Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
3.17 Gates to the Halls of the Goblin King
- Eight Goblin Guards. Tougher than your average goblin.
D&D General #Dungeon23
- Thread starter darjr
- Start date
3.17 Gates to the Halls of the Goblin King
M_Natas
Hero
Day 77 - Servants' Dwelling - Warden's House (Crystal Mine)Day 76 - Cellar Entrance in the Warden's House (Crystal Mine)
The secret meeting place with the butler is in the basement of the mansion. Couldn't there have been another place?
Eyes of Nine
Everything's Fine
Well, I decided to just do all 7 of my days this week, just to keep myself on track, and also gives me time to post here to ENW!
Week 11 - my first branch! You can see the side view on the 3rd image. Each branch will have some sub hexes (1 to 3 of them)
The scale of the sub hexes is much smaller - more like the size of a small to medium city instead of a large city. And each successive sub-hex is smaller than the last. So the hex closest to the “trunk” is ~80sq miles, the next one is 63 sq miles, and the furthest out towards the tip is only 48 sq miles. There is a gentle slope in each hex, and then between the hexes is a much steeper slope. But they all share the same “atmosphere”/sky.
The furthest out hex is mountainous (The Fangs of the Gods), and populated by verbeegs (giants with much more human proportions) and their shaedling minions. These folks are in service to Mammon, mining the mountains and hoarding the riches. The do trade a bit with the tabaxi from the Dalelands (see below)
The middle hex is entirely a deciduous forest (the Dalelands). Most of it is the range of Tabaxi hunter gatherer clans; but the western corner has been clear cut by some Vedalken who want to re-create a bit of Ravnica. There is also a deep gnome town dug into one of the hills at the base of the slope up to the Fangs called Spannerburg. The gnomes are being very explicitly neutral.
Finally, in the lower hex (The Moot) are Giant Beaver family groups each with their own pond and lodge. They have cut down all their trees, so now they trade with the Vedalken and the Tabaxi. At the very bottom of the hex is a pond where all the water has come to, and there’s a Locothah village/town there.
Questions in this hex:
Week 11 - my first branch! You can see the side view on the 3rd image. Each branch will have some sub hexes (1 to 3 of them)
The scale of the sub hexes is much smaller - more like the size of a small to medium city instead of a large city. And each successive sub-hex is smaller than the last. So the hex closest to the “trunk” is ~80sq miles, the next one is 63 sq miles, and the furthest out towards the tip is only 48 sq miles. There is a gentle slope in each hex, and then between the hexes is a much steeper slope. But they all share the same “atmosphere”/sky.
The furthest out hex is mountainous (The Fangs of the Gods), and populated by verbeegs (giants with much more human proportions) and their shaedling minions. These folks are in service to Mammon, mining the mountains and hoarding the riches. The do trade a bit with the tabaxi from the Dalelands (see below)
The middle hex is entirely a deciduous forest (the Dalelands). Most of it is the range of Tabaxi hunter gatherer clans; but the western corner has been clear cut by some Vedalken who want to re-create a bit of Ravnica. There is also a deep gnome town dug into one of the hills at the base of the slope up to the Fangs called Spannerburg. The gnomes are being very explicitly neutral.
Finally, in the lower hex (The Moot) are Giant Beaver family groups each with their own pond and lodge. They have cut down all their trees, so now they trade with the Vedalken and the Tabaxi. At the very bottom of the hex is a pond where all the water has come to, and there’s a Locothah village/town there.
Questions in this hex:
- How will the tension between the Vedalken and the Tabaxi play out?
- Will the Verbeek seek to expand into the Dalelands?
- Are they building something secret in Spannerburg? If so, what?
- The beavers have already felled all the trees in the Moot hex - will they begin to consider the Dalelands next?
Hriston
Dungeon Master of Middle-earth
All caught up.. again.
11. This 40’ x 40’ room is empty.
12. Berserker Lair: This 40’ x 40’ room is inhabited by 19 berserkers: Tirvun, Llastmannoth, Veargoth, Junaenn, Pilf, Thunrioy, Thelgres, Mug, Rhu, Thrun, Feilsurn, Smalpemm, Wilholgo, Sevaerthi, Bhis, Krelr, Teittem, Svio, and Mann. Among their belongings are a gem worth 100 gp and a gem worth 5,000 gp.
13. This 10’ x 10’ room is empty.
14. This 30’ x 40’ room is empty.
15. This 20’ x 20’ room is empty.
16. This 10’ x 20‘ room is empty. The difficulty of finding the secret door is very hard. On a failure, a 10’ pit opens. The difficulty for each character to save themselves from falling in is medium.
17. This 10’ x 10’ room is empty.
11. This 40’ x 40’ room is empty.
12. Berserker Lair: This 40’ x 40’ room is inhabited by 19 berserkers: Tirvun, Llastmannoth, Veargoth, Junaenn, Pilf, Thunrioy, Thelgres, Mug, Rhu, Thrun, Feilsurn, Smalpemm, Wilholgo, Sevaerthi, Bhis, Krelr, Teittem, Svio, and Mann. Among their belongings are a gem worth 100 gp and a gem worth 5,000 gp.
13. This 10’ x 10’ room is empty.
14. This 30’ x 40’ room is empty.
15. This 20’ x 20’ room is empty.
16. This 10’ x 20‘ room is empty. The difficulty of finding the secret door is very hard. On a failure, a 10’ pit opens. The difficulty for each character to save themselves from falling in is medium.
17. This 10’ x 10’ room is empty.
Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
I propose that at the end of the year, everybody who stuck with it the whole time (in this thread) meet up in person for a marathon megadungeon crawl.
M_Natas
Hero
You're really good at drawing top down objects, like the bed with the pillows. If I tried to do that it would just look like a bunch of rectancles
Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
Same!
Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
Forgot to post yesterday. I think I'm going to try a whole page using dots rather than cross-hatching for solid walls.
The Halls of the Goblin King
3.18 Hall of Goblin Glory and History
The Halls of the Goblin King
3.18 Hall of Goblin Glory and History
- Doors to north lead to area 3.17
- Two rows of columns supporting vaulted ceiling
- Clearly not goblin construction
- Murals on all surfaces have been defaced and crudely re-drawn, as if by kindergartners, to show goblins defeating all sorts of subterranean horrors.
- Yes, goblins (sometimes) wear cloaks and even hang them up
- What do you think we are, illiterate savages?
M_Natas
Hero
Thanks.
It is actually not to hard. Try drawing the pillows pillow shaped. Like, at first I did rectangles too, but Pillows are soft, round corners, a little bulging, so it is more a rectangle that stopped halfway on the way transformed into an oval? Does that make sense? And blankets are usally not straight, so you put some wrinkles in. And than add shadows. Even with rectangles you could get away, if you can use the shadow to add depth.
The biggest secret to drawing is: just try to copy what you see ^^. If I'm drawing something new, I google similiar RPG Maps and see If there is something, that I can copy easily.
M_Natas
Hero
Day 79 - Cellar Entrance Basement in Warden's House (Crystal Mine). Stairs lead to 76 - Cellar Entrance.
M_Natas
Hero
Day 80 - Cellar in the Warden's House / Diabolical Altar of Sacrifice (Crystal Mine)
We were deceived. The servants lured us into a trap by pretending to hate the Warden. In fact, however, they are in league with the devils and took us to the cellar to interrogate us and use us as offerings.
In the middle of the room was a devilish being surrounded by a distorted, fiery magic circle decorated with runes that were completely unknown to me. The creature had purple, scaly skin, claws instead of hands and feet, a long tail and snake-like outgrowths on its chin.
It asked us to reveal where we came from and why we were here. It asked us if we served the demons or belonged to the resistance....
I knew instinctively that under no circumstances should we tell him that we were from outside the city. But if we couldn't give him satisfactory answers, I feared that our fate would be sealed and we would end up as gnawed bones in the corner.
gorice
Adventurer
Back yet again for the week's rooms. This time things have taken a disturbing turn. I've actually been holding back on the fleshy, chthonic body horror of this region, leaving it mostly implied, but I'll be glad to move on to a different sublevel tomorrow.
15: Cave entrance
16: Nursery
17: Guard Room
18: Queen’s Room
19: Lotus Garden
20: Scriptorium
21: The Princess Usurper
15: Cave entrance
- Easy to miss, a small natural cave of rusty grey stone. About 4’ high.
- From outside, the air feels cool, damp and musty.
- From inside, there is a drought of dry desert air.
16: Nursery
- A dozen molerat pups tucked into alcoves in the waxy walls; they lean their heads out and mewl for food as creatures pass them.
17: Guard Room
- (!) A pair of hulking, bipedal, unsettlingly human-like molerat Hunters. Their arms are tipped with dagger-like claws.
- The hunters are impassive, but will move to block intruders.
18: Queen’s Room
- (!) The molerat god, an ogre-like creature, still, with a head covered in glassy black eyes. Bodies of molerats and humans dangle from Her back and sides – their heads fused to Her flesh.
- (!) A pair of impassive Hunters flank the chamber.
- (!) The god’s emissary, an eyeless former human chewing a deep lotus flower, sits by her feet. Offers interesting intruders the option of joining with the god and abandoning their cares, instead of being eaten.
- (?) The God’s pheremones are what allow the hive to function in its current state. Her death would throw them into strife.
19: Lotus Garden
- A lush thicket of bioluminescent flowers. Smells like death.
- (?) Deep lotus is a well-known narcotic and entheogen that only grows underground.
20: Scriptorium
- An uneven domed vault, its entire waxy surface carved with bizarre sigils. A lumpy statue made from wax and broken jewellery sits in the centre. Something crouches in the corner, busy with its work.
- (!) The eyeless Molehuman Magus scratches runes with a knife. He can be persuaded to part with occult knowledge, in exchange for the murder of the god, so that his lover can ascend in Her place.
21: The Princess Usurper
- An eyeless Molehuman with a pair of Hunters. She lovingly sharpens their claws with a file while humming tunelessly.
- (?) The princess responds to all conversation with 'mmm hmm' and 'ahh'.
Continuing with Mausritter
This is a den of a powerful fox druid-sorceress type, named Meadhbh. From this den she casts spells and sees into the future and past. However, her spells require the fresh blood of pure-of-heart mice! She uses not pure-of-heart mice cultist followers to lure and entrap their brethren, two of which await ritual sacrifice. One of the cultists is actually a regular mouse, but has survived by just pretending to be a cultist.
Meanwhile, a Plastic Golem guards the entrance. This golem is a Mandalorian action figure that is missing an arm due to a battle with a malicious or careless child. There's probably a whole backstory there. Anyway, this Golem was saved by Meadhbh, and now serves her zealously.
Meadhbh herself is a "warband scale" adversary, meaning our mouse-adventurers are going to need some help if they dare take her on in combat, and she has various spells at her disposal. Or they can ask her to tell their fortune, if they are not themselves so pure-of-heart. I ran out of space again or else I would have gotten more creative with spells + treasure.
This is a den of a powerful fox druid-sorceress type, named Meadhbh. From this den she casts spells and sees into the future and past. However, her spells require the fresh blood of pure-of-heart mice! She uses not pure-of-heart mice cultist followers to lure and entrap their brethren, two of which await ritual sacrifice. One of the cultists is actually a regular mouse, but has survived by just pretending to be a cultist.
Meanwhile, a Plastic Golem guards the entrance. This golem is a Mandalorian action figure that is missing an arm due to a battle with a malicious or careless child. There's probably a whole backstory there. Anyway, this Golem was saved by Meadhbh, and now serves her zealously.
Meadhbh herself is a "warband scale" adversary, meaning our mouse-adventurers are going to need some help if they dare take her on in combat, and she has various spells at her disposal. Or they can ask her to tell their fortune, if they are not themselves so pure-of-heart. I ran out of space again or else I would have gotten more creative with spells + treasure.
gorice
Adventurer
This is great. I especially like the Plastic Golem -- it's a joke, but also kind of terrifying for a mouse?
That's basically Mausritter in a nutshell! It's all very cute and funny being a little mouse adventurer...until the game starts and you realize you are just a helpless mouse wielding a needle and a little button shield if you're lucky
Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
3.20 - 3.24 The Goblin King's
Long staircase from 3.20 leads up to (TBD)
In each numbered room, roll 1d6:
1. Empty
2. 1 minotaur
3. A condemned goblin, terrified out of its mind
4. 1 Broom Golem (sweeping)
5. A treasure chest (really a Mimic....of course)
6. Dead adventurer. Has scroll case containing a map of the maze. The map is accurate but inverted left to right.
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M_Natas
Hero
Day 81 - Mountain Trail - Escape from the Crystal Mine
By the skin of our teeth we escaped from the cellar. The miners seem to be servants of devils, devils who conquered the city 1000 years ago and still live here, locked in their own realm. I wonder if the magician who sealed the city knew this?
That the inhabitants he locked behind the city walls with the demons and devils would still have to suffer under the bondage of the devils and demons 1000 years later?
When we set out to find the lost city, we rather expected that nothing would live in the city. That the greatest danger would be unstable buildings slowly crumbling under the weight of the years.
But obviously the devils have found a way to survive, enslaving the inhabitants and their descendants and creating a society that knows nothing else. A society without hope. A society that does not know that there is hope. A new hell has been created here and we are fleeing deeper and deeper into it, leaving behind the only known way out.
M_Natas
Hero
Day 82 - Guardians of Kyrthar Tahlketh
We continued to flee through the mountains from the devils and their hordes. For some reason, they broke off the pursuit when we approached a ruin in front of which stood a large statue. Next to the statue lay the corpse of a devil that had been lying there for a long time. Skin and bones had long since passed away and only the bones remained. Something here killed the devil and scared the rest so much that they do not follow us ...
M_Natas
Hero
Day 83 - Ruin of a forge
There is no sign of our pursuers. It is as if they do not dare to come to this area. We continued walking and came to the ruins of an old forge. In front of it stood a statue. Her hands were a hammer and pliers. She looked to me as if she could come alive at any moment. I could feel the magic that lay dormant in her. Were these statues part of the ancient defenses of Kyrthar Tahlketh? Is that why the devils didn't dare come here? And if so, why didn't they attack us?
The forge looked tidy, as if someone had cleared away the debris after a battle. But if the devils hadn't ventured here, who had? Were there other survivors who had not been enslaved by the devils?
A hatch in the forge leading to the cellar is tightly closed. Who knows what is hidden underneath?
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