Dungeon23 Week 4

Wow, week 4 already! This week I said goodbye to the front portion of the megadungeon's first level, the observatory, and moved into the rear portion: the owlbear caves. This section takes on a different character to the front half as we are now dealing with caves rather than a complex built by hand, with purpose. This section allowed me to build a sublevel right into the first level, as well as allowing a way in for characters who chose to explore the surroundings of the complex.

In this week's post I will once again look at the rooms I have drawn and what is going into them, but I also want to talk about my habits when it comes to stocking dungeons, and in general when it comes to creating antagonists for fantasy RPGs.

 

The Owlbear Caves (incomplete)

This Week's Rooms

As this sub-level was something I already had fixed in my head over the last two weeks, the outline of the map developed pretty quickly. I knew there would need to be a connection to the observatory, and there also needed to be a connection to the outside world. In between I had already named the caves the Owlbear Caves in my mind so that quickly became a theme I wanted to use. The rest of the design fell into place pretty quickly, as there needed to be more than one route through and I wanted to add more options for ways down to lower levels so the underground river was added too. This simply left me filling out what was in each chamber!

 The Fungi Cave (23)

This cave links to the passage through to the observatory, and has two other exits linking to different caves. The floor of this cave is rough and uneven, with clusters of stalagmites in the eastern part of the cave, and rock columns in the west. There is a large patch of edible fungus growing in the south-eastern corner of the cave. Although this cave is uninhabited, it is clearly regularly visited as the fungus is tended to and nurtured.

Rooms 23 and 24 up close

 The Druid's Shrine (24)

The home of Kozdil the druid. A troglodyte druid resides here, tending to the caves throughout the first few levels, keeping an eye on the health of the flora and fauna that reside here. Kozdil is an outcast from his kind, as he is willing to deal with other races (although he is still unpleasant by human standards). Characters may be able to bargain with him for information or help.

Kozdil's home has a small shoreline along the river, as well as a small rock ledge in the north of the chamber that serves as his sleeping quarters. There are clusters of stalagmites here, as well as farmed mushrooms in stone planters near the river. The centre of the cave is dominated by a circle of mushrooms the size of a stool, which has a crude stone altar in the middle of it.

The Underground River (25)

This cold, shallow, fast flowing stream cuts across the cave complex running east to west, vanishing down a sinkhole at the western end, which offers passage to some of the lower levels for those brave or foolish enough to use this route. The flow here is enough to make it a slight challenge to swim in, but the water is only waist deep on an average human.

 There is a bend at the eastern end with a shallow area. Here a hidden cache of long-lost plunder sits in crates, just waiting for someone to discover it.

Owlbear Nest (26)

This cave has a ledge running all the way around it, at a height of 10 ft, allowing one to avoid the filth and squalor of the owlbear nest on the floor. Bones litter the floor, the remains of hundreds of meals for the owlbear male that lives in this nest. There is a strong preference in the skeletal remains for large felines. The stench here is overwhelming, and there is a chance of contracting a disease such as filth fever if the nest is messed with. The owlbear is of course, immune to this filth.

Male Owlbear's Nest

 Riverine Beach (27)

This large cave runs down to the river, with both the north and south side of this room sloping, and both end in a mixed stone and sand beach at the riverside. The whole cave is cool and moist thanks to the presence of the river, and there is junk washed up in and amongst the stones on the beach, chiefly the bones of small animals. From the southern shore the cache of loot can be seen at the eastern end if enough light is brought to bear on it.

On the southern wall of the cave there is a slight recess that contains a well hidden secret door that allows access to the Hidden Shrine (28). This door operates on a counter balance system, and can be opened by the use of hidden latch that can be found near the door, at head height.

The Hidden Shrine

The Hidden Shrine (28)

This split level chamber serves as two purposes. Firstly it is a hidden shrine to the god of murder, with areas for services, summonings and sacrifices in a relatively small space. These are all located on the lower level of the chamber. The upper area serves as lodgings for cult members who need to stay or need some place to hide. There are some basic supplies in crates on the upper level as well as a decently furnished room against the western wall, which also has a privacy screen to allow the occupant to sleep at any time.

This shrine is now mostly disused, the cult that founded it dead or scattered. However they left behind a guardian to watch over the site, and keep their treasures safe. A shadow is released from the summoning circle if any living being enters the chamber. The shadow recognises symbols of the dark god that is worshipped here but will attack all others who violate the shrine. 

The shrine can be accessed by secret doors in both the western and eastern walls. The eastern door is still easily accessible, but the western door is inside a large chamber that is now used as a nursery by an owlbear and her mate.

Some Musings

Some years ago one of my gaming group made a joke about me using clerics and demons as antagonists in games, along with cockatrices. I was shocked, because I had in my mind that I was quite varied in my opponents to the characters, and voiced as much. This triggered much mirth around the table as all the players were in agreement that I very much had stock patterns for opponents. This though came to my mind as I was designing the Hidden Shrine this week. I had somehow managed to add two religious sites right next to each other, without even realising it!

Along with the fact that the Observatory is in fact nothing more than one big temple dedicated to the god of the sky, there are 3 religious buildings on level 1 of the dungeon. With this in mind I am now going to make it my mission to add at least one temple or shrine to every level of this megadungeon. I want to see if I can cover a wide variety of gods and themes, and also see if I can add links to other temples throughout the complex. One of the things I will also work on is why there are so many temples in this one dungeon? What draws followers of the gods here, and why are most of these temples now abandoned? Leaning into my own games tropes seems like a good way for me to stamp my own unique games mastering style onto this megadungeon, and when all is said and done, isn't that what this project is about?