[plots] What kinds of things would find in a Moria-like Dwarven complex?

[Hand of Evil]

One thing that's bothered me about most "dwarven" duneon complexes is that they seem to be designed for dwarven giants. Why would dwarves build passages more than 4'-5' high? You don't want to tunnel out all that rock that's just wasted space. 5' gives them plenty of room to fight, but would severely constrain larger (human, elf, orc, hobgoblin) creatures that might invade. Make it narrow and claustrophobic for humans, where they couldn't get large weapons into play.

While in a way you would think passageways and such would be built 4'-5' feet, you build large for air flow and temperature regulation. This would keep wind tunnels from forming and get gasses up higher than your face, and the tunnels from becoming too hot from the press of bodies.

It is my story...

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Depending on how frequent combat tends to be, then 2 levels worth (11th>13th level) of fighting the undead, constructs and plants could be a bit frustrating for any rogues or critical orientated fighters. Even for other characters it might be a bit much?

My 2 cents would be to have a fair number of factions in the dungeon. A few possibilities.

The dwarves... I thought the idea of them being undead and fighting a neverending war with some other undead was great

Someone else trying to re-settle the dungeon - possibly a drow expedition, giant tribe, mind flayer cult, etc. Were they forced to migrate there?

There's the shadow/dracolich and whatever cohorts/worshipers/etc it has... perhaps some of the other factions pay it tribute? Would they be pleased to see it gone?

I'm a fan of other groups of adventurers. Perhaps some greedy neutral treasure hunting NPC's, a mind flayer inquisition or a questing party from some other plane - demons, efreeti, etc? Not necessarily hostile, but could be a real pain if they allied with another group... depends how they're treated.

 

[daTim]

If you had any living dwarves there, think how supprised they would be to see normal PC's. Their whole world for 200,000 years has been just that cave. Could make for very interesting RP to convince them they arent some new faction of undead or devils etc. They might have to do a few quests to earn trust

 

[der_kluge]

The intelligent ghoul thing is good. There's some sort of high-powered overweight ghoul thingy from the MM II that's just _nasty_ that could be their leader.

Putting in still-alive dwarves is very problematic, so I'll probably avoid doing that. It might be an option to have dwarves in there that are turned to stone. That's a good option for anyone that dies (oh, I don't and gets turned into a shadow, perhaps?) and needs a new character - I can work them in as a dwarf that the PCs break the enchantment on.

And the comment about 6-ft. ceilings is well-taken.

 

[Mystery Man]

The intelligent ghoul thing is good. There's some sort of high-powered overweight ghoul thingy from the MM II that's just _nasty_ that could be their leader.

Famine Spirit. CR 19. Very nasty.

It might be an option to have dwarves in there that are turned to stone. That's a good option for anyone that dies (oh, I don't and gets turned into a shadow, perhaps?) and needs a new character - I can work them in as a dwarf that the PCs break the enchantment on.

They'll think medusa or basilisk right off, so put one in.

 

[Ferox4]

Just pepper them with shadows - normal and some greater ones as well. Perhaps the shadow dragon and the intelligent ghoul/ghast are not allied, but rather opposed enemies? Perhaps the dragon was drawn here because of the proximity to the Plane of Shadow? I like the stone dwarves angle - a little mystery. Maybe the area that contains the dragon scale shield is now below water? Or some cataclysmic event has dropped the item deeper into the mines? And into the hands of yet another enemy....

 

[MarauderX]

I like the giant vermin idea too. Beetles. Add beetles and oozes, slimes, mold and other muck, just like Gygax would have. Oh, and maybe a formian hive, as they would build their own tunnels that could be distinguished from the dwarven hallways to add setting changes.

 

[Soundbyte]

They'll think medusa or basilisk right off, so put one in.

Or have an easily discovered and avoided trap that turns things to stone ... have it go off during an encounter and turn an expendable monster to stone. Then when the PCs think they have the reason behind all the statues figured out ... then you drop a basilisk on them.

Ferox4's idea about parts of the stronghold being underwater is great too. If you have an underground lake that might be connected to the outside, you can have all kinds of aquatic and amphibious creatures in the stronghold and still have a stronghold that has remained more or less sealed shut for a long time (at least to the air-breathers).

Soundbyte

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

I really dig the "dwarves turned to stone" angle. Seems perfect for dwarves. They need to ride out some cataclysm, what better way to do it than turning to stone. Perhaps there's some form of good dwarf-o-lich who sacrificed his soul in order to gain the power to weather the disaster. He was intended to free them, but either his long battle with a Dracolich or some side effect of the process that created him (or some other cause) has made him mad or hindered his ability to do so. In the meantime, the vast majority of the statues have been smashed, and the chamber that houses the dwarves (which once numbered statues in the thousands) is a field of rubble with only a handful of intact dwarves. These few, if freed, would be good replacement characters and sources of info. It could be the smashing of the statues that drove our ur-dwarf mad. Maybe he's desperately searching for a way to mend the statues before he returns the lot to flesh. The shadows could even be the cursed souls ripped from all the shattered statues.