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I'm currently formulating ideas for a dungeon crawl using the beginner box rules for some of my buddies. They aren't roleplayers (though we do play a lot of skirmish miniature games like Malifaux and Infinity) but we ran through the beginner box and really enjoyed it and I think another simple, single-session hack and slash/puzzler dungeon would go down well!
I just wanted to bounce the ideas I'd had for the dungeon off the forum to see if the more seasoned DMs might have some cool suggestions for what I could throw at them.
The basic theme of the dungeon is mold and fungus. The backstory is that some strange zombies wandered into town and were killed and that the party have been sent out to investigate their source. The party have followed their tracks back to the dungeon where the adventure starts. Almost the whole place is filled with rot, and spores hang heavy in the air. I'm imagining that some of the enemies they face (and that I'd have to convert to fit the BB) would be things like toads, myconids, goblins wearing mushroom hats and yellow musk zombies (which was what started the whole thing). I had this idea that in the end of the dungeon they'd find a man in suspended animation in a crystal tube, the idea being that he was a wizard who contracted some kind of fungal rot. He attempted to cure himself and ended up putting himself in the crystal as part of the process. When they look inside the tube he looks completely clean, in stark contrast to the rest of the dungeon. Although he has been cured, he has now been trapped in his tube for years and fungal essence, empowered by his magic has seeped out and filled the dungeon. Maybe some of the dungeon denizens worship him as their creator.
Do you have any ideas for the kinds of encounters they could face in this dungeon? Maybe some traps or puzzles or roleplaying possibilities? Do you see any holes in my ideas? How would they discover what actually happened here? I guess they could find his journal to find out that he was trying to cure himself but how could they make the jump to realise that he's the source of the proliferation of all of this?
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Fungeon?
What level are the characters? It makes a huge difference to what you can put in the dungeon while making it doable.
I've always been a fan of the various hazards that you can encounter. My favourite fir this kind of dungeon being Azure Fungus and Mundane Insect Swarms
I propose a different angle for the crystal tube man: a powerful former Adept. He had Divine power instead of the Arcane of a wizard and he had a familiar. The familiar was supposed to carry on routine experiments while the Adept slept. Unfortunately the fungus got to it but somehow while it's body corrupted the universal energies that empowered it kept it's mind from being consumed.
You could make the familiar anything; a fungal animal, a qlippoth, or a custom creature. You could also delve into improved familiars for a starting template. Whatever the case, this creature then is the only thing that can save or doom it's master.
As for stuff in the dungeon you've got a good handle on the monsters. What about unexpected environmental hazards? Look to the Pyrotechnics spell; sudden disturbances in the dungeon can cause spontaneous choking clouds or just a "fog" of spores. You could impose other fog spell effects like Fog Cloud, Stinking Cloud...
And why stop there? Perhaps have some of the spores be delivery systems for different Adept spells. Spores that suddenly drop a burning hands, a light or a Divine Shield. The possibilities are endless.
Cool yeah, I should have mentioned that this would be aimed at Level 1 characters, probably just the pregens from the beginner box. I know they're super simplified characters but the guys who I'm aiming to run this for aren't really roleplayers and I've so far only DMed the first Beginner Box adventure.
There are some seriously great ideas here! I like the idea of the fungi having formed a full ecosystem down there, with different molds and mushrooms taking up different niches! I reckon it could totally open up future adventures if it works out, with the possibility of further infestations in deeper caverns!
Maybe if it takes off, the fungal queen could be used further down the line as some kind of big bad!
So Mark, with your idea for the familiar, are you suggesting that it would still be down there working away but it has somehow been addled by the fungus? Maybe the players could encounter it and it could be working away, they'd be able to speak to it and get some of the information off it?
One interesting encounter I found in an older book (that I was going to steal) was giant mushrooms called shriekers. Basically a trap mushroom anything that steps within 10 feet of them causes them to scream and deal area sonic damage. They have an AC of 14 and 8 hp each.
You'd have to draw up a map with no clear route through, requiring sneak or reflex to get past them.
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Another room have an encounter but put mold in the corner of the room whose spores filling the air cause players to roll a will save to order to avoid being hypnotically drawn into the mold and grabbing a mouthful to eat.
Players become sickened for 1d6 minutes or spend a standard action throwing up or "squeezing the lemon".
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I'd also be liberal with sprinklings of insects or maybe many of the "Leshy" creatures.
Yeah, so the familiar wants to save it's master right? It found that it's own unique physiology was beyond possession by a yellow mold creeper so it harvested one, experimented with it and tried further experiments on the zombies to see if it could then "cure" them for insight into helping it's patron. Then it conned a bunch of goblins down for live testing. Finally it began using bizarre and dangerous rites to infuse divine powers into spores but this is just making matters worse.
Maybe it thinks its being helpful or maybe it really has gone darkside and is trying to bring about a sporapocalypse. Maybe it's master's coma-dreams have done just as much damage as it's own fungal corruption. Heck, you could even go Silent Hill on it all and say that the familiar is a spiritual focal point for it's masters nightmares and pain and through it he is activating certain fungi and molds to decay everything.
That would be so awesome: a Tiny sized black cat/Triangle Head trolling the dungeon which uses hallucinogenic spores and shriekers to melt reality into "nightmare world" where there's zombie lab assistants dragging their legs and mutant animals and such.
I like the whole idea, especially the creatures thinking of the wizard as a creator. Maybe he had samples of several fungoid creatures for study which mutated and/or ran rampant after the incident that crystalized him? I especially like mycanoids and would set them up in a fairy ring about their "god". Remeber to add several strange yet harmless fungi as well. For descriptions/ideas, check out The Last of Us for PS4 or the Flood from XBOX's Halo series.
I TOTALLY wanna explore this dungeon.
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My player group is currently in my campaign world's version of the Underdark. They recently passed through a fungal area. I decided that the entire area they were in was infused by a single macro-fungus whose "body" was a myriad of tendrils and nodes that extended all through the floor, walls and roof of the cavern. All of the fungal "creatures" in the cavern were produced by the all-encompassing fungus who referred to himself as the "one-who-is-everywhere". The "creatures" the party encountered included fungal lights, alarm nodes, workers, soldiers and a special "brain" nodule that was capable of casting spells.
I used some of the fungal creatures in the bestiary, resurreccted some from earlier versions of D&D and just made up the rest.
It created a very creepy feel for that part of the Underdark.
I LOVE THIS IDEA AND AM STEALING IT!
My idea I'd like to contribute is the idea of atmospheric or contact spores creating subtle mind-effects that could create an interesting set of circumstances or a few cool encounters. For example:
The spores in a certain area inspire paranoia, and more sensitive you are to stimulus the more easily effected you are (circumstance penalties for high perception!) -- they think they are checking for perception, but really they are saving vs. the toxin (note their save values beforehand so they don't get suspicious) -- so likely coinciding with how perceptive the party is, the characters get paranoid... but you don't TELL THEM THAT... you tell them they sense "something" -- a trail of some kind, perhaps a kind of "dread" ... the more they search for the source of this, the more they are likely to find it. "Does the trail lead north, GM?" - why yes it does! "Do I see anything in the path ahead?" Why yes you do! -- basically let them create their own hallucinations based on what they are looking for, always insubstantial, moving away, or out of reach. "Is the area trapped?" YES! But damned if they can't find the source of the danger... If they check the tiles for pressure plates, holy crap, the room is FULL OF THEM! Basically have them in addition to the adventure be "hostage" to their concerns and hunches. Looking for secret door? It's RIGHT THERE! (but you can't find a way to open it no matter how hard you try) -- this, if done well, could be a very cool area to adventure through.
Secondly, a clever way of making a dangerous toxin effect the party is to associate it with a bonus -- that leads to a threat later on, a fungus that lures it's prey by inspiring feelings of well-being. Say an area or areas have a film of golden-colored spores, and coming in contact with them "can give you a +1 morale bonus" -- euphoria from the spores, players can and likely will wave their saves to get the bonus, especially if it stacks with an existing morale bonus. (Cool!) -- the party might be motivated to seek the fungus that produces the spores, perhaps to sell it or utilize the effects later... the deeper they go the thicker the film gets. +1 to will (except to resist the spores), +2 to fear... more bonuses as the slime gets thicker. Explain to them how brave and focused they feel... to goad them on or get them suspicious -- but they can't decide to turn around unless they make an argument that isn't meta-gaming (the characters feel brave and invincible under these effects!) -- monsters in this area feel brave too, and are especially aggressive... at first, but as they press closer to the source the bravery gives way to euphoria -- unless they fail a save vs. fear or otherwise snap themselves out of it (and they took those bonuses, right?) they then find themselves cheerfully and lazily plodding along, while subconsciously they might be screaming -- (give them saves vs. fear every now and then to snap out of it) ... other humanoids in this area are likewise cheerful and plodding towards their doom, which you can convey as far ahead of them in the chamber of the golden spore monster -- a creature so hideous they have a good chance of failing those fear saves they need to snap out of it)-- and it's lair is full of cavorting creatures reveling as they dance about and/or line up to be eaten, with the fungus spitting half-eaten people and animals over the characters heads, their faces frozen in a hideous pantomime of ecstacy. Could be a really cool mini-adventure for an environment like this, season it to taste!
I like this idea in particular because it uses the players will and fear saves AGAINST THEM... fear becomes their friend, and characters with high will may find it working against them. They'll need to FAIL a fear/will save instead of pass one, an interesting twist potentially -- but make sure you know your players and tread lightly when you are tinkering with things like player agency -- being controlled for a short time or to a limited capacity is one thing, them thinking they have a GM that will hijack their characters and not give them back whenever he feels like it is much different. Be careful!
Someone really needs to punish you.Rings of mushrooms and toadstools used to be called fairy rings, and were said to be homes to the fae or passage to their world. Perhaps the wizard’s original infection is a first world curse, and the fae who laid it on him or her comes to gloat from time to time, perhaps with an entourage.
Alternately, perhaps he contracted his fungal infection from a fungal layer of the abyss, and the place is slowly becoming a gateway to that demonic realm.
...he's a really fun-gi.Your puns are in spore taste.
I would, but there isn't mushroom in the dungeons. Besides, fungus jokes really grow on you after a while. You'll take a lichen to them soon enough.
Dot!
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I would, but there isn't mushroom in the dungeons. Besides, fungus jokes really grow on you after a while. You'll take a lichen to them soon enough.Someone really needs to punish you.Rings of mushrooms and toadstools used to be called fairy rings, and were said to be homes to the fae or passage to their world. Perhaps the wizard’s original infection is a first world curse, and the fae who laid it on him or her comes to gloat from time to time, perhaps with an entourage.
Alternately, perhaps he contracted his fungal infection from a fungal layer of the abyss, and the place is slowly becoming a gateway to that demonic realm.
...he's a really fun-gi.Your puns are in spore taste.
I should put a cap on how many mushroom puns we are allowed but thought it might be better to button up my lip and not be a poor sport (or spore if you want to combine the 2 words). It all stems from respect. Anyway, gotta run, my friend Gill is coming over to pore over some stuff...
All you people making bad puns lack morels.
I might throw some vegepygmies in there while I'm at it!
But seriously, I'm really glad this thread has inspired so many of you and you've come up with some seriously amazing ideas!
I was thinking that early on in the dungeon they might find some crude symbols depicting the mage in his casing (just a humanoid figure in a rectangle or something) and that they'd see more and more evidence of his worship as it went on.
Set up an Alien-style encounter. Send an NPC in with them who gets exposed to Russet Mold. They get sick, die after a couple days, and out of their chest cavity pop a couple vegepygmies, ready to fight. Make sure to do it before you introduce the vegepygmies as enemies though. Then, have one of the vegepygmies run off during the fight. A few days later, you've gone from Alien to Aliens. And it works, even with motion tracking devices, because the fluff for vegepygmies has them making clicks and taps for communication. Make that stuff echo through the dungeon all the time before having them pop out.
Consider that stolen!
[paxton]Game over man! Game over![/paxton]
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What about fungal hallucinations keyed to memories of adventurers who've come before? Bear with me here...
1. There are fungi (Memory Moss or something) that steal spells and thoughts. There are also fungal zombies.
2. There are hallucinogenic properties in other fungi.
3. Key up a scene where the above 2 factors collide
The party enters an area and takes a breath; suddenly they're sucked into the latent memory of a former adventurer or even the cryogenic guy himself. If they make a Will save (DC 10 +1 + their APL) then they avoid a Suggestion effect compelling them to partake of some local resource that will hurt them.
Or you can use the Haunt mechanics to achieve the same effects. This would let your players actually experience the plot info you want to get across and it would let you perpetuate the disorienting nature of the place.
More amazing ideas! I'm really going to have to sit down and write this now! :D This is all so good. I especially like the haunt/memories idea! They could even be compelled to act things out that were either not harmful or were even helpful! They could "find" things that the previous adventurers themselves had found like secret doors or useful items. Nothing too important to the plot so it wouldn't matter if they failed.
I like the idea of them walking into a room and seeing a decayed corpse or zombie wearing distinctive armour or clothes, breathing in those memory spores and then seeing a vision of the same person in life through the eyes of one of their companions!
Build a dungeon without a theme, then slap the new Fungal Creature template from Bestiary 4 onto everything.
Yay laziness! :D
Build a dungeon without a theme, then slap the new Fungal Creature template from Bestiary 4 onto everything.
Yay laziness! :D
Wow double a batteries; that's brilliant!
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To expand my somewhat immature vegepygmies post, here's an idea that actually uses them-
Set up an Alien-style encounter. Send an NPC in with them who gets exposed to Russet Mold. They get sick, die after a couple days, and out of their chest cavity pop a couple vegepygmies, ready to fight. Make sure to do it before you introduce the vegepygmies as enemies though. Then, have one of the vegepygmies run off during the fight. A few days later, you've gone from Alien to Aliens. And it works, even with motion tracking devices, because the fluff for vegepygmies has them making clicks and taps for communication. Make that stuff echo through the dungeon all the time before having them pop out.
They're coming out of the walls! They're coming out of the gods d$#@ed walls!
The NPC could be the last survivor of his group who set out looking for the Fungal Tomb of Mr. Magicpants and he meets the PCs just after his ordeal and begs them to help him find them or their remains and retrieve some item he wants back (unimportant). He leads them in and then the Chest popping thing goes on...
Another idea I have is something from way back for me....
There was a B movie called "The Stuff", the idea of which was that there was some weird alienish stuff that looked and had the consistancy of yogurt that had bacteria/viruses/alien-life-forms in it and when consumed (people started packaging it like a yogurt) made people addicted to it and controlled their minds after a number of exposures. It was very "pod-people" like but I thought the twist of it was cool. Perhaps you could find it on Net-flix or something and give it a watch....many of the details are lost to the fogs of time for me (bubble, bubble....) but it was really cool to see the people with their whole refrigerators filled with only this "Stuff" and trying to force others to partake of the deliciousness.
The Stuff
are you eating it or is it eating you?
excellent tagline.