Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Voldar_Mecorthio 10-22-06, 07:05 PM	Hi. I am designing a halloween-themed adventure, the first part of which involves an abandoned laboratory that was destroyed when their undead creation got loose and started killing the researchers. I can't get too detailed, as several of my players read this forum. IF ANY OF MY PLAYERS (AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) ARE READING THIS, PLEASE GET OFF NOW!! Anyway, I need some ideas for rooms. The theme is a research lab that's been totally trashed, with an undead, negitive energy theme as they were researching the undead. I know I'm going to have an entrance hall, a morgue that's been totally trashed as the ghouls feasted on the bodies, and an inner sanctum where the Creature is kept. Beyond that, I'm braindead. Does anyone have any ideas?
Arcen 10-22-06, 07:56 PM	an Alchemists lab with lots of vials and beakers filled with bubbling liquids. A room straight out of Frankenstein with strange machines and arcs of electricity shooting in between antanae. Have a large slab in the middle right underneath a skylight. A killing room with a metal grate for a floor so that the blood and small bits can fall right on through. The PC's can't see what's beneath the grate but they can hear sloshing and other sound of something moving in water. Offices, private studies, etc.
Voldar_Mecorthio 10-22-06, 08:09 PM	Ooh good ideas. I especially like the killing room idea, fits very well into my horror-movie theme.
Roleplay 10-22-06, 08:17 PM	Possibly one of the researchers offices, with some pictures and documents on the desk with clues as to what the creature is, maybe a personal log book of the scientists tests and stuff the players can read for clues.
Thomar_of_Uointer 10-22-06, 08:43 PM	If you're going with the mad-scientist theme, don't restrict it to just undead. There's always fun stuff like aberrations (level-appropriate, all the good ones aren't in the SRD), green slime, molds, and any sort of magical beast animal hybrid. And then there's fun with magical traps, or trap-like magical things. Does the party dare to go across the room filled with two feet of glowing blue liquid with a school of fish-mice swimming around in it?
invaladuser 10-22-06, 08:44 PM	rooms were they experamented on undead, liked having the walls being lined with people sized glass cylenders. Some smashed, empty, or still having creatures in them.
Tevish Szat 10-22-06, 09:17 PM	Flesh Golems (Frankenstein's Monster), Demonflesh, and Dragonflesh golems could be present and devistating. Alchemical Golems too. normal creatures (Human commoners or other weak minions) templated with Spellwarped, Voidmind, etc. Undead can get prety creepy and freaky. check out spawn of Kyuss, Bonedrinker, and Abyssal ghoul for instance. now for rooms... a "spawning chamber": the walls are liked with waht look like big glass vats, filled with strange glowing liquids. in each one floats a different stage of experiment, from human test subjects, to random body parts, to monsterous freaks. A magical torture chamber: Has various devices like a covered perminant symbol of pain in adition to normal devices, and one area that is in an AMF, for torturing information from rival mages. Reprocessing: Linked to Spawn chaber and alchemical labs. failed experiments are thrown in here along wiht contaminated alchemical goo and fluids to steep and stew in a pool in the center, being distilled for potential magical use or perhaps animation into some sort of unliving necro-ooze or use as a power source. Pits: Intended for cage fight combats between experimental undead of different strains. what better way to decide waht is the msot powerful than by having it kill all opposition to the title.
Nor'Morgwae 10-23-06, 01:10 AM	Don't forget all of the everyday things that are needed. Somehow I doubt that mad scientists commute so that means living quarters, a kitchen, even a bathroom (just ask yourself, "what does a mad scientist’s bathroom look like?" ;) ). Maybe they use an extra dimensional space so they don't have to tote waste and garbage off the premises. Just think of what horrible things might spawn in there! That can lead to all sorts of interesting things. Or a meat locker. What happens in there when things go kerblewie? (I'm thinking parts of cows and pigs and stuff crawling around mindlessly). Also think about enemies that will look tougher than they are. Imagine that the owner has a stuffed and mounted dragon on the premises. Well, if it's reanimated then it's either a big zombie or maybe a construct (depending on how you judge it) but it looks like dragon.
Cifer 10-23-06, 08:25 AM	Not so much a room idea, but a classic nonetheless: Prepare some pages of a diary/log of one of the researchers that can be found on his corpse and hand it to your players. The handwriting should become more and more hazy and unreadable towards the end. And another idea: If you use music, sometimes play some that doesn't fit at all. E.g. the players walk through a completely empty hallway and you play the same music you used at the last zombie fight (change CD to do so, making it obvious the change is intentional and not merely a mistake). Guess who's getting nervous... About the room business, you might want another kind of spawning chamber. After all, undead are not exactly born - take a look at Alien: Ressurection. Have a room with some holding devices and traces of shades, ghouls or other spawning undead killing/converting humans.
Far_Traveler 10-23-06, 08:48 AM	Room with strange chemicals all oozing together... then... :gel: :gel: :gel: :gel: :gel: Make em bigger, like the chemicals made em bigger, or don't and say that the chemicals created them
Arganis 10-23-06, 10:21 AM	The Dracula Device This machine, invented by the noted planar cosmologist Dr. Horatio Arganis, was designed to harness the powers of the negative energy plane and test their effects on living subjects. The machine is a large glass globe, positioned atop a flat dias. The globe is entered via ladder from beneath. Its only control is a large dial, situated on a pedestal before the globe. Many magical auras overlap here, but the strongest is powerful Conjuration (Teleportation). In addition, due to its profound connection with the Negative Energy plane (and the monstrosities performed using the device), the machine radiates Moderate Evil even when not in operation. The dial has 10 settings: 1) Prep/Cooldown The room fills with a dull buzz and chilling cold. A cool breeze blows in the direction of the Sphere. Over the next hour,, the buzz heightens to a harrying drone, and the air in the room becomes extremely cold (See DMG Cold Dangers for rules on Extreme Cold). A character within the sphere becomes uncomfortable and must succeed a fortitude save (DC 20) or suffer 1d6 Dex damage. A character that succeeds this save is immune to this effect for 24 hours. The machine must prep for 10 hours before it can Warm Up using Setting 2. 2) Warm-Up Effects of setting #1 plus: A co-terminal connection is opened between the Negative Energy Plane and the Ethereal Plane. There is a cumulative 10% chance every round that 1d6 ghosts, wraiths, shadows, or other ethereal negative-energy creatures appear in the room. The machine must warm up for 10 rounds before any other setting can be used, at which point the character within the sphere must succeed a DC 20 will save or take 1d6 Cha damage. A character that succeeds this save is immune to this effect for 24 hours. 3 through 8) Settings 3 through 8 open a point-source to the Negative Energy Plane, creating a vacuum-induced negative-energy substitution event that replaces portions of the subject with negative-energy, thereby creating an undead creature from a living one. When one of the settings 3 through 8 is activated, characters outside the sphere receive a negative level for every 5 minutes the machine is in operation (DC 10 to remove). Every 5 minutes, the subject within the sphere must succeed a fortitude save DC 15 +1 for each previous check, or become (depending on the setting): 3- Zombified 4- Ghouled 5- Ghosted 6- Wighted 7- Wraithed 8- Vamped 9) Garbage Collection The inside of the sphere turns jet-black and its entire contents are shunted (as the spell Plane Shift) into the Negative Energy Plane. A character within the sphere receives no save. Characters outside the sphere receive two negative levels (DC 15 to remove) 10) Unknown Unpredictable results may occur. In one such incident, the contents of the sphere solidified into a Sphere of Annihilation. Dr. Arganis was forced to rebuild the device after the tragic loss of his entire research team. Operating Instructions! 1) Prep machine on setting 1 for 10 hours 2) Warm up machine on setting 2 for 1 minute 3) Run machine at desired setting 3-8 (or experiment to test the results of multiple settings) 4) Cool down machine on setting 1 for 24 hours Failure to properly warm up and cool down the machine may induce unpredictable results. Before Dr. Arganis re-designed the machine to spool up and down using a coterminal portal in the Ethereal Plane (that is shifted to the material plane in small doses), the device caused a permanent rift to the Negative Energy plane, which claimed many lives before being closed. Finally, an item you'll need to use the device: Lab Coat of Death Ward. Rar.
Tevish Szat 10-23-06, 10:47 AM	more like L:ab Coat of Negative Energy Protection
CharlieRock 10-23-06, 11:07 AM	There is a map of a sanitarium on this site. I found it under the map-of-the-week. But, I can go look again if your interested and can't find it. It was pretty scary looking. P.S. Disection tables, cages , and even tunnels in the basement.
bobberry109 10-23-06, 03:16 PM	I cant believe no one else has suggested the pickled people parts room, especially with the fantastic brain in a jar monster from libris mortis, it looks just like all the other pickled organs ;):D :evillaugh .
Wood 10-23-06, 03:40 PM	I like the idea of including a bathroom. Ya dont see that kind of attention to detail very often. If you include a bedroom as well you should definately have a partially animate zombie "play thing" still in the bed. After writing the above statement I sat here for a few moments and tried to imagine what a person might find thats unsettling or disturbing in an evil necromancers bathroom, and some ideas came to me, but then I tried to imagine what one would find if they were to look into this kind of persons commode, and it hit me. Two words... Sh*t Golem
Tevish Szat 10-23-06, 04:28 PM	I like the idea of including a bathroom. Ya dont see that kind of attention to detail very often. If you include a bedroom as well you should definately have a partially animate zombie "play thing" still in the bed. After writing the above statement I sat here for a few moments and tried to imagine what a person might find thats unsettling or disturbing in an evil necromancers bathroom, and some ideas came to me, but then I tried to imagine what one would find if they were to look into this kind of persons commode, and it hit me. Two words... Sh*t Golem Dogma Much?
Wood 10-23-06, 04:55 PM	Dogma Much? I can only assume that you are making an insinuation that I have somehow plaigerized that movie. Which would be kinda hard for me, considering Ive never seen it. yet, even having never seen the picture I still cant imagine why it would have a **** golem in it. Isnt it about religion or something? Why would it have **** golems?
bobberry109 10-23-06, 05:04 PM	**** golem Its Mr Hanky *Hidey ho* :D
Tevish Szat 10-23-06, 05:05 PM	I can only assume that you are making an insinuation that I have somehow plaigerized that movie. Which would be kinda hard for me, considering Ive never seen it. yet, even having never seen the picture I still cant imagine why it would have a **** golem in it. Isnt it about religion or something? Why would it have **** golems? its amusing... i didn;t mean to insionuate plagarism... at least not in a bad sense. most DMs have sources and inspirations. A veryu similar monster appears, (A demon though). It was reminiscent. ithought you might have been inspired from there.
Wood 10-23-06, 05:11 PM	Well actually the inspiration comes from an atrocity that I allowed to be played once upon a time. Namely, an intelligent black pudding named "puddin" who feasted on children born out of wedlock. Ever since DMing that character I cant think of anything black and slimy and foul without thinking of it. At any rate, I wanna see Dogma now. :D
Voldar_Mecorthio 10-23-06, 05:36 PM	There will be a journal detailing the researchers experements, and eventually their destruction. I may also see Dogma. Thanks for the help everyone, but lets not stop here!
Thiez 10-23-06, 05:42 PM	Buy Thief: Deadly Shadows. Play the Cradle.
Cifer 10-23-06, 05:43 PM	Buy Silent Hill. Play all four parts of it.
The_Puppetmaster 10-23-06, 05:58 PM	This should do the trick. I'll link you to the maps that I made a while back when I was running a vampire castle themed adventure. This was an underground lab type area, with a flesh golem at the end. All of these maps were made by me in a mapping program called dundjinni. I made this set about a year ago. You'll have to make your own entrance, since the only way in here was a huge hole a dire bat made in the floor above the lab. http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab1a.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab1b.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab1c.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab1d.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab1e.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab1f.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab1g.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab1h.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab1i.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab1j.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/lab2a.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/labboss1.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/neorhetoric/labboss2.jpg Room #9 was left open for you, so you can add whatever device, chemical, bthroom, experiment deal that you want. The last two rooms fit together for one big lab room. Hope this helps. Please use my work for non commercial purposes only, as it contains Fluid's (dundjinni makers) art, and my personal time. Happy gaming!
HarlequinHelsing 10-23-06, 06:32 PM	Well actually the inspiration comes from an atrocity that I allowed to be played once upon a time. Namely, an intelligent black pudding named "puddin" who feasted on children born out of wedlock. Ever since DMing that character I cant think of anything black and slimy and foul without thinking of it. :heehee Anyway, read Lovecraft. Plenty of it. Especially The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, or Herbert West: Reanimator. Scared the bejeezus out of me.
Goon_for_Hire 10-23-06, 08:55 PM	Just a few random ideas. A live person who has been slowly harvested for fresh parts chained to a table (thank you, Edgar Allen Poe!) A lush den with massive chairs, stacks of sanity-blasting books, a bar fullof expensive alcohol, and a recording device like a phonograph, that plays something truly horrid, like the last conversation before the owner murdered his lover/assistant. An "interview" chambre with a celestial imprisoned in it, that has been forced to witness so much and answer so many blasphemous questions it has gone mad. Or as an alternative, one in a big glass tank full of preservation fluid. On that note, a cloning lab full of incomplete or flawed results of the clone spell including the malformed reembodiment of the mad scientist. The insane spectre/ghost of the creepy little assistant still insanely working on ruined machines that continue to make noise and appear (at least to him) to work. The ruins of an angry mob, pitchforks, torches, and all, mysteriously skeletonized at the bottom of a well.
Phantem2 10-23-06, 09:20 PM	Some other options would be a jail full of various creaters that where going to be used for experementation. Or maybe a live zombie shackeled down on a table that was in the middle of getting disected on, it howls and screams with its bowls open but cant get loose with lots of tools laying around. (see how sick your players are). also maybe some guards that have locked themselves in a room and survived the zombies, but have gone insane because of the experience, hunger and thirst.(mad ravenger template?). and dont forget a potion machine (like a coke machine) that the players could get supplies from. also random crude traps set by serviving, well maybe not anymore, personell. maybe a couple traps with creatures stuck in them (live zombie hanging from the ceiling). not to mention something that follows them but that they cant find. (rogue vamp?) sorry for bad spelling (english is not my thing) either way there's my 1.35711 cents
HarlequinHelsing 10-24-06, 12:51 AM	An experiment to determine how long a human can live in "adverse" conditions. And by adverse, I mean his chest cavity opened, scalp removed and brain partially exposed, I have worse ideas but I'm not going to post them right now. A well of blood and organs in case the victims run out. Shafts where the failed experiments are left to rot, covered by giant stone slabs or glass. (The Case of Charles Dexter Ward) Half-done experiments on live subjects chained to the dissection tables, never finished because of the other subjects escaping, howling in pain. Tools are hanging from a rack beside the table, and the key to the chains is just out of his reach. A scientist who's still alive but insane from the horrors he's seen in the lab, thinking that the PCs are scientists as well. Or, if you're cruel, test subjects.
Voldar_Mecorthio 10-24-06, 05:55 PM	A scientist who's still alive but insane from the horrors he's seen in the lab, thinking that the PCs are scientists as well. Or, if you're cruel, test subjects. So. Going. To use that. How about this: A mirror that creates an undead version of whoever looks into it, and then the reflection steps out of the mirror and attacks?
JD 10-24-06, 06:17 PM	Try not to overload the players with horror too much, because they'll tune it out (the most recent D&D podcast discusses this to some level). Instead of bathing them in gore from room one, first show off the destruction that the undead have wrought. Huge metal doors with dents pounded in them can be very effective. And if you're up for a little horror cliche, have some massive ruckus come from inside an air vent and, just as the PCs are ready to face the unholy horror that can pound through walls... a rat scuttles out. Try this a few times and then hit them with a monstrous dire zombie rat. :D
Cifer 10-24-06, 06:37 PM	How about this: A mirror that creates an undead version of whoever looks into it, and then the reflection steps out of the mirror and attacks? Mh... mirror of opposition and its variants have been done once too often, IMO.
Wood 10-24-06, 06:48 PM	just for the sake of random advice... A favorite tactic of mine, especially when running a cthulhu or other terror campaign is to be very mindful of the background and to keep things active in areas where the players arent. I try to avoid falling into that "we cleared this room so its safe now" kind of mentality. And it doesn't have to be like monsters popping out of every nook and cranny, it can be subtle things as well. Like, for example, the players pass through a room full of tables and torture impediments, but no monsters, and ten minutes later they have to come back through and the bodies that littered some of the tables are gone, or seem to have been moved about. That kind of thing. You know what Im talking about Im sure, but I use this technique with great success, so I thought Id toss it out there. The key to creating suspense in the game is destroying the players ability to predict whats going on wherever they arent, even if its somewhere they think is safe. Nothing like retreating from one nasty pack of bad guys into the room they just cleared only to find that it is now inhabited by something much... much worse. Then again, I rarely have anyone survive a cthulhu adventure. I guess thats what they get for messin with the mythos :coolcthul
HarlequinHelsing 10-24-06, 07:18 PM	So. Going. To use that. How about this: A mirror that creates an undead version of whoever looks into it, and then the reflection steps out of the mirror and attacks? Glad I could help.;) Other thoughts: If the lab is underground, have a hole either on the ceiling or higher up on a wall that the subjects carved out and escaped through. Make it narrow for the claustrophobic PCs, but don't have it twist and turn enough that they can't see the light shining through the top. I'll let you decide where it empties out, but I was thinking the cellar of an important NPC in the campaign. Even worse if the walls are adamantine :eek: No matter where the PCs are, they will occasionally hear howls and screams coming from behind them, though there's nothing there. As they get deeper into the lab, have the noises get closer. That's all I can think of right now. I'll post more later.
Deathmond 10-24-06, 07:27 PM	Holy Mother of God I hope I never get one of you guys as a DM! I'm just sitting here reading this stuff and it's creepy. Good work. :D
Voldar_Mecorthio 10-24-06, 07:32 PM	The lab is underground, and I want to have a dynamic adventure rather than a room by room thing. I like the idea of undead moving around into previously uninhabited rooms, and I'll probibly have something constantly following them just to freak them out.
Sildatorak 10-24-06, 08:55 PM	The first question I would ask is "How long has the lab been abandonned?" If you want to create a sense of desperation in your players, I'd recommend that it is just long enough that some of the test subjects and researchers trapped inside are starting to starve/dehydrate, but a fair portion are still alive. Ooo...that just gave me an idea, assuming you go with my suggested time frame. You could have a room barracaded from the inside. When the PC's burst in, describe it as you would describe any other room with relatively "fresh" ghouls and ghasts in it. Terrible stench, dismembered body parts that have obviously been gnawed upon, lean humanoids with wild looks on their faces and gore caked upon their faces and lips moving in to feast, etc. Closer examination (perhaps spot checks taken as move actions or not immediately jumping to combat) might reveal additional information like the stench being the stench of human waste mingled with dead bodies, the underfed creatures attacking them actually breath (and bleed when cut), or just about anything else to help push them toward realizing that they are actually battling a group of mentally unstable commoner 1 test subjects who managed to break free and seal themselves in. Of course a few days without food and water put them on edge, and Cassandra looked so delicious...
invaladuser 10-24-06, 09:02 PM	Take a page out of doom, locked see through doors that cant be broken. If you look into them you can see some monsters, people still doing experaments, or people being eaten by the experaments. Have them find the key, back track and open the door, with a few changes from before. That or they could enter a floor were all the experaments are locked up nice and safe. But to get deeper in you have to unlock the door to the next floor and unlock all of the experaments.
Wood 10-24-06, 09:10 PM	Holy Mother of God I hope I never get one of you guys as a DM! I'm just sitting here reading this stuff and it's creepy. Good work. :D Thank you. I enjoy shattering the sanity of my friends and loved ones. Its how I show them I care. Just for the sake of continuing the conversation, as well as giving the thread a :bump: I'll suggest the following tactic... Kill one of the players. Yeah yeah I know everybody instantly thinks Im a nazi, but hear me out here. You use disorienting effects and hooks to single out one of the party members to get captured or ensnared, and then have some fun with it while the other players go nuts trying to figure out how to help. Now Im not talkin about splitting up the party here. You dont want that. You divide the party into multiple groups then youre just going to be running multiple adventures in the same session and nobody wants that. You single out a member of the party- someone weak- someone that everybody likes and everyone will feel sympathy for. If you've got a cute girl in the party; so much the better. If not, pick the person who has a talent for making the other party members laugh. The comedy relief as it were. You snatch em early on in the adventure, and then torture them for as long as it fits the story. And let the others hear it. Let the players see you smile into this persons face while you graphically describe their torment. Let the players hear this character screaming in anguish, pleading to the gods for mercy, somewhere in the dungeon. When this character dies they wont know what has happened to it, and you shouldnt let them know, until the opportune time comes that this pc returns as an undead thrall to whatever BBEG you have lying in wait for these hapless souls. There is nothing more priceless than seeing the faces of a pack of players who are suddenly confronted with the reality that they now have to kill one of their own. Especially after being subjected to an hour or so of listening to this person scream in horrific pain. I have never used this tactic with anything but success. True, I have had people leave the table because they couldn't stomach the idea of slaughtering their now undead girlfriend who is dragging her own entrails and foaming blood at the mouth, but I call it a win nonetheless. Some people say I shouldnt use tactics like this, so take it all with a grain of salt. Some people say I'm a vicious DM that delights in the suffering of the players. but then... people say all kinds of crazy things.
HarlequinHelsing 10-24-06, 09:14 PM	Anyone played Halo? Yeah, I know, stupid question. Anyway, going of the premise of the second-to-last level, the PCs go into the lab to save an important figure who's rumored to be alive. When they get there they discover that the victims have begun to perform tests on him and he has partially become one of his own experiments. Use haunting presences (LM p. 6, I believe), specifically the poltergeist option. Spread them out among the lab and never, ever use more than 2 in a room. The game will come to a grinding halt as players crack up over a dissection room where the tables are raising and lowering themselves as fast as they can, tools are carving rude messages in the walls, and rotary blades are spinning themselves in such a fashion that the tune to 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' can be made out. More ideas for the experiment on human life in adverse conditions: Blood replaced with vinegar Blood replaced with sand Organs removed from inside body but are still connected by tubes Eyelids removed Surgically attached to another test subject, with only one set of organs between the two of them Veins removed, blood redirected through a series of tubes Any vital organ augmented by machinery More to come later.
Callista 10-24-06, 09:25 PM	Important: Get an OK from the player first!! They have to know they're going to be out of most of the action, and be fine with it. Bored player = unhappy player. Though depending on how gruesome it gets your player might not be bored, who knows? The player will mind least if he's a decent role-player AND wouldn't mind RPing how his character reacts to torture... An idea for a room: The room is filled with cages. Some of the cages have dead and decaying animals in them. Some of the cages are torn open and smashed. The inhabitants of the smashed cages are now: a.) food for other occupants of said smashed cages b.) undead and still in the room (feel free to use non-traditional animal-undead templates--how about a REAL vampire bat?) c.) undead and in other parts of the dungeon (if you do this, show the main door as smashed and splintered too) d.) somehow augmented--mutant, aberration, etc.--and either in the room or in the dungeon e.) be undead, and have merged into one gigantic animal-zombie mass that recovers HP by absorbing nearby bodies. Have fun :P