10 Hex Locations from the Caanish Archipelago

 Ask and ye (may) receive!

In a recent post of a blog I follow, BRINEHOUSE, posted an update including ten hex locations as preparation for being able to run an in-person game again. Inspired, I've checked my old notes and picked out some of the locations from my campaign map that I'd made notes about but that my players had not yet visited.

Provided below, a list of the 10 most interesting ones I saw. Steal, adapt, or allow to inspire - the adventure is yours!

1.	The Rut of the Ophinotaur Just offshore, this shallow atoll - a couple sandy, scrub-grass protrusions barely floundering out of the clear sea - forms a maze of coral around a protected interior lagoon. It is here that the ophinotaur - thick aquatic creatures, eight to ten feet from tail to snout (up to two more to include the horns of an adult male) with the tail of a dolphin but the fore-body of a bull come to calf. Many a merchantman has met their end here during the rutting season: might an enterprising type sneak through to recover their cargoes, or perhaps even tame one of the great beasts?
2.	Mancatcher Grove A forested region, this hollow is overgrown with thick vines. In both spring and autumn, the vines bear sweet fruits the size of a man's head which can be plucked and consumed; rumored to grant a man renewed vigor and health. However - trekking is difficult, as the vines seem to each connect to one another: a massive interlinking of herbaceous cord; and hidden throughout, interspersed, are curious flowers - large ones - with a number of grasping buds concealed about them. These buds will catch and cling to a man-sized target, dragging them down and wrapping them up, numbing them with a thousand tiny anesthetic needles, and liquefying them: leeching their essence into the vine. Is this route worth a shortcut, the fruit worth the risk - to life and limb, or perhaps to the tarnishing of the soul?
3.	Last Rest of Pen-Hebet Rising modestly from an outcropping, this shrine - located on rocky island a stone's throw from the coastline - is maintained by three keepers, shaman mystics, sedentary here on rotation from the nomadic tribes on the mainland. These shaman are supported by offerings from those tribes - and the shrine, itself, is a site for gifts to Pen-Hebet, an ancestor thought to guide those who follow the old tradition, to be likewise offered. The mystic keepers are wise and amicable to those who come in kind, but simultaneously mindful, knowing that a faithful type might come as a pilgrim - but that an enterprising type might come as a thief!
4.	Spinebrush Forest Spinebrush plants are common to the scrub-lands: woody, scraggly plants festooned with razor-sharp spines known capable of piercing and tearing mail that grow in a circular pattern of branches around an open interior - like the eye of a storm - a common respite for flying creatures, small things that can navigate the thorns, or on occasion even the nimble adventurer. But this place - where the spinebrush are typically independent in their spacing, this land is absolutely littered with the stuff: plant after plant, ranging in size from a few feet across to a dozen meters - scattered capriciously among one another as though seeded atop a relic of elemental Chaos. All the while, in the distance looms the Grandfather Spine - the single largest spinebrush known to exist: almost 200 feet tall and over 300 feet at the base. Or, believed to be, at least. It's not known if anyone has managed to penetrate that far into the Spinebrush Forest - though many have entered, never leaving, depositing their corpses and their treasures into this thorned wooden cemetery. Might you be the first?
5.	The Crashing Place A section of savanna which has been trampled deeply by the Gud-Alim, who come here to do battle, to cross horns and to compete for mates and dominance within the great herd. That is... Gud-Alim - the semi-divine shaggy plague bulls, whose breath is death, whose wool is steel: six feet tall at the shoulder - the pets of the Great Lord of the Autumn. Their lowing and their ram-like clashes can be heard for miles off and the soil, itself, is infused by their offal - radiating a warmth even under a winter's moonlight that causes a tingling in the hands and feet, if handled. Moving quickly while they rest, there may be much to learn here - or perhaps even more to harvest, when one of the great beasts falls: the crushed loser in their life and death exchange - might that quick runner evade being caught in the middle?
6.	Sanctum of the Dolphin In the briney shallows, a temple complex rises. Canals in lieu of roadways - and waterfalls and tiered pools in lieu of stairs - snake around a residential district to the south, a military-monastery to the north, and in the center, a set of four ziggurats: one larger in the center, three satellites, aligned north, south, and south-west. The compound is maintained by Icthyon Centaurs - half men, half dolphins: larger and stronger than a man, and air-breathing, but bound to the sea: the favored children of the Storm-Lord, Odakon. Everything is half-submerged in the shallows, if not submerged entirely. It would take quite the planning effort to visit this place - quite the effort more to engage it - but the blessings it is said to bestow to those who curry the favor of the Icthyons, or the ancestral treasures visible - glittering in the sunlight atop the central mound - that they guard both might be ample temptation!
7.	Grasscrawler Hollow A depression in the ground leading into hill country, where the grass grows tall: this route might be used as a shortcut, its low and flat topography being easy to traverse. But known to prowl the chest-high blades is a creature called the Aternae: a thick-bodied, thick-scaled creature with a ridge of hair along its spine colored to match the blooms of its native habitat. The creature walks low to the ground, its head shaped like a goat, but its muzzle not unlike a crocodile's. Its bite is strong and along its snout, a bone-ridge protrudes horizontally - the blade of a semi-circular saw - which it uses to gore its prey or to cut the legs out from under horses. Is time so precious as to risk an encounter? Or might a skilled hunter seek an encounter - to bag a prize envied by warriors and magicians alike?
8.	Glowshock Cavern This littoral ingress, accessible during a low or receding tide, casts an eerie glow in darkness, a warm luminescence emanating from its depths accompanied by slight and irregular tremors palpable to swimmers nearby. It's said that the cavern is home to bomber worms - creatures up to a forearm's length that grow and house bio-weapons, orbs almost like eggs which explode with concussive force when vomited at would-be predators: but no one has been to the bottom to find what lies at the cavern's heart. An inquiring wizard might be curious to find the secrets hidden therein - or perhaps a warlord might be curious to harness the potential of the amphibious and explosive inhabitants: could a keen wit and a quick hand beat the tide to escape with a prize?
9.	The Cannibal Yard Nested along the crossing of long-abandoned roads, a mid-sized township lies in ruins. The architecture is alien - old and advanced - and its symbology (at least, that which was carved deep enough to survive the ravages of time) is written in the script of Law, but a language which cannot be deciphered. Secrets have been scoured from the surface - but beneath, a great catacomb (a sewer, perhaps? Or subway?) snakes through the darkness. The coughs of ghouls echo along these deep chambers - and the towns nearby seal their gates with the twilight. What secrets yet lie undiscovered, what forgotten wealth might yet be horded, beyond the bone-paved entryways?
10.	The Guardian Totem at Stillwater Bend A lazy river makes a deep curve here, the water moving slowly - pooling a bit - pandering both to sleepy sunbathing and to waterborne insects. In the horseshoe formed by the river, an earthen mound has been assembled - fifty feet to a side - and from this mound rises a stone totem, facing the woodlands to the west. Here - the locals say - a coalition pushed back the hog-men from the plains, forcing them across the river and confining them to the dark of the wood: and this monument is both a tribute to their victory and a warning to their enemies, who surely lurk still beyond the far bank. It's said that should visitors pay homage to the shrine, the spirits of the fallen will smile on them for as far as their ghost-eyes see.

Delve on, readers!

Public domain art sourced from the Public Domain Review, the National Gallery of Art, or OldBookIllustrations.com and adapted for thematic use. Attributions in alt text.

Grass Dragons

The rock bounced off of one branch and into the trunk of the scrub bush - producing a satisfying tap-tap. Aoide traded another of the slick stones from her left hand to her right; tossing it up to herself a few times, taking a bead - perhaps she could hit three...

"Be careful, Halfling."

The Elf's voice was stern, but simultaneously indifferent. Information, not warning.

"Throw too many of those things and you may disturb the spirit of the place."

Aoide continued tossing the dusty stone to herself.

"There's naught but rocks, sticks, and what pass these parts for trees in this place," she replied, "I'm just moving one piece of spirit over next to the other."

The Elf's lip curled. It might have been a smile. Smoke curled likewise - along the meandering breeze into her nostrils. Good - the others had gotten the fire going; they'd be eating soon enough.

Then a crash.

A hillock - no, not a hillock - beneath the rise a hundred yards distant lurches upwards: first, a head the size of a horse's; then a barrel of a neck; then wings: snapping against gravity. A serpent - a 30 foot serpent - ascends rapidly to the south, away from the camp. Rush - rush in the campsite, dirt is kicked to the campfire, horses rounded up and led back - Aoide is transfixed.

The creature is in the air. Beneath it, behind it, streamers - four feet long - waiving in the wind like many tails from a kite. It gazes down, circles once - it is beautiful.

It turns - with a powerful thrust, it fades to the south.

"We should disturb spirits more often!"

The Hills are Alive

Grass Dragons are the lords of the plains - guardians of grain; sovereigns of the swaying steppe. Their coloration can vary from a sandy tan to light green, depending on the lands they occupy - however the defining characteristic to distinguish them from other beasts of similar ilk is the termination of their scales. An individual scale being leaf, or spade, shaped - at its pointed culmination, a less chitinous tendril forms, light and flexible along the stalk, but frayed at the top - like a reed. These stalks are naturally gravitate upwards, such that if the dragon is at rest, they will face the sky, moving with the breeze as would grass around them - however if the dragon moves, they will move with it: the base first, the shaft and head following in sequence as their inertia is broken.

Continual motion - such as flight - will largely have these shafts in conformity to form: that is, they do not point skyward if the beast is galloping across the plain, but instead trail behind as streamers in its slip-stream; but abrupt motion, such as the raising of its head to observe interlopers to its dominion, waking from its slumber, will cause a ripple effect along the moving lengths.

Grass Dragons are found in the plains - in the steppes or the savannas - places where grass grows tall and where the wind blows free.

Encountering Grass Dragons

Grass Dragon
Armor Class:	2	No. Appearing:	1-3
Hit Dice:	9	Save As:	Fighter 9
Move:	Std: 90' (30') Fly: 240' (80')	Morale:	9
Attacks:	Claw / Claw Bite	Treasure Type:	~ (H)
Damage:	1-6 / 1-6 3-24	Alignment:	Neutral
Frequency:	Rare	Chance In Lair:	10%

• Chance of Talking: 35%
• Chance of Being Asleep: 35%
• Spells by Level (1/2/3): 2/2/1
  

Grass Dragons, at a glance, seem more animalistic than a traditional dragon - which arises in part from a very feline demeanor. When able to speak, they speak little: they have more in common with the earth than they do with the creatures that walk it.

Grass Dragons are only weakly territorial - tolerating interlopers commonly with indifference, less commonly with curiosity - but will object viciously to destruction of their environment. They are anathema to fire and react negatively to smoke or things that smell of smoke.

Due to their shape and scale biology, Grass Dragons are easy to miss in a sea of grass. Thus, a dragon which is encountered outside its lair has a 4-in-6 chance to surprise - if the dragon is asleep, it is likely the party will not notice it at all: instead thinking it merely a shift of topography. Grass Dragons, if awake, cannot be surprised in a grassland environment (though underground, or in other biomes, surprise as normal).

Breath Weapon

• Template: Cloud
• Range: 40' x 40' x 20'
  

When a Grass Dragon breathes, it breathes a strong wind that is permeated by shrapnel: kernels, grain spikes, and chaff. It swirls in a vortex - following the physical imprint of a typical cloud breath effect.

Any character who takes damage from a Grass Dragon's breath attack is considered seeded. After 1d6 rounds if the dragon is still alive and in proximity (or 1d6 hours if the dragon has been killed or has departed) a seeded character must roll a Save vs Poison. On failure, they sprout tendrils akin to dogweed - which will impede them until removed. A seeded character as such suffers a -1 penalty on attack rolls only, a -1 penalty to Poison and Paralysis Saves, or a -2 penalty to any Save to negate a fire effect, such as a Fireball.

• Magic akin to Remove Disease or Remove Curse will eliminate seeding.
• Additionally, if the character takes fire damage, there is an X-in-6 chance (where X is the amount of damage taken), that the seeds will burn, removing the effect.
• A referee may allow a character to attempt burning to remove the affect: which can typically be abbreviated as taking 1d6 flame damage.

Left untreated, the character may manually remove the stalks - which is unpleasant, but has no negative game effect: so doing will allow them to save the following morning: on success, they suffer no penalties on that day; on failure, they regrow tendrils again - impeded until they are yanked out or burned again.Manual removal of the stalks takes one turn.

After three such consecutive successes, the condition is lifted.

Lair and Treasure

Grass Dragon lairs tend to be shallow hollows in the earth, filled with the odds and ends of interlopers who drew the dragon's ire, complimented by offerings from primitive peoples - perhaps from an older time - who saw them as harbingers of fertility.

Grass Dragons tend to have little interest in physical treasure - contrary to the nature of some other wyrms - but they will guard what they do have instinctively. They have been known, however, (as supported by the offertory portion of their hordes) to make trades.

Resistances and Immunities

Grass Dragons are immune to Poison and resist Cold or Ice: taking half damage therefrom.

Grass Dragons are vulnerable to Fire: taking double damage therefrom.

In subduing a Grass Dragon, they are half as likely as normal to be subdued, in terms of percentiles. However, if a credible threat is made to the grasslands, such as the positioning for starting large scale destruction of the habitat, these chances should be increased proportionally - up to but not exceeding double the normal chance.

Spoiler Alert!

The Deeper Lore section contains some notes to help a GM (me) to run the Grass Dragon in a way consistent with the archetype they are supposed to fill and some of the inspirations behind their creation. If you play in (or want to play in!) a game GM'ed by me, beyond this point will ruin some of the mystery for you for both Grass Dragons and for most of the bestiary: having some impact in the game world that isn't immediately available outside of player character discoveries.

Deeper Lore

Grass Dragons are sustained by the living steppe. Specifically, the impetus that drives graminoids to burst from their seed casings to bathe in the sunlight: then likewise the catharsis of their decay with the seasons - their purpose having been fulfilled and their ecology maintaining the eternal cycle. This process - this energy - is what sustains the dragon, who keeps watch over a territory to which they are innately connected.

The territory required for a dragon is proportional to its size: a copse in the woods, a break in the trees being sufficient for a hatchling - up to a day's full flight of hexes needed for an ancient sleeper.

A dragon being sustained by the life of the plains, itself, will thus sleep for as long as the natural balance is in order: often times, ancient wyrms residing in primordial spaces will curl up over their lairs, blocking the entry and becoming one with the earth. Because of this connection - if a Grass Dragon's range is damaged, such as by the building of a township, such as by wildfires, by mudslides, or other events diminishing the space, the dragon will wake through hunger - its reaction to the change will differ based on circumstances, but regardless, the larger the disturbance, the more likely and the more rapidly the creature will wake and act. 

Grass Dragons do not reproduce in the typical sense - instead, they are forces of nature which are created codependent with the growth of their habitat: untamed wild begets dragons; dragons advance untamed wilds. When groups are encountered, they are most frequently siblings - manifested together through the coalescence of being, bonded through their shared experience and affinities. And while a Grass Dragon shares kinship with other Grass Dragons - so long as their ranges are distinct enough to keep good neighbors - the relationship between siblings is different and strong: a Grass Dragon will defend its siblings viciously and without fear or intimidation.

Public domain artwork downloaded from OldBookIllustrations.com, the National Gallery of Art, or Wikimedia Commons and adapted for thematic use. Attributions in alt text.

08.02 - Progress Point: The Watchtower Under-Dungeon

The Under-Dungeon at the Watchtower Compound

Scale: 10 ft.
PDF... still... forthcoming...

This section of the map - unless otherwise specified - is only accessible at night. It is one level, but there are three points of entry: two from the compound grounds (the guardhouse and the well) and one from the Watchtower, itself, in the courtyard. The exact nature of these entrances are detailed in their relative entries.

During the day - the entire space (with a couple noted exceptions) is totally filled with sand, the walls dispersed into clay and fulgurite. If a party is caught underground in one of these filled spaces when the dawn breaks, they are inundated as the semi-extra-dimensional construct falls apart: their orifices and organs filled with silt and earth. A character consumed in this way will suffocate - but must roll for System Shock on the following moon-rise when the under-dungeon reconstitutes: at which point, if they succeed, they will rise again as an undead: bound to the dungeon, itself.

Wandering Monsters

While underground, the referee should continue to use the wandering monster table provided last August, however in lieu of rolling a D6/6, they should instead roll D3/6 - thus limiting the potential encounters underground to exclusively the "Angry Dead" or "Corruption of Nature" nested tables.

Entry

The walls of this section are made of coquina; the floor, earthen - packed clay.

 E1 - The Sandy Stair

A stairwell leads downward from the courtyard (1W31) - each stair made of firm sand, eight inches thick, suspended in the air by an unseen force. The walls are coquina. Lurking beneath the stairs is a hostile Needler Golem (as Needleman, FF 67) - scratching at the wall as though looking for the secret door, which is a two-foot square set four feet off the ground, able to be pushed back and outward, as a window, if detected.

E2 - Skull Octagon

In the center of the space, a primitive skull has been etched into the floor. The way to E3 is not obscured - but there are post-holes in the floor and ceiling at the dots indicated.

• If the door to E4 is discovered and pulled open, the left eye of the skull rises as a touch-plate. 
  
• If the door to E5 is discovered and pulled open, the right eye of the skull rises as a touch-plate.
  
• If the iron bars to E3 fall, the nasal openings rise as a touch-plate.

If any the touch-plates are depressed, the corresponding egress reverts to its initial state: closed for E4 and E5, open for E3. The nasal openings cannot be depressed unless a sword or equivalent mass is set in the its dais.

E3 - Sword Room

The entrance to this space is open, though there are post-holes in the floor and ceiling. At the rear of the room is a mosaic, blackened, that appears to depict a man in armor with a sword. In the center is a stone dais in which a rusty sword is set. The sword obviously does not fit in the hole. If removed, thick metal bars will drop into the post-holes, trapping any north of them inside. The current sword is mundane, belonging to a Thoul residing in E4.

E4 - West Horn

Five Thoul (B 43) occupy this space, mulling over one Potion of Speed and 2,000 electrum pieces. One of the Thoul is trying to figure out a +1 Sentient sword, profiled as follows: 

• Intelligence: 11, Ego: 7
• Communication Mode: Speech (Lawful Tongue)
• Powers: See Invisible Objects, Detect Shifting Architecture, Detect Evil or Good
• Alignment: Lawful
  

Due to his undead nature and its affiliation to Chaos, the Thoul cannot use it.

E5 - East Horn

Several chains lie broken on the floor and some undefinable staining can be seen on the walls. Two Lemure demons (MM 23) occupy the space.

E6 - Hidden Atrium

The doors to the south are heavy, but not locked. The secret door to the north is stuck, if discovered. There are two black-purple curtains hanging, floor to ceiling, on the south-east and south-west walls. One Lemure demon (MM 23) occupies the space, sniffing against the door to E1 - which is hidden, approaching from either end.

E7 - Skull Altar

Starting ten feet from the door to E6, the floor in this space is gray tile. To the south, an altar stands as an island in a small recessed "moat." The recess is filled with silver - 5,000 pieces of it. Atop the altar is an obsidian skull and a stand for it, though it appears the skull has been shattered into multiple razor-sharp pieces. The obsidian, itself, is worth 400 gold pieces. The secret door to E8 is closed and hidden, but loose.

E8 - Escape Corridor

The doors to E6 and E7 are obvious from this space. There is a bar against the wall which would allow easy blocking of the door to E7. Along the narrow hallway are six alcoves in the walls, alternating left then right, in 5 of which can be found a silver idol: each worth 500 gold pieces. In the northern part of the chamber can be found a skeleton stuck to the ceiling in roots. The skeleton is wearing rags, antiquated style, and has a pouch in which can be found some personal odds and ends - but more interestingly to the players - 600 gold pieces.

In the ceiling is embedded a Grasping Vines entity. Disturbing the skeleton will alert it; lingering in the room has a 2-in-6 chance to alert it per turn spent. The vines will attack, attempting to strangle characters beneath them.

Sunken Maze

The floors of this section are tiled in dark stone not native to the region; the walls appear to be likewise bricked. Ceilings of hallways and corridors are arched.

M1 - Maze Foyer

The octagonal space is cooler than E1, the air heavy. Neither the door to E1 nor to the north-west is locked, though the door to M6 is.

M2 - Holding Cells

This space is girded by iron bars, rusting but sturdy. Each door has a 2-in-6 chance of being locked, randomly determined at the start of each night cycle. In one of the six enclosed spaces - also determined randomly - is waiting some Grasping Roots. These roots function normally against enemies within the same room, but will also attempt to grasp enemies in adjacent rooms: if successful, they will deal 1d6 damage per round instead of their normal damage as they attempt to pull a grappled character through the bars.

The exit leading to M9 is open and obvious, 3 feet in diameter.

M3 - South Cell

The heavy wooden door to this room is locked. There are chains on the walls and a shallow tin on the floor. Two Shadows (B41) are lurking in the space.

M4 - Crumbling Room

The ceiling of this space drips and the north wall appears to be crumbling: the black stone seeming to be transforming slowly into wet sand. For each turn in the room, there is a 1-in-6 chance for the decay to progress, causing the ceiling to collapse and fill the space with earth.

M5 - North Cell

This room, like M4, is wet; however it is not crumbling. The walls buzz with unseen energy, but will radiate magic if a detect type ability or spell is used on them. There are chains, as in M3, but they will turn to sand if they are touched.

M6 - Angled Hall

The doors to M8 and M7 are stuck; other doors are not. Seven Manes (MM 17) are roving through this room.

M7 - Sinking Space

This floor to this room is differently colored than the walls, a gray-white swirl - but still tiled. The exit to section C is not visible at first - but if at least two characters enter the room, their weight will cause the floor to sink downward up to four feet, exposing the exit.

M8 - Ghoul Horde

Five Ghouls (B35) inhabit this space. Between them can be found 4,000 electrum. In addition, eight copper ingots (80 gp value each) are embedded in the north and west walls.

M9 - Escape Diamond

The tile floor in this room is loose, shifting as the characters step on it. Two short tables - suitable for a foyer hall - adorn the walls: one on the north east, one on the north west walls. In the west corner, the loose tiles will collapse, if stepped on: revealing the passage to M2.

M10 - Broken Diamond

The door to this room is stuck. Chains hang between the walls, but the links are square. Characters entering this space appear to shear sideways, much like looking at something half submerged in clear water - to no detrimental effect; they appear normal upon leaving the room.

M11 - Corner Crypt

The door to this space is locked. Two short end tables, suitable for a foyer hallway, sit against the north-east and north-west walls. In the south corner is a recess in the floor - two feet deep - large enough for a body.

M12 - Disorienting Cache

The door to this space is locked. When a thief attempts to pick the lock, it will always succeed: however, when the door is opened, a character will find themselves looking into M13, instead. Characters walking through the door will be deposited in M13 (with the door curiously closed behind them) - upon exit, they will exit facing the correct direction: potentially disorienting the mapper.

Inside the true M12 is a cache: several period suits of clothing, somewhat aged but very formal and elaborate, valued at 300 gold total. Between them also can be found 600 pieces of gold specie and a pendant inset with Imperial Topaz: the pendant is worth 700 gold pieces.

The exit into section C is not affected by this hex.

M13 - Trick Diamond

A broken table lies against the north-west wall. Otherwise, the room is empty.

M14 - Hound Junction

A pile of straw lies on the floor to the west. Three Hellhounds (X33) are proceeding through the area - each wears a collar with a jeweled buckle: the buckle being an effigy in representation of the entity with which the dungeon's necromancer originally made pacts. These collars are worth 400 gp each. Hanging from the ceiling in chains is a skeleton, facing north - with a diamond (100 gp value) in its mouth and a chest (locked and trapped; it will spout a small flame gout at someone opening it without disarming the mechanism, Save vs Breath against 1d8 damage) containing 4,000 pieces of silver.

M15 - West Desecration

The door to this space is stuck. Inside, 11 Manes (MM 17) are tearing up what appears to have before been a plush study, comprised of a divan, a writing desk, a writing chair, and a book case. Each Manes is wearing a silver chain worth 100 gold pieces. In a locked drawer on the writing desk can be found 1000 gold pieces. In a vase on top of the book case - 2-in-6 chance that it will have been knocked to the floor - is a small sack containing six gemstones: one tourmaline worth 10 gp, three black pearls worth 50 gp, one royal sapphire worth 100 gp, and a large diamond worth 500 gold pieces.

M16 - South Desecration

The door to this space is broken. Inside is a shredded carpet and splinters: an article of furniture must have been here once, but it has been intentionally damaged beyond recognition.

M17 - East Desecration

The south and east walls are lined with crates containing rusted chains and implements. On the door, on the inside, is a desiccated corpse, nailed to the wood. Its eyes have been removed and the sockets, as well as the mouth and ears, are full of sand. If the head is turned, the sand will pour out and the floor. It will empty after 1d4 rounds, if allowed, after which point in the south-east corner will collapse, opening the way to section C.

M18 - Rooftop Trove

The door to this space is locked. Within, several chests and sacks of loot are visible... on the ceiling. Within a locked chest is 1,000 gold pieces and 2,000 silver pieces. Further, within a sack are 2,000 silver pieces. A glass case is on an end-table (likewise, ceiling), containing two gemstones; a dark and a light stone. The dark stone is a peridot, worth 100 gold pieces; the light is a semi-precious facsimile, worth 10 gp.

The space is a hazard. While it may appear that the room is reversed in gravity, entering the room will not cause the characters to fall up. Instead, the floor is undermined by a tunnel in section C: entering the room has an X-in-6 chance to cause a collapse: where X is the number of characters in the room.

If the floor collapses, characters therein take 1d6 damage as they roll into section C.

M19 - Skeleton Guard Storage

The door to this space is locked. Within, six Skeletons (B 42) stand guard. The tunnel to section C is open and obvious.

M20 - Sleeping Diamond

Chains made from glass hang from the ceiling in loose arcs. Moving through the space has a chance to trip a container above, to which the chains are affixed. If tripped, all characters in the room and any within ten feet of the door must Save vs Poison, those outside the room may re-roll one failure, or fall unconscious, as though affected by the Sleep spell.

M21 - Treasure Room

The door to this room is locked. Inside is a horde of electrum, loose on the floor - 7,000 pieces. In the center of the room is a golden pelvis - if melted, worth 1,000 gp - which houses a large pendant with a ruby inlay: the chain long and thick, as though intended to be worn as a sash or belt. The pendant is worth 1,400 gp.

M22 - Grasping Roots

The door to this room is locked. Two skeleton-shaped engravings are present on the east wall: they are eerily lifelike to bones. The egress to section C is obvious - the wall having fallen away in that corner; however a section of Grasping Roots is lurking just on the other side, hanging from the ceiling.

Chancel of Lost Souls

The floors of this section are tiled in dark stone not native to the region; the walls appear to be likewise bricked. Ceilings of hallways and corridors are arched.

L1 - Lair Foyer

The ceiling to this space is domed. The floor is inlaid with a red-colored stone, paralleling the octagonal shape of the room. Exits to the west are covered by iron grates, but a door-less opening allows free passage on both sides.

L2 - Junction

The walls, at the fork, stop being bricked with stone and start being bricked with skulls of the same color. The floor is collapsed in the north-west, opening into a passage of section C, leading either north to L7 or south to C3.

L3 - Screaming Skull Phylactery of the Necromancer

The entrances to this space are guarded by green glowing bars of force. They cannot be bent, but can be dispelled. A chaotic Cleric who succeeds a Save vs Spells may pass.

On the floor is a wide red circle, with glowing green inlays in a Chaotic script. In the center of the circle is a pedestal - jet black - above which hovers a helmet which appears to be made from a human skull, but the eye sockets are widely distorted - double the size and too high - with ridges running down the temples and along the cranium.

The helmet is infused with Chaotic magic:

• The wearer may enter and exit the under-dungeon compound regardless of day or night.
  
• The wearer is granted control over the green bars to L3, L4, and L5.
  
• The wearer will no longer be targeted by "corruption" entities from the random encounter table.
  
• The wearer may expend a charge of the helmet to cast Lightning Bolt, Continual Darkness (2 charges for Continual Light), Invisibility (2 charges for Detect Invisible), Knock, or Charm Person.
  
• The wearer gains additional spell slots, based on the net number of charges therein:
  
• 0 Charges: No additional spell slots.
  
• 4 Charges or more: +1 first level spell
  
• 8 Charges or more: +2 first level spells, +1 second level spell
  
• 16 Charges or more: +3 first level spells, +2 second level spell
  
• 24 Charges or more: +3 first level spells, +2 second level spell, +1 third level spell

The helmet has 24 charges. It will regenerate 1d12 charges per evening, if exposed to the moonlight.

The helmet, also, is imprinted with the persona of the necromancer who built the under-dungeon: it will attempt to take control of anyone wearing it. At first donning the helmet, and subsequently at each new moon while in its possession, a Control Check must be made as an intelligent sword: the helmet has an ego of 6 plus half its current charges and is, as mentioned, Chaotic.

L4 - Horde of the Helmet

The entry to this space is guarded by a second set of glowing bars. Similar to L3, a Cleric who passed the save to enter must pass a second time to enter here and the bars may not be bent, but may be dispelled.

Two skeletons hang from the ceiling - one more north east, one more south west - both have golden spikes with topaz lined rings at the base jammed into their eye sockets. The spikes are worth 150 gold pieces each. An porcelain, gold-engraved idol hovers in the south-east alcove: it is worth 100 gold pieces. Four chests line the walls; each is locked, but each contains 4,000 silver pieces.

The Skeletons (B 42) are animate. They will attack with a +2 bonus, swinging themselves on their restraints, on the first round any character that does not first deal with them before interacting with any of the four chests.

L5 - North Skull Hall

At the curve, the wall stops being bricked with stone and starts being bricked with skulls of the same color. The door to L6 is stuck; the doors to L7 and L10 are locked. The entry to L8 and L9 are closed off by green glowing phantasmal bars - they cannot be bent, but can be dispelled. A chaotic Cleric who Saves vs Spells may pass.

Between the two doors to L8 and L9 is a trap - a large tile in the floor may depress if stepped on, which releases a gout of flame. Any characters caught in the trap takes 2d6 damage - a Save vs Breath is allowed to half the effect.

A character listening at the doors to L6 will automatically hear the soul walls.

 L6 - Wall of Mourning

The angled walls defining the northern border of this room, as well as the alcoves in the south, house howling souls - a writhing mass of living spirits, bound to the place, trapped and long since insane from their captivity. They cannot reach further than a yard or so from the wall - being bound to it - but their moaning is incessant and maddening.

In the center-most alcove on the northern wall is a single sword, driven into an ever-bleeding flesh pedestal. The sword is a +1 Sentient sword with the following profile:

• Intelligence 9, Ego 1
  
• Communication mode: Empathy
  
• Powers: Detect Magic, Locate Secret Doors, See Invisible Objects
  
• Alignment: Chaotic
  

Although the souls will not touch the blade, a character coming close enough to physically remove it will be close enough for the souls to grasp.

Any character coming within five feet of a soul-wall - including the funnel-like alcoves granting entry to the space - must Save vs Petrification or be grasped and grappled to the wall. The souls have a vampiric quality - draining 100-600 XP per round until the victim is wrenched from their grasp. A character reduced to 0 or fewer XP is absorbed into the wall, becoming one more soul trapped in the wall.

Turn Undead will cause a five foot section of wall per HD turned to shy away. Thus, a character grappled by the souls, if a turn is aimed at them, will be released immediately.

L7 - Far West Angle

The door to this space is locked. The egress to section C is loosely covered by brick, which will fall away if touched. The walls seem to slowly shift, as though faces are brushing across them: but if a character examines them directly, the faces vanish as though illusions and the wall is clean brick... only to return in the character's peripheral vision when the investigation ceases.

L8 - Near West Angle

Naturally mummified corpses have been laid on the floor at angles, parallel to the east and west walls - one each. The door to L11 is locked.

L9 - Near East Angle

Naturally mummified corpses, four of them, have been piled in the rear of the space. Five Thoul (B 43) appear to be trapped inside. They are half mad - having been turned to sand and returned over and over, but regenerating due to their undeath - and there is a chance they will negotiate, trying to leave the room.

The door to L11 is locked.

L10 - Far East Angle

In the southernmost section of this space, there are three naturally mummified corpses - all three damaged and gnawed upon. One appears to have been on a slab in the center of the south wall, the other two, stood up as metaphorical guardians. The guardian corpses are each wearing an electrum helmet - worth 200 gold pieces each. The slab corpse has a gold tooth - worth 10 gold pieces - and has 900 silver pieces in specie piled around them. Behind the slab, having been discarded or knocked to the ground, is a magical Shield +1.

The door to L5 is locked; the egress to section C is an open hole in the wall.

L11 - Angled Crypt

Bones line this chamber, piled on the floor. The bones show signs of breaking and gnawing. The doors to this space are locked; the egress to section C is an open hole in the wall.

Fulgurite Halls 

The caves have a shifting floor with walls of vitrified sand.

C1 - Well Chamber

The floor here is wet. In the south-east quadrant, there is a sinkhole - which a party may trigger if navigating that section. A character stuck by the sinkhole must Save vs Paralysis or sink - becoming stuck; the remaining party may try to rescue them, or the stuck character may attempt to exit, but each round thereafter until removed from the sinkhole, affected characters must Save vs Paralysis again or go under, suffocating.

There are no exits to this space during the day, excepting the north loop to C3. All other exits during the day are blocked by a solid wall of fulgurite. Attempts to dig through the space result in frustration, as the rest of the map is filled with loose sand in lieu of the listed contents.

C2 - Wish Receiver

Three skeletons are laid over a chest and satchel. Inside the satchel is 200 gold pieces and three gems - one worth 100 gp and two worth 50 gp each. Inside the chest is a single pearl, 10 gold pieces value, and 6,000 silver pieces.

C3 - Lair Passage

During the day, this chamber is filled with sand, blocking progress north. During the evening, there is no sand - but there are several ghostly streams of sand pouring down and piling, as though in an hour glass, where the sand never accumulates below. A character cannot touch this ghost sand - it will bounce off of a material component, rolling out and over as water over a hydrophobic surface: however so doing roughly one inch above the surface. Sand that is coerced into a bag will not touch the bag, maintaining this one inch difference within it, and weighing nothing to carry. However, if removed from the caves, the sand will turn to mundane sand at the following dawn.

C4 - Tiger Beetle Nest

Three stalagnates of fulgurite hold up the ceiling in this space. Four Tiger Beetles (B31) occupy the alcove to the south, hidden between the pillars. 65 gold pieces are scattered on the floor.

C5 - Shifting Space

During the day, this junction smells like fresh cut grass. At night, there is an odd glow, as though the moonlight is shining down through the sandy ceiling. A character which exits through the north-east exit at night must Save vs Spells or emerge from the closet, 2B3, in the Barn on the compound grounds. The transition is mono-directional.

C6 - Three Pillars

Two stalagmites flank a stalagnate holding the ceiling in this space. The smell of marsh emanates from the south and west passages - but there is no marsh to produce it. Some chitinous material resembling a Tiger Beetle can be found spread on the floor.

C7 - The Glow Worm's Hole

The floor in this space becomes softer and a slight glow radiates from the ceiling. Worm-like creatures have taken habitation there, occasionally leaving droppings that rain down. Characters spending a turn or greater in this space will be splattered: the glowing material will provide as much light as a candle (depending on how much is gathered/splattered) - its radiance lasting for 2 hours.

C8 - Dressing Cave

A structured dress, no one to wear it, is propped in the corner of this space. A locket - rusted through such that no picture can be seen - lies nearby.

C9 - Bone Hollow

Along the walls of this space, as it proceeds south to north, are ridges. These become more and more defined, resembling human skeletons: but if they are touched, they crumble - nothing more than sand.

C10 - Corpse Hollow

Two corpses - rotted and old - are sprawled on the ground. They are fellows to the Ghouls in C18: a character interacting with these corpses will potentially paralyze themselves: but are allowed to re-roll a failed Save vs Paralysis, representing the decay of the strange paralytic force exuded thereby.

The Under-Sand

C11 - Tiger Cranny

A Tiger Beetle (B31) is rooting through an empty wooden chest in this space. The iron bands have rusted and largely come loose. 

C12 - Reading Chamber 

The hallway to the south-west opens into a carpeted room. There is a velvet divan, a comfortable chair, and an end-table with candelabra, lit - it is surprisingly clean. In the space is a Poltergeist (FF 73), endlessly reading a long-faded manuscript.

The carpet can be rolled and removed. It is worth 1,000 gold pieces, but weighs 1,500 worth. The candelabra is worth 200 gold pieces. Under the carpet is loosely buried a solid oak chest - in which can be found 7,000 silver.

C13 - Failure of Egress

Five skeletons - two in the kit of a fighter, one with a holy symbol, one in robes, and one in leathers - lie on the floor, their cavities filled with sand. Sitting behind them, as though dragged, are two sacks with 5,000 silver pieces each, two tourmaline worth 50 gold pieces each, and satchel full of pearls worth 200 gold pieces, net.

C14 - Pillar Narrows

This space is accessible during the day. Several pillars, all stone, hold up this narrow space. The exits - however: south and east - are walled off by solid fulgurite. As with C1, attempts to break through are frustrated, as the space is filled with sand unless under the moonlight.

C15 - Guardhouse Basement

A ladder leading up to a trap door provides an egress to P1. 50 feet of rope, a hammer, and 24 iron spikes - partly rusted, but still perfectly usable - lie in one corner, alongside a lone tooth.

C16 - Artesian Pool

The floor of this space is wet and murky. The depth of said murk ranges from three to eight inches - but is otherwise safe to pass and does not impede movement. Consequences of rapid movement through water on equipment are at the discretion of the referee.

Eastern Narrows

C17 - Hanging Silver, Hidden Gold

Suspended from the ceiling in the southern reaches of this space in heavy iron chains are three locked chests - 2,000 silver pieces each. Buried against the wall, somewhat non-descriptly, on the northern bend is a crate - nailed shut - in which can be found a further 1,000 gold pieces.

C18 - Ghoul Burrow

Three Ghouls (B35) are digging at the wall on the north-west quarter of this space. They look confused, almost dazed. They are hostile and hungry.

 

Public domain artwork downloaded from the National Gallery of Art and OldBookIllustrations.com. Attributions in alt text.

The Gosumbas of Greyhawk

Play-Cast Name: Lord Gosumba Where I Listened: YouTube Where It's Available: Twitch, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram System: TSR AD&D

Chainmail, with Shield

Thoughts and Review

Lord Gosumba, a content producer primarily hosted and run by DM Jay Scott, is a series of semi-episodic, very beer-and-pretzels, campaign plays set in the World of Grewhawk. DM Jay runs what I would dub TSR AD&D - which is to say, a combination of first and second edition AD&D, combined with a generous helping of houserules built up over the course of 40 years.

What I Like

Dude uses a ruler! I love this guy. There are no grids - there are minis and terrain: 1 inch on the table is 10 feet in the game world. When talking about dice, he says "die" - so, d6 is pronounced "die-six" rather than the more common "dee-six" vernacular. This, among a dozen other quirks and qualities of the dungeon master take me back - I feel like it's 1990 again and I'm just beginning to transition from wargames, wondering what game this "Chainmail" line of minis that sit beside the GW product are intended to support. DM Jay is old school: it oozes from his pores.

Continuing from the above, majority of episodes are played on a physical table with physical terrain and minis while players, themselves, are on a virtual window. An obvious parallel to this practice can be drawn with Swords of Jordoba - which was the first time I had seen physical miniatures and abstract combat used in conjunction with a virtual - that is, voice and video rather than in-person - game. It's a good comparison, too, because where Swords of Jordoba has ample dungeon maps and dungeon terrain, its outside-the-dungeon terrain is limited: minis were used, as I recall,     Special Aside
I unironically love that folks' grandkids/kids periodically show up and interact with them. In my viewing of this channel over the last few weeks, it happened maybe twice. But seeing these players drop out of the zone, engage with these kids, ... it makes me happy. A treat for parents hiding deep in the hundreds and hundreds of hours of content sitting in the back catalog
for external-to-dungeon activities, however the terrain was limited to the township. In this regard, Lord Gosumba excels: not only does he utilize cave and cavern terrain, but he also employs dioramas, masonry and wooden buildings - all manner of diverse props that, in an in-person game, would help to push immersion and on an online stream, really brings the viewer into the game. You forget that you're sitting at the computer (or on the elliptical, as may be) instead of in the Dungeon Master's basement with him.

As mentioned above, the game is very beer and pretzels. It can get in the way of the experience as a viewer - as it can disseminate some of the immersion when the group enjoys a pop culture reference - but it likewise is important, knowing that this represents a school of play that is not uncommon in old-school circles. The players rarely take their characters seriously, attempt to take advantage of situations as best as possible, and have no qualms about looting the corpses of their allies. This can be a good thing. The morbidity of OSR systems and the fragility of characters in OSR games can easily lead to thinking of characters as pawns rather than avatars of the self: something that a new or aspiring OSR player or referee is likely to encounter.

Lastly - most appropriately to this review - DM Jay takes time, when discussing rules, to intentionally and explicitly highlight which rules are houserules, which rules are actual rules, and the differences between editions that his players might be more familiar with. Although there is substantial role play and banter - as is to be expected from any functioning game - but when the dice hit the tray, DM Jay is very concise and simultaneously generous in his explanation of rules and procedures in use and how they compare to similar concepts in other editions of the game.

What I Don't Like

The only element this channel is missing is the hex crawl. This is understandable, it's largely forgivable, because in a true home game, the hex map is less a player-facing device and more a referee tool: its a way to manage movement and distance from points of interest abstractly, such that the party may not actually see it, but the referee is able to track progress in a procedural manner.

But a viewer can dream.

In Conclusion

Lord Gosumba runs a clean game in a manner consistent with how D&D was meant to feel by the original team writing the little brown books. For this reason, I give it a rating of Chainmail, with Shield. It's a game that doesn't take itself too seriously, but illustrates Greyhawk and the Advanced game well: and one that's easy to enjoy watching - being an in-person or simulated-in-person experience. 

Didn't you ding another actual play for not doing hex-rules? Yes. And truthfully, the absence of hexes and hex rules - like with other actual plays lacking the same - is the only reason this review isn't Plate.

Delve on, readers!