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| #1solikMay 02, 2011 13:59:20 | So I've been running a massive dungeon for the past couple months that consists of a lot of non-standard encounter rooms (along with some typical things, of course). My players have really enjoyed it, so I thought I would share the designs with you guys so that hopefully more people can get something from all this labor. I'm actually still working on the thing (currently on floor 7), so there may be more to come if someone finds these ideas useful. My motivation was simple boredom of endless hack-n-slash, dungeons that feature nothing but combat encounters and some scattered treasure. Generic skill challenges aren't any better, no matter what DMG2 says, and stand-alone riddles are typically fairly terrible for most groups. The solution is the same as with traps: mix it all together. Solutions to puzzles might be obvious, but the act of solving the puzzle is itself dangerous. First I'll share the dungeon concept itself, because it solves yet another problem with dungeon design: the balance between linear challenge series and open exploration. This dungeon (and its contents) are designed for a level 9-10 party, but all contents are easily adjusted to fit most levels. We also use a variant rule where every second milestone functions as an extended rest, and extended resting is disallowed during dungeon crawls, but that doesn't really matter, especially if you're just looking to snatch some interesting ideas. Background: The Lachrymatory Pyramid Streetwise DC 20: Stories tell of great treasures buried within the Lachrymatory Pyramid. A great many legends tell of its origin, all of them widely conflicting with one another and almost certainly the invention of imagination. A number of people have set out to explore the pyramid, but only those who never entered managed to return and speak of it. History DC 30: The pyramid was erected by the pharaoh of an ancient kingdom that predated the manifestation of the Desert of Wrath. It was to be the kingdom's monumental achievement and focal point of power, concentrating the great astrological power of the crystal stars to grow residuum deep within its lowest levels. Something went terribly wrong with the design, and the pyramid became a source of great horrors that claimed the lives of the kingdom's great wizards and even its pharaoh, leading to its swift downfall. For the DM: The pyramid's design was sabotaged, and it ended up drawing energies from the Far Realm / Xoriat. This led to the destruction of the ancient kingdom and the surrounding lands. The pyramid itself is now inhabited by an aberrant consciousness, which manifests itself as a beholder. The First Floor: Introduction to the Dungeon's Gimmick Players climb long, broken & chipped stairs to the entrance, which is actually near the top of the pyramid rather than at its base. Inside the pyramid, you are greeted with a roundish room open in the center. A column of pale grayish light descends from the tip of the pyramid overhead straight down into otherwise darkness. Drawing nearer to the opening, you see that in lieu of physical walls or rails, a translucent energy barrier prevents one from falling over the edge of the floor. Patterns of mystical writing are inscribed along the floor here around the central opening. In four corners are glowing pillars of light; one red, one blue, one green, and one white, each sourced from the central gray column. At the north end of the room, a stone staircase descends, but a prism haze hangs in the air at its entrance, glittering softly. The central barrier is harmless but cannot be destroyed by the PCs. It blocks teleportation, phasing, projectiles, sound, and line of effect, but not line of sight (although it grants concealment). The prism haze will bestow a random curse onto each PC who enters (see table below). This curse remains in effect until the players leave or disable the pyramid, and multiple applications of the curse are cumulative (and all applications return if a PC re-enters the pyramid without having disabled it). In order to safely pass through the haze, players must bathe in each of the colored light columns found in each floor; the player then becomes immune to that color's curse for that floor. Players understand this effect with a DC 21 Arcana or DC 25 History check. They can identify the precise curse effects if the Arcana check is 25 or higher. PRISM BARRIER CURSES (1d4) 1: Blood Curse (Red) - Lose 1 Healing Surge 2: Twisted Form (Blue) - Permanent -1 to Fortitude defense 3: Malignant Mutation (Green) - Permanent -1 to Reflex defense 4: Descent Into Madness (White) - Permanent -1 to Will defense And this is the trick to get the PCs to explore each floor in full: in order to proceed to the next floor, they're going to want to find each of the four light columns on that floor. This becomes just as much an objective as finding treasure (or defeating the BBEG that you hide at the bottom). Next up: the challenge rooms! |
| #2solikMay 02, 2011 14:09:58 | The Second Floor - Reinforcing the Schtick This floor wasn't very interesting, but I wanted to make sure the players would understand how this dungeon was going to work before I put them into larger floors with more complex challenges. Basically what I did here was put 4 rooms coming off a + shaped hallway, with the gray pillar descending further down in the middle of the hallway intersection. Each of the 4 rooms had some very simple obstacle -- an easy combat encounter, or lightning that would zap players as they ran through the room. They would either have to defeat monsters (or run around them) or endure the obstacle in order to pass through the columns. Beyond this floor, there's no reason for anyone else to care about what floor the challenge rooms are found on, or what my maps look like, but I thought it might be useful for anyone who wanted to implement the general dungeon template. This worked out great, as the PCs quickly got into the right mindset for tackling the dungeon. Now for the interesting encounters (finally)... Horrid Statues In the far corner of this room is a pillar of glowing green light on a slightly elevated platform. Lines are visible in the floor of this otherwise bare room. As soon as a player enters the green pillar, the trap springs. Walls of force block the exits from the room, and the floor opens in four locations, hideous statues with screeching faces rising from below. The statues emanate magical energies that cause extreme temporary fatigue; each round, every PC in the room suffers 2d8+2 points of temporary* damage (rolled individually). At the same time, 20 tiny beetles with dull crystals on their backs run about the room, scattered from the statues. The PCs must defeat all 20 beetles in order to open the doors. The beetles are unable to attack directly; however, every missed attack on a beetle results in arcane feedback on the attacker (1d6 temporary damage). The beetles come in four colors, five of each, all with speed 3. Red Crystal Beetle: AC 20, Fort 35, Refl 35, Will 35 Blue Crystal Beetle: AC 35, Fort 20, Refl 35, Will 35 Green Crystal Beetle: AC 35, Fort 35, Refl 20, Will 35 White Crystal Beetle: AC 35, Fort 35, Refl 35, Will 20 This was my players' favorite room out of the early challenges. They'd never run into this sort of combat-puzzle in D&D before. Solving this puzzle requires either trial-and-error or remembering the effects of the prismatic curses (assuming the PCs succeeded on that knowledge check or blundered through it without grabbing pillars). * Temporary damage?! What's that?! Well, I found I wanted to have rooms that threatened the players, but didn't count toward their daily use of Healing Surges (due to the house rule regarding resting mentioned in the first post). So, I invented Temporary Damage, which is damage that doesn't require Healing Surges to heal. Basically, any time you heal temporary damage HP, you don't have to spend any surges that the ability or method otherwise calls for. Second Wind, Healing Word, whatever. You can't heal actual damage and temporary damage with the same heal effect, though. I chose to use that temporary damage in this room because I didn't want it to count toward a real encounter (and gave no XP either; the reward was the green pillar). If you'd rather give XP and count this as an encounter, you can use normal damage. |
| #3solikMay 02, 2011 14:25:39 | Inverted Sands The floor of this room is formed entirely of sand. Looking up causes a strange sensation of vertigo as you see that the ceiling overhead is also made completely of sand, yet not a single grain falls. A white pillar of light stands in the center of the room. Once the PCs step into the room, sand suddenly rises from the floor to the ceiling, creating walls of sand everywhere. The sand flows upward in an inverted cascade. Each time a player steps through a wall of sand, they are subjected to an attack, +12 vs Fortitude: 4 damage. Do not draw the entire sand maze on the map; instead, only draw what the players have seen. Players can gain the 3F white curse immunity here. +------------------.--+ Squares are represented by dots. The idea behind this room is that the PCs will send their toughest character to try to find an efficient route to the pillar from either of the two exits (one on the north side, one on the south). It's easy to make your own maps for this. You can provide hints if you don't want the PCs to spend HP guessing their way through. Flame Ziggurat Stairs climb towards a high platform in the center of this room from all directions, creating something of a small ziggurat. At the top of the platform, you can see a glowing red pillar of light. The stairs are very steep, functioning as 3-square movement difficult terrain, and are trapped. Once any one PC gets halfway up, the stairs on all sides collapse, creating a mini pyramid. At the base of this new pyramid, magical flames erupt, burning any who slide down into them for 3d6+2 fire damage. In order to keep from sliding the moment the stairs vanish, a player must make a saving throw to grab hold; players who expect this to occur receive a +2 on this save. Once grabbed, players can climb up and down the pyramid using Athletics checks; the base DC of this check is 20. A failed check results in another save to keep from sliding; if the player slides, then they slide all the way down into the flames. A player can attempt to leap over the flames from the side of the pyramid with a DC 22 Athletics check; failure results in a hit from the flames. If no player is touching the pyramid, then it transforms back into a ziggurat and the flames vanish. The trap will trigger once more the next time a PC gets halfway up. A DC 20 Perception check lets the player see thin vats between bricks around the base of the stairs. A DC 25 active Perception check reveals some sort of mechanism between a number of the stairs about halfway up; succeeding on this check grants the +2 to the save even for the first time this happens. Players can gain the 3F red curse immunity here. This one is basically a skill challenge with damage as failure consequence and saving throws tossed in for variety. You could put treasure at the top of the structure if you wished, and if you don't like 3-square movement terrain, just make the structure wider (and thus higher; I didn't specify height in this entry anyway, so you can make it as you like). |
| #4solikMay 02, 2011 14:38:49 | The Fourth Floor The 4th floor is played like a board game; the entire floor is one large encounter played out with normal initiative counts. Players will move about the floor, attempting to find and use the four pillars to gain access to the 5F. They will emit colored light from their feet as they move about; this light functions to block the square from any other creature, including allies and flying creatures. The last 15 squares contacted by the player will thus be lit (use colored counters to track these squares); when the player steps into a new square, it is the counter farthest away that is removed, not necessarily the oldest (use the oldest for ties). The light also prevents running, teleporting, phasing, and flying. As the players thus move about, blocking enemy monsters (and each other), they will be chased by a horrific enemy: a Beholder Eye Tyrant, the manifestation of the pyramid itself. When the players enter this floor, place them into a diamond formation and read the following: Something strange happens when you enter this floor. Perhaps it is a side effect of all the light you've absorbed and used, or perhaps the magic throughout this place is going haywire, but regardless, light from the mist you passed through seems to have followed you and coalesces about your feet. A different color pulses from each of you, with some of the light remaining behind as you move about. Before you have any further time to think on this, however, you feel a sudden sense of dread that shakes you to your core. It's as if the pyramid itself is looking into you, straight through your flesh into your soul, searing it with an infernal gaze. You can feel the hatred emanating from the very stone upon which you stand. Then, the feeling seems to concentrate behind a massive stone door to the north. The door begins to shake, small pebbles falling about, dust scattering, and it slowly begins to lift. Looking about for an escape, you see to your horror that the staircase has completely vanished. You do see two hallways, one to the east and one to the west, providing avenues of escape, but you have a sinking feeling that the light at your feet will make this considerably more complicated. The door will fully open after a single round, and the Eye Tyrant (which always knows where the players are, as it's the pyramid itself) will chase after the closest PCs. If players circle around to a cleared, safe area, spawn a few Wretches. The Eye Tyrant is modified for this encounter (so as not to be a walking TPK device). It keeps its central eye closed, preventing use of its aura and minor action attacks (thus making it able to perform only 1 attack per round); however, it gains a +10 bonus to all defenses in this state (just to make sure players don't attempt to defeat the thing with attacks). The idea here is to force the PCs to split up while also walking in patterns to block the enemy (but not each other). The foulspawn wretches scattered everywhere will make this considerably more difficult. Also, the PCs still need to tag each of the 4 pillars here, so that makes their journey much more difficult to solve. When I mapped this area, I had hallways 2 squares wide going out each side from the entry, forcing the party to split into 2 groups (I had 4 PCs; adjust as necessary for your group size). Throughout the floor, I used obstacles like rooms filled with water to swim across, thin beams to balance along, mazes filled with Foulspawn Wretch minions, rooms of magical darkness with an ooze monster hiding inside, and so forth. Scatter little treasure rooms and, if you're using them, the four pillar rooms, in order to tempt players to take short detours. One hallway on this floor I rather liked had four alternating colors across each column (it was a E-W hallway). Each time a PC stepped on a colored tile, every OTHER column of the same color was affected by a trap of some kind. So, the PCs had to move through the hallway carefully when more than one needed to dash through it or risk blasting allies. This would have been more effective as part of a typical encounter, I believe. |
| #5solikMay 02, 2011 14:53:15 | Water Trap Ahh, the classic and beloved water trap. I modified this one from one of the old Grimtooth trap books, so credit where it's due. In the west and east sides of this rectangular room are two large cranks, each with four sizable metal grips extending from them. They stand atop slightly elevated metallic platforms. High about the room on all sides, stone gargoyles sit perched, glaring down at you. The north double-door is sealed closed with no obvious way to open it. The room is 15ft high. The cranks are very heavy, requiring two PCs to work together to turn one (and spending a move action). Once the players turn either crank, the trap triggers: Suddenly, the southern door closes shut, sealed as tightly as the door to the north. Water begins flooding into the room from the mouths of the gargoyles. In order to overcome the trap, the PCs must progress through three trap phases, including this first one. To advance the trap one phase, the players must turn both cranks simultaneously. Turning either crank alone has no effect. Phase I: Water pours into the room. Any player not swimming is subjected to an attack at the start of their turn, +14 vs Fortitude: fall prone. At the end of each round, the room fills with 2.5 feet of water (1/2 square). Phase II: Four Murk Dredges fall into the room from the mouths of the gargoyles. Each round, another 1d4 Murk Dredges enters, to a maximum of 8. Additionally, water continues to pour. Phase III: Four Elite Kraken Tentacles spawn in the corners of the room. These are Elite Minion versions of the standard Kraken Tentacles (requires 2 hits to kill). Murk Dredges no longer appear, but water pours. MURK DREDGE (Level 9 Minion; based on Murk Wretch) AC 22; Fort 23; Refl 21; Will 20 Speed 6, swim 4 Immune blinded, gaze Blind, Blindsight 10 Aquatic; +2 bonus to attack rolls vs non-aquatic creatures in combat Claws: Melee 1 +14 vs AC. Hit: 7 damage, shift 1 square, pull target 1 square adjacent. After running this encounter, I was a bit disappointed with the kraken tentacles here, as they didn't get to play much of a part. Consider swapping phases II and III, or add a phase IV in which nothing new happens, but players still have to turn each crank again (to give the tentacles time to do their work). If you have more than 4 PCs, you'll need to add to this to make it tougher for them to get 2 players on each crank. Chambers of the Elements A wave of heat greets you as you pass through the doorway. A horrid statue of a great demonic beast looms in the center of this chamber atop a round dial. Smoke billows forth from an open maw, flames alit in its eyes. Four doors provide exit, one in the center of each wall. Several small winged creatures composed of flames materialize from nothing, shrieking madly. The northwest room has a statue trap in the center that rotates, spewing flames. Each round at the end of initiative, it sweeps one fourth of the room, attacking each creature: +15 vs Reflex, 1d8+6 fire damage. It then fires consistently until its next move in a straight line where it ended; characters that enter that line suffer the same attack. The southwest room floor is covered in ice and very slippery. Each square is difficult terrain, and movement requires a DC 18 Acrobatics check; failing by 4 or less reduces movement range by 1 square, failing by 5 or more results in the player falling prone. A player can attempt an acrobatic stunt DC 25 to slide across the ice in a straight line; speed for this slide increases by 2. The northeast room has a 2x2 whirlwind that moves about the room randomly. Each round at the end of initiative, it moves in a random 1d8 direction 1d4 squares twice. Any creature it encounters is attacked, +15 vs Fortitude, 1d12 thunder damage and slide 1d4 squares in a random 1d8 direction and knocked prone. Mephits are immune to this attack. The southeast room is filled with a strange gravity that reduces the range of non-melee attacks to 1/3 (round down). Each room has an enchanted tile in the corner where the rooms meet composed of a circle of runes. Standing in the tile causes a light above the NW room's north door to brighten (red, blue, white, and green according to the element). When all four lights are lit, the door lifts permanently. FIRE MEPHIT - Level 9 Minion Small elemental magical beast (fire) Initiative +7 Perception +6 AC 21, Fort 20, Refl 23, Will 21 Speed 4, fly 6 (hover) Immune fire Claw (Melee, at-will, standard, basic): +13 vs AC, 6 damage Fire Breath (Close blast 3, at-will, standard): +13 vs Reflex, 8 fire damage ICE MEPHIT - Level 9 Minion Small elemental magical beast (cold) Initiative +7 Perception +6 AC 23, Fort 21, Refl 20, Will 21 Speed 4, fly 6 (hover) Immune cold Claw (Melee, at-will, standard, basic): +13 vs AC, 6 damage Chill Fangs (Melee, at-will, standard): +15 vs AC, 7 ice damage and Slowed until end of next turn STORM MEPHIT - Level 9 Minion Small elemental magical beast (lightning) Initiative +8 Perception +6 AC 22, Fort 20, Refl 23, Will 20 Speed 4, fly 6 (hover) Immune lightning Claw (Melee, at-will, standard, basic): +13 vs AC, 6 damage Lightning Bolt (Ranged 5, at-will, standard): +13 vs Reflex, 8 lightning damage EARTH MEPHIT - Level 9 Minion Small elemental magical beast (earth, thunder) Initiative +6 Perception +8 AC 22, Fort 23, Refl 20, Will 20 Speed 4, fly 6 (hover) Immune thunder Claw (Melee, at-will, standard, basic): +13 vs AC, 6 damage Gravity Wave (Melee, at-will, standard): +13 vs Fortitude, 7 thunder damage and push 2 squares This set of 4 adjoining rooms (each 8x8 with double-doors in the center giving access to the adjacent rooms) lets players shine in completely different ways in each room (or struggle if a PC ventures into a bad room for them). Each room has the related element of mephit minions waiting inside; mephits will not leave their elemental room. When all mephits in a room are defeated, but the door has not yet been opened, spawn one or two more in each empty room (initial amount and spawn rate depending on group size). |
| #6solikMay 02, 2011 15:08:09 | Portal Halls A hallway stretches out a short distance before stopping at a shimmering portal. It is impossible to gaze through it to see where it will take you. This room consists of a portal maze. Navigating from one door to the other is fairly easy, but a treasure hides in the corner for those persistent or lucky enough to find it. $: The treasure: a golden mask adorned with emeralds and rubies; 4 lbs, 1 ft^3, 2000g #: A transparent wall of force x: The device that powers the wall of force, deactivated with Arcana DC 20 +---------------------+ There is so much you can do with this sort of wacky design! It makes a fair enough puzzle on its own (the players loved bouncing around figuring out where to go next all by itself). It's quite safe and easy, though. Spice it up with some monsters that know all the portals and use them cunningly to hit-and-run the party (lurkers / skirmishers work great here). Have the PCs be chased by some powerful creature through the portals, but maybe the creature doesn't know the way any better than the PCs do. Let the PCs learn the room, then use it to ambush enemies. I chose to do some temporary damage each round after the PCs looted the treasure. This way, they had to quickly find a fast way out. They had prepped well, marking each portal and plotting the fast routes, so they were able to navigate back out successfully. The Spinning Bridge A sizable platform sits in the center of this large chamber, with a strange-looking bridge connecting it with this entry. The bridge lacks handrails, and underneath you see various metal gears and gadgets. A massive lever rests in the central platform. There is a sealed door on the north wall and a pair of small platforms against the east and south walls. Looking over the edge, you see murky water some distance below. The door will only open when players stand on the south and east platforms (there is a footprint-shaped indention in each platform for a player to step in, similar to the ones on 3F). To reach the platforms, the players can move the bridge by pulling the lever. Each pull of the lever requires a standard action due to its heaviness (and provokes opportunity attacks) and moves the bridge counter-clockwise to one of its four possible positions. Any character on the bridge when it moves must succeed on a DC 15 Acrobatics check or fall off. As soon as the two players stand on the platforms, the bridge automatically moves to the north position, and the north door opens, revealing a Slavering Maw in wait; it receives a surprise round, which it uses to step forward toward the center platform (or charge a PC in range). Six Earth Mephits spawn in the air (2 squares higher than the platforms) but do not receive a surprise round. The water below is filled with a Sinkhole Chuul, which remains submerged at the bottom of the 15ft-deep water hidden (Perception DC 25). There is a ladder on the western wall that a player can use to climb back up (15 feet). Falling incurs no damage due to the water. This is a standard encounter that allows the PCs to manipulate the terrain while having them separated at the beginning of combat. Savvy PCs may station their ranged attackers on the far platforms, but the earth mephits will then make their lives very dangerous; controllers and ranged strikers that are knocked into the water will become food for the hungry chuul waiting below (and drowning is a real possibility here). This type of multi-level encounter with terrain manipulation sets the stage for the next, huge challenge... |
| #7solikMay 02, 2011 15:22:30 | Clockwork Astronomy Your surroundings change completely as you enter this circular, domed chamber. Gears and metal replace stone and inscription; the sound of grinding metal substitutes for the echoes of your footsteps. The chamber is divided into three levels; the level before you features a round platform with several devices set near the edge, switches and dials protruding. The level above is some sort of model of the solar system constructed of colored platforms attached to gears and legs. Peering over the edge of the floor, you see a lower level littered with deadly-looking spikes eagerly awaiting your flesh to pierce. A door directly opposite from here is sealed shut, with eight small darkened crystals about its frame. To open the door, the players must activate the eight switches present on the upper layer. To do this, a player must manipulate the switches on the second layer to move the platforms in concert with the player above. Meanwhile, Earth Mephits appear and harass the players; every round until the door is open, 1d4-1 additional Earth Mephits appear to a maximum of 10 (6 appear the first round, which starts when one player reaches the upper level). The mephits spawn from crevices in the wall and appear at the end of the round rather than at their turn in initiative. Each level is 10 feet above the level below it. A player who falls to the bottom level is subject to an attack from the spikes: +14 vs Reflex, 1d6+9 damage. Ladders provide access from one level to the next; it's DC 0 to climb. A character standing on a planetary platform when it moves must succeed on an Acrobatics DC 20 check to remain standing. Failing by 4 or less results in falling prone; failing by 5 or more results in falling off. At the end of a round, if any non-mephit is standing on the sun platform, then two fire mephits spawn in empty squares on the sun platform. To make things easier to handle, the platforms move in a clockwise square pattern, always staying equidistant to the sun. Planet platforms pass over any metal platforms in their path; a character standing on the metal platform when a planet platform enters must succeed on an Acrobatics DC 15 check or be knocked off. A player who is standing on the planet platform and succeeds on the Acrobatics check when it moves can step off onto a metal platform that passes beneath as a free action. The top level possesses unusual gravity, making it more difficult to jump around. Athletics checks to jump are twice as difficult, requiring a DC 20 Athletics check to leap over one square from standing still, DC 10 with a running start. A player can ready an action to jump from a planet at some point during its movement. The player must first succeed on the Acrobatics check, then attempt the Athletics check at a -2 penalty. TOP LEVEL (default configuration) The lower level is shaped the same with no holes. All squares are spiked, creating difficult terrain, though damage only occurs when the player falls. The ladder up is in the matching south central tile. This encounter was awesome. Players were gunning down mephits as they appeared, dashing about hitting switches, and plotting their course jumping around planets on the upper level. Players fell several times to great pain; you take some serious damage if you fall all the way to the bottom due to an earth mephit attack and also take a hit from the spikes. My players were able to make use of teleport and phasing powers to bypass a couple of the more troublesome corners in the upper room. This meant they only had to move the inner planets once, relying on the outer planet for most of the work. If you have players with these capabilities, consider having them disabled on the upper level, or move the walls around so that all of the edge switches become more difficult to reach (so that even if their powers knock out a few of them, they'll still need to work to get to the rest). This is a complicated encounter to describe, but when you lay it out, the PCs will get it pretty quickly, and the encounter will move right along. If you have more then 4 PCs, spawn more mephits, or maybe have a soldier or two appear on the middle level after a couple of the upper level switches are pulled. |