Survivors of the Deeps

As posited in my initial post about my #Dungeon23, the main (known) entrance to Askorun opens but once every 50 years, remains open for a year and a day, then close for 50 years.

Anyone trapped inside is out of luck, and over the centuries, no mortal magic or stratagem has kept the doors open longer, nor managed to force them open.   Wizards have been able to Dimension Door and Teleport out, but if anyone has done so to enter the dungeon, they didn't survive to brag of it.

This post is about these survivors.

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Most survivors are individuals or pairs, although a dwindling company of Dwarves have established a defensible position on the third level, sending out sorties to gather ever more loot.  The problem that these survivors face is that many of them no longer want to return to the surface.

Initially, they did, but with every sleep, the Dungeon whispers to them, entices them, changes them.  While they still recall the surface, many now prefer the Dungeon.  

Frankly, they're all a bit mad, now.   Mad and pale white from lack of sunlight.

Not Derro level mad - at least not yet - but approaching it.  

Especially that human that just can't die.  That poor, poor bastard.  

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Above I mentioned a human that cannot die.  

Augur il-Vec by Daren Bader

Once he was a cleric.  A cleric with a name.  None of this he remembers, although he sometimes cries when he looks at the holy tattoos on his arms.  

He came below with a group of stalwart companions and was quite literally cursed to be the last of them.  In a sack he carries the skulls of his former comrades, and in more lucid moments, pulls them out and talks to them.  

Mostly though, he wanders and as needed he talks and fights, and when at death's door, he fades away, returning later.  He never hungers or tires, though, because of the Ring of Sustenance and Regeneration (and immunity to permanent death) he wears on his right hand. 

50+ years of sleep deprivation have taken their toll.  Yet if calmly approached and spoken to, he may provide some useful information before starting to rave and wandering off or attacking the PCs as he hallucinates.

To end the curse, he and his fellows (their skulls, at least) must be buried in hallowed ground - and the Ring must be buried there, too.  At that point, his spirit appears and thanks whomever buried him. 

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Next is the Dwarven enclave.  Staying below was always the goal of this company.  Initially, the Company of the Axe was a full 27 strong - 20 Dwarves and 7 Gnomes, plus a train of packmules.  In the last 50 years, their size has been reduced to 12 Dwarves and 3 Gnomes, but these 15 still pursue the goal of accumulating the vast wealth of Askorun, but now they plan to keep it here.

Balthor the Stout by Ron Spears

They are led by the Dwarf Oskar Gem-eyes, a noble and a capable warrior with eyes that glitter like the sapphires they are (these sapphire eyes allow Detect Magic, See Invisible, and True Seeing - all of this has a negative effect on his mind).  The Company of the Axe has an arrangement with clanmates that will meet them when the doors to Askorun once again open.  Those on the surface may be shocked at the change in their dungeon-dwelling clanmates - but being Dwarves, they won't show or discuss it publicly.

The key to these survivors' success was preparation.  While the natural food and drink they brought with them (and the mules that carried it all) has long ago been consumed, they have several magical items that they guard with their lives. 

Horn of Plenty - this large wicker cornucopia provides enough fruit and vegetables to feed twenty every morning.

Mug of Many Meads - a large mug that holds a liter of liquid and can fill itself with the best mead one will ever taste 5 times per day.  A full mug is used as a reward to those members of the company that have done something of merit - otherwise it is divided up among smaller cups.

Long Pig - recovered from the hoard of the venerable Behir Azzuzir (from the Night Below box set), this item looks like a 4-inch long ceramic pig.  

Once every five days, on command, it creates a roasted pig (reasonably small, but agreeably filled with chestnut stuffing!) to appear nearby, providing enough food for up to 20 people.

Decanter of Endless Water - as per the DMG; when not filling the pool the Company has constructed, it is used as a defensive weapon, knocking attackers back and prone.

Cauldron of Iron Stomachs - this large black cast iron cauldron is etched with a variety of arcane runes.  It heats and cools upon command - no fire needed.  It stands nearly 4 feet tall and is a good 4 feet across (the mule that carried it in was the first stew cooked in it).  

The survivors have been surviving on perpetual stew - they won't eat their fallen comrades, but anything living they kill ends up in the Cauldron - meat makes the vegetables taste better. 

Being Dwarves, there are multiple stone, spear, and crossbow-based traps and defensive positions near all the entrances to their redoubt - a redoubt clearly marked with Dwarven runes and the skulls of pigs and mules (and other things they've killed).   They have established a neutral meeting place where other dungeon denizens can trade gold and information for food.  

This neutral place is where the PCs are most likely to encounter them in a safe fashion.  Once these survivors encounter surface-worlders, they trade information for surface foodstuffs (especially bread, beer, beef, salt, and spices - although the Gnomes wouldn't mind some tea) and tobacco.  They will pay for it, but would prefer to pay with information rather than their precious gold.

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One individual survivor is an Elf wizard who calls herself Newra the Learner.  Those that learn her True Name can compel her to divulge all sorts of information.

Belbe, Corrupted Observer by Igor Kieryluk

Newra has been in the depths for two cycles now, puzzling over how to get past the permanent Prismatic Sphere that is keeping something well secured.  Through the translucent glittering lights of the sphere, she can make out a table or workbench with smaller items upon it, and a pair of large chests flanking it.  On a few occasions, she has seen a figure moving about inside the sphere, but how it comes and goes she has no clue.

What she does know is that this Prismatic Sphere is a nasty variant of the traditional spell, as the normal counters to the layers fail to work.  She has worked out how to get past the first two layers through trial and error, but is seeking more spells (and guinea pigs) to test her theories with.  

Newra craves more spells most of all - perhaps a spell the PCs know can break past the third layer.  If she cannot trade for them, she will take them by force.  

Her collection of undead servitors (many of which are spell-stitched former adventurers) keep lesser threats at bay, and her collection of spellbooks (taken from uncooperative wizards) rivals that of established archmages on the surface.

Newra is willing to trade information (and maybe spells) for wine and spices and fresh food.  Her sole source of sustenance is a Spoon of Murlynd, which works, but the blandness of the food it creates is much of the reason she is angry all the time.

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Another pair of Elves lurk near the main entrance.  Brioc carries Cynhafel on her back, because Cynhafel lost both legs two decades ago.  

This has had the side effect of them being difficult to surprise and impossible to flank.  This means that the Meazels have yet to destroy them - they still harry the poor Elves, though.

Their proximity to the surface has made them less mad than most, with Brioc being the most sane of all the survivors.  Which is good for Cynhafel, because he has entirely become a creature of the dungeon.

They have been living on water from the entrance pool and have become adept at trapping vermin.

Honestly, Brioc will be content to die under sunlight, preferably after returning Cynhafel to their home far from Askorun.  

Cynhafel wields a pair of Katars that glow in the darkness, while Brioc wields a short spear.

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A lone Gnome named Kharagosa has found a hiding place on the fourth level.

Deep Gnome Terramancer by David Sladek

This Gnome mageling gets by on honey and beer from his Alchemy Jug, supplemented by whatever he can catch with his Sleep spell, which is mostly rats and other vermin.  

It's a miserable life, but at least he's alive.  

He will gladly give up the Alchemy Jug as a reward to those that escort him to the surface.  

Of course, the escorts may find that Kharagosa heads right back in.

Kharagosa knows that Askorun is a sentient, malevolent being because one item that Kharagosa does not willingly part with is an Amulet of Stonespeak.  

The Amulet of Stonespeak allows its attuned wearer to communicate with the very stones.  The only stones Kharagosa has had access to are those of Askorun, whose thoughts have twisted Kharagosa's view on many things, but does allow Kharagosa to function as an oracle of sorts, because Askorun has had centuries of things to talk about and no one but Kharagosa to tell.  

Kharagosa's only saving grace is that the Amulet doesn't function 24/7, but needs to recharge regularly by being placed in a pot or bucket of earth (although burying it underground works).  Ideally, the pot or bucket is warded to prevent a gate to the plane of Elemental Earth from opening - there are no such wards if the Amulet is buried in the ground.  Submerging the Amulet in water renders it dormant.

Naturally, Kharagosa owns such a warded container of earth - it being how he discovered the Amulet decades ago.  

Incidentally, the Amulet of Stonespeak also allows its wearer to communicate and command Earth Elementals, but Askorun has successfully kept Kharagosa from learning this aspect of the Amulet.

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Often survivors become undead - surviving after a fashion, but not really.  Mostly, they become ghouls after being forced to cannibalism in the dark, but other types of undead are certainly possible.  

Balthor the Defiled by Carl Critchlow

As such, these individual undead can be found anywhere.  If incorporeal, their remains are no doubt nearby, forever waiting to be properly buried. 

But the corporeal undead just skulk and stumble about, waiting to bring the hated living to ruin.

Frankly, it's a miracle that Askorun isn't crawling with undead.  Perhaps with time, it will.

Until then, wise adventuring companies have clerics among them.

And wise DMs have a random encounter table featuring an Undead subtable.

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There may be some foolhardy sorts that intend to stick around in the depths.  The smart ones outfit themselves with magic items that are variations on the Create Food and Water spell.  Items such as these are worth their weight in platinum to these mortals.  

As the survivors demonstrate, this doesn't help that much, but it's a start.

#Dungeon23 - Week 2

I know #Dungeon23 is intended to be a daily writing prompt, but I have mentally dropped into a once-a-week type pattern.

And it's only the second week!

I also need to remind myself that this is not intended to be a finished product, merely a rough draft, because the awesome maps and entries others share are intimidating to me.  Maybe I need to not look at what others are doing?

Regardless, I must soldier on.  This should carry us through today.

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9 - Cold Trap - the wall is cool to the touch, and opening it lets cold air wash over the opener.  Like see-your-breath cold.  To open the secret door requires pressing an oddly-shaped stone at waist-level.

Moving into the corridor gets colder.  A light source reveals a large bas-relief of a face in the far wall, its cheeks puffed like its blowing.  

At the X on the map is a pair of magical sensors about 4 feet up the wall.  Breaking the line between them activates the trap, sending a Cone of Cold (8d6 damage) down the passage (it extends to the door). The sensors can be seen with Detect Magic.

It takes 24 hours for the trap to recharge. 

10 - Cold Storage - the door to this room is cool to the touch, but otherwise unlocked and unstuck.  Inside the room is a stout table against the back wall, with a chest pushed under it.

The table has a coffer, a mace, and a helmet setting upon it.  Each is covered in dust.

Coffer - ornate, carved wood with silver inlays.  Unlocked.  Interior still aromatic (from wood), 3 potion vials on a bed of silk.  Under the silk is the key to the chest.  Potions are unlabeled (poison, healing, gaseous form).

Mace - touching anything on the table (or the chest) animates the mace.  It fights as a Fighter 3, AC as chain, 6 hp.  When defeated, it crumbles to rusty broken metal.

Helmet - donning the helmet allows the wearer to See Invisible, but renders all normally visible things invisible.  While worn, words appear on the wall: 'great treasure is found at the crack of dawn.'

The chest is locked and contains several hundred loose silver coins.  Is there a cavity under the chest?

11 - Dead Zone - crunching, tearing, and growling can be heard upon approach.  Entering shows the source of the sounds - a trio of ghouls feasting on dead adventurers.  They'll happily stop to attack and feast on PCs.  Ghouls are the gluttons of the undead world.

The Ghouls have no treasure, but the corpses they are munching on do.  TREASURE

Observant sorts notice a few bloody footprints - three-toed and webbed - and drag marks heading off towards area 12.

12 - Meazel Foyer - this chamber contains several hundred sacks haphazardly piled on top of each other, some areas knee-high, some taller.  The sacks are full of bones - one humanoid (lots of orc and kobold, but other races too) skeleton per sack.  Inspection shows that bones have teeth marks from gnawing.  The first sack searched contains 3 gems. Each other sack has a 1 in 6 chance of 1d4 gems.  

Emptying a sack and searching it takes a full turn.  

The third sack opened contains the remains of a human fighter whose spirit manifests when the sack is opened.  His name is Bartholemew, and he promises a great reward to whomever carries his remains out and inters them in holy ground.  His spirit stays in the room and begs anyone who listens to bury him.  If greedy PCs have dumped many sacks, his bones are mixed in.  He can point them out, but it takes an extra turn for each sack dumped.

Sacks near the concealed doors have ropes tied to them, so the Meazels can pull them in and hide the door.

13 - Meazel Lair - each of these concealed nests are made of clothing, blankets, and other detritus and smell of death.  Getting to the next requires passing through a tunnel that runs between 4' and 5' tall, and as wide, meaning invaders are in it single file and likely stooped over, fighting at disadvantage.

All told, there are a dozen of these nests, each with its own concealed entrance and escape route connecting to the chamber just off room 14.  These routes are twisty, turny, and wind up and down - overlapping one another, but not connecting to the others.  Just a rats' next of tangled, tight, caves.  All dark, all ideal for murder.

Nine of the nests are potentially occupied, at a 50% chance.  If empty, the occupant is off hunting (on random encounter table).

Individual treasures are as follows; jewelry is worn and weapons carried, coins are in sacks hidden in nest:  

a. ring, ring; 3d20gp

b. Ring of Detect Thoughts, ring; 6d20gp

c. no Meazel (long dead) - nest is infested with yellow mold and TREASURE

d. ring, bracelet; 4d20gp

e. Dagger of Stealthy Murders; 8d20gp

f. no Meazel (long dead) - nest contains giant rats and TREASURE

g. necklace made of gold coins pierced and strung together; 2d20gp

h.  ring, ring, ring; 4d20gp

i. no Meazel (long dead) - nest contains giant centipedes and TREASURE

j. bracelet; 5d20gp

k. Short Sword of Piercing, ring; 7d20gp

l. ring, ring, necklace; 3d20gp 

Meazels that hear combat creep about and wait to ambush from behind.  It's not so much that they are helping one another as taking advantage of the situation.  

14 - Meazel Dumping Ground - here is where these Meazels have been dumping their ill-gotten gains (except for gems) for the past two or three centuries.  Going through it is noisy and allows any not-yet-killed Meazels the chance for a vengeful sneak attack.

While any mundane weapon or armor can be found here, there is a 3-in-4 chance it is damaged due to ill treatment and age (lots of rust and rot).  Still, among the jumbled mess one can also find up to a dozen of these items as well as a variety of miscellaneous equipment.  

Hundreds of silver and copper (and dozens of platinum) coins have sifted to the bottom of the pile and take several days to collect.

Detect Magic is a surefire way to find an enchanted Lantern, an enchanted Crossbow, an enchanted Axe, a scroll tube with spell scroll, a cursed Sword, a cursed Helmet, and a pair of Boots of Elvenkind.  Even with the spell, it takes two turns to recover one magic item (d8 - each boot is a separate items), and it makes noise. 

15 - Kobold Warning - several heads on stakes (orcs, mostly) stand as a warning and territory marker that this area; Magic Mouth has been used on several to act both as warning and alarm. 

16 - Kobold Front Door - kobolds here will have heard the Magic Mouths in area 15, and are hiding, waiting to attack or retreat as needed.  A volley of arrows from both sides is the first warning unwary PCs get as they advance towards the double doors at the far end of the hall. 

The door to the south is concealed behind flaking wall murals.

#Dungeon23 Week 1

I know that part of the #Dungeon23 plan is to share daily progress, but I far prefer a more substantial post once a week.  This not just because some days the work is not completed.

All of these entries are written so that I can fill them out later and still know what I was thinking.

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1. Grand Entrance - 

Wide stairs lead 20' down to the floor, for a ceiling 30' above.  Both sides of the stairs are cluttered with centuries' worth of failed attempts to keep the doors open.  

Openings stretching into darkness can be seen in both side walls, from one comes the sound of laughter and song.  From another comes whistling and howling.

The far end of the chamber is filled with a large fountain, the center of which is a statue of a younger man with arms outstretched in greeting.  

Fouling the fountain is a corpse in the water behind the statue; the only things of value are the glass eye and a letter in a wax-sealed tube to a lover in Skara Brae.  This lover has a notable spouse in the city, so delivery of it (which brings a ghostly blessing via dream) sows chaos for the PCs.

2. Register - stairs lead down into round chamber that is lit from within and features a pedestal seemingly grown from the center floor.  The walls are covered with rows of murals (think Egyptian hieroglyphics people) depicting adventurers doing adventurous things and often dying in the attempt.

Upon the pedestal is a massive book, open about 2/3 of the way through.    

The book lists names with (dungeon entry) dates in red ink.  Most names are lined through in the same red ink.  PC names are among the latest additions to the book.  Lined through names are those that died after entering the dungeon.

Flipping back far enough reveals that Emperor NAME's name is not crossed out.  It also reveals that an older someone (elf, dwarf, ancient human) a PC knows in fact died in the dungeon.

Attempts for mortals to add names or line through names will end badly for said mortals.

There are ten rows of murals. The ten rows feature the 10 levels of the megadungeon, and the various encounters show some of what is/was there.

3. Bandit Approach - singing, laughing, and talking can be heard from this direction.  The chamber itself is wide, with a double row of columns running down the center.  In the center of the room is a group of humans (12 - 2 leaders, 8 bandits, 2 berserkers) gathered around a fire, drinking and carrying on.

The main group distracts from the guards (3 bandits, 1 berserker) hiding behind columns near the X entrance.  These guards watch and flank if violence starts.  If possible, they capture to hold people for ransom, but they don't try all that hard.

Leaders are Arlo (thief 3) and Alice (magic-user 3).  As Arlo approaches the PCs to speak, Alice slips behind pillars to angle for a sleep spell, followed by charm person, followed by invisibility and a hasty retreat.  

DM NOTES: Arlo charges a small toll to pass; will accept wine, food, or treasure; charges a LARGER toll to pass back towards the surface.  If the returning party appears weak enough, violence is an option, as is kidnapping for ransom.  Refers to the pillared chamber as 'Alice's Restaurant.'

4. Bandit Lair - the raised platform is where the leaders sleep on actual beds and two chests are stored, with the collective treasure of the bandits.  Both chests are locked, and Arlo has the keys.  Under one bed is an invisible box holding the magic-user's spellbook.

There are 30 bedrolls and sacks of private belongings here, as well as crates and barrels (with markings from Skara Brae merchants) of supplies.

There are a half-dozen (4 bandits, 2 berserkers) people sleeping, because they have night watch. 

The doors bar from the inside and stay barred throughout the night.  The bandits don't know exactly what roams the corridors at night, but they know that things do, and they want no part of them.

For a fee, the bandits might be convinced to let the PCs overnight with them.  

5. Bandit Second Approach - bandits (4) here watch the corridor from the Fountain Crossroad.  At night they fall back to lair. 

6. Bandit Guarded Stairs to 2nd level - 6 (4 bandits, 2 berserkers) humans sit around a table, focus split between the stairs, their card game, and their ale.  If they hear fighting from 3, 4 of them advance to help, the other 2 remain to watch the stairs.

At night, they are replaced by the sleeping guards in area 4.  The night guards are more alert and overall jumpy and suspicious. 

These stairs are the closest, safest, and most publicly known way down to the 2nd level, which is how the bandits get by - charging HIGH taxes on those that come up the stairs.  

7. Fountain Crossroad - this chamber features openings in all four walls and is dominated by a large fountain in the center of the room.  The floor features patchy blood stains and scattered and broken bones (with large and small teeth marks).  The fountain itself features a multi-headed hydra spraying water from its many mouths.  

The water is a shared source of fresh water for this level and random encounters may just be critters getting a drink or filling water bottles.

Hydra Statue: observation reveals one of the mouths isn't spraying.  This is because a thin stick (wand of detect magic) is rammed down the pipe.  Freeing it allows water to flow again from that mouth.

NOTE: the bandits leave stripped bodies of those they slay (and their own slain) in this chamber.  If asked, the bodies disappear in a day or three, sometimes in silence, sometimes accompanied by terrible rending noises.

By leaving bodies here, the bandits have inadvertently trained a pack of ghouls and all the rats to periodically check this chamber, so any random encounters in this room are ghouls or rats.

8. Empty Room.  The bandits have taken to tossing looted gear they cannot use (mostly clothing, but sometimes more useful items - roll or choose) into this room. 

A dedicated search reveals dirt in the corners of the room and that one of the flagstones on the floor is angled, as if it has settled poorly.  

Lifting that flagstone reveals a hole dug into the earth below it, containing two sacks and a longsword in a scabbard.  Sacks contain coins, longsword is aligned, sentient, and vocal (it is reluctant to share this, but it was hidden away because it is so vocal).  In addition, it has a purpose and agenda. 

Background for my #Dungeon23 Megadungeon

Historians and bards speak of the great empire of Uraiawakiraia, a true meritocracy, and the wonders its inevitable collapse left behind.  Wonders that are envied and coveted to this day.  

A curious fact about this meritocracy is how the ruling class - the most meritorious of them all - demonstrated and tested their merit through constructing clever gauntlets and proving grounds, filling them with the finest traps, treasures, and creatures that money could buy and magic conceive, then challenging one another (but mostly aspiring sorts) to survive them.

These gauntlets and proving grounds typically ran no more than two or three levels deep, and many still exist on ancient baronial lands, mostly repurposed now that their creators are long gone - a few have become (or were purpose-built) tombs for their creators.  

The greatest of these gauntlets is Askorun - the Challenge.   Constructed during the reign of His Eminence Jumbe, Seventeenth Emperor of Uraiawakiraia.  At his command Mount Gora was hollowed out and rebuilt; potent artifacts of great beauty, wealth, and magical power were crafted; terrible monsters were captured and bred and created to lair within; entire tribes of humanoids were enslaved and forced to populate the dark halls; and the greatest artificers, trapmakers, poisoners, wordsmiths, artisans, dreamweavers,  ghostcallers, demonbinders, spellshapers, beastwranglers, fleshcrafters, and more contributed to the stocking of Askorun, technically by Imperial decree, but also through pride of purpose, because only the best would be appropriate for the Imperial Gauntlet.

Taking over 50 years to construct, Askorun was and still is the pinnacle of the gauntlet-builders' craft.  The parade of the final stocking is said to have stretched over 10 miles, beginning at the docks of the capital city, then winding through the streets past the palace and into the foothills where the massive doors stood open and waiting.  

Songs and tales claim it took more than a year to actually place the final guardians and treasures.  One thing the tales agree on is that final entry to Askorun was His Eminence Jumbe, himself, carrying the Crown and the Ring, proclaiming that whosoever should recover both items would inherit the Simhisana Throne and the Empire of Uraiawakiraia.  The doors sealed themselves behind Jumbe and refused to open, despite the determined efforts of citizens of the Empire and freebooters alike.

But that was centuries ago.

Today, the port city of Skara Brae is built on the bones of the Imperial Capital, and the sewers and hidden passages beneath the city are the streets and buried buildings of the Capital and other cities that rose and fell in this location over the centuries.

Askorun still remains, unconquered, and the Imperial Throne unclaimed, and perhaps lost. The ancient magics of the Empire linger still, sealing the great doors for 49 out of every 50 years, then remaining open for precisely a year before closing for another generation.  

This year is a year of opening.  A temporary city made of tents, wagons, and a few more permanent structures has sprung up around the entrance.  A carnival-like atmosphere permeates this place, and almost everything a delver could want or need can be found here - for a price. What cannot be found here can be found in Skara Brae proper.

Will your adventurers find glory and treasure, or only blood and death?

Erol Otus, Dungeon Stairs

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Over the course of a year, inhabitants of the tent city change, and this post from Iron & Ink is a grand way to go about showing this. In addition to lantern-bearers, there are all sorts of would-be camp followers to be hired from among the riff-raff living among and within the tents.  Like these followers, from Coins and Scrolls, or mercenaries from Meatshields.

That said, you might also encounter less savory sorts, such as these from Elfmaids & Octopi.  In truth, lots of ideas can be mined from the Murderhobo posts at Elfmaids & Octopi, as well as his free pdf from here (Murder Hobo Manual, but they're all inspirational, with Shadel Port, Goblin Mine Zone, and Long Stairs Compilation are worth a quick skim for most #Dungeon23 participants, because you can find inspiration anywhere).

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With an intro like this, I am either setting myself up for success or failure.  Only time will tell.  As might be noticed, I am terrible with names, so had some fun with Google Translate.

What Makes for a Good Dungeon Entrance Chamber?

The only thing more important than the dungeon entrance (be it to the mythic underworld or some place more realistic) with regards to setting the right impression in a dungeon is its entrance chamber.   

After all, that first chamber sets the tone for the rest of the dungeon. But that begs the question, what makes up a good entrance chamber?

Among the many gems buried in the AD&D DMG is this image of suggested start areas for a random dungeon from Appendix A.  The one thing each of these start areas have in common is multiple directions for delvers to choose from.

So, the first thing that a good entrance chamber should have is immediate multiple exit options, be they open corridors, closed doors (locked, stuck, or just closed), or even something else, such as shafts or stairways heading deeper into the hole that eats people dungeon.  Honestly, having this much is a solid start, but there is always more to consider.

The second thing that a good entrance chamber should contain is something for the PCs/players to interact with, such as a pool, statue, shrine, crates under the stairs, or something else (to include a trap).  Yes, this amounts to more options for the players, but options that may eat time as its investigated, but may also provide useful treasure or tangible clues regarding what is to come.

Which leads to the third and final thing that a good entrance chamber should contain: evidence of past explorers and/or current inhabitants.  Veteran dungeon delvers know that information is crucial to dungeon mastery, and this opening chamber provides the DM a legitimate place to provide such information to attentive players.  

What said players do with the information is up to them, but at least the DM has done their job in providing it.

This evidence can be in the form of tracks, graffiti (my favorite), trash, discarded gear, (partial) corpses in various states of decay, odors, sounds, or anything else the DM can imagine - or the dice suggest.  Monsters and explorers leave sign or spoor, just like real animals do.  And just like real animals, such spoor can be used to track or evade such monsters.

For example, I had a dungeon where drag marks and footprints led to an otherwise solid wall, signaling a secret door without actually opening it.  Alternatively, consider the situation where the PCs enter into a chamber to find a shed snakeskin at least 20' long and probably 5'-6' in diameter blocking one of the corridors (the snake used the door jamb as a scrape).  Do they harvest the snakeskin, move it and head down that corridor, or go the other way entirely?

(As an aside, do other reptilian critters like dragons molt and shed skins as they grow?  I think those in my world do.)

All of this shows the players that their PCs are assuredly not alone in the dark tunnels.

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In short, use that opening chamber to impress the players and make them want to return next week to explore more of the megadungeon. Besides, this entrance chamber is likely to be many folks' debut to the #Dungeon23 community, so makes for a fine first impression there.

NPC Adventurers in the Megadungeon

Evidence of other, perhaps rival, adventurers in the megadungeon not only gives it a lived-in feel, but also allows for a ready source of rumors to feed the rumor table when the PCs are topside and (somewhat) safe. Encountering said adventurers in the dark corridors provides players the opportunity to do the roleplaying thing, in contrast to the tactical wargame thing.  

Whether or not the DM is actively moving one or more NPC parties around, clearing rooms, finding treasure, or dying in place to leave treasure behind, is game dependent.  Still, fallen adventurers are a great source of unguarded or poorly guarded loot.  Canny use of Speak with Dead can provide PCs with far more than just a coin purse and rusty dagger, while the various Animate Dead spells provide PCs with more sword-fodder.

Even a more mundane analysis of the corpse may provide some clues as to what type of monster may lurk in the area.

Rival adventurers.  With a map! WotC

One of the better forms of loot to find on a fallen adventurer is a map.  It doesn't matter if the map leads to hidden treasure or merely reveals the presence of a secret door or stairs to the next level, a map and the information it provides is worth its weight in gold.

Because in a proper megadungeon, knowledge is power.  Or its at least half the battle.

Granted, some adventuring parties fall prey to TPKs, and in those cases, perhaps one of their hirelings should survive.  This post at Hobgoblinry introduces 'the last lantern-bearer' mechanic, and it is one worth considering for your games. Frankly, all of Hobgoblinry's megadungeon musings are worth reading, so check them out while you're over there.  

PCs hiring these surviving lantern-bearers end up with more gameable information.  

tldr; make use of NPC adventurers, even if they remain off-screen - they are an incredibly useful tool.

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Speaking of rival adventurers and surviving henchmen, my friend Ben (not this Ben) asked me to share his Discord server with the world.  He is also participating in the #Dungeon23 challenge, while serving as a competent online DM-for-hire.  If you're looking for an online game (mostly 5e, but not always 5e), give him a looksee.

Joining his Discord is free, though, as is participating in its various channels.

Treasure in the Megadungeon

Ben at Mazirian's Garden is soliciting for more #Dungeon23 blogs so he can collect and share them.  I am thrilled that Thalian Musings was accepted and added.  There are few things like being in the public eye to make a person step up their game!

As such, here is this weekend's offering.

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Treasure is the main reason for adventuring and exploring a dungeon, at least in games where gp recovered = xp earned, like mine.  As such, at least some of the treasure found needs to be memorable, and often the easiest way to make treasure memorable is to make it vast, magical, or at least mysterious and perhaps historical, as Ben at Ars Ludi explains.  

The ideal treasure would be all of the above.

art by William McAusland

Based on the math I worked out back in March, my first level of 100 encounter areas should include (roughly) 8 unguarded treasures, 6 treasures 'guarded' by traps, and 17 treasures guarded by 'monsters.'  That is 31 treasure troves of varying sizes for bold adventurers to discover and recover.

At some point, I read a great explanation of how much treasure a dungeon level should contain for a gp = xp game, and it amounted to the dungeon level x 10,000 x 2, so 20,000 gp value across the first level (I might have read it here or here or here).  The idea being that each level should provide enough to see 4-6 PCs of the same level advance.   

This may seem like too much treasure, until one takes into account that some of it won't be found, and some of it will be 'wasted' when the PC that earned xp off of it dies or the player never returns to the game.  Also, the ruleset does matter here - it takes far more xp to move up in B/X than in 5e.

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20,000 divided by 31 is 645 and change, which will not be 31 piles of 645gp each. Technically, each monster has a Treasure Type to spur the contents of each hoard, and should I make use of this chart from the AD&D Monster & Treasure Assortment - and I will - even the unguarded treasures are unlikely to be easily found or even identified as treasure at all. 

From the Monster & Treasure Assortment, 1977, 78, 80; artist maybe David Sutherland? Can anyone confirm?

In a pinch, I can use the treasures from the same title or those from the homages put out by Pacesetter Games & Simulations (which I can no longer find on Drivethrurpg; I bought the first three and always intended to get the next three, but alas).

Writing this post, it occurs to me that the best way for me to approach #Dungeon23 might be the checklist approach - I need six trapped treasures, so that is six days' worth of write ups.  Approaching the project with this checklist in mind makes it seem less daunting. 

Of course, discovering a treasure hoard and actually recovering it are two entirely different animals.  Yes, bold adventurers could lug it all out themselves, but treasure (especially on the upper levels) is heavy, which makes it difficult to move quickly or run away when necessary - and retreating should be necessary on occasion.

But that is a post for another day.

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As a bonus, a former student of mine is willing to discuss drawing some original art for me for a commission, which is neat, because I have never commissioned art before.  It makes me feel all Renaissance-y.

Gathering Resources for #Dungeon23

This list of #Dungeon23 resources is mostly for my use, but I am happy to share both influences and how-tos.  Several of these links come from crowd-sourced lists on Twitter and Facebook, but not all of them.  

The truth is I enjoy making lists of (somewhat related) links and sharing them.

The Haunted Keep from Moldvay Basic, 1981, by Erol Otus

The nifty part about all of these links is that they run to sites that are packed with usable information.  Furthermore, I am likely to add to this list as time and the project wears on.

EDIT 1: Andrew Duvall has done something similar to this post over on itch.io, but with better organization, better presentation, and more/different links, so go check it out!

EDIT 2 and 3: both Dragonsfoot and Knights and Knaves Alehouse have dedicated megadungeon forums.  Lots of knowledge therein.

Z.W. Garth's Dungeon Architect's Workbook

DiWata's Megadungeon Jam

Permanent Cranial Damage: Brief Brainworms: Megadungeon

Grognardia's Old School Dungeon Design Guidelines 

Missing Manuals at Necropraxis

Semper Initiativus Unum asked back in 2017: Why Build a MegaDungeon in 2017

Beyond Fomalhaut's Anatomy of a Dungeon Map

Roleplaying Tips has the Ultimate Guide to 5 Room Dungeons

Rise Up Comus has Dungeon Seeds, which is free if you subscribe to their newsletter

Traverse Fantasy features Bite Sized Dungeons

Map Crow addresses building a dungeon over several videos

As does the channel Bandit's Keep

All Dead Generations provides a dandy online worksheet and So You Want to Build a Dungeon

Prismatic Wasteland offers Megadungeon Malls & Collaborative Caverns

Goblin Punch's Dungeon Checklist, What is Tested, the last part of Popcorn Leveling, Comprehensive Guide to Secret Doors, and Dungeon Mastery.  Ghosts and Ghost Biology, too.

The Alexandrian has several: Jaquaysing the Dungeon, the Art of the Key, Goals in the Megadungeon, (Re-)running the Megadungeon.

d4 Caltrops also has several: What's at the Bottom of this Pit, A Hundred Clues and Tells for the Tersely-Detailed Trap, d100 This Secret Door Opens..., d100 Instigative Scenery and Interactive Decor, d100 Why is this Door Stuck?, - there are so many d100 lists at this site that I can pull ideas from, but these are the big ones.

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On top of these is my collection of partial dungeon keys, which I shall loot with impunity, and a handful of pdfs and actual books, notably the Dungeon Alphabet, the Monster Alphabet, Dungeoncraft (cheapish copies available used online), and both Artifices, Deceptions, and Dilemmas and Bestial Ecosystems Created by Monstrous Inhabitation. 

When the Monster Overhaul ships in early 2023, its contents will be used, as well. 

For the mapping, I am looking at DungeonScrawl to make transferring to the blog relatively simpler.  Here is a sample of the likely main entrance - I'd love to add a secret door and passage running under the stairs and to the north, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet, at least not in a noncluttered image.

Megadungeon 2023

A fine link popped up in my FB feed, leading me to Mazirian's Garden and the Megadungeon 2023 challenge, and from there to Win Conditions - a substack by the challenge starter.  From the look of things, it is shaping up to be quite the collection of posts across the internet, to include my own.

Long-time readers may recall that I have already done some megadungeon writing in the past, addressing Overall Contents, Specials, Traps, Random Encounters and Wandering Monsters, and Monsters in general for an incomplete megadungeon. I even wrote some Rumors for it. This #Dungeon23 challenge may end up being the impetus I need to continue that ambitious project.

After all, 365 rooms (one each day of 2023) fills about 3.5 levels of my planned megadungeon, or more likely, 3 levels and one or two sublevels.  Finding folks to play through it with can wait until another day.

I demonstrated back in January that while I can participate in a month-long challenge, it quickly turned into a grind that I assuredly dreaded near the end.  I crossed that Character Creation Challenge finish line, but some of it was not my best work.  Dungeon rooms are substantially smaller, and there is no rule that I have to connect the rooms together, just that I need to write them.

If nothing else, I will be left with a deeper reservoir of ready rooms to dip into as needed.

Be warned, there are likely to be bad jokes, obscure references, homages, and statistically outright lifting (but not intentionally, I promise) scattered about my chambers, but that is half the fun. 

To get folks in the proper mindset, here are Philotomy's musings on the Dungeon as the Mythic Underworld, the Greyhawk Grognard addressing Megadungeon-based Game Mechanics and what that implies for a proper megadungeon, as well as some inspirational art.

Dave Trampier, from the AD&D Players Handbook

I look forward to seeing what folks dream up, as well as my own dreamings.  Join us!