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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BookTenTiger" data-source="post: 8864719" data-attributes="member: 6685541">Structure for the Dungeon Part 4: The LairFollowing the 5 Room Dungeon, the Lair is the climax, big battle, or conflict. I like the idea of the Lair being a different location than the rest of the dungeon, it gives the place a bit of variety and raises the stakes. I assume that after the Atrium, the characters will probably rest and recuperate their resources. So this should be a tough area with a lot of ways to get in trouble. I had a lot of fun creating this one!The LairThe Lair is a separate structure. Once occupied by (users of a class ability), it is now the domain of the Big Bad. Because of its size, shape, or ecology, the Lair is difficult to navigate without the use of (skill / tool) or (class feature).The Lair is patrolled by the Goon and its leader, a (class / background) talented in (skill / class feature) and resistant to (skill / class ability). A secondary threat, related to a character’s flaw (flaw) can be overcome through the use of (skill / tool / class feature), will also hinder the characters’ progress.When the characters enter the Lair, they will have a choice between gaining advantage against the Big Bad through the use of (skill), or using (skill / class ability) to meet a secondary goal related to (bond).A final instance of the Guardian can be found here, though there is an added danger that may be overcome through the use of (skill / class ability). Beyond the Guardian the characters will find a reward related to (bond / skill / class ability), as well as a resource related to (skill / tool / class ability) that can be used to upgrade the disrepaired location in town.The Lair provides the setting for the final conflict with the Big Bad. This is a dramatic scene, with a secondary challenge related to (ideal / bond / flaw) that could be overcome through the use of (skill / tool / class ability).Rolling, Rolling, RollingHere's what it looks like after I roll... I really like the results that I got, there's some fun stuff here!The LairThe Lair is a separate structure. Once occupied by users of Natural Athlete (Croto), it is now the domain of the Big Bad. Because of its size, shape, or ecology, the Lair is difficult to navigate without the use of Acrobatics (Bug) or Awakened Mind (telepathy 30 ft) (Arkmenos).The Lair is patrolled by the Goon and its leader, a knight (Danara) talented in Perception (Bug) and resistant to Tavern Brawler (Danara). A secondary threat, related to Arkmenos’ flaw (I am easily distracted by the promise of information) can be overcome through the use of Heavy Armor Proficiency (Croto), or will hinder the characters’ progress.When the characters enter the Lair, they will have a choice between gaining advantage against the Big Bad through the use of Survival (Croto), or using History (Danara) to meet a secondary goal related to Arkmenos’ bond (my life’s work is a series of tomes related to a specific field of lore).A final instance of the Guardian can be found here, though there is an added danger that may be overcome through the use of Halfling Nimbleness (Bug). Beyond the Guardian the characters will find a reward related to Danara’s bond (my house’s alliance with another noble family must be sustained at all cost), as well as a resource related to Spell Focus Orb (Arkmenos) that can be used to upgrade the disrepaired location in town.The Lair provides the setting for the final conflict with the Big Bad. This is a dramatic scene, with a secondary challenge related to Croto’s flaw (Secretly, I believe that things would be better if I were a tyrant lording over the land) that could be overcome through the use of Brave (Bug).Filling in the DetailsI'm really, really happy with how this one came together. It seems like a really memorable location that the players would have fun exploring. It's also really creeeeepy!The LairA stone sarcophagus at the back end of the ossuary is actually a door leading to a staircase that descends further into the mountain. It eventually opens to a vast cavern, once a village belonging to the stone giants. It has been abandoned for over a century. Though many of the stone buildings still stand, others are crumbled. At the center of the cavern is a huge stone coliseum. It glows with a sickening purple light from its center. This is where Valhaxron awaits the arrival of the Elder Brain.The coliseum had fallen into disrepair even before the stone giants left. The hallways are littered with the great stones of fallen walls and ceilings. Traversing from one room to another often requires climbing up or down piles of boulders and huge bricks. Characters with good Acrobatics will be able to fight from atop these stones; others will be forced to defend themselves from the lower ground.The whole coliseum throbs with a deep thrum from the psionic ritual Valhaxron is enacting at its center. It sounds like the beating of some massive heart, mixed with tortured screams. Creatures have disadvantage on Perception checks related to hearing, and cannot easily communicate verbally beyond 10 feet, or at all beyond 30 feet.To reach the center of the coliseum, the characters will have to pass through a network of half-demolished rooms, once used as training halls, armories, and barracks for the former Stone Giant gladiators. These halls are patrolled by the Gray Maiden (use the stats of a Gladiator, with the appropriate abilities of a Grimlock), a Grimlock knight who leads the other underdark followers of Valhaxron. She is a terrifying figure, wearing studded leather armor made from the tanned hides of humanoid victims. Her long, gray hair is tangled around dozens of bones, trinkets, and other grisly trophies.A gang of nothics have also been drawn to the coliseum, sensing the great power held within. They have been spying on the grimlocks, using their Weird Insight to learn the secrets of Valhaxron. They could serve as risky allies, trading knowledge of the Stone Giant Illithid for safety. However, they are more likely to try to lead the characters into traps and steal their magic items.The gang of nothics have written their learned secrets in scrolls, which they hide (with other magical treasures) in magically-sealed compartments in the walls. The caches are marked by a glyph (which the blind grimlocks cannot see). Each glyph is different, and looks old fashioned. A character can use Intelligence (History) to identify the glyphs as symbols representing arcanists of ancient times. Saying the name of the arcanist causes the hidden compartment to open.The coliseum is also home to a mating pair of ankhegs who have dug a maze of tunnels through the walls. A character can use Wisdom (Survival) to find shortcuts between the rooms and travel without being seen.One narrow hallway ends in a door protected by a gargoyle guardian. This gargoyle is carved into a double-sided door, and its two arms reach out as door handles. However, a stone chain binds the wrists together, preventing the door from being opened. The floor of the hallway is littered with rubble. As soon as a character approaches the hall, the gargoyle guardian will speak, saying, “Lay death’s edge against bondage.” At the same time, the rubble will magically form together into a large gargoyle (squeezed in the hallway’s narrow walls). This gargoyle has double the hit points of a normal gargoyle, an AC of 18, and at the start of its turn regenerates 10 hit points as long as it is still touching stone. It can also throw a stone as a ranged attack.The gravel gargoyle blocks the entire hallway, and refuses to move. Forcing it out of the hallway, reducing it to 0 hit points (though it will regenerate at the start of its turn), or using Halfling Nimbleness are all ways to get past it. Once the stone chain is cut (the first letters of the gargoyle guardian’s phrase can be rearranged into “blade”), the gravel gargoyle dissolves back into rubble.Beyond the guardian gargoyle door, the characters will find a statue of a stone giant mystic. It carries in one hand a black basalt orb, and in the other a veined marble orb. Danara will recognize the black basalt orb as that which caused so much trouble for House Fernvale. The black orb is an Orb of Fear (identical to a Wand of Fear), and the marble orb is an Orb of Grasping Stones (identical to a Wand of Entangle, only it conjures stone hands instead of roots and vines. Once per day it can also be used to cast Stone Shape).This Stone Giant mystic is the arcanist who crafted the guardian gargoyle doors for the Stone Swords.At the center of the coliseum, Valhaxron awaits the arrival of the Elder Brain. He has created a Teleportation Circle out of stone blocks carved with both Stone Giant and Illithid runes. He must wait, however, until enough villagers in the Giants Chain are ready to receive the Elder Brain. He monitors his thralls, the greedy thieves he converted and sent back to their home towns. In fact, throughout the coliseum, the characters can see spectral forms of these thralls, illusionary images that repeat the movements and sounds of their flesh-and-blood doubles. Each looks like a translucent version of its double. At the center of their foreheads float a crystal eye, a magic item that allows Valhaxron to control their actions and thoughts.Any character who possesses one of these crystal eyes can use it to control its subject, as though they were under the effect of a Suggestion spell (though the target does not get to make a Wisdom saving throw). The commands can be communicated through the eye itself. Breaking the crystal eye ends the effect. However, the eyes are protected with a ward. Any creature who approaches within 5 feet of an active crystal eye must make a Wisdom Saving Throw versus fear, or be Frightened by the eye. They may repeat the saving throw at the end of their turn.If Valhaxron is unaware of the characters (for example, if they traveled through the ankheg tunnels), he will offer them unimaginable power if they go and prepare Greenmount for the Elder Brain’s arrival. However, if he has been forewarned, he will be a powerful opponent, targeting the least intelligent characters with his Mind Blast, and calling forward grimlocks to grapple and distract spellcasters or the strongest characters.ReflectionsMan, this part of the dungeon came together beautifully. I love the final guardian gargoyle (I'm going to have to steal this for my next dungeon), the creepy crystal eyes, the Gray Maiden!!! Ew!!! Also, I have never incorporated the History Skill so much into an adventure before. I like how this process is forcing me to consider skills and abilities I've overlooked in the past. Good stuff!As I get into this, however, I've been thinking a lot about backwards planning. I think this whole process would be interesting to try in reverse. Start with the boss, and work backwards towards the town. If I were really going to run this, I'd sweep through again and make more connections between the town and the different aspects of the dungeon.Next up is the antechamber, the final (and short) part of the dungeon! Then I'm going to roll up a nearby Camp, and we're all done!</blockquote>

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