Collaborative DFRPG Mega-Dungeon

[Tom H.]

Originally Posted by David Johansen

Rick Loomis Memorial Room.

I thought this was a very concise and imaginative contribution.

I had a little trouble understanding the details of the description. In a way, I appreciated the brevity of the character statistics this being a derivative of GURPS.

[b-dog]

The secret temple:

There is a secret door in an unused hallway of the dungeon. To detect it is -8 to Per. The wall will open into an alcove and vestibule. Along the wall are old iron hooks rusted with age and black robes are on each hook. There is an old chest made of a strange silver alloy which has been tarnished blackish grey. To open the chest requires a Lock pick of -5. Inside the chest are 40 gold pieces and $500 worth of small gems ranging from rubies to emeralds to sapphires.

Also in the chest are 9 black candles. Any holy warriors or holy clerics will feel unease around the candles and if they are picked up by a holy PC the PC will become nauseous for 1d6 minutes. All others touching the candles will be fine.

If the candles are lit they will produce flame normally but they will cast very disturbing shadows.

There is a curtain at the end of the vestibule which is black with a silver symbol of three triangles intertwined to make a nine pointed star. Behind the curtain is a natural staircase which leads deep down almost 300 feet. The staircase spirals as it descends. Carved into the walls are niches with leering skulls placed into them. They are of humans and humanoid races. Some have almost terrified looks while other seem completely confused.

The stairway ends in a natural cavern with a polished obsidian floor. There is an inlay or silver and platinum which forms a nine pointed star made from three triangles similar to the one on the curtain.

There are chains that seems to be used to bind a human or humanoid sacrifice onto the floor. This is made of an unknown black metal.

At each point of the star is a place for a candle, nine total. If the candles from the vestibule are place into the hole and lit then a strange thing happens. Nothing is unusual until all the candles are lit. But when they are then the candles grow in light and will make it impossible to see for 9 seconds then the candles will dim until the flame turns black. The roof and wall of the cave will appear to be an open night sky filled with stars. The star light will cast a blueish light.

Then from the stars descend 9 huge black tentacles. These tentacles are very strong ST 40 each with 40 hitpoints and they regenerate 9 points per second. They wrestle and grapple with a 25 skill. They will try to pick a person up that is chained to the floor first but if nobody is chained then they will try to grapple any one in the area. If the candles are extinguished then the sky will vanish and the tentacles will disappear and it will revert back to the cave.

Once a person is grappled then they are pulled up into the sky and then the candles go out and the cave turns to normal. The bones of the person taken will fall a while later onto the floor and the skull will have a very strange expression and almost seem mad. A platinum disk will also fall to the floor with the name Aesaron inscribed on it.

[Tom H.]

Originally Posted by b-dog

The secret temple:

Well written and very spooky.

It feels imbued with Lovecraft and Gygax.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by b-dog

The secret temple:

There is a secret door in an unused hallway of the dungeon. To detect it is -8 to Per. ...

This is generally awesome, but a -8 secret door in a disused hallway in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard” means it is very unlikely any PC will get tentacled. Perhaps there could be more clues? Or a map? Or a dark talisman? Or some cultists in the cafeteria discussing it over dubious egg salad sammiches?

[martinl]

The Greenskin Caves

Level: 1

This area is oddly smooth, worn down my millennia of occupation. Anyone entering it gains Laziness (15) (or reduce the control number for existing laziness by 3) for the duration.

This is one of the oldest sections of the dungeon. It was already ancient when the God of the Underworld brought it here thousands of years ago. It has been inhabited by various slovenly brutes for so long that the grime has formed into a sort of smooth, filthy lacquer, and that in turn has been eroded and redeposited so many times that these surfaces are now as hard as iron.

All of the inhabitants of this place have been soul-bound to the dungeon - when killed they disperse as mist, then reappear in the same location 1d*1d hours later. They have all died more deaths than you have had days, and they are so all bone tired that they no longer even crave an end to it all. They go through the motions of life, fighting off delvers, because that is just what they do, but this listlessness gives them all a negative lower purpose penalty of -1. PCs will get the impression they aren't really trying their hardest. On the other hand, they have practiced all of their skills extensively (increase all skill levels by 6) and know exactly what any of the others will do - assume they have any teamwork/co-operation based perks they might need.

There are three major lobes, laid out like lobes of the club suit symbol.

The Brute Caverns has many trolls and ogres, and a "small" giant, who will attempt to smash any intruders to paste with blunt objects. The noise of fighting one will probably cause the other brutes in nearby caves to waltz in slowly to join the carnage.

Jackdaw Pinktoes, a sort of proto-halfling (furry all over), sings ancient, sad songs of blood and thunder to whichever brute currently controls him.

The Goblin Warren is a maze of cramped twisty passages, all more or less alike, full of goblins who know the layout, the secret doors, and the traps perfectly. They have refined their guerilla tactics to a needle point, and have an amazing assortment of mental, social, and physical derangements. Some wear gimp suits and attempt to grapple with chains, some are naked and covered in poison, and at least one just hunches down, grimaces, and explodes as a 7d explosive fireball.

The Barracks is full of drill yards and fortifications, where mismatched units of greenskins who have drilled together longer than your species has had any organized military go through the motions of defending the area from intruders.

The Chief technically lives here, but since no one wants to bother any more this role is assigned randomly when someone wants to talk to "the chief." Knucklebone dice will literally be rolled with the loser sighing before being hoisted on their companion's shields for negotiations.

Treasure in this area is disappointing, since the inhabitants and their equipment vaporize when slain and the inhabitants stopped coveting wealth ages ago, but if they manage to kill other delvers they'll just push the bodies into a corner to fossilize rather than looting the bodies.

Connections -

• North to The Pit
• A lazy underground river enters the barracks and exits through the caverns
• Several pit traps in the warrens drop you to unpleasant places on level 2.
• A Portcullis to the SW
• A partially collapsed unstable cave to the SE

[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.