I'm doing this for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG (a GURPS offshoot), but it's basically standard RPG fantasy. I'm not worrying about having all of the rooms connect to each other. I'm just creating daily rooms (or small areas) for now. Maybe they are in the same dungeon or maybe not. (Ostensibly, I'm imagining that these are all in the vicinity of Sean Punch's
Caverntown setting.)
Room 1/1 — Dripping Shaft
Description: This cave forms a rough vertical cylinder, about 9-yards across and 25-yards up, with ancient carved steps spiraling around the edge from bottom to top (1-yard wide, no railing). Water drips from the stalactite-festooned ceiling and trickles down the worn steps, making for slippery footing (+2 movement points per hex, -3 to attack rolls, -2 to defenses). The floor of the chamber is littered with bits of stone debris covered by a shallow pool that slowly drains through a narrow crevice (bad footing + shallow water = +2 movement points per hex). Hidden under the water within the debris are numerous bones and bits of gear.
Vision: -8 (patches of glowing slime); note that lanterns and torches will be extinguished if they are dropped in the water
Hearing: -3 (dripping water)
Exits: Two rough tunnels at the bottom and top of the stairs.
Slippery Stairs: Climbing or descending the stairs slowly is safe enough. Moving more rapidly, or engaging in sudden motion (as during combat) requires a DX-3 roll. Failure indicates a fall on the steps; roll DX at -2 to stand up. Failure by 3 or more (or a critical failure) means a fall from the steps at whatever height the character was at. The shallow water counts as a soft surface, halving crushing damage from the fall.
Dökkkápa: A cluster of four dökkkápa (
Norðlondr Óvinabókin, p. 60) are concealed amongst the stalactites on the ceiling. They typically wait until prey climbs 10–20 yards up the steps before plummeting to attack.
Treasure: Submerged amongst the debris at the base of the chamber are the remains of former victims. Gear is largely corroded to worthlessness, but a careful search may reveal some of the following:
- various coins [$3d×10, 0.02 lb. per coin]
- a rusty but serviceable long knife (cheap) [$20, 1 lb]
- bronze bracelet inlaid with turquoise [$185, 0.15 lbs]
- greased pouch of 13 small polished agate discs (playing pieces?) [$325, neg.]
- 1 siege stone, probably only discoverable with magic as it looks no different from a natural rock [$550, neg.]