Secluded Cloister

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Regarding doors:

•		A door marked with the letter S is Secret.
•		A door marked with the letter L is Locked.
•		A door marked with the letter J is Jammed (stuck) and must be forced open.

Suitable for inclusion as a side-level in dungeons of 1st level.

A – Entrance

The ceiling is high in this room – vaulted, such that the contour matches the odd pointedness of the space’s North and South extent. The floor is stone and has a stickiness to it – odorless.

The door to the South-East corner is trapped. It opens inwards, towards a character, and when opened, a grey, viscous material burbles out – bubbling and popping – prompting a Save vs Dragon’s Breath for any character within 20 feet. If the save fails – the failing character must then make item saves for any metallic articles they carry – excluding coins or precious metals – lest it rapidly oxidize and fall to the floor, useless.

A generous referee may allow items lost in such a manner to be repaired in town – costing half the value of a replacement.

B – Chapel

Four Acolytes (B30) chant in the company of an evil Village Priest (Cleric Lvl 3). Against the north wall, there is an angular shrine, in which can be found a dead bird. The priest is reading its entrails.

Along the East and West walls are engraved alcoves in a similar pattern to the shrine, albeit apparently for ornamentation rather than function – and against the South wall can be found a table with reagents and incense. The incense is worth 30 gold pieces, if collected, 500 silver pieces is contained in a lockbox under the table, and 1 ruby gemstone (valued at 100 gold pieces), is set atop the table beside.

C – Mosaic

An ornamental mosaic floor depicting a circle inlaid by many angular shapes is laid in the floor. In torchlight, the floor has an odd green-ish glow to it: harmless, and also of no particular use.

At interval are four alcoves, in which four skeletons stand at attention, spear in hand. The skeletons are long dead – not animate – and behind one of them, hidden with a false brick, is a pouch containing 100 silver pieces and an emerald worth 50 gold.

D – Pit and Bypass

A pit trap – which will always open if one or more characters is at least halfway across its 20’ length – is flanked by two secret doors. The pit is 30’ deep, causing 3d6 in falling damage to any character caught on it when it opens.

There is a 3-in-10 chance of a Crab Spider (B43) having taken residence at the base of the pit.

The hallway hidden by the secret doors has a deep burgundy rug along its length and smells vaguely pleasant. From within the non-trapped hall, the secret doors are obvious and easy to open.

E – Skull Shrine

A deep groove is cut in the floor at an angle, such that it is difficult to stand in the space. This comes to a T near the East edge of the room, where a human skull sits in the center. Along the walls are abstractly painted shapes depicting irregular, sharp edges.

If the skull is disturbed, a choking and burning gas emits from a nozzle underneath it: any characters caught in the room must Save vs Poison or die – although a generous referee may allow a bonus to the roll for characters closer to the door than to the trap. 

F – Bunk

Bunk beds capable of sleeping six are crammed into the Southern part of the room. On the Northern side is a desk – no chair – and supplies for writing. Three spell scrolls can be found: between which the Cleric spells Detect Magic, Protection from Evil (x2), and Cause Light Wounds can be read.

G – One Way Stair

A set of stairs leads upwards – atop which is a trapdoor. The trapdoor will, if climbed through, deposit the climber into the pit in section D, but will not re-open once the character is on the other side: the seam of the door being supernaturally flush and undetectable if viewed from section D.

H – Unfortunate Traveler

The body of a less fortunate adventurer is slumped in the corner – stinking with decay: unrecognizable. On its person, the corpse has some rudimentary equipment – a sword, leather armor, a helmet – and a backpack containing 1 potion of Water Breathing and 50 gold pieces.

Within 20 feet of the corpse – due to the smell – the chance of wandering monsters is doubled at each check. Whether this is twice as often or twice as likely when checked is at the discretion of the referee. 

I – Pendulum Trap

Hidden in the ceiling at this junction is a bladed pendulum which may trigger as characters walk beneath it. If triggered, the blade swings down, automatically resetting itself if not prevented from recessing into an opposite groove: rolling to hit with a THAC0 of 17 for 1d8 points of damage on hit. 

 

 

 

Public domain images retrieved from OldBookIllustrations.com and the National Gallery of Art and adapted for thematic use. Attribution in alt text.