CD3: -=- THULLGRIM -=- please read last page

[Trainz]

Ok, gotta remove my request for room 14. Just got notice that I may not have a job by the end of the week so I need to get my resume updated.

Maybe I can get in on # 4.

You never requested a room (this is your first post in the thread), and 4 is already done...

I'm sorry to learn about your career problems. Hang in there, and good luck to you.

 

[Trainz]

Merak, if you need it, I might be able to modify the map to suit your needs.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Nah, the secret door stays. It can't be opened normally, but it's going to be painfully clear that it's there, because there's going to be a riddle posted on it:

Room 10: The Heroes of Durlath Hill (by Merak Spielman aka MerakSpielman)
Door : The northern, stone door is unlocked and carved with scenes from a mighty battle (stats for typical stone door).

The corridor is dry, dark, and silent. Dust lies on the floor, stirred up in small clouds as you move. There are large niches carved about three feet off the ground in the east and west walls. Each niche holds an identical stone coffin, and is just large enough to contain the coffins themselves if the lids are open, which they currently are. Each coffin contains an ancient skeliton of an elf, an orc, or a man.

Features : Upon reaching the end of the hall, the PCs clearly see a riddle carved onto the wall:

The Battle of Durlath Hill was fought,
'Tween Elves, and Orcs, and Men.
Great were the numbers who died that day
When all sanity seemed to go astray.
For the greater good, each claimed, should they win,
But 'twas in reality all for naught.

They all sought the sacred ground,
The treasures of that magic place,
And, as one, they died that day
Elves and Orcs and Men, led astray
By wanton greed, into disgrace,
And sorrows are all that they ever found.

But three heroes stood true and strong
among the fools upon the field
Urging their brethren to stay their arms
To return to their idle, fallow farms.
An Elf, an Orc, and a Man revealed
The futility of the amassed throng.

But Fate proved not lightly swayed,
And the heroes died upon the Hill
Their quest failed, their honor dulled,
And local Priests their bodies culled
And placed in this crypt, eternally still,
With their friends who had them betrayed.

Beyond this hall of fallen grace
Lies the power of this place
A wonder that is not idley revealed,
And to this craven lot is concealed.
The three heroes alone deserve to see
The way to enter, true and free.

Three of the coffins contain the remains of the three, long-forgotten heroes. One elf, one orc, and one man. The other 11 coffins contain 4 elves, 4 orcs, and 3 men. All of the coffins also contain the weapons and armor its warrior weilded in life. The elves each have studded leather, a dagger, and a composite longbow. The orcs each have a morningstar, hide armor, and a small wooden shield. The men each have a chain shirt, a longsword, and a small steel buckler. The bodies of the heroes are identical to the bodies of their brethren except the human hero has a gold signet ring with a mysterious crest (search check DC 20, worth 50gp), the orc hero has a necklace of shrunken humanoid skulls (reflecting his victories in battle, search check DC 15, worthless) and the elven hero wears a simple coronet of gold-gilded bay leaves (search check DC 10, worth 20gp).

The skelitons are all old and brittle enough to fall apart if handled roughly.

The solution of the puzzle is to close all the coffins except for those containing the bodies of the heroes. If this is done, the secret door will swing open. When the secret door closes again, the coffin lids all open, resetting the puzzle.

The players, when trying to solve the puzzle, might ask specific questions about which niches contain the remains of which races. The coffins on the west wall contain, from north to south, an elf, a man, an elf, an orc (the hero), an orc, a man (the hero), and an orc. The coffins on the east wall contain an elf, an elf (the hero), an orc, a man, a man, an elf, and an orc.

This inscription was made in a long-past age, before this crypt fell to the powers of darkness. It was never intended to be a serious impediment, since if anybody gained access to the crypt the Priests who guarded it had already failed their sacred duty. The "Sacred Ground" is now perverted and serves as the home of the spectre Damnation, who has diverted it's power to feed his own unholy goals. He allows this puzzle to remain because it amuses him, slows down intruders.

The puzzle operates by a complex mechanical mechanism. Close examination of the secret door and the coffin lids will reveal that some sort of mechanism is present (Search check DC 25). A Disable Device check (DC 30) can entirely bypass the puzzle and open the secret door regardless of the configuration of coffin lids. If the players are irritated by the puzzle or having trouble solving it, the DM can opt to allow an Intelligence Check (DC 18) to provide hints (or even the solution). A bardic knowledge check (DC 20) will also provide a clue (for hints and clues, the DM decides what information to give based on what the party has managed to figure out).

(Note: Remove this feature during editing if there is nobody in the crypt capable of casting this spell) Alarm spell: there is an Alarm spell active, centered halfway down the coffin-lined corridor. It is set to silently alert [the caster] if triggered, who will warn Damnation and give him time to prepare his forces to meet the intruders. The alarm spell will be revealed by a detect magic, which the players could cast while trying to figure out the puzzle.

Encounter : None

 

[Trainz]

[...]the home of the vampire Damnation, who has [...]

Damnation is not a vampire, but a Spectre. Also please put your full name with nick beside your room title. Please edit your description.

Other than that, nice room ! Very nice riddle !

 

[MerakSpielman]

Oops! Editing...

 

[Ferret]

6. Store Room (Craig “Ferret” Stone)

Door : The northern wood door is locked (Open Lock DC 20; Strength DC 18; Hardness 5; Hit points 15)

Once you step through the creaking door, you realise how badly the room smells of rotten meats and decaying vegetables. The room it lined with barrels and crates filled with tainted food stuffs. Before you can look round properly, you are attacked by the remnants of an ettercap.

Traps : None

Features : Wooden crates and barrels.

Encounter : The party is faced by an ettercap (4 squares down from the door), and a Large spider in the top left corner and a spider swarm that crawl out form in side the ettercap to the top right corner.

Zombie ettercap Medium Aberration CR 3; HD 10d12+3; HP 69 ; Init +2; Speed 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 30 ft.; AC 15 (+2 Dex, +3 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 13; Base Attack +5; Grapple +8; Attack Bite +8 melee (1d8+3); Full Attack N/A; Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft. SA -- SQ Single Actions Only; Saves Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +5; Abilities Str 16, Dex 15, Con --, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills and Feats: Toughness

Single Actions Only (Ex): Zombies have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. A zombie can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge.

Monstrous Web-spinner Spider, large Large Vermin CR 2; HD 4d8+4; HP 22; Init +3; Speed 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 20 ft.; AC 14 (–1 size, +3 Dex, +2 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 11; Base attack +3; Grapple +9; Attack Bite +4 melee (1d8+3 plus poison); Full Attack Bite +4 melee (1d8+3 plus poison); Space/Reach 10 ft./5 ft.; SA Poison, Web; SQ Darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., vermin traits; Saves Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +1; Str 15, Dex 17, Con 12, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 2
Skills and Feats: Climb +11, Hide +11, Move Silently +11, Jump +2, Spot +4

Poison (Ex): A monstrous spider has a poisonous bite, at DC13 and initial and secondary damage (1d6 Str)

Web (Ex): The spider can throw a web eight times per day. This is similar to an attack with a net but has a maximum range of 50 feet, with a range increment of 10 feet, and is effective against targets up to one size category larger than the spider.

An entangled creature can escape with a successful Escape Artist check (dc 13) or burst it with a Strength check 17

The spider can create sheets of sticky webbing from 5 to 60 feet square. Approaching creatures must succeed on a DC 20 Spot check to notice a web; otherwise they stumble into it and become trapped as though by a successful web attack. Attempts to escape or burst the webbing gain a +5 bonus if the trapped creature has something to walk on or grab while pulling free. Each 5-foot section has 12 hit points, and sheet webs have damage reduction 5/—.

A monstrous spider can move across its own web at its climb speed and can pinpoint the location of any creature touching its web

Tremorsense (Ex): A monstrous spider can detect and pinpoint any creature or object within 60 feet in contact with the ground, or within any range in contact with the spider’s webs.

Skills: Monstrous spiders have a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Spot checks and a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. A monstrous spider can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. Monstrous spiders use either their Strength or Dexterity modifier for Climb checks, whichever is higher.

*This has a +8 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks when using their webs.

Spider Swarm Diminutive Vermin (Swarm); CR1; Hit Dice 2d8; HP 9; Initiative +; Speed 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.; Armor Class 17 (+4 size, +3 Dex), touch 17, flat-footed 14; Base Attack +1; Grapple —; Attack Swarm (1d6 plus poison); Full Attack Swarm (1d6 plus poison); Space/Reach: 10 ft./0 ft.; SA Distraction, poison SQ Darkvision 60 ft., swarm traits, Tremorsense 30 ft., vermin traits; Saves Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +0; Abilities Str 1, Dex 17, Con 10, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 2;
Skills and feats Climb +11, Listen +4, Spot +4, weapon finesse

Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a spider swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 11 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.
[/b]Poison (Ex):[/b] Injury, Fortitude DC 11, initial and secondary damage 1d3 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based.
[/b]Skills:[/b] A spider swarm has a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Spot checks and a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. It uses its Dexterity modifier instead of its Strength modifier for Climb checks. It can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.

Other Features: None

Notes: The spider swarm in the room originates partially inside the zombie ettercap, even on a surprise round they can move to the specified square. If the Party is desperate enough to attempt to eat the food and water in the room they contract Blinding sickness.

Should be final version.

Any problems?

 

[Creamsteak]

Yeah, I accidently called the wrong room earlier. Meant 9.

 

[MerakSpielman]

I thought it was a zombified Derro, not a pseudodragon...

 

[Conaill]

I know that's not the way this thread works, but I'd like to make a suggestion, either for the final room with the spectre, or one of the coffin corridors (10 and 11)... An entire dungeon full of undead, and not a single room yet with a Desecrate or even Unhallow spell?

For Desecrate, you could have a "caretaker" cleric/necromancer (undead or not) whose job it is to go around every few hours and recast the spell (Desecrate only lasts 2hrs/level, 20'radius). You'd need a 4th level cleric to keep up the Desecrate 24 hours, but he'd be out of all but his 2nd level domain spell. By himself, he wouldn't be much of a challenge to the party. However, with a shrine in the area any undead become a lot more powerful (-6 to turn, +2 on attack, dmg, saves, and +2 hp/HD).

Unhallow is a 5th level spell, so needs a 9th level caster, which is beyond the powerlevel of this dungeon. However, the question of who actually cast the spell and maintains it could be left open , and might be a good link to the next BBEG the party will have to face after finishing this dungeon.

 

[Creamsteak]

Creamsteak, you will have to turn the monster stats of room 9 into stat blocks.

But they ARE stat blocks... just not the notation you want for an adventure. It's easier to make rules corrections on monster manual notation though, and I caught an error in the conversion (a 20 should have been 14, musta cp'd it from somewhere incorrectly).

Anyway, fixed. Does the room sound right? If it needs work just tell me.