MegaDungeon Crawl Classics 2: But Can I Play A Megadungeon With It?

For my money, Dungeon Crawl Classics is the best system out there for Sword & Sorcery type gaming.  But I want my game to take place in a persistent world, where player investment in each game session adds to a total lore that allows them to take control of the adventure and make it their own.  I want the players, not the judge, to dictate that they shall try to steal gold from ancient Opar, or take the gates to old Barsoom, or travel to Shadrizar the Wicked, or seek a lost spell in the ruins of Melniboné.

Ideally for me, a game should consist of three types of adventures:

1.  Persistent Locations:  Areas that the PCs can learn about and choose to adventure in as a matter of course.  This includes, of course, the exploration of the campaign milieu itself, and all manner of penetration in the the known and the unknown!

2.  Opportunities:  Things that happen at a particular time and offer a particular chance to adventure which can be taken or left, but which, if ignored, have consequences (even if those consequences are only that a particular opportunity is lost).  For example, a ship crashing into a reef has some opportunity for rescue/exploration, but if the PCs do not recover the cargo, other parties will.  Most of the published DCC adventures are of this nature.  

3.  Player-Initiated Quests:  The PCs require something, and go out seeking it.  This requires the ability to discover where the thing may lie, as well as the chance that it lies somewhere in the world to be discovered.  The DCC core rulebook gives strong reason to include this sort of material, from the Quest For It advice to the need for wizards and elves to seek out new spells, and the need for clerics to seek the means to appease their gods.  

The thing about Player-Initiated Quests is that they need to be tied into either a persistent location or an opportunity to adventure.  For example, a desired new spell may always be in the ruins of the Castle of the Dragon Kings, or it may be placed by the judge to "hook" players into pitting their Blades Against Death, but the thing that the player(s) seek must exist in the milieu, either all of the time, or as the result of special circumstances.  There is no point in telling the players they can seek out Stardock without placing Stardock in the campaign milieu, or placing some method to reach Nehwon in order to seek the mountain in its original continuum.

A megadungeon is not an area intended to be explored as the exclusive focus of a campaign milieu (or, at least, not necessarily) but rather a place where it is always possible to return.  I.e., it is large enough, and complex enough, that it cannot be "used up" in a single adventure.  There are many examples of megadungeons used in this way in Appendix N literature - from Moria in Lord of the Rings, to several complexes in the writings of Burroughs, Howard, Farmer, and Fox (among others), which are dipped into by their heroes for specific purposes, but never fully explored.  In some cases, heroes of these stories do later return to some ruined pile in other adventures, giving a clear idea of how such a location can be used.  Hell, there are even hints of megadungeons in Lovecraft.

Megadungeon play works very well with the Dungeon Crawl Classics ruleset.  This is true even if one uses a megadungeon that was initially designed for another system - I have gotten excellent mileage out of Greg Gillespie's Barrowmaze and Barrowmaze II, initially designed for Labyrinth Lord.  Versions of Moria designed for MERP and The Lord of the Rings RPG by Decipher are both easily adapted to DCC.

In the end, of course, the DCC-inspired megadungeon will reflect the DCC rules and design aesthetic, so that it might become the location of a number of quick forays over the course of a campaign, with lots of things to do, lots of places to see, and lots of secrets to uncover.  Even where a megadungeon is the centre around which the campaign milieu revolves, other areas to explore, other people and monsters to oppose, and other opportunities that arise will send the PCs after pirates for one or more sessions, hunting man-apes for several others, and so on, in addition to their forays into the Great Ruined Pile.

The more Appendix N fiction I read, the more I note that most Appendix N adventurers live in  worlds with multiple ruined cities and potential megadungeons, from the vast ruins in the swamp of the Palood to the hidden tunnels of the Worms of the Earth.  

And I find that good.

Very good indeed.

Dungeon Crawl Classics: Short Story or Novel?

One of the objections to the megadungeon concept in the Dungeon Crawl Classics role-playing game is that the source fiction of Appendix N is primarily short stories, and that the DCC rpg works best as a series of short stories in consequence.

Well, there is certainly some truth to the idea that many of the Appendix N authors wrote primarily short fiction, as they were writing for the pulps.  Robert E. Howard, for example, wrote primarily short stories.  There is only one Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon, and his planetary adventure novel, Almuric, seems to make up the list of Howard's longer fantasy.  Fritz Leiber, of course, wrote short stories that sometimes strung together into longer plots.  H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth were also primarily short story writers.  For Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath are notable exceptions.  The Lurker at the Threshold was completed by August Derleth from a Lovecraft fragment.

In the case of Manly Wade Wellman, Howard, Lord Dunsany, Lovecraft, or Derleth, one story may very well be disconnected from other stories, even in the same series.  It matters little what order Wellman's Hok the Mighty or John the Balladeer stories are read, for instance.  In other cases, such as the stories of Gardner Fox or Leiber, the order matters quite a bit, because the stories resolve into larger plots.  These are not so much short stories, but serialized novels.

(Manly Wade Wellman went on to write five "John the Balladeer" novels, of which I have managed to obtain The Old Gods Waken and After Dark, the first two.  When one compares that to the short stories, which can be collected in a single book, one has to wonder in this case whether it is fair to say Wellman is writing primarily short stories or novels with this character.)

If we examine Appendix N, 22 specific books are recommended and 13 specific series.  Of the 22 books, 20 are novels and 2 are collections of short stories.  Of the 13 series, 4 may be considered series of short stories, although I would argue that the listed series of Gardner Fox are novels that were published serially, and that the "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series by Fritz Leiber in places comes close to being the same.

The megadungeon model does not require that each session revolve around the megadungeon, but merely that it always be part of the background in the event that the players are looking for something to have their PCs do.  It is a convenient resource to allow the players to choose their own course - if they absolutely refuse to follow rumours and plot hooks to Hirot, they can choose to explore westward into the Great Ruins of Thereitis.

While many believe that the megadungeon was invented by J.R.R.T.'s vast ruins of Moria, or the halls of Thror under the Lonely Mountain, one can discover vast underground tunnels and ruins in the writing of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Gardner Fox, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Margaret St. Clair.  Vast ruins (including underground ruins of many levels) also feature in Sterling Lanier's Hiero's Journey.

Like it or not, the vast ruin, and the network of underground tunnels, are as Appendix N as any other aspect of gaming.  Likewise, novels are at least as influential as short stories in Appendix N fiction.  As a consequence, the megadungeon is an apt fixture in many (but not all) Dungeon Crawl Classics campaigns.  It provides a place for the PCs to explore, it allows the players to make meaningful decisions about what quests to undertake, and it gives the judge a place to locate lost civilizations, forbidden magic, and all of that goodness that puts the "dungeon crawl" into "Dungeon Crawl Classics".

MegaDungeon Crawl Classics 1: First Salvo

Having determined to create a persistent megadungeon setting for Dungeon Crawl Classics (for use in public area games, and perhaps for later publication if there is interest), I have begun to envision exactly what it is that I want.

First off, because this work is to support DCC, I want it to have a strong Appendix N flavour.  To that end, I randomly determined three Appendix N authors to use as “strong influences” on each main level of the dungeon.  I did this for six dungeon levels and three “upper works” levels.  At this point, I had no idea what these levels would represent.

A Sense of Scale

One thing I noticed pretty quickly is that every dungeon area would have a real sense of scale.  Creeping around in narrow rooms and tunnels does occur in Appendix N fiction, of course, but vast expanses – even vast underground expanses – are also pretty common.  So, many regions should include some impressively large areas.  For instance, it became clear that one area would have thermal vents that created a hothouse jungle environment, and that it should probably have some form of “sun” to that it is always lit – even if only from the reflections of deep earth lights upon the high cavern ceiling.

When viewed in this way, it becomes clear that a dungeon “level” is going to be a complex three-dimensional area which may contain many smaller levels or sublevels.  Some of these might exhibit strong influences of other Appendix N authors, so that an area which is similar to the Africa of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard might also contain a temple not unlike those that Leigh Brackett placed in her planetary romances.

Connectivity

In any OSR megadungeon, connectivity is important, because it is desirable that players can choose their level of challenge.  In a DCC megadungeon, I find that this is even more true.  The gonzo nature of DCC encourages players to take risks, and the play structure must do the same.  Also, as each area will have its distinct features, the players gain an ability to “choose their own adventure”, whether facing the ape-men and dinosaurs of the hothouse level, or seeking lost knowledge among the courts of the shadow elves.

Both obvious and hidden connectivity must exist, and discovering hidden connectivity must be a reward unto itself….it must confer an advantage upon the PCs who discover it.

Cool Monsters

Creating some “standard monsters” for each area is desirable, and is probably necessary to run a large and complex area.  However, these monsters should be non-standard creatures, for the most part, created to match the needs of the dungeon area.  In this way, learning about the inhabitants is a benefit to the players, and is a bonus for long-term play. 

Nonetheless, each area also need cool and unique monsters and NPCs that are one-of-a-kind, and these need not always be adversaries.  Or, rather, some may be potential allies and potential adversaries, based upon circumstances.  La of Opar, in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan novels comes immediately to mind. 

NPCs must exist which can become allies, adversaries, love interests, mortal patrons, and rivals. 

Quest For It

Sometimes, the players will just want to kick in a few doors, kill a few monsters, and take their stuff.  This sort of play must be supported.  But Dungeon Crawl Classics is a game built to allow players to “quest for” extras, and there must be cool things in the dungeon that can be objects of those quests.  Not only are there unique objects to be found, and unique patrons for wizards and elves, but there are places where spells may be learned, martial training may occur, stats can be boosted, corruption can be undone, and so on.  Even a Fountain of Youth might be of value if some of the characters are elderly.

Not every treasure in DCC comes in the form of gold and gems.  In fact, the most valuable treasures do not. 

A Unifying Force

Finally, because of all the gonzo directions in which such a dungeon can go, there must be a unifying force or conflict that affects most, if not all, of the dungeon areas.  This conflict or force should exist on a grand scale, so that it cannot be resolved in a few sessions of play.  Best of all are conflicts that cannot be resolved outside of years of play, and that resolution should change the nature of the region forever – perhaps even destroy it.  Read Michael Moorcock, A. Merritt, Poul Anderson, and Fred Saberhagen for ideas regarding overarching conflicts, and how resolving them can change everything.

Nonetheless, players should be given plenty of opportunities to have their characters meddle early on, and their meddling should have consequences, both for them and for the environment.  A unifying force or conflict creates the unity that makes the megadungeon more than just a random collection of sites.  Being able to take sides, and to influence that conflict, makes the game meaningful and fun.

More later.

Megadungeon Crawl Classics 3: Levels are Areas

Examining the possibility of doing a megadungeon for Dungeon Crawl Classics, it becomes obvious to me that each “level” should instead be viewed as an “area” that may, in fact, contain many traditional “levels” – as well as buildings, villages, or whatever is needed to make the area work.  Each “level”, in this sense, is not going to simply be a relatively flat area on a sheet of graph paper, but instead be a three-dimensional area which may take up several sheets.

Not only this, but there will be little or no “boxed text” or area descriptions in the traditional sense, as most parts the area will be in constant flux throughout the process of exploration/adventuring.  In some ways, exploration of a DCC megadungeon is similar to a hexcrawl…you will encounter peoples, make enemies, make friends, and find interesting areas to explore within the overarching structure.

For example, the megadungeon that I am planning has a first level/area randomly determined to be based largely off the work of Mr. Edgar Rice Burroughs.  This suggests many possibilities, from the jungles of Tarzan’s Africa, the dry steppes of Barsoom, and the fierce beings of cloud-shrouded Amtor.  Burroughs was also quite fond of “Lost World” tales, as with his stories of Pellucidar and Caspek.

With this in mind, I can see the entrance area to the megadungeon belonging to some form of mist-shrouded tropical jungle, a Lost World of prehistoric creatures and peoples, with the remains of some fantastic civilization and alien monsters.  The temple of La in Opar is a good founding idea for one part of this region, because of its strong potential for intrigue, action, and treasure.

In addition, it is desirable to have more than one village of cavemen.  Indeed, we should strongly consider three types, with a sliding scale of development from cannibalistic brutes to relatively modern people.  These need not be fully “human” in the earthly sense – we can colour-code these people if we so desire, as Burroughs does his Barsoomians.  Let us say that the mostly-extinct ancients were golden, the closest to modern people red, the next most advanced green, and the least advanced also golden (they are the descendants of the ancients). 

Some or all of these people can be advanced enough to potentially supply 0-level characters for funnel play, once the players have encountered them and learned enough about them to make such play work.  Beware giving away the secrets of an area to let the players choose people from that area!  But, likewise, once the area is explored and the people known, don’t be afraid to make best use of them by letting the players try their hand at playing a green man of the Lost World!

We will want to have some of the alien types that Burroughs uses on Barsoom, Amtor, the moon, Pellucidar, Caspek, and Jupiter.  I will select two reptilian types – serpent/lizard men as well as telepathic pterosaur-folk akin to the Mahars of Pellucidar – and a race similar to the Skeleton Men of Jupiter.  Using the Skeleton Men as a seed idea also allows us to consider the ghouls of Fritz Leiber.   Perhaps our creatures will be an amalgamation of the two?

As you can see, even without including actual “monsters” (and local animals), we already require quite a bit of work to get this “dungeon level” ready for play.  Nonetheless, it should also be quite easy to gain a minimum 2 hours play value for every hour spend devising the setting.

Let us next examine what other “levels” will connect to this area:

(1) Level 2, which is a combination of Robert E. Howard’s Conan and Solomon Kane stories, mixed with the Harold Shea stories of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt.

(2) Level 3, which is intended to be influenced by Lin Carter, August Derleth, and Lord Dunsany.

(3) Level 5, which is intended to be influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien, Sterling Lanier’s Paloud swamp from Hiero’s Journey, and Edgar Rice Burroughs once more.

Let us also assume that level 1 will link to sublevels that take their influences from Andre Norton, Manly Wade Wellman, Clark Ashton Smith, and Philip Jose Farmer.  Part of the creation process is determining what these influences are, and how they will be used.  Then, if the level/sublevel connections exist, we must also decide how those influences leave a footprint on the first level area.  These footprints are important hints that connections exist, and also allow the judge to foreshadow the themes of the new megadungeon area.

Toronto Crawl Classics

I have started a new blog as a home for my open Dungeon Crawl Classics game that will be starting next January. This will contain rules, characters, maps....anything that players in the game should be aware of. You can find it here.

If you are in the Toronto area and feel like playing, there will be neither cost nor commitment required. Those who show up are the party that night. Either they get to a rest stop by the end of the night's gaming, or they get to roll on some tables I will be devising to determine what happens between the curtain of one gaming session and when their characters are seen next. Basically, unless otherwise arranged, one adventurous outing = one session.



What will this game entail?

• A sandbox setting (the ruins of Toronto, which effectively contains villages, dungeons, a megadungeon or two, and wilderness areas).

• Several funnel adventures to allow PCs to be readied for the game.

• A large, known, complex for the ease of play. If you have nothing better to do, you can always attempt to raid the Dark Paths. Simply exploring Ruined Toronto is hazardous...but rewarding.

• Points of familiarity for those familiar with the Greater Toronto Area.

• Hiring Board...You can take a job, go exploring, or set your own agenda.

Who can play?

Anyone who wants to. 

Players may have multiple active PCs. On any given game night (outside the funnel), each player may choose one of his or her active PCs, if that PC is available (i.e., the PC is not off on another quest, recuperating, a prisoner, etc).

Disruptive players can be banned, but let's hope that never happens. In character Player vs. Player action is fine; out of character PVP is not. 

What do you need?

Dice.

Stuff to write on.

Any DCC material you might have will come in handy, but it isn't really needed. No published materials will be used without serious modifications, so you can own every DCC adventure available if you like. It makes no difference to me.

Toronto Crawl Classics is obviously influenced by the wonderful work of the DCC community....in particular, Crawling Under a Broken Moon and Crawljammer. Buy all the issues if you want. Read them. They may help you. They may not. At least they will be entertaining.

When will this start?

I am shooting for January 2016, although the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.

What can I do to help?

I am trying to find a public venue, preferably not too far from the Annex, to run public games in. Any help here would be great!

Fantasy Heartbreakers & What I'm Working On

Dausuul's Fantasy Game (aptly entitled "Heartbreaker") was announced, and is available for free download here:  http://www.mediafire.com/?2cm04w2ehh9m6ie

If you are interested in Raven Crowking's Fantasy Game, the compiled system-as-it-stands can be downloaded here:  http://www.mediafire.com/?om36l1vc23p7f6d – be aware that the OGL may need to be updated, as there is material that I have added since work on that section.

I have been working on RCFG for what seems like a very long time now, as some of you may be aware.  I have also recently been working on the first persistent campaign setting for RCFG, working on the megadungeon known as the Dungeon of Thule.  I am going to post two encounter areas below, but if you have any intention of playing in this game (online or offline), I would advise you to skip the following.

I am also still eagerly awaiting Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, which, if all goes well, I should have the pre-release pdf of this week or next.  No word on the exact date is yet forthcoming…..I’ll be reviewing the game here.

2.  Hall of the Skull Cairn:  The passage leads into a room, some 30 feet north-to-south and perhaps 50 feet east-to-west, with an archway indicating a passage in the centre of each wall.  The room is dusty, with scraps of bone, rags, and similar debris scattered along the walls and corners.  About 10 feet in front of the western archway is a cairn of heaped skulls – humanoid and animal – that reaches to a height of about 3 feet.  The room is barrel-vaulted to a height of about 15 feet.

The cairn was a territorial marker for the Skull Heap goblins, which inhabited this section of the dungeon long ago.  The skulls are mostly those of goblins, dire rats, and the like, although a few are very small humanoid skulls (from mites), and there are one or two human skulls as well.  The skulls are ancient – most have been here for decades or centuries.  If the cairn is disturbed in any way, it will be reformed 1d6 days later, when no one is about, by the goblin spirits who still inhabit this area. 

If, however, the skulls are destroyed or taken away, the goblin spirits become angry, and 1d6 days later creatures passing anywhere in Areas 2 to 40 will begin to hear the almost inaudible muttering of goblin voices, which will grow louder over the next 1d6 weeks.  Eventually, the first goblin spirit incorporates and places the first fresh skull (a fully intact head, use the Wandering Monster chart to see what type) to build a new cairn.  Thereafter, groups of 2d6 goblin spirits will be encountered as Wandering Monsters (1 in 6 chance; if not, use the normal chart), working at severing heads until the cairn is rebuilt.  This will continue until all cairns (Areas 2, 41, and 85) are restored, the undead goblin witch doctor in Area 29 is destroyed, or the goblin spirits are exorcised or slain.  There is a potential pool of 123 goblin spirits.

During this period, the whole area becomes attuned to the Necromantic spell source, at first faintly, and then strongly.  When the muttering is heard, spells cast from the Necromantic spell source are cast at +1 Caster Level.  When the goblin spirits are able to manifest, these spells are cast at +2 Caster Levels, and can be cast using the ambient necromantic energy (not using the sorcerer’s spell slots).  These effects end when the cairns are rebuilt, or when the undead are otherwise removed.

Goblin Spirit (Small Undead):  Mv 20 ft.; AC 14; Init +2; HD 1d6; Att 1 short sword (1d6); SA None; SD Semi-corporeal (can turn incorporeal to flee or manifest to start encounter), silver or magic weapons to hit; SQ darkvision 60 ft., powerless in daylight; SV (Fort –2, Perc +0, Prow –2, Reas –1, Refl +2, Will +0); ML 10; XP 18 + 1/hp.  Skills:  Intimidate +4, Stealth +10, Theft +4.

123 goblin spirits:  Hp:  2, 6, 1, 5, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 2; 3, 6, 3, 2, 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 4; 5, 6, 1, 2, 4, 1, 6, 6, 4, 4; 6, 5, 3, 2, 5, 4, 3, 4, 4, 1; 4, 5, 2, 6, 6, 6, 3, 6, 4, 5; 6, 5, 3, 2, 5, 4, 3, 4, 4, 1; 5, 2, 5, 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 5, 2; 2, 5, 2, 6, 6, 3, 3, 1, 3, 5; 3, 2, 3, 1, 6, 1, 6, 5, 1, 5; 5, 4, 1, 1, 6, 6, 2, 6, 2, 4;  5, 1, 5, 3, 3, 6, 1, 1, 4, 3; 2, 1, 1, 5, 6, 1, 2, 5, 6, 3; 6, 4, 5.

51.  Temple of Osiris:  Inner Fane:  Mildly attuned to Celestial (+1 CL) and Eldritch Horror (+2 CL) Spell Sources.

This area is 15 feet high, the ceiling upheld by thick pillars that march in three rows, along the walls and along the centre of the area.  These pillars were carved as though they were living trees, but they seem twisted and fungal somehow.  Thick webs are strewn between the pillars, along the walls, in the corners, and along the ceiling.  The walls appear to be tiled with green, blue, and yellow tiles, but some sheen of iridescent colours seems to be growing across it, like a thin layer of slime.

The walls are cool and slimy to the touch.  Any creature touching the slime begins to glow softly at night with a strange, iridescent hue, after 1d6 days.  At this time, the character must attempt a Fort or Will save (DC 20).  If the save succeeds, the glow fades over the course of another 1d6 days.  Otherwise, the glow is permanent, and the character suffers a random mutation that manifests during the next 2d12 days, with a +20 on the roll.  Repeated exposure causes repeated effects, and each repeat causes the roll to be made at an additional +5.  If the slime is actually tasted, the roll has an additional +10, and there is no save.  If taken from here, the slime dwindles and disappears over the course of 1d8 hours.

Because of the webs (which do not burn), movement here is at half speed, and creatures cannot run or charge.

Within this area lurk eight spiders of Leng, man-sized spiders that can pretend to be human by wearing yellow robes that conceal their features, with four legs acting like “legs” and four acting as “arms”, each “arm” or “leg” being in fact two legs.  They can speak with thin reedy voices, and know all languages.  Indeed, these spiders are fed information from the Akashic record, and have Knowledge +20 in all things.  They also, therefore, know specific things about characters, their families, their fears, their hopes, and their weaknesses.  They claim to be temple priests of Yog Sutehkis, and will answer many questions and promise many things to avoid allow characters near Area 52.  When not pretending to be human, they can climb in this area at full speed.

Spider of Leng (Medium Aberration [Eldritch Horror]):  Mv 30 ft, Climb 20 ft; AC 15; Init +4; HD 4d8+4; hp 20, 18, 20, 12, 29, 20, 15, 24; Att 1 bite (1d6); SA poison (Fort DC 20, 2d6 damage for 2d6 rounds), webs (entangle DC 25); SQ darkvision 60 ft.; SV (Fort +4, Perc +12, Prow +4, Reas +12, Refl +8, Will +12); ML 9; XP 235 +1/hp (255, 253, 255, 247, 264, 255, 250, 259).  Skills:  Climb +10, Knowledge (All) +20, Stealth +10.

Ghoul Friend

In the comments to the last post, Wyatt Allworthy wrote:

Something only tangentially related to undead causing plagues that I wondered if you had any experience making work as a ref. I don’t know how it’s done in DCC, but in A/D&D you had the situation of undead like Ghouls with a paralytic touch, or Wights, etc that drained levels. These creatures could be encountered even by low level characters, in confined crypt like places, where they might have no exits to evade them. A ghoul had a speed of 9” and characters loaded down plate armor, let alone equipment and loot would be limited to a speed of 6”, as the speed of the slower members. How can a party survive something that paralyzes its lead members just by a touch, which they will almost assuredly fail their saving rolls to fight it? Only a tiny number of these ghouls would overwhelm a low level party, almost assuredly, every time they were encountered.

I know that back in the day, parties had larger numbers of players and possibly lots of hirelings and henchmen, is that the way to manage it, or is there some way to make a 6-man special forces style team of adventurers competent to handle paralytic touch undead (let alone level draining undead).

Thanks for any insights on this one, it’s a puzzle for me.

First off, low-level characters are unlikely to be loaded down with plate armour in any game that I am running.  That’s simply a matter of expenditure – plate armour is expensive, and there is not enough “spare” cash for this particular expenditure.  Loaded down with loot is a lot easier – in a question of “keep your loot or keep your life”, smart players choose to drop the loot.

I like ghouls, and I do use them at low levels.  I have been throwing ghouls at 1^st level PCs ever since reading the evocative play description in the 1^st Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide.  As a player, I have encountered ghouls at 1^st level as well.  In one memorable 2^nd Edition campaign, the DM (the esteemed Jesse Donahue) lured the party into an un-dead haunted swamp, where the easiest way to survive was to run and hide, then run and hide some more.   At the same time, I was running my megadungeon, The Dungeon of Thale, in Venice Beach, California, and there were roving ghouls on the first level.  I think they got perhaps one or two characters over a long period of play.

But, then, these characters weren’t clunking around in plate.  That heavy armour affords you one sort of protection (better AC) while denying you another (making it hard to run away) is a trade-off that makes for interesting choices.  Dungeon Crawl Classics does that one better, by making heavier armour subject to more devastating fumbles as well.

An illustration I drew based on Jesse's game

Things that I have found adjust the odds against ghouls are teamwork, good use of magic, having a cleric on hand, and having an elf or two in the party.  In DCC, you should also consider burning that Luck in order to make your saving throw, especially if you are the last PC standing.   In many games that I have run, ghouls shun sunlight, and will not willingly enter it or an area of continual light.  Having some areas that the PCs can retreat to, while leaving them with a serious problem that still needs to be solved before their own food runs out, can be fun for all concerned.

I’ve run James Raggi’s Death Frost Doom to great effect, using the DCC ruleset.  How you deal with a horde of ghouls and zombies is a major part of that adventure.  At first, the players thought the answer was “you fight them”…but that is not a very viable answer in Death Frost Doom.  Sometimes, in a good adventure, fighting should not be the best option.  Sometimes, it should be a suicidal option.

If you go poking around crypts and barrows at night, you should expect to run into the un-dead.  If it is possible, save your explorations for daylight hours.  At least that way, you may be able to retreat into the sun.  As you explore, consider how you can use the areas you have already examined to your best advantage.  Mindless creatures, especially, may be lured into traps that you discovered and bypassed.  There might be choke points where a few can hold off many.   There might be places where a barricade can hold foes so that the archers can do their work.  Never underestimate the value of a spear or a pitchfork when you can hold your opponents so that they can’t reach you.

Even so, sometimes, you have to let the dead devour your fallen so that you have a chance to get away.  And sometimes the ghouls get you.  It is completely okay to have the entire party wiped out after mere minutes exploring the Barrowmaze.  Those are the risks adventurers face.  

K is for Killing Fields

Want to throw something “Old School” into your game?  How about a Killing Field?

A Killing Field is a region where the odds are stacked severely against the player characters.  You know it is a Killing Field when characters actually die…and not necessarily by the ones and the twos!  There are several types of Killing Field, but they all serve the same general purpose.  They are areas where the bodies lie thick on the ground – bitten, mangled, burned, and crushed – but the survivors who limp home have a tale to tell.

The most common type of Killing Field is the Deadly Starting Area, which is intended to weed out the hapless and the helpless, leaving the fittest to continue onward in the campaign milieu.  Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG revels in this sort of Killing Field.  PCs start out at 0-level, and the survivors (who gain equipment partly from picking over the corpses of their less-fortunate compatriots) become the 1^st level adventuring party.  Although I have yet to play the DCC RPG scenario distributed for Free Roleplaying Day, it reads well, and is sure to have its share of fatalities.

A more expansive Killing Field is found in the classic TSR module, The Keep on the Borderlands.  Played as written, the Caves of Chaos and surrounding countryside can chew up and spit out many low-level characters as they deal with the various threats presented.  In the end the Caves may be cleared, but most of the characters that began the process are buried in unmarked graves.  If the other PCs even bother to do so much.

Likewise, in T1, threats emerge that are probably beyond the ability of most newly-minted parties to handle.  And even success has its own perils, for, as with B2, the forces of evil have infiltrated the nearest “safe” community.

Another kind of Killing Field emerges in the mid-game:  the Deadly Testing Ground.  Few have entered this area, and even fewer have returned.  The PCs are now mid-level, somewhere between 5^th and 10^th, and the players have a vested interest in their survival.  The Deadly Testing Ground offers great riches and glory for the PCs brave and clever enough to wrest its secrets from it.  But the odds are stacked against them, and most PCs will not succeed.  Will perhaps not return.

In a fantasy-novel type game, characters enter some “legendary” region because it is part of the plot.  They are not really overly deadly, because forcing characters into such an area is grossly unfair.  Rather, the Deadly Testing Ground is a place that the characters voluntarily enter, knowingly accepting great risk in order to have a chance at great rewards.

The most famous Deadly Testing Ground is probably the Tomb of Horrors, but there are many others.  In a classic megadungeon, dungeon level roughly corresponds to the level of threats and rewards that are available to characters.  By allowing characters to quickly reach deeper levels, beyond those “appropriate” for their party, the Game Master enables them to enter a Deadly Testing Ground.  And, in most cases, Deadly Testing Grounds are entered for a brief period, after which the party will flee toward easier pickings.

A final type of Killing Field is the Epic Endgame, as discussed in a previous column.

So, why add Killing Fields to your campaign milieu?  Foremost, it allows the players to know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that they are winning on the basis of their own decisions.  Context -> Choice -> Consequence is only as strong as the belief that consequences actually fall from choices, rather than GM fudging.  As soon as a player realizes that the GM is fudging, rendering his choices moot, the context also seems to matter far less.  Why pay attention to the factors needed to make a good decision, if a poor decision results in roughly the same outcome?

Killing Fields also grant a greater agency to players in terms of the risks they are willing to accept.  This assessment of risk, and the resultant decisions of how much risk to undergo, is one of the hallmarks of “Old School” play.  It means that “balance” is not something that the GM alone must worry about.  No.  Each player must strive to access both her own capabilities, and how those capabilities might meet the challenges of the game milieu.  Should she go boldly into the depths?  Should she stay closer to the surface?  Should she go adventuring in the wilds?

Again, look at the setup of B2, where the easiest caves are close to the ravine mouth, with areas being correspondingly more difficult the farther in one goes.  A bold party can try its luck in any of the cave mouths.  With a little luck and clever play, a bold party might even succeed.  There are many different stories about B2.  Each group approached it in their own way.  This ability to choose, to branch out in diverse ways, to surprise the GM as well as the players, and to allow the players to access risk and “game balance” is something that is sorely missing from many modern adventure designs. 

Indeed, there are benefits to having Killing Fields in your game, even if no PC ever goes there.  Simply knowing that they can increases the sense of risk, the sense of adventure, and the sense of each character’s fate being in the hands of the players’ choices.  When this is the case, players pay attention to the context choices are made in, and thus invest more deeply in the campaign milieu.

It should be noted that not all RPGs are as combat-prone as “adventuring” games such as Dungeons & Dragons tend to be.  It is entirely possible to conceive of a game where little or no combat ever takes place.  Imagine a social game, where all interaction is basically arguing.  Let’s call it Forums & Follies.

Nobody ever dies in Forums & Follies, but there can be “Killing Fields” that result in a persona being “Threadbanned” or “Banned From Site” (The F&F version of character death).  Killing Fields in such a game might include participation in particular types of threads, or defending particularly unpopular ideas.  Likewise, in Papers & Paycheques, one could be “Fired”.  In Belles & Ballrooms, a character could become “Socially Ostracized”. 

The important idea is that a player is given the opportunity to take risks that grant exceptional rewards, but remove the character from play (through death, banning, removal from workplace, or being socially disgraced) by making that character no longer capable of making relevant choices in the ongoing narrative of the milieu.

(Papers & Paycheques, of course, refers to the cartoon in the 1^st Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide.  So far as I know, both Forums & Follies and Belles & Ballrooms have not yet been produced as the stylish and eminently playable RPGs that we all know they could be! )

M is for Megadungeons (Part III)

Eventually, we have to consider specifics for a megadungeon.  In this case, we are looking at specific ideas of how some of our brainstormed material might be developed.

Overview

Balton Major was a town nestled in the hilly Greenshaw forest, along the River Ynde. It was founded upon (and largely built over) the ruins of Baltanus, an ancient city of a Romanesque people. Nearby, at the edge of the Greenshaw along the Ynde, was Balton Minor. Balton Minor still stands; it is a potential base of operations for PCs and NPCs alike as the explore the megadungeon.

Beneath Baltanus were many catacombs that led eventually to natural caverns, which in turn led into a mythical underworld unguessed by Baltanus’ citizens (and, perhaps, portals to other planes of existence). Baltanus also had a system of real sewers, which Balton Major did not. Baltanus was ruined due to humanoid incursions, and later subsidence buried portions of the old city. It was further subsidence, leading to an actual collapse of an entire cavern system, that brought Balton Major low roughly 300 years ago. Now much of the town is below ground, buried by rubble and time. 

The Upper Levels consist of the buried streets of Balton Major, including still-intact or partially-intact buildings, often twisted or lop-sided (to create fun three-dimensional areas) as well as the upper reaches of Baltanus. Water runs through the Upper Levels in places, making some of these structures appear almost cavern-like. Others are still open to the sun, at least dimly, and in their upper areas, not unlike steep-walled canyons, some dry and others swampy. Wider “canyon” areas are generally vegetated, and may include the odd plant monster.

Blothegrue’s lair is in the ruins of a warehouse near the largest of these open areas, which the dragon uses as a place to take flight and land. The “Name Treasure” hoard is Blothegrue’s, and it is still known as the “Merchant’s Hoard” because it is believed to have been culled primarily from the warehouses in and around the dragon’s lair.

The “Old Blood”

The vampire mentioned earlier predates Balton Major, and preyed on the town while it existed. It is a “survivor” of the Romaneque people (we will call them the Aetali). I am unsure at the moment whether “beautiful seductress vampire” or “creepy Nosferatu vampire” is more appropriate for the dungeon. It could, like Jack the Ripper, select its victims on the basis of some particular criteria, and be self-limiting in its progeny as a result. If it attacks only creatures it hates on some basis, then it may well destroy its own spawn.

Earlier, we had determined that there would be some orcs in the lower levels (the mythic underworld). Perhaps these are descendents of the humanoids who sacked Baltanus. In this case, the vampire may hunt those who show signs of “the orcish taint”. It would be a terror and a legend among local orcs.

The vampire knew both Baltanus and Balton Major as they were as living, thriving communities. It has existed within the megadungeon as a dungeon. As a result, it has knowledge which is invaluable to adventurers, if they can find some way to wrest that knowledge from its guardian.

Angels and Devils

The Wandering Library is occupied by a devil (something suitably human-looking) known as the Librarian. It is trapped here. The chained angel mentioned earlier was chained as the price for trapping the devil. The devil is trapped until the angel is released, and does much to cause this to happen, all under the guise of offering friendly advice.

The chained angel is bloody, with wings torn out and bones obviously broken. She is clearly in pain, but her eyes are lucid and her voice is clear. She is chained because she chose to be so, in order to stop the devil, and she does not regret her choice.

The Librarian is intelligent enough to know that it needs powerful heroes to release the angel (and thus itself), and so will attempt to aid heroes in gaining the experience needed to do so. It is willing to play the long game. However, it does reveal itself in fits of temper when pressed.

The Librarian can take either male or female form, and will use this ability to make it appear as though there are two Librarians, either of which may be away at any given time. The Librarian has been the lover (in either of its human guises) of several prominent (but foolish) adventurers over the centuries.

The devil will not mention the angel unless characters do first. It will then refer to the angel as “My bright sister”, claiming that the angel is cursed, and cannot ask to be released. Indeed, she will beg not to be. The devil will not admit to being trapped itself under any circumstances – doing so will obviously reinforce what the angel says (as she tells the truth).

If the devil is slain, the Library no longer Wanders, and the angel is instantly released and restored. In this event, she will grant some boon to her benefactors. Obviously, the devil must be more powerful than the angel, or she would have slain it herself. In RCFG terms, the angel will be a Messenger Angel and the devil an Abomination.

For 3e

Green Ronin put out a nice little sourcebook for Roman play, Eternal Rome. If you have it, or can get it, this sourcebook will give you some real options for the Aetali, as well as for statting out the aforementioned vampire. Monkeygod’s From Stone to Steel also has some things you might consider looking at, and is an excellent sourcebook of its own accord.

For 4e

Got tieflings? Consider making the “Angels and Devils” storyline more personal by having one or more PC tieflings actually related to the Librarian. (This can work in 3e or 2e as well).

Consider making the Aetali into an ancient Dragonborn Empire....but keep the name.

The Amber Courtyard

A region of honey yellow cobblestones and ruined warehouses near the River Ynde, the Amber Courtyard is open to the sky. Some of the attached warehouses are likewise open, their roofs having fallen in long ago, but this is certainly not the case for all of them. Tangled trees obstruct the roadways still leading into the Courtyard – some of these are now tunnel entrances – and provide homes for quick, agile scavengers. This is the home of the great yellow-gold dragon Blothegrue, and the location of the Merchant’s Hoard. Blothegrue is the daughter of the Cinderqueen, found far in the lower reaches of the dungeon. In fact, Blothegrue did not so much settle in the ruins as crawl up from below them to make this her lair.

(In RCFG, a dragon’s personal outlook and abilities are not tied to its colour – Blothegrue is a fire dragon with a venomous bite. In 3e, consider treating Blothegrue as a red dragon with a template to grant a venomous bite; in 4e do whatever seems best. The dragon should not be beatable using straightforward means until at least high mid-level.)

Blothegrue’s hoard contains a massive amount of trade goods (as befits its name), but it also contains somewhere within its vast bulk the fabled Ring of Artimax, an artefact created by the legendary wizard whose name it bears. In addition to being a powerful ring of rejuvenation, the Ring of Artimax is said to have seven gems set within it, each with a different power that is released when pressed.

It is recommended that the DM examine the 1e DMG for ideas as to what these powers might be, then weave them into hints and legends of the Ring throughout the campaign.

Blothegrue spends much of her time in the Amber Courtyard – she is not so active as she was a century ago – but enterprising players may attempt to pilfer the Merchant’s Hoard while she is away. Obviously, any such pilfering will be detected, and the dragon will do its utmost to wreak vengeance on the perpetrators, perhaps going so far as to lay waste to Balton Minor.

If the GM wishes, an NPC may eventually steal from Blothegrue, putting the PCs in conflict with the dragon whether they wish it or not (unless they leave the area entirely). This sort of conflict is a means by which the GM can eventually bring the Cinderqueen into play. As with Grendel’s Mother in Beowulf, the Cinderqueen does not take kindly to the slaughter of her offspring, no matter how much her offspring has provoked just such a reaction. Obviously, some care must be taken with this development, as the Cinderqueen will be a truly epic monster.

There is a group of kobolds in the upper levels, so we will link them with the Amber Courtyard as well, and call them the Yellow Claw tribe. The Yellow Claw worship and serve Blothegrue, maintaining pits and cages where captured beings are kept as ready meals both for themselves and for their dire mistress. Thus, low-level adventurers defeated by the kobolds are not immediately slain, but are in need of rescue or escape.

In some cases, meals may last months before being consumed. There should be plenty of time for rescue attempts, escape plans, or even negotiations (“A captured bear surely has more meat on it than one small halfling....”).

Most of the area occupied by the kobolds are ruined and buried (with some surface) streets. They are winding, narrow, cobbled, and dangerous. Rooms in this region are the interiors of old buildings, some of which have been connected together in ways they originally were not.

The scavengers in the trees include both stirges, and small monkeys with horrid skull-like faces.

Bandit’s Roost

This is a narrow chasm running from the surface down four levels of the dungeon, with tunnels and roofing beams criss-crossing everywhere, sometimes from one level to another. Bandit’s Roost was originally occupied by Ten-Penny Dick and his gang, but some 40 years ago Ten-Penny Dick was captured and hanged at the crossroads north of Balton Minor, and the remaining members of his gang were driven deeper into the Greenshaw.

The area is now occupied by a Parliament of Cats. The senior cats refer to themselves as “Senators”, with the Chief Cat being called the Lord Speaker. Cats do not have long lifespans, which is true even for these cats, but they do tend to live at least twice as long as the average cat. Some few of these cats may even have a limited form of teleportation, which only works when no one is watching. Certainly, they seem to have some mysterious ability to bypass doors and get into closed rooms.

The cats do not themselves keep treasure, but the bandits have hidden treasure in this region. The cats have no use for it themselves, and will not be upset if it is removed. They know about it, of course, but cats do not volunteer information, and seldom give a straight answer to any question (if they are willing to speak at all).

Where the interlaced beams go from one level to another, it is obvious that subsidence has caused a street to fall, so that it is now on more than one level. Some of these areas might still be unstable.

The cats hate the Yellow Claw kobolds, who view them as food, but have good relations with Caliomeus of Sphinxgate, sometimes giving her information on successful adventurers.

Bandit’s Roost is a good region for a lurk to be hiding as well. (A lurk is a fey creature in RCFG that can fit into impossibly small areas, loves shiny things, throttles people from behind, and likes to display its treasures in the moonlight.) The lurk and cats simply ignore each other. Of course, there must be a nearby area, open to the moonlight (but sufficiently lonely....perhaps a room with a fallen roof) where the lurk can display its treasures when it wishes to.

Repeated material:  

Many, many cats from miles around gather here for mysterious purposes of their own. And for this to work, the cats must remain mysterious, despite the players’ fervent wishes to learn their secrets! Some of these cats are just cats, others are tough (average 3 HD), and some may even have class levels. Cats can be found on any level of the dungeon. They have their paws in everything in all of the human, halfling, and elven communities for at least a league in all directions.

If the cats are treated well by the PCs, all is well. They simply watch. If not, the PCs find themselves haunted by cats everywhere they do. The cats meddle in local politics, and use their influence to wreak vengeance on PCs who attack them. The city gaoler has a cat. When the PCs are refused a room at the inn, the innkeeper’s cat blinks at them from atop the bar. Etc., etc.

Eventually, the cats may deign to speak to PCs that consistently treat them well, neither pushing their advances nor forgetting gifts of catnip or cream. Perhaps by the time the PCs are level 6-10.....though a PC with a cat familiar may be able to send said familiar to treat with the Parliament earlier than this.

The cats know (or at least seem to know) absolutely everything. And their influence can open doors that would otherwise remain shut to the PCs. Even the King has a cat.....

Blott

Found as a wandering monster, Blott is a gargantuan, inky-black, intelligent grey ooze with telepathic and psionic abilities. It makes an easy living as a scavenger in the ruins of Balton Major and Baltanus, and has no need of adventurers as a food source. It shuns the sunlight, however, and knows full well that leaving the ruins would make it prey for many creatures...especially adventuring types.

Blott is addicted to mallumas, a highly addictive plant-derived hallucinogen that sometimes awakens dormant psychic powers. It became addicted long ago, when it consumed an addicted adventurer, who was carrying a considerable amount of the drug. It was this incident which awakened Blott to its psionic potential, and changed it from the slate grey of its kind to the inky black colour it now possesses.

Mallumas, when consumed, can cause periods of torpor – nearly hibernation – as well as hallucinations of out-of-body experiences. When Blott is there is a 20% chance it is quiescent, and will take no actions unless attacked. When deprived of mallumas long enough, addicts can become extremely violent – there is a 10% chance that Blott will be in this condition when encountered, attacking anything and everything unless offered a dose of mallumas. The other 70% of the time, Blott combs the ruins, looking for adventurers who can purchase drugs for him in Balton Minor.

Should the PCs (willingly or unwillingly) become Blott’s suppliers, they will discover that the ooze has a vast knowledge of the upper levels. Blott can certainly point them to the easiest areas to explore, where they have the best chance of looting with the least chance of being killed. But Blott also wishes to protect its suppliers, and will lie to keep them away from what it views as “dangerous areas” (even if the party wishes otherwise). If the PCs do not make regular shipments, Blott becomes angry, threatening, and (eventually) violent. Of course, the ooze will not kill all of the PCs, even if it wishes to make an example. There must be someone to bring it more mallumas, after all.

The ooze offers no coin for its drugs, either, and each “hit” of mallumas costs 25 gp or more, as well as potentially causing legal problems for the purchaser. What Blott initially tries to sell as a mutually beneficial “partnership” is just a form of slavery. The ooze doesn’t care about the group’s goals, and – sooner or later – if they wish to be free of Blott, they must leave the dungeon forever, or kill it.

Circvs Minimvs

Somewhere in the lower parts of the upper levels is the fabled Circvs Minimvs of ancient Baltanus. This group of rooms is the buried remains of a coliseum, its related rooms and pens, and the sewers that once ran beneath it.

In the ancient days, the archmage Artimax discovered a means to reduce the size of creatures permanently, and then cause them to breed true at their new size. He then bred creatures for exhibition at the coliseum, which were intended as a curiosity. When Baltanus fell, the miniature creatures survived, and the normal-sized creatures died. The miniature creatures still breed true throughout this region, which has many areas that are magically lit (and thus has vegetation, and a whole ecosystem in...ahem...miniature). There are Diminutive horses, elephants, ostriches, lions, tigers, apes, and even rhinoceroses. In short, any animal the GM desires may have reduced members here. 

What Circvs Minimvs is famous for, though, is its many Fine trolls. These trolls are too small to offer harm to any PC, but their voices are loud enough to be heard, and they resent the intrusion of larger beings into their region. They especially resent that such beings can see farther than they do, and live in a larger world. They follow the PCs around, heckling them at every opportunity, trying to engage them in narrow-minded arguments, and in all ways trying to pull larger creatures “down” to their level. Moreover, they seek to convince any who will listen that Baltanus was always the ruin that it now is, that the larger creatures which lived here were no different than those that live here now, and that the coliseum was always buried beneath the earth. In short, things have always been as they are now. Any mention of Artimax brings snorts of derision, for they deny the archmage was responsible for anything, and claim that his accomplishments have long been eclipsed by their own modern accomplishments. Trolls are, they will point out, giants, whereas Artimax was merely human.

The Circvs Minimvs isn’t particularly dangerous for PCs, and may offer a safe place to rest, if one can ignore or eliminate the trolls.

Bremeni’s Copper Pool

Located in a great, cathedral-like done, Bremeni’s Copper Pool is a circular basin some 20 feet across, whose water looks coppery (possibly from reflecting the painted ceiling, possibly for some other reason) and tastes somewhat metallic. The pool always keeps the same water level, no matter how much is removed, and no matter how much matter is placed into the pool. How this is accomplished is unknown, but the pool radiates strong abjuration, alteration, enchantment, and conjuration magic. The water is cool (but not cold), and safe to drink.

Many creatures come here to drink. So long as characters remain in the cathedral-like dome where Bremeni’s Copper Pool is located, other creatures (including mindless creatures, such as vermin) offer no violence. Undead do not come here. Thus, this is a very safe place to make camp.

If characters use this area to ambush monsters coming to the Pool, they automatically get Total Surprise (RCFG term) for the first 1d6 ambushes, then Partial Surprise (another RCFG term) for the next 2d6 encounters. Thereafter, all creatures they encounter here become aware of their presence automatically, and are automatically hostile (Will DC 40 prevents) to the PCs, even if they would not otherwise be. 

As with all “Name” places and creatures, it is worthwhile to allow the PCs to hear about this place first, through rumours, other adventurers, or scrawled graffiti, so that they can seek it out, recognize it when they’ve found it, and actually get some use from it. Not everywhere in the megadungeon should be “challenging” – some areas should provide opportunity to rest, to gain allies, and/or to learn about the setting. 

Crypt of Red Markings

Once part of the catacombs of Balton Minor, the Crypt of Red Markings is a series of undead-haunted tombs, tunnels, and crypts. Scrawled upon the walls are occasional runes and glyphs drawn in blood. As one gets toward the center of the Crypt, the runes and scrawls appear more frequently and more densely. These are, effectively, the “spellbook” of Yl Nesrith, a transmuter whose ghost still haunts this area.

Most people who know of the ghost believe Yl Nesrith to be a necromancer, and it is certainly okay for the player characters to believe the same. Legend Lore, bardic knowledge, or historical research can all uncover the truth, however. Yl Nesrith has used his transmutation spells to create bizarre undead here, as well as cunning traps, all in an attempt to prevent his mortal remains (and treasures) from being pawed over by adventurers. Reburial in a modern graveyard, with all of his grave goods, will lay Yl Nesrith’s spirit to rest (at least until his grave is despoiled....).

A PC wizard (especially a transmuter) who is able to spend enough time here unmolested could potentially learn a great number of spells from the walls. It is even possible that a PC could become apprenticed to Yl Nesrith. However, although the ghost has altered some of the undead, it controls none of them, and cannot guarantee safe passage to anyone. It has animated some skeletons as constructs, however, that it does control. Some of the spells scribed on the walls are living spells, and are themselves dangerous to examine.

Crypt of Sleeping Dogs

This area of broken crypts and tunnels is in the middle upper reaches. It is occupied by the numerous feral descendents of the hounds of Balton Minor, which have developed darkvision and a natural immunity to ghoul paralysis. Statistically, they are otherwise identical to hyenas, having a heavy build and strong jaws for cracking bones. In appearance, they are huge black mastiffs with red eyes.

This area is rumoured to contain a fortune in grave goods, including the fabled Chainmail of Vraxgyg, but adventurers are warned to avoid the region. “Let sleeping dogs lie” is the common wisdom, although the Hounds of the Crypt are far more likely to be prowling in search of fresh meat than they are to be found asleep.

The ghouls of the Bonestrippers’ Guild would dearly love to see the Hounds done away with, so that they could claim and polish “them lovely bones”, but the ghouls lack both the power and the courage to destroy the Hounds. The kobolds of the Yellow Claw are terrified of the Hounds, and the Parliament of Cats would like to see the Hounds destroyed for their own reasons. Thus, the PCs have several potential allies in assaulting this area, although these allies are not all equal, and few alliances will survive the end of the Hounds themselves.

The Dripping Garden

A series of cobbled streets, with running water down the center of them, seem almost like natural caverns, trapping the moisture and making everything extremely damp. In places, there is no ceiling, so that lush vegetation can grow. In other places, roots push down from the ceiling, and/or there is a heavy growth of fungus. Plant monsters and vermin are found here in abundance. The Dripping Gardens also include the buildings lining the streets, whose doors have long ago rotted away, making the interiors easily accessible for all sorts of creatures.

The Yellow Claw kobolds hunt in the Dripping Garden, generally for vermin (for their own table, not that of Blothegrue). They will be happy to capture adventurers there as well. The kobolds speak of (and fear) Kyckbodimyk, an albino monstrous centipede of huge size that sometimes hunts the hunters.

Within a natural-seeming grotto off the main route of the Dripping Garden, the oracular nymph Eodora has taken up her abode. The kobolds know of her, and fear her, also, but they treat her as a goddess (rather as humans might fear and propitiate a goddess of death). Eodora doesn’t normally appear to the kobolds (who leave her, truth be told, disgusting gifts), but might prophesy to adventurers. Indeed, Eodora offers the GM the ability to ensure that players learn whatever information he wishes.

The Green Woman

This jade golem currently occupies a crossroads in the mid-upper levels. While it relentlessly pursues any who attacks it, so long as they remain within the dungeon, no one is certain what its other commands may be. It is generally doing nothing more than standing – a fortune in jade for the character(s) who can finally collect it! Somewhere in the dungeon are clues that would actually allow the PCs to discern what this construct is here for, and perhaps even control it.

Pool of Shadowed Vermin

This deep pool is surrounded by sunken streets, tunnels, and chambers rife with vermin. The pool itself radiates strong transmutation magic, as drinking from (or bathing in) this pool transforms the unfortunate victims into vermin. The pool is located in the lower part of the upper levels. By the time that the PCs reach this far, they should have had some opportunity at least to be warned....and if not, capturing their erstwhile companion without harming it, and then restoring him or her to natural form, could be an adventure in and of itself. Characters able to break enchantment may find that some vermin in the area are actually other monsters, humanoids, or (grateful) adventurers, but vermin reproduce quickly, and there are many vermin here that are simply that. If the GM desires, some vermin might change into other types (potentially more or less powerful), as the pool affects vermin as well.

Smoking Shrine of Ly Valle

A rift in the floor of this chamber allows noxious fumes to fill the room, disappearing upward through a wide chimney. This is a shrine to Ly Valle, an Aetali goddess of divination. Any who leave food or coin here might (20% chance) hear a prophesy spoken. Unfortunately, these prophesies are now spoken by an invisible stalker, which was conjured long ago and pressed into service maintaining the shrine. It is insane from its long servitude, and attacks anyone who profanes the shrine in any way. The invisible stalker is, however, bound to remain within the shrine, and is thus easily avoided.

The GM is encouraged to keep a roster of 10 potential prophesies, with about 20% of them providing some level of accurate information. When a prophesy is used, the GM should line through it and provide a new one for that position.

Owlgrin

The 6th level ranger, Owlgrin, hunts monsters in the upper reaches of the megadungeon. The GM may use this character to provide occasional timely assistance to PCs in need. Owlgrin doesn’t make friends easily, and prefers to remain semi-mysterious. Eventually, of course, he might go to the PCs for help with some problem, but this is more likely to be worded as “You must go to X and do Y” than “I need your help”.

The Sour Temple

Originally the Temple of Umartal in Balton Major, the air in the Sour Temple now smells and tastes acrid with the displeasure of its god. Still, the Sour Temple is a place of some refuge in the upper ruins, and truly evil creatures seldom venture therein.

Umartal has a church in Balton Minor, where an order of adventuring priests and monks – known as the Seekers of Restoration among themselves or the Silver Chalices (for their emblem) among the locals – works toward the cleansing of the Sour Temple. This is a major undertaking, for it requires that the Upper Levels at least be cleared out enough for human habitation.

Once PCs become established (3rd level in RCFG), they may well be approached by the Restorationists, who are willing to supply adventurers with information, advice, healing, and other resources in exchange for their work restoring Balton Major. The Restorationists will also expect to receive reports on what is encountered in the ruins, and to have the opportunity to copy maps created by adventurers supported under their charter. The Seekers will not work with characters that are obviously immoral.

The GM is encouraged to make use of the Seekers of Restoration both as a potential group to which PC monks and clerics can belong, and to provide NPC backup for smaller groups. In addition to monks and clerics, the Seekers can provide a limited supply of NPC NM Warriors to aid groups on important missions.

If the PCs manage to eliminate any of the three major threats of the Upper Levels – Blott, Blothegrue, and/or Esbastus (see below), they will receive a boon from Umartal the next time they enter the Sour Temple. These boons should be special abilities which aid the PC in question (so that each PC can receive a different set of boons), and be roughly equivalent to a bonus feat in 3.5e or 4e. No boon should be more powerful than the ability to cast a 1st-level spell once per day.

Esbastus

Esbastus is a gynosphinx that patrols the outer perimeter of the ruins of Balton Major, asking riddles, demanding tribute, and sometimes eating an unlucky adventurer or kobold. She has learned to avoid the ranger, Owlgrin, of whom she is afraid.

Typically, when encountering humanoids, Esbastus offers them a choice between paying tribute or answering a riddle, where failure is death. She will not accept less than 100 gp in coins as tribute, but has a craving for gems. This craving, combined with an inability to properly evaluate the value of gems and jewellery, may prove her undoing – her lair already contains many gems which are in fact made of paste or worth far less than she esteems them to be.

The GM must have several riddles prepared, and be ready to use them. Once a riddle is answered, Esbastus should not repeat it to the same characters. Generally, the GM should allot no more than 10 minutes of real time for answering the riddle before Esbastus becomes impatient, and then no more than 5 additional minutes before she pounces. Remember that PCs should be allowed to make Reasoning Action Saves to get hints about the nature of a riddle, but should not receive the answer by rolling dice. A good many riddles can be resourced off the Internet, as well as being taken from primary sources such as Mother Goose.

In the event that PCs can neither pay tribute nor answer a riddle, Esbastus politely asks them which of their number they wish to sacrifice – and she is not interested in the party’s mule or dogs! She will give them no more than 5 minutes to decide before becoming impatient, and then no more than 5 more minutes before making the decision herself (through random roll). 

If the party manages to escape intact (which is certainly possible), Esbastus will attempt to Get the Drop on their next encounter and pounce on them, slaughtering them all. Whoever survives this second encounter she will actually admire, and greet as though an old lover thereafter, perhaps asking for gems or riddles from that character, but neither expecting tribute nor answers to her own riddles. If the group manages to wound her to half her hit points or more, she will avoid them thereafter as she does Owlgrin.

Esbastus is on something like cordial terms with the Parliament of Cats, but they will not mourn her death, nor she theirs. The GM may allow players who are good at riddles to be known to the cats through Esbastus’ admiring words about them.

Tapestry of the Winds

I like the idea of the Tapestry of the Winds leading to a pocket plane. Let's run with that. In fact, let's let the party know that the Tapestry exists ahead of time, and that there are rumours of survivors of Baltanus having fled through the tapestry with their treasures. Somewhere on the pocket plane, there is a major hoard to be found.

Of course, the pocket plane will be a whole new environment all to itself, with Romanesque intrigue, some unusual monsters and substances, etc. Moreover, the Tapestry will be hard to find as it is no longer hanging upon the wall, but is folded up in a storeroom somewhere gathering dust.

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The areas between the major regions described herein are mostly “empty” regions – lost streets and empty buildings, with a few lairs, hazards, forgotten treasures, and (of course) wandering monsters to make them interesting. There will also be clues as to the nature of the major areas they connect.