Dungeon ‘23 - Week 5

Another week done and more rooms ready for exploration. I started in January with what is technically the fourth level (bottom-to-top) since it’s one of the two ways to get into the dungeon and it probably does the best job of showing the themes and moods of the castle overall. Moving forward I’ll be designing each zone in roughly what I consider to be the most likely “exploration order” if the PCs were to sneak in through the caves beneath the castle.

That brings us to “Zone A - the Caves.” Intended to allow a secondary form of entrance by connecting the bottom layer of the castle to a local mineshaft or natural cave. Heck, it could even be connected to another dungeon by simply appearing “on top” of it and having the cave level breach a room on the edge of a barrow, tomb, or crypt.

One idea I’m really excited about with the caves is telling the story of the castle’s history through cave paintings made by the goblin tribe that lives below the ground. They worship Ossifrage as a god and as a show of reverence created a visual (if not somewhat abstract) history of the the castle. As the PCs explore the caves they’ll have the opportunity to learn about the castle without having to suffer through a long “info dump” from a self-important NPC.

A1 - The Entrance

• A mineshaft or natural cave has a barely noticeable fissure in the stone wall.

• Squeezing through is tight, but doable.

• On the other side is a cave room, roughly 20’ W x 25’ L with walls of lichen-covered stone and a dirt floor.

• Mushrooms grow from the rock and dirt with equal enthusiasm.

• A crude painting of a god-like creature wielding a staff and fire dominates the north-eastern wall.  Tiny handprints seemingly serve as “signatures.”

• A curtain of moss, or perhaps web or fungus, spans the narrow tunnel leading north further into the caves.

A2 - The Corpse Room

• A rough, stony room approximately 40’ W at its widest point and 40’ L.  Lichen and mushrooms cover the walls and floor.

• Three desiccated corpses wrapped in webbing hang from the ceiling while a fourth has fallen and lays on the ground.

• Closer inspection reveals they are goblins, or goblin-like.

• Each corpse has 1d4+1 gp in coins or random trinkets.

• A crude painting of a great flaming demon leading an army of fiery skeletons across the realm is on the northeast wall.  Similar style to previous room’s painting.

• Webbing too thick to tear down blocks the tunnel to the north.

A3 - The Spider’s Lair

• A stone room, this one without dirt on the floor, approximately 45’ W x 40’ L.  Lichen and web cover much of the stone.

• Mushrooms grow from a pile of some kind of organic matter in the northwest corner, with blue-capped fungus being the most prominent.

• An egg nest hangs from the western wall, squirming intensely as if about to burst.

• The eggs will hatch in 1d6 hours, filling the room with spiderlings. If the nest is damaged, some spiderlings will crawl out and try to escape into cracks and crevasses in the walls.

• A crude painting of the demon’s army attacking a castle spans the southeast wall.  Knights and a wizard defend the castle.

• A giant spider lurks in a crevasse in the northwest wall, ready to ambush anything that passes through its lair.

Giant Spider - STR 12, DEX 13, WIL 9 - HP 4

Bite (d6, poison), Exoskeleton (1)

- Tries to paralyze prey with its bite, then wrap them up to consume later.

- Skitters on walls and ceiling to avoid attacks.

- Won’t abandon its nest or its eggs.

Spiderlings - STR 7, DEX 9, WIL 4 - HP 1

Bite (d4, poison)

- Swarms prey with its kin, hoping to paralyze with its poison.

- Skitters on walls and ceiling to avoid attacks.

- Fears sources of light and/or heat. Avoids at all costs.

A4 - The Chasm

• Craggy ground, many stalactites and stalagmites.  Approximately 50’ W x 50’ L.

• A deep chasm splits the room, no visible bottom.

• A camp perhaps two or three days old can be found on the eastern side of the chasm.

• A journal detailing an expedition in the caves indicates the castle suddenly appeared.  Mentions goblins live in the cave and worship a god called “Ozzyfrag.”

• A week’s rations and miscellaneous gear can be found among the packs in the camp.

• A locked chest contains 200 gp in ancient coinage.

• The mushrooms in this chamber grow to be upwards of four or five feet in height.

• A skeleton covered in small mushrooms can be glimpsed between the mushroom to the west of the chasm.

• Clutches a spellbook and a silver dagger worth 300 gp.

• Retrieving the goods may result in touching fungi.  Save vs. poison.

• A cavern painting depicting a wizard or god standing against the demon while the rest of the army is dead around him.

A5 - The Pond

• Pebbly ground, interspersed by stalagmites. A pool dominates the eastern edge of the cave.  Approximately 60’ W x 50’ L.

• Pool is 20’ deep in places. A pile of glittering gold and gems worth 500 gp is at the bottom.

• A large cave eel lives in the pool and will attempt to devour any creature foolish enough to go for a swim.

• Goblin corpses wearing carapace armor and holding the broken remains of bone and stone weapons litter the room, the wounds on their body made by well-crafted weapons.

• The mushrooms have grown to the size of small trees.

• A painting on the northern wall depicts the wizard bringing the demon low and breaking his heart into four pieces.

Cave Eel - STR 9, DEX 10, WIL 10 - HP 4

Bite or Slam (d6), Thick Hide (1)

- Can hypnotize potential prey by blinking its bioluminescent lights. WIL save vs. stun.

- Tries to constrict creatures and crush them before swallowing whole.

- Slips between rocks and through small holes in the pool’s walls to avoid harm and ambush invaders.