Medieval Cappadocian dungeon design!

Archaeology and real-world architecture is always super inspiring. But one of the problem is that real-world architecture, unlike fantasy dungeons, is often linear and too simple. Not enough weird interconnections to really make dungeon exploration interesting! I posted about this in the early days of this blog.

Well, this Cappadocian rock-cut monastery at Selime Kalesi is a non-linear dream!

Map:

The map is from Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia by Lyn Rodley (p. 64).

My favorite detail is the narrow passage between areas 13 and 18. Good design, Cappadocians!

And the detailed room-by-room description is like a keyed dungeon... Albeit without monsters. Some excerpts from the book:

Room 2

At the south side of the east wall of Room 1 a small rectangular opening leads into Room 2, a narrow rectangular room with a bench along west, east and south walls. The room is roughly barrel-vaulted at its north end and has a flat ceiling at the south end, carried above a cornice. West, east and south walls at this end of the room have a decoration of arched blind niches; those on the west and east walls taper off at their north sides. The niche of the south wall contains a large rectangular window, overlooking the valley.

 

Room 8

The porch, like the church, was plastered, but most of the plaster has fallen away. Fragments remain on the east wall, around the church entrance, and on the easternmost edges of north and south walls. Just below the cornice on each side is a painted inscription of seven lines on the north side and three lines on the south. The lines of the inscription appear to be complete and since they occupy the whole width of the plastered area of the porch it is possible that the plaster did not extend right across the porch wall, but was confined to a narrow vertical band the width of the inscription. Unlikely though this may seem, the alternative is to assume that by chance the area of plaster with the inscription has been preserved while the rest is lost. The text, a dodecasyllabic poem, is as follows:

‘Let no one be misled by the desire for wealth for the love of money has destroyed many. For this flesh is earth, clay and...’

The poem appears to refer to the tomb chamber below it, but clearly does not supply any information on the inhabitants of the chamber.

 

Room 12

A secondary opening in the west wall of Room 12 leads into Room 13, described below. The only original opening is the rectangular entrance from Area 10, described above, which opens into the south wall of Room 12. In the southeast corner of the room a chimney has been cut through the ceiling, and the room is much blackened by smoke.

 

Room 18

There are two openings in the south wall of the east gallery: to the west, the entrance to another elbow-shaped passage leading to the east end of the south gallery (18c) and to the east an opening into the long tunnel (b) which links the east wall of Room 18 with Room 13.

 

Room 28

This is a small barrel-vaulted room with cornices, a transverse arch and wall arches, like so many others of the monastery. One lunette is decorated with a relief carving of a horned animal. The location of the stable suggests that the tunnel was once the only entrance to the monastery, and that horses and pack animals had to be left at the foot of the hill and the tunnel entered on foot. The room with the horned animal may conceivably have been a gatehouse of sorts.

Miraculous relics for pseudo-historical settings [LotFP]

I'm putting together a short adventure, the working title is "The Mysterious Chapel of the Knights Templar". It includes a table for generating random relics. Could be useful for any pseudo-historical / medieval setting!

The reliquaries of the Chapel house a wide assortment of holy items. Some of them are significant and miraculous relics. Each character has a chance to recognize one such item.

Base chance	1-in-6
Clerics’ base chance	3-in-6
Devout Christian characters	+1
Scholarly-types	+1
For every hour spent studying the inventories of the Chapel	+1

All Relics count as Holy Symbols and detect as magic. For game purposes, as a rule of thumb, the “wielder of the relic” is a single person who possesses the object (e.g. it’s not being torn out of their hands), and is in skin contact with it (so holding it works, but so does wearing it as pendant against bare skin). Some miraculous effects require the relic to be visible to others or be touched by others.

Roll 1d10 three times to get the Relic, the Saint, and the Miraculous effect!

d10	Relic	Saint	Miraculous effect
1	Skull, with red silk thread connecting the eye and nose cavities. Belonged to…	St. Bartho. A Crusader who was quartered by the infidels. Didn’t give up his Faith.	Our Savior’s Heavy Cross. Counts as 2 points of Encumbrance (regardless of size or actual weight), but gives +1 to all Saves.
2	Molar tooth with silver fillings. From the mouth of…	St. Penther. A simple artisan, who did nothing special, but one day ascended into Heaven in a pillar of light.	Speaking in Tongues. Once per day, the wielder of the relic can fall into a trance and speak in tongues. Everybody in hearing distance can roll their Language skill (the check must be made again every time the Tongues are heard). If successful, they can piece together some random but useful information regarding their current situation. The trance lasts for 1d12 minutes and cannot be ended before this duration. Afterwards, the wielder must Save against Paralyze, or remain in the trance for 1d6 days.
3	Piece of bloody cloth, pressed under glass. From the garments of…	St. Ambo & St. Ivor. Conjoined twin brothers: one of them was pious, one was a non-believer. Nobody remembers exactly which one was which, so both got canonized by the Church.	Miraculous Conversion. Anybody seeing the relic must Save against Magic or wholeheartedly accept a tenet of faith uttered by the wielder. It must be phrased as a generic “commandment”, not an exact “command”. After 1d10 minutes, the tenet is completely rejected. Works only once on one person.
4	Small crystal vial, containing the blood of…	St. Gomberth. A hermit who lived 133 years and could talk to animals.	Pains of Salvation. If any damage roll affecting the wielder comes up as the minimum or the maximum possible value, it must be re-rolled. The second roll must be taken.
5	The heavy chains that were used to imprison…	St. Kirlian. 8-year old boy, participant of the Children’s Crusade.	Suffer no Witch. The wielder of the relic senses the presence of Magic-Users and Elves. The range of this ability is defined by the approaching witch’s level (30’/level). The wielder doesn’t know the identity or location of the Chaos-tainted abomination, but can taste their approximate power. The wielder must also make a Save against Poison, or vomit for 1d3 rounds (1 damage/round).
6	Small portable icon, size of a palm. It depicts…	St. Ar’qhual’aaaa. Blessed with miraculous healing powers. Came out of the blue, spoke an unknown language, had a second mouth on his forehead. Disappeared without a trace after saving a whole town from the Black Plague.	Seal of Purity. The wielder of the relic is considered a pure, innocent virgin* who can do no harm by everybody. If the wielder does something impure, harmful, or “un-virginlike”, everybody must Save against Paralyze. On success, they realize the relic-wielder for what they are. On a failure, they try to rationalize the act as a demonstration of purity. * Unicorns detect the wielder as a virgin too.
7	Gilded knucklebone belonging to…	St. Luxielle. Wife of a pagan chieftain, who became Christian, and proceeded to convert her husband and her husband’s other wives.	Bringer of Prophecies. If pulverized and consumed before sleep, the relic brings a dream about angels, bright lights, flight and other such imagery. The interpretation of the vision is up to the character. While resting under the influence of the powder, natural healing is quadrupled. Enough for 1d8 uses.
8	A cold iron dagger lying on a velvet cushion*. The weapon was the implement of the torture of… * The miraculous power actually comes from the cushion.	St. Morsus. A blind man, who could talk to angels.	Receptacle of Sacrifices. Anybody who touches the relic can voluntarily sacrifice 1d6 maximum Hit points. This amount is stored in the relic. The process can be repeated any number of times, by any number of individuals. The relic’s maximum capacity is 77 hit points. If a person who has already sacrificed maximum hit points takes the relic and touches any other person or creature with it, the target heals 1d6 hit points (up to the amount that’s currently stored). The number rolled is then subtracted from what’s stored in the relic.
9	Left index finger, conserved in honey. Severed from the holy body of…	St. Veroni. Disguised herself as a man to join the Crusades. Killed 665 infidels, then collapsed dead at the sight of Golgotha.	Scourge of the Unclean. A Cleric holding the relic turns undead as if 1 level higher. A non-Cleric turns undead as Cleric 1.
10	Mummified right hand of…	St. Migareth. A noblewoman who gave all her riches to the lepers.	Paradise Regained. Wherever the relic is placed, common plants grow around it overnight in a 5’ radius. The plants are edible and nourishing, feed up to three people or mounts, but a Save against Poison must be each time made to avoid addiction.