NOTE: I found this draft from like 10 years ago. It was the proto-Calabraxis. You can see it if you squint. I'm not sure where the map is, but it wasn't super important.
This is a table of encounters I put in my latest dungeon. See, a treasure map to "a nearby place" is included in the sarcophagus below Tegel Manor. So I decided that the monastery from the overland map was a good enough place. Here are the elements I am dealing with:
A mysterious evil was sealed within the crypt. It may be connected with a warlord from five hundred years in the past.
The map was found in a sarcophagus under Tegel Manor, so there needs to be a reason why the last treasure of the guy in the casket is in a sealed evil dungeon. Also, a chaotic sword was in the sarcophagus. It must have a reason for being there. If it ties into the Tegel mythos as well, all the better.
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1. A minor angel (shape of 2 burning wheels of eyes) hovers around, bored at the task of eternally guarding the environs. It will rapport in a high flalutin manner with trespassers before dispatching them. It exhorts holders of the chaos sword to destroy it before it can play a part in restoring the power of the dark one (said sword could be destroyed in a forge in Tegel manor).
AC 16, 5d5 HP. +2 to hit (+1 vs chaotics) for d7+d7fire/lawful dmg. critical: hit person changes alignments to lawful, and if chaotic must make a save or go blind. Death: the person that slays this angel will be cursed with 0 luck until they make a sacrifice to the gods of law.
2. Representative of cthulhu, an illithid that spends most of its time reading and summoning beings to converse with (it should be talking with something interesting as the party enters). It was a mediator of sorts when the forces of law bent chaos to their edicts to imprison the great evil. In other words, he is something like a notery, bound to this place until natural processes break it down. He is interested in finding a replacement for himself for the next hundred or so years. He offers access to his library and longevity in return. He also knows that the sword could unbalance things, and will mind-blast anyone that weilds it openly and call upon the resident quadholder to teleport it to a random location.
AC 15. 10d4 HP. Mindblast: +3 to hit for 2d4 mental dmg. Critical: Subject is helpless until they roll a 5 or 6 on a d6 on their turn. Can extract and consume a helpless person's brain if not stopped within two rounds of starting. Rod of neutrality: +2 to hit (+3 vs. non-neutrals) for 1d5+3 dmg. crit: target is cursed with ten luck which they can neither burn nor increase until they kill a powerful neutral creature (after this fight) or make a good sacrifice to a god of luck.
3. Quadholder (observer? I forget the name of this beholder variant) that guards the treasures of the dungeon's residents as an impartial party. It also guards the jewels that are necessary to unlock the final chamber. One of which must be placed in the pommel of a sword found in the manor, and another that must be smashed by the chaos sword. The quadholder is polite and inquisitive, but takes its charge seriously and will blast anyone that tries something funny.
AC 12, 4d8 HP. 4 eye rays hit any 4 single characters who don't make a DC 14 Reflex save. Eye of rot: severe leprosy and lose 1d3 digits. Eye of growth: mutation and the target must make a save or pass out from pain. Eye of law: for the next hour, every point of damage the target inflicts will be delt into return to the character or its companion (player's choice). Eye of Reprisal: target chooses a companion and attacks with the last attack they happen to have used.
The Quadholder can teleport one item per hour to the sarcophagus beneath Tegel manor (reflex save to avoid losing your item).
4. Opalesent Dragon. An entity summoned by a powerful cleric of law in ages past. It guards the final chamber but is released every 50 years from its charge, during which time it finds what treasure it can whilst terrorizing the country side. It is interested in trading some treasure for a crystal ball that is rumored to be in one of the towers of Tegel Manor, which is beyond its powers to enter. It cannot leave the room it is in, but if it senses the quadholder is dead, it will create an illusion of the quadholder returning as a terrifying undead being that is impervious to damage.
AC 19, 20d8 hp, +3 to hit for 1d8 dmg. Crit as dragon. Tail-swipes characters that approach closely or are still close when its turn starts (DC 13 reflex to avoid 1d5 dmg and getting knocked away and off your feet).
5. Mysterious salesman. Actually a wererat from Tegel Manor that has crawled through an inhumanely narrow tunnel. He has come curious to see if the latest batch of adventurers that caused all that trouble at Tegel Manor are dead yet (he wants their treasure or gold). Is willing to trade away some erotic cards he found recently (purchasing them in the dungeon grounds will summon the angel who just can't stand such things). He also has a med-kit, but using it gives one filth fever.
6. A bronze bust that is alive and likes to tell riddles and lore. Any chaotics among the group will actually hear something else though: The bust knows that the sword is the key to unleashing the great evil, and offers great power to those that are willing to make a bargain.
Unlike the rest of the group, you hear the bust saying something strange: it offers you great power if you will use your evil sword to release the great dark lord. What's more, if you refuse, you will be cursed! The statue leers at you, waiting for your reply, while your companions seem oblivious to the true nature of this bust.
If the player agrees, the bust telepathically communicates the following:
In the bottom of a diorama you found within the sarcophagus underneath Tegel Manor, press on the three blue panels simultaneously to open a compartment that conceals key. This key will know its place in the treasury of this installation. Use it to get the precious gems you need to undo the wards upon the door that holds our master. I will give you the power to strike down those that stand in your way.
And indeed, the character will feel an instinctual impulse to touch any that block their path. Their touch will do 1d30 profane damage (only once per creature). On a 30, such creatures disintegrate into soot. The bust will give this ability as a curse if the chaotic character(s) are unwilling to do its bidding, in which case for each creature the cursed character is blocked by in a way that prevents the dark lord's release, it must make a saving throw (DC low) or use the terrible hand power in a trance.
7. Holy Bones: March the halls and attack anyone that is not currently negotiating with a resident. Holy bones may be summoned if a resident is having a hard time.
AC 12, 12d3 HP. Immune to stabbing weapons, lightning, and holy damage. Hits at +1, ignoring armor, for 4d4 holy damage. Crit: Character's skeleton starts to reproduce as if by fusion. The process does 1d8 damage, and the character must save or die as two new Holy Bones rip their way out of the character.
8. Trap: Aura net. Tell: A few were-rat corpses litter this area. An inscription says that only those pure of heart may pass. Non lawfuls or non clerics that enter the area must make a save or be struck dead. The trap can be disabled with an evil gem or the sort that fits in the final chamber door, or by a character of the proper characteristics turning the statues in the room backwards. You could also destroy the statues from a distance with somethings sufficiently heavy, like a thrown hammer.
9. A sorcerer of chaos's bones lie behind a hastily bricked over wall. This was a lieutenant of the great evil. Its skull is conversant. It knows that the great evil was a king that refused to give up his charge when the gods deemed him unworthy, and so he started to rot and change into something else. He carved a swath out of the old-old empire, and the descendants of his slave-bureaucrat class came to found Tegel Manor.
A mysterious evil was sealed within the crypt. It may be connected with a warlord from five hundred years in the past.
The map was found in a sarcophagus under Tegel Manor, so there needs to be a reason why the last treasure of the guy in the casket is in a sealed evil dungeon. Also, a chaotic sword was in the sarcophagus. It must have a reason for being there. If it ties into the Tegel mythos as well, all the better.
----
1. A minor angel (shape of 2 burning wheels of eyes) hovers around, bored at the task of eternally guarding the environs. It will rapport in a high flalutin manner with trespassers before dispatching them. It exhorts holders of the chaos sword to destroy it before it can play a part in restoring the power of the dark one (said sword could be destroyed in a forge in Tegel manor).
AC 16, 5d5 HP. +2 to hit (+1 vs chaotics) for d7+d7fire/lawful dmg. critical: hit person changes alignments to lawful, and if chaotic must make a save or go blind. Death: the person that slays this angel will be cursed with 0 luck until they make a sacrifice to the gods of law.
2. Representative of cthulhu, an illithid that spends most of its time reading and summoning beings to converse with (it should be talking with something interesting as the party enters). It was a mediator of sorts when the forces of law bent chaos to their edicts to imprison the great evil. In other words, he is something like a notery, bound to this place until natural processes break it down. He is interested in finding a replacement for himself for the next hundred or so years. He offers access to his library and longevity in return. He also knows that the sword could unbalance things, and will mind-blast anyone that weilds it openly and call upon the resident quadholder to teleport it to a random location.
AC 15. 10d4 HP. Mindblast: +3 to hit for 2d4 mental dmg. Critical: Subject is helpless until they roll a 5 or 6 on a d6 on their turn. Can extract and consume a helpless person's brain if not stopped within two rounds of starting. Rod of neutrality: +2 to hit (+3 vs. non-neutrals) for 1d5+3 dmg. crit: target is cursed with ten luck which they can neither burn nor increase until they kill a powerful neutral creature (after this fight) or make a good sacrifice to a god of luck.
3. Quadholder (observer? I forget the name of this beholder variant) that guards the treasures of the dungeon's residents as an impartial party. It also guards the jewels that are necessary to unlock the final chamber. One of which must be placed in the pommel of a sword found in the manor, and another that must be smashed by the chaos sword. The quadholder is polite and inquisitive, but takes its charge seriously and will blast anyone that tries something funny.
AC 12, 4d8 HP. 4 eye rays hit any 4 single characters who don't make a DC 14 Reflex save. Eye of rot: severe leprosy and lose 1d3 digits. Eye of growth: mutation and the target must make a save or pass out from pain. Eye of law: for the next hour, every point of damage the target inflicts will be delt into return to the character or its companion (player's choice). Eye of Reprisal: target chooses a companion and attacks with the last attack they happen to have used.
The Quadholder can teleport one item per hour to the sarcophagus beneath Tegel manor (reflex save to avoid losing your item).
4. Opalesent Dragon. An entity summoned by a powerful cleric of law in ages past. It guards the final chamber but is released every 50 years from its charge, during which time it finds what treasure it can whilst terrorizing the country side. It is interested in trading some treasure for a crystal ball that is rumored to be in one of the towers of Tegel Manor, which is beyond its powers to enter. It cannot leave the room it is in, but if it senses the quadholder is dead, it will create an illusion of the quadholder returning as a terrifying undead being that is impervious to damage.
AC 19, 20d8 hp, +3 to hit for 1d8 dmg. Crit as dragon. Tail-swipes characters that approach closely or are still close when its turn starts (DC 13 reflex to avoid 1d5 dmg and getting knocked away and off your feet).
5. Mysterious salesman. Actually a wererat from Tegel Manor that has crawled through an inhumanely narrow tunnel. He has come curious to see if the latest batch of adventurers that caused all that trouble at Tegel Manor are dead yet (he wants their treasure or gold). Is willing to trade away some erotic cards he found recently (purchasing them in the dungeon grounds will summon the angel who just can't stand such things). He also has a med-kit, but using it gives one filth fever.
6. A bronze bust that is alive and likes to tell riddles and lore. Any chaotics among the group will actually hear something else though: The bust knows that the sword is the key to unleashing the great evil, and offers great power to those that are willing to make a bargain.
Unlike the rest of the group, you hear the bust saying something strange: it offers you great power if you will use your evil sword to release the great dark lord. What's more, if you refuse, you will be cursed! The statue leers at you, waiting for your reply, while your companions seem oblivious to the true nature of this bust.
If the player agrees, the bust telepathically communicates the following:
In the bottom of a diorama you found within the sarcophagus underneath Tegel Manor, press on the three blue panels simultaneously to open a compartment that conceals key. This key will know its place in the treasury of this installation. Use it to get the precious gems you need to undo the wards upon the door that holds our master. I will give you the power to strike down those that stand in your way.
And indeed, the character will feel an instinctual impulse to touch any that block their path. Their touch will do 1d30 profane damage (only once per creature). On a 30, such creatures disintegrate into soot. The bust will give this ability as a curse if the chaotic character(s) are unwilling to do its bidding, in which case for each creature the cursed character is blocked by in a way that prevents the dark lord's release, it must make a saving throw (DC low) or use the terrible hand power in a trance.
7. Holy Bones: March the halls and attack anyone that is not currently negotiating with a resident. Holy bones may be summoned if a resident is having a hard time.
AC 12, 12d3 HP. Immune to stabbing weapons, lightning, and holy damage. Hits at +1, ignoring armor, for 4d4 holy damage. Crit: Character's skeleton starts to reproduce as if by fusion. The process does 1d8 damage, and the character must save or die as two new Holy Bones rip their way out of the character.
8. Trap: Aura net. Tell: A few were-rat corpses litter this area. An inscription says that only those pure of heart may pass. Non lawfuls or non clerics that enter the area must make a save or be struck dead. The trap can be disabled with an evil gem or the sort that fits in the final chamber door, or by a character of the proper characteristics turning the statues in the room backwards. You could also destroy the statues from a distance with somethings sufficiently heavy, like a thrown hammer.
9. A sorcerer of chaos's bones lie behind a hastily bricked over wall. This was a lieutenant of the great evil. Its skull is conversant. It knows that the great evil was a king that refused to give up his charge when the gods deemed him unworthy, and so he started to rot and change into something else. He carved a swath out of the old-old empire, and the descendants of his slave-bureaucrat class came to found Tegel Manor.
Lovely - especially the Holy Bones critical.
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