Dungeon 23: Temple of the Snake Cult (The True Temple) - Level 4

This map is released under terms of the  CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

 

Area Links:

Area A (Rooms 1-7)

Area B (Rooms 8-14)

Area C (Rooms 15-21)

Area D (Rooms 22-28)

 

Wandering Monster Table (2d6):

 2 – A snake-man Myrmidon (either a VIP touring or 3-in-6 chance it is Thet-Zuh from Room 15 on inspection) with 1d4 Emissaries

3-6 – See the appropriate Area table below

7 – 1d4 normal human servants (1-in-6 demihuman.)  They will betray the PCs to the snake-men on a 5-in-6 chance.

8 – A lone, snake-man Emissary

9-11 – 1d4 snake-man Emissaries with 1d4 normal human servants (1-in-6 demihuman.)

12 – A snake-man Noble (a VIP) with 1d4 Myrmidons, 1d4 Emissaries, and 1d4 normal human servants.

 Area A

3 – 1d4 snake-men Emissaries with 1d4 baern-men (bugbear) guards/orderlies

4 – 2d4 baern-men (bugbear) guards/orderlies

5 – 1d4 serpent-hounds (see Room 1)

6 – 1d4 normal human (1-in-6 demihuman) escapee(s). They will betray the PCs to the snake-men on a 1-in-6 chance.

 Area B

3 – The minotaurs from Room 12 have escaped!  And they are hungry (-1 to reactions.)

4 – An escaped mutation (gibbering mouther): AC 1 [18]; HD 4+4 (HP 29); MV 30 ft. 10 ft.); ATK 1 HP (mouths); SV fighter 5; ML 12; AL N; XP 400 (or HD + two specials)

The mutation is an amorphous mound of oozing flesh with multiple mouths.  Those that are within 60 feet of the creature can hear hungry babbling from its many mouths and must save against magic or come under the influence of a confusion spell.  The ground in a 10-foot area the creature permeates has a goopy and dense consistency, like muddy soil or dough.  Once a victim is within this area, a successful attack roll attaches one of its mouths, which begin to cause 1 HP of damage per round.  A victim with three (3) or more mouths attached must save against paralysis or be dragged into the mass.  The victim’s move then becomes 0 until they can succeed at another saving throw against paralysis to free themselves.

5 – 1d4 snake-men Emissary flesh-crafters with 1d4 baern-men (bugbear) guards/orderlies

6 – 1d4 snake-men Emissary flesh-crafters moving about work

 Area C

3 – Five (5) minotaur guards with spears, which patrol the area.

4 – Three (3) dopplegangers posing as human servants.  They go to and from Room 17 to relieve the ones there.

5 – Three (3) blink dogs that have managed to elude their snake-men captors for some time now.  They were Qiu-Seti’s idea to incorporate their abilities in flesh-crafting.

6 – A snake-man Emissary with a troll bodyguard.

 Area D

3 – Two (2) wraiths; previous victims of the High Priest above, who are now free and have wandered to this level

4 – Five (5) guardian gargoyles seem like decorations

5 – Two (2) escaped cave bears

6 – A squad of six (6) baern-men (bugbears) searching for some escaped creatures

 

Commentary

 

Focus and Vision

You just read this in my voice

If you’ve seen my bonus, cross-section post, you know that I now have clear themes for the next seven levels of the Dungeon23 project.  Sure, the first three levels had a pretty solid theme themselves – what happens to a place like the Mountain of Power in Conan the Barbarian after the events of the film?  But admittedly, I was flying by the seat of my pants as far as coming up with dungeon rooms and contents (and it shows.)

For levels 4-6 and beyond, I’m taking more care in deciding the layout, and contents of the four areas and individual rooms.  Don’t worry, there are still random table shenanigans (otherwise, this wouldn’t be as much fun for me,) and I’ve also employed ChatGPT in brainstorming a few ideas for room themes.  With this and AI art from NightCafe, it appears I have fully embraced our new, digital masters.

Join us

 

Going with the 5e Creative Commons (CC) SRD

Speaking of embracing, I’ve decided to use the 5.1 SRD for game content.  This should make it easier to recognize named material while keeping the content usable with original and “B/X” versions of the game and their simulacra.  It is by no means perfect.  Not all monsters, spells, and magic items are there, and many have been renamed.  Indeed, I think we’re getting less here than with the OGL, but I feel that document is a little toxic to touch right now.  Still, I wouldn’t discount Wizards of the Coast (WotC) just forgetting about the old OGL now that the controversy around it has largely ended, and they did mention making older edition material available with the CC license.  I’m not holding my breath, but time will tell.

 

 

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.