[Dungeon] Delver's Delight, Level 1 - a very dungeony dungeon adventure!

I made a dungeon module. It's very "dungeony", it doesn't have much logic or reason behind it, but it has fun rooms, traps, treasure and monsterrrrs. Stocked with OSRIC/AD&D.

Update, Oct. 8, 2023: NOW WITH TWO LEVELS!

GRAB IT HERE!

Have fun!

7 more carousing mishaps/events in the jungle

A follow-up to the first 1d6! Our Isle of Dread campaign is about to end soon, but we cannot end without a big reckless carousing session, so we need MOAR weird stuff. So I put on some tacky exotica music (courtesy of Soma FM), got some inspiration from TVTropes, and came up with seven more entries. Yeah, that's a d13... But we play online, so that doesn't really matter...

1. A handsome young fellow/lass clad in a leopard-skin loincloth/bikini teaches you how to swing effectively on vines. You get a +2 on rolls of this type from now on. But deep down you are also hopelessly in love with the mysterious jungle boy/girl.
2. You are bitten by something slithering and nasty. Save against Poison or suffer an effect until the end of the next session. Roll d4 – 1: double vision, -2 on ranged attacks, 2: muscle cramps, -2 on all attacks, 3: fatigue, encumbrance counts as one level worse, 4: you become immune to all poisons for the duration!
3. A highly intelligent but hapless explorer/scientist falls into quicksand! If you rescue them, they follow you around for a session, providing helpful insight, according to their field of expertise. Which is a 5-in-6 in a random skill, roll d4 – 1: Architecture, 2: Bushcraft, 3: Languages, 4: Explosives.
4. You step into a clever little snare. Take d6 damage, save against Paralysis for half. If you succeed on your save with a roll of 16 or more, you learn how to craft such snares! It takes 10 minutes, some rope and some sticks to set up one.
5. Drums! Drums in the night! Check Languages to see if you can decipher and learn the rhythmic code.
6. That cactus juice really packs a punch! Once during the session, you can question the very nature of reality and, like, walk through a solid wall or something. Afterwards, save against Poison or fall unconscious for an hour.
7. You find a large gold nugget, reach for it, only to realize that it’s inside a giant Venus flytrap! Save against Paralyze: on success, you retrieve the nugget (worth d6 x 100 sp), on failure, you lose your arm.

To be continued?..

1d10 pirate rumors and superstitions

For weird nautical and pirate campaigns!

1. The blood of a sea serpent can be used to create an infallible compass.
2. Commander Noland’s treasure is buried under the breeding ground of the man-eating crabs.
3. In calm weather on midsummer day, the reflection of your ship is real and you can climb over there to find all the treasure that was stolen from you.
4. Captain Kate “Ruthless” Hawk ascended to the night sky and became a patron saint. Pray to her every day, and she shall send down a mist to cover your escape route.
5. Patch up your sails with captured flags and ride the winds twice as fast.
6. The old pirate king is still alive, imprisoned in the Imperial fortress! The new pirate king is illegitimate!
7. Some shanties are nasty enough to dislodge nails from wood.
8. Every ghost ship has a heart. Steal it to claim command over the vessel!
9. The pearl divers of Taboo Island can talk to fish.
10. You can capture thunder in a brass bell. But beware, you can only keep it imprisoned for a week!

1d6 carousing mishaps/random happenings in the jungle

Wrote these for our Isle of Dread game.

1. Stumbling through the jungle, you fall into a spike pit. Seriously, who digs all these? Some people are just mean. Take d8 damage, save against Paralysis for half.
2. You are finally invited to the cool kids’ party. Turns out, the cool kids are necromancer cannibals. They are about to do a sick ritual. Peer pressure is strong. If you agree to cut off one of your fingers and eat somebody else’s, you gain the ability to cast a random spell (of levels 1, 2 or 3) once per day.
3. You find a cannibal recipe book. Don’t ask what the parchment is made of. A day of studying the book teaches how to extract the double amount of rations from a human body.
4. You find a valuable golden idol. However, a handsome fellow in a hat holds you at gunpoint and takes away the idol, saying that it “belongs in a museum”. At least you steal his whip from him.
5. A giant ape takes fancy to you. The next time when an attack would kill you or knock you out, the ape swoops in and takes the damage instead. After this, it loses interest in you.
6. A giant flying creature picks you up and takes you to its nest. After some struggles, you escape, with (d6): 1-3 a lot of scratches, d3 damage, 4 an unhatched egg, 5 a bunch of shiny colorful feathers, 6 a gem worth 100 sp.

[Dungeon] Oracle of the Laughing Prophet - a small OSR location

I ran my procedurally-generated science fantasy hexcrawl over the weekend. The party happened upon a cave in a jungle hex, surrounded by psychic echoes, so we took a small break and I came up with a dungeon. Now I'm sharing it with y'all.

So if you need a small 6-room lair to put down in your hexcrawl, feel free to use this! It has a mad prophet and a Green Dragon in it...

Download PDF!

Anecdote: we had a near-TPK (3 dead, 1 unconscious), because they made too much noise and the Dragon woke up... So the group continued the game playing as the Deep Ones, and eventually managed to leave with the loot!

 

[Solo] The Magnificent Adventuring Circus, Session 5: The Wolfman’s Turn

Introduction and links to other sessions can be found here.

The cast of characters:

• Julia Maxima, the Bearded Lady (Dwarf Cleric 1). Stern leader and cook of the circus.
• Pointy Kid, the Knife Thrower (Halfling Thief 1). Sly acrobat with a pipeweed addiction.
• Callisto, Master of Illusions (Human Magic-User 1). Archmage of the Highest Order, Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge. Obviously, he has a creepy ventriloquist dummy.
• Sheila, the Odalisque (Elf Fighter/Magic-User 1). Exotic dancer and all-around cool girl. She won’t agree to be sawn into two halves.

Day 6 [travel from 3508 to 3408 (barren hills on west bank, lightly forested hills on east bank), weather worsening, no random encounter]

The terrain on the east bank of the river becomes less rugged, more of a hill than a mountain. The weather, however, becomes worse: the first cold of Mid-Winter sets in. The first snowflakes also appear – early scouts of the oncoming storms and impassable roads. So, the Circus tries to pick up speed.

They get their hopes up when they see the outlines of buildings in the distance at the bend of the river – but as they get closer, they notice, that there is no smoke rising from the chimneys. It is just the ruins and remains of an abandoned hamlet, half a dozen empty, dilapidated buildings. Most are beyond repair. Some might be restored to livable conditions.

The deserted place gives everybody the creeps. It’s that uncanny feeling, when a place that should be “lived in” instead stands empty. “I feel like we are being observed,” shudders Callisto, and glances backwards, but can’t see anybody. The party decides to not search the buildings, and instead roll on towards a hopefully populated settlement.

+ [travel from 3408 to 3509 (barren hills on west bank, densely forested plains on east bank), weather worsening, random encounter: the Lycanthropes, party not surprised, creatures surprised)

The terrain on the east bank evens out, but the forest gets thicker. The snowfall intensifies. The branches of ancient trees look like skeletal arms outstretched against the gray, clouded sky.

Pointy Kid drives the wagon. Griswold volunteered to be on watch – which means sitting on top of the wagon – not the most pleasant position in the winter. The others huddle in relative “comfort” inside the cabin.

“I tell you, I don’t like this Griswold fella,” Callisto grumbles. “His words are pleasant, but his eyes are just not right. I recognize this type… He is a liar and a con-man, that’s what he is.”

“Birds of a feather, aye?” Julia pokes him in the side.

“First of all, I’m not a con-man, I’m a con-artist, and a master of illusions, not a liar. But yes, I’ve seen people like him before. I bet that tale about his traveling companions getting killed by monsters is a great big lie. They are either following us, or, hell, for what we know, he killed them himself and will do the same to us! And why did he volunteer for watch duty?! In this damn cold?”

“All right, all right, I’ll check on him, just stop nagging me!” Julia Maxima gives in.

A little trapdoor built into the ceiling leads to the top of the wagon, the “sentry post”. Julia Maxima climbs up the ladder, and emerges from the hatch, but not completely yet. She looks around.

Griswold kneels on the roof of the wagon, with his back to the trapdoor. And he is… waving? Gesturing? Signaling to somebody in the distance behind the wagon! Julia Maxima barely makes out three figures trotting after the wagon. Three dark figures… Wolves? WOLVES!

Julia drops back into the wagon and secures the trapdoor below.

“You were right, Callisto. I’m sorry. To arms, everybody! There’s a pack of…”

Her words are interrupted by a blood-curdling howl from above --- which is answered by a choir from the distance.

“…wolves. Or something worse,” Julia Maxima finishes the sentence and starts donning her chain shirt.

There’s another howl, and the sound of claws scraping against the roof of the wagon.

“POINTY! Pointy, look out! Behind you!” Sheila screams, hoping that her voice will penetrate through the wall of the wagon.

Pointy Kid turns around just in time to gaze into the gaping maw of a gigantic wolf perched behind him over the driver’s box… Instinctively, he hits it with his only weapon at hand – the whip! The leather strap would scare any other creature – but this monstrosity doesn’t even flinch – and it lunges forward – and misses! The sudden movement brings the creature dangerously close the edge, but it stays on top of the wagon. Pointy throws the reins and stands up to face the monster. Bamboo the horse needs no urging by this point, as she feels the horrible smell of the werewolf. She strains to go as fast as possible.

Meanwhile, below in the wagon Julia Maxima is still struggling with her chain shirt. Sheila grabs her scimitar. “I cannot let Pointy fight that… thing… all alone!” She opens up the back window of the wagon, crawls out, and pulls herself up onto the top. As a trained dancer, she manages this little acrobatic feat alright… But she also sees that the three wolves are gaining. Callisto watches in horror at the pursuers and tries to come up with a clever idea.

Up top, the monstrous wolf prepares for another attack. But first, Pointy Kid lashes out with the whip once more – this time he tries to hook it around the creature’s leg, but only causes some mild annoyance. Luckily, he doesn’t lose his balance. Griswold (or rather, “Griswolf”…) charges again – but Pointy Kid sidesteps, and the wolf jumps straight off the carriage!!

Callisto tries to use his only trick, and “throws” his voice, towards the approaching wolves. On a hunch, he imitates Griswold’s monotone speech: “Fall back! This prey is no good!” And, to the Grand Illusionist’s great surprise… the trick works! At least, the three pursuing wolves stop and look around in confusion.

Sheila and Pointy look below and try to find the wolf.

At the same time, Griswolf “resurfaces” from under the speeding wagon and snarls at Callisto (who is still standing at the open back window). And then the monster jumps, tries to latch onto the vehicle – his vicious claws miss the window just by a couple of inches.

Pointy climbs back into the driver’s box and takes up the reins. Sheila stays on top of the wagon to see how things unfold.

Griswolf snarls angrily, shakes himself – and turns back into a person! “You haven’t seen the last of us, carnies!!” he shouts after the wagon, then, butt naked, runs off into the snow-covered forest to find his pack.

Julia Maxima finally finishes putting on her chainmail. “I’m never taking this off again,” she says.

The wagon speeds on, pulled by the panicking Bamboo, in an unknown direction…

Cool Michael Stroganoff wolf encounter diorama by Taipeh

Dirt simple 2d6 weather roll

Here's a short entry for this month's Blog Carnival: Terrain, Seasons, Weather!

By now using Reaction rolls to adjudicate, umm, everything and anything, has become an OSR staple, and I'm here for it! I think I first stumbled upon this idea over at Talysman's The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms blog. Since then, this little table has been on my DM screen/binder. 

	Weather
2	Worst possible, anomalous, no travel
3-5	Very bad, travel speed halved
6-8	Normal for season, regular travel
9-11	Advantageous, bonus travel speed
12	The best possible, bonus travel speed and morale

I like it, because it gives me a baseline, from which I can improv the actual conditions. If I'm stuck, I use the old "Dolmenwood Hex Crawl Procedure" document (no longer available on Gavin's blog, but pdf's hosted in other places are still around), which has a very nice 4xd8 table of possible seasonal weather types.

Giorgione, you rock.

[Solo] The Magnificent Adventuring Circus, Session 4: Carnies in the Mist

 Introduction and links to other sessions can be found here.

The cast of characters:

• Julia Maxima, the Bearded Lady (Dwarf Cleric 1). Stern leader and cook of the circus.
• Pointy Kid, the Knife Thrower (Halfling Thief 1). Sly acrobat with a pipeweed addiction.
• Callisto, Master of Illusions (Human Magic-User 1). Archmage of the Highest Order, Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge. Obviously, he has a creepy ventriloquist dummy.
• Sheila, the Odalisque (Elf Fighter/Magic-User 1). Exotic dancer and all-around cool girl. She won’t agree to be sawn into two halves.

Day 4 – continued [camping in 3507 (river flowing from north-east to south-west, swamp on northern half, barren mountain on southern half), weather worsening, random encounter: Lycanthrope: Werewolf, party not surprised, creature not surprised]

Cold Fore-Winter rains make the life of the Circus worse. Pointy Kid is on lookout duty, Callisto cooks, Sheila and Julia Maxima work on the broken wheel. The party has the tools and some spare materials, but lack the expertise. It quickly becomes obvious, that even if they manage to finish the work today, they have to camp here in the wilderness.

Dusk sets in. The wagon is complete, but it’s too late to move. The troupe huddles around the fire.

“Somebody’s coming!” Pointy Kid points towards the rocky slope of the mountain.

“Greetings,” the approaching person waves from a distance. “Can a weary and unfortunate traveler warm himself by your campfire?”

The characters exchange a couple of words, then invite the stranger over, as it has been the way of Circus-folks for centuries. Only Callisto eyes the stranger with some slight suspicion.

He is a middle-aged fellow, with greying unruly hair, torn dirty clothes, a sword on his belt and just a small bundle of stuff. “My name is Abil Griswold,” he introduces himself. “I was traveling with three companions through the mountains, but we were ambushed by monsters – I was the only one to get away.” He speaks in a monotone voice. Grieving his companions, Sheila thinks.

“Where are you headed?”

“To Tabriz first, then Turachow,” Griswold explains.

“Come travel with us, it would be safer. Of course, you’ll be expected to contribute something to the performance or the running of the circus – that’s the Circus custom – do you have any talents?” Julia Maxima asks.

“I might have a couple of tricks up my sleeve,” says Griswold, and for the first time his voice becomes lively. He even smiles a little. “I can imitate the sounds of wild animals. Children love it,” he says, and does a pretty good growling dog impression.

“We could use that as the sound of the troll, too, what do you think, Sheila? Maybe in Tabriz, he can play the monster instead of you,” Julia Maxima offers.

“Yes, I guess I could become a monster,” Griswold nods. “But let us rest now…”

Watches are set – the night passes uneventfully.

Day 5 [travel from 3507 to 3407 (river makes a bend, barren mountain on east bank, lightly forested hills on the west bank), weather neutral, no random encounter]

In the morning, a light mist blankets the area. Callisto is almost sure that he spies a couple of shadowy figures in the mist… But perhaps that’s just his imagination running wild, or a bit of contact high from Pointy Kid’s morning pipeweed.

The Circus (with new temporary member Abil Griswold) continues its journey along the river. The swamp on the other bank ends and the river now runs in a valley between lightly forested hills and mountains.

The wheel holds – although one particular bump gives the whole party a scare – but nothing scary happens. Investigating, they find that they ran over a slab of stone, half-sunk in the ground: an ancient grave marker… Now this sends some chills down their spines, especially that the mist hasn’t lifted yet. The name is unreadable.

But these small things don’t hinder them much.

The river takes a strong bend towards the east, where more lightly forested mountains loom.

+ [travel from 3407 to 3508 (lightly forested mountain), weather worsens, no random encounter]

Further progress is hindered by cold rain. The troupe soldiers on. Just before darkness, they happen upon a cabin – built atop a tall tree! There are no lights in the windows, nor smoke from the chimney. Nobody answers their calls. So Pointy Kid throws up a grappling hook, then climbs up to the little platform at the cabin’s entrance. Knocks – no answer. He opens the door. A small living room: all furniture and implements cozy and halfling-sized, but covered by dust. There are books and scrolls, all of religious and philosophical content. Most of them are signed by a certain Glomol Glomolkan Glomolklari – the owner of the cabin. A little silver sea-shell is displayed in a prominent place: proof that the inhabitant of this cabin made the pilgrimage to the holy site of the Birth of the Goddess, far up to the north-east [5001]. Glomolklari must be a hermit. But where is he?

Pointy Kid doesn’t want to disturb the stuff of a hermit, so instead he just climbs down and reports to the others.

They park the wagon under the tree, and camp. Julia Maxima rations the food pretty strictly tonight: with an extra mouth to feed (Griswold lost his bag), the Circus is running low on supplies…

The night passes uneventfully.

To be continued!

Parallel Dungeons got a review + a cool new series of dungeon deep cuts

Parallel Dungeons, my dimension shifting adventure, got a small write-up by Rowan over at the Dododecahedron blog! He just started up a pretty cool little series called Dungeon Deep Cuts, where he reviews under-the-radar adventures. Sounds like a good way to learn about small, but interesting projects. He is also taking submissions, so, upcoming authors, take note!

[Dungeon] The Bleak Corridors - an OSR adventure

I made a dungeon today, in about 90 minutes. The Bleak Corridors: a 15-room factory complex with a dark Victorian/steampunk vibe.

Download here!

It includes a 2-page PDF with the room descriptions, the DM's map, and a players' map with the secrets and traps hidden for use in VTTs (the grid size is 70 px, the standard for Roll20).

There are stairs leading down to a deeper level - just erase those or use something else... Like the Bloodsoaked Gem Caverns!

Let me know what you think!