With this level, we move into the lower third of the Hurricane Dungeon, a series of natural caves and tunnels I titled "The Curséd Caverns." (Yes, it's not a very original name, but that's sort of the point with this throwback adventure.) This was actually the map I drew on our fourth night without power, but I moved some of the maps out of creation order to put similar-looking maps together. I enjoy drawing natural cave networks and I was happy with how all three cavernous maps turned out.
This one is interesting because three tunnels lead off the map , enabling it to link it up with additional levels. It has plenty of loopy-doopiness which is essential for a good cave level, although the southern-most portion of the map is bottlenecked by a single passage.
A major negative issue with this level is the fact that it only has ~20 distinct "rooms," which is slightly less than half the average number of the other levels. I could have increased this number by treating some of the larger caverns as multiple spaces, but I didn't want to get into issues of dungeon logic. Having too many creatures and things crammed into directly adjacent spaces starts to strain believability (despite the fact that the format has pretty low thresholds already).
I seriously considered this option up until the time of writing, but once I started keying the level, I felt it ended up with the right density of encounters. I didn't design these maps with any purpose or even end-use in mind. Were I to create maps specifically for a megadungeon (rather than the reverse happening here), I would make sure that each level had a proper number of rooms (minimum of 30) and enough accessways between the levels.
Speaking of which, I had three staircases and three chutes from the upper levels to connect to this level. I also rolled one result of "Stairs Down 1 Level" in the stocking rolls, and I already had the three existing accessways leading off the map. In addition, one of the stairs from Level 6 continues down to Level 8. I built the various stairs from pieces of the other maps, and added a few extra details from the key like ledges, a bricked-up wall, a set of double doors, a pile of guano, and a pool of magic water. I also created a new tunnel to connect areas 14 and 19, just so that end of the dungeon didn't feel so isolated and linear. When completed, the map came out like this:
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My content stocking rolls (for a 20-room dungeon level) came up with the following results:
–Empty: 9 (45% / 35%)
–Monster: 4 (20% / 20%)
–Monster + Treasure: 4 (20% / 25%)
–Stairs: 1 (5% / 5%)
–Trick/Trap: 2 (10% / 5%)
–Treasure: 0 (0% / 5%)
The
first % number is the percentage of the actual content rolls; the
second % number is the typical expected percentage spread (per OSRIC
guidelines). I was disappointed in the high number of empty spaces and low amounts of treasure on this level, but kept the results as rolled.
For the "Monster Only" results, I rolled once from the Fiend Folio table III (ochre jelly), once from the Monster Manual 2 table II (originally morlocks, which I changed to troglodytes to connect this level to the other trogs on the upper levels), and twice from MM2 table IV (yellow mold and gargoyles). There were no monster-only rolls from the DMG tables.
For "Monsters + Treasure," I rolled once on DMG table IV (more gargoyles), once from FF table IV (disenchanters), once from FF table V (tentamort), and once from MM2 table VIII (vampire). When I wrote out the key for Level 1, I had already rolled up the monsters that would appear on all 9 levels, so when designing the teleport chamber, I was able to include a clue about the vampire's presence in the writeup (an image of a giant bat with a human head).
Like the rust monster, the disenchanter has an attack that targets a character's equipment and does no physical damage. Instead, it immediately drains the item it hits of all magical power (no save). In a clever twist, magical weapons are required to hit the creature, ensuring that such items will be brought within range of its snout.
Unlike a rust monster, however, striking the creature with a magic weapon does not drain a weapon of its power; only the creature's direct attack does. This is where the monster's description begins to fall short. The text states that:
Sure, but some mechanical guidance would be handy. What score does a disenchanter need to hit a character's shield or armor, or even their weapon, which are all presumably being interposed between them? Surely the creature doesn't need to "beat" the target's armor class, as its not trying to penetrate the armor to get at the fleshy bits beneath. It *wants* to hit the defensive item, so the item's material and thickness doesn't really enter into the picture. Dexterity modifiers would definitely count, but would a magic bonus which simply increases the armor's toughness? Does a shield still act as an AC modifier when it is being offered as a juicy target right in the path of the creature's attack? Some firm details from the designer sure would be nice, even if only as examples. As it stands, it's 100% on the DM to make a fiat decision to determine the outcome of the creature's only attack. Lazy design work: "The dragon breathes fire... you get to decide what happens next."
I will probably end up rolling the creature's attack vs. AC 10 + Dexterity mods + the character's highest save modifier (from items like a Ring of Protection) and then, depending on how well it succeeded, determine the best possible item from the creature's perspective. If I hit on-the-number or by just 1 or 2, the creature hits the character's shield or weapon being used defensively. If it's a better hit (say, by 3 to 5), I may decide on armor or a magical cloak. For really good hits, I would allow an attack on items like a crown or helmet, or perhaps boots. For an extraordinary hit (by 10+ or a nat-20), I may let it hit an item like a magic ring or piece of jewelry. The other factor is that the creature can sense the relative strength of items and will choose the stronger source, so if its attack success allows it to choose between a +1 Ring of Protection and a +3 Shield, it will go for the shield.
This is basically a "screw-you" monster, designed to separate characters from their items. I don't mind it, though, because losing items is a part of the original style of play. I think its only in later iterations of the game that a character's magic items became intertwined with their personas to a high degree, creating unnecessary friction between players and DMs. The lesson here is that the 1e rules contain lots of ways to barf your items up, so don't get too attached.
The creature's chief downside is that, again like the rust monster, it has no real way to affect characters other than to drain their items, and it has no other motivation than to do just that. Again: "Screw you...erase that +3 sword off your sheet." One idea I might also consider for more powerful items is that each successful strike drains one magic '+', or maybe a percentage of a wand's charges, etc. An item with multiple powers might only lose one of those powers or one use of a power permanently, rather than the whole thing being destroyed. Again, it would be better had the designer done some of this designing for me.
Both tentacles and the body require separate attacks, and the body can lose one or both tentacles without dying. Killing the 4 HD body, however, also kills the tentacles. I like this monster a lot. It feels like an alien creature from the cthonic depths. One of the few solid monsters in the Fiend Folio, but I don't believe I've ever seen one in "the wild" (i.e., an official adventure). After writing that sentence, I looked it up. The only reference I could find to one in a TSR publication was the 2e Ruins of Undermountain boxed set, which I never purchased or read (blech). That's a shame, because its a neat and effective monster.
Treasure was pretty sparse, as I only had four "Monster + Treasure" results and zero "Treasure Only" results on the stocking rolls. On the plus side, all the coin results were electrum, gold, and platinum, with x8 the amounts since its Level 8. I did manage to roll two "Gem/Jewelry" results and one "Magic Item" result, and since I'm using OSRIC guidelines and this is level 8, that means 16 gems or jewelry pieces and 8 magic items. The magic items rolled out to be: a set of +1 Elfin Chain*, a +1 Longsword, a Scroll of Protection from Elementals, a +1 Axe**, a Potion of Sweet Water, a Cloak of Displacement***, and, after a result of "Roll 1 on Table I and 1 on Table II", a Feather Token**** and a Necklace of Adaptation. Additionally, one of the jewelry items rolled out to be an exceptional orb worth 9,000 gp!
*The descriptions of "Elfin Chain" are markedly different between AD&D and OSRIC. In AD&D, the advantages of elf-made chain mail are that it is light (half the weight of normal chain), non-bulky (meaning it can be worn under clothing and allows stealthy movement like leather), and permits full movement (also like leather). AD&D also makes it unambiguously clear that "(t)here is no magical elfin chain mail" (DMG p.28). OSRIC duplicates the weight and movement advantages of the DMG, but also allows wearers of elfin chain to cast arcane spells, and it can be found in magical versions (at least, there are no prohibitions against it in the magic armor tables).
**Some general observations about axe weapons: Both AD&D and OSRIC have separate procedures to determine the type of magical sword found as treasure, but in AD&D the axe type (hand, throwing, battle) is differentiated within the tables. Oddly, there are three grades of magic hand axe (+1, +2, +3), but only one grade of throwing axe (+2) and one grade of battleaxe (+1). There isn't a mechanical distinction between a "hand axe" and a "throwing axe" in the Players Handbook, where the line item in the equipment list is "Axe, hand or throwing." They both weigh the same and do the same damage in the melee weapons table, and for the fire rate and range factors in the hurled weapons table, there is only a listing for "Axe, hand" (up to 30' range), with no entry for "Axe, throwing."
A pair of footnotes in the DMG under the miscellaneous Magic Weapons section indicates that hand axes can be thrown up to 30' "with the hit probability bonus, but no damage bonus," whereas a throwing axe "is a hand axe which can be thrown up to 6" at the same hit probability as if it were swung by the character, and the standard damage bonus." The hand axe limitation tracks with the Dexterity bonus for missile attacks, but since the throwing axe is mechanically the same as a regular hand axe in melee *and* you get to use the Strength mod (instead of Dexterity) to hit and damage as a missile attack – and then assuming the note on the magic version applies to all throwing axes – why would anyone ever choose to take a hand axe over a throwing axe as their standard weapon? The only advantage would be a greater chance to find a magical version of a hand axe down the road, maybe (which isn't nothing). I just find it odd. Seems like a throwing axe should only do 1d4 damage as a counter-balance, since it would need to be smaller and lighter to travel farther.
OSRIC's equipment list only has "Axe, hand," meaning that's the one you swing and hurl. The Miscellaneous Magic Weapons table only features an "Axe" with no "Battleaxe" entry. There is also a special "Axe of Hurling" item with the same notes as the DMG footnotes about range and attack/damage bonuses. These range and damage restrictions on hurling a hand axe are not reflected in the equipment or combat sections of the rules, and seem to contradict the footnote in the Missile Weapon Table stating that only hurled weapons (axes, et al) gain the Strength damage bonus when used as a missile weapon. That is, unless the Axe of Hurling's notes are meant to apply only to the weapons' magical bonus, which then brings into question what bonuses the DMG footnotes are referencing. I may be missing a clarifying rule somewhere, but this is a little confusing to me.
***The OSRIC version of this cloak is different from the AD&D version. In OSRIC, the cloak has two versions: Minor and Major. The minor version provides a continuous penalty of –2 to hit the wearer and gives a +1 bonus to saving throws vs. Magic (specifically). The major version doubles the penalty/save bonus (-4/+2), but it is only usable up to 15 rounds per day. The AD&D version, on the other hand, causes the first attack against the wearer to miss automatically, and thereafter increases the wearer's AC by 2 and gives +2 bonus to saves vs. "attack forms directed at the wearer (such as spells, gaze weapon attacks, spitting and breath attacks, etc.)" I prefer the AD&D version, but in this case, I rolled a Minor Cloak of Displacement on the OSRIC table. At my table, I would use the AD&D version instead.
****I always wanted a bigger list of these items (though, Dragon Magazine #54 expanded the list somewhat). The creative opportunities for little, one-use magical items are nearly endless and I'm surprised more weren't included from the get-go. Over the years, I've created many of my own (keys, locks, various weapons, chests, etc.) For this one, I tried rolling, but kept coming up with the same ones I'd rolled on previous levels, so I substituted one of my own: A token of a feather that allows bearer to trigger a Feather Fall spell (like a ring, but once only).
I divvied up the treasure results into the four hoards and placed them with the appropriate monsters. I did switch the 9,000 gpv orb from one hoard into the vampire's treasure, and since his hoard ended up containing the Cloak of Displacement, I have him wearing the item which adds to his threat level.
The only other thing I needed to do was roll up the two "Trick/Trap" results, both of which came up as tricks. The first one rolled out to be a "Room, Symbiotic" while the other was "Pool, Enlarges." I have no idea what a symbiotic room is supposed to be as relates to the party members, but I ended up turning it into a cave full of magical, sentient moss that serves as a food source for the disenchanters and for the mind flayer on Level 7. The enlarging pool was fairly self-explanatory, but I added a twist that only the character, not their equipment, is subject to the enlargement, which lasts until a Remove Curse is applied. Characters wearing armor burst out of the strapping and suffer damage from the transformation, and their normal items are now "miniaturized" in comparison.
Level 7 contains ~216 HD of monsters (not counting wandering monsters), for an approximate total of 14,400 xp. Monetary treasure comes out to 22,277 xp (not counting individual loots). Magic item xp is 8,200 for items kept in AD&D, or 5,055 for items kept in OSRIC. Selling the items nets 47,700 xp in AD&D, or 50,550 xp in OSRIC.
Total xp for this level should run around 44,877 (84,377) using AD&D rules, or 41,732 (87227) using OSRIC.
>>Hurricane Dungeon – Level 7 Key
>>Hurricane Dungeon – Level 7 Map
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