the murder nerds

Continuing my UKGE adventure, this week I’m showing off the first level of the ‘dungeon’.

Method to my Madness

When I started putting the adventure together, I had some vague idea that I wanted an old-school deadly dungeon-crawl, but one with a few different locations, and creature types. I also knew I couldn’t be bothered to create complex maps myself. Luckily there’s an awesome random dungeon generator over at donjon (along with random NPC generators, random treasure generators, random… seriously, that site is cool). So my general workflow for each level was:

1. Decide on general theme of dungeon level
2. Use donjon to generate a random map
3. Repeat step 2 about 1000 times until I’m happy with the map layout
4. Ignore the randomly generated traps and encounters and start populating the level with cool stuff
5. Refine the encounters to add more pop culture references and things only I will find enjoyable
6. Profit

So anyway, let’s get on with the dungeon itself. The first level, as you might have guessed is based in your typical underground dungeon, or ‘underdark’ setting:

General Features

• Lighting: dark, some torches in bigger, well-used rooms
• Environment: stone walls and floors, most constructed (flagstones and bricks) some natural caverns
  • corridor/room traps: roll d6
    1. pit trap, save to avoid, 1d6+2d8 damage
    2. net, save to avoid, held for 2d6 rounds (monster ambush)
    3. blades, +3 attack roll, 3d8 damage
    4. poison mist, affects whole room/corridor, 1d10 damage per round (if breathed)
    5. rock fall (10ft square), save to avoid, 2d12 damage, target is trapped under rocks, takes 2d6 rounds to clear
    6. dud
• Doors: mostly wooden, quite well made. All locked doors need an athletics check to force, subterfuge to pick, or have AC14 and 20hp to destroy.
  • trapped doors: roll d6 to determine trap type
    1. arrow (one target), +3 attack roll, 2d6+2 damage
    2. fire blast (15ft cone), save to avoid, 4d4 damage
    3. electric shock (one target), save to avoid, 2d10 damage
    4. acid shower (10ft square), save to avoid, 1d12 damage
    5. frost ray (15ft line), save to avoid, 1d8+3 damage
    6. dud
• Creatures: duergar, and ratpeople (use stats for goblins) mostly. If party try to rest somewhere stupid, have them attacked by wandering ratpeople group.

Map

Party begins in room 1 (teleported in, or maybe dropped down a tube). Doors with a line though their sides are locked, a line through the face is trapped, and s is a secret door. Traps at corridor locations marked with letters (roll to determine them beforehand or as they are triggered).

The scale of some rooms is a little off (i.e. I have a whole Duergar village in room 7), so feel free to expand them up, down or outwards as you need.

Details

Each number refers the appropriate room on the map.

1. Teleported into room. Full of crap and debris, smells fusty and damp. Nothing interesting.
2. Duergar farmland
   • Mushroom farms grown in tiers, wormeries (yes they eat worms), etc
   • 6 guards lounge around, smoking and drinking (6x 200xp)
   • Will ambush party if they started a fight in 7, will come to king’s aid if attacked
   • If party tell them they’re off to fight rat king, will open secret door to west
3. Rat King’s lair
   • Massive hamster wheel on the west wall, nest of sawdust to the south
   • Rat king is a short, fat, but large ratperson with several rats joined to its tail by their tails. (use stats for goblin boss – 400xp)
   • Aided by 4 ratpeople (4x 100xp)
   • Won’t try to talk, but will squeak angrily and attack. Has +1 small weapon.
   • South door leads to nursing chamber – whole bunch of female rats nursing babies, pregnant rats, etc.
4. Empty room – sue me
   • A few empty boxes and crates, rags and sawdust on floor – good place to sleep?
5. Undead champion
   • Minotaur skeleton paces across room. When party enter – hefts axe and roars.
   • Uses +1 large weapon (750xp)
   • Defeating champion opens secret door to room 11
6. Treasure room
   • Empty, except when party walk in some chest are teleported into room, each with a character’s name on it
   • Anyone who is cool gets a random magic item
   • Anyone who is lame gets spiders
7. Duergar village.
   • Lots of dwarves milling about, trading (mushrooms, ratskins, ale, etc) and drinking
   • Duergar talk like bill and ted
   • Party is immediately surrounded by a few dodgy looking dwarves, who inspect them, then run off and write odds on blackboards
   • Won’t trade with party (do party have anything to trade for?)
   • Slightly less crazy looking dwarf approaches party and asks them to do a job for the duergar king (will unlock and de-trap door to room 9)
   • If fight breaks out, most dwarves will flee, leaving 6 duergar guards (one will enlarge herself) (6x 200xp)
8. Rat attack
   • 4 rat people and 2 swarms of rats are feeding on remains of last adventuring party who came through (4x 100xp + 2x 100xp)
   • Distracted – party can ambush if quiet
   • When fail morale check, will flee through secret door to east (secret door hidden behind pile of debris)
   • South secret door is built into stonework – needs to press particular brick for it to open. Much more obvious from other side – pull chain to open

I’d recommend that the rat people in this room be called Charlie, Mac, Dennis and Dee. If you understood that reference you know how to roleplay them. You’ll also understand that the rat king must be called Frank, and has been at war with the Duergar since they stole his bar.

1. Duergar King’s throne room/skate park
   • Throne on north wall, with 2 guards, skate park takes up rest of room
   • Duergar king looks like the burger king, has +1 hammer
   • Spends most of his time doing sick skateboard tricks (hence why he is king)
   • If party can kill the rat king, he will show them to the exit to this level. Rat king is towards east (actually in room 3), need to bring back his tail
   • If they succeed, guard will show them to secret door in room 7 (2000xp)
2. Gas Chamber
   • When party walks in, all doors slam shut and lock
   • Gas begins to flood the room – 30s until it fills the room
   • Could smash doors, pick locks, plug gas vents, etc
   • Take 1d6 damage every 30s (real time) once room is full of gas.
3. Choose goose! Defends exit to dungeon.
   • Choose either strength, intelligence or dexterity (choose a champion from party). Champion earns random magic item.
     • Strength = arm wrestle DM
     • Dexterity = balance two coins on their edges, one on top of the other (60s to do it, must be balancing at end of time)
     • Intelligence = riddle! My friend Bob is 6’3” and works in a greengrocers. He wears size 9 shoes. What does he weigh? [fruit and veg]
   • Fail means you can choose another. Fail at all three and you must fight the umber hulk!
   • Umber hulk is standing in recess in northern wall, once it moves the ‘door’ is open.
   • Portal beyond to next level (3000xp)
4. Hall of the dead
   • Crypt for dead duergar. Coffins line the walls in recess. Statue of hooded figure at the east end of hall pointing finger.
   • Anyone who tries to look at figures face (under hood) is paralysed.
   • Once someone is paralysed, skeletons awaken and attack.
   • 4x skeletons (4x 100xp)
5. Ratpeople den
   • Smelly, dirty room, lots of sawdust and rags on floor. Fire in centre of room
   • 10 rat people poking around, will attack party on sight. Will flee to rat king’s lair if losing (10x 100xp)
6. Hook horror lair
   • Lead up to room has adventurers on meat hooks, pieces missing
   • Hook horror can be ambushed if coming through south secret door. West door is covered by eggs which shatter if party open it.
   • One adult (female) hook horror, three babies (8hp, only one attack, +3 to hit, 1d4+1) and a bunch of eggs (1000 + 300xp)
   • Adult goes mental if babies and/or eggs are destroyed – attacks three times per turn
7. Piercer cavern
   • Looks like a natural cavern, stalagmites/tites all over place, some luminescent mushrooms
   • 4 piercers in room, will attack together as party spreads out (1000xp)
   • Tunnels to east are full of rat people holes