Antarctica Adventure Jam Dungeon 1 - Level 2 and Level 3

Finishing off my Dungeon 1 of what is turning out to be a bit of a mistake.

Five dungeons is quite a bit of work, especially when I got a second region (no dungeons though) to write.

## Level 2

### Random encounters occur on a roll of 1 in 6 per turn.

1- 1d8 Pit Vipers

2 – 1d8 Troglodytes (Replace with 1d6 Ghouls if Room 30 cleared but Room 34 is not)

3 – 1d3 Giant Black Widow Spiders

4 – 1d8 Oil Beetles (Nothing if Room 24 is cleared)

5 – 1d6 Ghouls (Nothing if Room 34 cleared)

6 – 1d4 Green Slimes leaking out of broken pipes or ceiling mould

23.         Staircase is suddenly unstable. Gaping brickwork somehow suspended above the void with yellow mud below. Every character making their way down has a 1 in 6 chance of falling through a weak spot for 1d6 damage.

24.         This room is covered in humus from the leaking ceiling and the beetle dung. 10 Oil Beetles have been unable to feed on the upper level since the Traders blocked the door to Room 2. They will defend themselves.

25.         Floor of room is completed covered in sheen of water. Mould grows thick and black on the walls and air feels clammy. Three vertical indents on eastern wall, only visible with a searching for secret doors roll beneath the mould. Can be pushed to reveal a ventilation shaft to Room 33.

26.         A room of many pipes and a large cistern rising out of the floor. Broken dials and corroded metals and wood-stone. The brickwork has been worn smooth and grey by discolouration. The North wall is covered in Before writing about pump and pipe systems, important is central BFTXT: “Pneuma Shutoff Control”.

              One a 1-3 the Grey Ooze is in the filtration cistern, it’s origin. On a 4-6, it lurks on the discoloured floor.

To the left of the writing is a stuck, secret door to the pneuma shutoff control. This red room is entirely scoured by bursting pipes but 3,000gp of gold joins can be salvaged.

27.         Slimy mould coats everything. A metal table with bronze disease, a model of the continent is picked out but only a rough outline is determinable.

28.         Here the yellow brickwork collapses into a wider cave, the shadow-scars of the end of the world in sharp relief on the walls where perishable furniture once stood.

29.         This cave stinks of a potent mix of solid and liquid waste. A stream runs down the middle for 21 Troglodytes (AB) residing here. They feed on what they catch and have the faces and jaws for it. They fear no foe and sparkle when light shines upon them.

              Though they split before fire and most tools, they do wear jewellery. Multitudes in tactile patterns comprised of smooth glass and gems pillaged from the complex. 2 x 400gp, 600gp, 3 x 700gp, 3 x 800gp, 900, 4 x 1000gp 6 x 1100gp, 2 x 1300gp, 3 x 1400gp, 2 x 1500gp, 2 x 1700gp and 10,000sp in spare wire.

              Stone tablets in Before, worn nearly smooth by rough fingers tracing the gouges and rubbing the patterns. Usable as Spell Scrolls.

BFTXT: The Instructions of Discovery; Detect Invisible, Phantasmal Force, Polymorph Self, Read Languages, Continual Light

BFTXT: Experimental Handling Instructions; Web, Invisibility 10’ Radius, Detect Invisible, Levitate, Sleep

Round metal plate used as a rock polisher/flaker. Flipping it over reveals a handle strap made from something green, +1 Shield.

30.         A series of worn cavern steps. Water running down each means slips, trips and falls, save vs wands or take 1 damage. The water runs outward halfway, into a crevasse stretching beyond the reach of light. It’s three to four feet wide at best.

Emphasis this leads beyond the scope of this adventure into the dark cracks under Udore. Maybe after a slow, harrying trip in the dark for days, with lots of random encounters, they cross into a blast karst elsewhere.

31.         Long dry cave. When light reaches the eastern wall, it reveals the masonry of Before. Cracked pipes hang over a brick-dusted floor.

One pipe slant over a small pool, clear as crystal. Drinking from it gives the effect of a random magic potion. 1d4: 1 – Potion of Delusion, 2 – Potion of Gaseous Form, 3 – Potion of Growth and 4 – Potion of ESP.

32.         Narrow room with protruding brick dividers every 10 feet, chest height. In the middle pair of dividers is a pair of long thin bones (troglodyte limbs) and the gleam of silver animal statuettes. It smells drier like a crypt. A visible ventilation shaft to Room 25 enters through the eastern wall.

The middle dividers house a dart trap. 1d6 spring-loaded darts fire at the character, doing 1d4 damage each. The trigger as soon as a character crosses into the middle divider from a glass eye on each side. Set up by the ghouls who are alerted by the noise. They recharge the eyes, which are depleted triggering. 500sp of knick-knacks as lure.

33.         12 Ghouls lair here. Workers or guests, human or something Before humans, it doesn’t matter. Now their faces and bodies are taut and animalistic. They pursue until the Troglodyte lair in room 30.

Besides cracked bones, their lair contains a cockatrice skeleton. Which looks like an Avialae, bedecked in looted treasure like an icon. There are no teeth set in the jaw. 5,000cp in bracelets, anklets, tailets, crest supports and plaques. 6,000sp of wire binding the bones together. 2,000gp of gold decorations in the form of mashed and twisted sheets, like a loose-leaf shroud. Gems 10gp and 50gp set in the eyes.

Beside it, lies a dismembered ghoul-corpse, gnawed and disarticulated, except for the chest, neck and head. An embedded metal rod there, is somehow covered in fused ivory, the teeth pointed to form an edge. Sword +1, +3 vs Undead.

Carved in a scratchy hand are Before words.
BFTXT: I Refuse To Exist

34.         Dry staircase below to level 3, slightly crumbled from age and not wear.

Level 3

### Random encounters occur on a roll of 1 in 6 per turn.

1- 1d6 Tiger Beetles (Nothing if Room 41 cleared)

2 – 1d8 were-rats disguised as rats, will attack if characters are weaker than them in number (If Room 43 is cleared, replace with 1d6 White Apes until Room 37 is cleared)

3 – 1d3 Tarantella Spiders (Nothing if Room 45 cleared)

4 – 2d8 Wraiths (Antarctica Bestiary), in lieu of defined attacks, they cause -1 to all rolls per hit for 24 hours.

5 – 1d6 Wights, ghosts of White Apes past

6 – 1d6 Crystal Living Stautes in the form of snakes and birds falling from ceiling holes

35.         Lining the corridor where the staircase descends are life-sized, impressively detailed statues of animal and humanoids: fire beetles, blink dogs, pixies, sprites and various small ceratopsids. Though not discernible from the outside, they are just carvings. Room ends abruptly in a sheer rock face that has hardened over the floor. Gold and silver plaques with BFTXT list species names, 500sp and 500gp altogether.

36.         A circular stone circle in the middle of the room. Inert, breaks in the stonework show gold and silver banding on the inside. Touching the metal discharges stored energy for 1d8 damage. 1000sp and 1000gp of components.

37.         It first appears to be a cave, but then you see the faint glowing glass in the ceiling and stands of plants along the edges. There is an animal smell and faint whistling.

Hiding in the dark are 6 White Apes, last of the demonstration breed. They are frightened but will not reveal themselves unless the characters press on with exploring. If they do, they will burst forth with hooting. They will not pursue beyond the room for fear of the were-rats.

38.         Stuck in eastern wall are dozens of crystal shards. If interacted with, they form two enormous crystal wolves (Living Stautes, Crystal) and attack anyone who has or will enter. They do not leave the room and remains active for 24 hours before resetting. On the final wolf’s death the crystals shatter to powder, all dungeon gems in room, including in loot, glow for a second.

39.         The entrance from Room 37 and 40 appears to be glass when viewed from this side and is clear. A Caved in door in the north wall. Here are some chairs the yellow of the walls and not much else. There is looping Before words on the wall.
BFTXT: Observe the White Ape, how it chooses not the tools but the sanctuary of caves. Observe the Tiger Beetle, it’s shell as useful as it’s mandibles.

40.         Room that was once sculpted like a cave, a selection of old still-bright wall is coloured like beetles, flies and bees. Fragile insect moults in corners. Cupped holes look like purpose-built nesting holes. The doorframe to 41 has been pushed apart.

41.         Wide room stained with secretions, insect moults and the too-hard elements of carcasses. 6 Tiger Beetles lair here in musty nests. A caved in door in the right south-western wall. There are Before writings on the walls, but they are too defaced to be read. Some have blast shadows in the shape of hands and arms.

42.         Worn metal hooks with stains on the wall beneath, in the shapeless form of cloth. Brick shelves with the calcified powder of vegetable products. The door to Room 43 has a stone block rigged with a tripwire along the opening seam of the door. The noise alerts the were-rats. Falling block: Inflicts 1d10 damage (save versus petrification to avoid).

43.         An orange room, with all the metal pipes and pulled off the walls and repurposed as supports or weapons. Among the refuse and food scraps is a large pool of water. 12 Were-rats live here, as part of a salvage team. They strip Before ruins of all useful treasure and components and take them back across the Sunrise Straight to their hidden homes.

They will reveal this only if they are reduced to half and fail morale. Negotiating to trade the jewellery to leave by the water tunnel with their metal hoard. They say truthfully it connects to the sea as part of an underground river. They will fight to the death for the swords.

Among their scrap metal and glass is: A piece of jewellery 800gp, a leaf-shaped Sword +1 named Wave-Cutter and the sentient Autumn Sword.

INT 9, Ego 1, Communication Empathy, AL Lawful, Sensory Powers Detect evil or good, Detect traps, Extraordinary Powers Healing Enchantment +1 (+3 vs Dragons), Dmg 1d8 +1

The Autumn Sword seeks to bring about the end of the old forces and renew the cycle of the world. Primarily concerning itself with slaying the Dragon IXix (304-567) and his ilk. The wielder will feel great hostility to any dragon and to a lesser extent to giants, the Hydra and its servants.

44.         In a room decorated with benches stands a fountain. This fountain is red brick and bears repeated Before writing all along the edges. Drinking from the fountain or otherwise disturbing the water produces a cycling and gurgling of the pumps and that alerts the Tarantella in Room 45. Before writing on the walls.

BFTXT on Fountain: Animal to Non-Animal Non-Humanoid Conversion Source Do Not Drink Unless Cleared By Master, Penalties Apply!

BFTXT on walls: Intelligence is the key to successful work-life, behold how magic monsters with and without. Are made more complete with special water.

Drinking from it gives +1 to the drinker’s Intelligence score and nothing after that.

45.         A silk-strewn rock-hollow, what is not actual rock is plaster over brick. The floor covered in a morass of moult and web. Here dwell 2 Tarantella. They lie in ambush if alerted and pursue to Room 44. Each wears a silken band with a gem set in it over the thorax. Gems worth 100gp and 500gp.

46.         This room was made up to be like a tropical jungle from the green paint on the walls. The gems in the celling are blacked husks, and the plants have decayed into discolorations. Claw marks on the door and a stain on the ground resembles a feather. Nothing else.

OSRIC to Mothership Conversion

 This is pretty much my OSE to Mothership rules with included tweaks form my previous analysis and the slight adjustments required to go from OSE to OSRIC extra features.

HD +1 = Wounds

HP = Health, if HP is under 10, add +1d5+6 (Allowing 1 or less HD monsters to have between 11-15 Health), add the HD modifier to Health if average not listed.

At the Warden's discretion, really small animals can just keep the HP as Health for being fragile.

If 4 Wounds or higher, deduct 2 Wound and 10 Health for every 3 total Wounds.

If this reduces the new Health total to 10 or less, add 10 to the Health. and round up to the nearest 10.

If the Warden does not like the high Wound and low Health end result, they can halve the Wounds and double the Health.

Combat = 21 -THACO + Any listed modifiers x5 +15, or Ascending Attack Bonus +2 + Any listed modifiers x 5 +15.

Instinct = HD x 10, becoming HD x 5 after 5 HD, as a percentage

Every 4 or fraction thereof of the OSRIC bonus HP becomes an addition +5% to Instinct

(9-AC/AC-10 for Ascending) round down = AP

For NPCs AC becomes (10-AC)/2 with rounding down = AP. This accounts for the original rules OSRIC is derived from miscalculating based on an older edition, prior to printing. If not corrected in future editions to (requiring 9-AC), it remains as such.

d4 = d5

d6 = d10

d8, d10, 2d6 = 2d10

Doubling as you go

Once you get to 4d10, you have the option of changing it to 1 Wound if caused by massive damage.

Bonuses to damage are ignored unless they are +2, then up the dice by one per +2 on the chart prior to converting.

If a + Weapons is required to hit the monster, deduct 1d10 from the damage of the Mothership weapon per + required.

Anytime something that Mothership handles with a percentile roll is rolled on a D6, multiple the chance of that by 16.666 and round up.

Probably should do a demonstration:
OSRIC, one random page gives me Treants.

Treant

frequency: Rare

no. encountered: 1d20

Size: Large

move: 120 ft

armour class: 0

hit dice: 7-12 (1d6+6 if randomly determined)

attacks: 2 (fists)

damage: See below (depends on HD)

Special attacks: Animate trees

Special defences: Cannot be surprised

magic Resistance: Standard

lair probability: 10%

Intelligence: Very

alignment: Chaotic good

level/xp: 7HD: 1,295+8/hp 8HD: 1,600+10/hp 9HD: 2,050+12/hp 10HD: 2,350+13/hp 11HD: 2,750+14/hp 12HD: 3,600+16/hp

Treants are woodland creatures, reclusive to humankind but friendly with other good aligned creatures of the woods. They resemble humanoid trees: their “arms” and “legs” are not easily seen as such until they begin moving. Treants are vigilant guardians of the woods, despising anyone of evil alignment and all who make reckless use of fire, regardless of alignment. Treants can animate 1d2 trees to aid them (see “Tree, Animated”) within a range of 180 ft. Separate experience is not awarded for killing such animated trees. Treants are quite vulnerable to fire: fire attacks requiring a roll to hit gain a bonus of +4, a treant makes saving throws vs fire at –4, and any hit die of damage inflicted upon a treant gains a +1 to its result. Damage inflicted by a treant’s clubbing fists is determined as follows: 7-8 HD: 2d8 damage per fist 9-10 HD: 3d6 damage per fist 11-12 HD: 4d6 damage per fist

Treasure: 10d4 gems (50%); 2d4 potions (40%)

Wounds: d6+6, +1 = lets start with an average 11 Wounds

Health per Wound: 4.5 x 11 = 50

If 4 Wounds or higher, deduct 2 Wound and 10 Health for every 3 total Wounds.

3 time deduct 2 and 10 health = 5 and 20 respectively

Combat = 21 -THACO + Any listed modifiers x5 +15, or Ascending Attack Bonus +2 + Any listed modifiers x 5 +15.

A 10.5 HD monster has a THACO of 11, so 21-11 = 10 x 5 + 15 = 65%

Lists 2 attacks a round

Instinct = HD x 10, becoming HD x 5 after 5 HD, as a percentage

10.5 - 5 = 5.5, so 50%+27.5% = 78%, lets just round it to 80%

Every 4 or fraction thereof of the OSRIC bonus HP becomes an addition +5% to Instinct

Movement 120', so as fast as a human

Treants may have high HD but no +s ontop of that

(9-AC/AC-10 for Ascending) round down = AP

9-0 = 9

Damage 4d6 per fist = 4d10 or 1 Wound

d6 = d10

Once you get to 4d10, you have the option of changing it to 1 Wound if caused by massive damage.

No bonuses to damage

No special defences to elements

Anytime something that Mothership handles with a percentile roll is rolled on a D6, multiple the chance of that by 16.666 and round up.

Cannot be Suprised in the forests, can summon 1 or 2 Animated Trees (lesser relatives?)

+4 to hit with fire and -4 to save against fire on a D20 sounds like [+] and [-].
Extra damage is fairly easy.

Intelligence is already represented by their high instinct and Magic resistance is standard, so not worth discussing.

Woody Aliens of Fangorn 2

W5(20)

COM 65% Attacks 2 (4d10)

AP 9

As fast an unencumbered human

Always knows where the party is when they are within it's range

When in it's forest home, can summon lesser relatives

Attacks using Fire break AP

Takes [+] Damage and Wound Rolls from Fire

Anartica Adventure Jam Dungeon 1 - Level 1

 As pat of the Anartica Adventure Jam, which runs until February 2026, I ended up committing myself to first an island, then 5 dungeons and then a second smaller region.

So due to a lack of OSR content on my blog, I may as well post the first level of my small dungeon. For those of you who only know D&D from WOTC, a 22 room level may not seem "small" but it is by TSR/retroclone standards.

This also makes up for that week I missed when I was on vacation.

Unless otherwise stated, this uses B/X or OSE monster stats.

# Dungeon 1 – Beneath the Rock-Marked Hill

### Any dimensions not stated are assumed to be 10 feet. The ceiling is a uniform 10 feet high, excluding the vaulting the sides, which rises from 8 feet. Unless otherwise stated, all rooms are lightless and made of yellow brick. All doors are not stuck.

Descriptions in the Before language/writing are labelled BFTXT

## Level 1

### Random encounters occur on a roll of 1 in 6 per turn.

1- Reroll (1d3 Gecko if door to Room 14 opened, revert when cleared)

2 – Reroll (4d4 Kobolds if Room 4 and 11 cleared or door to Room 14 opened, revert when Room 21 cleared)

3 – 1d10 Stirges (Nothing if Rooms 6 and 11 cleared)

4 – 1d10 Killer Bees (Nothing if Room 4 cleared)

5 – 1 Pit Viper (Nothing if Room 19 cleared)

6 – 1 Green Slime (mutated pipe cleaner)

1.      Staircase half of tracked dirt. Walls are moisture-soaked, smells of dirt, any coverings have dissolved into mould and paste. There is a faint light at the bottom of the staircase during the day.

Three vertical indents some 15 feet down the staircase on west side. Can be pushed to reveal a ventilation shaft.

2.      Brightly lit. 14 Merchants (F1) with bags and bedrolls where dry. Soot-stained ceiling and upper walls. The door to Room 14 is blocked up.

Under soot and dead mould are depictions of creatures known and unknown in round bubbles, Exaggerated BFTXT: “Here is the future, made by the Power of Hands and Skill of Mind”.

The merchants are quite friendly, the Lepetis Coastal Association, led by Kiga. She says they are here to find the rumoured treasure. They have 1 of everything available on the player equipment list for sale between them. They know Room 14 contains 8 Gecko and Room 18 has metal pipes but they couldn’t prise them off. Another door there had slithering sounds.

They have 200sp of wall scrapings and jewellery (control panels and connections pulled off the walls) worth 2 x 1100gp and 1200gp.

3.      Empty room with foundation-like stumps of raised brickwork. Roof is lumpy, with packed dirt and roots pushing through the vaulted bricks, occasional dripping onto the muddy floor. The round after the party enter, the ceiling falls in at the entrance they came through. Doing 1d10 damage to any in that 10 x 10 square and sealing it without six human turns of digging.

4.            Whole room is filled with buzzing, and the walls and ceiling are obscured by honeycomb. The floor is covered in rotting honey and wax.

Some 21 Killer Bees lair here, access outside via narrow pair of ceiling holes under a grove of trees. Four bees are 1 HD Guards, and the queen has 2 HD. 10, ½ HD bees will pursue to an adjoining room, but no further.

Magical honey (around 2 pints) may be found in the hive. It heals 1d4 hit points if eaten (in its entirety).

5.            Orange corridor. Metal pipes made of what looks like bronze and petrified wood run the length and terminate at each end. Ceiling drips with moisture and hollow noises occur with each step.

Wax build up in Room 4 has clogged the pipes carrying a variety of curdled gasses. Interacting with the pipes or moving more than 10 feet upsets the delicate homeostasis. Pipes burst with a pinging sound. Filling the room with poisonous white gas (save versus poison or die).

6.            Warm, red and dimly lit room with floor of corroded shattered glass and powder-like droppings. High on the upper walls are layers of comb-like structures, made of paste and grit. Each is set around a large, reddish socketed gem.

11 Stirge nest here, they do pursue.

The 6 gems if prised off, show themselves to be pale yellow glass. But the sockets are 300gp of gold.

7.            Pipes hidden by vaulting. What has not been stained by mould depicts a fantastic landscape of glaciers, seas and jungles. Inhabited by humanoid and archosaurian figures, all flexing and performing feats of excellence.

All labelled BFTXT, indicating a name and a proclaimed previously unattainable feat.

8.            Pipes hidden by vaulting. What has not been stained by mould depicts a fantastic landscape of glaciers, seas and jungles.

A bestiary of the Before Kingdom is stylistically laid out. BFTXT describing uses and critical or valuable parts. Disconcertingly, these include animals the player characters would not think were useful and humanoid figures.

9.            Nothing except four broken pedestals. Touching the pedestals causes a voice to boom from them, in the Before language. Horrible hollow screeching. Make a random encounter check.

BFTXT: Welcome to the Central Hall of Life Enlightenment. We are proud to display the latest in philosophical research into the use of nature. (Silence). Join us today as we will explore the future of companion and labour animals to improve your lives and the lives of your (Volume dip).

The egg-nation rooms will exceed all expectations for urban environments, and the air-nations rooms will explain how new thoughts will enhance material thoughts. (Silence) How hereditary crystalised-thought can be shaped and altered as if clay. For we are now the potter, and the facility staff hope you may consider the possibilities.

10.         Orange and traces of violence. Burst pipes, black soot shadows on the walls and small skeletons of obscure creatures, that fall to powder with footsteps.

11.         Warm, damp, red and dimly lit room with a powdered mixture of fairy-dust droppings and glass coating the floor like a starfield. An exsanguinated giant lizard with blue scales and orange spots on the floor. High on the upper walls are layers of comb-like structures, made of paste and grit. Set around are five reddish gems in stone sockets, size corresponding with the density of nests. Rest are blackened husks.

                22 Stirges chitter in their almost-language. They swarm.

                The glowing gems are Before crystals; 10gp, 100gp, 500gp and 1000gp.

12.         Orange and surprisingly dry. Empty shelves with rims of partially petrified vegetable matter, otherwise powder. Blast shadow of a humanoid form on wall, reveal colour was slightly darker shade.

Searching the right square for a secret door reveals on a base 1 in 6 check, the door to Room 13.

13.         Red brick. All walls from floor to ceiling with BFTXT detailing emergency evacuation measures. The site was at ground level. 400sp of wiring showing control panels in Room 2 and 18 (Trader removed them). Notice of total pneuma shutoff control in Room 27.

14.         Room filled with broken pedestal-like machines scattered about floor. Otherwise covered in paste-like droppings, reptile stinks. The machines are labelled BFTXT: words like Colour Banding, Skull Size and Muscle Fiber Thickness.

Eight ravenous Ginat Geckos lurk here on the ceiling and walls, aware of door being unblocked. Couldn’t hunt outside since the Traders sealed the door.

15.         Broken machine, covered in dials and levers. Shattered glass bubble. Broken glass statues of beetles on the edges. BFTXT: Bewildering array of terms like “ion channels” “arcane infusion” and “fundamental strand removal/insertion”.

Silver wiring is worth 500sp, dials and internal systems are gems worth: 10gp, 50gp and 500gp.

16.         A circular stone circle in the middle. Entering the room causes an illusion of a Cyclops (Antarctica Adventure Jam Bestiary) to appear with a pop inside it. Followed by roaring and combat. The monster has AC 9 [10] and vanishes if hit in combat. Its attacks do not inflict real damage: a PC who appears to die just falls unconscious for 1d4 turns.

BFTXT on circle: Experience the power of life enlightenment philosophy on command.

17.         Large machine that looks like it was melted. The glass birdcages sealed on a ceramic body. However, the front of the machine looks like it was raked by a marsupial lion.

Investigating the machine triggers the kobold trap. Precariously weighted sticks covered in blackened metal blades, swings down from the ceiling. Entering the room causes a block to drop from the doorframe with a clatter. For every person who enters or interacts with the machine, the trap activates on a roll of 1 on a d6.

18.         This room stinks of mould and humus. Moisture drips down the walls and disappears into floor cracks. The pipes that run along this wall are all rusted or bloated yet pitted. As if made of wood and stone combined.

Waiting longer than 2 turns, touching the pipes or door causes the homeostasis of the room to collapse and curdled pink gas to spray from the burst pipes. This fills the room in 1 turn but is harmless. It settles after 8 hours, staining the non-mould spaces a rosy shade.

19.         2 Pit Vipers have laired here to hunt widely. Have not eaten since Traders blocked door to level 2. The southern wall has collapsed from water damage.

20.         Staircase lobby was supposed to be sealed by a staff-access door and wall. Both have collapsed from water damage. The stairs lead below.

21.         It smells fresher here from an airshaft and all the pipes have been broken. Kobold creeper vines reach outside for light and blood. They don’t remember how they came here from distant lands.

They await any noise of foes activating the circle in Room 16 and if so, are not surprised. There are 28 knobbly gourd-men in various states of ripeness. 21 ½ HD, 7 1+1 HD bodyguards and 1 2HD Chieftain with the thickest rind.

The Great Gourd is cunningly. If they fail morale, they will let foes enter the treasure chamber and ambush them at an opportune moment.

22.         The orange treasure chamber of the Kobolds, a junction of pipes that connect like a tree on the southern wall. Only the bottom pipes are intact. A repurposed metal chest is affixed to the south wall with resin. As are the hinges.

Opening the chest more than a Kobold-known crack breaks the seals and causes the poisonous white gas (save versus poison or die).

2500sp and 20gp fill the chest.

4E Dungeon Delve for Lancer - Quick Combat Scenarios with minimum fuss.

I once had an idea of modifying D&D 4E encounters to use as quick Lancer missions. Since both are tactical, role-based combat games with strong balance. It should be simple.

Now there are two ways to do this. Just gather up the enemy rolls and note down there are so many traps that use certain damage types and use that as a framework. Or go further and use the exact foes and traps to come up with the scenario. That latter is somewhat harder because you must fit 4E‘s relatively tight spaces into the mould of Lancer. Which is about 40 x 40 spaced combat areas.

With either method we must convert the foes over. 4E had:

Artillery, Brute, Controller, Lurker, Skirmisher and Soldier. Plus, a special designation of Leader.
These could be Minions, Elite and Solo.
lancer has about 30 NPC types divided into the categories:

Artillery, Controller, Defeder, Striker and Support.
And can also be Grunts, Veteran, Elite and Ultras.

Therefore, we can sort of line them up.

Artillery = Artillery

Brute = Defender or Striker

Controller = Controller

Lurker = Striker/Support

Skirmisher = Striker

Solider = Defender

Leader = Support

 

Minion = Grunt

Veteran = Unknown

Elite = Elite

Solo = Ultra

 

Now this isn’t perfect. Brutes tended to be simple high damage melee attacker, with good Defence and high HP. That can fall into either category of Lancer NPC as the encounter seems to use them. Likewise, Lurkers were monsters which well lurked with some sort of penalty to be hit until it was time for a sudden burst of high damage, treading on the Support type’s role as a battlefield manipulator. Leaders in 4E were a subtype, they did their primary role but also buffed, manipulated or debuffed as required. So, there will have to be a choice between them generally assisting or just staying behind the lines. But between 30 roles in Lancer, there is more than enough variety to cover each side of the 4E to Lancer spectrum.

Veterans may come to our aid here. There is no 4E equivalent. But that lets us use the tougher bonuses to better copy over 4E. We could say a Brute is a Veteran Defender, a Lurker is a Veteran Striker and a Leader is a Veteran Support. But that can get reductionist.

 

Let’s try with a simple set of fights from Dungeon Delve, which was a book of premade short dungeons, about 3 to 4 encounters long.

 

Orcs have taken over hilltop keep

Room one: 2 Fire Beetles (Brute), 3 Orc Raiders (Skirmisher), 1 tower, 1 set of cells with dead prisoner with treasure, 1 water bucket, dark lighting.

• Brutes/Soldiers = Defenders, Skirmishers/Lurkers = Strikers.

2 Pyros seems thematic for Defenders, of all the various strikers, Scourer fits the Orc Raider's marking and healing abilities best Level 3 is about Tier 1 for Lancer

Now converting over the room details, which I found a mite tedious despite how small it was. I decided on this mission was stopping a defeated Pro-regime militia have seized old fortifications from pre-Unity period while the Lancers were doing peacekeeping.

We are keeping the Lancer scaling of 1 square/hex being 10 feet. So theoretically the interior increases, but is still very tight for Lancers even with size 2 or 3 chasis. Maybe an exterior could be added with some sort of wall that makes it slightly more convenient to use the prebuilt entrance. But that defeats the purpose of the dungeon encounters.

There’s a tower, a dead villager, a water bucket to spill and it is Low-Light. Some quick caluclations from Lancer tell us the Structure/Actions total keeps this at Tier 1, befitting a low-level D&D battle.

• The tower is the internal structure behind the outward gun platforms and is sized for vehicle movement,
• The cells here contain a dead local who succumb to wounds after being brought there, retuning the corpse earns the respect of the local Techno-Tribe who offer a Downtime Reward,
• The water pipes run against a wall, breaking them creates slip hazards from the high pressure water on concrete,
• While the lighting in here is poor, with only the jury-rigged floodlights, the defensive structures discombobulate scanning, giving 1 penalty dice.

Room 2 is a little more challenging. Some monsters need to be reduced in line with Lancer's rules on using Grunts and Elites. At this point, it's probably best just to keep a record of how you converted each foe so in the future they are consistent.

1 orc eye of Gruumsh (E) = Elite Archer, to represent the front-line Leader idea. I deided to give it the Commander template.

1 orc berserker (B) = Demolisher

10 orc drudges (O) = Reduce to 3 Grunt Breachers as they are Minions.

1 false-floor pit trap = Anti-vehicle mines (in pit) running to switch by outer wall

Dim & Dark light = penalty dice to scanning

Table = mess and motor pool prefabs

Pantry = Stockpile, loot and explosives, a downtime reward here can be found and jury-rigged after a short rest

Cauldron = Fuel-silo, knock it over and oil the floor up

Fire Pit = The fuel piping and electrical fires leave an inferno after the silo is knocked over.

Since 30/12 is 2.5. This level 4 encounter is still within Tier 1 after converting.

Slightly boring to do 3 attack encounters but sometimes a Lancer's job is to sweep and clear. If you add a Beat at the end where the players have to give their post-mission debrief or perhaps testify in court for the trial of the survivors or as proof of a third-party was funding the attack.

1 orc chieftain (C) = Bastion + Elite

1 dire wolf (W) = Couldn't find an NPC Striker that got better the more allies it had also engaging with the target, so it's now a Wolf-Gunship, Ace + Vehicle

2 orc berserkers (B) = Demolisher

Outdoors here scanning works normally

Beds = Barrack prefabs

Fireplace = Temporary base reactor, which is opened prior to create barricade to attack on that side.

Treasure = The secondary objective. My example would be enough Manna and Circuit Tokens to prove the Militia is being funded by the Orbital stations to put pressure on the new government.

I don't know how this might work with Shadow of the Demon Lord, 5E or even 3E/Pathfinder. But it is a nice way to keep the older books from just sitting on the shelf and with a little bit of prep, have an edition's worth of campaigns and encounters ready to go.

Shadow of the Demon Lord Adventures to SLA Industries Part 5

 Last 11 of the normal short adventures. I was originally inspired by the succientness of the adventures but I've increasingly come to see how they rely on the titular demon lord of the majority. Which is perfectly fine for a "The Truth"/White Earth-focused camapign. But makes it somewhat lacking elsewhere. Especially now I have access to Threat Analysis 2: Cults. Makes all my converted-as Orange BPNs a little less intense than what the book implies.

Saving Face

Demon Lord’s corruption has produced a plume of mutating glop that made clam parasites eat people’s faces. A local Flesh Taker steals people’s faces/skin. Figure out what’s wrong and treat it before the big clam festival.

Blue/Silver BPN

Out where Frother territory meets the sea, a prominent local clam festival is held. This is a minor tourist attraction that needs some pep, courtesy of the local council. The blue option is that the local council is worried about rumors. Either way you will talk to Eiðella Haraldsdöttir.

The Face-Taker is a local killer, a MESHA graduate or a shatter-addict to dial it down. But the core issue of no one wanting to shut the clam beds during the festival remains. The ultimate cause is a spill off the coast. This can be something as simple as a lost chemical container or a Grosh pod that missed its target and slammed into the seafloor like a meteor.

The Measure of a Man

Men’s Rights cult takes over doomsday vault that’s supposed to house artifacts to survive the Demon Lord until the world is saved. Leader found real demonic artefacts and a stupid magical item, turned vault into ransacked den. Supposed to be a little silly at first.

Cyan/Orange (only found to be partway through) BPN

This is very playable. The Vault of Hope becomes a Naga 7 storage site. The “Swarm Cultists” (courtesy of Threat Analysis: Cult) are just latching onto the leader with his massive manly gun. The automatons are not Manchines but are pretty much the same stat-wise and of the same era. The portal is one to White Earth and so the demons are various ethereals and other such nasties. The piece of cloth can be White Earth or an out of Territory object.

A Measure of Faith

Local fears shape belief into a sickness at a crusader castle, Inquisition begins torturing crusaders for info, which only makes the fear/belief stronger. Players can be on any side (including village suffering belief-borne disease that makes them cannibals).

Deep below is an abyss where the belief has manifested into a monster-beastman who is converting other people into beastmen. Either suppress the truth or expose it.

Grey/Orange (Actually Cyan) BPN

White (what’s with the disease

A major Downtown Shiver station is suspected of belonging to some kind of cult. Shián, Rawhead or something. Only there are cannibals and carrien running loose at night. Shiver/Cloak Division violence is getting bad.

Actually, a Dream Entity, some kind of warped Dream Master, who is halfway between a carrien and CS cannibal. Maybe a Derro King for stats. Killing people and using that to imprint new Dream Entities. The Grey and delusions of cannibalism (even if the subject doesn't do anything) spreading. This is going to end with someone important, angry at the players. But doing their job is all they can do.

White Out

Players are stranded in a blizzard with a group of people, all who have something wrong with them. A Demon in a jewel is causing the storm, and one character has it. Monsters and survival tasks occur until the jewel is destroyed.

Blue (Why are train switches not working)/White (Find out why people keep disappearing from a SLA-operated station).

This could be as simple as it sounds, on a Green BPN the players are stuck somewhere. But maybe a shop or bar at a nearly abandoned gauss train station might be good.

But supernatural events can become passe. Let’s make it drugs, a giant high-quality cocktail of combat drugs, shatter, whatever else. A Wraithern gang (The Ice Demons) want it back. The old man is still a cannibal but the zombies are drug addicts, forced as a human wave. They somehow smash up the ground or a broken wall when the bodies of the victims lie. The final demon is when Qui ingests the whole set of drugs or the gang leader shoot up the rest of the gang’s supply.

The Little Horror House on the Prairie

Demon torments a cultist who tried to escape the cult long ago. The lonely house contains the apparitions and bodies of his family and the demonic manifestations. Wants travelers to snoop around and die, demon wants to possess newer body. Demon would suggest Shi’an and Ethereals, but they don’t seem to go for slow possession.

Part of Green BPN where it’s the closest listed location to the stranded players or a cheap Green BPN to go see if it’s still active. Can be argued as a Cyan or Orange depending on the debriefing.

Beyond the Cannibal Sectors is a near abandoned Gauss Train depot. Technically it’s listed as infrastructure, but no one has been recorded as clocking in for years and no train has needed to resupply there because it was presumed abandoned. The manager was a member of the first Shi’an cult but quit early on when the Ethereal really showed off what they could do. A minor Ethereal tracked him down and did his family in via possessing him. But both are trapped there, the nightmares of the man creating Dream Entities in the isolation.

Kind of a stretch.

Blood Will Run

Elf has fallen under sway of devilish patron. He makes cursed blades from human bones and gives them to people he thinks will cause havoc when they break down from them. Two kids, brothers have gone missing. Bonesmith (Elf) accuses them of stealing blades though father denies this.

Ruf, the first boy got haunted by the ghost of the old lord whose bones were dug up to make blades. He did steal them and tried to take them back to the ghost to avoid his wrath. Fomor band caught him and robbed him. Fomors kidnapped daughter of innkeeper and threating her to make the innkeeper keep their presence quiet. So, the innkeeper has Ruf locked up in cellar where he will die from the formor beating soon. Other missing boy Tuf was killed by Bonesmith in a two-sentence description to appease his patron. Right at the end and perfunctory. Not even a description of what happens if the party finds out.

White BPN

Local feral Ebonite who moved into area is a drug maker and cooker. BPN is to see if he is a soft-company or not. Not technically, but the drugs are an SLA knock-off and something that might be worth following up with the head of the syndicate. “Bonersmith” is using material stolen from local factory. When Ruf was sneaking around as Downtown kids do, foreman threatened him because he believed kid was in gang stealing chemical shipments.

Local gang/cognate operating out of nearby disused factory (not same district) waylaid and stole from Ruf. Who stole the drugs from Bonersmith. They have been holding Jex, local restaurant owner’s daughter hostage, so Jex will use her restaurant as a front for drugs/warn of the Shivers. Ruf is in disused freezer.

Tuf is being held drugged, by Bonersmith in revenge. Who is draining his blood day by day to see if he can give drugs that kick.

Forbidden Fruits

Outpost in forest is a guard against beastmen. Local commune in old tower support it with food. Tower is filled with demonic taint and twisted the community into strange worship. Or evil vine from the forest got into them. They found a crippled minotaur and brought it back to have babies with it. Juvenile beastmen are everywhere now.

The nasty vines seem to be unrelated to what caused the commune to go insane. Just what killed them. The commune also wants to spread them to the outpost but the post-adventure mention is the plants spreading into the farmland. Unless the garrison spreads them from the outpost.

White/Green BPN, maybe this could be labeled a Orange but more likely to be argued down as hazard of the region.

In Cannibal Sector 1, there is a bridgehead which guards some of the new towns. One little village/district/block has gotten all messed up from growing a kind of toxic weed. Either a local poison or something alien that shouldn’t be there. They supply the bridgehead with the non-essential extras that SLA Industries doesn’t care about and some stuff on the side. Bridgehead put out the BPN. The community got it in their head to turn into a Rawhead cult and have a crippled Butcher and some runts in their settlement. And demonic incursions from the random roll table are local hazard Dream Entities.

 

Flute of Farewell

A group of fey-related beings have a cult about someday returning to fairyland rather than be condemned to one life in the world without an afterlife. A treasure dealer sells them a flute designed to open a portal. But really, it’s made by the fairies of hell to lure people. Which are separate from demons from outside the world. The cultists sold everything from the temple land, the decorations and most of their savings. The player characters are hired to make the transaction. Some cultists try to steal back their money after the transaction.

The dealer has been killed by the devil bound to it. Something that seems to come out of the blue. The players have to save who remains at the temple as that’s the next destination. The head priest doesn’t want to give up the flute because his goal seems so close.

Yellow BPN

This is simple but the reasoning is complicated. Operatives don’t normally do delivery jobs, but maybe a senior corporate member of a company could put out a BPN.

There is a small group of researchers who think it’s possible for humans to gain Ebb powers and want a relic that supposedly gives access to the White. It does but that’s very lethal for non-Ebonites and Momics. The entire subsidiary has maxed out on loans and pilfered staff accounts to transfer bonds to a dealer in ancient artefacts. The devil is either a minor Necrothrope clearing out meddlers or some sort of echo of a Momic. Maybe a Momic without the bells and whistles. Needless to say the whole thing will be swept under the rug and any rewards coupled with threats/NDAs.

Apple of Her Eye

Prosperous apple farming village of Avelton keeps its generational pact with a dryad, Nymian. By leaving out a child once every 7 years for ‘Tithing Night’. Characters encounter said child tied up in orchard. They are threatened by 5 changelings who look like kids but fall apart when killed. Taking pel back to the village for he is scared that people will take him back to the orchard reveals worried and suspicious villagers. The dryad sends recaps and then herself with changelings to bring back her own soul tithe.

Blue/White BPN, go stop local drug gang selling combat drugs alongside recreational stuff. Or why are all the trainees/Operatives from this sector killing themselves?

This should be straightforward investigation. But there aren’t very many human threats in MC that can deliver consistent prosperity and only abduct 1 child every 7 years, for 140 years. The frequency could be boosted for one of those threats, hence a white BPN. Or the Dryad is turned into something that is harder for the players to deal with, a kind of MC charming ability.

Nymian is an SLA Industries recruiter, a Eban/Brain Waster with a lot of subsidiary cash. She runs a company that finds Operative from among the juvenile justice system and theoretically checks them for suitability. In practice, she uses the kids as drug mules, pushers and enforcer. Getting kickbacks from her Ops for combat drugs too. Any kid who survives violent gang life for a few years and not spiral into self-destruction will be fed into Meny as an emotionally unstable recruit. Who in turn will likely perish in Operative training or on the streets. Nymian can offer cash (in Unis), manufactured BPN situations (Be ready at the terminal), off-the books favors (she doesn’t intend to keep) and black-market material (Ops will see her gang pillaging their street fights).

Or Nymian is part of DRYAD, a Darknight recruiting scheme that picks up kids from a network of sectors, no more than one every seven years from each but enough that they conscript a kid every month. Those sectors that agree to it get protection from terrorist attacks and Darknight drug-dealing.

The BPN becomes a Blue, checking why a cadre of DK agents killed in CS1 all come from the same adjoining sectors. Nymian screwed up seven years ago by assigning the sequential kids to the same indoctrination squad. The latest young squad provide her with backup.

Feast of the Father

Characters visit village of Argron’s Dock at the time of a local festival. A fisherman threw back a tainted fish but missed a few of the black worms. Which in turn forced him to evacuate his bowls into a psychic worm that controlled him. He is now the new priest. Worms spread throughout town and when the priest tried to rally against it, the infected killed the uninfected. Now the town willingly live in the worms’ live cycle. Worms live with “Father” the first worm.

Silver/Yellow BPN

Operatives are tasked with providing either celebrity coverage of a hot new weight-lose clinic that has swept Mort or acquire the samples for Karma, who are annoyed a small subsidiary/sign-on has achieved some effect they can’t figure out. Interviews and stakeouts show the offices and homes of the members are slovenly and ill. Festival is the big closed-door party for the grand opening.

Records show an apparent car crash/accident/gas leak/maniac attack killed one of the business founders and several of the original investors during a meeting in their old office. Finding and slaying the mind worm gets mixed results. If the footage before and after can be used, the Silver is technically paid out. Karma wants the body of the main worm or equivalent mass of lesser worms.

The Man Who Fell to Urth

An incarnate genie failed to stop the Demon Lord from destroying the universe he swore to protect. After drifting in the void for 1000 years, he realized the small chucks on land he was orbiting were going to hit Urth and plugged the crack with his body. The chunks will breach through and hit Urth within a few days. The genie’s appearance is frightening the townsfolk, especially as salamanders have come to guard and have killed to protect him. A member of an apocalyptic sect of the New God is whipping the townsfolk into a frenzy to attack. No mention if the genie survives but his death causes the crack to open, and demons appear. Inside the Void are the chunks, but they have members of a lost civilization on them. They pose an issue to rescue or defeat, to destroy the chunks.

Red/Platinum BPN

One of the mysterious members of the Kilneck, hit a downtown sector last night as if falling from a great height. Party is told to deal with the issue before cleanup teams arrive. Only problem is a Moral Right squad got there first. Most players, even long-term players won't have the SCL to countermand a MR squad on the spot. Everyone knows about Shi’an and this is clearly supernatural. Made worse by a gaggle of off-world Neophron who are standing off with MR.

Regardless of what happens the Kilneck either tells or has on the body Ebb formulae for a fold ship teleport. That means a foldship might be bearing down at these coordinates, through the plates. The Kilneck is partially intersecting with the Ethereal/White Earth realm as well, whatever works better.

Once the monsters are dealt with, Operatives heading through the portal meet with a disintegrating foldship, containing treasure, a weird alien species that are all that’s left after something White Earth/Conflict Races and a faulty ion support craft.

Save some, none or all. But this ship will teleport and crash through the whole level and into the one below. MR keeps pulling rank because they think seizing the ship will give them a one-up in the company. And the level isn’t worth saving. But really the whip is just going around the bend with stress and power.