BRP solo - Part X: „Ein Drache scheint es von Gestalt“

A wave of warm, humid air washes over Lycinia as she opens the door. There is an overpowering smell of spices, but it cannot mask the underlying smells of sweat, excrement, and decay. She must steady herself for a few moments against the damp stone wall before she finds the resolve to continue [Stamina (CONx5=70%) roll fails]. Blinking the tears from her eyes, she passes the threshold.

An unnatural light flares up for a few moments in the room beyond [Room 20. - Special], illuminating the short entrance passage. It has died down again by the time Lycinia enters the square chamber, leaving only the feeble glow of a quartet of brass braziers near the corners of the room, and the flickering light of Lycinia's torch. It takes her vision another moment to adjust, then her eyes are met with the full horror of the scene.

In the centre of the room, an unnatural black beast sits on its haunches, looking like a skinned dragon, though very much alive. Its exposed muscles are the colour of obsidian, and all over droplets of runny fluid weep out of the raw meat. A sinister intelligence glares out of its grey-white eyes as it regards the fairy creature so recently come into its lair.

Concentric magic circles ring the beast. The innermost is of paint, and shows some artistry in the figures and arcane names inscribed within. The middle ring is a simple circle of plain salt. The  outermost was written in blood, dry now but bearing the mark of a careless footprint which broke it. Beside the footprint lies a corpse, or at least part of one. The head and right arm appear to have been dissolved by some sort of strong acid. The man wore simple white robes, now stained with blood and fat and toxins.

A table with tools of the art sits against a wall, and beside it a worm-eaten tome is held open on an ornamental stand of wrought iron. In the shadows at the back of the chamber lies the enormous and bloated corpse of a sow, chained to the wall by its foot.


Greater Demon               
STR (4D8)  7   Mov: 16
CON (4D8) 21   HP:  22
SIZ (5D8) 23   DB: +1D4
INT (4D8) 20   Armour: none
POW (4D8) 21
DEX (2D8)  8
APP (1D8)  6

Attacks: Claw 60% 1D8+db
         Spray Venom 50% POT=1D10, range 5m
Powers: Remember 110%, Soul Sight 5m, Empathy  

Forme : Dragon
(Ex : basilic, dragon)
Localisation Mêlée Missile PV
Queue         01–02  01     6
Patte post. d 03–04  02     8
Patte post. g 05–06  03     8
Arrière train 07–08 04–08   9
Poitrail      09–10 09–14   9
Aile droite   11–12  15     6
Aile gauche   13–14  16     6
Patte ant. d  15–16  17     8
Patte ant. g  17–18  18     8
Tête          19–20 19–20   8


The demon in the circle beckons. Lycinia takes a step forward, sword poised for attack.

"Stay your hand, fairy woman," says the demon in the Ancient Tongue. "I mean you no ill."

"Like you meant none to... whoever that was."

"The self-styled 'Walker on the Hidden Path'? He tried to bind me to his will, the fool! but you have done no such thing, and are, methinks, wiser than these human dabblers in the Art. Perhaps we can come to  mutually beneficial arrangement." [UNE: scheming - arrangement - friends]

"Such as?"

"There must be something I can do for you. If not now, in the future. Perhaps you are curious about the world about you. Or the heavens above. Or, indeed, the hells beneath. I could teach you... secrets. [mysterious - shadows - future action: can teach Blasphemous Lore (via Remember ability)]

"Name your price that I may consider it, unnatural spirit."

"Simply release me from the magic that holds me in this place, that I may be free." [throw / Cell]

"Let me think about this."

Lycinia lowers her sword, and steps forward casually. "So what you're saying, is that--"

But even before Lycinia can lunge forward with her sword, the demon has sensed her ruse [Empathy power]. It unhinges its jaw and spits forward a noxious yellow stream of acid, but the elf's warrior instincts take over and she ducks to one side as she leaps forward and buries her sword deep in the demon's flank. As she retracts the blade, blackish blood gushes forth from the wound, and the demon gurgles with pain.

[Basically, they both got a 'surprise' round on each other, since the range of the creature's acid is only 15', about the point she was going to charge from. It's not real surprise, so I didn't double anyone's attack chances. Lycinia's 'warrior instincts' were poetic licence; it just rolled a miss against her. She rolled a very real hit to the hindquarters for 1D8+1=7 damage, leaving it with 15hp (2 in the location).]

[Round 1]
Lycinia swings her blade in a high arc, crashing it down upon the thing's exposed sternum. There is a wet crack as it bites deep [7 damage to the forequarter: 8hp left]. The demon cranes its neck and spits down at her, but she nimbly avoids the stream. It doesn't even splash her boots as she darts out of reach. [Its attack roll hit, but her Dodge (63-25encumbrance penalty=38%) actually succeeded.]

[Round 2]
Lycinia pulls back for but a moment, then comes at it from the other side. It tries to fend off her sword, knocking it aside with its overlong claws, but with limited success. The stroke that would have laid open its stomach instead takes a small chunk out of its leg. [She it, it just failed its Parry (60%), rolling a 61. It took 3 damage to the R Front Leg, leaving the demon with 5hp.]

It spits another toxic stream over Lycinia's head, and its claws seem unable to catch the agile elf [miss,miss].

[Round 3]
But it has learnt from its earlier mistakes. The silvery sword flashes again through the air, and this time meets the claws head on, being deflected with a force that Lycinia feels travel up to the hilt. [she hit, it parried]

Another stream of acid goes right over her shoulder, close enough that she can smell its acrid stench [37=hit, but 19=dodged!]. The raking claw she turns aside effortlessly [59= normal hit; her second defence in a round is at -30%, (61-30=31%) but she rolled 03, special success!]

[Round 4]
The demon switches tactics, lowering its head to spit its venom up into the elf's face. This is the mistake Lycinia had been waiting for, and with a powerful backhand drives the length of her blade into the side of the thing's elongated head. It bites deep into the skull, and she cannot pull it free. The sword is nearly wrenched from her grasp as the demon falls dead at her feet. [She rolled 05, Special success vs. its 88, failed parry. 10 damage to the Head dropped it to -5hp. Damn, but the dice were really kind to her for that fight.]

Her sword comes unstuck in an instant as the demon-dragon begins to decompose at a fantastic rate. Within moments there is nothing left of the horror but a fine dust. "That will save me the trouble of cleaning my sword," says Lycinia, but the sight of the remaining horrors in the chamber makes the jest ring hollow in her ears.

She is drawn toward the table of magical implements. There is a scroll case with a papyrus inside. The briefest perusal or the roll confirms it is written over with spells on both sides, so Lycinia puts it into her pack for later. She also finds a silver pectoral set with precious stones, several of which have been prised out. But the remaining gems and metal still hold considerable value, and she stows them in her pouch. She isn't sure about any of the tinctures or spices, and resolves to simply ignore them. The book on the stand is practically begging for her attention.

[Treasure Factor 11+(1d4x10)=51. No coins, as that would be silly here.

-gemstone 234sp
-very good jewellery 583sp
-potion of (CF 1d36=) ethereality
-Magic-User spell scroll: Fly, Charm, Protection, Haste

Q: Is the Grimoire here? unknown d6=4 50/50: O5 C7 - yes.
Read Ancient Language (47%) succeeds.]

Lycinia casts her eyes over the open page, and is horrified at the words they contained. Her research in the great library had hinted at the unwholesome operations of certain vile practitioners of the black arts, but here she is confronted with a manual outlining each step of the blasphemous procedures. She leafs through a few pages, and each passage she alights upon only compounds her revulsion. If reading The Forgotten Reckoning of Bliss had earned her banishment from fair Feyalldra, this volume, so infinitely more vile, would have merited death. Even such a curious elf as she finds not the smallest desire to know the secrets set forth in these mildewed pages. She resolves to burn the thing, lest it ever tempt her. In fact, perhaps she ought to cleanse this whole room with fire.

[Q: Can she find enough here to get a good bonfire going? 50/50 (4+): O3 C3 - no, but... stuff nearby
+Event: (back to regular Mythic table, as the Mystery is solved)  Move toward a thread - open / life]

As Lycinia is considering how much combustible material is in the chamber, she hears a squelching behind her. She looks into the back of the room, and sees the dead sow begins to shudder and distend, as if something within is trying to get out. Her hand falls limply to the pommel of her sword, as she is transfixed with fear.

[She needed to roll POWx3 (36%) to be able to take the first action: d%=42, no.

Something is clawing its way out, but what? (1d8):
1 the seeress reborn, and perfectly fine
2 the seeress reborn, but with a demon's soul
3 the seeress reborn as a horrible mutant
4 the seeress reborn as Geredrom
5 a mindless revenant
6 a lich
7 an icky thing (stats as lesser demon)
8 a very icky thing (stats as greater demon)

1d8=7]


Icky Thing               
STR (2D8)  3   Mov: 3
CON (2D8)  6   HP:  5
SIZ (1D8)  4   DB: -1D4
INT (4D8) 16   Armour: none
POW (3D8) 18 
DEX (6D8) 31 
APP (1D8)  1 
   
Attacks: Claw 60% 1D8+db
Powers: See Sound, Emote, Howl  

Forme : Brontosaure  
(Ex : brontosaure, stégosaure)
Localisation  Loc.   PV
Queue         01–02   2
Patte post. d 03–04   2
Patte post. g 05–06   2
Arrière train 07–10   2
Poitrail      11–14   2
Patte ant. d  15–16   2
Patte ant. g  17–18   2
Tête          19–20   2


A rent opens in the sow's rotten flesh, and an abomination slithers forth. The thing is tiny, and resembles a badly decaying human corpse, albeit with a long, distended neck and torso, and atrophied limbs. A long, serpentine tail is the last part of the thing to slough forth from the cadaver.

It looks up from the floor at Lycinia with its wizened skull face, and begins to taunt her -- in her own voice! "I have the book! I have the book! It's mine! All mine! All for me! Look what wonders I will be able to perform! No wizard shall ever again be my equal!" [UNE: knowing - report - treasure; it used the Emote power, combined with Howl power's effect (breaks all concentration for spellcasting)]

The thing creeps towards Lycinia as it speaks, and is nearly upon her before the elf is able to suppress her fear and revulsion enough to draw her blade. It swipes at her with a bony claw, but the filthy nails only scrape across the sword as she parries. She takes a step back and holds her sword aloft a moment, before plunging it with both hands straight down into the malformed creature's back. There is a momentary resistance as it severs the spinal column, then the blow is stopped as the tip bites into the stone floor. The creature shrieks and contorts for a moment, then collapses.

[Round 1:
it hit, she parried.
she hit, it failed to dodge (62%). 9 damage dropped it to -4hp]

Lycinia caves in the grinning skull head, just to convince herself the abomination is dead. Then she runs from the room and slams the door behind her before she succumbs to the urge to throw up.

She leaves the hexagonal chamber by the northern door. The corridor beyond comes almost immediately to a 4-way intersection. She can hear rushing water down the western branch, and follows it down to the broken bridge [Area 2]. She goes back and tries the northern passage, which leads her into a rectangular chamber [Room 21. - Skill Challenge only], empty save for white marble statue of Health personified in the human idiom [d30 Sandbox Companion heraldry table, d7, d30=snake/serpent]. Lycinia wonders at the image for half a moment, but her attention is drawn by a series of seemingly-innocent scratches on the statue's base.

[Challenge: Read/Write Elvish (normal) reveals STR (normal)

The R/W Elvish didn't fit thematically with my sudden vision of the statue based on the d30 result, so I ruled that a Spot Hidden roll was required to notice the scratches: 09 succeeds.
R/W Elvish (64%): 05, special success.]

Looking closer, Lycinia is delighted to see that the scratches are ever-so-cleverly disguised cursive elvish letters. They're hard to make out, but ere long she has teased the meaning out of them: "Thilanallir, the goods are concealed under the statue. -Neluya." So she's not the first of the fair folk to have traversed these sewers. Nor indeed the shiftiest. The statue is a head taller than Lycinia -- and she's tall for an elf -- but [Effort (STRx5=65%): 61, success] she puts her back into it, and at last shifts the statue enough to slide a hand into the cavity beneath.

[Q: What's in the hole below? d30=flask

Using my potion label rules (link):
Q: Labelled? 3-in-6: d6=2
a single arcane sigil
she must make either a difficult Idea roll or normal Spell Lore roll to decipher the mark: Spell Lore (47%): 38, success

Q: What does it mean? d30 Adventure Generator Tables II, AG9: THEME
d30=shadow]

She feels round, and her hand soon closes over something cold and metal. She has found a stoppered brass flask, upon which a single arcane sigil has been rudely scratched: the fabled Rune of Shadow. Lycinia is not sure what to make of her discovery, but she stows it carefully in her pack for later.

She returns to the junction, and takes the final branch east to find a door, which leads to another chamber [Room 22], with the same dimensions as the last.

[As this was the final room in this area, I decided to forego the usual Room Contents table and use the Oracle

Q: Is this, in fact, Geredrom's supply room? Likely (3+): O6 C2 - yes, and... he sometimes slept here as well.
Q: Does it contain a rope & grappling hook Unlikely (5+): O5 C7 - yes]

This was obviously used by the late Geredrom as a supply room. Wooden crates, some filled with straw, have been converted to tables, and a cot piled high with bedding rests against a wall. There is a wide variety of mundane items, amongst which Lycinia is overjoyed to find a goodly length of new rope and a large grappling hook. There is a cache of preserved rations, a small barrel of clean water and a few bottles of moderately good wine, but more interesting to the elf are the spare lanterns and oil. She begins packing the crates with the oil and anything else she thinks will burn, and begins dragging the lot back to the ritual chamber.

[Q: Any wandering monsters attracted by the noise? 50/50 (4+): O2 C1 - no, and... she's pretty much cleared the dungeon]

Once she's gotten everything moved, she is suddenly faced with the enormity of the task which she must still perform. She takes a long pull off one of the bottles of wine for some 'dwarven courage', then sets about the gruesome work. She wraps the little abomination in bedding and douses it all over with lamp oil before putting it into one of the straw-filled crates. She saves a little oil for the (partial) corpse of Geredrom, and sprinkles a bit on the sow's carcass for good measure. Then she pushes everything together to make a gruesome bonfire. The chamber door she props open with the iron stand, to make sure the fire gets plenty of air. Then she stands as far away as she can and throws a lit torch on it to start the fire.

Lycinia watches the conflagration build to make sure her work will be complete. But even as the flames rise, she knows that there is one thing left to do. The book, that damnable grimoire which the mad, foolish Geredrom used to create this horror, yet lies on the iron stand. What other secrets might it contain? Who can say what magics she could learn from such a hoary tome. If any magician could put the unfathomable secrets lurking in those mould-dampened leaves to a proper use, it is she!

Such thoughts she knows she must banish from her mind. She takes the book gingerly from the stand, but then an overwhelming hesitation seizes her. [Lycinia needs to roll POWx5 (60%) to the temptations of this artefact of evil...] She looks again at the book in her hands, turning it over and over, then leafing through a few pages, tracing her finger over one of the circles. The delightful scent of old parchment reaches her nostrils, momentarily overshadowing the rancid smell of the smoky pyre. She grips the book tightly, [...d%=46, success] then hurls it with all her strength into the heart of the blaze. Perhaps she could read such an evil book and remain spiritually untainted, perhaps not. But she knows one thing with abject certainly: she could never face Théscine's disappointment.

Only when she is finally certain the book has been consumed by the flames does she begin to retrace her steps and climb back up the long shaft into the dilapidated theatre. She doesn't even bother to close the door after her as she stumbles exhausted into the street. Breathing deeply of the fresh dawn air acts as a sudden tonic on her wearied bones, and she strides through the streets of Ildmarch with renewed vigour. She garners not a few strange looks from the few citizens just beginning their workdays, though none are so brave as to approach the bloodied and battered fairy woman, and some even whisper a prayer to their various human gods that she pass them by in peace. For her part, she is scarcely aware of them at all, flushed with the success of her endeavours and the satisfaction at having averted a great, if mysterious, evil. And it couldn't have gone better for her; though she would not have scrupled to slaughter such a wicked magician as Geredrom, she hadn't actually had to -- no assassin she! But what a marvellous tale she will have to tell her patron. She is certain Orezuthía will be pleased.

finis

--- --- ---



Post Mortem

That was a good test of my Skill Challenge generator. It worked exactly as I hoped it would, though after getting halfway through I had already started modifying it so it would produce 1-3 challenges rather than always having them come in pairs.

Links: the one I used for this adventure
the updated version


When she was about to leave the dungeon, I had, of course, asked--
Q: Does she get back to guild without incident? 50/50 (4+): O6 C6 - yes
+Event:  Remote event - strive / castle (wars between nobles heating up, random castle (1dX=YYY) is besieged. I'll copy that into my campaign notes file for later (said file is an appalling mess, but it contains every global Event and all the stats and especially the 'flavour text' for each city/town/fortress and NPC, cut-and-paste in sections for easy reference -- I really need that after 60+ posts of adventures).

I'm not terribly enamoured of the Encumbrance system I was using, and I think the next adventure will be switching to Fatigue Points like in RQIII. To keep the D&D/CF feel, I'll halve the penalty to spellcasting for elves.

I think the Heroic Hit Points rule (called Total HP in the BGB) is great for single character adventures, but I'm a bit worried about it making full parties a bit too tough. Admittedly, a decent Impale or Critical can still kill a 22hp character outright, so this might not be as big an issue as I fear it to be. I'm 5 scenes into the next adventure at the time of this writing, and there hasn't been a combat yet, so it's still all conjecture.

Speaking of the next adventure, Lycinia didn't have enough time before it to do any magical research, so the mysterious flask with the shadow rune and the inscription from atop the column are still unknown quantities -- I won't figure out what they do until it becomes necessary.


XP, er... I mean Improvement Rolls

I counted the town and dungeon as one single adventure to keep her from getting too far ahead of the rest of the PCs. But she still gets a shitload of improvement rolls from all this.

She also 'exercised her POWer' (used it on the resistance table against a superior number) so it might go up: (21-12=9)x5=45% to improve: d%=14, success +1D3-1=1. Her POW increases to 13; her Magic Points and Luck roll also go up, but no skills category bonuses are affected.

Per RQIII, I am using Skill Category Bonuses as the Bonus to all experience rolls. I'm not bothering with 'class skills', so all improvements are 1d6 percentiles. Rather than recording all the dice rolling, I will just summarise:

Persuade +6 to 29%
Climb -
Dodge +3 to 66%
MQ +6 to 47%
Blasphemous Lore +3 to 16%
R/W Elvish +5 to 69%
R/W Ancient -
Physik -
Spell Lore +2 to 49%
Insight +4 to 48%
Library Use +2 to 36%
Listen +6 to 50%
Spot Hidden +3 to 72%

Sword attack +2 to 64%
Sword Parry +5 to 66%
Pistol +6 to 43%

Spells (half INT for exp. bonus)
Comprehend Languages +2 to 38%
Invisibility -
Magic Missile +1 to 32%
Sleep +4 to 55%

BRP solo - Part IX: „Hätt ich nicht gesehen und gestaunet“

Back in the long corridor, Lycinia continues on until her torchlight reveals its abrupt end in a floor-to-ceiling pile of rubble mixed with old bones [Area 17. - dead end + wandering monster]. She isn't sure if she is looking at the remains of some monster's dinner, the remains of an excavation accident, or old graves falling in from above, so she resolves to try looking out for fractures or structural weaknesses as she continues her exploration, lest her bones be added to such a pile. She turns about to retrace her steps to the door she'd passed by near the blade trap.

[The monster is not so much wandering as hiding, using its Chameleon power. Lycinia needed to make a difficult Spot Hidden (69/2=35%): 34, success. But this was being pitted against the monster's easy Hide (50x2=100%) roll: 53, success. Since both were normal successes, the higher roll wins. She is unaware of the monster until it strikes.

Attacking from ambush is Easy (60x2=120%)]

Lycinia has hardly gone five feet before something heavy and wet thuds into the small of her back, knocking her forward a step [hit in the Abdomen for 1D8+1D4=3 damage; 7 Armour Points absorbs it all]. She feels claws pull at her mail as she wheels about to face her assailant.

A writhing mass of fat tentacles fills half the corridor, all connected to an amorphous blob of mottled grey flesh, the colour of damp stone. It flumps forward to renew its assault on the fairy woman. Lycinia is sure she could easily outdistance this foul abomination [Mov 3 vs. her 11], but the strike from behind has kindled her wrath.


Lesser Demon
STR (3D8) 10   Mov:  3
CON (3D8) 14   HP:  16
SIZ (5D8) 18   DB: +1D4
INT (2D8)  9   Armour: none
POW (3D8) 10
DEX (3D8) 20
APP (2D8)  8

Attacks: Claw 60% 1D8+db (2/round)
Powers: Chameleon, Heat Sight 80% 

Forme : Pieuvre géante
(Ex : kraken, pieuvre géante)
Localisation Mêlée Missile PV
Tentacule 1  01–02  01      4
Tentacule 2  03–04  02      4
Tentacule 3  05–06  03      4
Tentacule 4  07–08  04      4
Tentacule 5  09–10  05      4
Tentacule 6  11–12  06      4
Tentacule 7  13–14  07      4
Tentacule 8  15–16  08      4
Tête         17–18 09–13    7
Corps        19–20 14–20    7

N.B. Tentacles are completely disabled at 0hp. No more than 4 points of damage to a tentacle come off the total hit points.

[Round 1]
Lycinia swings her sword at the unwholesome, grasping tentacles, but the creature shrinks from her blade with alarming rapidity, the tentacles retracting in an instant like the eyes of a slug. But at least it cannot hit back when it pulls away. [Her sword attack hit, but it rolled 07 for its Dodge (32%). Its 'claw' attacks both missed.]

[Round 2]
It contracts again, then lurches for the elf. One tentacle reaches right for her face. Her sword describes a perfect silvery arc, and the tentacle drops to the ground twitching and oozing. [It missed, she rolled a normal parry (no further effect). Her attack was a Special success vs. its failed dodge. Tentacle #7 takes 6 damage, destroying it; it takes only 4 damage to total hp: 12hp left.]

Another tentacle swipes at her, but she reacts just in time to bats it away with the flat of her blade. [It hit. Her second parry in a round is at -30% (so 31%); d%=29, succeeds.]

[Round 3]
The thing comes at her furiously. It is all she can do to keep the heavy grasping tentacles from smashing into her [she missed, but managed to parry both its attacks].

[Round 4]
But in the fury of its attack, it leaves an opening. Lycinia stabs right into the centre of the writhing mass, and feels a rubbery resistance beneath the keen point of her magical sword. The thing contorts and shivers in pain, but does not relent [she hit its nerve centre (head); 5 damage leaves it with 7hp (2hp left in the head location)].

Her bravura is not without cost. As she slips back out of reach, one of the tentacles scraps across her leg, shredding the stiff leather of her trews and pulling away bits of her white flesh with its myriad of tiny hooked claws. [5 damage -2AP; she takes 3 damage to the left leg dropping her to 5hp (3hp in the leg). Its second attack misses.]

[Rounds 5-6]
Lycinia has found the rhythm of her opponent. She steps in a second time, and once again is rewarded with the shuddering contortions of the beast as she strikes its midsection. This time she dances back from its grasp unscathed. It tries one last lunge at the elf, but loses another tentacle for its troubles. Then the fight goes out of it, and it slumps to the ground, pulsating weakly as its fluids drain into a greasy soup at the elf's feet.

Lycinia backs away, but it is evident that the creature is not feigning. She looks to her bloodied leg, binding her wounds with strips cut off her now-ragged tabard [Physik (23%) roll; d%=17, restores 1d3=3hp, back to 8hp]. The scrape smarts, but a little pressure soon stops the bleeding.

She continues back to the end of the long corridor, through the room with the chest in the magic circle [15], the long dusty room where she fought the energy beast [14], the tiny room before it [13] and into the corridor of the scything blade. She crouches low as she walks, though she is certain the blade trap did not extend very far into it, until she reaches the door. She pushes it open with rather less caution than she ought, and slips inside.

The door is recessed about 5' into the wall of the rectangular room [Room 18 - Skill Challenge only]. Another door is similarly recessed in the opposite wall. The room seems otherwise empty, save for a 10' square depression filling most of the eastern half.

[Challenge: Climb (difficult) obstructs Swim (normal)]

Lycinia approaches the depression slowly, and her torchlight revels it to be a deep shaft. How deep, she cannot say, but it's farther than the torchlight can illumine. Her curiosity is great, and her torch has burnt down rather far, so she lights a new one and throws the old torch down the shaft. It falls for some hundred feet before landing in scummy water.

Lycinia is reminded of the time she nearly drowned in the flooded oubliette beneath the Foehrenfort ruins, and her curiosity suddenly evaporates.

[I rolled skill challenge only, but there would definitely be something interesting in the water if explored. However, our heroine is on a mission, so...]

She leaves by the door in the northern wall. It leads north for about 30', then turns to the west at a right angle. [because it's so much easier on graph paper, and after 30-something years of playing solo dungeons I still can't draw a credible bend. Hell, I can't even draw straight diagonal corridors that don't look wonky.  Anyways...]

The passage empties into a vast colonnaded chamber [Room 19. - Skill Challenge only]. The vaulted ceiling is some 45' above the floor, though the Doric columns do not actually support it, stopping several feet before it. Lycinia walks amongst the double row of columns, half marvelling at the strangeness of it all, half on the lookout for demons lurking in the shadows.

[I rolled Side Passage, but I'm treating the space as a Chamber.

Challenge: Climb (normal) reveals Scribe Magic (normal)

Q: Does anything make Climbing an obvious thing to try? 50/50 (4+): O4 C8 - yes. (with a Spot Hidden roll. 'yes, and...' would have made it an Easy roll. 'yes, but...' would have been Difficult.)

Spot Hidden (69%): 61, success.]

Lycinia notices a glow coming from the capital of one of the columns. After a moment's hesitation, she removes her sword belt, backpack, tabard, and mail. The mail she heaps into a little mountain on the floor, and plants her torch into it upright so she needn't climb in near darkness. She briefly considers bucking on her sword, but thinks better of it. She swings a good length of the rope round the column to brace against, and taking her miséricorde in her teeth, begins the ascent. [Climb +10 for the rope (61%) succeeds]

At the top of the column, she finds the source of the glow: several lines of rune-like characters and magical figures are incised into the stone. Her eyes' glow nearly matches that of the inscription, as she gazes in wonderment at the sigils. She slides down the column and retrieves her pack, then ascends anew. She has just enough room to sit atop the column and copy the inscription onto a blank parchment scroll.

[Scribe Magic (37%): 11, success; counts as the beginnings of spell research for later.
Q: Any problems whilst she's up there? 50/50 (4+): O1 C6 - no.]

More than a little satisfied with her discovery, she slides down again, re-arms and armours herself, then proceeds out the chamber's only door. Immediately beyond is a large, roughly hexagonal chamber, empty save for bits of detritus. A plain door leads to the north, but Lycinia is scarcely aware of it, for another door is set in the eastern wall. Light flashes brilliantly from behind it, an unnatural luminescence that makes the elf's hair stand on end. She feels a wave of revulsion as she comes closer to it, and scents a subtle odour of decomposition. Lycinia is bathed in a cold sweat just standing before it, yet she is certain she must face what lies waiting for her on the other side.

Next post: the secret is revealed

BRP solo - Part VIII: "From the darkness dread and drear"

The passage stretches some thirty feet past the blade trap [T]. Lycinia passes by a wooden door, swollen with damp, set into the north wall about halfway down, and is confronted with another at the passage's end. This door seems like it will open more easily, and indeed it does. The space beyond [Room 13 - Skill Challenge only] is only 10' square, but the ceiling is almost twice as high. A rusty metal door is set into the north wall, and the metal frame continues above it, with a grille at the top.

[Challenge: Climb  (-10%) makes easier Listen (normal)
so, successfully Climbing up to the grille would make the Listen roll Easy (skillx2)]

There is an indistinct sound coming from above. Lycinia stands still and listens intently [Listen 44%: d%=13, success]. The crackling and buzzing coming from the space beyond is like nothing the young elf has ever heard before. She tries to detect a pattern in the sound, but it is wholly without rhythm. she is certain only that whatever the source of the sound, it is probably inimical to elvenkind. She tightens her grip on her sword, and pushes the door open. It swings inward noiselessly, the hinges having been recently oiled.

The room beyond the door [Room 14 - Monster & Skill Challenge & Treasure] is some 20' wide and longer than Lycinia's torch can illuminate. The ceiling is again very high. The chamber is almost completely bare of furnishings, though intermittent piles of grey ash are scattered throughout, some containing metal fittings, nails, and the like. But what arrests Lycinia's attention is the source of the buzzing. The creature is made of pure energy, or perhaps some unusual form of matter pulled from another universe with laws wholly unlike any dreamt of by the wisest, or even maddest, of sages. The shifting and uneven colours are unknown in the world of mortals, but put Lycinia instantly in mind of the magical disaster that attended the experiment of poor Itragad. The image of the thing burns into Lycinia's eyes, but at the same time the light of her torch passes through it as if it were a mirage.

The buzzing becomes louder and the crackling more pronounced as it scurries, lizard-like, towards her.

Lesser Demon
STR (1D8)  3   Mov: 6
CON (2D8)  7   HP: 11
SIZ (2D8) 15   DB: +0
INT (2D8)  9   Armour: 7-point non-terrene matter
POW (3D8) 10
DEX (1D8)  8
APP (1D8)  2

Attacks: Gore 120% 1D8+2, +db if charging
Powers: Snout, Portage, Knowledge INT x3%

[For Form, I rolled 'lizard', but due to the non-terrene matter result I decided it doesn't have hit locations in any normal sense.]

[Round 1 - Lycinia easily wins initiative]
Lycinia lunges at it right before it closes with her. Her sword encounters surprising resistance, being turned aside as if striking a steel breastplate. [1d8+1=3 damage, not even close to getting through its 7-point armour. I was generous/lazy and gave it unmodified DEX x2 (16%) Dodge; it failed all its dodge  rolls the whole fight.]

It in turn tries to pierce her with a long 'horn' (at least, it seems to project from the beast's 'head'), but having felt its solidity under her blade, Lycinia is able to easily parry the attack.

[Round 2]
She stabs it again, but again her sword cannot pierce the crackling exterior of the creature [7-7=0 damage]. It rears up high on its hind 'legs', taking the elf by surprise. She thrusts her sword upwards at the last instant, catching the 'horn' in the crossguard, before it can pierce her neck through the centre. It grazes her ever so slightly, but the flesh it touches comes away as if shredded by a fistful of razors, leaving her cheek and halfway down her neck a raw and bleeding mass of tissue. [It rolled a Special success; her parry succeeded, reducing it to a normal hit. 1d8+2=6 damage to the head drops her to 10hp (2hp left in the location).]

[Round 3]
Lycinia's rage redoubles with the shock of pain, and she wheels her blade round the horn, plunging the tip into the beast's own head. This time it bites deep, and the creature flickers and contorts as the silvery sword passes deep within it. [01, Critical hit. 9 (maximum) damage, ignoring armour, leaves it with 2hp.]

Its feeble riposte is easily blocked.

[Rounds 4-6]
The two begin to dance back and forth. Lycinia gets a couple hits in, but her blade cannot find another weak spot. The creature's attacks are fierce, but the elf's swordsmanship saves her from harm.

[Round 7]
Lycinia finally starts to really feel the sting in her face, and with the distraction comes her first real mistake. An inelegant uppercut goes well wide of the mark [miss], and she can't bring her blade back down in time as the thing ducks in low [hit, parry fails]. The 'horn' scrapes across Lycinia's thigh right above the knee. The stiff leather of her trews is shredded by the coursing energy, and her skin beneath comes away in a red arc. [1d8+2=4 damage to the right leg. 2AP (stiff leather) reduces it to 2 points, leaving her with 8hp (6 in the leg).]

[Round 8]
She's angrier at herself than at it, though the shriek she gives out carries enough spite for them both. Her sword cuts in a vicious arc, slashing right through the beast. [hits, (1d8+1=)9-7=2 damage, disrupted (0hp)] It loses all cohesion, and flickers into nothingness even as Lycinia's next stroke passes through the empty space where it had just now been.

Realising she's vanquished the unearthly creature, Lycinia pauses to take stock of her injuries. Her leg she can probably bind; the wound is mostly superficial. Her face and neck are another matter entirely. She fishes the silver mirror out of her pack to get a look at the damage, and utters a most un-princessly oath when she sees the extent of it. She presses the cloth of her tabard against it to try to stop the bleeding, but she's fairly certain that only magic could repair such an injury. [I ruled that the unusual nature of the damage would require a Difficult roll against Physik (23/2=12%) for first aid; she didn't make either roll.]

When she finally turns her attention to the room, she finds that the monster has destroyed most of the furnishings in the room -- everything, in fact, that was not made of metal. An black iron coffer is the only interesting item which remains. Lycinia opens it, and is rewarded by the glitter of coins in her torchlight. She spills it out onto the floor, and amongst the coins finds a few chain necklaces. These she pockets, and is about to leave the rest when she realises she may soon need to pay a healer to fix her torn face. She digs through the pile and extracts all the gold (10gp) and a handful of silver (20sp) before leaving the rest upon the cold stone floor.

[the monster was TF15,  + 1d4x10=30, for a total Treasure factor of 45: 344cp, 783sp, 10gp, costume jewellery (32sp).]

Lycinia examines the room. The walls are dry, bare stone, any mould having long since been reduced to dust by the creature's strange emanations. She finds another iron door set into the north wall. She is about to open it, but...

[Challenge: POW (difficult) reveals Spell Lore (normal)

Difficult POW ((12x5)/2= 30%): d%=30 exactly]

...just as her fingertips are about to touch the metal, she feels a wave of cold energy chill her soul.

[Spell Lore (47%): d%=18, success.

d20 random trap (CR10) from donjon (link), using the first magical result

Energy Drain Trap: Energy Drain, 17th level wizard, 2d4 negative levels for 24 hours, DC 23 Fort save negates

So, match POW vs. 17 on the Resistance Table or take 2D4 damage, and for 24 hours suffer a penalty of (damage x5%) to all skill rolls.

and out of curiosity--
Q: Is it a false door? Likely (3+): O1 C7 - No.]

Lycinia knows not to touch the door in any way, not even with a 10' pole (were she the sort of elf to carry such an item), lest it wrench her very spirit from her body. And since she lacks appropriate measures of a magical sort, she decides to turn back and return to the corridor. But as she crosses the room, her torchlight reveals a third iron door, in the south eastern corner.

She puts her hand as close to the door as she dare, and only tries the door once she is absolutely certain the chill she feels is just cold metal, and not another life-draining enchantment.

The door opens into a 20' square room [Room 15. - Skill Challenge & Treasure]. In the exact centre of the floor sits a small wooden chest, round which someone has taken the effort to inscribe an intricate magic circle in blue, green, and white pigments.

[Challenge: Spell Lore  (+10%) - separate from - Read/Write Other (easy)]

Lycinia studies the design for a few moments, but it's like none she's ever encountered in her years of study [Spell Lore (47+10=57%): 77]. She decides to leave it alone. Above the door in the south-western corner she spots [Spot Hidden] a series of incised lines, which she recognises as the Ogham of the hill folk. Their tongue is otherwise unknown to her, so she begins the recitation of the charm which will make it plain.

[Slowly (+1 round) casting Comprehend Languages (36+16*=52%): first roll fails (-1MP), her second go is a success (also  costing 1MP)

* should be +INT / 5 dex ranks (+48%!)... oops.]

As the magic eddies round her, the words of the inscription coalesce in her mind: "Disturb not the rest of the dead". [Mythic: find / Ghost]

Lycinia decides to leave by the other door. Beyond it, a passage leads off into the darkness. She advances down it cautiously, wondering when --if ever-- her torchlight will reveal the end. She comes to a wooden door set into the wall, and decides that, rather than continuing in to the endless dark, she should see what lies beyond.

[Room 16. - Skill Challenge only

Challenge: either/or
Blasphemous Lore (+10% = 23%)
Religious Lore (Easy: 8x2=16%)

Blasphemous Lore it is: d%=21, success!]

The room once served as the sewer-workers' shrine to the earth goddess. A motley assortment of benches are laid out in rude imitation of the more grand churches of the surface world. The altar is of simple bricks, though the goddess' image is fashioned from good marble. These both have been recently defaced, bearing the marks of claws or perhaps swords, and all over scrawled with the insignia of the Mother of Carrion in red paint.

Lycinia had intended to avoid the altar of a human goddess on principle, and seeing the defilement only increases the distance she walks round it. She finds and iron door leading to the south, but [Idea roll (80%) succeeds] recognises it as the door bearing the life-draining enchantment. Everything about this room makes her skin crawl, and she hastens back into the long, dark corridor.


Next post: the dungeon continues

BRP solo - Part VII: „Neuer Feind auch erscheint, um wieder besiegt zu erliegen“

Lycinia sets off down the passage to the south [Area 7. - Stairs Up 1 then down 2 (total down 1), chamber at end (roll on TABLE V.)] A set of stairs lead up, and the passageway continues over the sewer channel. Rusting iron grates are set into the floor, and Lycinia can hear (and smell) the water running below. On the other side of the channel the stairs begin to descend, and drop to a deeper level than before. [I am still mapping the dungeon on the same page. This area won't join with rest (the area across the broken bridge) unless I roll stairs up.]

The passage ends in a 20x30' chamber [Room 8. - Monster & Skill Challenge & Treasure]. Ruined machinery occupies much of the room, and a more functional-looking mechanism is located by a solid iron door in the south wall. Lycinia is about to examine it when she catches sight of a black fish swimming lazily through the air [Spot Hidden succeeds, so she isn't surprised. It wins Initiative]

Lesser Demon               
STR (2D8)  9  Mov  3
CON (2D8)  8  HP   6
SIZ (1D8)  3  DB -1D4
INT (2D8)  8  Armour: none
POW (3D8) 13
DEX (4D8) 24
APP (2D8)  9

Attacks: Burn 80% 1D6+2
Powers: Dazzle 90%, 9 rounds

Poisson           
Ex : dauphin, requin           
Localisation   Mêl./Miss. PV
Queue           01–03      2
Arrière train   04–08      3
Poitrail        09–13      3
Nageoire droite   14       2
Nageoire gauche   15       2
Tête            16–20      2

[Dazzle makes sense for its first attack; should this fail there is a 50/50 chance of Dazzle or Burn each round thereafter, until its opponent is blinded.]

[Round 1]
The fish turns towards Lycinia, and emits a blinding flash from its tri-lobed eye. [Dazzle (90%) succeeds, she must roll POWx3 (36%) to resist: 07!] She closes her eyes for an instant, and avoids the worst of it, though the blotches in her vision are distracting enough that her sword merely swishes through the air above the creature.

[Round 2]
The demon-fish's eye flashes again, and releases a ray of scorching heat which strikes Lycinia in the midsection. She can feel her mail grow hot to the touch, and feels it scald her skin beneath where the ray touched her. [hit for 1D6+2=8 heat damage to abdomen; armour absorbs 7 (but the first round only); Luck roll to avoid catching on fire succeeds] Her tabard looks scorched, but does not ignite. She swings again at the creature, but it just evades her stroke [attack succeeds, but its Dodge (48%) is also a success, negating the hit].

[Round 3]
She tries to hit it on the backstroke, but the eyes flash again at that very second. She is dazzled by the brilliance, and the whole world becomes a glow of blotchy colour. [Initiative tied this round. She missed, and then failed her POWx3 roll. She will be blinded until round 12. She will need to make an Idea roll (INTx5=80%) each round in order to guess where her enemy is each round so she can attack, but even then the attack is Difficult. She cannot Dodge the ray.]

[Round 4]
She feels the heat ray burn into her sword arm [1d6+2=3 damage to right arm; she has 3hp left in the arm, 20hp total]. She can smell the padding beneath her mail smouldering [but Luck roll succeeds, so it doesn't catch fire]. She rushes forth to attack what she feels was the source of the blast, but her sword swings through empty space [she would have hit, but it dodged].

[Round 5]
Lycinia feels another blast of heat on one side of her face, like standing too close to a campfire. She lashes out in that direction, and feels her sword cleave right through something yielding. She hears two wet thuds against the stone floor, followed by a the creature's flopping death throes. [it missed & failed its Dodge. She hit for 1D8+1=7 to the hindquarters, reducing it to -1hp.]

Lycinia remains very still, listening to the thing slowing cease its thrashing, but, more importantly, for the sound of anything else that might be creeping up upon her. It takes a little more than a minute [7 rounds / 70 seconds] for her vision to clear, and then she is able to properly examine the room.

[Challenge: Read/Write Ancient Language (+20%) -or- Heavy Machine (normal)
Read/Write Ancient 47+20=67%: d%=41, success]

The large mass of machinery in the room is covered in dust and corrosion. She surmises it was some sort of mechanical pump, but its days of usefulness are long since past. In contrast, the smaller mechanism by the iron door is fully functional. It consists of a series of brass levers and pistons with no obvious markings. But on the wall above it someone has scratched instructions in the Ancient Tongue, so it is a simple matter for the learned elf to put the levers in the correct positions. When the last lever is in place, Lycinia hears the sounds of bolts being thrown within the iron door and wall, and the door swings slowly open.

Beyond is a smallish chamber [Room 9 - Monster only], with another nightmare guardian. The creature stand nearly as tall as Lycinia on eight spindly, sinewy legs, which radiate from a lumpy globe of flesh in the middle. The mass has no definite features, save for the twisting black horn jutting forth from it. The creature's skin is so thin as to be transparent, and veins pulse rhythmically beneath. It exudes a sharp odour of spoilt meat.

Greater Demon               
STR (4D8) 21  Mov: 15
CON (3D8) 11  HP:  10
SIZ (1D8)  8  DB: +1D4
INT (5D8) 18  Armour: none
POW (5D8) 21
DEX (6D8) 25
APP (1D8)  1
               
Attacks: Gore 30% 1D8+2, +db if charging
Powers: Lift, Confusion 30%

Araignée géante           
Ex : araignée géante           
Localisation   Mêlée Missile PV
Patte droite 1   01    01     2
Patte gauche 1   02    02     2
Patte droite 2   03    03     2
Patte gauche 2   04    04     2
Abdomen        05–08  05–11   4
Patte droite 3 09–10   12     2
Patte gauche 3 11–12   13     2
Patte droite 4 13–14   14     2
Patte gauche 4 15–16   15     2
Céphalothorax  17–20  16–20   4


[It easily wins the Initiative each round; the best Lycinia could have done is tie, and there was only a 1% chance of that (25+1d10 vs. 16+1d10)]

[Round 1]
It was alerted to her entrance by the sound of the mechanism, and scurries toward Lycinia almost before she has crossed the threshold. She easily avoids the thrusting horn [miss] but the staccato rhythm of its steps has an unnerving effect, and she finds herself unable to decide where to strike [the Confusion power reduces her chance to hit by 30%; 62-30=32%; d%=42, miss].

[Round 2]
It makes another clumsy thrust, which she sidesteps with ease [miss]. It in turn bounds suddenly out of reach [attack roll of 10 would have hit, but it has Dodge of 50%: d%=25, dodged].

[Round 3]
It leaps at her suddenly, putting all its weight behind the horn flying towards the elf's neck. Lycinia is just barely able to deflect it with her blade, but only a few inches. The horn scrapes against her armour, but the links of mail hold, and save her from any real harm. [It rolled 05, a Special success, but she rolled her parry, reducing the Special (Impaling!) down to a normal hit. 1d8+2+1d4=7 damage, nothing gets through (Chain has 7 AP)] The impact throws her off balance, and she takes a moment to steady herself [rolled  a miss].

[Rounds 4-5]
The beast jabs at her again, thinking her off balance, but it is she who catches it unawares. She smashes the horn out of her way with the crossguard and plunges the point of her blade into the centre mass in one fluid movement. [It rolled another Special success (08), but so did she (09), so she parried the attack. She then hit for d8+1=7 to the Abdomen, leaving it with 3hp]. The creature wobbles and drops to the floor, but still tries to assail the elf. Lycinia makes short work of the foul thing. [Fighting from the ground makes all attack and defence rolls Difficult, and makes it Easy to be attacked. Lycinia had a (62x2 -30=)94% chance to hit, and rolled a critical.]

Other than the creature, and a few scattered bones, there is nothing else in the room. Two passages lead out; Lycinia takes the one to the south. It turns a corner and leads her in to a 15' square chamber [Room 10 - Skill Challenge only], bare save for an iron-shod wooden door in the centre of the far wall.

[Challenge: Fine Manipulation (+20%) separate from Folklore (normal)]

Lycinia tries the door, and finds it locked. Her attention is momentarily captured by a bas-relief carved into the wood. "Of all things, why would someone carve a rooster into this door?" thinks the elf. "Humans are strange." [Her Folklore (08%) roll failed. She didn't correctly identify the cockatrice (rolled on the d30 Sandbox Companion's Expanded Heraldry Charges/Sigils table)]

The door's lock is clunky, and big enough that Lycinia can pick at the mechanism with the point of her dagger, but she cannot seem to throw the tumblers into place. After a few clumsy attempts, she opts for a more direct approach, and puts her shoulder into it.

[Using a makeshift tool made the roll Difficult:(17/2=8 +20=28%); she failed the roll. To break it down, she pits her STR against its effective SIZ on the Resistance Table. SIZ 6 +12 (recessed lock) =18 vs. STR 13; 25% to break: d%=05.]

She throws herself against the door, and it bursts open at once, splinters of wood flying. She rights herself hastily and grips her sword prepared to do battle with anyone -- or thing -- who may be in the room beyond, but as the dust settles she finds it unoccupied.

The rectangular room [Room 11. - Skill Challenge & Treasure] has a low, vaulted ceiling. The centre of the floor is recessed about a foot down, and the ledge round it is covered in debris. But behind a rotting piece of timber something glitters, and Lycinia braves the acrid scent in the air to investigate.

[Challenge: Evaluate  (difficult) separate from CON (normal)

Evaluate: (TF 1d4=40)
167cp
282sp
7gp
semi-precious stone 1sp
ring 60sp
gem 133sp
costume jewellery 26sp
gem 309sp

CON: roll Stamina (CONx5%) each turn or bad air inflicts 1d4 damage]

She finds a threadbare cloth sack that has split open, spilling out its bounty of copper and silver coins. Amongst the coins are some tarnished rings and a few polished stones. [Evaluate (22%) roll fails, so she doesn't notice the valuable gems; Stamina (70%) also fails]. As she pokes through the pile, her vision begins to blur and her throat starts to burn [1d4=4 damage drops her to 16hp]. She grabs the rings and hurries out of the room, not daring to breathe again until shutting the door firmly behind her.

[She needed a Luck (60%) roll to get the good ring: 22, success. She grabbed the ring worth 60sp & all the  costume jewellery (26sp in total (I rolled 1d30, with 26-30 being the maximum of 26)).]

Lycinia backtracks to the room where she defeated the eight-legged demon [Room 9], and heads down the long narrow passage to the east. It goes for what seems an eternity (~50') before ending in a set of uneven flagstone steps leading up [back up to the level of the first part of the dungeon]. At the top of the steps is a mildewy landing [Room 12 - Skill Challenge only] from which passages lead to the north and east.

[Challenge: Read/Write Ancient Language (normal) interlinked with Dodge (normal)
'Interlinked' means that a single roll is made against both skills, with the lower of the two capping the higher. Lycinia's R/W Ancient is 47%, her current dodge is 66-25(armour & encumbrance)=41%]

Lycinia's torch reveals a gleam on the lintel above the [1d2=] eastern passage. Golden letters have been inlaid into the stone, spelling out the legend PÆNITENS PRÆTERIBIT. "How odd," thinks the elf, as she proceeds slowly past the threshold. "That reminds me of something... yes, in Wandlebourne, that silly play that Emmeline took me to see. Oh, poor, poor Emmeline! But that scene was important. How did that go? 'The penitent man will pass'. That's it! The penitent man [d%=24, success] kneels!"

And so too does our heroine -- and not a moment too soon, for a razor sharp blade whizzes out from the wall at chest height, swishing through the air right above her bowed head.


next post: the dungeon continues

BRP solo - Part VI: "For those offensive creatures shun / The inquisition of the sun!"

Lycinia moves purposefully through the nighttime streets. She slows her pace only once, when she spots a patrol of the city watch, lest the jingling of her mail give them cause to inquire what a lone elf is doing abroad at this hour on such a miserably cold and damp night, and dressed rather for the battlefield than a nighttime stroll.

But she reaches her destination without any trouble. The old theatre has stood deserted for some time, as the peeling paint on the exterior suggests. But a very new lock has been fitted in the main door. Lycinia tries key after key on the ring she found in the murdered scholar's house, and is finally rewarded with a sharp click, and the doors swing open. The lobby is in shadow, but from beneath the double doors leading into the stalls, some flickers of light are visible. It is enough for the elf's keen vision to ascertain that no otherworldly horror is lurking in the vestibule as a guardian. The interior has weathered the years far better than the outside, and shews some signs of recent habitation; dust lays thick upon the counter where tickets are sold, save for a cleanish square where a box recently been moved, and about half the floor has been recently swept by the tramping of feet, forming a path between the sets of doors and to the staircases on either end. Lycinia pauses to listen, but all is stillness. She draws her sword and pistol, and moves as quietly as she might up a flight of stairs to the balcony.

The balcony door is open, but a heavy velvet curtain, almost white with dust, bars the way. Lycinia parts the curtain with her sword and peers through into the empty theatre beyond. The young elf has never seen such a sight; for no natural amphitheatre is this, but a wooden box. Two chandeliers hang low above the boards, shining with lit tapers. Wall sconces are affixed to support beams, further illumining the scene. The rows of benches form a sort of abstracted labyrinth in the pit before the raised stage. The back of the stage has been painted in imitation of a palace, and the ceiling is a counterfeit sky. So strange it is to the elf that she pauses a long while to marvel at it all, and only slowly begins to feel a sense of dread; for the candles cannot have been lit very long ago, and she may not be here alone.

But as she creeps through the theatre, she finds not another soul. She descends to the stalls and searches the stage itself. Opening wide the doors of the fictitious palace causes a cloud of dust to billow forth. She sputters and coughs and closes them forthwith, for no one can have passed this way. But how can this place be empty? Her consternation at finding it so wholly deserted is suddenly dispelled when she notices the outline of a trap-door cleverly hidden in the midst of the stage. The chandeliers' shine reveals the space beneath. The stout wooden ladder, upon which players once used to rise as white-shrouded ghosts from the pretended netherworld, is now the anchor for a long length of rope, which hangs down into a hole that has been smashed into the floor below the stage. The jagged wooden edges round it resemble the fangs of a gaping maw, ready to devour any mortal foolish enough to descend into the abyss which waits hungrily below. But the fairy woman is no mortal, and stares down into the blackness with more curiosity than dread.

Scene 13

Chaos: Out of Control (1d8)

Setup: dungeon

NPCs: Orezuthía the Arcane, Geredrom, importer, Terenbela

Threads: find & stop Geredrom the wizard

[Dungeon set-up & notes:

Lycinia got a good night's sleep between scenes, so is going in with full MP. She also donned her armour: stiff leather trews (2AP to both legs) and chain hauberk & sleeves (7AP chest, abdomen, arms). She should probably invest in a helmet or some sort of Protection spell, but that is for another day.

Encumbrance:
She's carrying 14.4 ENC worth of gear (9.6 for armour, 4.8 for weapons & misc equipment). This qualifies as a Moderate Load (ENC between 1xSTR & 1.5xSTR). At this encumbrance level, a Stamina (CONx5%) roll is needed during Typical Exertion (e.g. jogging 100m) to avoid accruing Fatigue levels, but there is no penalty to Movement rate. Her skills are affected based on ENC in the following ways:
-10% spell casting penalty from armour (20% for chain, halved for being elf)
-20% physical skills from armour (static, by heaviest armour type)
-25% dodge penalty (armour penalty above + non-armour normal encumbrance (1%/ENC))

Let's see how this goes... Fatigue Points are seeming a lot less complicated after figuring out this mess.

As I mentioned at the start of the BRP adventure, the entrance to the dungeon came from an especially inspiring result I got when I was playing with donjon's Weird Location generator: "A dilapidated theatre. A frayed rope descends through a hole smashed through the floor."

I've been talking a lot about getting beyond door-monster-treasure dungeons in solo play, and this dungeon was the first test of my latest idea about that, being the Skill Challenge generator I made using Excel; the default skill list in the example file was the one I made specifically with this dungeon in mind (also, I need to come up with a better name for it, as I understand there is a Skill Challenge mechanic in 4th ed. D&D, which isn't what I was attempting to emulate)).

The version I used for this dungeon always returns 2 challenges. Having played it through with that, I decided to make one that yields 1-3 challenges.

Link to Original (2 challenges)
Link to Improved (1-3 chllenges)

Both links are to Dropbox. The first tab of the spreadsheet is instructions on how to use it and, more importantly, customise it for your own adventures.

Some day I will run a dungeon without combat, but it isn't going to be this one, as I spent far too long making a random demon generator based on the rules in the Advanced Sorcery supplement for Magic World.

To generate the dungeon, I went back to the AD&D DMG's Appendix A. I redid the room contents table thus:

Modified TABLE V. F.: CHAMBER OR ROOM CONTENTS (d20)
Die   Contents
1-4   Empty
5-7   Monster only
8-9   Monster & Treasure*
10-11 Monster & Skill Challenge
12-13 Monster & Skill Challenge & Treasure**
14-16 Skill Challenge only
17-19 Skill Challenge & Treasure***
20    Special, or contains stairway up 1 level (1-5),
      up 2 levels (7-8), down 1 level (9-14), down 2 levels (15-19),
      or down 3 levels — 2 flights of stairs and a slanting passageway (20).

* as TF
** Monster TF + 1d4x10
*** TF 1d4x10

Treasure is going to be using the Treasure Factor (TF) rules straight out of 2nd ed. Runequest (these are next on my list to modify, but they're perfectly serviceable as-is).

The map uses 5'(1.5m) squares. I left the size of rooms & chambers as rolled, but halved corridor lengths (and widths!) to keep things reasonable.

Enough notes. Into the dungeon!]

Lycinia lights a torch and throws it down the hole. It falls onto a stone floor [1d6+1=] 60' below. She begins her descent down the rope, and finds the room beneath the theatre to be an immense open space, 20' square with a high and vaulted ceiling. About 15 feet down she notices that the rope is old and badly frayed, and is starting to strain under her weight.

[Q: Will the rope hold? 50/50 (4+): O4 C3 - Yes, but... not for long!
Climb (51-20(encumbrance)=31%) roll to get down before rope breaks: 29!]

She climbs down as fast as she can. The rope finally snaps and drops her the last few feet to the floor, but she comes to no harm.

The room [Room 1 - empty] is empty, save for the pile of old rope. Three exits open up into dark passages to the north, south and west.

Lycinia retrieves her torch and sets off down the south passage. It turns left after about 15', and Lycinia hears rushing water ahead. The passage ends in the beginnings of a stone bridge which once spanned the rushing underground channel [Area 2 - side passage, special]. The river is actually a part of Ildmarch's sewers; the smell makes Lycinia's nose wrinkle, but the recent heavy rains have taken much of the foulness away. Only the very beginnings of the bridge remain, and the elf is wary of standing too near the edge lest it crumbles beneath her. Her torchlight reveals the same crumbling foundations on the other side of the torrent, 20' distant.

She returns to the first chamber, and tries the west passage [Area 3. Trick/Trap]. She stops short as she catches sight of a tripwire in the doorway. Looking carefully, she sees the wire running off into the darkness, threaded through tiny iron rings set into the corner where the wall meets the floor. A secondary tripwire spans the corridor about 15' down, and the whole connects to a heavy crossbow fixed to a tall stool with weighted bottom, the whole painted a dull black, placed about 30' down the corridor. Lycinia cuts the tripwire in the middle, but leaves the rest alone to (hopefully) mask her presence.

[The die rolls were:
Geredrom (or his crony) has the Traps skill at (1d6+2)x10=50% : d%=27, trap has normal effect.
Lycinia's Spot Hidden (69/2=35% as not actively searching): d%=15, spots tripwire]

The corridor runs another 30', ending in a vast chamber [Room 4. Monster & Skill Challenge & Treasure]. Her torch can scarcely reveal the whole space. It appears to be mostly empty, free even of debris and dust. Four stone statues occupy the corners of the chamber, but before Lycinia has a chance to examine one, something leaps out of the shadows at her. She's barely registered the movement behind her when something hard thuds into the shoulder of her sword arm, scraping ineffectually against her coat of mail. [Heat sight, it saw her coming up the corridor. Striking from ambush (easy: 30x2=60%): d%=30 normal hit on Right Arm doing 1d8=4, does not penetrate mail (7 AP).]

Lycinia wheels about to see her assailant, a lumbering human-sized monstrosity, half dragon, half-insect. It scurries about sometimes on all fours, sometimes erect, and its whiplike tail is tipped with a curved stinger.

Greater Demon               
STR (4D8) 15   Mov 20
CON (2D8)  7   HP  10
SIZ (5D8) 13   DB +1D4
INT (3D8) 14   Armour: 4-point exoskeleton
POW (4D8) 12
DEX (2D8)  9
APP (2D8)  8
               
Attacks: Stinger 30% 1D8 plus venom (POT = CON)       
Powers: Portage, Explode 1D8, Heat Sight       

Forme: Viverne           
(Ex : viverne)
Localisation Mêlée Missile PV
Jambe droite 01–03 01–02   4
Jambe gauche 04–06 03–04   4
Abdomen      07–08 05–07   4
Poitrine     09–11 08–13   4
Queue          12    14    4
Bras droit   13–14 15–16   3
Bras gauche  15–16 17–18   3
Tête         17–20 19–20   4

[Round 1]
Despite its speed [Mov 20!], it moves without grace [Dex 9], and Lycinia soon has the advantage [easily wins Initiative]. She strikes out at its midsection, her sword crunching against the chitinous hide, and her blade comes back covered in viscous yellow ichor [7-4=3 damage to the abdomen, leaving it with 7hp (and 1 in the location)]. The creature shudders in pain, but silently, as it has no mouth from which to cry out. It stabs at Lycinia with its stinger, but she bats it aside casually [parries the hit].

[Rounds 2-3]
They both feint at each other, dancing round and gauging the best time to make a real attack [miss, miss]. It leaves itself open, and Lycinia crashes her sword down upon the crown of its head [2-4=0 damage] only to have it rebound ineffectually off the hard exoskeleton. But at least the shock spoils its aim [stinger missed].

[Round 4]
Lycinia renews her assault, only to have her sword slapped out of her hand by the sinewy stinger [99 fumble! weapon dropped, can recover in 1d2=2rounds]. It clatters against the hard stone floor and skids for fifteen feet. The stinger whistles by her ear, but she had seen it coming and sidestepped the thrust [stinger missed, dodge not fumbled].

[Round 5]
Lycinia ignores her lost blade, and begins to chant the words of a spell, but her concentration is momentarily broken and the magic dissipates [casting Magic Missile at level 2 (2 missiles), 31-10(armour penalty)=21%: d%=71, fail. -1 Magic Point]. The stinger darts out at her and slams into the stone floor between her feel. The monster pulls it back and contorts in pain, looking for a moment like it might turn tail and run [attack roll=00, fumble; lose next attack]

[Round 6-7]
Lycinia begins her spell again as the creature pulls back a few steps, still shocked by the pain in its stinger. She pronounces the words slowly, makes the arcane gestures carefully [21+16=37% for the extra round's casting]. The creature holds the stinger high above its head and is preparing to spring at the elf when the magic bursts from her fingertips in a shower of green sparks, covering the things chest and one of its arms. The magic burns through it and it falls dead and smoking to the ground [2 'missiles', 1d4+1 damage each (ignores armour), 5+5=killed. -6MP for the spell leaves Lycinia with 5MP.]

Lycinia retrieves her sword and runs it through the creature's neck to be sure it will not rise again. Then she turns her attention to the statues, examining each in turn. They do not appear to be statues of ancient kings, either very old or executed in a deliberately archaising style. Their weather-beaten surface shows they were not originally here. The two statues in the northern part of the chamber are uninteresting, and the one in the south-eastern corner has collapsed into rubble, but as Lycinia draws near to the last statue she feels a wave of unnatural dread wash over her.

[Challenge: POW (-20%) obstructs Fine Manip. (normal)
Lycinia needs to roll POWx5% with a -20 penalty in order to approach(40%): d%=15, success]

She resists the enchantment, forcing herself to step ever closer, and the fear melts away. The statue holds a sceptre in one hand, and using it as a lever the statue's wrist can be rotated through a full circle. Lycinia experiments with it for a while, turning it this way and that, feeling the resistance of the turn vary with different positions, but in the end the secret of this mundane contraption eludes her [Fine Manipulation (17%) fails; she does not discover the catch which reveals the hidden treasure]. She gives up, and leaves by the southeast corridor, which runs only a few paces [15'] into the next chamber.

This rectangular chamber [Room 5 - Skill Challenge only] has another impossibly high ceiling, only dimly visible in the torchlight. A small door is set into the top of northwest corner, 35' up. Six rungs of an iron ladder remain below it, the rest having been removed or corroded away.

[Challenge: Throw (-20%) separate from Evaluate (normal)

Throw: -20% to hit the rungs with a grappling hook

Evaluate: rolling on the dungeon dressing tables in the LL AEC: object either looks a lot more valuable than it is or appears worthless, depending on result.
LL AEC: ALCHEMY or MAGIC-USER FURNISHINGS: d%=Jars, glass
Q: Contents still there? 50/50 (4+): O3 C2 - no, and... all evaporated, barely leaving residue]

Along the eastern wall are sturdy wooden tables and half-collapsed shelves, full of jars, beakers, balances, and other tools of the Ars Alchymica, all of which lie beneath ages worth of dust and cobwebs. Lycinia covers her nose and mouth with her tabard so as not to inhale the dust, and glances over the instruments; none of it looks particularly worth taking, [Evaluate (22%): d%=88, she doesn't notice there are some finely-cut glass jars (worth 2d6x10sp each) under all the dust & cobwebs] so she moves on, leaving by a passage to the south.

After about 15 feet she finds a door set into the wall, with a side passage opposite. Ahead she can make out a staircase at the limit of her torchlight.

Lycinia presses her ear to the door, but hears no sound beyond [Listen (44%) 22, ok (but nothing to hear)]. She pushes the door open, and finds it swings silently and easily, as if the hinges had been recently oiled. The room beyond [Room 6. Monster & Skill Challenge] is small and in total darkness, a fact which seems not to bother its sole inhabitant. An immense creature sits flopped in a half barrel; rolls of doughy pock-marked white flesh protrude over the sides. Its head is almost hidden between its swollen shoulders, but extends on a short wiry neck to examine its visitor with sunken, heavy-lidded eyes. The thing's expression is both serene and terrifying, as comical as it is sinister.

Lesser Demon               
STR (1D8)  2   Mov  7
CON (4D8) 18   HP  18
SIZ (3D8) 17   DB  +0
INT (5D8) 22   Armour: none
POW (3D8)  9
DEX (3D8) 18
APP (1D8)  7
               
Attacks: none
Powers: Exhale, Acid Blood 30%, Suture 7pts.

Forme: Tortue           
(Ex : tortue terrestre)
Localisation    Mêlée Missile PV
Queue             01    01    5
Nageoire post. d 02–03  02    6
Nageoire post. g 04–05  03    6
Arrière train    06–09 04–10  7
Corps            10–13 11–17  7
Nageoire ant. d  14–15  18    6
Nageoire ant. g  16–17  19    6
Tête             18–20  20    6

[It has no attacks nor offensive powers, so it has to talk.
UNE--
NPC Relationship: neutral
Conversation Mood: helpful
mysterious - whispers - treasure]

It greets Lycinia in the Ancient Tongue. "Greetings"

"Uh, greetings," responds the surprised elf. "Who are you?"

"I am a friend."

"Really?"

"Indeed. I can heal your wounds." [Suture power - 7pts can reattach a limb.]

"I haven't any."

"I can tell you where to find treasure."

"I don't want any."

"But look at this scroll," it says, reaching behind itself to produce an old roll of vellum [Exhale power creates the illusion]. "There are more in the place where I found this."

"Do tell," says the elf, unable to feign further disinterest [Fast Talk (13%) roll failed].

"First you must do something for me. I do not like to descend from my throne."

"What do you want me to do?"

"There is a wizard who holds me here on this plane. Kill him, then I shall reveal to you the location of the treasure. Should you yet live..." [mysterious - uncertainty - enemy]

"I shall think on this," says Lycinia, backing towards the doorway.

"Come back if you are injured! I can help you, my dear friend!"

"I will," lies the elf as she shuts the door.

[She never got as far as the Challenge in the room--
Challenge: Scribe Magic (-10%) interlinked with Repair Stone (normal)
Magical sigils are inscribed upon the rear wall, but the stone has come away in places; it is useless unless restored.]

next post: more dungeon!