Shadowdark: Stocking A Dungeon Example

[ruemere]

Creatures: Summary x Stats​

Room #1. NPC, Captive

# SHRUNKEN HEAD TRIO
A dark necromantic magic object looking like a cross with three shrunken heads nailed to it (each Defense 6, Health: 2). You cannot remove heads without destroying it. Worth 1 gp to a collector. The heads are asleep unless woken up (DC 12 to avoid their notice) and act unless they recognize their owner or placated with tobacco smoke. To become an owner, one has to sacrifice tobacco five times on five consecutive days by the light of the moon.

• (top) Clattering Head. Clatters its teeth (1 bane on morale checks) for ten minutes.
• (clockwise) Glaring Head. Whistles once, alarming other shrunken head trios (they will start to clatter) within the dungeon.
• (anticlockwise) Frowning Head. If offered tobacco smoke, it will report on what it saw within last twenty four hours. It will refer to beings in vague terms and use at most ten sentences. Alternatively, it answers three questions.

Room #5. Monster mob, Reckless, Outcasts

# DIFFICULTY 8

# POLLYWOG GOD-CROAKER
Pollywog, Amphibious; Difficulty 2
Defense: 13, Health: 40
Attributes: Strength 11 (+1), Agility 11 (+1), Intellect 11 (+1), Will 13 (+3)
Size: 1, Speed: 5 (Swimmer)
Languages: Pollywog
Leaper: Same as the Pollywog Warrior.
Trill of the Pollywogs: At the start of combat, the god-croaker emits a high-pitched whine in a Size 10 space for 1 minute. Non-deafened enemies in the space must make a Will roll with 1 bane; failure results in becoming confused and vulnerable (luck ends both), while success grants immunity for 1 hour.
## Actions:
Melee Attack—Spear: Thrown 5, Will (+3) with 1 boon (2d6 damage).
Ranged Attack—Sling: Range 20, Will (+3) with 1 boon (1d6 damage).
Sticky Tongue: Same as the Pollywog Warrior, but a critical success allows a Spear attack instead.
Corpse-Eater Maw (Magical): The god-croaker opens a yawning maw beneath a creature within 15 yards, dealing 2d6 damage. It then makes a Will (+3) roll with 1 boon against the target's Agility; success deals an extra 2d6 damage, and if the target is incapacitated, it disappears into the maw and is never seen again. This talent has a 1-minute cooldown.

# POLLYWOG WARRIOR (x6)
Pollywog, Amphibious; Difficulty 1
Defense: 10, Health: 5
Attributes: Strength 11 (+1), Agility 10 (+0), Intellect 9 (–1), Will 10 (+0)
Size: 1, Speed: 5 (Swimmer)
Languages: Pollywog
Leaper: A pollywog can expend 1 yard of movement to jump to a space within 5 yards; once used, they lose access to this trait for 1 minute.
## Actions:
Melee Attack—Club: Strength (+1) (2d6 damage).
Sticky Tongue: The pollywog targets one creature of its Size or smaller within 3 yards. It makes a Strength (+1) roll against the target’s Agility; on a success, the target is pulled up to 3 yards, and on a critical success, the warrior also makes a Club attack against it.

Room #10. NPC, Captive

# SHRUNKEN HEAD TRIO
A dark necromantic magic object looking like a cross with three shrunken heads nailed to it (each Defense 6, Health: 2). You cannot remove heads without destroying it. Worth 1 gp to a collector. The heads are asleep unless woken up (DC 12 to avoid their notice) and act unless they recognize their owner or placated with tobacco smoke. To become an owner, one has to sacrifice tobacco five times on five consecutive days by the light of the moon.

• (top) Clattering Head. Clatters its teeth (1 bane on morale checks) for ten minutes.
• (clockwise) Glaring Head. Whistles once, alarming other shrunken head trios (they will start to clatter) within the dungeon.
• (anticlockwise) Frowning Head. If offered tobacco smoke, it will report on what it saw within last twenty four hours. It will refer to beings in vague terms and use at most ten sentences. Alternatively, it answers three questions.

Room #11. Boss monster, Guarded by minions

# DIFFICULTY 8+4

Sailor Berthelt pretends to be a river pilot, held captive. Sloane knows only that Sailor is dangerous, and highly trusted by Jamm Jordan, and will try to play along.
However, if Sailor's cover is blown, they will join their forces together.

# SLOANE SABATIER, RIVER PIRATE LIEUTENANT, BANDIT LEADER
HUMAN · DIFFICULTY 4
Defense: 17 (mail, shield), Health: 40
Strength: 12 (+2), Agility: 11 (+1)
Intellect: 12 (+2), Will: 11 (+1)
Size: 1, Speed: 5
Languages: Common
Leadership: Each ally within 5 yards rolls to attack with 1 boon.
## ACTIONS
Melee Attack—Sword · Slashing: Strength (+2) with 1 boon (2d6)
Ranged Attack—Pistol · Ammunition (Ball), Brutal, Firearm, Misfire, Range 5, 5 gp: Agility (+1) with 1 boon (3d6)
Two Attacks: The bandit leader makes two Sword attacks.

# DRUN, TIGR, SALTY, ROSERY, RIVER PIRATE WRETCHES, BANDIT WRETCHES (x4)
HUMAN · DIFFICULTY 1
Defense: 11 (padded), Health: 10
Strength: 10 (+0), Agility: 9 (–1)
Intellect: 9 (–1), Will: 8 (–2)
Size: 1, Speed: 5
Languages: Common
## ACTIONS
Melee Attack—Club: Strength (+0) (2d6)
Ranged Attack—Bow · Range 20: Agility (–1) (2d6)

# SAILOR BERTHELT, HIRED KILLER
HUMAN · DIFFICULTY 4
Defense: 14 (leather), Health: 40
Strength: 12 (+2), Agility: 13 (+3)
Intellect: 11 (+1), Will: 10 (+0)
Size: 1, Speed: 5 (Silent)
Languages: Common, Hand Signs, Thieves’ Cant
Hide in Shadows: The hired killer can hide in spaces lit by dim light, faint light, or no light, even when being observed.
Lethal Strike: When a creature takes damage from a hidden hired killer, the creature makes a luck roll. On a failure, the creature also loses 3d6 Health.
## ACTIONS
Melee Attack—Rapier · Piercing: Agility (+3) with 1 boon (2d6)
Poisoned Blade: A flesh-and-blood target makes a luck roll. On a failure, it becomes poisoned (luck ends).
Ranged Attack—Crossbow Pistol · Range 10, Reload: Agility (+3) with 1 boon (1d6)
Poisoned Bolts: A flesh-and-blood target becomes poisoned (luck ends).
Two Attacks: If the hired killer has a loaded crossbow pistol, they make a Rapier attack and a Crossbow Pistol attack.
## TREASURE
Two doses of antidote (+boon to luck vs. poison)
11 ss 8 cp 4 hp 1 qp
Contract to eliminate 8 employees of railway (signed in blood by Jamm Jordan, an infamous crime boss and river pirate) worth 4 gp

Room #13. NPC, Wounded

# SHRUNKEN HEAD TRIO, DAMAGED
A dark necromantic magic object looking like a cross with three shrunken heads nailed to it (each Defense 6, Health: 2). You cannot remove heads without destroying it. Worth 1 gp to a collector. The heads are asleep unless woken up (DC 12 to avoid their notice) and act unless they recognize their owner or placated with tobacco smoke. To become an owner, one has to sacrifice tobacco five times on five consecutive days by the light of the moon.

• (top) Clattering Head. DESTROYED (its frequent clattering unnerved Draugr Mage).
• (clockwise) Glaring Head. Whistles once, alarming other shrunken head trios (they will start to clatter) within the dungeon.
• (anticlockwise) Frowning Head. If offered tobacco smoke, it will report on what it saw within last twenty four hours. It will refer to beings in vague terms and use at most ten sentences. Alternatively, it answers three questions.

Room #14. Boss monster, Supreme sorcerer

# DRAUGR DARK MAGE (SWW, p. 168)
UNDEAD · DIFFICULTY 4
Defense: 12 (leather), Health: 40
Strength: 12 (+2), Agility: 11 (+1)
Intellect: 10 (+0), Will: 12 (+2)
Size: 1, Speed: 5
Languages: understands Archaic
Senses: Dark Vision
Immune: asleep, confused, controlled, frightened, poisoned; deprivation, exposure, infection, suffocation
Relentless: When the draugr takes damage from an ordinary source, it reduces the damage by 1d6 (minimum 0) and then loses this trait for 1 minute.
Word of Ruin (Magical): At the start of its turn if it’s not stunned or unconscious, the dark mage speaks a word of ruin. Target up to three creatures within 5 yards. For each target separately, make a Will (+2) roll with 1 boon against its Strength. On a success, the target takes 2d6 damage, falls prone, and becomes confused (luck ends). On a failure, it becomes immune to Word of Ruin for 1 hour. Then, the dark mage loses access to this talent (luck ends)
Divine Doom: A draugr makes luck rolls with 1 bane.
## ACTIONS
Melee Attack—Sword · Slashing: Strength (+2) with 2 boons (3d6), weapon breaks a roll of 5 or less becoming a dagger
Ice Spear (Magical): The dark mage flings an icy spear. Target one creature within 15 yards. Make a Will (+2) roll with 1 boon against the target’s Strength. On a success, the target takes 4d6 damage and becomes held until either it overcomes the affliction with a successful Strength roll or takes 5 damage or more from fire.
## END OF THE ROUND
Burned by Sunlight: If the draugr is in a space lit by direct sunlight, it loses 4d6 Health and becomes weakened until the end of the next round.

 

[ruemere]

And here it is. Several bits of information:

1. SWW is missing random OSR tables. Shadowdark imports them, supplementing this functionality.
2. Dungeon Turn aka crawling round is an experiment to find out if it helps with putting time-based pressure on the players.
3. The encounters are meant to be hard on dungeon completionists. Hence the severe resource drain. To avoid fatalities, the first major treasure is all about healing. NOTE: There is actually no search test in SWW - you just declare the action of searching, pay time-based cost and learn results.
4. There are almost no healing spells in SWW. You can only take a rest 6-hour action to restore damage fully and 1/10th of lost Health. So you need to plan carefully. The healing items are costly. NOTE: First you take damage (up to the Health level), then you get incapacitated and start losing Health. NOTE #2: Particularly serious attacks (falls, poison) go straight for character's Health.
5. There are no SWW treasure generators. My campaign uses non-default monetary system. So I just ask NotebookLM.google to generate it up to certain value.

 

[timbannock]

i am sure someone out there has made by-level random encounter tables for SD.

If such a thing exists, I've yet to find it.

 

[wicked cool]

I like the idea but this was a problem all the way back in 1e with gygax

Your example has monsters all over the place and it n my opinion it needs refinement. Once you have humanoids/undead possible a Pegasus the tables have broken. This was a complaint of early early adventures

My opinion is create themes and limit the tables

 

[timbannock]

I like the idea but this was a problem all the way back in 1e with gygax

Your example has monsters all over the place and it n my opinion it needs refinement. Once you have humanoids/undead possible a Pegasus the tables have broken. This was a complaint of early early adventures

My opinion is create themes and limit the tables

I personally think the randomness is a feature: it takes you in directions you wouldn't otherwise go. Modifying the end results (the monsters that "don't fit") after the fact is easier IMO than having too devoted a theme and having to come up with interesting ways to spice up 6 rooms of just undead after undead followed by orc guards.

I can already come up with a half dozen reasons why that pegasus is an awesome way to mix up the dungeon just off the top of my head: captive, corrupted, infiltrator, cursed, illusion, ethereal.

YMMV and all that

 

[Lidgar]

If such a thing exists, I've yet to find it.

I have a 5e version of this on DMs Guild. Might need to convert it to SD. Love me some random dungeon stocking tables.

 

[Reynard]

I like the idea but this was a problem all the way back in 1e with gygax

Your example has monsters all over the place and it n my opinion it needs refinement. Once you have humanoids/undead possible a Pegasus the tables have broken. This was a complaint of early early adventures

My opinion is create themes and limit the tables

I personally think the randomness is a feature: it takes you in directions you wouldn't otherwise go. Modifying the end results (the monsters that "don't fit") after the fact is easier IMO than having too devoted a theme and having to come up with interesting ways to spice up 6 rooms of just undead after undead followed by orc guards.

I can already come up with a half dozen reasons why that pegasus is an awesome way to mix up the dungeon just off the top of my head: captive, corrupted, infiltrator, cursed, illusion, ethereal.

YMMV and all that

Unsurprisingly, I find the randomness to be a feature -- maybe THE feature. That is why I am using the tables instead of carefully crafting something that the players are going to find far less clever than I would label it. I think it is way too easy to fall into old trope ruts, and so random tables really make me consider cool ideas I would not have had otherwise.

 

[timbannock]

I have a 5e version of this on DMs Guild. Might need to convert it to SD. Love me some random dungeon stocking tables.

Granted I have not seen the 5E tables, but my preference is to start from the stocking tables from B/X and AD&D. Monsters by "dungeon level" followed by monsters by biome. That said, I do like how 5E simplified the biomes overall, so you can keep it down to a more manageable number of tables.

Unsurprisingly, I find the randomness to be a feature -- maybe THE feature. That is why I am using the tables instead of carefully crafting something that the players are going to find far less clever than I would label it. I think it is way too easy to fall into old trope ruts, and so random tables really make me consider cool ideas I would not have had otherwise.

The other side of the coin, to me, was the compilation of SD adventures that came out early on in its lifecycle, Shots in the Dark IIRC. Several of the adventures I read it from it (not all, but many!) felt like they were randomly rolled up and then no effort was put into making the results make sense.

 

[Reynard]

The other side of the coin, to me, was the compilation of SD adventures that came out early on in its lifecycle, Shots in the Dark IIRC. Several of the adventures I read it from it (not all, but many!) felt like they were randomly rolled up and then no effort was put into making the results make sense.

First of all, gift horses and all that I guess.

But the existence of someone using the tool poorly does not mean the tool is bad.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Just wanted to add that every time I see this thread title in the forum list, I read it as "Shadowdark: a Shocking Dungeon Example."