The Hollow Beneath the Spinning Stair

Scale: 10 ft.
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1 - Entry

A spiral staircase provides an entry to the level. The stair - each time the party enters the room - has its steps facing a different non-cardinal direction. The stairs will always terminate in the same place regardless of facing.

2 - False Hoard

A pile of gold and jewels lies against the east wall. Running north to south in the center of the room are three grooves in the floor. If a character attempts to cross, there is a 4-in-6 chance they will trigger a trap: three saw blades, one moving the opposite direction as the others, spin across the room, following the grooves. The trap rolls to hit any targets in the same rank as the character triggering the trap - THAC0 16, 1d6 damage - and any character that takes damage from the trap must Save vs Wands or be caught between one blade and the other, going the opposite direction: taking a further 2d6 damage.

The gold is an illusion. In touching it, a player's hand will pass clean through.

3 - A Spectral Picnic

Flowing from the north-east wall is an illusory river, curving south and following the west wall and terminating at the south wall, with spectral picnickers sitting beside it. On a decent reaction, they will invite the party to dine. Any characters who do partake will improve their senses for 1d4 hours: seeing 45' in darkness with a torch instead of 30' and gaining a +1 bonus to Saving Throws.

After partaking or refusing, the specters dissipate and leave behind only a blue tile mosaic on the floor where the illusory river was.

4 - Fly Chamber

A few skeletons with generic adventurer gear lie on the floor. Four Robber Flies (B41) are puttering about the skeletons.

5 - The Harpsichord Room

The ceiling of this room is a checkerboard - with the black spaces casting a dark glow onto the floor where they fall. Characters who step into the black glows will trigger an eerie sound - tone depending on which one they touch: more northern sections are higher pitched than southern sections. The room may be played as an instrument - but if played too much, should result in increased wandering monster checks.

6 - Broken Hide

This room has some broken wood - was once a platform - in the west corner. Additionally, a stone statue - defaced - stands facing the corner. Five Veterans (B44), between them carrying 83 gold pieces, are guarding a hoard they have been hauling towards the exit. They have spiked the door and are waiting - thinking that the Troglodyte in room 7 is not alone.

The hoard is valued as follows:

• 300sp
• 600gp
• A ring with an emerald in it (400gp)
• A pair of opal earrings (500gp)
• An amulet with emerald and topaz inlays (1000gp)
• A gold rod - capped with a ring of rubies (1300gp)

7 - Lonely Troglodyte

Against the south wall is a large wooden throne. On it lounges a single Troglodyte, eating a half-rotten fish. The troglodyte possesses a Ring of Invisibility.

8 - Mud Room

Mud is smeared in an arc on the floor of the space. Someone appears to have written something with it on the west wall, but the letters are no longer legible.

9 - Hall of Tile

Within the room, a tile inlay - alternating red and white diamonds - runs the length of the space. In the south east and south west corners are pedestals, as though statues once stood there.

10 - Spinning Lights

A chandelier that is not linked to the ceiling hovers at the normal height - rotating slowly. It has holders for candles - 1d8 out of ten are lit as the party approaches. If a character passes under the chandelier with a light source that is lit, that light source will go out - consumed and extinguished - and a candle will light. Magical light sources light two candles; a Continual Flame will be suppressed for 1d4 hours, but not extinguished. If all 10 candles are lit - the chandelier will steal no more flames, but will glow hotly: causing a dimming effect for all light sources on the dungeon level (what once cast 30' light instead casts 20', and proportional) and foiling infravisision. The effect lasts until the next sunrise, when all candles go out.

11 - The Ogre's Grave

The door into this space is locked.

A large (enough that an ogre-sized creature might occupy it) grave pit - square - is sunken into the floor in the south end of the space. Surrounding the grave pit are five ceramic bowls filled with 40 gold pieces each.

In the pit is a skeleton of proportional size, its features "lumpy" - misshapen - holding a large sack. Inside the sack can be found 11,000 silver pieces.

12 - Ax Room

A weapon rack holds a magic Hand Ax (+1) upside down on the east wall. Flanking the axe are two bowls - between them holding 200 silver pieces and 300 gold pieces. The room smells faintly of spices.

If the door is allowed to close behind whomever enters the room, when re-opened, it will open randomly to another room in the dungeon: roll 1d20 to determine where: with the door leading to the numbered room specified.

13 - Silver Lights

A chandelier hangs from the ceiling in this space - danging from it are four wire braids of different lengths, at the end of which can be found four silk sacks. Each silk sack contains 400 silver pieces. Directly beneath it is a single gold idol: a figure with its hands over its eyes. The idol is worth 100 gold pieces.

14 - The Lightning Vault

The east and west walls are covered in chain and the floor is a metal grate in this space. On a wooden dais near the south wall is a locked chest, secured to the dais, containing 900 silver pieces. On a metal stand to the west of the dais is a mask - electrum - with "hair" made of emeralds worth 1,000 gold pieces. On a similar stand to the east of a dais is a bandoleer made of plated silver, lined with small inlaid diamonds and worth 1,500 gold pieces.

There is a lightning trap in the space. A character stepping into the room onto the grate may trigger it - a character interacting with either of the metal stands will trigger it - an electric shock passes along the chains and through the floor: any character affected must Save vs Wands or take 2d8 electric damage.

15 - Scroll Corner

Six amphora are propped against the north-west corner. Inside one of them is a Scroll of Protection from Elementals. In the south-west corner is a sizable array of cobwebs.

16 - Gnoll Lair

Cushions and luxurious furniture - all scratched and coated in fur - is strewn about this space. On the walls are murals, worn and damaged - but still visible:

• To the North, a grassy landscape with a single figure, clad in blue, facing the horizon
• To the South, a walled city, with spires favoring the east
• To the East, a woman with golden skin wearing glimmering armor
  

Four Gnolls (B35) occupy the space.

17 - Gnoll Excursion

Several amphora are stocked in the north-east and south-east corners. Four Gnolls (B35) are sniffing around them.

18 - Talking Heads

The walls of this space are exclusively bone - the northern arc populated with skulls. If a character of Chaotic alignment stands in the center, where the skulls face, they will flare to life and speak: answering one question the character asks. The skulls will only answer one question per lunar month.

19 - The Gutter

Ringing the north, east, and west walls is a sunken space filled with about three inches of water. The water is stagnant and the gutter has some mildew in it - but it is otherwise mundane and innocuous. 

20 - Pit (Viper) Trap

In the center of the room is a circular pattern, embossed in the floor. If characters tread on it, it will slowly rotate: sinking into the floor. As it sinks, there is a chance to trigger a trap.

When the trap triggers, the floor of the pattern falls through, dropping any character on it into a pit below - 10 feet deep - occupied by 2d6 Pit Vipers (B42).

Trap Key

T1

The floor in this space transitions to metal - solid sheet. Above, chains hang - drooping to about eight inches from the ceiling, but coming to a hub in the center. If a party crosses the metal flooring, there is a chance it will trigger. Characters affected by the trap must Save vs Wands or be shocked as electricity arcs from the chains down to the floor, rolling in a seemingly random pattern in all directions. Characters failing the save take 3d4 damage.

T2

Poke-holes line the corners of the hallway in this space. There is a trip-plate where a character passing may trigger: when triggered, the poke-holes erupt a gout of flames, affecting any character in the outlined section. Flame damage, 2d8, is dealt - with a Save vs Breath for half damage.

T3

The door to the south of this trap is locked. When the party interacts with the door, there is a chance they will disturb thin wires running the grooves along it; triggering a trap. When triggered, the outlined space falls through, dumping the party into a 15 foot pit with a gooey acidic substance at the bottom. Fallers take 2d4 from the fall and then take a further point of damage each round until they can exit the pit. The acid will continue to burn - 1 point of damage per round - for 1d4 rounds following a victim's extraction.

 

Public domain and open license artwork retrieved from the National Gallery of Art, Pixabay, and OldBookIllustrations.com and adapted for thematic use. Attributions in alt text.