30 Minute Dungeon Delve 16: Look Spiders Are Cool Okay?

Idea: Castle in the woods and its just absolutely full of spiders, big and small. Also some spider-folk and spider themed traps.

Hook: There are some ruins of a castle in the nearby forest, reconstructed partially and held together with spider web. Nobody knows what the original name of the place is, but now it is just known as the Venom Fortress. There are rumors of great treasure within, if you can survive the spiders...

Key:

1. The room is thick with web, covering everything like sheets. There is a chest in the corner with a shiny spider-shaped latch. (The latch is actually just a large venomous spider, which will bite if anyone attempts to open the chest. Within the chest is a large quantity of gold coins.)

2. A giant exoskeleton of a spider rests in the corner, the hilt of a golden sword visible in its mouth, having been plunged into its head. A mummified corpse lays nearby. (If the golden sword is pulled, the exoskeleton suddenly becomes animated, piloted by swarms of small spiders like a mechsuit. The mummified corpse nearby will also animate in a similar fashion. Both of these entities will attack any intruders, the spider colonies within being desperate for food. The sword in the dead spider’s head is very expensive, though not very practical due to being made from gold.)

3. Rows of beds indicate this was a barracks. There are weapon racks on the wall as well, though the weapons are all long rusted and worthless. (If one looks up, they will see dozens of skeletons encased in sacks of web attached to the ceiling. Most of the skeletons appear to be dressed in decaying armor.)

4. The floor, walls, and ceiling are covered in elaborate patterns of web. A couple of stone slabs have been hoisted up onto the ceiling and are being held there with web. (Some of the web is set up to act as a pressure plate. If stepped on, a rudimentary pulley system of web drops slabs of rock onto the offending intruder.)

5. The wall looks recently repaired, with sticky web used instead of mortar. There is a large stained glass window depicting a holy symbol, similarly repaired, allowing light to filter into the room. (If one roots around the web covered floor, they can find holy books, symbols, and some bones.)

6. A woman wearing a loose fitting robe of spider silk prays in the corner to a statue of a spider-goddess. (She will continue to pray unless interrupted with conversation. Her name is Willow, and she is a devotee of Arachne, goddess of spiders. She has made a pilgrimage to Venom Fortress to pray for good hunting and trapping this season for her village. She is not hostile, and has no special knowledge of this place, and may be willing to help care for anyone who is wounded. She has some medicinal herbs she brought with her for the pilgrimage.)

7. The room is covered with web, and within the webs are treasures of various kinds, including pottery, jewelry, and artwork. However, descending down from the ceiling comes a gigantic spider, preparing to attack. (If the spider is killed, it will twitch and squirm before a giant worm explodes out of its abdomen and attacks the party.)

8. A vast pit fills the room, leading miles and miles into the Earth. Faint clacking can be heard from below. (If a torch or similar object is tossed down, its light will briefly illuminate the walls of the pit, revealing thousands of silk-wrapped corpses and giant spiders, some with human-like faces and limbs, leading down to the core of the planet. These creatures are not hostile, and will not leave the pit.)

9. Tapestries of web hang from the walls, showing scenes of giant spiders on the hunt for prey, usually in the form of humanoids. (The tapestries seem to tell some sort of myth, one unheard of by human scholars but perhaps contained in the genetic memory of spiders. It seems to involve some sort of time period before (Or after, its difficult to tell just from the tapestries) humanity is the dominant species, when arachnids and other arthropods rule the Earth.)

10. Some spider people dwell here, wrapping up deer in web. One of them wields a staff tipped with a humanoid skull, wrapped in web. This one appears to be the leader, wearing armor made from wood and web, while the other spider-folk are either naked or dressed in rags. (The staff allows anyone wielding it to turn into a giant spider and back once per day, the spider people attack on sight.)

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 15: Well, Well, Well

Idea: Underground tunnels connected to a well in the woods. The tunnels used to be the hiding spot of some bandits, who eventually left the woods after being driven out of town. Their treasure is left behind, though their traps are still there and some local monsters have taken up residence.

Hook: An old man offers to lead the party to a place with treasure in exchange for some coins. If the offer is taken, he will lead them to the forest and point to an old well, claiming that there is a network of tunnels at the bottom with treasure.

Key:

1. Leaves have fallen into the well, leaving a thick covering on the floor. Worms and other decomposers wriggle in the dead foliage. (A bear trap is hidden under the leaves, rusted with age. If activated it will do damage and has a 3 in 6 chance of infecting the victim with tetanus.)

2. The room is covered in dust-covered cobwebs, and the floor is littered with the corpses of spiders. There is a faint metallic smell in the air. (The cobwebs glow slightly with a violet color, as if from residual magic.)

3. There are some cobweb covered shelves on the wall, mostly full of jars with pickled vegetables in them. In the corner is a chest, coated in a thick layer of dust. (The chest is trapped with a poison needle, but inside is a large quantity of coins. One of the jars on the shelves contains a gem hidden inside it.)

4. A half-human, half-beast creature rummages through some nearby boxes, cursing and grunting. It has curved horns, horse-like ears, sharp teeth, and hooved feet. Its back is to the party. (If the beast-creature notices the party, it will turn around and begin to fire bursts of necrotic energy from its fingertips. The creature was once a human magician named Darla, but was transformed by fey tricksters after she injured one of them. Though she is now in an animal-like and aggressive state, it is possible to surrender and reason with her. Darla lives in these tunnels out of shame and fear of being attacked by the church.)

5. There is a dark hole in the floor, about the width of one’s hand, otherwise the room is completely empty. (If one investigates the hole further, they will eventually hear muttering coming from it. The muttering voice will respond if talked to, eager for company. The voice calls itself Grimdel, and claims to be a lonely dwarf explorer in the depths of the underworld, desperate for companionship. If engaged in conversation and given some food or coin, the voice will be exceedingly grateful, and will send up an enchanted mechanical insect that obeys all commands to the best of its ability. After this, Grimdel will leave, continuing on his adventures.)

6. The room contains a few wooden tables, some barrels, and various tubes and bottles. It appears to have once been a distillery. (Some of the barrels still contain drinkable moonshine, which is also highly flammable.)

7. Roots from a tree writhe and twist around a chest, small human-like mouths dribbling green goo as they do so, whispering in an alien language. (The roots aren’t able to harm anything, and the chest can be removed fairly easily with the use of a hatchet or similar tool, though the roots will scream in agony. Within the chest are a variety of decades old fine clothes, well preserved for their age, and worth a pretty penny to the right buyer.)

8. Bones and bits of fur are carefully arranged in piles, some bones snipped in half. There is a pile of wood and fabric in the corner. (Hiding in the wood and fabric is a scorpion the size of a human being, waiting to strike.)

9. On the floor in piles are the frames of old paintings. Most of the paintings would be of considerable value, but unfortunately after years of neglect they are all practically worthless. (Most of the paintings that are still vaguely intact seem strange, as if painted by something almost human, but not quite. Something about the proportion of faces and the colors employed are wrong, as if the painter only had a vague idea of what a human looked like. The paintings are signed in a runic language, similar but unlike those of ancient human civilizations.)

10. Various vine covered skeletons lie around the room, intact and held together by stems and leaves. Suddenly, with a creaking noise as if a tree is being felled, the skeletons rise to their feet, grabbing clubs made from cast off branches before attacking. (The skeletons will only fight the party as long as they are in the room, since the vines controlling them are not long enough to permit them to leave.)

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 14: Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who is the Weirdest of Them All?

Idea: Magical mirror that was used to hide a wizard’s treasure, and is inhabited by bound demons in semi-human form, and the wizard’s old familiar.

Hook: A mirror has been found in an old basement of an abandoned house, and its been claimed that there is movement that can be seen inside out of the corner of one’s eyes. Through some legal strangeness, one of the player characters inherits the mirror.



Key:

1. This room resembles the room that the mirror is placed in, but reversed. Writing is backwards, furniture is on the wrong side of the room, etc. (Any door in the room that was in the original room leads to somewhere else in the dungeon, not the original location. If there is no door in the room that the mirror is placed in, one is created, thus making the reflection obviously magical.)



2. The floor is a mosaic, depicting a snake slithering over some grass whose head leads to the entrance door and whose tail leads to the exit door. Otherwise, the room appears to be completely empty. (If one walks only where the snake is depicted, they will be fine. However, the rest of the room is full of tiny wires, capable of tearing someone to shreds in seconds if one walks into them like a cheese grater.)



3. There is a table and some chairs attached to the ceiling, and there is a door there as well. The ceiling is approximately 5 meters off the ground. (Every 3 rounds, gravity in this room switches, causing anyone who isn’t holding on to something to fall “up” and take damage.)



4. Various chests and boxes float in the air, bobbing up and down slightly. A large, iron chest floats about 6 meters off the ground, above all the rest. (All the other chests and boxes are empty, but the iron chest contains many gold coins.)



5. The room is dusty, with an old writing desk and piles of books written in unknown languages. On the desk is a silver cage, containing a small red humanoid with horns, a tail, and bat-like wings. (The creature in the cage is an Imp named Malach. The imp has been trapped in the mirror dimension for years due to the enchanted cage, and is desperate to be free. He will do three services for whoever frees him, and the key to his cage is in the desk. He can give a vague history of the dungeon, saying it was created by his “former master” to store treasure, though he will claim this master is now long dead.)



6. The room is full of nude wooden mannequins, all in various poses. Anyone who enters this room feels as though they are being watched by something inhuman, and can almost hear a faint breathing. (Some of the mannequins are alive, and will silently try to move their way closer to the party and attack while they aren’t looking, blending in with the other mannequins.)



7. The ceiling of this room seems to go up for miles. On the walls are various paintings, all of which seem to change if one looks away. In a glass case in the center of the room is a blue pointed hat with stars sewn into it. (If the hat is worn, the wearer may change their physical appearance once per day into that of any humanoid. This effect lasts until the sunset.)



8. Crawling around on the walls and ceiling are giant cockroaches with infant faces, chittering mindlessly with their eyes closed. (If enough noise is made, the roaches’ eyes open, revealing black voids, and they attack, screaming in deep voices.)



9. The room is an elaborately decorated and fancy bedroom, with an open window looking out into the void of outer space. (Despite the window into the void, there is air in this room. If one looks around, they can find a chest containing some jewelry, as well as a coin purse on the bed.)



10. There are some mirrors on the wall. Each one, regardless of where a character actually is, contains the reflection of a player character with their eyes gouged out, looking ahead and smiling blankly. In the center of the room is a chest locked with chain. (If the chest or the mirrors are touched, the mirrors shatter and the mirror images of the characters step out and attack, saying anything the player characters say backwards. The chest contains gold and jewelry.)

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 13: Who's That Tapping on my Mine Wall?

Idea: Miners have dug too deep, unleashing kobolds who have been hibernating for centuries in a sealed off cavern, which are now thirsty for blood. The miners call the beasts knockers or tappers for the distinctive tapping sound they make with their pick axes on the walls.

Hook: More and more accidents have been happening in the local mine, and survivors have claimed that small, reptilian humanoids have been seen lurking in the shadows and tapping on the walls. The foreman will pay anyone who is willing to either prove that there are no such creatures, or exterminate them once and for all.



Key:



1. The room is quiet, except for the drip-drop of water condensing from the ceiling. It is dark, and there is a broken lantern on the floor. (The lantern has blood on it, as if it was used as a weapon, causing it to break.)



2. There is suddenly a tapping sound, followed by eerie giggling, as parts of the ceiling behind falling down! (During the collapse, if one looks and listens carefully, they can hear the tapping of clawed feet and see a small figure dashing away into a tunnel which is soon buried by rubble.)



3. There are some tapping sounds coming from below, along with more giggling and some hissing whispers. (There is a small hole in the wall, that, if looked at, one can see a red, reptilian eye peaking through before the hole is plugged up with a rock.)



4. A beam of the mine has fallen down, and there is the body of a miner trapped under it. (Upon closer inspection, the miner is not dead. If she is awakened, she will say that her name is Helga, and she was attacked by the tappers. Helga has a broken leg, but is otherwise unhurt, theorizing that the tappers must have thought she was dead.)



5. There is a shiny golden brooch in a pile of coal on the far side of the room. (There is a tripwire across the floor. If tripped, a pick-axe swings down on a pendulum towards whoever triggered the trap. In addition to the normal damage caused by the pick-axe, it is also coated in a thin layer of poison. The brooch is authentic and expensive.)



6. There is a faint hissing laughter, followed by a cold wind coming from seemingly nowhere. Icy hand prints begin appearing on the walls, and a whispering voice that seems right next to everyone’s ear says “Go back, surface dwellers.” (There are a series of runes carved into the wall, that, if properly assessed by someone with magical knowledge, can be determined to be some form of ancient illusion spell.)



7. The more artificial and structured mine ends, giving way to the chaotic pseduo-architecture of caves. Stalagmites and stalactites fill the room like the columns of an ancient temple. (Hiding behind the rock formations are a band of kobolds, some armed with slings though most wield pick-axes.)



8. The floor is splattered with dry blood, and in the center of the room is a dead miner with a pick-axe driven through their skull. (The miner’s right hand is closed, concealing a beautiful jewel.)



9. The room is still obviously natural, but it appears that it has been modified to be lived in. There are shelves carved into the walls, and the floor seems less irregular. On the far wall is a stone chest, and there is some pottery in the corner. (Kobolds with ranged weapons, including molotov cocktails, lurk behind the pottery. Within the stone chest are ancient coins and a magic shield that has has a 3 in 6 chance of reflecting back projectiles that are successfully blocked by it.)



10. A vast pit descends deep into the Earth. (If one shines a light into the pit, they will find countless eyes staring back at them, as a swarm of kobolds awake from hibernation and begin clawing their way up out of the pit like spiders, cackling and screaming.)

Some Rituals

Resurrection

Components: The body (or whats left of it) of whoever is being resurrected, a fertilized and unhatched chicken’s egg, a mixture of strange herbs and powders costing 5000 coins.

Time: 1 day

Effect: At the end of the ritual, roll 1d6 and check below to see what occurred.

1. The character being resurrected erupts fully formed and alive out of someone performing the ritual’s stomach, killing them instantly.

2. The body comes back to life, in whatever state it started in, but with the full intelligence of the character who died. They start with half their original maximum hit points, and cannot heal wounds naturally. The only way for them to regain HP is to consume human flesh. As long as the resurrected consumes at least a pound of fresh human flesh each day, they can regain 1d6 HP.

3. The body burns from the inside in a flash of light, and the chicken egg hatches to reveal a small and deformed fetus. The fetus will grow to the size of an adult over the course of 1d6 weeks, whereupon it will assume the form and intelligence of the character who is being resurrected.

4. The body heals itself magically and comes back to life, but is severely drained from the experience. To represent this, the character is resurrected at first level.

5. The body of the person being resurrected fixes itself and heals magically into a new body, with completely different features. The intelligence, skills, and levels of the character in question stay the same, but age, sex, and race can change.

6. The body of the person being resurrected fixes itself and heals magically, bringing back the character perfectly healthy and alive. However, the character has been tasked with a quest by a higher power, and unless the quest is completed in 1 month, the character will rapidly decay back into a corpse and die.

Flesh and Soul Combined

Components: Two living human bodies, a mixture of hallucinogenic drugs costing 1000 coins, a human skeleton

Time: 1 hour

Effect: The two humans involved in the ritual collapse into a mass of blood and tissue which begins to undulate and move towards the skeleton, surrounding it in a chrysalis that rapidly hardens. After 1d6 days, the chrysalis opens, revealing a fully grown adult with features of the two original humans, and the combined intellect of both. The resulting creature adds the two original characters’ stats and HP together, resulting in a more powerful being than before. There is a 1 in 6 chance that the ritual fails halfway through, resulting in a horrendously mutated monster with a mismatch of limbs and organs. The monster has the combined stats and HP of the two human bodies, but is violent due to constant pain and has no intelligence beyond that needed to hunt down and kill normal humans.

Unerring Stones

Components: Around 20 or so small stones

Time: 10 minutes

Effect: After the chanting and praying is complete, 1d6-1 (minimum 0) stones will glow. These stones have been enchanted, and are now magical weapons. If thrown, no attack roll is made, they automatically hit, and deal 1d3 damage directly to HP, ignoring any armor. The stones only remain magical for 24 hours, and the ritual can be cast only once per day.

Crossing the Veil of Worlds

Components: 50 coins worth of incense and candles, a willing participant, and a rare flower from the East that costs 1000 coins on the open market

Time: 30 minutes

Effect: The participant’s mind is drawn out of their body and given a form in the realm of spirits and shades. While this occurs, the body is essentially in a coma, and will remain this way until the mind reenters the body. In this state, they can interact with ethereal beings that are normally beyond the view of humans, and are intangible; they may move through solid objects. In addition, the participant’s mind-body is invisible and makes no sound to humans, animals like cats and some birds can still perceive it. If the participant’s physical body dies while the mind has exited, they are trapped in the spirit realm forever.

More Lovecraft Monsters For Holmes Basic!

Colour out of Space
Move: 360 feet/turn flying
Hit Dice: n/a (treat as 5 for to-hit purposes)
Armor Class: n/a
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: Neutral
Attacks: 1
Damage: 0

The Colour out of space is not so much a monster as it is a phenomena. These beings are a living hue, descending from the stars on meteorites. Upon arriving, the Colour begins to sap all life from an area, usually about the size of a 6 mile wide hex. Creatures born in the influence of the Colour will be mutated, and their flesh provides no nourishment. Every week spent in a hex infested by Colour, creatures must make a saving throw versus poison. If failed, 1 point is subtracted from Strength, Wisdom, Charisma, Constitution, and Dexterity (most humanoids have 10 in each of these attributes). When a creature’s Constitution is reduced to 0, it either dies, crumbling into ashes, or becomes an undead creature equivalent to a skeleton. The Colour cannot be killed, though it may be possible to dispel it with the right rituals. Colours tend to infect a land for 1d6 years before ascending into space, leaving an “offspring” behind which will start the process again in 1d4 decades.



The Colour can also gather its essence into a semi-material form, shaped like a glowing mist, to directly attack its victims. Anyone hit by the Colour loses a level. If this would result in a character being reduced to 0 levels, they instantly die and become undead equivalent to skeletons under the control of the Colour.

(Image taken from the film Die Monster Die!)

Old One (Elder Thing)
Move: 240 feet/turn/fly 480 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 5
Armor Class: 7
Treasure Type: G
Alignment: Neutral
Attacks: 5
Damage: 1-4 each



The Old Ones are half-vegetable and half-animal, resembling 5 sided barrels with starfish heads, tentacles, and 5 membranous wings. They are extremely intelligent, possessing 5 lobed brains instead of humanity’s two. The Old Ones’ civilization collapsed long ago due to unknown reasons, though it is known that the Shoggoths may have been involved, and as such most Old Ones that will be encountered are long dead. However, the Old Ones are capable of faking death, and hibernating for millions of years, and so it is possible to find living Old Ones sleeping in their cyclopean tomb cities. The Old Ones speak in a flute-like piping language, most commonly described as sounding like “Tekeli-li”.

(Sketch by H.P. Lovecraft)

Shoggoths
Move: 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 10
Armor Class: 2
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: Neutral
Attacks: 1-8
Damage: 1-6

Shoggoths are horrifying creatures, hideous masses of black, primordial ooze covered with eyes and mouths that constantly dissolve and reform. Their variable attacks represents them growing and consuming pseudopods rapidly. Most shoggoths are at least 10 meters in diameter, but they can hypothetically be almost any size. They were originally created by the Old Ones long ago as a slave race, before they evolved into conscious entities and rebelled. Shoggoths speak in the strange piping language of their former masters, and will always attack Old Ones on sight.

(Cover of Astounding Stories)

Mi-Go
Move: 120 feet/turn/fly 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 3
Armor Class: 8
Treasure Type: G
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Attacks: 2
Damage: 1-6

Though the Mi-Go look like large crabs with bat-like wings, they are actually closer to a bizarre kind of fungi, hinted at by their strange fleshy heads covered in antennae. The Mi-Go only partially exist in our reality, being composed of utterly alien matter. As such, they only take half damage from non-magical weapons, though they can still be killed. The Mi-Go do not experience grief like humans do, and as such it is still possible to bargain and parley with them even after having previously killed many of their number. Mi-Go are technologically advanced, and normally have some form of mechanical translator which allows them to speak and understand any language.

(Image taken from 20000 Leagues Under the Sea)

Giant Albino Penguin
Move: 80 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 2
Armor Class: 8
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: Neutral
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1-4

After generations of living in the warm, dark ruins beneath the cities of the Old Ones, these penguins have grown to massive size and lost their eyes. They tend to be peaceful creatures, but may attempt to defend themselves if attacked by startled adventurers mistaking them for monsters.

(Image taken from the Australian Antarctic Division)

Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath
Move: 180 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 10
Armor Class: 2
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Attacks: 5
Damage: 1-10 each


The dark young are servants of Shub-Niggurath, an evil fertility deity that is also known as the Black Goat. These creatures appear to be related to shoggoths, and it is possible that they are a hybrid species caused by Shub-Niggurath breeding with a shoggoth. Dark Young resemble trees made from ropy tentacles covered with mouths, with roots ending in goat-like hooves. They are usually worshiped as nature spirits by certain orders of evil druids.

(Image taken from The Days of Chivalry, or the Legend of Croquemitaine)

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 12: The Lost Temple of Orcus

Idea: Abandoned temple of Orcus, the demon god of undeath. There are undead and a demon lurking in the tomb, as well as the reanimated head of the high priest who is very talkative.

Hook: There have long been rumors that the strange stone building in the hills was a blasphemous church to a demonic being. It has been a long time since light and foul chanting emanated from the structure, and the church has payed you to investigate, to see if the evil has left.



Key:



1. This room is full of graffiti, suggesting that the building has been abandoned for a decent while. (Some of the graffiti reads things like; “Don’t go further than this!” or, “Beware the orb!”.)

2. A red orb floats in the center of the room, glowing ominously. There are scorch marks on the walls and floor, and there is an odd metal disk with writing on it near the entrance to the room. (The orb shoots bolts of reddish energy from it if non-cult members entered the room. In order to differentiate between cultists and non-cultists, cultists would carry metal disks like the one on the floor. Anyone holding a metal disk will not be harmed by the orb.)

3. The floor is strewn with bones, some of which have teeth marks on them. Suddenly, the bones whirl and connect themselves together through dark magic, animating into animated skeletons with sharp claws! (Unlike the orb in room 2, the skeletons are not fooled by the metal disk. One of the skeletons has a jewel rattling around in its skull.)

4. Against the wall is a 3 meter tall statue of a corpulent humanoid with bat-like wings and a rotting goat’s head. The statue is sitting, and its lap is piled with coins and other valuables. (The statue is recognizable to those with knowledge of demons as Orcus, the demon lord of undeath.)

5. There is an audible heartbeat in this room, caused by a disembodied heart laying on a small altar in the center of the room. With every other beat, large black spikes emerge from the floor quickly before retracting. (If the heart on the altar is destroyed, the spikes will stop.)

6. The floor, walls, and even ceiling of this room are covered with carved and painted writing, most of which is gibberish about death being an illusion. (Some of the “paint” is dry, flaky, and brown, evidently dried blood.)

7. This room contains some tables and chairs, with writing implements nearby. On one of the chairs is a headless corpse, rotten and decaying, and on the table in front of it is a remarkably preserved severed head. (If approached, the head will seem to “wake up” and begin trying to make conversation, including several bad puns about having “nobody”. Eventually the head might introduce himself, proclaiming that he is Kenneth, high priest of Orcus. Despite being a demon worshiper, Kenneth is remarkably amicable and quite a decent fellow. He doesn’t know why the cult beheaded him and left, but he is curious to find out, and will ask to be carried with the party back to town.)

8. The room is empty except for an archway leading to nowhere made from shiny black stone, covered in red symbols. (If someone walks through the archway, they arrive in Hell, on a field of blood, surrounded by charred animated corpses for miles. If the person flees immediately back through the archway, the archway simply collapses. If they do not run, the archway has a 2 in 6 chance each round of collapsing behind them, trapping them in Hell.)

9. Some zombies with burning, empty eye sockets stumble around the room, clutching jagged swords. In the center of the room is a brazier, burning blue with magical fire. (The zombies will attack the second they notice the party, they are also decently intelligent, and may attempt to overturn the brazier in order to light the party on fire.. They are wearing a lot of ritual golden jewelry decorated with images of demons and skulls, which could be worth a lot of money to a non-superstitious merchant.)

10. The circular room initially appears empty, aside from the large pentacle carved into the floor. However, seconds after the party enters the room, there is a thunderous roar and a large, rotting demon leaps down from the ceiling, with curved horns, vestigial wings, and glowing red eyes. The demon wields a large warhammer in one hand. (The warhammer used by the demon is enchanted to do extra damage to mortals, and though it is too large to be wielded one handed by a human, it can be used as a maul.)

Plans for tomorrow's posts

Tomorrow I am planning on posting:

More Lovecraft monsters for Holmes basic! I'm gonna ask the OSR google+ group for some recommendations, but if you want to comment what you want to see here that's also good! (Also if you ever have any requests or suggestions in general for what you want to see/suggestions for 30 minute dungeons feel free to comment and tell me!)

Another 30 Minute Dungeon

And maybe some magical rituals for D6 Dungeon Crawl, though they could easily be adapted for any OSR system.

If you have anything you want to see please tell me! I like posting often and new ideas always help.

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 11: The First Thing On My Blog To Have Bogeymen In It

Idea: A group of bogeymen (bugbears) live in a cave outside of town, and have come out at night to terrorize children and kill adults. They have some pet dire wolves which they sometimes use as mounts.

Hook: There have been strange murders and disappearances about town, with children insisting that its the work of monsters. Pieces of fur have been found at the crime scenes, and some bloodied, bestial footprints lead to a nearby cave.



Key:



1. The floor here appears to be covered in a primitive carpet of untanned hides, a couple of which seem disturbingly human-like. (These hides cover a hole in the floor with spikes at the bottom.)

2. Some wolves the size of ponies are chained to the wall, and bark furiously at the adventurers, pulling at their metal leashes. (There is no way to pass by them without them being able to attack, and if fired upon by arrows or other missile weapons, there is a 2 in 6 chance that they will break their chains in order to attack out of sheer rage. One of the wolves has a gold studded collar.)

3. Dangling from the rock ceiling on a spiked chain is the corpse of a man who had recently gone missing. His skin is flayed off, with deep claw and bite marks, though his clothes are oddly undamaged. (The man is apparently recently dead, if touched he is still warm.)

4. There is a gong in this room, fashioned from cheap brass. Next to it is a mallet made from a spinal chord and a skull. (If the gong is rung, it is supernaturally loud, deafening whoever rang it, shattering into pieces and causing rocks to fall from the ceiling.)

5. A man is tied to the wall by ropes with spikes braided into them, listless and disoriented. (If approached by the party, he will stare at them and whisper that he needs help. The man’s name is Jeremy, and he is severely dehydrated and starved. If fed and given water, he will explain that he was kidnapped by the bogeymen, claiming that they gave him the choice to be taken away and tortured or have his child be killed.)

6. The room is pitch black, supernaturally so. The light of a torch or lantern seems more like a candle light here. (Some bogeymen lurk in the shadows, and will strike when they have the opportunity.)

7. An underground stream burbles out of the wall, trickling across the floor. There is a slight green glow to it. (Anyone who drinks from the stream becomes extremely nauseous, but is also able to see in the dark for 1d6 hours. If a character could already see in the dark, they instead no longer can see at all.)

8. Shelves have been chiseled into the walls haphazardly, and lining these walls are childrens’ toys of every possible kind, including mechanical ones from distant lands. (Some of these toys are extremely expensive and rare, though upon closer inspection most toys do have some blood stains on them.)

9. This room initially appears empty, but after a moment it is evident that there are some expensive gems glittering in the walls, just waiting to be dug out. (If the gems are picked at and pulled from the rock, there is a 3 in 6 chance that the bogeyman king’s guards will come to investigate and attack the party.)

10. A large bogeyman with a twisted crown of bones sits on a throne, with a handful of smaller bogeymen nearby wielding axes and wearing armor with hideous horned helmets. (The bogeyman king will be impressed that the party got so far, and will offer gold and a promise not to hurt them in exchange for the adventurers leaving him alone to kill and terrify. If the adventurers do not accept, he will rise from the throne, unsheathing his claws, and his guards will assist him in attempting to slay the party. The bogeyman king’s crown allows him to teleport through shadows within line of sight, and turns black whenever he does so.)

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 10: Bunker of the Serpent-Folk

Note: Hurray! Double digits! Here is my current plan for these 30 Minute Dungeons; every 20 dungeons I will release a compilation on RPGnow for 5 dollars, complete with maps, b/x style stats, and cleaned up text with reworked encounters and treasure values. In addition, I'll probably put in some public domain art. Anyway, on to the dungeon!

Idea: The underground bunker of prehuman serpent-folk, now inhabited by their pale, eye-less descendants.

Hook: A hidden stone door has suddenly opened in the cliff side, revealing a staircase leading down. At the top of the stairs is a bizarre and expensive looking golden pendant with an engraving of a serpent on it.



Key:

1. Stairs lead down for a very long time. Near the top of the stairs is an ancient and crumbling skeleton. At regular intervals on the walls are odd glass spheres. (Upon closer inspection, the skeleton is only vaguely humanoid, possessing an ophidian head and no eye sockets.)

2. The floor has a black and white checkerboard pattern, and there are dragon faces on the walls. There are some small piles of ash on the floor. (The ashes only appear on the white squares of the floor. If any of the white squares are stepped on, fire shoots from the dragon faces.)

3. The room opens up into a warehouse sized underground jungle of glowing fungus. Small bird-like reptiles can be seen wandering around, feeding on the fungus. (There is a large omnivorous dinosaur wandering about, which will attack when it can smell its victims.)

4. Some white scaled serpent-folk with no eyes worship and run their hands over a large statue of a dragon. (If they catch the scent of the party, they will attack to defend their “god”. One of the serpent-folk wears gold jewelry and has a strange crown.)

5. There are several pits full of greenish, bubbling mud, almost like some kind of bath-house. The mud smells strangely medicinal, like the herbs of a doctor or shaman. (If someone is immersed in the mud, wounds instantly heal over with scaly flesh. Dead bodies put in the mud will reanimate into scaled zombies.)

6. This oddly spherical room is filled with a pale green gas, which burns when breathed in, causing damage. The gas appears to be coming from some barrel-like plants growing out of the ground. (The gas is harmless to serpent-folk, and only affects mammals.)

7. There are a series of 2 meter tall upright glass cylinders, most of which contain mummified serpent-folk. One cylinder contains an apparently living serpent-person, though clearly asleep. There is a lever next to each pod. (The cylinders are stasis chambers, most of which have broken over the aeons. If the lever next to the pod with the living serpent-person is opened, she will awaken from her ancient slumber. She is named Slithak, and is equipped with a translation orb, so she can understand the party. She has an extra translation orb, which she will give to the apparent leader of the party. This orb allows the holder to understand any spoken language while holding it. Slithak is very curious about the events of the last few millions of years, and will be disappointed if not given much information. She is curious, cold, and impartial. If told of the pale serpent-folk of room 4 and 10, she will guess that over the aeons the custodians of this bunker have evolved to survive without light.)

8. Bas-reliefs on the walls depict prehistoric times, with colossal dragons and strange tentacled things. Flourishing all throughout the jungles of the ancient world are the serpent-folk with their strangely beautiful architecture. (Some of the beasts depicted on the murals are known to occult scholars as ancient and terrible demonic gods, many of which were believed to be legends.)

9. There are a series of glass coffins, each full of a pale green liquid with corpses of serpent-folk floating inside. (Most serpent-folk in the coffins are wearing some kind of gold jewelry, and the glass is easily breakable. The green liquid smells awful, but is harmless to living things.)

10. Here is the resting chamber of the pale, eyeless serpent-folk, who are all currently asleep. At the center of the room is a large diamond, atop an intricately carved pedestal. The serpent-folk are light sleepers, and will likely awaken and attack if anyone tries to get to the center of the room.

Converting "standard" OSR to D6 Dungeon Crawl

Conversion Notes

Converting Standard OSR Monsters to D6 Dungeon Crawl

HP = Hit Dice divided by 3

AP = AC -10 if ascending AC, 10 – AC if descending AC

DMG = if 1d4 or lower change to 1d3. If 1d6 to 1d8 chance to 1d6. If 1d10, change to 1d6+1. If 1d12, change to 2d6.

Spells

D6 Dungeon Crawl doesn’t have spells by default, but one could convert spells into magical items available for purchase for 500 coins per spell level that can be used once per day.

Ability Scores/Stats Conversion

D6 Dungeon Crawl does not have mental stats such as Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom, so those must be rolled to be determined if converting to a new system, or chosen by the game master. Otherwise, the following table can be used.

D6 Dungeon Crawl Value	Standard OSR Value
0	11
1	13
2	17
3	18

Saving Throws

When an effect requires a character to make a saving throw/save, have them make a Challenge Roll to avoid the effect instead, with advantage/disadvantage as makes sense.

Some magic items for D6 Dungeon Crawl

Here are some items for my homebrew d6 based OSR system inspired by Into The Odd and Mazerats. The post with the rules is here: https://bogeymanscave.blogspot.com/2018/06/d6-dungeon-crawl.html

Blood-born homunculus

This misshapen waxen figure can be brought to life by pouring one HP’s worth of blood onto it. It will then serve whoever poured blood onto it (not whoever’s blood was spilt) for 1d6 days before once more becoming inert. This process can be repeated indefinitely, so long as the homunculus is not slain. The homunculus has no attacks, but its master may see through its eyes and hear through its ears at will. The homunculus has 3 HP, and 1 AP.

The spider box

Anyone who reaches into this small wooden box may pull out a large spider. There is a 1 in 6 chance that the spider is fatally venomous, and a 2 in 6 chance that the spider will attempt to bite whoever picks up the spider.

Potion of rubber bones

If anyone drinks all of the liquid from this small purple bottle, their bones turn into a squishy, rubbery substance. This has no effect on HP or AP, but the potion drinker can now fit through any crack wider than their finger. This effect lasts for 1d6 hours.

Vampire Knife

This wickedly curved knife was made from the bones of an elder vampire. Once per day, anyone who deals damage with this knife may choose to regain HP equal to the damage they dealt.

Cupcake of reduced gravity

Any who consume this small pink pastry will suddenly find that they now only weigh as much as an air filled balloon. This allows them to jump extremely high and survive otherwise deadly falls. The effect lasts for 1d6 hours.

Hypnotic watch

If this pocket watch is swung as a pendulum, any who see it must obey any commands given to them, though they are allowed a Challenge Roll at disadvantage to resist each new command.

Rot Vial

If the green liquid in this vial is poured on an organic substance, it will quickly rot away to nothingness in the span of a few seconds.

Translation Orb

This small metallic sphere allows whoever holds it to understand, speak, and write any language they see or hear while holding it.

Lantern of Ghost Seeing

This lantern is made from the skull of a one eyed humanoid. It constantly glows with an unearthly green light, and any invisible creatures/spirits within the radius of the green light becomes visible.

Ring of the Statue

Anyone who puts this ring on their finger turns to stone until the ring is removed.

Book of Infernal Inspiration

Anyone who reads this book instantly becomes a master of their chosen art form for 1d6 days, consistently capable of making art worth a great deal of money (at least good quality, at best masterpieces). Only one piece of art can be made every 3 days. However, each time the book is read, one must roll a d6. On a 6, a demon possesses the would be artist, and hijacks their body for 1d6 days to commit murders and other crimes.

Knife of Bestial Form

If one cuts themselves with this knife for 1 HP of damage, they briefly transform into a bestial humanoid monster. They gain a +3 bonus to AP, gain 2 claw attacks each dealing 1d6 damage, and require any human enemies to roll a d6 to see if they run away (3 or lower fails). This effect lasts for 2d6 rounds and the knife can be used once per day.

Handgun

At first, this weapon appears to simply be a simple metal flintlock. However, if picked up, metallic tendrils will extend from the grip into the user’s veins, and quickly merge with the host. From then on, the user cannot let go of the gun without extensive surgery. Firing this gun does not require the use of any ammunition, and it deals 1d6+1 base damage instead of 1d6.

Lovecraft Monsters for Holmes Basic

Ghoul (Mythos)
Move: 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 2
Armor Class: 8
Treasure Type: I
Alignment: Neutral
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1-6



Ghouls are a dog-like demihuman race that feeds exclusively on the flesh of dead humans, demihumans, and humanoids. Ghouls can grow to be quite large over time, and the leader of a ghoul clan is around 8 feet tall and has 4 hit dice, with their attacks dealing 1-8 points of damage. Ghoul children look and act like regular humans until they reach maturity, when their canine features and craving for dead flesh begin to gradually set in. Ghouls have a rubbery appearance, and are often covered in grave mold, but despite this they are not undead. Ghouls live forever in not killed. Ghouls typically can only speak the glibbering language of their own kind, but some can communicate in common.

(Image from Pathfinder)

Deep One
Move: 100 feet/turn (240 feet/turn while swimming)
Hit Dice: 2
Armor Class: 6
Treasure Type: D
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1-6



Deep Ones (also called Dagonites) are a race of aquatic humanoids with features resembling both fish and frog. Deep Ones can interbreed with humans, and offspring of these unions usually appear to be human until they are around 40, at which point they begin to change into fish-like monstrosities. Deep Ones move with a hopping, awkward gait on land. Deep Ones worship the evil fish deity Dagon, as well as the octopoid deity Cthulhu. Some Deep Ones are clerics, and may have more hit dice than their lesser brethren. Some Deep Ones grow to truly monstrous proportions, having 6 hit dice and dealing 1-10 damage with their attacks.

(Image from Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition)

Familiar
Move: 180 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 1
Armor Class: 6
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Attacks: 1

Damage: 1-4

Familiars are the servants of witches and warlocks, and resemble rats with human-like faces and hands. Familiars whisper secrets to their masters, and can even assist in casting spells. If a magic-user has a familiar, then they are treated as one level higher for the purposes of spell-casting than they usually would be. It is not unheard of for familiars to avenge their masters if they are killed, murdering whoever slew the witch they were bound to before curling up and dying.

(Image taken from pathfinder)

Lurking Fear

Move: 120 feet/turn

Hit Dice: 1-1 point (minimum 1 hit point)

Armor Class: 8

Treasure Type: Q

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Attacks: 2

Damage: 1-4 each

Lurking Fears are ape-like creatures who are the descendants of an ancient noble family which fell into decline long ago. All Lurking Fears have different colored eyes, a trait of their ancestors. Lurking Fears are aggravated by thunder storms, and often come crawling up from their burrows beneath old mansions to hunt during these times.

(Cover of The Lurking Fear And Other Stories)

Ghast (Mythos)

Move: 180 feet/turn

Hit Dice: 3

Armor Class: 9

Treasure Type: nil

Alignment: Neutral

Attacks: 1

Damage: 1-8

Ghasts are aggressive, kangaroo-like humanoids with no noses or foreheads. They are about the size of ponies, and dwell in caverns deep beneath the earth. They are sensitive to light, and if exposed to direct sunlight, they take 1-8 damage per round of exposure. Ghasts are enemies of Ghouls, and often war with them. Ghasts attack with their ferocious kicks.

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 9: Ghoul Warrens

Idea: Tunnels underneath a graveyard with ghouls, giant rats, and a big worm.

Hook: Graves have been found emptied… from below. The local church has asked you to investigate what is going on, having found a secret passage in an old mausoleum. They say that their god will turn a blind eye if any burial treasure happens to “disappear”.



Key:

1. There are piles of bones, some arranged into towers and structures like building blocks. (Many of the bones have bite marks on them.)

2. A handful of giant rats gnaw on some bones, they appear to be starving and diseased. (The rats are very easily distracted by meat of any kind, and while they would attack a party normally, if they are given food they will either ignore the party or become friendly.)

3. Childrens’ dolls of all shapes and sizes are arranged carefully around the room, some showing signs of recent repair. (One of the dolls is porcelain, and very high quality. It could be sold to a collector for a decent amount of money.)

4. The floor is extremely muddy, a mixture of grave mold and damp earth. It stinks of death, and one can see some bones floating in the quasi-liquid. (Beneath the muck lie some small holes, easy for a leg to fall into, potentially causing bone breaking injuries.)

5. The floor is still very muddy, and there is visible movement in the muck. There seems to be more bones floating around than in room 4. (A giant worm lurks in the mud. It normally feeds on rotting flesh, but since the ghouls have started taking bodies, it now will attack the living. The worm is not brave, however, and will flee if the fight starts to go badly, though it may attempt to exit the dungeon and head into town...)

6. Completely out of place with its surroundings is a magnificent dining room with a table. The table is laid out for a feast, with delicious food and lit candles. (If eaten, in about 2 minutes the illusion wears off, revealing the food to be rotten and decaying human flesh. Anyone has partaken in the flesh is now infected with ghoul fever and will become a ghoul in 1d6 days unless cured by magical or alchemical means.)

7. There is a closed coffin amid several open ones. The closed coffin is significantly better quality than the others, and bears an image of a fanged serpent. (The coffin is trapped with a poison needle. If opened, however, the coffin contains the mummified corpse of a very rich man, covered in expensive jewelry.)

8. A ghoul sits among a pile of holy books, perusing through them while gnawing on a rotting ear. (The ghoul calls herself Antonia, and she is deeply fascinated with the differences between religions and religious texts. She is trying to find the common ground between all known religions and sects. She loves to discuss theology, but will attack if she is treated too rudely or treated like a fool. Her previous hobby was repairing dolls that were buried with children, her handiwork can be seen in room 3. She knows many things about the graveyard, and can answer questions about the rooms if she feels that the party is friendly and worthy of help.)

9. In the walls are a multitude of grave niches, all of which are empty, except for one, containing a rusty old shield, a helmet, and a sword. (This shield is magical, and any damage dealt to someone wielding the shield is partially reflected onto the attacker. A name is written on the inside of the shield; Hruthgerd the Brave. The other two items are not magical, but similarly bear Hruthgerd’s name. The grave niches appear to have been recently emptied, dust seems to have been cleared away and there are drag marks leading away from the niches.)

10. A group of rubbery, loathsome ghouls are feasting in a defiled shrine, sorting through corpses to find the ripest morsels and making monstrous glibbering noises. (If they notice the party, they will attack, scared of being revealed to the church, though they are open to parley if the battle ends or they surrender. Scattered among the corpses are coins and jewelry.)

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 8: This one is a bit silly

Idea: Basement beneath a crumbling old tower, once used to hide treasure during a war decades ago, long abandoned and now inhabited by monsters.

Hook: Some hidden documents have been discovered in the archives telling of a secret basement beneath an old tower. Evidently, during some conflict long ago, treasure of a (now dead) noble was stashed away beneath the tower for nobody else to find. The location of this treasure is only a day’s march away.



Key:

1. The room is littered with cobwebs and animal bones. The corpse of a dog-sized spider is in the corner, with a knife plunged into its abdomen. (The corpse is desiccated, evidently very old, and the knife is rusted.)

2. There is a giant nest made from bones, twigs, and scraps of cloth. A group of giant rats lives within. There is a faint gleam of gold in the nest. (The rats will attack if the next is approached. The rats have incorporated an expensive gold scepter and a crown into their nest.)

3. Some pig faced beast-folk roast a small deer on a spit over a fire, grunting unintelligibly. They wear mismatched armor and wield a mixture of stolen and cobbled together weaponry. (They are complaining about the lack of good food. One beast-person has a leather bag on its belt with some jewels and coins within it.)

4. There are some smashed barrels, as well as residue suggesting spilled wine. (The barrels have some writing on them, which, if analyzed, turns out to spell out the name of the local pub.)

5. The room has a geometric tile pattern on the floor. It almost hurts one’s eyes to look at, as if one is straining their vision. (One part of the floor breaks the pattern. If this part is stepped on, a pressure plate in the floor causes the room to flood with red poisonous gas if stepped on.)

6. There is a large snail shell in the corner, with words like “BVY!” and “GRAET DEELS!” written on it hastily. (If approached, a large hermit crab will pop out, proclaiming itself to be Mr. Snips in a high pitched voice. Mr. Snips has a number of things in his shell he is willing to trade for meat, most of which is worthless junk, but there is a magical sword that glows in the dark and allows the wielder to read all languages while holding it. He has a special fondness of fish, and will be likely to give a better “deal” if given fish.) [Shoutout to my datemate for helping me come up with this idea!]

Random table of Mr. Snips junk (roll 1d6):

1. An egg carved from wood.
2. Some human hair in a leather bag.
3. A rock with a smiley face drawn on.
4. A roast chicken carved from stone.
5. A diary with all the pages ripped out.
6. A beetle named Charlie.

7. Encased in an ornately decorated gold and brass case is an egg the size of a soccer ball. The egg seems to glow somewhat, and emanates a faint heat. (The case is an anti-incubator, and prevents the dragon egg within from maturing. If removed from the case, the egg will hatch into a newborn dragon in 1d6 weeks.)

8. The room appears empty, aside from some unpainted stone statues. Most are human or semi-human, but one appears to depict a giant mantis. (The statue is actually just a gray colored giant mantis that is standing very still, and will attack once people get close enough.)

9. Some weapon racks, mostly ransacked but there are a couple rusty swords and shields left behind. (The shields have the symbol of a rooster on them, which was part of the family crest of the noble whose treasure was buried here.)

10. There is a chest lying against the wall, with nothing else in the room. It has a piece of parchment on it that reads “DO NOT OPEN!!”. (If opened, the entire dungeon begins to collapse, requiring a hasty escape. Contained within the chest is a pile of coins as well as some deeds to property in a nearby town.)

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 7: The "Haunted" Manor

Hey, sorry for another lack of posting, I went camping. While camping I wrote down some notes about a B/X dungeon, but for now it will go unposted. I've also changed up my style a little bit for this one, since I find that naming specific treasure values and numbers of opponents can result in some wonky encounters, since I am only making these in 30 minutes. In order to fix this, treasure value is left vague, and the number of enemies in some encounters is left undecided.

Idea: An ancient, crumbling manor, thought to be inhabited by the ghosts of a family of wizards, but in reality is the home of goblins who serve an ogre.

Hook: A local girl investigated the manor out of curiosity and came back with a jeweled brooch, worth enough to feed her family for weeks.



Key:

1. The front door is covered with old rusted chains and locks, almost completely disintegrated by time. A sign saying “KEEP OUT” is nailed to it. (Bear traps and caltrops lie haphazardly behind the front door.)

2. There is a cut out silhouette of a ghostly figure in front of a window, illuminated from behind with a green tinted lantern. (The fire in the lantern seems strange and otherworldly. Anyone with occult or folkloric knowledge can tell it is faerie fire.)

3. This room has the stuffed heads of exotic animals on the walls, including a one eyed humanoid, an enormous insectoid thing, a giant rat, and some reptilian creature. Most of the heads are beginning to show their age, with sand or stuffing leaking out in places. (The reptile head has expensive gems for eyes.)

4. The hallway appears empty, though there are some holes in the walls and all of the wallpaper appears to have been stripped away except in one small area. (Goblins with blowguns hide in the walls. The area with the wallpaper is a secret door.)

5. There is a cupboard in this room, along with some piles of wood that appear to have once been furniture. Some blood stains the wall. (A brownie lives in the cupboard, hoarding shoes. He does not want to be bothered, and rarely leaves the house for anything other than collecting more shoes. He knows about the goblins and the ogre downstairs, but doesn’t care because they don’t take his shoes.)

6. Bookshelves are in this room, covered in dust. There a couple moldy volumes of obscure lore on them, but no recent texts. (A tripwire is hooked up to a pendulum which will swing an axe at anyone who trips it.)

7. A pair of red spectacles rest on a polished wood pedestal. (The spectactles allow the wearer to see heat, and thus detect invisible creatures and see in the dark somewhat.)

8. A black, cast iron cauldron bubbles with a pinkish sludge, though there is no visible heat source. Next to the cauldron is an old sack. (If someone dips part of themselves in, they burn themselves, but a moment later, a 6 inch high version of themselves will emerge from the cauldron, with the mind of a rat but otherwise fully formed. The sack next to the cauldron contains gems.)

9. Some bloodied, rotting corpses float a few inches above the ground, translucent and otherworldly, moaning in some unknown tongue. (Some goblins have stacked themselves on top of each other to look tall, and are wearing bloodied sheets to appear as ghosts. By using a ritual they found in an old spell book, the goblins have cast a glamour to make themselves appear as actual ghosts. The effect wears off immediately if the goblins are hit with any attacks.)

10. An ogre lounges on a small bed of coins in the basement, the corpses of animals dangling on meat hooks. The ogre has 2 goblin servants near him, feeding him scraps of rotting meat. (The ogre cares little for his incompetent goblin servants, which he will send off to fight the party first. The ogre is lazy, and will only actually begin fighting once his two servants are killed.)

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 6: The Viking Vault

Idea: An underground vault that was built by an ancient viking-like society. The ruins are now inhabited by undead vikings and giant bugs.

Hook: Legend has it that there is a magic horn in the ruins, capable of raising the dead back to life.



Key:



1. The corridor here leads to a stone door. The door has an image depicting a horned human skull with a beard. (The floor is ancient and crumbling, and gives way under the slightest weight. There is a small pit beneath the masonry full of squirming worms, grubs and cockroaches.)

2. Piles of mummified bodies are in grave niches in the walls, and everything is coated in a thick layer of dust and webs. 7 Spiders the size of cats crawl about the room, one of which is picking at a corpse, trying to find if it can eat it. (The spiders will attack if the adventurers get too close, but they are scared of fire. The corpse that a spider is picking at is wearing a bracelet worth 1000 coins to the right buyer.)

3. A vast stone slab serves as a table in this room, with old wooden bowls and iron utensils arranged along it. Piles of splinters indicate where chairs once were, and there is a large carved throne at the end of the table. (Near the throne is a large iron key, covered in mystic looking runes.)

4. Shards of wood lie strewn about the room, as well as a few half-crumbling longboats of ancient make. (One of the boats has an iron chest on board, containing 1200 ancient gold coins. Traces of paint can be found on the longboats.)

5. In here are a handful of cages, some of which contain skeletons of humans or semi-humans. Various machines of odd design are around the room as well, evidently torture devices. (Some of the skeletons are very short and have sharp teeth. Most skeletons, while having some broken bones, appear to have died as a result of neglect, not execution.)

6. Carvings of bearded faces line the walls, some with open mouths as if blowing. (If someone steps into the “line of sight” of one of the blowing faces, poisoned darts fly out to hit the interloper.)

7. There is a stone statue of a beautiful and androgynous person with pointed ears. Next to them is a stone with a large keyhole. (If the key from room 3 is put into the keyhole, the statue will turn to flesh, and the person comes to life. They have a slightly bluish green tinge to their skin, and their voice sounds musical. This person is named Anlin, and they are an elf sorcerer who was imprisoned millennia ago by a high priest of a now unknown god. Anlin is arrogant and cares little for the wishes of mortals, but if he brought back to life by the adventurers he is bound by his own code of honor to assist the party with one task.)

8. 5 undead mummified vikings in crude dresses stagger about the room, making strange rasping noises. They wield swords in one hand and shields in the other. (The zombies attack on sight, but will not hurt anyone who is unarmed. The words they are using are of surprising quality, having been made with a technique that has been lost to time. Each sword is worth 200 coins.)

9. A crystal ball sits on a stand made from black metal. Dark vapor seems to swirl in the orb. (If anyone touches the ball, their mind is briefly transported to a Hellish plane of existence where horned warriors in spiky armor battle giant chitinous serpents. The experience makes the viewer better at fighting, but also small horns begin to grow from their forehead, and they become subtly unnerving to normal people.)

10. The skull of an ancient dragon on the wall, stairs lead up to pedestal with a sarcophagus of stone, slightly ajar. Within the coffin, a mummified corpse in ancient armor holds a sword of rusted iron, with a ring of silver around its finger, covered in runic symbols. (If anyone attempts to remove the ring from the finger of the mummy, it comes to life, green fire burning in its eye sockets as it attempts to kill the intruders. The mummy moans out words in a long-forgotten tongue and attacks the mightiest warriors first. The runic symbols on the ring are symbols of rebirth and vitality, if the ring is put on the finger of a recently deceased corpse, the corpse will come back to life.)

Probably not gonna post for about 6 days

My datemate from a long distance relationship is visiting, and I love im so much I can't bring myself to take the time to write blog posts probably, unless e is asleep or something.

Anyway no one reads this blog so who cares lol

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 5: The Rat Warrens

Idea: Mutant rat warren, caused after a magic ritual backfired. The tunnels are full of strange magical effects and inhabited by mutant rodents.

Hook: People have been found dead, eaten alive with their flesh and skin torn off, often near the entrances to sewer tunnels. The tooth marks on the corpses look like rat bites, but are far too large for that in many cases. You have been hired by a noble to fix the problem, so the peasantry doesn’t get too unruly out of fear. The noble will pay you 50 coins up front, and 50 more if you come back alive.



Key:



1. Piles of bones are just inside the sewer tunnel, most completely picked of flesh, with tooth marks on the bones. (A silver dagger, worth 50 coins, can be found among the bones.)

2. Some mutated, but harmless rats chew on the leftovers of a victim. The rats have features such as extra limbs and eyes, unusual proportions, etc. (The victim evidently was an independent adventurer, and has a small bag on their belt containing gems worth 450 coins.)

3. There is a vast carpet of rats here, all eyes looking at the party in unison as soon as the adventurers enter. (The rats will attack as soon as anyone gets close enough, and upon closer inspection, it is revealed that all the rats are connected to one another by their unusually veiny tails.)

4. A badly mutilated corpse with a strange corked bottle next to it lies against the wall. The bottle is full of red liquid with the words “Aqua Vitae” written on it. (If the liquid is drunk, whoever drinks it will explode as hundreds of terrified rats claw their way out of them.)

5. There is a crate in the corner, splattered with blood. (The lid appears to be partially open. If opened fully there is a large venomous rat that will leap out, starving. In addition, 600 coins and some rat poop are in the box.)

6. There is an enormous 6 legged rat here, chewing hideously on a dead dog. (Once it smells the adventurers, it will attack.)

7. Rat-like claws stick out of the ground, slashing in spasms. (Anyone who walks across the floor will take damage from the clawing. The claws have toothy mouths in the middle of them. The claws don’t seem to be connected to bodies, instead having “roots” of fleshy rat tails.)

8. A rat with a human face and hands cries out in fear, cowering in the corner near a metal box with a combination lock. (The rat was once a human wizard named Jenkins. He will explain that he was attempting to experiment with growing sewer rats to large sizes to create a cheap source of food, but the ritual backfired and caused him and the rats to mutate horrifically. If the adventurers escort him out of the dungeon, he will tell them the combination to the box next to him, which he claims contains a magic item he can no longer use with his small size. Within the box is an obsidian dagger that causes wounds which can never heal.)

9. Floating grotesquely in the air is a wiggling orb made from hairy brown flesh with worm-like tails sticking out of it, squirming incessantly. On the floor beneath it is a magic circle full of strange lines and runes. (For every round spent near the orb, roll 1d6. On a 5 or higher, anyone near the orb gains a rat-like physical mutation as determined in the table below:)

1. Shrunk down to rat size
2. Rat body (hands and head stay the same)
3. Rat head
4. Rat claws
5. Loses human intelligence and begins to act like a rat
6. Rat life-span (ages extremely rapidly)

10. Some barrels full of tumorous squirming flesh with teeth and claws growing out of it. (If the barrels are broken open, the mass of meat collapse in on themselves in a sickening manner, as they have no skeleton. The barrels seem to have formed roots into the ground made of rat tails.)

1d6 Kinds of Goblins

Maybe these are different species of goblin or just what goblins are like in the game you’re running tonight. I didn’t really put much thought into this and I might make a sequel, I dunno.

1. Feral: They wear loincloths and don’t really have a language beyond shrieking. They throw rocks and shit at you. Their tactics seem to be “Run at the humans and hit them with stuff and if they start to hurt me run away.”

2. Fey Children: They dress in tattered children’s clothes and have too wide smiles and long long fingers. They lure kids into the woods and eat them. 100% likely to sing creepily and giggle.

3. Humanoid Vermin: These things wear armor that looks like insect exoskeletons and they have a nasty habit of crawling on the walls. They communicate with clicking noises and probably have a queen.

4. Cave Apes: Naked, they pound their chests like gorillas and look like shaved chimps with sharp teeth, wide heads, and long ears. Their weapons are primitive but they are surprisingly tactical. They’ll also throw shit at you like the ferals.

5. Throat slitters: Total bastards, have no sense of honor. Will lurk in the shadows and only attack when they have the advantage of numbers and their enemies are unaware and/or sleeping. Paint themselves in dung and cave slime.

6. Clowns: Fuck these guys. They suck, they have clown noses and stupid red wigs and they laugh all the time. Also they kill their victims in dumb but ironic ways. They are very loud and smell of buttered popcorn.

Bonus: 1 Kind Of Orc

Frankenorcs: These things were sewn together from pig and man flesh and you can tell. Their bodies still have stitches and ooze pus and blood. They kind of hop rather than run, since their legs are mismatched. Most of them can’t speak, and the few that can have a limited vocabulary of “Smash”, “Kill” or “Hate You”. They don’t really have any tactics beyond rushing at an enemy with no regard for their own lives, but are afraid of fire. The weapons they wield look like leftover hunks of iron that somebody stuck a handle on to, and their armor is bolted into their flesh.

30 Minute Dungeon Delve 4: The Old Robertson Farm

Idea: An abandoned farm inhabited by demon cultists and protected by animated scarecrows.

Hook: Cows and other livestock have either disappeared or been found drained of blood with a knife wound at their throat. Foot prints from the scenes of the crimes lead out to the old Robertson farm. The local ranchers and farmers have combined their money and are willing to pay 50 coins each if the adventurers investigate.

Key:


1. 5 Scarecrows standing in a field, the dismembered corpses of crows lying nearby. (Blood is on their hands, which turns out to contain shards of glass. The scarecrows will animate and attack if anyone gets too close, cackling evilly without mouths as their sewn button eyes glow with a violet light.)

2. The door to this room looks hastily repaired, but not particularly old. (If the door is open, an axe on a pendulum swings down and hits any who open the door. The room has a bed and a nightstand. On the nightstand is a small wooden box containing 250 coins worth of jewelry.)

3. The old barn is falling apart, with holes in the ceiling and walls. The door is halfway ajar. (The entrance is hooked to a tripwire, if someone walks in a bucket of acid will fall on top of them.)

4. There is a chicken coop in surprisingly good condition, appearing as though it has been renovated. (If entered, there is a stench of death and decay almost immediately. Around 2 dozen chickens hang from the ceiling by their legs, their throats slit. On the floor is a stone idol of a horrific demon, with green gemstones for eyes. The idol is worth around 500 coins to the right buyer.)

5. This kitchen is a crimson mess, the miasma of rot and death is almost overwhelming. Organs, blood, muscle, and skin lie strewn about messily, some with vile symbols carved into them. (On closer inspection, all of the flesh is human. One piece of skin has an eagle tattoo.)

6. A woman is locked in a cage, yelling obscenities, apparently thinking the party are cultists. Next to her is another cage, with a corpse lying within. (She is named Patricia, and is a competent adventurer and monster hunter who was investigating the Robertson farm, but was ambushed while she made camp after her partner in adventuring, a man named Tibult who had a distinctive eagle tattoo, betrayed her to the cultists for gold. Patricia does not know the identity of the corpse in the cage next to her, which has a diamond ring worth 500 coins.)

7. This tunnel leads down into the basement, but halfway down, chained to the wall, is a monstrous pig. It has razor sharp tusks, too many eyes, and slightly chitinous skin. (The pig will attack any who come within range. Those who know some demonology can tell that the creature is the offspring of a pig and a demon.)

8. Library full of dusty old books. Most are crumbling and in extreme disrepair, evidently centuries old. (The shelves appear to be new, much younger than the overall building. If one looks over the books, they will find that all of them are unholy tomes of unspeakable blasphemy. Most of the books are either vague, or somewhat inaccurate, but one tome, entitled “The Diary of the Anti-Saint” is exceedingly dangerous and contains instructions for rituals of dark magic.)

9. Walls of the attic have strange angles and lines and curves are drawn upon them. (If someone stares at them for too long they are pulled through, and come back in 1d6 minutes apparently 1d6x10 years older than they were initially, with their stats rearranged and their memory incompletely wiped of what happened during those years, though they will occasionally have nightmares of demoniac creatures and inhuman cities.)

10. In basement, 10 cultists perform a ritual sacrifice of a calf, chanting ominously in a language that doesn’t seem as though it were designed for human vocal organs. (If the fight seems to not be going their way, all but one of them slit their own throats and call forth a demon from beyond space and time. If captured, cult members will claim to be worshiping “The Great God With A Million Eyes”, and will commit suicide as soon as possible.)