Dungeon Zones

As I began to lay out the Dungeon using the Traveller sector/subsector/world model, I made a rough 8 x 8 grid of the first few levels and starting locating some initial zones for development. Each cell represented a distinct zone or area. Here's an early snapshot of just one part of the First Level:

The Ever-Changing Stairs	The Maw
Goblintown	Dungmarket	The Mud Baths
Goblin Slums	Hall of Spiders	Halls of Pale Slime
Statuary	Gobbo Promenade	The Hole in the Wall

The top three levels are sometimes called the Goblin Halls, because the goblins and hobgoblins had been able to maintain control over large swathes until orcs and other humanoids broke their hegemony. While the goblins still contol a large amount of territory in the Dungeon, many areas have been abandoned or reclaimed by others. The Gobbo Promenade is the main entrance to the First Level, while Dungmarket is a fairly infamous area, the site of a weekly market run by the goblins. Imagine a ren faire “managed” by wicked, hyperactive, and pyromanical imps. The Maw is the primary entrance down to the Second Level.

I somewhat arbitrarily chose a standard size of 300 feet by 300 feet for zones. This ended up being a fairly fortuitous choice. At 1 square equals 10 feet, a zone fits pretty easily on a sheet of graph paper with plenty of room for notes. It's also fairly close to the square geomorphs used in the old TSR Dungeon Geomorph series. A typical dungeon design might have 20-30 rooms in such an area, and assuming 1/5 of these rooms are occupied, that gives something like 4-6 set encounters, plus wandering monsters. Third edition was built around the assumption of roughly four encounters every game day, and 4-6 encounters is also about what can be played through in a 3-5 hour game session. So this 30 x 30 grid ends up being a good standard size to work with

Using a standard zone size does have one significant disadvantage: it can become an unwelcome constraint on design, forcing zones to conform to square area. The Maze of the Blue Medusa is a great example of a megadungeon with a free-flowing layout where zones are much more organic in shape and form.

The Subterrene World of Gugs

The gugs are another classic Lovecraftian monster brought to the dungeons by Paizo. First appearing in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, they have a memorably horrific appearance. As seen to the right, I have one gug figure from a Pathfinder Battles set—and I only just realized how much this nasty resembles the Demogorgon from Stranger Things. I’ll be getting an "Eldritch Horror Gug" as part of the Reaper Bones III set as well as a third model though the Sandy Petersen's Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder Kickstarter. These monsters are right at home in the depths of the earth, and should be spread as widely as possible.

The 3.5e version below is adapted from Paizo’s Skeletons of Scarwall adventure (2008), with a couple of mechanical tweaks inspired by the Pathfinder Bestiary 2. The 5e version is directly converted from the 3.5e version, but there is a very nice, higher-challenge rendition in Kobold Press’ Tome of Beasts for 5th Edition.

The following text is Open Game Content:

Gug

This towering menace has a horrible, vertically aligned mouth and arms that split at the elbows into twin clawed hands. The creature is 16 feet tall and heavy, but moves with an unnatural gait as though its limbs contained far too many joints.

Lurkers in the Deep. Gugs dwell in the deep places of the world, where they lie in wait for prey to stumble too close.

Relentless Hunters. They savor hunting prey and gugs that catch the scent of blood may give chase for days, even venturing beyond their dismal caves.

Fearsome in Numbers. Gugs are savage fighters when driven by a strong leader, but on their own may flee if wounded.

0e

Gug CL 15 (2,900 XP)

Gugs are adept climbers, able to scale walls at a movement rate of 9. They can move through a passage as narrow as 5 feet wide without penalty.

A gug that hits an opponent with 2 or more claws in one round will rend the flesh for an additional 2d6 damage.

HD 13; AC 3 [16]; Atk 1 bite (2d6), 4 claws (1d6); Save 3; Move 15; Al C; Special Immune to disease and poison, rend.

3.5e

Gug CR 10

Usually CE Large aberration

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +9, Spot +9

Languages Undercommon

Defense

AC 24, touch 10, flat-footed 23
(+1 Dex, +14 natural, -1 size)

hp 157 (15d8+90 HD)

Fort +11, Ref +6, Will +12

Immune disease, poison

Offense

Spd 40 ft., climb 20 ft.

Melee 4 claws +19 (1d6+9), bite +14 (2d6+4)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

Special Attacks rend 2d6+18

Tactics

During Combat In battle, gugs prefer to use multiple claw attacks on individual targets in hopes of hitting and enabling multiple rend attacks.

Morale Gugs are fearless in combat when in the presence of other—especially more powerful—gugs, but when left to their own devices usually flee if reduced to half their hit points. In these situations they are also prone to dragging fallen opponents away from combat in order to feed.

Statistics

Str 28, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 11

Base Atk +11; Grp +24

Feats Alertness, Awesome Blow, Blind-Fight, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack, Track

Skills Climb +17, Escape Artist +5, Hide +3, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Listen +9, Move Silently +7, Spot +9, Survival +7

SQ tunnel mobility

Ecology

Environment any underground

Organization solitary, pair, or camp (3–10)

Treasure standard

Advancement 16–20 (Large); 21–38 (Huge); 39–45 (Gargantuan)

Level Adjustment +5

Special Abilities

Rend (Ex) A gug that hits with two or more claw attacks latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an extra 2d6+18 points of damage.

Tunnel Mobility (Ex) Strangely flexible, gugs are capable of moving through spaces only half as wide as their normal space without squeezing penalties. They must still make Escape Artist checks to squeeze through spaces smaller than half their size.

Skills A gug has a +4 racial bonus on Escape Artist checks. It has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.

5e

Gug

Large aberration, chaotic evil
Armor Class 16 (natural)
Hit Points 178 (17d10 + 85)
Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
23 (+6)	14 (+2)	21 (+5)	11 (+0)	16 (+3)	11 (+0)
Damage Immunities disease, poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Skills Perception +7, Survival +7
Senses darkvision 60 ft.; passive Perception 17
Languages Undercommon
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
Tunnel Mobility. The gug can move through a space as narrow as 5 feet wide without squeezing.
Actions
Multiattack. The gug makes 4 claw attacks and 1 bite attack.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8+6) slashing damage.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8+6) piercing damage.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

1. Definitions: (a) “Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b) “Derivative Material” means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d) “Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) “Product Identity” means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts, creatures, characters, stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f ) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) “Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) “You” or “Your” means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
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14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
    
    • Open Game License v 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
    • System Reference Document, Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
    • System Reference Document 5.1, Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
    • Advanced Bestiary, Copyright 2004, Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; Author Matthew Sernett.
    • The Book of Fiends, Copyright 2003 Green Ronin Publishing: Aaron Loeb, Erik Mona, Chris Pramas, and Robert J. Schwalb.
    • Monster Compendium: 0e, Copyright 2008, Matthew J. Finch.
    • Monstrosities, Copyright 2012, Frog God Games LLC; Authors Andrew Trent (“the Venomous Pao”), Trent Foster, Salvatore Macri (“Skathros”), Scott Wylie Roberts (“Myrystyr”), Sean Stone (“Stonegiant”), Sean Wills (“Geordie Racer”), Cameron DuBeers, Matt Hoover (“Random”), Mike Davison, Russell Cone (“Grim”), Mudguard, Old Crawler, Michael Shorten (“Chgowiz”), Mark Ahmed, Scott Casper (“Scottenkainen”), The Lizard of Oz, James Malizsewski, Michael Kotschi, J.D. Jarvis, John Turcotte, Guy Fullerton, Michael Coté, Thomas Clark, Tanner Adams, and Matt Finch (“Mythmere”).
    • Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2, Copyright 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Graeme Davis, Crystal Frasier, Joshua J. Frost, Tim Hitchcock, Brandon Hodge, James Jacobs, Steve Kenson, Hal MacLean, Martin Mason, Rob McCreary, Erik Mona, Jason Nelson, Patrick Renie, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Owen K.C. Stephens, James L. Sutter, Russ Taylor, and Greg A. Vaughan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
    • Pathfinder 11: Skeletons of Scarwall, Copyright 2008, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Greg A. Vaughan.
    • Swords & Wizardry Complete Rules, Copyright 2010, Matthew J. Finch.
    • Swords & Wizardry Core Rules, Copyright 2008, Matthew J. Finch.
    • Tome of Horrors, Copyright 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Authors: Scott Greene, with Clark Peterson, Erica Balsley, Kevin Baase, Casey Christofferson, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Patrick Lawinger, and Bill Webb; Based on original content from TSR.
    • Tome of Horrors, Revised. Copyright 2005, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Authors: Scott Greene, with Erica Balsley, Kevin Baase, Casey Christofferson, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Patrick Lawinger, Clark Peterson, and Bill Webb; Based on original content from TSR.
    • Tome of Horrors II, Copyright 2004, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Authors: Scott Greene; Additional Authors: Erica Balsley, Kevin Baase, Casey Christofferson, Jim Collura, Meghan Greene, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Bill Kenower, Patrick Lawinger, Nathan Paul, Clark Peterson, Bill Webb, and Monte Cook.
    • The Subterrene World of Gugs, Copyright 2017, R. Dorman

Races of the Far Reaches

The Far Reaches are a harsh land of fiery volcanoes, rocky fjords and islands, and flinty mountains that lie eastward of the North. Approximately 100 years ago wars and volcanic eruptions triggered a series of migrations from the Reaches into the North.

REACH-MEN are humans, tall, fair-haired and hardy, fierce raiders whose long-ships struck terror into the coastline approximately 50 years ago. The eastern shores of the North contain many reach-men settlements. These communities have largely assimilated into Southron culture, speaking Common; their old gods absorbed into the Southron Pantheon.

BERSERKERS are also humans from the Far Reaches. They are much more primitive and less assimilated than the reach-men, holding on to the older forms of their gods. They are an infrequent menace of the coast, as roaming bands prowl looking for loot.

HILL GIANTS, FIRE GIANTS, and FROST GIANTS, like the reach-men, are raiders and plunderers. Roving bands terrorize the coast, and the Isle of Giants contains several settlements of these terrors. The hill giants are organized into bands each led by a chieftain, while the fire and frost giants each have their own king.

DWARVES came from the Far Reaches in search of plunder, but they journeyed overland until they came to the mountain they named Underton, which was a stronghold of goblins and rich mines of gold and silver. The dwarves then fought the War of Twenty-Six Houses, a sprawling conflict that lasted nearly forty years and resulted in the goblins being driven from the mountain but with devastating casualties on both sides. At least six dwarven houses were wiped out in the fighting, but today Underton is the home of dwarves in the North.

TROLLS are dim brutes but terrifying opponents. Scattered groups of trolls followed the dwarves and giants into the North, where they have dispersed across the deep forests and high mountains.

Traveller Mapping and the Megadungeon

Perhaps millions of nascent megadungeons have been abandoned before they ever really got off the ground. A megadungeon is usually considered to be an open sandbox setting where players are free to roam wherever they want; many DMs seem to believe this means they need to have the entire dungeon sketched out, if not fully mapped and stocked, before the game begins. The sheer weight of what seems necessary all-too-often kills the whole project.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. It seems clear that Gygax, Kuntz, Arneson, and other early DMs employed a lot of improvisation and just-in-time development at the table in order to keep up with their players. That said, it can be very hard to run an entire game on the fly by rolling on random tables—especially with later, more complex editions of D&D.

The classic science fiction game Traveller shows us one way to approach a sprawling megadungeon efficiently and effectively. Traveller is, as the name suggests, the ultimate sandbox game and has an elegant way of being able to move between planetary, subsector, and sector scales in a way that allows a referee to easily zoom in and out and only develop detail as needed—there's even an acronym for it: MOARN, or "Map Only As Really Necessary." This eliminates the need for the referee to generate detailed information for an entire sector prior to starting a game. You might only develop a handful of worlds or a single subsector as needed.

The Traveller world/subsector/sector model was very helpful as I starting working on the Great Dungeon. The sector scale is like a cross-sectional view of all the different levels. The subsector scale is like the individual level. And world scale is like individual zones or areas within a level. A Traveller referee can start out with developing only one world or maybe a handful of neighboring worlds. The world/subsector/sector mapping scheme allows her to work on discrete pieces while also placing them within a larger, if undefined, context.

Traveller also allows a referee to generate as much or as little data as desired at the smallest scale. A referee can build out an entire system complete with stellar details, individual planets and their associated details like moons, atmospheres, orbits, and so on. This would be like mapping out and stocking an entire section of a level. Or, the referee might only determine the best starport present in the system, which helps determine whether the PCs would (or could) travel there. This would be like marking off a section of the dungeon map as “orcs are here.”

With this in mind, I started with the sector perspective: an overview of all of the main levels of the Great Dungeon. For most of the levels I had an overarching theme or idea. This might have been the primary inhabitants (hobgoblins on level 3) or an architectural features (canals on level 4). A few levels were left open.

When I turned to individual levels, I didn't try to map out the whole thing, I just sketched out the location of different zones within the level using a crude flow chart. Did zone A connect to zone B? Did zone C have a way to get to the next lowest level? For some levels I had definite ideas for how 3 or 4 different zones would relate to each other. For other levels I might have started out with ideas for only a couple of zones. If I were prepping for a delve, I would only worry about having a handful of zones ready to go.

There are many advantages to this approach. Most importantly, you are eating the elephant one bite at a time. It can be exhausting to try to key 40 or 50 rooms at one time and it is easy to lapse into tedium. Dungeon making isn’t factory work, and if it ever starts to feel like that one should do something else. The other big advantage to this approach is it allows you to keep large areas of the dungeon open to future development and prevents you from getting boxed in.

A Snail's Pace

Given the dank, slimy nature of most dungeons, the abundance of fantastical vermin in D&D, and the tendency toward Gygaxian naturalism, it surprises me that there are no giant snails to accompany the familiar giant centipedes, spiders, and ticks. (Dear old flail snails, like the dragonsnails of RuneQuest, are really cut from different, and much more fantastical cloth.)

On top of that, depictions of armored knights fighting giant snails are evidently not uncommon in medieval manuscripts. (Go figure!) Put this all together, and it seems that our dungeons are in great need of overgrown, acid-spitting snails!

The following text is Open Game Content.

Monstrous Snail

This slithering mollusk has a coiled shell nearly two feet across, colored brown and vivid red.

0e

Giant Snail CL 1 (15 XP)

If provoked, a giant snail spits acid at foes up to 15 feet away.

HD 1; AC 3 [16]; Atk 1 spit (1d4); Move 3; Save 17; AL N; Special: Acid.

3.5e

Monstrous Snail CR 1/2

Always N Small vermin

Init -1; Senses blindsense 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +0

Defense

AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 16
(-1 Dex, +6 natural, +1 size)

hp 5 (1d8+1 HD)

Fort +3, Ref -1, Will +0

Defensive Abilities retraction; Immune vermin traits

Offense

Speed 10 ft., climb 10 ft.

Ranged spit acid +0 touch (1d4 acid)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 0 ft.

Tactics

During Combat A monstrous snail spits acid at any creature that comes within range.

Morale The snail will retract into its shell upon taking any damage, and will remain retracted unless it takes additional damage.

Statistics

Str 6, Dex 9, Con 12, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2

Base Atk +0, Grp -6

Skills Climb +6

Ecology

Environment temperate and warm marshes, forests, and underground

Organization solitary, rout (2–4)

Treasure none

Advancement 2 HD (Medium), 3–4 HD (Large)

Special Abilities

Retraction (Ex) A monstrous snail can pull its fleshy parts into its shell as a swift action, increasing its natural armor bonus by +4, but it cannot move or attack while retracted. It can return to normal as a free action.

Spit Acid (Ex) A monstrous snail can spit acid at an opponent within 15 feet (no range increment). With a successful ranged touch attack, the target takes 1d4 points of acid damage (no save).

Skills Monstrous snails have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. A monstrous snail can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened.

5e

Giant Snail

Small beast, unaligned
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 9 (2d6 + 2)
Speed 10 ft., climb 10 ft.
Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
6 (-2)	9 (-1)	12 (+1)	1 (-5)	10 (+0)	2 (-4)
Senses blindsight 30 ft.; passive Perception 10
Languages –
Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)
Spider Climb. The snail can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Actions
Spit Acid. Ranged Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, range 15 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) acid damage.
Reactions
Retraction. A giant snail that takes damage can pull its fleshy parts into its shell, which adds 4 to its AC, but it cannot move or attack while retracted. It can return to normal on its turn.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

1. Definitions: (a) “Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b) “Derivative Material” means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d) “Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) “Product Identity” means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts, creatures, characters, stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f ) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) “Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) “You” or “Your” means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.
3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.
4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.
5. Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.
7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.
8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.
9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.
10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You distribute.
11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.
12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.
13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
    
    • Open Game License v 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
    • System Reference Document, Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
    • System Reference Document 5.1, Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
    • Monster Compendium: 0e, Copyright 2008, Matthew J. Finch.
    • Monstrosities, Copyright 2012, Frog God Games LLC; Authors Andrew Trent (“the Venomous Pao”), Trent Foster, Salvatore Macri (“Skathros”), Scott Wylie Roberts (“Myrystyr”), Sean Stone (“Stonegiant”), Sean Wills (“Geordie Racer”), Cameron DuBeers, Matt Hoover (“Random”), Mike Davison, Russell Cone (“Grim”), Mudguard, Old Crawler, Michael Shorten (“Chgowiz”), Mark Ahmed, Scott Casper (“Scottenkainen”), The Lizard of Oz, James Malizsewski, Michael Kotschi, J.D. Jarvis, John Turcotte, Guy Fullerton, Michael Coté, Thomas Clark, Tanner Adams, and Matt Finch (“Mythmere”).
    • Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2, Copyright 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Graeme Davis, Crystal Frasier, Joshua J. Frost, Tim Hitchcock, Brandon Hodge, James Jacobs, Steve Kenson, Hal MacLean, Martin Mason, Rob McCreary, Erik Mona, Jason Nelson, Patrick Renie, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Owen K.C. Stephens, James L. Sutter, Russ Taylor, and Greg A. Vaughan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
    • Swords & Wizardry Core Rules, Copyright 2008, Matthew J. Finch.
    • A Snail's Pace, Copyright 2017, R. Dorman.

Races of the Southern Kingdoms

The Southern Kingdoms are a loose coalition of dozens of small empires and city states.

SOUTHRONS are humans, part of a great wave of migration to the North: explorers and traders and adventurers, fleeing the teeming cities and grinding poverty for freedom and opportunity. The Southrons are currently ascendant in the North, having defeated the hobgoblin empire and established a series of thriving settlements along the coastline. The Southrons are organized into small landholds administered by a Lord or Lady. The Southrons are notable for bringing their religion into the North, a single church consisting of two sister orders: one representing Law and the other Chaos. The orders are military organizations, composed of clerics, defenders and advocates of the faith.

TIEFLINGS are a mysterious, insular race, often appearing much like very attractive, slender humans with fair skin and curly red hair. They wear distinctive robes of purple and gold, with birettas atop their heads. Derisively called hellborn or hellions or even worse by others, they prefer to be known as “the Friends of Men” or simply as “the Friends.” The Friends are valued lawyers, bankers, and merchants of all manner of goods and services—eager to assist with any need or desire, but rather insistent about the minutia of contracting.

HALFLINGS are a pleasant, gregarious folk the size of human children. Like their Southron fellows, the halflings moved to the North for adventure and freedom.

ORCS were introduced to the North as slaves to the Southrons, bred by the humans to fight the native goblins. The orcs thrived in their new land, and the orcish armies overwhelmed the hobgoblin defenses. But the orcs soon turned upon their masters and deserted in great numbers. Now several orc tribes, all descended from the slave armies, roam the north. Although today only the most disreputable of Southron lords employ orc troops, small groups of orcs and half-orcs are not an uncommon sight in human towns and villages.

OGRES followed the men and orcs into the North, and quickly established lairs in the unsettled hills and valleys just beyond the edge of civilization. From these mean settlements they prey on humans and any other intelligent creatures they happen upon.

A Nice Day for a . . . Dark Wedding

Setup

We did a President’s Day delve with the father-son group we’ve been running for the last six months or so. We have Bernie the cleric, Hugh the fighter, Richard the barbarian, and Xad the dragonborn wizard. The group was investigating an area down on the Fifth Level that seems to have been overtaken by undead, cultists to Orcus, and some demon-worshiping berserkers. At the end of last session they found a large audience chamber with a huge statue of the Demon Prince of the Undead, and behind the statue was a secret door which opened up into a series of natural caverns.

First, I should back up and point out that I had adapted this groovy Dyson Logos map for the adventure. This map has lots of interesting areas that call out for exploration. Instead of the temple being the entrance to the complex, it was the heart of it and the PCs started in the northwest. The large room in the southwest was the audience chamber, and the group proceeded east into the natural caverns.

Adventure Recap

• They came upon a large, dank cavern with a particularly disturbing feature: enormous hoofprints pressed deep into the living rock floor of the cavern, running southeast to northwest. As the party marveled at this sight, three abyssal maws appeared and attacked. (These nasty horrors are probably the best new monster from the third edition Monster Manual II, and have been updated to 5e in Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Plus I still have a bunch of these miniatures from the old Dragoneye set.)
• The group smashed open the door and surprised three priests of Orcus. Xad let loose a fireball followed up by a silence spell from Bernie. At that point it was pretty much all over but the crying. One of the priests tried to escape, but before he was killed he cried that "the wedding will still continue!" The group found a scroll detailing the history of the cavern: Orcus himself is said to have walked there eons ago when the world was young, and as such the cave is venerated by the cultists. The group took the raiments from the three dead priests: each has a headpiece adorned with great ram’s horns.
• The group took the cavern exit to the west and followed the passage until they found the way blocked by a throng of 14 animated skeletons. Hugh, though, thought fast and while wearing the ram’s horns commanded the skeletons to let the group pass. A quick Charisma check later and the group proceeded down the stairs.
• They filed past a disturbing statue of Orcus to find a stone door and a small cell beyond. Inside was a large stone slab, upon which were spread fine cloths smelling faintly of perfume. Continuing on, the passage opened up into a narrow chamber with a ceiling soaring high above. Looking up, the group could see the bottom of a wooden bridge some 20 feet above. Half a dozen zombies guarded the way, but using the priestly raiments the group commanded them to march back and fight the skeletons.
• Richard climbed up to the bridge level and threw a rope down to the rest of the group. The group entered the antechamber to the northeast, which was guarded by a gargoyle-like demon. Again the headdress allowed them to command the demon to let them pass.
• Beyond was a great, dark temple chamber with an enormous statue of Orcus. Before the statue supplicated a grossly fat woman. Beside her was a pale girl and two berserkers. The party tried to bluff their way in, hoping to save the girl, but the cultists instantly saw through the ruse and attacked. Xad unleashed his second fireball and Bernie held one of the berserkers, whom Richard quickly dispatched.
• A dark, booming voice from beyond the void condemned the woman for allowing infidels into the unholy space, and to everyone’s surprise the girl fell upon the woman, ripping her throat open and drinking her blood. While Hugh attacked the berserker, Richard charged the girl. Skeletal hands erupted from the floor around Bernie and Xad, but both spellcasters were able to avoid being grabbed.
• The girl grabbed Richard and nearly bit his throat, but he battled back and was about to destroy her. But before she could fall the berserker rushed to her side and offered up himself as a sacrifice. She gladly accepted this gift, draining his life and restoring herself to full strength.
• But then she faced the full party. Bernie called up a ring of angels to surround himself. Xad summoned a swarm of daggers as Hugh and Richard brought their steel to bear. With a scream the girl dissipated into a shadow that rapidly fled and was soon lost to the Dungeon. The group searched the temple and discovered a secret hoard hidden beneath the statue. Laden with treasure, the group returned to Delvetown.

Rewards

XP: A Nice Day for a . . . Dark Wedding

	Starting XP	Award	New XP
Bernie	6,500	3,737	10,237
Hugh	6,500	3,737	10,237
Richard	6,500	3,737	10,237
Xad	6,500	3,737	10,237