With this map, the eighth of nine, we come to the finale of the Hurricane Dungeon. Out of all the levels, I fiddled with the content on this one the most as I wanted to both wrap up the threads that developed while writing, and come to some sort of conclusion at the bottom. This doesn't preclude expanding the levels and restocking the plundered areas, and there's a whole 'nother, even-higher level adventure to be designed for the Ivory Tower in the palace ruins, but the party can also call it a day if they conquer this level.
The original penultimate map is a more well-defined "location." I mean to say, it has a presence and implied function just by looking at it. It screams "evil temple" and seemed perfect for a conclusion-type area.
I like underground rivers, but even more than that, I love underground lakes. Gary really captured my imagination for natural underground spaces with the D-series of modules (and Tsojcanth, to a lesser extent). "The Sunless Sea" is just such an evocative name, and if the drow hadn't been co-opted by Forgotten Realms' "Underdreck" and turned into lame edgelords, I could have easily seen myself adapting Gary's source material into a full-on underground campaign. I also relished accounts of the Black Reservoir level in Castle Greyhawk, so this level map is kind of my homage to all that.
A big lake in a cavern projects fear, creates a sense of vulnerability, implies unseen threats and alien danger... and, more importantly, suggests hidden treasure. Who knows what might be trapped in this cave beneath the black water? That scene in The Two Towers (the film) in which Gandalf fights the Balrog as they plummet down a chasm, then emerge into a vast space with their fires glimmering across the black water as they fall... I think it's my favorite scene in the entire trilogy.My first thought was to make this a drow temple-outpost, but as I said, I kind of hate the modern drow and wasn't sure I had a decent spin on the classic version, so in the course of writing the upper levels, I decided to make the inhabitants of the lowest level a mere cult of demon-worshipers. I made the decision earlier in the writing process, though I don't remember at which point (maybe as I was figuring out who the NPCs were for the Level 5 stocking roll), but the idea developed into a lot more than that by the time I got to writing the key for Level 9. Certainly, the decision gave me a generic creative goal to work toward that I (hopefully) make pay off at the end.
This level had a few more rooms than the previous two cave levels, and I added a few more just to provide extra living space for the cultists. I also added the new access from Level 8, plus some doors and other details like ledges and columns, and cleaned up a few incongruities and flaws in the map that were bugging me. After adding the title, scale, and shading, along with level key numbers, the map turned out like this:
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I made my content stocking rolls for the original 26-room dungeon level and came up with the following initial results:
–Empty: 9 (34.5% / 35%)
–Monster: 8 (31% / 20%)
–Monster + Treasure: 6 (23% / 25%)
–Stairs: 0 (0% / 5%)
–Trick/Trap: 0 (0% / 5%)
–Treasure: 3 (11.5% / 5%)
The
first % number is the percentage of the actual content rolls; the
second % number is the typical expected percentage spread (per OSRIC
guidelines). After adding 5 more keyed areas to the map, bringing the total to 31, I counted them all as "Empties," knowing I would have to fudge the final number in order to house the extra cultist encounters I intended to add to the temple. So, out of the now-31 rooms, the numbers looked like this:
–Empty: 14 (45% / 35%)
–Monster: 8 (26% / 20%)
–Monster + Treasure: 6 (19% / 25%)
–Stairs: 0 (0% / 5%)
–Trick/Trap: 0 (0% / 5%)
–Treasure: 3 (10% / 5%)
As I filled out the key, added new enemies (and removed some), these percentages changed again, but I'll get into that further below.
For the "Monster Only" results, I rolled five times on the DMG tables: Twice on table VI (manticores, green slime), once on table VIII (lurker above), and twice on table IX (xorn, umber hulks). I also rolled twice on Fiend Folio table VI (wraiths, wyvern), and once on Monster Manual 2 table X (demon prince).
The DMG results are all exemplary cave-level monsters, so I felt pretty good about those. Wraiths will pose little challenge to a party of 8th- to 10th-level characters (but you never know), and I don't think of wyverns as deep-underground creatures, but the huge cavern helps in that regard. The demon prince result seemed weird for a stocking table, but fit perfectly into the demon-temple motif I was envisaging. More on this later.
For the "Monster+Treasure" rooms, I rolled three times in the DMG: Once each on table I (piercers), table V (giant spiders), and table IX (hydra, 17–20 heads), and three times in the FF: twice on table VII (mummies, guardian daemon) and once on table IX (demon, type III). There were no rolls in the MM2 for this level. Again, mummies, piercers, and giant spiders are likely to barely register as a speed bump for parties of this level, but I'm going with the rolls. Not crazy about *another* hydra, but again... the rolls. The demon/daemon results fit well, though.
Before I began placing the various monsters into their areas, I fleshed out the cultists I wanted to add to this level. I first established the presence of the cult in the dungeon on Level 5, with a group of NPCs who rolled out to be three classed and leveled individuals: A cleric, a fighter, and an assassin, along with four "henchmen" in the form of fighters. These morphed into a "cultist priest," his two "zealot" attendants, and a cadre of "thug" enforcers. They had been exiled from the cult (perhaps temporarily), but were seeking revenge and could, perhaps, form an alliance with the party to do away with their rivals. I didn't know anything else about the cult at this point.
A second reference on Level 5 involved an encounter with an iron anomaly and a pair of imprisoned lamassu. If the party could figure out how to communicate with the lamassu, the creatures would tell them about an evil presence on Level 9 that "controls" the dungeon. By defeating it, a great evil would be undone and the lamassu would be free. I knew I had a demon prince on Level 9 from the initial set of stocking rolls, though I did not yet know what I was going to do with it. I may have overstated things a bit in this level key, which I had to retcon slightly once I got to writing Level 9.
There were two other cultist encounters sprinkled throughout the dungeon: Another pair of zealots, these devoted to a different cultist priest, in the midst of a "negotiation" with a fire giant on Level 6 and, on Level 8, via another NPC encounter. That encounter rolled out to a high-level magic-user, two fighters, and a thief (plus some lower-level fighter henches). I fleshed out the magic-user as an "ally" of the cult but, importantly, not a member (allowing the opportunity for betrayal and a new alliance with the party). The other three classed NPCs became zealots devoted to yet a third priest, this one the cult leader.
I added the rest of the cultists against the backdrop of these earlier encounters, as well as a reference under the Monster Manual 2 stocking table X that states:
"Powerful, unique creatures such as demon princes, daemon masters, and dukes of the hells will always be accompanied by a court of servants and vassals." (p.134)
The section goes on to describe various monsters that comprise this court, but adding a bunch of powerful human cultists seemed in the same spirit. I decided that the three named priests I'd identified in the text thus far would be the cult leaders, while the zealots already mentioned would be the bulk of the remaining zealot forces. I detailed the other two priests and fleshed out three additional zealots. Any cultist forces (save the exiles) not already encountered in the dungeon, would be present in the temple as well when the party arrives on Level 9.
This means there is the potential for the temple areas to be occupied by two high-level clerics (priests), 8 classed individuals (assassins, fighters, and thieves) of mid- to high-level, a cadre of up to 23 thugs (4th-level fighters), and several dozen 0-level "thralls." I divided the cultists up into multiple rooms marked as "empty," so these forces will likely be encountered in three or more smaller groups, but it is possible to encounter all of them at once if the party blunders into the place without precaution, guns-a-blazin'.
To make matters worse, the "demon prince" is present in the temple, according to the stocking rolls. I do find it odd that the random tables would include such singular creatures. They are powerful entities that should not be content to populate some mortal dungeon like common monsters. I don't really get it. Fittingly, OSRIC doesn't really have demon "princes" like Demogorgon and Orcus, and I'm not too keen on using those particular demons in this dungeon anyway, so I just created my own "greater demon," made it female as a vague call-back to the Empress, and used Lolth in the FF as a comparative template.
While digging into demon design, I noticed something unusual. Certain demons in the Monster Manual are described as having the ability to "detect invisible objects." Only Juiblex has the ability to just "detect invisible." Many devils can also "detect invisible," but none "detect invisible objects." The demons in the Monster Manual 2 also only "detect invisible." Are these intended to be different applications? My suspicion is that the reference to invisible "objects" was just outdated terminology in Gary's manuscript that got by the editor. Surely the intent is the simpler "detect invisible." After all, an invisible creature is also, technically, an invisible object. (Or is it? 5e certainly makes a distinction between the two).
OSRIC seems to have taken the verbatim MM description as a rule, and indicated that its demons can "detect invisibility (objects only, otherwise as per the 2nd level magic user spell)." So when I read that spell in OSRIC, it allows the caster to see "that which is invisible or hidden, and also to perceive the astral and ethereal planes." It makes no differentiation between objects and creatures, which makes the phrasing in the demons' descriptions fairly specific.
The spell's analogue in the AD&D Players Handbook, on the other hand, uses the word "object" to describe the invisible things the caster can see, but then says the spell also reveals "astral, ethereal, hidden, invisible, or out of phase creatures." This would appear to differentiate objects and creatures, which begs the question (in both cases): Why would you want to differentiate for this spell, and how would that even work? You see the invisible chest but not the invisible imp sitting on it?
Maybe what the original rules meant, with the way they word things, is that the demons' "detect invisible objects" ability allows it to see both objects and creatures that are only invisible, but they cannot detect objects or creatures that are ethereal, astral, hidden, or out of phase (as the spell allows). That makes logical sense, but why would demons (including the demon princes) be saddled with this limitation when devils (and subsequent demons) are not? I still think its just old copy that wasn't fixed in editing, and I'll continue to run Monster Manual demons as being able to "see invisible" like everyone else.
I placed as many of the other monsters in the temple as seemed sensical: The mummies and wraiths, the demons/daemons, and even the wyverns (as entrance guardians). The rest I placed in the caves section: The manticores, green slime, piercers, xorn, giant spiders, and umber hulks. The hydra, of course, went into the subterranean lake. (I also added a school of giant garfish in a bit of "Gygaxian naturalism," to give the large monsters here something big to eat, and to fill out a vacant slot on the wandering encounter chart.)
 |
| To be clear, this is a drow. |
This time, I rolled on FF table V and came up with — ta-da! — drow elves. I placed these in the temple as tenuous allies, and reduced their total numbers from the encounter guidelines, but they slotted in nicely with the giant spiders and demon-worshiping connection, and they added to the threat level while not necessarily being a foe the party has to fight. As much as I loathe the current take on the drow, I went with it.
Back in high school, I always called them "droh" (rhymes with crow), while my DM insisted on drow (rhymes with cow). Since I hate modern drow and how everyone pronounces them these days, I opted to call them "dark elves" in this adventure (which sounds cooler anyway).
An issue came up with the hydra, as well. I was using the DMG table for this result, and it specifically calls for a hydra with "17–20 heads," and I rolled 17 heads. I generally use OSRIC for the stats and xp values for those monsters shared between the systems. On only a few occasions have I deferred to the Monster Manual's numbers or descriptions over OSRIC. So, in OSRIC, hydrae only go to 16 heads. To make things simpler, I dropped one of the heads to 16, but gave it a small AC bump for its "scabrous skin" to make up for the loss.
I rolled out the treasures for this level and came up with a lot of copper pieces (around 250k), but quite a few gems and jewelry rolls as well, though most of the gems were low value. There were decent amounts of silver, electrum, and gold, and a few of the gem and jewelry results helped boost the total money take.
I also landed on 3 "Magic" results on the stocking rolls, which means 27 items. The results came up with a lot of armor and weapons, some of which were pretty decent, including a +4 Flail, a Flaming Sword, an Arrow of Fighter-slaying, and a Giantbane Morning Star (which I gave to the demon guarding the temple's "back door" as a strong counter-measure in case the fire giant on Level 6 decides to get uppity). I doled out the other armor and weapons to various cultist members and the dark elves. A couple other items of note were a Helm of Telepathy (very handy for an evil cult member) and Pipes of Haunting. The rest were potions and scrolls, most of which I also doled out to the cultists. Overall, the magic item results on this level are kind of meh. Anti-climactic, even...
I repeated my strategy from Level 4 and gave the hydra a separate hoard per its treasure type. It was all valuables worth about 5k gp total. I put it at the bottom of the lake, though, so finding and recovering it will be a challenge. But it's there. An additional treasure not accounted for in the stocking rolls was the evil magic-user's spellbook. Using the Unearthed Arcana guidelines to roll it out, I ended up with a lot of higher-level spells for a total value of 101,000 gp. It's unlikely to be sold given its spell contents, but if the party doesn't have a magic-user: Cha-ching!
There were no "Stairs" results, though the original map features both a river tunnel and a dry tunnel exiting the right side. Both of these exits lead much deeper into the underworld, and the dry tunnel is the dark elves' route back to their subterranean city. There were no "Trick/Trap" results either, though the water areas provide a drowning hazard, and the rapids at the reservoir's exit are a deadly obstacle to overcome. I also made the main temple doors difficult to open, possibly tying up a character or two with handling the task for the opening round. Many of the creatures found within the temple generate their own darkness effects, so that's something else the party must contend with as well.
By the time I placed everything, added all the cultists and friends in the "empty" temple spaces, and adjusted a few final pieces to make them fit better, the updated stocking percentages for Level 9 (31 rooms) came out like this:
–Empty: 10 (32% / 35%)
–Monster: 10 (32% / 20%)
–Monster + Treasure: 7 (23% / 25%)
–Stairs: 0 (0% / 5%)
–Trick/Trap: 0 (0% / 5%)
–Treasure: 4 (13% / 5%)
These numbers aren't entirely accurate either, because the inhabitants of the temple can be found in different areas, depending on what's happening at the moment the party arrives. Each priest, for example, has treasure in their private chambers, but the NPC may or may not be there when the party finds it which changes its category. In these cases, I considered the rooms to be "Treasure" only.
Level 9 contains ~483 HD of monsters (not counting wandering monsters *or* cultists on previous levels who may be present here), for an approximate total of 75,618 xp. Monetary treasure comes out to 54,423 xp (not counting individual loots). Magic item xp is 70,660 for items kept in AD&D, or 23,143 for items kept in OSRIC. Selling the items nets 242,730 xp in AD&D, or 231,430 xp in OSRIC (almost half of which is the value of the spellbook).
Total xp for this level should run around 200,701 (372,771) using AD&D rules, or 153,184 (361,471) using OSRIC.
That's it! I'm certain I'll do a post-mortem post discussing the entire dungeon and the dungeon-stocking process, but probably not until the holidays are over. For now, I'm done!!
>>Hurricane Dungeon – Level 9 Key
>>Hurricane Dungeon – Level 9 Map
<<Dungeon Level 8<<
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