Tyrannosaurus Jungle

The Underground Arena

Guess who's coming to dinner? 20 random people in the City of Nightport:

1. Endurance trainer for a mid-range gladiatorial house
2. Bright-eyed farm boy, looking to sign on as a competitor and win fame
3. Professional adventurer, here for the dungeons, thinks gladiators are putzes
4. Wizard, specializing in scrying and inter-team espionage
5. Manager of a gladiatorial team, sends crews into the dungeon for intense training
6. Scholar, looking for the lost under-arena
7. Promoter, always ready to pay coin for live rare beasts from the lower caves
8. Pack of rabid fans from an outlying province here for the annual tournament
9. Old, one-eyed retired gladiator, now makes a good living as a "consultant"
10. Halfling cook to a prominent former champion
11. Four-armed desert warrior, works a good "barbarian" act, but quite civilized
12. Scarred paladin, looking to recruit a party to retrieve remains of last party
13. Local merchant stocking exotic and magical weapons for arena and dungeon
14. Angry enchantress preparing her long-awaited revenge on another random NPC
15. Short-tempered duellist, very deadly but down on his luck
16. Maintenance worker responsible for keeping dungeons sealed and arena standing
17. Vampire masquerading as sport medicine specialist
18. Former champion gone to seed, slumming it and drunk, but still dangerous
19. Tourist with a ready sack of gold coins
20. Ghost of a former adventurer, doesn't know he's dead

The Bogswan

They call him the Mayor of Bogswan. He lives in the domed triangular building just near the Bogslum gate. He only comes out at night, because of the crowds and stone throwing that haunt him by day. He's a sad creature, a half-medusa minotaur (don't ask him about his parents, you'll wish you hadn't). His body lacks the strength of his minotaur brethren. He does, however, retain the Medusa's intelligence and affinity for spellcasting. They say he's working on something in there-potent magical research. But whether he aims to cure his twisted shape or revenge himself on the city is a matter of speculation.

Den of the Owlbear

Owlbears are sophisticated and complex creatures, capable of an amazing range of subtle behaviors. Do not cross an owlbear. Other than that, I think this dungeon speaks for itself.

Also, very large bees are terribly under-rated as dungeon monsters go.

The Purple Worm Graveyard

What happens when you read those weird, squiggly inscriptions written along the bottom of that wall? What if you kneel in front of the altar of light and let what comes, come? And when you try to cast that really hard spell and it goes horribly wrong?

You open your mind to the worm god. The worm god is an ancient chaotic entity whose domains include destruction, decay, hunger, compost, and gardening.

Roll 2D6 plus your CON hit point bonus.

• On a 10+, your mind is in contact with the Worm god and it shows you what you want then offers you a bargain or a gift.


• On a 7-9, you receive a true impression or vision of what you're interested in, but then suffer a temporary insanity.


• On a 6 or less, the DM decides what happens.

Temporary Insanities:

1. Fall on your hands and knees and start eating dirt voraciously for 1-4 rounds


2. Projectile vomiting for several minutes


3. You realize that somewhere, somehow, there's a worm in your body. You can feel it, but you can't tell where it is.


4. The Worm god has a command for you, and he's watching to make sure you carry it out!

This is a little tidbit from the con scenario that I ran and Sage ran at Go Play NW. Opening your mind to the Worm god is fun!

Shroomhenge

Crocodiles are pretty badass. Even out of water they can move fast. The ancient Romans feared them. Fantasy crocodiles are even worse. They're smarter, bigger, and meaner, and some have magic resistance. Although some crocodiles have the gift of speech, they rarely use for any other purpose than taunting their prey or luring it into a trap. In at least one account, crocodiles have been known to shadow an adventuring party, trying to provoke them into an ill-advised attack. Some crocodiles also live in symbiosis with will-o-wisps, who lead prey into deep mires where crocodiles can ambush them at their leisure.

Cloud Giant Alchemist

Cloud Giants, as I recall, are pretty badass. Cloud Giant Alchemists like to test their theories on people. It's kind of like testing cosmetics on rabbits. So becoming a Cloud Giant alchemist's prisoner might not be a great move. On the other hand, alchemists are all about converting lead into gold, which might mean there's some free gold lying around, right?

Brass Gulch Mine

Peryton Perch

Past Hunter's Hall and Socerer's Aerie you will find your prize

A furious baron tries to protect his flocks from an implacable preadtor with a mans' cunning

An order of rangers, jealous of their secrets, sworn to kill any that discover them

Deadly shroud ninjas on flying carpets ready to fall upon the unwary with deadly death

Meteoric Shrine of Kintok-Glau

An artifact descends to Earth having been touched by gods, and we know when they get involved, it's never good news

A madman or prophet mumbling half remembered phrases

A ravenous predator sharpening its claws in its cave lair

A chamber of natural wonders, both beguiling and deadly

A rumbling chant, deep within the rock, growing both stronger and more urgent

Lair of the Salamander

A primordial elemental of anger that once aroused will not be turned aside until it has consumed itself and all around it

A brilliant maker of artifacts, dabbling in dangerous techniques in his unstinting quest for perfection

A rare and valuable reagent gathered from a forbidden source

An grizzled veteran of many campaigns, her courage shaken by self-doubt

An enchanted arm band, containing a bound planar entity, capable of working powerful and disturbing transformations on the wearer

PS: And yeah, adventurers, just TRY to get across those lava pits to do whatever you need to do over there!

The Vampire's Den

An urbane abomination, clinging to the civilized accoutrements from a dimly-remembered life

A forgotten trinket that holds the secret to a family curse

A faithful servant, assiduous in his duties, yet twisted by a gnawing madness

A cozy den, a warm fire in the hearth, kept ever stocked with goods and comforts, concealing a deadly array of traps

The Monster's Dungeon

Lots of little rooms! Lots of little doors! Ratsies to eatsie and soft floors of dirt with nary a sharp stone. No orcs, no ogres, no whips to makes us work.

The AD&D Monster Manual is Awesome, A to B

I worked a bunch of exhausting 12-hour days this week, and to celebrate it's end I went up to my favorite coffee shop to read the AD&D Monster Manual and bring Read an RPG in Public Week to an end in style.

I'm trying to read this thing with new eyes and see what's really there, rather than what 20 years of gaming habits tell me is there. And the verdict is: I'm really amazed at how awesome the Monster Manual is.* Every monster is designed to bring something interesting and potential unique to an encounter; I'm not just talking about Beholders and Dragons, but the normal stuff that people often dismiss.

Consider the Aerial Servant: "if they grasp any creature it requires and 19 strength to have any chance of breaking free." Here's a monster than can potential seize any character in a nigh unbreakable grasp. I can think of about a hundred ways to make this awesome.

I love the behavorial tidbits that make each monster different. Baboons: "...if the home territory of a tribe is invaded the baboons will attempt to drive the invaders off, but it is 90% likely that the tribe will flee if faced by determined resistance." The power to run away sounds like a pretty lame power, right? But this detail shows that Gary knows what he's doing. It's a little piece of fiction (with a mechanic attached) to help the GM make this monster interesting and real for the players.

Boring beetles are pretty... well, boring!** Except for this: "...it is rumored that groups develop a communal intelligence which generates a level of consciousness and reasoning ability approximately that of the human brain." So Gary is saying that if you have a bunch of boring beetles and a big enough piece of wood (Giant Giant Sequoia? World Tree?), you've essentially got an insectile superbrain with beetle tunnels as analog circuitry and beetles as bits. So next time the blind druid directs the PCs to the "wise old tree" for information they PCs are in for a surprise. I wonder what quest the alien symbiotic hive mind will ask in return for that information.

Another thing: ever notice how many monsters can perform a valuable service for the PCs? Giant Beavers are massive builders. Brownies can fix stuff. I think this is a clear flag that talking to monsters ought to be at least as interesting as slaughtering them.

Basilisk can turn you to stone if you meet their gaze. How does this happen? There are no rules to tell you if, when you walk into a room with a basilisk in it, you meet its gaze. Some call this an incomplete game, I call it a golden opportunity to role play.

* These are the bad gaming habits I mean. 1E D&D: thinking that every monster's deadliness is it's first and only attribute of importance. 4E: thinking that the only thing about a monster that matters is what it's powers are. I've been guilty of both.

** This whole post is really just a response to Zak's post where he calls beetles boring. Shame on you Zak!

Bad Neighbors

An old feud between monstrous neighbors creates an opportunity for a band of mercenary adventurers

An ill-tempered Ogre whose violent demeanor masks an insightful intellect

A family of goblins, stubborn and set in their ways

A doubting cleric, uttering platitudes whose veracity he doubts

A young warrior unacquainted with the world eager to make his name and fortune