D&D General #Dungeon23

[Hriston]

21. This 30’ x 40’ room is empty.

 

[Cadence]

Not really a room, so I'll be adding one later today...

An introduction to the 365 rooms of
The Vault of Khesh Morag

The Vault - part prison, part former cross-world marketplace, part abducted slice of life from multiple realms - may have come to the attention of the party in many ways, perhaps:

• Some mystics on the world felt the arrival of a powerful force from beyond.
• An oracle sensed the arrival of a great lich.
• The sages predict the return of the legendary traveling market hall of Magnaemptio that last visited 400 or more years ago.
• The sages predict the return of the rampaging dungeon of Khesh Morag that was last seen between 350 and 400 years ago and spilled death across the countryside.
• The sages predict the return of the prison of Khesh Morag that was last seen sometime in the last 350 years.
• A huge chunk of the local underground has been replaced by something extradimensional -- apparently incorporating parts where some of the locals lived and are now possibly trapped inside.

Millennia ago, Khesh Morag - great old one touched, demon protege, arch-lich - was finally captured. Too powerful for his captors to destroy, he was imprisoned in a heavily enchanted crypt on a small moon of a deserted planet, with a small group of eternally vigilant (supposedly) guards to maintain the wards. Time and forgetfulness conspired to weaken the wards and memories of the guardians until, with vast expenditure of power, the lich was able to warp space and call some aid.

For Millennia the traveling market hall of Magnaemptio made its rotation through many worlds. A vast cave that was home to a variety of merchants, it would appear on each world in its rotation for its appropriate time - maybe for a night or a year, maybe once a century or once a millennia - before moving on. And then 400 years ago it showed up somewhere different.

For fifty years the merged market and vault rampaged across scores of realms, gradually adding pieces of those worlds to itself. And then finally it hit one with active enough patron deities to try and deal with it, but (again) not enough power to safely do the job completely. Seals were added to ward the vault from outside communications or any teleportation or gating, wards were installed to keep the things inside away from the entrance and the guards, and a great Archon - Kiven Valpus - was installed as warden.

The Vault still travels, and once in a while picks up a new addition, but no longer spills death willy-nilly where it arrives.

The specifics of the Archon and the rules for interacting with the Vault are in room 2 (link coming when I make it). If the final hook given above is used, the newly missing local environs can be used to replace the section of the vault that starts at room 200 (link coming when I make it).

The entryway and room #1 is in post #118 D&D General - #Dungeon23

 

[Xamnam]

Week 3: SUNKEN

15. Fight Pit - A hexagonal depression has been carved out of the center of this chamber. A ghostly voice calls out for new challengers.
16. The Ruptured Basin - Origin of the water that now floods the area. A slow trickle still ebbs from the mostly empty catch basin
17. Armory - Most of the leftover armor and weapons have been ruined by the waist high water that fills this room.
18. Gilgu's Hideyhole - A descending hand torn tunnel, too small for normal sized creatures to enter. A magic amulet is stashed at the very end.
19. Barracks - What once were rows of neatly arranged bunks have moldered and decomposed in the stagnant water. Hungry bats roost in the high ceiling.
20. Frink's Kitchen - Mushrooms have overtaken this common space, some floating on algae mats. The oldest lie in wait to defend their mycelium family.
21. Airlock - This room descends into the water, becoming an entirely submerged tunnel. Well trained aquatic snakes serve as the final guards.

 

[M_Natas]

Day 21 - week 3!

As you explore the forgotten laboratory, you notice that a side wall has collapsed, revealing a cave that leads deeper into the earth. The cave seems abandoned, but as you look closer, you see that there are two other exits that lead further down into the earth. An old, large skeleton with a deformed head lies on the ground, its bones overgrown with fungi and picked clean by time and scavengers.
You can't help but wonder what happened here. Was the collapse of the wall a recent event or has it been there for centuries? Was the laboratory built on top of the cave, or was the cave discovered after the laboratory was abandoned? And who, or what, was the poor soul whose remains now lay before you?
As you stand there, contemplating the mystery, you can't shake off the feeling that this cave holds secrets that are yet to be uncovered. The two exits beckon you, inviting you to explore further, to discover what lies beneath the surface. The eerie silence of the cave is only broken by the sound of dripping water and the faint echoes of your own footsteps.
The old skeleton serves as a reminder that danger may lurk around every corner in this forgotten place, but the thrill of discovery is too great to ignore. You take a deep breath and head deeper into the cave, ready for whatever secrets it may hold.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This week went great. I got a full above-ground area written up (seven areas of interest in a small sandbox area), got an idea for an evocative room down below I wrote up as well.

And then I realized that I could give another layer to the background of my setting, ripping off not just one CRPG but a second one as well, which the later inhabitants built on top of. That new additional background means there will be a dungeon within a dungeon, with one week for several months being devoted to a now-lost complex that only has hidden entrances on the top and bottom levels to the rest of the complex. Player characters who find their way in -- there are clues on the surface already for those who speak to townsfolk in the town I sketched out the first week of January -- will get lots of deep lore about what's going on, a mix of classic OSR dungeon crossed with Call of Cthulhu, and a totally different set of resources to bring to bear in the lower half of the mega-dungeon.

I'm a big believer that players who like investigating every corner of a game setting should get rewarded for it, while those who don't care about such things should be able to plunge in and get a satisfying experience. This additional history and secret dungeon levels accomplishes both goals.

 

[Reynard]

01.21: Kinder Hall and Privy

Access: A door in the south wall leads to the upper kinder stair (01.19). There are two doors in the west wall: the southern one leads to the Kinder Lounge (01.22) and the northern one is locked and leads to one of the Kinder Bedrooms (01.23a).

Description: This long hallway is mostly nondescript. The white plaster on the walls has crumbled away to reveal stone and at the end of the hall a moldering curtain partially obscures the privy.

Waste Away: The Alastairn family experimented with many strange magics over the century and a half of their master of Parenix hall and explorations beneath Mornrax Hill. The kinder privy was the strange culmination of some of that research. The privy appears as any other, except that in the bowl is what can only be described as a sea of otherworldly stars. Anything dropped into the privy is torn from this universe and dropped in another, irrevocably irretrievable. Over the decades, the arcane engineering containing the magic of the privy has weakened, however, and if anything or anyone touches the “sea of stars” it or they must resist the pull or be themselves forcibly drawn into the privy and forever lost. If the privy itself is broken, the weird portal within flows out like water, devouring everything. In the end, anything and anyone within a 10 foot sphere of the privy is obliterated before the energy folds in on itself and closes the portal forever.

Treasure: A golden hair comb and a silver mirror can be found in the cabinet next to the privy.

 

[Bill Zebub]

1.21 Storeroom

• Boxes full of large candles
• A few standing iron candelabra. Heavy.
• White shrouds folded on a shelf. Modly.

 

[Cadence]

Room 75 - All that is lost...

A 15' x 15' room with doors in the center of each wall. Only the west door is locked.

The locked west door leads to east door in 74.
The north door leads to east door in 76.
The east door leads to east door in 73.
The south door leads to east door in 71.

The Derro Blinmot, Dakur, and Diinal aren't really here anymore and so are spared worrying about what the savant Inka Krigran might want or about backing up their comrades in 73 if needed. They're now the six-spike armed thing with the faint traces of two extra heads in its chest that stands perched on the chair in the corner. It loves listening to the Fallshine in room 74 next door. It has listened to it a lot. Duzlinn, the remaining Derro wouldn't listen and has been nailed to the top of the table, using the legs of some stools that used to be in the room. The table is cracked and leaning slightly and the chamber pot underneath collects whatever it needs to. Duzlinn hasn't talked much lately, but the four in room 73 to the east are heard once in a while, and sometimes the thing in 76 will jibber. The Tri-Derro thing tries not to be distracted from the music in it's head. It won't be happy if anything distracts it when it isn't ready. Duzlinn understands that now. The Tri might even follow through a door if whatever disturbs it runs away and it can get a claw in to keep it open. It would probably be exploring already, spreading the Fallshine's song, if its claws had any fingers left.

The Tri-Derro has stats similar to a Lost Sorrowsowrn but is clearly three Derro melted together (their equipment is mostly piled around the chair). If the room is gotten to fairly early in the trek through the vault then the Tri hasn't fully evolved yet and it's embrace damage is only 18 (3d10+2), the psychic damage is also 18 (4d8), tightening embrace is 13 (3d8). If the room is gotten to later in the trek through the vault then the damage is full.

An early trek means Duzlinn might be saveable and able to explain that Inka Krigram was leading them to capture the rumoured cleric? druid? Edyllin Fallshine who has the power to make food and water, and bring her back to their base. He doesn't remember many details of the base. He's so tired. He'll still try to kill you if he can eventually (but that's just him being Duzlinn).

A late trek means Duzlinn's brain is no longer functioning and he would help make a quad Derro if only the Tri would unstake him. Or, if the Tri is dead to find the Fallshine. Or, to embrace whoever is there if the others are all gone.

Parts of names swiped from u/hyperionfin's reddit post on Derro names.

View attachment 273255

Room 35 - Links Squad

The first of Shirazz's squads is made of two long timers and two recent additions. They have developed a solid sense of teamwork - and maybe even comaraderie. They are not necessarily fond of the mayor's spartan lifestyle, but appreciate that they are well rewarded and treated, and that they get to exercise their talents and have entirely bought into his vision.

The squad leader Menkek is an excellent tactician (stats as Hobgoblin Captain but INT 14 and WIS 12). Potions of Healing (x2), Climbing, and Giant Strength (21). +1 Great Sword. Gems worth 50gp.

Ravrok has been with Mekek from the start (Hobgoblin 14 STR, DEX, and CON, 32hp, +4 to hit, 6 (d8+2) with sword or bow). Potions of Healing (x2). Two +1 arrows. Gems worth 35 gp.

Shardol the Mask (Hobgoblin Iron Shadow) has come to value slumming with the more brute force types. Potion of Healing, Potion of Invisibility, and Feather token whip. Gems worth 40 gp.

Lorborz Smush (Half-Ogre) is correct when he thinks that his fellows (at least in this squad) actually accept him. 24 gp, gems worth 5gp.

If they're off the floor, their 20'x20' room will be unlocked, with nothing of particular value in it. The chests underneath the comfortably made beds have extra sets of clothes and a few replacement supplies. There is a lidded chamber pot under each bed. Each has their own weapons rack, and the table can be moved between the beds to clean a space for training. If they're elsewhere on the floor (perhaps eating) then much of their gear will be here.

Name help from https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/ .

The next room created (#68) is in post #374 D&D General - #Dungeon23 .

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Waste Away: The Alastairn family experimented with many strange magics over the century and a half of their master of Parenix hall and explorations beneath Mornrax Hill. The kinder privy was the strange culmination of some of that research. The privy appears as any other, except that in the bowl is what can only be described as a sea of otherworldly stars. Anything dropped into the privy is torn from this universe and dropped in another, irrevocably irretrievable. Over the decades, the arcane engineering containing the magic of the privy has weakened, however, and if anything or anyone touches the “sea of stars” it or they must resist the pull or be themselves forcibly drawn into the privy and forever lost. If the privy itself is broken, the weird portal within flows out like water, devouring everything. In the end, anything and anyone within a 10 foot sphere of the privy is obliterated before the energy folds in on itself and closes the portal forever.

Well, this definitely solves a number of problems involving waste in dungeons.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Week 3, done! S’oss’zzak - a hex the size of San Diego. In the middle is a huge fallen titan around which has arisen a 10sq mile city of Yuan-Ti. Surrounding it are grasslands threaded with rivers and dotted with the remnants of some former civilization