reanjr
First Post
I am trying to put together a dungeon crawl adventure for my group. I rarely run dungeon crawls because I find them hard to fit into a campaign and retain verisimilitude. I have found a good way to fit the dungeon in, but I am running into some problems with creating encounters for it.
General background: old mausoleum of a wealthy noble family (the Kolvinyas) that has been cursed by the depravations of a member of the family (Mircea Volodescu) returning to visit and attempt to resurrect his wife (Violeta Ţoara). He eventually succeeds in a horrible manner, bringing Violeta back as a ravenous spirit who kills him and curses him to wander lonely through the crypt as a spirit. During its time of use, the Kolvinyas crafted stone guardians to keep out grave robbers and ensure respect for the dead. These guardians only come to life when something is being destroyed or stolen.
General layout: the mausoleum has a dais (or bier I suppose) upon which is placed the deceased for viewing. After viewing the family uses an open/close to open the bier to the crypt below. So far there is a main room to hold the bodies of the patriarchs, another houses the wives of the patriarchs, and several other rooms. I believe these rooms will have other purposes, for instance the bodies of those who died in battle or those who joined the clergy. Each of these rooms will also have a stone guardian. There is also a secret area, crafted on after initial construction that houses the goal for the PCs.
General premise: fairly simple retrieval of documents, but complicated by the wandering Violeta. Background of the place can be learned from the party's patron and from Mircea himself.
Needed: encounters, traps, puzzles, anything to spice up the adventure some. Ideas should make sense within the context of the adventure. Traps could have been placed by Mircea when he was alive to keep out those who might interrupt his work. They should be deadly or debilitating and should be able to fit in with the surroundings (generally, low ceiling squared rooms with coffins in rows and columns on the walls and up to four hallways leading away, with possible bier in middle). Puzzle would be good for the secret entrance to the PCs' goal.
One idea I had was to have a small tribe of goblins live in the crypt. They are respectful (fearful) of the dead and so leave the family heirlooms intact. They also avoid the areas where Violeta roams, though they occasionally associate with Mircea. The area around the mausoleum is a gated field that has been abandoned and overgrown, so the goblins can come and go in the secrecy of the night.
As I said I rarely create dungeon crawls so I need some ideas. This one is especially important as this is to make up for lack of combat or other dice-rolling for several sessions and it is very rare that I have the opportunity to drop in a dungeon.
Thanks in advance.
General background: old mausoleum of a wealthy noble family (the Kolvinyas) that has been cursed by the depravations of a member of the family (Mircea Volodescu) returning to visit and attempt to resurrect his wife (Violeta Ţoara). He eventually succeeds in a horrible manner, bringing Violeta back as a ravenous spirit who kills him and curses him to wander lonely through the crypt as a spirit. During its time of use, the Kolvinyas crafted stone guardians to keep out grave robbers and ensure respect for the dead. These guardians only come to life when something is being destroyed or stolen.
General layout: the mausoleum has a dais (or bier I suppose) upon which is placed the deceased for viewing. After viewing the family uses an open/close to open the bier to the crypt below. So far there is a main room to hold the bodies of the patriarchs, another houses the wives of the patriarchs, and several other rooms. I believe these rooms will have other purposes, for instance the bodies of those who died in battle or those who joined the clergy. Each of these rooms will also have a stone guardian. There is also a secret area, crafted on after initial construction that houses the goal for the PCs.
General premise: fairly simple retrieval of documents, but complicated by the wandering Violeta. Background of the place can be learned from the party's patron and from Mircea himself.
Needed: encounters, traps, puzzles, anything to spice up the adventure some. Ideas should make sense within the context of the adventure. Traps could have been placed by Mircea when he was alive to keep out those who might interrupt his work. They should be deadly or debilitating and should be able to fit in with the surroundings (generally, low ceiling squared rooms with coffins in rows and columns on the walls and up to four hallways leading away, with possible bier in middle). Puzzle would be good for the secret entrance to the PCs' goal.
One idea I had was to have a small tribe of goblins live in the crypt. They are respectful (fearful) of the dead and so leave the family heirlooms intact. They also avoid the areas where Violeta roams, though they occasionally associate with Mircea. The area around the mausoleum is a gated field that has been abandoned and overgrown, so the goblins can come and go in the secrecy of the night.
As I said I rarely create dungeon crawls so I need some ideas. This one is especially important as this is to make up for lack of combat or other dice-rolling for several sessions and it is very rare that I have the opportunity to drop in a dungeon.
Thanks in advance.
I don't generally worry about CR since I can always modify things to fit.
