I've got three such stories to share...
1. Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil!
The party makes it to that big machine where, if you enter/get pulled in, it cuts off one of your limbs and replaces it with a demonic limb. Well, the barbarian got pulled in by accident and got the "strong leg" +2 con. When he comes out, he thinks he's 'better' now! He decides everyone else should be 'better' too! So, he starts tossing party members in. Only the paladin and fighter can outwrestle him and get away. Well, the poor wizard had been wounded from a previous fight, so had damage still. If I remember right, the machine deals 4d6 damage or so when it removes the limb, before healing 3d6 when it puts the new one on. Well, the wizard had 11 hp left (as the cleric had been out of spells). When he 4d6 is rolled, it comes up 23 damage. All of the other characters comes out with shiny (by shiny, I mean demonic) limbs, except the wizard who comes out a crumpled heap.
2. Evil Bard.
I was playing a Bard in a campaign. When it started, he pictured himself a warrior-poet kinda bard. Sadly, we were in Ravenloft. In exploring a dungeon, we found dead villagers stripped and put up on sticks and wires in such a profane manner that they looked like marionettes from hell. Really sick stuff. Anyway, my Bard failed some Ravenloft horror roll really badly.
Later, a week or so, he saw a town play and it made him flashback to the scene of the 'dead puppet show'. Anyway, he failed a madness roll. After some more adventures, he kept failing these rolls. I decided to role play it like he really went insane. He also turned quite evil.
So, being evil and insane, he started to murder the other PCs. He got the Half-orc drunk (the DM and I kept the insanity/evil change private) and when he (the half-orc) was passed out, my character dragged him to the basement and put him in a coffin he had stashed. With the help of some guards ("My friend died of the plague. The apothecary told me he was to be buried as quick as possible"), my bard buried him alive.
The party explored a crypt the next day ("Hey, where's Durg?!") and during a particularly chaotic scene involving some ghouls, my bard pushed the paladin down a few dozen feet into a large group of zombies.
By now, the others were getting suspicious. The bard managed to murder the wizard in his sleep, before the cleric and rogue dispatched him, but it was still fun!
3. Mechanical Chaos!
Goblins aren't always stupid. If given enough incentive and the right environment, they can become quite intelligent. In a campaign I played in once, we encountered an underground lair of goblins and gnomes, who'd met decades ago and had to ban together against an enemy. Well, the goblins learned from the gnomes and the gnomes became evil. So, by the time the party discovers this little group in their lair/city, it's a wonder of mechanical gizmos and traps and such.
So, we go on a spree fighting their warriors and guards. We breach one of their barraks and things are going well. We decide to fight all of the way into their main castle where their council of leaders resides. Well, we free a prisoner who HIGHLY suggests that we flee now that we've learned of this place and not come back without a lot of help. He describes all sorts of horrors ahead and tells us we're doomed if we try to invade the castle.
Our response: Ha Ha Ha! No goblins or gnomes shall stand against such mighty adventurers! We had a fighter, a cleric, a paladin, a rogue, a wizard, and a druid (8th level or so). We thought this was going to be easy exp/loot.
As soon as we leave the barraks and head deeper in, things go from bad to worse. There were traps. TONS of traps. A few the rogue could disarm, but most had us suffering from the get-go. With just a few rooms and encounters, we had used all of the paladin's, cleric's, and druid's healing and we were still hurting. We hunkered down in a room to rest.
The next day, it got worse. We got to the castle gates and were surprised to find no guards. The rogue checked and found no traps (due to a poor roll). Well, the fighter opens the door.
Clank clank clank - failed reflex save. A pit opened beneath him and he falls into the equivalent of a middle-ages meat grinder. We couldn't get him out fast enough and he took enough damage in three rounds to be done for good. We didn't even retreive his gear.
So, we get inside and me, the paladin, agrees to open the next 'trap-free' door. Another pit opens, but there's no grinder. Instead, the rogue, wizard, and I fall into another corridor and are seperated from the group.
While we're away, the cleric fell victim to a poison trap and had to be dragged along by the druid. An hour later, the druid got found by a large group of goblin soldiers. He had to drop the cleric to flee.. and oddly enough got showered by spears when he ran headlong into a trapped hallway. It slowed him enough to be killed by the goblins.
So, to make a long story short, the rogue, wizard, and my paladin made it ALL the way to the council chambers. We knew we were doomed and were looking for a way out or someone to take hostage to get let out. Well, searching the council chambers, there's a large mural on the central floor. Hmm, did I mention the goblins and gnomes were evil?
Apparently, when someone stood before the council, they did so at great peril to their own lives. From the side corridors, goblin and gnome soldiers fill the room and we find ourselves trapped in the middle when the council appears. There's a little banter at this point, which I'll relay.
Gnome Councilman 1: You, invaders. We have slain your companions and you have no chance for escape!
Goblin Councilman 2: We are going to use you as slaves, to mine ore for us, until you fall dead!
Gnome Councilman 3: Unless you wish to barter for your lives? Perhaps you have useful information?
Gnome Councilman 4: Or monitary gain?
Goblin Councilman 5: What say you, interlopers?
Me (paladin): I'll offer my life in exchange that my companions go free. I am strong, I could work for a long time. I could even heal your sick and diseased.
Rogue: My Father would pay a great deal for our release (lying, of course). If you would take us to him, under guard of course, we could work out a mutually benefitial deal for both of us.
Wizard: To hell with you all, heathens! Burn! *casts a fireball right at the council*.
Only one councilman failed his save. It was the one that offered to spare our lives in the first place.
The trap they opened beneath us was something we'd never considered. First, there were whirling blades (these killed the wizard), then side-ways swinging mauls. The rogue and I both managed to dodge these. Then crossbow bolts. We both took a few hits. Then, we fell another 20 feet onto a steel, spiked grate. The aforementioned spiked grate was roughly 2 feet above... lava. So, the rogue died upon impact and the paladin lay there impaled and burning until he, too, died.. goblins and gnomes laughing above.
Yes, it was kinda long, but it was rather funny when it happened!
