Cooperative Dungeon IV: Update

[Ferret]

Room 12 – Toth Nekamek’s Library (by Daryl Gubler – Ikazuchi)

I had planned (hoped) that room twelve would be extremely well lock and not entered, but don't change for me. This way it makes sense that the doppelganger in my rooom is unharmed and the room can be unlocked. Perhaps a text can be written in that the next room is only for the higher priests etc, and the lock be smashed beyond repai/picking but not openable.

Also if toth did go demon by accident, and I don't think it should be my descion alone, I can change it quite easily, I even have a good replacement to go in there.

Can I have the asp rod if it's up for grabs. I can hide really sneakily.

 

[tarchon]

Another way to get them into the hidden section... the tunnels dug by the dire badger in #14 come awfully close to rooms #16 and #19. Let's say that on a successful Search check (DC 15 or so?) in the partially collapsed western badger tunnel they find traces of solid, worked stone - the outside of the wall of #16.

I think if it's made clear that the outer part is part of a tomb complex, players will figure out that there's more to it, since there aren't really any tombs in the outer part that give the impression of being the focus of a large complex.
With 14, I'm a little confused as to what those tunnels are supposed to be. It's written as though they're ancient, with that "wrong way" relief, but I can't figure why there would be an ancient tunnel that goes a couple dozen feet to nowhere and has carvings that say "don't go here." And then a giant badger happened to move in and dig out two extra spurs in the last day or so?
I guess if I was a player, I'd probably make friends with the badger somehow and have it dig more tunnels.

 

[Conaill]

Yes, it does seem a little unlikely, doesn't it?

How about this: the original ancient tunnel is just a dead end with a pit trap - plenty of those in real egyptian tombs. For some reason, the gnolls decided to extend the tunnel further (perhaps thinking, like you did, that it has to go *somewhere*). Unbeknownst to them, they undermined a dire badger tunnel immediately above them. So when the badger wandered through, its own tunnel collapsed and it fell into the Gnoll's tunnel.

One branch of #14 would be the Gnoll tunnel, the other one is a branch of the badger's tunnel (perhaps a dead-end used as a larder for roots and nuts). The other end of the badger tunnel is blocked from the collapse, and the badger hasn't yet had time to dig it out.

Tallfellow: does this sound like a reasonable reinterpretation of your writeup for #14?

 

[tarchon]

Yes, it does seem a little unlikely, doesn't it?

How about this: the original ancient tunnel is just a dead end with a pit trap - plenty of those in real egyptian tombs. For some reason, the gnolls decided to extend the tunnel further (perhaps thinking, like you did, that it has to go *somewhere*). Unbeknownst to them, they undermined a dire badger tunnel immediately above them. So when the badger wandered through, its own tunnel collapsed and it fell into the Gnoll's tunnel.

Maybe the gnolls were using the (possibly trained) badger to dig and the Evil Aura of Chaos made it go berzerk?

 

[Trainz]

When I designed the map, I intended those unfinished tunnels to be the gnoll's excavations efforts to find the inner tomb (there is a pile of dirt in room 1, and it is described in room 1 that gnolls come outside with bags of dirth to empty them there).

 

[Conaill]

Yeah, I know. Tallfellow's version threw me off guard a little, but I'm willing to run with it. and with tarchon's or my own reinterpretation, it would still fit in perfectly.

Let's hope he wanders by and sees this at some point.

 

[Phineas Crow]

I'm working on finishing up room 21, here is a draft of a brief write-up on Chaos, any feedback/ideas welcome.

"Encounter (EL 6): Chaos, the Babau, only dimly remembers its former life. Long ago it once was a human king named Toth Nekamek. When Toth died his soul was sent to one of the lower planes, where it wandered for over a millennia before being granted its current form as a babau by a greater demon in exchange for eternal servitude. Chaos, after centuries of toiling under its demonic lord, now wishes to gain back the power it vaguely remembers having during its past life. It spent years tracking down the tomb where its previous body now rests in hopes of restoring life it to life. As a reanimated Toth Nekamek Chaos would gain back its former power and be free of the yoke of its demonic lord."

 

[Trainz]

That is impeccable Phineas.

 

[tarchon]

When I designed the map, I intended those unfinished tunnels to be the gnoll's excavations efforts to find the inner tomb (there is a pile of dirt in room 1, and it is described in room 1 that gnolls come outside with bags of dirth to empty them there).

Yeah, the gnolls digging the tunnels does much for pointing out the existence of the hidden section of the dungeon.

Just as something else to throw in, if the badger is some kind of trained tunnel-digging badger, a set of adamantine claw sheaths might work, just to ease potential doubts about the ability of dire badgers to tunnel through solid rock, especially since the SRD says they can't burrow through solid rock.

 

[Conaill]

Ok, my own post is now pretty much fleshed out as well. Come check out Room 20 - Yinepu's Vigil for a most badass little doggie! Complete with some original photographs to set the mood...

What do you think, did I use enough curses? I was also considering making the schrine act as a Flask of Curses (-2 on anyone within 30', Will DC 17), but that might be a little too much...

Note that I also added some optional elements for those DM's who want to ratchet up the difficulty level a bit: sand falling fom the ceiling after Yinepu's death (time limit for completing the rest of the dungeon), encountering Yinepu's ghost on the way out...