Low-level Dungeon: Need an inhabitant

[Mistah J]

I'm starting to set up for a new campaign soon and some advice would be appreciated.

I've got the first adventure all planned and at its end, the PCs are going to find an ancient ruin of a temple. One that will serve as the starting point of the main campaign plot.

I'm trying to decide on who or what will be the main obstacle there and could use some advice/suggestions. Here are the main points to consider:

1. This "dungeon" is just the basement level of a small temple that was buried over time (the rest of it is gone).
2. The temple was dedicated to a good-aligned angel of healing so it can't be full of deadly traps and evil guardians.
3. It's been sealed and lost for centuries, so there's no real traffic.

So really, given those conditions, I'm looking for something that makes sense and can be a fun encounter for a 1st level party (maybe 2nd).

Anyone feel like brainstorming with me?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My first instinct is to treat this like a cave environment, one sealed against the surface world. Whatever is in there probably was in there at the time of its sealing. That would mean bugz, bugz, bugz and anything that might eat them.

That could also mean bugs, but also bats, rodents and reptiles...and, of course, they could be of any size.

They don't have to be native to the environment, either, considering how many arthropods are good burrowers.

Besides, big bugs are a sf/fantasy staple, baby!

 

[aboyd]

Core books only? Extra Monster Manuals? En World Critters books? Tome of Horrors? Creatures of Freeport? DMG 2? What's allowed?

 

[Mistah J]

Core books only? Extra Monster Manuals? En World Critters books? Tome of Horrors? Creatures of Freeport? DMG 2? What's allowed?

Oooh! Good question.

I've got MM volumes I-V. I have the monster specialty books (Draconomicon, Libris Mortis, etc..). I've got the terrain books (Frostburn through to Dungeonscape)..

Hmm... let's just say I've got the WoTC collection!

 

[aboyd]

My first instinct is to treat this like a cave environment, one sealed against the surface world. Whatever is in there probably was in there at the time of its sealing. That would mean bugz, bugz, bugz and anything that might eat them.

Well, since the OP says that the environment is merely a basement on a small temple, I'm not sure the space would be big enough to evolve a completely self-contained ecosystem. However, with small creatures and even a single crack somewhere, now you're talking. Now the "bugz bugz bugz" have a lair/hive/thing and can make excursions. That sounds really good.

Just using the Monster Manual, a Centipede Swarm (or many) would be great, assuming you're in anything other than frozen tundra or desert lands. In a desert, perhaps a Locust Swarm might be OK. However, knowing how locusts work, I doubt finding their buried lair would actually cause them to swarm. When they're buried, they're not active. Coming across it would merely be creepy/gross, but easily tackled with fire.

Another option is a ghost. Ghosts don't have to be evil, and don't need anything (such as food) to survive forever. So that's viable and might even make a good story option. I know the ghosts in the Freeport trilogy modules were pretty interesting. You could fight them, but you could also help them and/or interact with them in non-combative ways.

If you have the book, Denizens of Avadnu, then a Grimvole infestation would be pretty nice. These critters are scary due to the effect they cause (exhaustion), but they don't do huge amounts of damage, and they like to flee from overwhelming forces. So pretty OK for 1st/2nd level characters. Also, due to their burrowing they are prime candidates to take over a buried (but not perfectly sealed) basement.

Technically, since the location is where an angel lived, there is always the possibility of a Gate effect -- which opens the basement to all sorts of devils and extraplanar creatures. However, a spot abandoned for centuries would be useless/boring for extraplanar creatures, so I'm kinda meh on that one.

If you have Tome of Horrors, you could use a Haunt. They're similar to Ghosts, except that they tend to resolve their issues by possessing a living creature and forcing that creature to complete their task. More evil-ish, probably not in theme with an angel's temple. It'd be really sad, though, if a Haunt possessed a player's character, and then attempted to complete some 800 year-old task that is now impossible to complete. The players would have to convince it to give up somehow.

That same book has a "Livestone" which is something like a big (10' space) rock that turns oozey in order to do slam attacks. It would work because "Livestones are incredibly long-lived, solidifying and entering a form of hibernation and remaining that way indefinitely until a food source wanders too near." However, how a Livestone got into the basement in the first place... hmm.

Good luck! Have fun.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well, since the OP says that the environment is merely a basement on a small temple, I'm not sure the space would be big enough to evolve a completely self-contained ecosystem. However, with small creatures and even a single crack somewhere, now you're talking. Now the "bugz bugz bugz" have a lair/hive/thing and can make excursions. That sounds really good.

Just using the Monster Manual, a Centipede Swarm (or many) would be great, assuming you're in anything other than frozen tundra or desert lands. In a desert, perhaps a Locust Swarm might be OK. However, knowing how locusts work, I doubt finding their buried lair would actually cause them to swarm. When they're buried, they're not active. Coming across it would merely be creepy/gross, but easily tackled with fire.

Well, it does depend upon the size of the basement itself...but small vicious critters was what I was thinking in the first place.

There are plenty of nasty critters that are smaller than a coin, after all- and all you need is one unusually large one to be a problem for a low-level party.

Remember Arachnaphobia? Essentially, one oversized spider- only as big as a grapefruit- had a FIELD DAY in an unsuspecting American town.

And something like that need be only a Tiny or Small Monstrous Spider.
Monstrous Spider :: d20srd.org

Perhaps it was part of an egg sac laid before the basement got sealed...

OTOH, giant ants and some other larger arthropods are noted tunnelers. Maybe the PCs just happen to have the bad luck to break into one side of the tunnels when the ants break in the other side. Or perhaps they've been there some time and are using the basement as some kind of chamber- part of their larger nest.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

1) As pointed out above, undead are another prime "sealed environment" encounter.

2) Some kind of minor construct would also work. Perhaps the temple had a cleaning golem or an animated broom that was tasked with cleaning the temple and its grounds...and now its been released (and the party has made a mess!

(Yes, this is somewhat lifted from a Paranoia adventure & the Sorcerer's Apprentice sequence from Fantasia.)

For an additional level of challenge, perhaps what is animated isn't the broom, but a set or 2 of armor and weapons- think of the animated armory sequence from Bedknobs and Broomstics. The suits were used to keep the temple secure, and were patrolling the basement when the exit collapsed behind them.

3) A sentient fungus/lichen might work- base it on but do not use the Myconids (they're too tough for low-level PCs).

 

[Runestar]

If you have savage species, you could use the monster class tables to create "de-advanced" versions of outsiders (and come up with some reason why they are weaker than others of their ilk). Maybe a astral deva reduced to 2-3 HD for some reason or a ECL4 hound archon (cr2), driven completely mad by its captivity. Perhaps they were responsible for sealing the temple, and see anyone as tresspassers to be driven away or slain.

Plus, as good intelligent outsiders, they made decent npcs to convey whatever plot hook you wish to insert.

 

[aboyd]

Can a hound archon actually live without anything for centuries? I don't really know extraplanar creatures well enough. They don't starve?

 

[Runestar]

Well, the MM does state that outsiders do not need to eat or sleep (only native outsiders need to eat, breathe and sleep). The distinction has always seemed a tad arbitrary to me, but whatever...