Saturday, September 9, 2023

Cult Catacomb

Scale: 10 ft.
Click HERE for a PDF version of this adventure!

Suitable for 2nd to 3rd level.

A little keyhole icon in a door means the door is locked.
A little "S" through a door means the door is secret.
A little "J" through a door means the door is jammed (stuck) and must be forced open.

Art generated on Craiyon.com; for expedience.

Wandering Monsters

Wandering monsters, if encountered, should be rolled on the following table.

Note, if a 6 is rolled, the Evil Acolytes thus encountered will have with them a key: roll 1d4 to determine the number of the lock on the map which their key will open.

Cult Catacomb

R1 - Dark Altar

Five men - four Acolytes (B30) and 1 chaotic Vicar (4th level) burn incense before the statue of a man - part bird - standing on a pedestal in the western half of a room. One of the statue's hand is aloft, the other by its side: both hold a potion. One of these is a potion of Growth - the other, poison (Save vs Death) which resembles the first. Apportioned about the feet of the statue are 6,000 copper coins as well as 2,000 electrum pieces. Sitting atop this hoard is a shield - magic, +1 - turned upside down, like a saucer, in which gemstones have been piled:

  • 6 carnelians (10 Gold Pieces each)
  • 5 jasper (50 Gold Pieces each)
  • 2 tourmalines (100 Gold Pieces each)
  • 1 sizable peach moonstone (500 Gold Pieces)
  • 1 teardrop-cut ruby (1,000 Gold Pieces)

The Vicar knows which potion is which; but the acolytes do not. He will use the shield and/or the potion if attacked and pressed.

R2 - Control Room

Wicker barrels - 40 gallon sized - line the rear wall. Between the two doors (which are obvious from inside the room) is a panel with two prominent knobs and a lever. When the party enters the room, a buzzing sound can be heard emanating from the panel.

  • One of the knobs and one of the levers are straight-forward: the first knob - which is "off" to start - will lock in place the tree marked at H3 (although two concurrent "stuck door" checks will break the lock and re-engage the swivel). 
  • The lever, currently "up", enables or disables the magnet trap in marked at H1. 
  • The second knob, however, is a timer. It slowly turns downward and - after 1 turn, if allowed to persist - will touch the bottom: setting off a loud alarm: alerting the Clerics in R1 to the presence of an intruder.

The whicker barrels are largely empty - except one: which has a lockbox with 1,100 silver in it. In addition, underneath this lockbox is hidden a key: rolling randomly on 1+1d3 to determine which lock in the dungeon it will open.

R3 - West Tomb

Four pits carved into the floor house three Ghouls (B35) - held in this room after having been enthralled by the Vicar in R1. The effect has since worn off - but a successful Turn check on his part will re-establish it.

In the fourth, unoccupied hole is a corpse - strangely preserved. Under this corpse can be found a hollow in which 400 gold pieces and two prize garnets (200 gold pieces each) are hidden.

R4 - East Tomb

Four graves mark the space - three of which are covered by stone slabs. The room is entirely covered in spider webs. Hidden overhead are two Black Widow (B43).

Inside the last grave is a fresh corpse wearing the garb of a cultist. He carries 200 silver pieces and a decorated skull-dagger worth 40 gold pieces to a jeweler or other collector.

R5 - Old Armory

Three racks designed for holding armor are positioned around this room. Further, a wooden table and stool - decayed to the point of being unusable - are propped near the secret door.

The locked door marked with #3 can be unlocked from inside the room without a key.

R6 - Master's Grave

A single sarcophagus - stone - is raised in the northern portion of this room. The floor around it is tiled with black marble. The sarcophagus is remarkably difficult to open - but could be, by a determined party. Inside is a skeletal corpse wearing a necklace (400 gold pieces) and carrying a mirror and pouch with 200 silver pieces in it.

R7 - Room of Bowing

This room is richly carpeted - with tapestries of dark-clad men hanging on the wall: none of which have faces except that on the south wall - which looks down towards the door menacingly. If the party enters the space, there is a chance they will activate a poison gas trap (Save vs Death): spraying from behind the hanging pieces and begin disseminated around them: affecting all persons in the room.

The gas is lighter than air - and as such, clears somewhat rapidly - and any character which crawls on hands and knees can avoid it entirely. Halflings and Dwarves may be granted a bonus on their saving throws by a generous referee as a result of their stature.

R8 - Mess

Two heavy wooden tables flanked by three heavy wooden benches run north to south, occupying most of the room. Torch sconces on the wall are present, but empty.

R9 - Pantry

A party of Mediums (B39) - four in number: apprentices led by a Conjuror (3rd level), who is seeking alchemical secrets. They are resting among some discarded iron implements in the hidden hall: having by chance discovered the secret way in from the hall. There is a 50% chance they have a key in their possession: rolling 1+1d3 to determine which door in the dungeon it will open.

The locked door to this room leading to R8 can be un-locked without a key from inside the room.

R10 - Laboratory

Tapestries hang on the north and south wall of the space - on the north side, obscuring the secret door. In the center of the room is an alchemical lab - antique, but looking used in the somewhat recent past. There is a 25% chance that a key has been left on the table: rolling 1+1d3 to determine which lock in the dungeon it will open.

Hall Hazards

H1 - Magnet Trap 

The floor and walls of this space harbor wide metallic strips. A character which passes through and wears ferrous armor or which carries a fair amount of ferrous gear - say, 100 coin weight worth - may activate a mechanism. A loud humming is heard and a powerful magnetic field causes the affected character to stick to the walls or ceiling. Doffing the gear or armor which has been attracted by the magnet is necessary to escape - and the effect will persist until the hazard is disarmed via the lever in room R2.

H2 - Foreshadowed Blade

The corpse of an adventurer - Dwarfish - is hunched against the wall in a pool of blood. He carries some basic equipment alongside 800 silver pieces. He had fallen victim to a hidden swinging pendulum trap - which any character moving through the space at this point (or interacting with his corpse) may likewise trigger. The trap rolls to hit with a THAC0 of 18 and deals 1d8 damage on hit.

H3 - Tree on the Dais

A circular pedestal - 15 feet across - takes up most of the space of this junction. In the center is the likeness of a dead tree, sculpted from shale, with branches disappearing into a circle inlaid in the ceiling, mirroring the dais on the floor. There is a hollow in the tree, inside which a red gemstone can be seen. If one grasps the gemstone, it cannot be removed, but will rotate: which will cause the platform on which the tree sits. Based on the direction the gem is oriented - north, south, east, west, and the non-cardinal directions between - stone walls rise and fall, changing access points in the dungeon. These are labeled A, B, C, and D and marked by dotted lines on the map.

Walls are retracted and thus passable or closed and thus impassable as follows, based on the tree-gem's orientation.

The referee is encouraged to roll 1d8 randomly to determine the initial angle of the tree.

H4 - Pit Trap

Here can be found a pit trap with spikes. A character which falls into the pit suffers 1d6 damage from the fall plus a further 1d6 damage from the spikes.

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