#Dungeon23 #DoomGate #TheSilos April Overview

After the 4 map January, and the 4 map February and March, having only 2 maps for April feels a little weird. It shouldn't, since both February and March were basically 2 maps each, but because they were part of a single complex, and April is all by its lonesome, it feels different. 

This section is the local ICBM launch site that's connected to the larger complex. 2 of the 3 missiles are gone, but one remains, and remains active. 

There are no intelligent inhabitants of the upper level of the Silos, but it isn't without its dangers. A demonic hydra and several packs of hellhounds roam these halls. 

The lower level has more demonic threats, as a small family of bugbears that found the open silos and climbed down to check them out. They didn't expect some of the demonic energy to influence them in weird and amourous ways. 

#Dungeon23 #Doomgate #TheGarrison February & March Overview

Like The Core, I did the maps for The Garrison out of order. This wasn't an intentional choice exactly, just sort of the way it worked out as I was going. The Garrison is closer to the DoomGate and so shows more effects, and has a different population, although, as with The Core, the AI system is still active and attempting to keep things running as it was programmed to do. While working on this section I hit on the idea that in each facility there's a problem the AI needs fixed, and if the players help the AI, things will be a little easier for them in the next section, and if they don't things should be as I write them. If they actively piss off the AI, it will make their lives harder. 

Below are the levels in order, top to bottom, but not in the order I made them. 

The upper level of the Garrison has 2 exits onto the surface (imagined as a mountainous area) that has a troop of Hobgoblins that have recently moved in and started to make themselves at home (middle left side) a flooded area with various degenerate mutant creatures and natural hazards, and up top the lair of a young red dragon.   

The second level's largest feature is the zombie infested cryo lab and med bay. More otherworldly creatures lurk in this area.  

A small clan of Dark Dwarves have made there home here and the bottom level. The main computer core is here, and the dwarves have taken an important component. 

The final level of The Garrison has some warped architecture and weird effects resulting in part from a device taken from The Ark (October's section). I still need to ink this level.

#Dungeon23 Dry Run Week 1

A week ago I decided to do a dry run at #Dungeon23. I have no idea if I'll include this little 14 room dungeon in my megadungeon, or add it to Stonehell, or what, but as I've completed the first week, I wanted to share it.

Welcome to the Poisonous Vaults

1. Stairs down open up to a massive fountain that dominates the north side of the room. Serpents & snakemen hiss a harmless water mist that blankets the floor 1' deep in concealing mist.

2. Sloping passage down to storage room. North side piled 10' high w/ precariously stacked rotted worthless crates. Dry well in the SE corner drops down a little over 100'. Secret door is trapped with poison gas. Save or take 2d4 Con damage (heals @ 1pt/day)


2A. Secret stash. 1000gp, 10 bottles of wine (10gp each) 7 gems (100gp each). Rotted food and travel clothing.

3. A pair of Medusa polish the copper serpent lamps and duct work (500gp value if carefully removed). All gates are locked. Stairs down to next week's level. The polish is caustic (as oil).

4. Copper lamps continue from 3. 1 not working. West side has dais with hooded cobra backed throne. Non working lamp has a 7,000gp gem wedged in the pipe. Removing it & not relighting the lamp will fill the room with gas. In 3d4 rounds will explode as fireball

5. Beyond the locked door is an area of magical darkness. 2 gargoyles flank the door. They hate the Medusa and will give the treasure away if given one of the Medusa heads. Along the N wall is an empty wine rack save for an ebony scepter wrapped with a gold serpent and topped by a goose egg sized polished garnet (900gp). The SW quarter of the room contains destroyed rugs, floor pillows, and couches.

6. A Medusa and her pet giant rattler are playing with a blinded giant rat. The rat has already been bitten and will die in 1d6 turns. The Medusa has a pouch with 76ep.

7. Blinded giant rats (14) pick at the torso of an orc. The petrified legs are leaning in the NW corner.

Mini-Map: The Eyes have it!

At lunch at work, since my “paint at work” project has been shelved, I’ve been occasionally doodling little post it maps. I’m thinking of doing a weekly round-up of them… or maybe posting them individually, with a little description? Maybe even lightly stocking them?



You know what? Let’s give that a try!

The walls of this dusty little dungeon are all highly carved with angular geometric designs, while the floor is mosaicked in similar patterns in small 1” tiles. Scattered irregularly throughout are eyes of various sizes, carved or tiled in subtle ways throughout the dungeon. The longer the players are in the dungeon, the more they notice that the patterns seems to subtly shift, though they’ll never see it shifting. In the still air, they will hear very faint whispering, but never be able to make out the direction it’s coming from, or what’s being said.

1. Spectator’s Lounge - Goldfish aquarium, table with tea set, area rug, 3 chairs and 1 odd stool, old tapestries.
2. Spectator’s Lair - Nest of spider silk. Jar of glass eyes. Magic Jar of real eyes that move to look at anyone in the room. Jar preserves the eyes, and as long as the original owner of the eye lives, you can take out an eye from the jar and spend up to 1 minute using it to look through the owners other eye.
3. Words - Insane ramblings, prophecies, and dire warnings in dozens of languages all carved and painted on the walls. Mostly illegible. Save vs. Wands (or wisdom save DC 15) or become fearful. Effect lasts until a save is successfully made, one attempt per day.
4. Nothic lair - must pass a Save vs Spells (or fail a DC10 perception check) to see phased hallway. Lair contains the torn remains of various arcane tomes. 1d3 arcane spell scrolls can be recovered after 2d4 hours of effort.
5. Giant illusionary eye opens 1d3 rounds after anyone enters the room. Anyone in the room while the eye is open must make a Save vs Paralysis (Charisma Save, DC 13). Failing the save has no effect… (or does it?)

Room 1 is the bottom middle of the map, 2, above it, 3 bottom left, etc.

Balticon 51

Another Balticon has passed. As usual, it was great to see nearly everyone again. A special shout out to my friend and author J.L. Gribble who attended this year as a panelist! It’s always cool to see someone you know behind the table giving their expert opinions.



You should totally buy her books!



Several of my favorite authors weren’t on the program this year, including Myke Cole who was at Phoenix Comicon. With his books doing well, and his TV career developing, and a new game in the works, he’s outgrown Balticon as he’s outgrown his t-shirts. Maria V. Snyder had just returned from Africa, so wasn’t on the schedule, but she did stop by the registration desk to say hi.

Spent some time chatting with Keith DeCandido about books, Star Trek, Supernatural, and life in NYC. I was shocked and saddened to learn that his Star Trek novel Articles of Federation is apparently out of print. One of my top favorite Star Trek books out there. Well worth reading, and it’s available as an e-book. I snagged the first 2 Supernatural books he wrote (my only swag this year!) and am already about halfway through the first one.



As usual, I spent a lot of time at registration. Enough that I not only got the tshirt, but also a free pass for next year!



After going to Balticon for over a decade, some of the panels get repetitive, and the science track (my favorite) no longer has the appeal it once did. With everything available on the internet in terms of science news, there’s rarely anything discussed that I don’t already know about. I do intentionally avoid paleontology news specifically so that I can fully enjoy Dr. Holtz’s Dino Update.





Once change this year which I was thrilled to see was the inclusion of games, not just game related panels, on the program! In specific slots! When I first went to Balticon gaming was very much shuffled off into a back corner and mostly ignored. It’s nice to see it being more fully embraced.

The costumes/cosplay this year were, as usual, fantastic.



And I even spent a bit of time doing some mapping! Okay, not actually a lot of time... but it still counts!



All in all, I had a great time, and I’m already looking forward to Balticon 52!

Toothless Rat Taphouse

To enter this fine establishment you must turn off the main street into an unpleasant ally and almost immediately descend 5 stone steps to a nondescript wooden door. Hanging above the doorway is a small wooden placard with a stylized rat burned onto it. When you open the door to the taphouse the first thing you'll notice is the smell of pipeweed. Next you'll see the stuffed rodent of unusual size (R.O.U.S.) that sits in the corner by the door. It's clearly very old, missing some fur, and of course it's teeth. When you look around to the taproom proper, you'll see an assortment of round wooden tables, support posts rising from floor to ceiling, and a wide variety of stools and chairs. Along the back wall three large casks rest behind the unadorned bar. Two small dirty windows look out onto the street, between them is a dartboard, and a fireplace is centered on the far wall. The rooms illumination is provided by several oil lamps, the fireplace, and whatever dingy light manages to shine through the windows. The patrons of the Rat are mostly neighborhood workers who come by at lunch and in the evening for a pint and a game of knuckle bones or darts. It's a fairly quiet bar, rarely visited by those from outside the neighborhood.

The barkeep is a bald human with dark skin named Red. He usually wears a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark pants and leather suspenders. His left forearm is notably scarred, and Red will gladly launch into a telling of his battle with a pack of giant rats who had crawled up through the sewers and attacked him in the back room back when the bar was called simply "Red's". With each telling the rat pack grows in size, and recently he's added a rat king to the tale! The truth is that there was but a single giant rat, but the damage their fight caused made it seem like there were many more! Red will be thrilled to have adventurers in his bar, just so long as they treat him as a fellow monster slayer, rather than just as a simple barkeep. Should he not receive the treatment he feels he deserves he will quickly become very unwelcoming.

Red serves ale of middling quality for an average price, and he keeps on hand some harder drinks for those who desire them. He also keeps a hot soup or stew pot (or two) cooking in the fireplace for those who need something filling, of not particularly flavorful. The pot's contents vary by day, but usually contain a variety of root vegetables, bones from the butcher, occasional scraps of meat, and sometimes a whole rat if Red catches one in his store room.

Daily Specials
1. Rat Kebab with turnips and onion
2. Sun dried fruits and fish
3. Mushroom "steaks"
4. Apple stuffed pork belly
5. Wild berry cobbler
6. Demon eggs and pickled greens
7. Rice gruel and a bacon friend egg
8. Sausage rolls with peppers


Originally published back on 10/16/09, but the map, rat, and chart are new.

Space Freighter #fridayfiveminutemap

Inspired by this image, I drew this #fridayfiveminutemap of a Star Wars style medium freighter.

5e WNW: Citadels and Chained Coffins

5e WNW -
Session 17 of the weird new world campaign was played on Friday 6/26

The party consisted of the following:
Nessendra, Wood Elf Cleric 5 (Erindale)
Kethra, Human Fighter 5 (Nikki)
Bach, Dragonborn Warlock 5 (Erik)
Riia, Human Ranger 5 (Hanna - Absent, kindly played by Allison)
Guy Noir, ½ Elf Rogue 5 (Nadia)
Anya Bowen, Tiefling Ranger 5 (Allison)

Back in town, with the Alabaster Lady breathing down their necks, the party makes a quick investigation to determine the best fastest way to the citadel. While the land to the north, following the river becomes less swampy the further north it goes, it isn’t easy going, so they decide to hire a boat.

This proves easier said than done, as apparently the tale of the crazy adventurers from 2 centuries back still is told. The first boatman they find even turns out to be the great great grandson of the boatman they’d hired before, and with an awful lot of cajoling and begging finally relented and said he’d rent them his boat for 300gp. Annoyingly this was more than the party really had readily available, as the last time they were in town they’d spent the vast majority of their gold re-equipping.

Well, except for Veidt.

Veidt, who’d decided to stay in town and spend some time focusing on research…

Guy went begging. Riia and Bach appealed to him as a fellow nobles. Nessendra appealed to his (questionable) good side. Kethra and Anya simply looked on with their puppydog eyes (Yeah, right).

With a great show of annoyance, Veidt relented, and *loaned* the party the necessary cash, but insisted on delivering it himself. He wished them well, and a speedy return of the boat. Standing on the dock, the party once again realized that not one of them knew how to adequately operate a boat. With some muttering, they headed back into town toward the bars. Bach walks into the first open bar and loudly announces that they’re looking to hire for a dangerous mission to the citadel of chaos!

Riia and Nessendra drag him out and attempt to instil a sense of appropriateness of the situation, when a teen waves at them from around the corner of a building. He’s a young sailor, and is willing to captain their boat, as long as they’re willing to listen, and to pay. The party quickly agrees, and then he drops his final requirement - don’t tell his dad, the guy who rented them the boat…

The passage upriver was remarkable only for its ease.

The boat came to a rest against the side of the river. Ahead of them, thrusting from the generally low and flat land that they’d seen since arriving on this new continent stood the first in a chain of mountains. A great waterfall, the source of the river poured down, frothing the water below. Crouched over the every edge of the waterfall the citadel perched.

Guy summoned his crow familiar, and sent it scouting. The citadel was remarkably intact in spite of its abandoned appearance. The only damage to the structure seemed to be a hole in one of the towers. The crow also spotted a small cave with a circular stone covering the entrance. Deciding that going directly at the citadel may not be the wisest of decisions, they investigate the side cave.

They struggle to move the cover stone, until Nessendra pushes it the other way, then follow the dark path down into a large chamber. A scattering of bones surrounds a metal coffin, covered in blasphemous runes and adamantine chains. Moving in to investigate, the skeletons rise up to no one's surprise. The party recognizes the inhuman shapes of the single eyed beastmen skeletons they’d faced back 200 years ago. This time, they weren’t nearly the trouble they were before, as once again Nessendra saves the day, turning and destroying the skeletons.

“Hello?” a dry rasping voice called out from the coffin. “By Justica, is someone there? Finally?!?”

The party had found Zugun, the priest and brother of the man who became the Chaos Lord in the last great war. Unfortunately the victory wasn’t complete… While Zugun stopped his brother from becoming a true demon prince, he didn’t (or couldn’t) kill him, and during the final battle was wounded, captured, and imprisoned in the magical coffin. Worse still sometime soon, the stars would again align allowing the ritual to be attempted again.

Zugun needed their help… but he believed they could do it, with his help.

Skepticism abounded.

“We’re only just 5th level”
“We only have one magic item in the whole party”
“We don’t have a mage anymore!”
“You’re a crappy DM and we hate old school play!”
“Why do you keep pulling out DCC stuff? We’re supposed to be playing 5e!”

“Ah, but there was an armory here in the citadel. There may still be items of power within.”

“Items that could turn powerful beings to stone?”

“Yes, items just like that!”

“Do you know where”

“Well, no… not exactly.”

Grabbing the chains wrapped around the coffin, the party hauled it with them deeper into the cavern, and through a worked stone portal that continued on as a dungeon corridor. They passed by a store room, mostly empty, and a series of crypts. Guy couldn’t help himself, and began pilfering the coins left on the eyes of the dead.

As Guy defiled the dead, an audacity of gargoyles appeared at the far end of the hall, their stony visages craggy in anger. Not so easily defeated as the skeletons, they were tough opponents in every sense of the word, even resulting in Anya shattering her sword against one of them, and Riia breaking her bow trying to get enough draw to pierce their skin. When the last gargoyle stood against the bloody but still standing party, it turned and retreated, flying into the darkness…

Bach in hot pursuit!

Z: Zowie

"The Infernal Machine?" Nimble scrunched his face. "What's that?"

Feris looked around. "I think we're in it. I think this whole complex is some sort of..."

"Infernal Machine?" Rathgar offered.

"Yes, but what does it do?" Nimble asked.

Feris frowned. "If I'm reading this diagram correctly, this section is designed to draw energy from... somewhere. It doesn't say where exactly."

"Where generally?" Allianora asked.

"It doesn't say. Just that it draws the energy, traps it in those crystals, and then focuses the energy onto that crystal in the ceiling."

Rathgar looked at the ceiling. "And then what?"

"I doubt anything good." Nimble said, eyeing the big gem. "Think removing that will cause the machine to fail?"

Feris grinned. "Probably."

Y: Yellow

"These all bear the mark of the King in Yellow." Feris said, careful to avoid even touching the gold place settings around the table.

"Which means we've got his cursed spawn running around here somewhere..." Rathgar looked from door to door.

"Very likely." Allianora said. "And this is not a good place to be when they find us."

"You mean when we find them, right?" Feris asked.

"Let's hope so." Nimble replied, tearing his eyes from the golden plates and chalices. "What, umm... what sort of cursed things?"

"The spawn of the King in Yellow are mad, and they bleed constantly." Allianora began, moving toward the next door. "They try to distract themselves from their madness by causing themselves pain. Usually through tattoos and piercings that never heal. If they can cause you to hear the King's whisperings..."

"Right" Nimble nodded "Listening to the King in Yellow is bad. Got it."

X: Xenophobia

Nimble looked over the railing. "Have you ever seen orcs dressed like that before?" he whispered back.

Rathgar creeped forward and peered over. The orcs below were dressed in spidersilk, with elaborate hats bedecked with strange feathers and glinting gems. They sat about the room below in upholstered chairs looking at illusionary artwork that morphed on the walls. While a few seemed entranced by it, most looked mournful, and a few were openly shedding tears.

"Orcs can cry?" Rathgar gasped in amazement, before slapping his hand over his mouth. Yet for the volume of his outburst, it seemed to draw no attention from below. His companions, on the other hand, glared at him. Removing his hand, he mouthed "sorry" and slunk away from the railing with Nimble.

"What makes an orc cry?" Feris asked.

His companions shrugged. "They're people too, even if they lack a level of... maturity. Probably not helped by the fact that their gods are.. less than encouraging of development toward a more civilized attitude."

"So what happened to these orcs?"

"The only time I've seen orcs going against their nature as a group like this is when someone else makes them." Rathgar said grimly.

"Which means that there's someone or something that's capable of cowing an entire tribe of orcs." Allianora said, gripping her mace a little tighter.

W: Weird

"Here they are again." Nimble pointed to the floor. "Three toed this time."

Rathgar turned to Feris "You've been keeping track. Does this match anything you know?"

"Bloody footprints that appear and disappear with varying numbers of toes, claws, and treads?" Feris looked up from his notes. "No, that doesn't match anything I know of."

"Could be some sort of ghost." Allianora suggested. "Or a chaos beast."

"Well, we only seem to see one set of prints at a time. Best keep our eyes open, but not worry too much about it until we get more information." Feris offered.

"Right. Try not to step in the blood." Rathgar continued down the dark hall.

V: Vermin

"It's full of bugs" Nimble said, slamming the door shut. "I don't know what they are, but they're swarming the room."

"Any ideas?" Allianora asked.

Rathgar sighed. "Can we just go around it?"

Feris double checked the map. "Not that I can tell."

"Ok, how do we want to do this?"

"Burning oil?" Nimble suggested.

We'll have to wait for it to die down, and then make sure we've got enough fresh air to clear out the room without suffocating ourselves." Feris warned.

"If no one has any better ideas..." Nimble began to unpack the flasks of oil.

U: Undead

"Any guess as to what it says?" Nimble asked.

"If I'm reading it correctly, it's a list of names." Feris said, tracing his fingers along the carved stone door. "I think they were the architects."

"That's a lot of names." Nimble replied.

"It is..." Feris kept tracing his fingers across the inscriptions. "I think that these are the names of those who built the tomb."

"Wow... the workers getting some credit. That's unusual."

"Credit... and cursed." Feris' finger paused on a series of symbols in the middle of the door. "So as to protect the secrets of the tomb, those who served in life to build it will serve in death to protect it."

"Undead in a tomb isn't much of a shock." Allinora noted.

"No, but they're often not in the main tomb." Feris pointed out.

T: Traps

“Careful, it’s trapped.” Feris warned.

“How do you know?” Nimble asked, half crouched before the door.

“Because there are seams running from about where your head is on that wall, up around the ceiling and back down on the other side.” Feris pointed as he spoke.

“Good eyes” Allianora smiled. “Guess all that reading by candle light hasn’t completely ruined you.”

Rathgar chuckled.

“Ha-ha...” Nimble smirked, then turned back to the doorway.

S: Statues

Sunlight filtered through narrow stained glass windows, casting a fractured rainbow into the broken statues that littered the great hall. Somewhere in the buttresses a robin sang. “I guess that we’re not going to be able to save the kids?” Nimble asked, knowing the answer.

“No.” Allianora said sadly.

“We’ve fought a medusa before. We can take another one now.” Feris said, and then began to weave a spell. The light in the hall became more diffuse, and then a cool mist began to fill the space.

“Remember, keep close, and don’t make eye contact.” Rathgar said, dropping the visor of his helm. Shield ready, he gripped his spear loosely, and pushed the doors open as he entered, his companions close behind. Nimble closed the door behind them.

Keeping to the wall, the party advanced until Rathgar spotted a figure ahead. “I see it” he said over his shoulder.

The figure shifted in the mist. “Fools” the unexpectedly deep voice rumbled. The figure moved again, throwing something.

It clattered off of Rathgar’s shield. He grinned, and shifted his grip on the spear. He took a step toward the figure before noticing the heft of his shield increasing, and a crackling noise coming from it. “Frelling magic” he cursed, pulling his arm from the shield. It shattered into stone fragments when it hit the floor.

---

I'm afraid from this point on I didn't finish scanning in the maps. I'll post them when I'm back from my hike!

R: Rooms, Siphon

The room stank of rot, strange chemicals, and sweet herbs, probably from the body on the slab in the center of the room. Beyond it, a great contraption of wheels, levers, and switches all wired together in some intricate and arcane fashion. Between them stood the cadaverous form of Selkar The Ancient, his mummified skin pulled tight over his bones, red eyes burning beneath his bony orc brow.

“Excellent…” his dry throat rasped. “Do come in” he commanded. Rathgar jerked toward the undead orc. “I was just in need of another volunteer.”

Allianora and Nimble grabbed the back of Rathgar’s armor while Feris leveled his wand at the monster and unleashed a bolt of witchfire. The mummy ducked the crackling bolt, which struck the machine. He responded with a roar, his massive jaw seeming to dislocate, the force of which knocked the companions to the ground.

As the companions picked themselves off the ground, Selkar threw a switch on the machine, and the coursing energies of the witchfire were shunted into the body on the slab. It jerked and spasmed, smoke escaping from seams of the stitched up flesh. “Kill them!” Selkar ordered the golem.

Q: Question

A precious gift, this,
Yet it has no end or beginning,
And in the middle, nothing.

“Friend”

“No, you have to say it in elvish.” Nimble insisted.

Feris sighed, and in the lyrical tones of those with the pointy ears he again said ‘friend.’

The companions stood looking at the closed door in silence. After a long moment Rathgar grinned. “I always thought that was an old wives tale.”

“Any other bright ideas?”

“I always thought ‘opensesame’ had a nice ring to it.” Allianora offered, and the door swung open.

Rathgar scowled. “Really? Opensesame?”

“No!” Feris grinned. “Ring!”

P: Pool

The font glistened with an oily rainbow of colors, the fluid undulating by some unseen force.

“What could be swimming in that?” Rathgar asked.

“Who say’s anything is? It could be the… liquid itself.” Feris shrugged.

“If we’re going to rededicate this temple to the lords of light, we’ll need the font cleaned out. Any thoughts on how to do that?” Allianora asked.

*I’d really rather you didn’t* a voice said in their heads.

“Great, a talking puddle.” Nimble whined.

“At least it’s polite.” Feris smiled. “If more monsters talked to us... “

*I object to being referred to as a monster. However, I’m willing to overlook that if you’ll be willing to consider alternatives to ‘cleaning’ me out of my home."

O: Ooze, Soap Bubble

“Ok, what’s that?” Allianora pointed down the corridor. Glistening in the lantern light, a large cluster of bubbles bobbed along bouncing off the walls and floor.

“New one on me.” Feris answered. “Looks like soap bubbles.”

“I knew this bag of endless rats would come in handy.” Nimble smiled, reaching into the sack. He tossed the squeaking rodent at the bubbles. It passed easily through them, landing easily on the dungeon floor. It squeaked again, and shook its now glistening fur. It then sat up to wash its face and began flailing about in obvious pain. Moments later it fell to the ground twitching before it collapsed into a gooey mess. “Oh…” Nimble’s bloodless face looked on in horror as the former rat began to bubble up.

“How about a little fire?” Nimble spread his fingers, sending a sheet of flame down the corridor, popping the bubbles with an acidic hiss.