This penultimate post represents the final piece of the kilodungeon site. It uses the dungeon portion of the original AD&D adventure: N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile Gods. I'm actually not a big fan of the module as published. It's very railroady, and the cult activities in the village of Orlane are meh. The actual naga's lair with the troglodytes is pretty well done, however, and it snaps perfectly into the overall site concept.
Its inclusion also gives me a third "faction boss" to use as a counterweight to the two magic-users competing over the site. She is gathering her forces to first take over the Sea Caves level and expel the pirates, then take control of the Dungeon level to capture its wealth and power. Once she accomplishes all that, she will send her enthralled human minions to subvert and undermine local authorities, and take over the human settlements in this desolate region on the periphery of civilization.
The entrance to this site is down in the swamp below the manor bluff, but anyone looking off the cliff can potentially catch a glimpse of the berm. The entrance can be reached either by sea or by scaling down the steep slope to the NE. There is also a back way into the dungeon via the Sea Caves level. In fact, several of the naga's minions are enthralled pirates who were captured in those caves by her troglodyte agents.
I got rid of everything in the module up to the naga's lair, though I kept some of the swamp description and its wandering encounter table. I added two other entries—a mud viper and 1–3 giant lizards—to make for an even six encounters, and I renamed the module's 1 HD "giant leech" (AD&D) to a "huge leech" instead (Labyrinth Lord's giant leeches are 6 HD creatures).
Map Changes
I made a few minor revisions to the dungeon maps, but not many. Most were made for aesthetic reasons or in the interest of more realistic architecture. Of note:
- I rotated both level maps 90-degrees clockwise and changed the directional orientation (the entrance now points eastward instead of to the north).
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| Naga's Lair – Upper Level Map (scale = 10') |
In the original text, there is no explanation for the false doors in area 7 and 8e, so I reconfigured these areas and added a space (area 7a) between them to not only create a hazard/trap, but also inject an extra fight and boost the adventure's overall treasure. I discuss these changes in detail below.
I added a secret door between area 11 and the hallway outside areas 12a and 12b. In the original, area 11 is a simple wine closet and both area 12 chambers are empty. I've populated the area 12 rooms with trogs keeping their eyes on the enthralled human slaves, so I thought the secret door would be a nice way to permit quick travel to the heart of the level or allow the trogs to split forces and perform a pincer move in the event of an attack.
I adjusted the dimensions of the harpy's lair (original areas 16–17). In the original map, these chambers are each 50x50 ft. and connected by a 20-ft. wide corridor, meaning the wall segments to either side of the corridor entrances are 15 ft. wide. When I'm drawing on a 10-ft. scale grid, I tend to round these spaces up to even, 10-ft. lengths unless the given distance specifically matters to gameplay. It just makes my life a little easier when running. My brain prefers a "clean" grid, and I get frustrated if I see a nice hallway with a grid line running down the middle of it. Area 16 is now 50x60 and area 17 is now 60x60. I like opening up the latter chamber a bit anyway as it centers the harpy's roost and gives her a little more maneuverability room.
I changed area 19 from a dead-end tunnel into a passage that connects to the Sea Caves level.
- In the naga's throne room on the lower level (area 37), there were originally columns holding up the ceiling and they glowed green for a reason that is never specified. I turned them into natural columns on the map instead, and accounted for the glow with some classic phosphorescent fungi on the cave walls.
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| Naga's Lair – Lower Level Map (scale = 10') |
Key Changes
I made the following changes to the original adventure manuscript:
Dungeon locations are keyed with the letter 'N,' but the order of the key remains the same as the original (e.g., area N1 is area 1 in the original module).
N1: I changed the stairs from wood to stone to match the changes in the overall architecture of this level. The original text contains an example of using ability checks to overcome a dungeon hazard (roll Dexterity or less on 1d20 to avoid slipping down the muddy stairs). Falling down the steps results in no damage in the original, but I changed it to doing 1–6 damage per 30 ft. of stairs fallen (rolling once at the top (60 ft.) and again at the midpoint (30 ft.)). I also clarify that anyone who slips down the stairs ends up prone at the bottom (–2 AC).
N2: This room is described as "relatively dry" in the keyed description of area 1, which didn't make a lot of sense given the previous description of the dungeon conditions and the chamber's proximity to the open entrance to the complex. Instead, I describe puddles of water covering the flagstone floor and water dripping steadily from the ceiling. I turned the four guards here, whom the original text identifies as "cult members" and "level 0 humans," into enthralled pirates. I kept the cool detail about their eyes having adjusted to the dim light of the dungeon.
N3 is mostly unchanged, though I increased the movement penalty for wading through both 3 ft. of water AND one foot of mud, from 1/4 movement to 1/10. This is a formidable obstacle.
N4 is mostly unchanged, though I identified the exact quantities of each individual ornamental and semi-precious stone type.
N5–N6 are unchanged.
N7: Curiously, the original text calls this encounter area: "Home of the Green Slime." The point of the false door was obviously designed to lure the party through the mud and slime, but why would it be here? And there's another one just like it around the corner, in room 8e. In my version, I extended hallway 7 so it lines up with the hall in 8e, and I pushed the door in 8e back 20 ft. so as to create a new room (N7a) that had collapsed and become filled with wet mud.
The door is the only thing holding up this torrent of mud. It opens inward so it obviously can't be used normally. But if someone tries to force it open, the already-compromised timbers split, releasing the mud into the hall. Anyone standing in the first 10 ft. in front of the door must save vs. Breath or be buried under the mud, requiring 3–18 rounds to dig them out. Anyone within 20 ft. of the door or making a successful save is forced back 20 ft. (and through the green slime patch).
As established in the Sea Caves portion of the site, a character can hold their breath for 1–4 rounds plus one round per Constitution divided by 3. When a buried character's breath gives out, they take 1–10 damage each round thereafter and must save vs. Breath (at –1 cumulative per round) or be smothered to death.
In addition, the mud deluge mostly empties the collapsed chamber, opening up the space in area 7a and releasing the pressure on the door in 8e. Six mud-caked zombies (+2 AC) that were previously trapped within the collapsed room now emerge from the goop. They are famished and count as 3 HD wights for turning purposes. Hidden on the E wall, just below the surface of the now-2-ft. deep mud, is a stone coffer containing 20 gold bars (100 gpv ea.), a fist-sized black pearl (2,500 gpv), and a thin plate of jet (200 gpv) upon which is inscribed a cleric spell of Animate Dead.
N8(a–e) is a series of rooms for human cult members in the original text. In my version, the enthralled victims of the naga sit in a stupor in these rooms. They are mostly pirates or 0-level fighting men (ambushed villagers or waylaid travelers). I kept the same numbers and male-female ratio; basically the naga charms anyone young and fit enough to fight, and eats the rest. I also removed all references to the doors being locked as these people are too out of it to care.
Note that the false door in 8e works the same as in 7, but in reverse, unless the pressure has already been released. Even so, the door cannot be opened due to 2-ft. thick mud on the other side, so it must be destroyed to enter area 7a.
N9 is unchanged except I removed the reference to the door being locked. Who's going to steal this stuff?
N10 is mostly unchanged, though I added a reference to "a faint stench" lingering in the air, with a 1–3:6 chance that 1–4 troglodytes are here scooping up the cave fish in their claws.
N11 is mostly unchanged, though I increased the damage from falling debris from 1–4 to 1–6. The original text does a fairly good job of depicting a dungeon environment that is slowly deteriorating in the muddy bog. In this case, simply trying the locked door causes a dusting of dirt to fall from above. Forcing the door open causes a section of the ceiling to fall on the area in front of it. That's cool interactivity; negative, but telegraphed. It gives a great impression that the place is falling apart and provides a warning about using destructive magic.
I also specified the exact numbers, volumes, and gp values of the casks and kegs stored here: Of eleven casks (10-gal., 110# ea.), six contain low-grade wine (5 gpv ea.), while five contain watery beer (2 gp ea.) Of the four small kegs (2-gal., 25# ea.), two contain strong, dark beer (100 gpv ea.) and two contain fine wine (200 gpv ea.)
Finally, I added a secret door on the S wall leading to the hallway outside rooms 12a and 12b (where some trogs live). As with area N10, I added a reference to a lingering stench in the room and a 1:6 chance per turn that 1–4 trogs open the secret door to enter.
N12a and 12b are mostly unchanged, though I added a reference to the corridor outside "reeking of a foul stench." In the original text, the rooms are empty save for small piles of mud in the corner where the wall is collapsing (again, just a nice little detail about the deteriorating situation down here). I added a group of 8 troglodytes living in the two chambers (4 trogs in each), along with some dirty straw mats and fish bones to indicate the trogs have occupied these rooms for awhile.
N13 is mostly unchanged, though I changed the support pillars from "unadorned wood" to stone. Also, since this chamber is at a central intersecting point of the dungeon, I increased the encounter chance by +1 while the party remains here.
N14a–d are mostly unchanged, though I tweaked a few interior details. The only substantial change I made is adding a chance for the enthralled cleric to be present (1:8). In the original text, he is only encountered in the evil temple on level 2. I also clarified that the NPC minions who live in the rooms are members of the lost adventuring party who were ambushed while exploring the swamp and charmed by the naga.
N15 is mostly unchanged, though I gave it a low (6–8 ft.) ceiling, and I increased the movement penalty for walking through mud and water from 1/4 to 1/10 (to be consistent with area N3). I used Labyrinth Lord's 2HD crocodile instead of the standard 3HD AD&D crocodile. LL crocs have better AC and bite damage, but lose the AD&D croc's tail attack.
N16 is unchanged other than the map revisions mentioned above, and I moved some of the information about crossing the mud-filled corridor in N17 to this keyed description. The gruesome details about the harpy gouging charmed PCs' eyes out, and then taking her time to play with her victims before killing and eating them provides effective guidance to help the DM run this hideously evil creature.
N17 is unchanged other than the map revisions mentioned above, and I made the timber perches separate from the room columns, which are now stone. The original text has all the columns in the dungeon made out of stout wood, but I wanted the "finished" portions of this complex to be consistent with the architecture of the Dungeon level under the house. In my version, the harpy's roost is a standing timber framework constructed for the harpy by the naga's minions. Why does the harpy work for the naga? Respect.
N18 is mostly unchanged, except I added a dry ledge for the giant weasel to sleep on and increased the percentage of the loot found from 10% per turn to 10–40%. I just can't see making the party waste 10 turns to recover 300 gp, 80 sp.
N19 is now a tunnel that leads to area S24 on the Sea Caves level instead of a pointless dead-end. I mean, I don't mind a simple dead-end, but it makes little sense for the original to make it a keyed encounter area when there's nothing there.
N20a–c are unchanged except for the trog's loot. The original text doesn't give individual treasure for these troglodytes, but includes an odd reference: "Each troglodyte has a small leather pouch at its waist with a few coins inside. The total carried by all six is 16 gp, 20 ep, 57 sp, and 180 cp." None of the other trog encounters includes this detail.
I can't have a trog wearing a waist pouch without mention of a belt, but why would an unclothed reptile wear a belt? (To carry around his money pouch, duh.) I changed it to a coin pouch worn around their neck on a thong. Since the above treasure is split among six trogs, each has about 2–3 gp, 3–4 ep, 8–10 sp, and 30 cp. I used that to derive an individual treasure range of 1–6 gp, 2–12 sp, 4–40 cp. I then applied this treasure to every trog encounter.
- Level 2 Wandering Monsters: The original text includes a chance to encounter 1–4 ghouls on the table, but ghouls aren't found anywhere in the naga's lair and they don't really fit the vibe of this place. I changed the encounter result to 1–4 giant centipedes, which are found in greater numbers in a cave on this level.
N21 is the first chamber on the lower level of the lair. In the original text, the stepping stone paths allow the party normal movement through this section of tunnel rather than slogging through the thick mud on the floor at half-move. But since nothing else happens in this cave, other than a possible wandering encounter, the presence of the stepping stones doesn't allow the party much game play interaction. In fact, their purpose—to allow the cleric easy access to and from the evil temple in area 27—is likely to go unrealized by the party.
I wanted to add something here to make the stone paths a little more interesting. I noticed on the original map that the stones of the path leading toward the trog caves were spaced a little farther apart, so I built a dungeon hazard on that basis:
The stepping stones of the path to the E are spaced just a few feet apart, easy for man-sized creatures to traverse safely. Only one man-sized creature can occupy a stepping stone. The stones to the N are spaced much farther apart, an easy jump for trogs.
Man-sized characters,however, must roll their Strength or less on 1d20 to make the leap. If they only succeed by 3 or less, they must also roll their Dexterity or less on 1d20 to maintain their footing. Smaller than man-sized characters cannot make the jump.
Failing either roll causes the character to slip and fall into the mud, where they become stuck. Trapped characters require assistance to escape or they sink in 4–16 rounds and suffocate. Each turn of activity in this area draws an encounter check.
I also added a detail about man-sized sandal tracks in the mud leading to and from the stepping stone path, and heading E.N22 is unchanged, although I did need to convert the AD&D "huge spider" found here (along with its companion "large spider" found in the wandering monsters table for this level). Labyrinth Lord and BX have very specific types of "giant spider" (e.g., a 3HD black widow and a 4HD tarantula). I prefer AD&D's categories by size (large, huge, giant), from which the DM can build any sort of spider they want.
Some of AD&D's giant spider types have a hit dice modifier, bumping them up on the attack matrix, so I kept that advantage for my conversion to LL. Same with the poison strengths for each type, represented by a save modifier. Large spiders are 1+1 HD, with a poison save modifier of +2. Huge spiders are 2+2 HD and have a +1 save mod. Giant spiders are 4+4 HD and have no poison save mod.
N23 was another area of this dungeon that had a neat setup but a bland payoff. A running trope in this dungeon is having the players cross a pool of water in a boat. The first was the crocodile pool (area N15) on the upper level, then this cavernous area, and then a third time in the naga's chamber, also on this level (area N37).
The boat here is smaller, only 2-man, meaning the party will likely need to split up. In the original, this really doesn't matter because none of these elements poses any challenge or risk to the characters, other than expending time to resolve the acquisition of the treasure. It's a wasted buildup of tension, though.
I decided to add a "big" (3 HD) crocodile lurking in the pool. If the party has already encountered the regular crocodiles while crossing N15, they might assume they are safe from attack while in a boat, but this larger-than-normal croc will open up his attack by surfacing under the boat to overturn it (rolling an attack vs. AC 10).
Passengers in the boat must roll their Dexterity or less on 1d20. If the crocodile’s attack hit, the target number needed is reduced by –1 per the attack’s success, divided by 2 (e.g., if the attack hits by 4, the check is rolled against Dexterity–2). Failing this check causes the passenger to fall into the water. If the crocodile’s attack hits by +5 or more, the boat is severely damaged. It begins taking on water and sinks in 2–5 rounds. If the attack hits by +10 or more, the boat breaks apart and sinks immediately. All passengers are in the water the next round and at the croc's mercy.
A method of avoiding this hazard is provided in my keyed description: A barrel in the hidden boat storage room contains a few duck carcasses. If these are tossed in the water as the boat passes through, the croc snaps them up and is sated. The boat can continue unmolested.
N24 is unchanged. Labyrinth Lord does not feature a coffer corpse monster, so I simply converted the straight AD&D stats to LL xp. I also boosted its hit points slightly as there is only one coffer corpse present and it shouldn't pose much of a threat.
N25 is unchanged.
- N26 is yet another wasted opportunity to do something interesting or revealing about the naga's intentions. The room is freaking titled "Zombie Factory." (Awesome!) The text then sets it all up:
"Here, Garath Primo, the naga's evil cleric, performs his sinister spells, restoring “life” to the bodies of dead humans."
(Aw yeah... that's the stuff!!)"There are neither corpses nor zombies in the room now."
What the hell, adventure designer?? So the party enters an empty room with five wooden tables and no other clue about the room's purpose? Why include it then? The players will literally never know this is a "zombie factory." It's aggravating, like the designer couldn't be bothered to write something here that helps sets the mood or furthers the ongoing plot. I wrote this instead:Five wooden tables line the S wall. Two are laid out with fresh corpses. Both dead men are strapped down, tubes piercing their flesh as foul chemicals drain from jugs into their dead veins. The corpses are in the process of being animated into zombies. One is lifeless (early in the process); the other is nearly done and already animate. It jerks violently if touched or the process is disturbed (1:6 chance each round that it breaks its straps and attacks).
The details of the animation "process" obviously have nothing to do with the cleric's Animate Dead spell, I just included them as flavor and to indicate an assembly-line approach—hints of a greater plan and organization at work here.
N27 is the second "boss" fight—a confrontation with the naga's primary minion. In the original, the enemy is an evil cultist cleric, already in service to the naga. In my version, the cleric was a lawful evil member of the same lost adventuring party as other NPCs found throughout the kilodungeon site. The cleric, along with the fighter and two assassins from N12, were captured by trogs and brought before the naga, whose charming gaze put them under her control. The naga has set the evil cleric to good use, creating undead servants to fill the ranks of her dark army.
The original text made a big deal about the cleric being armed with "a wicked hammer with a head like that of a snake," even though it is a mundane weapon. I made it a +1 Hammer at least, though I have to ask myself why the naga would permit a minion to possess a weapon that could hurt her potentially. Then again, she let one of her enthralled assassins keep his +1 Short Sword/+2 vs. Scaly Creatures, so perhaps she is over-confident in her charm abilities.
Other than the cleric's backstory, the main change I made here was with the other monster present when the party arrives. In the original, a wight hides in the shadows, but its presence didn't make a whole lot of sense and the text doesn't elaborate on its relationship to the cleric (same with the coffer corpse or the ghouls from the Wandering Encounters table). The cleric couldn't have created the wight with Animate Dead. Referencing AD&D rules on evil clerics, he perhaps turned the wight to gain control over it. AD&D wights have 4+3 HD, whereas they only have 3 HD in Labyrinth Lord, but a 5th-level cleric can handle either one pretty easily.
In any case, its inclusion was another weird example of dropping undead monsters into this adventure. I'm okay with zombies, and we can chalk the coffer corpse up to some weird aberration of Animate Dead, but first ghouls and now a wight? These undead are easy to hand-wave in, but they don't really support the loose, "evil serpent cult" theme of the rest of the dungeon.
So, I changed the wight to a pair of spitting cobras charmed by the priest's spell (he has Snake Charm prepared in the original). These snakes are only 1 HD in Labyrinth Lord, so I made them "large" (2 HD) versions. This more closely represents the original's threat level: A 4 HD minion with a life-destroying special ability. The snakes' blinding spit has potential to weaken party members as well.
The only other thing I didn't care for was the way the secret door on the E wall was presented. In the original text, the secret door is "indetectable by normal searching (including elves)." No rationale was given, so I removed it. I like the idea that the PCs can find a back door to potentially surprise the naga. I also added a catch in the secret passage beyond to open the door from the other side.
N28 is another area with some interesting potential that the original text wastes with a boring encounter. Here we have this huge cave "choked with mud" where nine giant centipedes "dwell along the perimeter." This is completely uninspired. I added this:
The mud is very thick here (1/3 normal move). The darker shaded area is a 10-ft. deep pit of “sucking mud." Anyone entering this patch must make a Strength check to continue. Failure means they become stuck (no move, –2 AC) until the following round when they can try again. Each failed check reduces the effective Strength score needed to succeed by 1–3 points as they sink deeper into the mud. If their Strength is reduced to ‘0’, they are pulled under and smothered. Any of the boats in this lair could be poled across the mud. The planks from N9 would also make a suitable foot bridge across.
I also hid the centipedes beneath the mud. When the party begins struggling with the sucking mud, the creatures emerge and attack (Surprise on 1–3), prioritizing stuck characters. Oh, and their movement is unaffected by the mud as they skitter across the surface. Now, it's a more interesting encounter.N29 is unchanged. I think the crude hydraulic system operated by zombies is a neat idea that lends a lot of verisimilitude to the decrepit setting, even though it ultimately does nothing unless the party decides to disturb the zombies' labor. I wish more of this level of creativity had been applied to some other areas of the adventure.
N30 is completely redone. The original text placed a trapped (and empty) chest in this cave that, when opened, causes the ceiling to collapse in a torrent of mud that buries those in the cave. It's not a terrible idea, but it lacks any context or logical reason for engineering such a thing. Why would someone go to the time, expense, and effort to install this deadly trap down here? I took the basic idea but reframed it as a mechanical trap protecting a valuable treasure:
A curving, muddy-floored passage slopes gently down for 150 ft. before terminating at an iron gate. The mud on the floor is very slick. Iron eyebolts are sunk into the N wall every 20 ft. The slope is not obvious at first, but at the 30 ft. mark and at every additional 30 ft. interval along the passage, anyone traversing the tunnel must roll Dexterity or less on 1d20 or slip and begin sliding toward the iron gate at 60 ft. per round.
A dozen rusty spikes protrude from the gate. Anyone colliding with it takes 1–6 damage for each 30 ft. of distance they slid, plus an additional 3–18 damage from the spikes. Old trog bones are piled before the gate, which is locked. The mechanism is rusted (–10% Pick Locks). Beyond the gate, the passage continues into a cave to the W.
Within this dank cave, a stone platform stands a foot above the muddy floor. A small stone chest is carved from the top surface of the platform. The mud is just an inch or so deep in here, but it remains slick (movement reduced by 1/3). The chest lid is trapped. When lifted, pit trap doors concealed beneath the mud swing open. At the same time, the platform tilts and dumps anyone on it into the pit, which is 10 ft. deep and spiked (3–18 damage to anyone falling in).
The following round, ceiling supports above the pit release, dumping a mass of mud into the pit from above. Anyone in the room but not in the pit must save vs. Breath or be struck by a heavy timber for 1–6 damage. Anyone in the pit becomes trapped beneath the mud and will begin to smother immediately (see N7). It takes 3–18 rounds to recover a trapped character from the mud.
Within the chest on the platform is a slightly smaller box of fine-quality stained wood and intricately carved with intertwining patterns. The interior is lined with black satin, displaying six exquisitely-cut jewels: an aquamarine drop (650 gpv), a topaz navette (750 gpv), a ruby heart (5,200 gpv), a fire opal cabochon (1,200 gpv), a star sapphire trilliant (1,800 gpv), and an emerald-cut emerald (1,600 gpv). (Total 11,200 gpv).
Who put this incredible treasure here and why? It's related to the mysterious origins of the subterranean ruins on this site, but the answers will remain a mystery for now. In my head-canon, this space has gone unexplored by the naga or her minions.
N31 is unchanged. I'm not a big fan of keying empty rooms, but I think this dry cave is intended as a place for the party to catch a breather.
N32 is a second empty room, this one wet. I put four troglodyte centipede hunters in here.
N33 is the trog's main lair. A single troglodyte stands at each entrance, and when they spot intruders approaching, they withdraw into the cave to warn the others. All the trogs then use their camouflage ability to blend into the walls and ambush the party. This is great; nice simple order of battle that sounds plausible and utilizes the trog's special ability.
I added a description of the cavern, which is absent in the original text, and I removed the distinction between male and female trogs. It just doesn't matter in this case and saved page space. I kept the rest of the original intact, including the fun bit about throwing a caged mud viper as a grenade.
N34 is unchanged, though I gave the trog eggs some dimensions (~1 ft. long, 5-in. diam.)and I reduced the number from "nearly 1,000" to around 300. There's maybe two dozen trogs total in this lair and the Sea Caves, and only half of them can lay eggs, so a thousand eggs seemed a bit much.
N35 is a weird room, a hatchery for snake eggs. But snake eggs are freaking tiny. The original boxed text just says the cave "contains several thousand poisonous snake eggs" which would fit in a small bucket, so I concentrated them in a specific section of the cave. I also took the note about the wriggling snakelings being dangerous to "[c]areless characters" and just said that anyone tampering with the eggs must save vs. Poison or be bitten and become incapacitated (sickened) for 4–24 hours. Not too keen on this poorly thought out encounter, but it's interesting enough to keep.
N36 is unchanged, except for the bonesnapper's XP value, which I converted to LL standards. I dig this monster from the AD&D Fiend Folio, but like a lot of monsters from that book, it lacks a certain extra oomph to make it a more memorable creature.
I love the idea of a mini-T-Rex stomping around a dungeon, but other than a slight AC advantage, the bonesnapper is not even as powerful as a standard lion. If I were designing it, based on the illustration, I would have given it a regular claw/claw/bite routine, maybe some sort of pouncing leap with its rear claws like a velociraptor, or a bite attack that requires a save to avoid breaking a limb. Something more to distinguish it as an encounter.
Here, it's used as an alarm for the naga, and cautious characters may realize the chain prevents it from attacking them if they hug the W wall. It also means the party can stand off and plink it to death with missile fire. I'm kind of okay with this, though it feels a bit like the monster was wasted (shriekers would have been an identical encounter). I guess the assumption is that party members will charge/engage the creature immediately and perhaps never realize the chain's limit. I kept it as-is.
N37 is the final boss fight. This is where the original adventure really goes off the rails for me. The core idea of the module version of N1 is that a spirit naga has built a cult of human worshipers and is infiltrating them into the town of Orlane to "convert" others. The party must figure out the cult activity, identify the naga's presence in the nearby swamp, and then journey there to destroy her.
Because an AD&D spirit naga has 9–10 HD, a charm gaze, and casts spells as both a 5th-level MU and a 4th-level cleric, it would likely mop the floor with a party of 1st–3rd-level characters. To offset this, the adventure designer inserted a powerful ally into the "story": A "bent and greybearded" 7th-level MU named Ramne and his familiar, "a clever weasel named Whiskers." (Ugh. This is an early indicator of the narrative style that was overtaking TSR adventures of the time.)
Granted, the party meeting and befriending Ramne is not a given, but if a normal group of players runs through the cult activity like responsible adventurers, it is likely they will. The adventure assumes they do, because so much attention is paid to his behavior toward the party. He can tell the players everything they need to know about the cult, and even suggests he join them on their expedition to the naga's lair.The text gives the DM some guidelines for using this powerful NPC as an adjunct to the adventure, helping the party when needed but not taking a leading hand. There's even this gimee:
Although the DM may choose to allow Ramne’s intervention when the characters are about to take an action that will destroy their chances for success, such aid should be limited to perhaps thrice during the entire adventure.
When the party reaches the naga's lair, however, the importance of Ramne to the adventure becomes evident with this "special note":If Ramne is not present, or is killed, the party should find a scroll with a minor globe of invulnerability spell and a dispel magic spell (7th level caster ability) before they reach the final encounter. They will need these spells to have a chance against the naga.
What if the party doesn't have a magic-user? What if the scroll casting fails as a result of the level difference? This is bad, terrible, awful design that derails the entire adventure unless very specific circumstances are met. It's a player setup basically if the DM doesn't intervene.
In the description of the naga's cave, the original text lays out an early "cinematic" in AD&D adventures. It starts with this scripted event:Ramne, realizing that the end of the quest is near, will cast his globe of invulnerability. He will caution his comrades to stay close to him (but will not tell them why). He will tell them about the naga’s charm ability and what he can do to counter it (dispel), and ask the party to tell him when to cast it-as he will be avoiding the naga’s gaze as long as possible.
What if the party asks why they need to stay close? Does he refuse to tell them? Just tell them, already! The advice about the naga's gaze is helpful, and averting their gaze would have a drastic effect on the party's chance of success (though taking a –4 penalty to hit for averting one's gaze against an AC 4, 9 HD creature with a death poison bite is nothing to sneeze at either).-32.jpg)
The scroll of Minor Globe of Invulnerability is meant to mitigate her Fireball in case Ramne isn't with the party, but how would they know to cast it in advance (for that matter, how does Ramne know?) The Dispel Magic scroll is there to relieve charmed characters. But again, without Ramne's advice, the person holding these scrolls could become charmed by her gaze or killed by the fireball. The designer further gimps the naga by having her refuse to command charmed PCs to assist her because she is vainglorious, apparently.
The final affront is in the advice about using Light or Continual Light to negate the naga's charm gaze and reduce her attack number by blinding her. That Ramne can do such a thing, but won't unless push comes to shove, is just too heavy-handed for me in terms of DM noodling. If the designer didn't want to use a naga for this adventure, why did he use a naga? Clearly, Ramne's presence is essential to victory; without him, the party is toast. Though the idea of this villain is great, the finagling the DM has to do to get the conditions just right to prevent a TPK is too much. This whole section is frustrating.
The (Advanced) Labyrinth Lord version of the spirit naga is a bit tamer in terms of spell options, only casting as a 3rd-level MU and a 2nd-level cleric. Otherwise, they are pretty much the same in terms of strength. The system difference obviates her Fireball spell, however, and I removed quite a few other useful spells (like Sleep), figuring she relies less on attack spells and more on information-gathering. She has lower-than-average hp which will help, but still.
This will be a tough fight, but if the party can get past the bonesnapper without alerting her, or if they use the secret door in N27, there's a decent chance they can surprise her and get a few good blows in before she can act. If she's alerted to the party's presence, they're in big trouble.
I got rid of the original's terrible, storyboarded order-of-battle and simply added two notes: She will use her charm gaze to the best of her ability, using charmed PCs to avoid direct engagement; and she will flee if reduced below 50% hp (so, after receiving 20 damage), casting Darkness if possible to cover her tracks. That seems manageable to me for a balanced party of 5–7 mostly 3rd-level characters. She could easily make for an ongoing villain who pops up periodically to mess with the party.
Her treasure hoard is pretty decent. I converted the platinum pieces to gold (I don't use pp as "regular" money in my campaign, though I do use them as rare coins from antiquity). I also replaced the original text's Horn of Bubbles (silly item) and the +1 Ring of Protection (multiple such rings are sprinkled throughout the greater dungeon site) with Wings of Flying and a Ring of Spell-turning, both rolled randomly from the same item type table. They seem like appropriately awesome treasures for the scale of this fight.
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| Pirate fight at the entrance. |
That's it for the conversion of this section of dungeon. So far, my players have delved into the lair a bit. When they entered N2 and engaged the initial guards, I described them as dressed in similar fashion to the pirates they'd already encountered in the manor's cellar, but these were glassy-eyed and dull-seeming. As they attacked, the guards murmured, "Protect the Mistress!"
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| Lenore confronts the naga's minions. |
All in all I think the original adventure is decent, though flawed. Divorced from the Orlane material and tweaked a bit, I think it makes a nice fit with the other adventures that make up the site. The naga also makes for a good supernatural enemy, when all the other main "bosses" are humans.
Hopefully my group makes a return visit at some point.
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