Poor Man's Mountain Keep Adventure Seed

The two previous posts were really made to be parts of this; a submission for the Doom Cave of the Crystal-Headed Children contest at Metal vs Skin. At first I wasn't really going to publish the pdf at the blog, but then I figured it might be useful to get a few of my thoughts about map features. And either way it won't hurt ;)

So, here's the pdf. Cheers!

Small Mountain Keep Map

I've been experimenting a bit with a new set of pens. They're of different thickness, so I'm trying to figure out how best to use them for effect and clarity. Any tips and tricks are more than welcome!

Limb Worm

Number encountered 1, Alignment Chaotic, Movement 90' (80'), AC 9, HD 4*, Attacks d6+1*, Damage 1d6/paralysis, Save F4, Morale 8, XP 150.

The limb worm is a carnivorous beast with leathery skin. Its back is covered in a strange organic slime. It often keeps limbs from fallen enemies; these attach to the slime and resume normal function controlled by the worm. When the limb worm is found it has d6 limbs (arms, legs, tentacles depending on the slain enemies) attached to it, each giving it 1 extra attack for d6 damage and 1 extra HP (not HD, mind you). Otherwise the primary attack is its sting tail. Anyone hit will take d6 damage and has to save vs paralysis or be paralysed for 24 hours. Each time the limb worm takes damage there's a 1 in 3 chance that it will lose an acquired limb, should it have any left.

Part of dungeon

I wish I could say something interesting about this, but in all honestly I just drew it to take my mind off other things.

Do you have suggestions for an adventure in this dungeon? Would you rather use it as a complete dungeon or part of a larger one? Share your thoughts in the comments :)

The Halfling Zakiti

Lady Christina's Final Resting Place

All the posts on this blog so far have been content that was created for this dungeon. It's a 12 room dungeon for characters level 1-3. When I ran it for a party of level 1 characters. It proved quite deadly, even though I made some mistakes that worked in the party's advantage. Even so it made for a very fun session, and I hope some other group will enjoy it as much :)

Get it while it's hot!

Discharge

Level 1, Duration instant, Range 30'.

A small lightning bolt is cast from the spellcasters hand and hits one target automatically. Target must save vs. paralysis or become paralysed for 1d6 rounds. It causes 1d10 damage, but every point of damage it causes is also temporarily drawn from the caster's HP. The spellcaster can not go under 0 HP this way, and can thus not deal more damage than its own HP. Reaching 0 HP when casting this spell will mean that the spellcaster falls unconscious until one HP has been restored. These HP are restored at a rate of 1 per round.

Agonizing Screech

Level 1, Duration instant, Range 30'.

Causes a high-pitched noise painful to all within 30' of the spellcaster. Everyone affected must save vs. spell or suffer 1d4 damage and -2 penalty on all actions for 1d6 turns. This affects everyone within the range except for the spellcaster.

Stinking Fog

Level 1, Duration 5 rounds per caster level, Range 30'.

Creates a yellow-brown fog in an area of 30' diameter that smells strongly of vomit and acid. Any enemies of the spellcaster who breathe the fumes will have to save vs. poison or suffer a -2 penalty to all actions for the duration of the effect due to convulsions and retching. Visibility is severely hampered as in any fog (-2 to all attacks, range attacks are impossible).

Reptile Bear, Blind

This monster is a one-of-a-kind. There may be more reptile bears, but they should be faster, non-blind and have sharper claws (1d6 of damage, perhaps). This specific individual monster will appear in a dungeon adventure in a later post.

Number encountered 1, Alignment Neutral, Movement 120' (40'), AC 5 (easy to hit, but protective scales), HD 7 (-3 on attacks because of age-related blindness), Attacks 3 (2 claws, bite), Damage 1d3/1d3/1d8, Save F3, Morale 6, XP 400.

The reptile bear is 17' high when standing on its hind legs and is completely covered in scales. It's strong and has sharp teeth, but is old and somewhat decrepid; its claws are dull. Its saliva has a slight stunning effect. Anyone bitten must save vs poison or suffer -2 on all actions for 1d6 turns. This effect stacks with each bite. It doesn't want to fight, however, and will only try to make room for itself to lumber out through the exit of whatever room it's in.

Bordur Tribe Orcs

Number encountered 2d6 (1d8x10), Alignment Chaotic, Movement 120' (40'), AC 5, HD 1, Attacks 1 (weapon/special), Damage 1d6 or weapon, Save F1, Morale 9, XP 15.

These orcs are a little smarter and more organized than common orcs. Each group usually has one or two amongst them who are spellcasters. The spellcasters are able to cast one first level spell per day similar to the mechanics of the first level M-U. Otherwise they are no different in abilities than the other orcs, and neither are the spellcasters necessarily any higher in rank. Worth noting is that the Bordur tribe spellcasters can wear armor and use heavy weapons, as long as they can drop the weapons and have both hands free to move when invoking their spells.

Black Jellyfish

Number encountered 0 (2d6), Alignment Neutral, Movement 120', AC 3, HD 1, Attacks 1 (sting), Damage 1d6/special, Save F1, Morale 12, XP 10.

The black jellyfish are small, only a square foot or so in size, but their stinging tentacles are several feet long and can be used and controlled much like the tentacles of an octopus. Each tentacle is barely a thread and very weak, but each jellyfish has hundreds of tentacles. Any person who is stung must save vs. paralysis. Success means target is dealt 1d6 of damage, but failure is damage plus complete paralysis for a day. The jellyfish lay golden coloured eggs, which is often the reason people enter the pools and ponds where they live. Everything that glimmers is not gold, though the eggs may be of interest to alchemists or sages who can pay a gold piece per dozen for them.

Carcass beetles

Number encountered 1d6 (2d6), Alignment Chaotic, Movement 150' (50'), AC 3, HD 4, Attacks 1 (bite), Damage 1d6, Save F1, Morale 10, XP 70.

Carcass bugs are large beetles (around 2' long and wide) with a thick shell in red and green. They eat meat and suck blood, preferring the recently dead, though they will eat any meat around. If they succeed on an attack they latch on until the victim succeeds a STR check (one try per round). Each round they stay attached they deal 1d3 damage.

Red Mold

Number encountered 1d3 (1d6), Alignment Neutral, Movement 0, AC Always hit, HD 3, Attacks Spores, Damage 1d3/special, Save F2, Morale N/A, XP 30.

Red mold grows in long strands along walls and ceiling, usually a foot wide and several feet long. It neither moves nor really attacks, but whenever something moves within 3' distance from it there is a 1/3 chance that it will eject spores into a 10' cube area. Any living creature inside that area will have to save vs poison. Success means a feeling of burning lungs and 1d3 damage, whereas fail means that the spores – aside from dealing the 1d3 damage – attach themselves and cause one of the following: 1 blindness, 2 paralysis of random limb, 3 loss of hearing or voice, 4 uncontrallably violent behavior, 5 random mutation or 6 death by suffocation in 1d6 rounds. Any of the results 1-4 will pass within a month or when character is healed by magic. Only fire does damage to red mold and a torch can deal the equivalent of 1d4 damage per hit.

If you don't have access to a Random Mutations Table from another source, this may be used to determine the effects of a random mutation:
1. Some kind of insectoid feature.
2. Grows a tail (extra, if character already has one or more).
3. Develops bird-like features.
4. Swells up to double size - balloon-like.
5. Grows extra head with often differing opinions (or different alignment).
6. Turns a different, bright, colour. Starts to glow if this happens again.

A map to start things off

Welcome to the Naked Knight Inn!

This blog is dedicated to content that you can use in your OSR games, whether it's a campaign for your group or something you intend to publish.

To start things off, here's a map! I have a series of posts planned that includes new spells, new monsters and eventually a dungeon that incorporates it all. Please share what kind of content is more interesting to you, and I'll keep that in mind when I produce more.