Eyes of Nine
Everything's Fine
Back from camping trip a day early - time to get Wed, Thu and Friday done. What I had planned on Monday for these three days was: Market of the Gods, Temple of Lolth the Redeemer, and the Triton city Fallensea
D&D General #Dungeon23
- Thread starter darjr
- Start date
Room 26 - The Well
Unlike the rough merging of the Worm Tunnel (52) with the Main Hall (13), the entrance to this 25' long cave seems to have been put in intentionally, and the hall floor and adjacent wall tiles are undamaged. The door of thick bars is currently unlocked but can be securely (DC 22 to break open, DC 16 to pick the lock). The 10' tall and wide tunnel slopes down 5' over its length to a 3' deep pool that slowly fills from the north and empties to the south. A brass grate blocks both the 1' diameter incoming stream from the north and the similarly sized exiting stream leaving to the south. Two buckets sit ready for anyone needing water, and a Tortle sits on a thick blue rug.
Quite elderly now, Wolbol is the last of his kind left in the Vault (at least as far as he knows) and enjoys the steady quiet burbling of the stream as it goes by. Chatting with those who come to get water and going down to the main gate (12) once a week to get his own food adds just enough excitement most of the time. If it isn't quite enough, he may put on a show for some of the youngsters ever few months.
Wolbol is a sorcerer, but his stats can be modeled using an Illusionist Wizard, but AC 16 (natural armor), HP 36 (8d8); Str 13 (+1), Dex 8 (-1), Con 11 (+0), Wis 12 (+1); Languages: Aquan, Elvish, Sylvan, and Common; Hold Breath, Claw, and Shell Defense as Tortle.
He has Hypnotic Pattern instead of Phantom Steed. A family legend involves an ancestor who saved a dream creature - perhaps a Baku - which led to their penchant for illusion and mental spells.
Tortle name courtesy of https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/dnd-tortle-names.php .
The next room created (#78) is in post #645 D&D General - #Dungeon23 .
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Hriston
Dungeon Master of Middle-earth
40. Upon entering this 150 sq. ft. triangular empty room, a wall 10’ behind the party slides across the doorway, blocking it for 1 hour 40 minutes to 10 hours.
41. This 10’ x 10’ room is empty.
42. This 40’ x 40’ room is empty.
43. This 10’ x 20’ room is inhabited by a giant lizard.
M_Natas
Hero
Day 56 - Gnoll experiments
We were able to overpower the gnoll guards. But the withered body in the cage awoke, broke out and attacked us ... We just managed to smash it to pieces, but ... the parts were still moving, crawling around ...
We stuffed them into a box and went further into the cave ...
There we found... I can hardly describe it, it's... that's how the undead gnolls are made, apparently. A gnoll corpse lay on a kind of altar in a magic circle, cut open, disemboweled. The air was dry, the flesh desiccated. The fingers trembled slightly, the leg twitched now and then.
Perhaps I am the first person to have seen such a gnoll ritual.
We were able to overpower the gnoll guards. But the withered body in the cage awoke, broke out and attacked us ... We just managed to smash it to pieces, but ... the parts were still moving, crawling around ...
We stuffed them into a box and went further into the cave ...
There we found... I can hardly describe it, it's... that's how the undead gnolls are made, apparently. A gnoll corpse lay on a kind of altar in a magic circle, cut open, disemboweled. The air was dry, the flesh desiccated. The fingers trembled slightly, the leg twitched now and then.
Perhaps I am the first person to have seen such a gnoll ritual.
Room 78 - West Worm Way
This 150 foot long hallway matches the East Worm Way (#52) to the east of the Fey Suite (and the missing Dwarvish Hall in ____ below). The hallway originated as the 10' diameter passage of a great purple worm or one of its kin. The floor was then widened by the Dwarves who lived where the Fey Suite to the east now is.
The east end miss-matchedly connects with the small bit of hall at the west of the Fountain Room (#53) in the Fey Suite.
Fifty feet west of the Fey Suite, Dwarvish mining tunnels open to the north (#79) and south (#82). From here to the west there are drag marks as if from a triangular stretcher. Going between the mining tunnels is a wheeled track.
The west end transitions at A to a rough water carved passage and chamber (#83).
The next room created (#40) is in post #652 D&D General - #Dungeon23 .
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Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
Just got back from traveling and don't have the energy for anything more than to return to the goblin caves, temporarily, and add an Empty Room:
2.25 Empty Room
2.25 Empty Room
- First Glance:
- An Empty Room
- Closer Look:
- Still Empty
- Secrets
- There was once something here. It was very interesting. But it is not here anymore.
Eyes of Nine
Everything's Fine
Week 8
Pretty excited about this week's entry
Interrupted by a camping trip, but got it done
A hex of rolling hills covered in giant trees, with rivers leading to a large lake in the southern portion
There is actually a massive city in the trees, populated by eladrin, astral elves, goblins, and lolthbound goblins. One of the most powerful factions is the Webroads guild, who manage the domesticated giant spiders whose silk is used for most if not all of the pathways and sky roads connecting all the various trees
One interesting note though is there are hedgerows along the ground none higher than 10-15 feet. These hedgerows define both the borders between the city districts, but also is grown for fencing around buildings or other areas, as traditional fencing is done with wood or stone elsewhere. The webroads do not cross the hedgerows except at the openings in the hedges themselves. A large community of Gorses (a type of pixie) maintains the hedges, grows new ones, and also serves as guardians and gatekeepers
Speaking of gates the outbound gate is guarded by an Asteroid Spider, served by a cadre of astral Elves. There is also an inbound gate here, that drops people almost directly into the center of the Market of the Gods. This market is perhaps the busiest and most well stocked of any in the lower half of the Tower, perhaps the entire tower itself…
Finally, rounding out this very highly populated hex is the Triton city, Fallensea in Lake Alora. There is trade, but sometimes tensions can run high between the surface dwellers and the Tritons
This week I did ask some questions that I would be curious to see the answers to about this hex
Pretty excited about this week's entry
Interrupted by a camping trip, but got it done
A hex of rolling hills covered in giant trees, with rivers leading to a large lake in the southern portion
There is actually a massive city in the trees, populated by eladrin, astral elves, goblins, and lolthbound goblins. One of the most powerful factions is the Webroads guild, who manage the domesticated giant spiders whose silk is used for most if not all of the pathways and sky roads connecting all the various trees
One interesting note though is there are hedgerows along the ground none higher than 10-15 feet. These hedgerows define both the borders between the city districts, but also is grown for fencing around buildings or other areas, as traditional fencing is done with wood or stone elsewhere. The webroads do not cross the hedgerows except at the openings in the hedges themselves. A large community of Gorses (a type of pixie) maintains the hedges, grows new ones, and also serves as guardians and gatekeepers
Speaking of gates the outbound gate is guarded by an Asteroid Spider, served by a cadre of astral Elves. There is also an inbound gate here, that drops people almost directly into the center of the Market of the Gods. This market is perhaps the busiest and most well stocked of any in the lower half of the Tower, perhaps the entire tower itself…
Finally, rounding out this very highly populated hex is the Triton city, Fallensea in Lake Alora. There is trade, but sometimes tensions can run high between the surface dwellers and the Tritons
This week I did ask some questions that I would be curious to see the answers to about this hex
I like the writing down of questions!
Eyes of Nine
Everything's Fine
Thanks! Going to do that for each hex going forward
40 - Guards' Quarters
This room is the home of the brothers Ataru, Getsumei, and Sora and their sister Hoshi. The four came up from below three years ago following the death of their father, and were immediately offered a room by Shirazz. The four of them take turns guarding the entrance to the suite (31) - although the older three (the brothers) would rather they got to do all of it and none of the house work. Seemingly dilligent and honest, the other residents on the floor know that the four have the "mayors" trust.
The rear of the "home" is divided by four screens into bedrooms containing a bed and chest each, with a chamber pot underneath the bed and a small lantern hanging on the wall. The front has weapons/armor racks on the north wall; a large, low table sits on a rug in the middle with a continual flame lantern hanging from the ceiling above it; and the south wall has a desk with a stool and materials to practice calligraphy on one end, and a heating stone and tea service on the other.
The siblings are actually Inu Hengeyokai. They believe the floor has some strange enchantment on it that scrambles scents - as most of the residents seemingly aren't what they smell like. This has made it easier to stay in human form where that sense is muted. They feel in debt to Shirazz and certainly not almost all of the floors residents could be this odd. Since Shirazz knows the nature of what they are, the four siblings might be the ones on the floor that he trusts the most.
In human form the four could be modeled as Knights except AC 14 (Breastplate), Hit points 39 (6d8+12), Wis 13 (+1), Perception +4, Languages: Common, Sylvan, Long Sword +4 to hit, 7 (d8+3) slashing damage.
In canine form, they are as larger than usual Tosa with stats similar to wolf, but with Str 14 (+2), Dex 14 (+2), and mental stats as base form, with the bite causing 8 (2d4+3).
The next room created (#23) is in post #656 D&D General - #Dungeon23 .
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Starting over!
I became uninspired with the megadungeon I had planned. I think my weakness is that I want things to be thematically evocative and also make sense, and it's hard to do that at the mega scale even when working one room-ish at a time.
Anyway, I'm currently a player in a Mausritter game, and its quickly become my favorite osr game. So I thought I'd design an area and some adventures for Mausritter, and then move on to something else when I get tired of this.
The idea of Mausritter is that you play adventurer-mice in a normal world, contending with cats and snakes and owls and such. Meanwhile, the humans continue on with their day-to-day business. Most adventures I've seen are thus understandably set in a pastoral or suburban setting. I though I'd make something more urban.
Here we have a public housing estate that has been shut down and is scheduled for redevelopment, with its humans being slowly evicted. Left to ruin, it is now home to many dangerous creatures, as well as our noble mouse kingdom. Potential adventure sites include the operations of a rat gang that deals in artificial sweetener, an overgrown common area now inhabited by snakes, and still-active allotment gardens inhabited by a community of butterflies and catterpilars. To the south are fields (a park) inhabited by foxes, ducks, and who knows what else. Underneath, the street drains to the ancient stream, now thoroughly built over, but still inhabited by faerie spirits. Finally, to the North, uncaring eldritch abominations (bulldozers) lay indiscriminate waste to another once-proud kingdom. Will the remaining mice be able save themselves? And at what cost?
I became uninspired with the megadungeon I had planned. I think my weakness is that I want things to be thematically evocative and also make sense, and it's hard to do that at the mega scale even when working one room-ish at a time.
Anyway, I'm currently a player in a Mausritter game, and its quickly become my favorite osr game. So I thought I'd design an area and some adventures for Mausritter, and then move on to something else when I get tired of this.
The idea of Mausritter is that you play adventurer-mice in a normal world, contending with cats and snakes and owls and such. Meanwhile, the humans continue on with their day-to-day business. Most adventures I've seen are thus understandably set in a pastoral or suburban setting. I though I'd make something more urban.
Here we have a public housing estate that has been shut down and is scheduled for redevelopment, with its humans being slowly evicted. Left to ruin, it is now home to many dangerous creatures, as well as our noble mouse kingdom. Potential adventure sites include the operations of a rat gang that deals in artificial sweetener, an overgrown common area now inhabited by snakes, and still-active allotment gardens inhabited by a community of butterflies and catterpilars. To the south are fields (a park) inhabited by foxes, ducks, and who knows what else. Underneath, the street drains to the ancient stream, now thoroughly built over, but still inhabited by faerie spirits. Finally, to the North, uncaring eldritch abominations (bulldozers) lay indiscriminate waste to another once-proud kingdom. Will the remaining mice be able save themselves? And at what cost?
M_Natas
Hero
Day 58 - Gnoll Shaman
After the magic trap had knocked us out, we were captured by a gnoll shaman - I can only describe him as monstrous. His clothes were decorated with bones and animal skins, his teeth were as sharp as knives. But the worst were the tools he prepared - thin, razor-sharp blades that made your blood run cold. Nearby lay a desiccated gnoll skull, covered with runes I didn't understand.
The shaman turned slowly towards us, the scalpel menacingly in his hand. In the flickering candlelight, I could see rusty stains on the metal as he approached us and spoke in a harsh, deep voice in broken common tongue: "You invaders of dust-blooded lands, you Yeenoghu sacrifice. Your suffering give us great power!"
The shaman's hyena-like laughter sounded like a foreshadowing of our imminent death. The air was filled with a foul smell and an eerie silence broken only by our shallow breathing.
After the magic trap had knocked us out, we were captured by a gnoll shaman - I can only describe him as monstrous. His clothes were decorated with bones and animal skins, his teeth were as sharp as knives. But the worst were the tools he prepared - thin, razor-sharp blades that made your blood run cold. Nearby lay a desiccated gnoll skull, covered with runes I didn't understand.
The shaman turned slowly towards us, the scalpel menacingly in his hand. In the flickering candlelight, I could see rusty stains on the metal as he approached us and spoke in a harsh, deep voice in broken common tongue: "You invaders of dust-blooded lands, you Yeenoghu sacrifice. Your suffering give us great power!"
The shaman's hyena-like laughter sounded like a foreshadowing of our imminent death. The air was filled with a foul smell and an eerie silence broken only by our shallow breathing.
Eyes of Nine
Everything's Fine
I am literally sitting here with my notebook open in front of me. Did not finish my hex overview write up (but did roll the dice and noted the results!).
Finding some resistance. Always helps for me to just throw that out into the world
Have a meeting in 20 minutes; but afterwards I want to get something down...
What I know so far about this week's hex: It's a hilly yet marshy megalopolis with smokey air populated by Githzerai, Shadar-kai, Astral Devas, and Muckdwellers. Steampunk hex here we come!!!
Finding some resistance. Always helps for me to just throw that out into the world
Have a meeting in 20 minutes; but afterwards I want to get something down...
What I know so far about this week's hex: It's a hilly yet marshy megalopolis with smokey air populated by Githzerai, Shadar-kai, Astral Devas, and Muckdwellers. Steampunk hex here we come!!!
Room 23 - The Crew's Quarters
Each week or two, Escherelle and her crew are the core of the group that fishes in the lake to the west (#86; gear stored in #80). They are typically accompanied by some of the guards or other residents of the front area, and rarely even the Link's Squad (#35) or Three Dwarves (#55) - although not comfortably. If the party has demonstrated some trustworthiness, or has a Cleric or Paladin of a deity who would usually be worthy of some, they may let them fill that roll. The time in between is spent cleaning and smoking the catch.
Escherelle (half-orc) and Morgan (human) are the parents of Mirabeele (#17) - and have never quite known how to relate either to a child or a burgeoning mage. Brisco (human) is Morgan's brother. Estik (human) is the youngest of the crew, son of Warnikke (18), and older brother of Aloysius (17). Makreda (dwarf) is the oldest of the crew. They all get along quite well and enjoy good ale and a good card game. They are generally liked by the other inhabitants of this end but are viewed as a bit boisterous and maybe a touch arrogant.
The 20'x20' unlocked room has a large bed and three single beds that are slightly raised with footlockers and chamber pots underneath. Each has a continual flame lantern hanging above it on the wall near a gear rack, and a curtain on the ceiling that can be pulled out for privacy. The table in the middle has seven stools and usually a deck of cards.
Escherelle, Morgan, and Makreda can be modeled using Bandit Captain as a Base. Each has Survival (+4) instead of Deception, and has Perception (+2).
Escherelle has AC 15 (studded leather); STR 16 (+3), DEX 14 (+2), and WIS 12 (+1); Languages: Common, Orc, Dwarven; Long Sword +6 to hit, 7 (d8+3) damage instead of Scimitar; Light Crossbow +5 to hit 6 (d8+2) damage. Her armor is +1 and her long sword is a sword of wounding.
Estik has a Long Sword +5 to hit, 6 (d8+2) damage instead of a scimitar and Light Crossbow +6 to hit, 7(d8+3) damage. He has a Ring of the Eel (Ring of Swimming + Shocking Grasp once per day).
Makreda has AC 14 (Mithral Chain); HP 75; DEX 13 (+1), CON 15 (+3), CHR 10 (+1); Battle Axe +6 to hit, 7 (d8+3) damage instead of scimitar); and Light Crossbow +4 to hit 5 (d8+1) damage. Her Axe is +1.
Brisco and Estik can be modeled using Thug as a base. Each has a long sword instead of mace and a light crossbow instead of heavy crossbow. They have Athletics +2, Survival +2, and Perception +2 instead of Intimidation +2. Each has STR 14 (+2), Dex 13 (+1), Int 12 (+1), Wis 12 (+1), and Chr (+1). The Sword is +4 to hit, damage 6 (d8+2) and crossbow is +3 to hit, damage 5 (d8+1). Brisco has 38 HP (6d8+12) and two potions of healing. Brisco is more deeply affected than most by the aura of sadness around Berghildr (#57) if she is seen in passing. Estik has 26 HP (4d8 + 8).
The next room created (#21) is in post #664 D&D General - #Dungeon23 .
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M_Natas
Hero
Day 59 - the entrance to the lost city
We managed to take down the Gnoll shaman, though it was touch and go for a moment there. I don't think I ever want to be at the mercy of those wretched creatures again.
But all the trials and tribulations were worth it. I do believe we've stumbled upon the lost city. The old mine shafts here come to an abrupt end in flat, uniform walls. Abandoned pickaxes and other mining tools litter the ground, as if whoever was here couldn't breach these walls.
The stone in this chilly cavern feels strangely warm under my fingertips. And then I see it - the key we retrieved from the tomb, the key to Kyrthar Tahlketh, starts to glow. This is the entrance. We've done it. We've found the way into the lost city.
As we step forward, a faint hum starts to emanate from the walls, growing louder and more insistent with every passing moment. It's as if the very stones are trying to speak to us, to warn us of the perils that lie ahead.
And that concludes February for me for the D23 - Challenge. So it's badge-time!
Grab your own badges for the challenge!
gorice
Adventurer
The end of the necropolis, hooray! Any adventurers who make this far will probably be glad to see the end of it.
22: Imperial Bridge
23: Imperial Mausoleum (exterior)
24: Imperial Mausoleum (interior)
New Area: West Quarter/The Sump
25: Overgrown Passage
26: Damp Tomb
27: The Sump
28: Velvet Worm Nest
Since I'm doing this out of order, I now have an interesting problem: do I go up to the toxic horrors of the midden, or down to the deep water roads?
22: Imperial Bridge
- A bridge of human bones, skulls clustered into posts on either end.
- Creaky but stable.
- (!) Actually a centipede-like undead construct with a mass of skulls for both ‘head’ and ‘tail’. Dormant until the mausoleum is breached.
23: Imperial Mausoleum (exterior)
- Atop the spiral stair, at the very centre of the great cavern. Ringed by marble pillars shedding flakes of red paint and gold leaf; barred by bronze doors shaped like a mass of snarling gods; heaped with glazed urns and lacquered chests.
- (?) 9 lacquered chests/urns, each locked, with a 50% chance of rare item in each (silver coins, incense, silk, etc.), or just dust and rot. The 10th is a pot containing stardust.
- (?) Doors are locked from the outside with a heavy bronze latch.
24: Imperial Mausoleum (interior)
- Walls a forest scene in jet and gold leaf; dome a night sky of lapis lazuli studded with diamond stars. Floor of crimson marble littered with a score of skeletons, hands bound with rotting silk rope. Golden sarcophagus in the shape of a giant man with imperial robes, fillet and rod.
- (!) Lifting the weight of the casket lid makes something go ‘clunk’ below, causing a pot of stardust to fall from a hole in the ceiling.
- (!) The blackened, shrivelled corpse of the godly imperial sorcerer is undead, but held in place by iron pins inscribed with runes of binding and driven through bone and stone. He will bargain, wheedle, threaten, and beg for freedom.
- (?) The ceiling is at least 15 feet high and the gems will not come loose without some serious prying, but if the PCs do find some way of getting them down, they can grab 1d6x10 coins’ worth of gemstones per hour of work, -1 per additional hour.
New Area: West Quarter/The Sump
25: Overgrown Passage
- Dim light from bioluminescent slugs.
- A dank, damp tunnel, crowded with mad fungal growths and glowing molluscs.
- (!) Harmless, but difficult terrain for humans unless the fungi are cleared out.
26: Damp Tomb
- A beehive tomb with a portal overlooking the sump – water seeps in and puddles in the floor. The sarcophagus lid is shaped like a silk-ensconced noble with mask and fan.
- (!) The dart trap is broken; the casket is empty but for a suspicious, greasy puddle… A corrosive ooze.
- (??) The lid is ever so slightly ajar.
27: The Sump
- The floor of the great cavern. Black silty water up to your waist. Bone and stone shift underfoot.
- (!) Disturbing the water raises the alarm level. Skeletons rising from the water and the infant god rising from the shrine in the water roads are both options.
- (!) Drinking the water leads to parasite infection unless boiled.
- (!?) There is a short stair caved under the water, descending down into an underwater hall in the water roads. Under illumination, coins glitter at its base.
- (?) The stair to the imperial mausoleum starts here, but its base has crumbled away.
28: Velvet Worm Nest
- Still air. A reek of rot, and something musky. The floor is sticky with traces of acrid slime. A dark and writhing mass blocks the passage ahead.
- (!) Lair of the velvet worms, each 2-3 metres long, entangled in a sleeping mass that blocks the way.
Since I'm doing this out of order, I now have an interesting problem: do I go up to the toxic horrors of the midden, or down to the deep water roads?
I just wanted to thank this thread for being there, even though I have fallen off the D23 train for a while. I hope to get back to it.
However, I am pretty sure my time at ENWorld is done for a while, so I won't be updating in this thread. I wish everyone luck to complete the year. You can do it!
However, I am pretty sure my time at ENWorld is done for a while, so I won't be updating in this thread. I wish everyone luck to complete the year. You can do it!
gorice
Adventurer
Sorry to see you go. Good luck with the d23, though! I find the main thing is just to jot down whatever and not overthink it. You can always pretty things up later.
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