the pit in advance. Skiers 
	must roll vs. Skiing to avoid it if they see it first. (Snowshoers can stop
	more easily.) When someone falls in, snow from the surrounding area 
	will collapse into the pit, potentially trapping a victim. Treat it as a three 
	yard fall with injury to a random hit location. Roll vs. Survival (Arctic) to 
	extricate oneself from the pit without help. Otherwise, other PCs need 
	to assist. 
6–7	Equipment failure — Ski or snowshoe breaks or comes loose.
8	Crevasse, 1d yards across, 1d+3 yards deep.
9	1d goblins (Monsters, p. 33) on makeshift skis.
10	1d hobgoblins (Monsters, p. 34) + twice as many goblins
	(Monsters, p. 33) on makeshift skis.
11	2d coleopterans (The Bugstiary, p. 48) with custom
	snowshoes.
12	1 ísmargfćtlur (Norđlondr Óvinabókin, p. 117).
Treasure
Wandering encounters will have gear and cash appropriate to their mission. There is certainly other loot to be found within the snow, but it would be difficult and dangerous to find. If the characters want to pursue a thorough survey of these caves, the GM should flesh it out more fully.

Map
The map represents this area of the cave system. The entrance is in the northeast corner (assume north is up) above the 1/5 label. A few areas of particular interest are keyed.
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Old 01-12-2023, 12:55 PM   #16
Queetser
 
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Default Re: #Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

This whole exercise has me working on two dungeons, one for the end of the year (I'm hoping our New Years eve deal becomes tradition). And one for more immediate play.

The bigger New Years Eve event will need to be epic in scope and I hope to have remastered the game to the extent that I can do a truly otherworldly dungeon justice. The higher levels of the 2023 dungeons will be filled with various failed cultists and the creatures attracted to that kind of mental/psychic/magical failure and weaknesses. While the lower levels will be filled with the truly soul-shaking horrors.

Since I do not want to wreck a years worth of character development and gameplay I will probably adjust the homebrewed critters between now and then.

I have been listening to the Lovecraft audiobooks to get into the proper mood.
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Old 01-12-2023, 02:15 PM   #17
Dalin
 
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Default Re: #Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

1/6 — Steep Slope (use Snow Day map)

Description: The passage slopes steeply down to the southwest here. It can be traversed rapidly by skilled skiers, requiring a Skiing roll at -4 to avoid a fall (margin of failure × 1d crushing damage to a random body part). The passages to the north descend much more gradually.
Vision: -10 (total darkness); max -4 with illumination (due to blowing snow)
Hearing: -3 (moaning wind)

Last edited by Dalin; 01-15-2023 at 07:44 AM.
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Old 01-13-2023, 07:32 AM   #18
ericthered
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Default Re: #Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dalin View Post
1/6 — Steep Slope

Description: The passage slopes steeply down to the southwest here. It can be traversed rapidly by skilled skiers, requiring a Skiing roll at -4 to avoid a fall (margin of failure × 1d crushing damage to a random body part). The passages to the north descend much more gradually.
Vision: -10 (total darkness); max -4 with illumination (due to blowing snow)
Hearing: -3 (moaning wind)
What if you don't have skiing?


should the margin of failure be capped in terms of damage?
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Old 01-13-2023, 12:29 PM   #19
Dalin
 
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Default Re: #Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
What if you don't have skiing?
Good question. If you don't have the skill, but you are on skis, I would roll against the default (HT-6, or I would allow DX-6). Without skis, my thinking is that you're moving slowly enough that you'll be able to slowly clamber down the slope.

Quote:
should the margin of failure be capped in terms of damage?
Yeah, I wasn't sure how to model this. I was thinking that there should be a risk of crippling injury from a crash, but nothing too extreme. Maybe cap it at 3d of damage?
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Old 01-13-2023, 01:10 PM   #20
Dalin
 
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Default Re: #Dungeon23 Megadungeon Challenge

1/7 — Sacrificial Grotto (use Snow Day map)

Description: Rusty iron chains and manacles in a variety of sizes are attached to rings that have been pounded into the wall here. There is a 1 in 6 chance that 1d prisoners are present. Most prisoners are goblins or hobgoblins. The local goblin nation uses this as a form of execution (or ritual sacrifice?), feeding the ice wyrms from 1/9 — Ice Wyrms.
Vision: -10 (total darkness); max -4 with illumination (due to blowing snow)
Hearing: -3 (moaning wind)

Hazards
Dinner Bell: If the party stays here for longer than an hour, one of the wyrms is likely to come and investigate, thinking (correctly!) that there is a meal waiting.

Last edited by Dalin; 01-15-2023 at 07:59 AM.
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