A game for starter DMs and players.
On the premises of ‘The Tower’ you have been tasked to ensure that the grounds are ‘fully explored’.
To that effect you find in a bit of tangled growth an outbuilding which appears not to have been ‘fully explored’.
A basic investigation check reveals the door has not been opened in what would appear to be a while.
DC Str 14 to force it open.
For tricks like greasing or jimmying the door, reduce DC by 1 and allow retries.
DC 12 with a thieves tool would be able to unjam the doors.
On opening the door, the party see a short stonehall way or passage leads into a room that appears stacked with saggy and dusty wooden shelves. The air has a heady mustiness, near sharpness as though something chemical is near at hand.
Trap: Layered in dust not to mention being well fitting and placed, its not easy to see... DC15 Perception: In the hallway, there is ‘spike trap’ when a flag stone is stepped on, spears launch from the walls impaling any who stand there. The spears are somewhat dysfunctional, roll 1d4 -1 spears each dealing 1d6 damage. 2 or more spears cover a 10ft area as such may hit multiple characters.
Inside the room are shelves stacked with dusty bottles & vials. There also are wall long desks and 2 chests.
Both chests are locked. One of the locks is rusted mostly away requiring only a DC 12 Str/Sleight of Hands to break open.
The far chest has not been corroded, and the lock is in better shape. It is difficult to open. Requiring a DC16 Str check to break the lock or a DC 14 check with thieves’ tools.
Investigating the room reveals several stacks & stashes of ingredients commonly associated with poisons.
DC 15 Investiation reveals a dusty key on a shelf, however it does not fit any lock in this room.
There are also a wide variety of poisons in storage.
On opening the door, the party see a square stone room very similar in size and arrangement to the room behind. It also has arrayed shelves stacked with dusty bottles & vials. There also are wall long desks and 2 chests.
Investigating the room reveals several stacks & stashes of ingredients commonly associated with cures and remedies.
There are a wide variety of potions in storage.
The large desk on the right wall appears to be skewed.
DC 11 Investigation to find drag marks on the floor near the table, they look old, but like the tables was regularly dragged.
DC 13 Investigation check to find a ‘secret door’ on the wall panel behind the table.
The nearer chest is locked, and the far chest is a mimic. Be advised a mimic is typically beyond a first level party, so it may be well to give them a clue along any line such as “this chest looks ‘slightly hungrier’” than the others.
The near chest is locked, and also has a lock in a decent condition is difficult to open. Requiring a DC17 Str check to break the lock or a DC 16 check with thieves’ tools.
However the dusty key from the previous room opens it without a problem.
Inside the ‘well locked’ chest:
The cellar door concealed as stained wood panelled wall. It is not locked but requires a DC14 investigation check to find it.
The door slides across and reveals a flight of stairs descending downwards.
The air is cooler here and has a ‘woody’ scent.
As the stairs descend it becomes considerably ‘damper’.
At the bottom of the stair is a long room lined with barrels on either side. The room is dark. On the far end are stacked ‘unrolled barrels’ and a tool for bending metal around the barrels, as well as holding them in place is also present.
As you walk in the room there is a faint hissing sound, like air escaping from one or some of the barrels.
The barrels on the left all hold wine. The ones on the right, somewhat more ominously are filled with a dark viscous liquid that DC13 Insight/ DC11 Nature turns out to be blood.
All barrels are slightly damp, and not very difficult to open. They require a DC12 Strength check.
A barrel contains a steam and smoke mephit, and this is the one most obviously hissing. More quietly hissing is one containing just a steam mephit. If either barrel is openend the other mephit/s begin frantically trying to also make good their escape. Mephits require a DC11 Str to escape the barrels (they have -3 strength), recall that if two work together they can make 1 check at advantage.
The barrels on the left all hold wine. The ones on the right, somewhat more ominously are filled with a dark viscous liquid that DC13 Insight/ DC11 Nature turns out to be blood.
DC14 Nature check to determine the tell-tale ‘irony smell’ which indicates it is likely ‘humanoid’ blood.
This room is dominated by a large dusty, but clearly fine polished wood table, a pair of chairs are stacked in a corner. It almost resembles a dining room, however the walls are lined with several boards containing a various assortment of sharp objects and small weapons.
There is also a manacle and shackle attacked to a winch which appears firmly mounted to the wall.
Assorted Weapons: These are all +1 and there is at least one silvered weapon of each.
Light hammer Dagger Sickle Dart
Other:
Net – the net is made of a silken rope which appears to be woven with strands of metal. It has the following stats:
A Large or smaller creature hit by a net is Restrained until it is freed. A net has no effect on creatures that are formless, or creatures that are Huge or larger. A creature can use its action to make a DC 13 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success. Dealing 10 slashing damage to the net (AC 14) also frees the creature without harming it, ending the effect and destroying the net.
Whip: The whip is also a +1 and there is one with a silvered tip.
DC 13 Investigation: In the corner of the room, below the level of the table sits a curved shelf on which stands a metallic oddly shaped bowl.
DC 15 Investigation: Consider autopass if the bowl is moved: The bowl is leant flush up against a hole in the wall, in fact the bowl is ‘lipped’ to hook slightly into the hole.
DC 13 Insight: The bowl resembles a kind of ‘flattened pitcher’
DC 15 Insight: There is some residue on bowl and hole. It looks like this bowl can allow for pouring or ‘flow’ into the hole.
##Dungeon Stocking
Contents: Random Monster (dominant) with treasure
General Features:
Poisons in the room:
Serpent venom (4 @ 200gp): Ingest : DC11 Con Save or 3d6 poison damage. Half on a success.
Torpor (8 @ 600gp) :Injury: DC15 Con Save or become poisoned for 4d6 hours.
Oil of Taggit (13 @ 400gp):Contact :DC13 Con Save or poisoned for 24 hours. Poisoned creature is unconscious.
Usage of the poisons. Given that these may be potentially powerful or even deadly poisons for lower level characters, allow for a ‘preservation check’ each time a poison is opened/used, roll make a DC12 check to determine if the poison was preserved, otherwise it may be considered rancid, which may reduce the efficacy and have other unknown effects as determined by the DM.
The Cabinet: the contents of the cabinet are covered with dust and a fine yellow mold.
Potions in the room:
Potion of...
Healing: Common: 2d4+2 hp – d20 (advantage): 17
Greater Healing: Uncommon: 4d4+4 hp – d12 (advantage): 9
Superior Healing: Rare: 8d4+8 hp – d10 (disadvantage): 5
Supreme Healing: Very rare: 10d4+20 hp d4-1 (disadvantage): 1
Usage of the potions. Given that these may be potentially powerful or even deadly poisons for lower level characters, allow for a ‘preservation check’ each time a poison is opened/used, roll make a DC12 check to determine if the poison was preserved, otherwise it may be considered rancid, which may reduce the efficacy and have other unknown effects as determined by the DM.
Keep the environment dynamic, add additional threat (carefully)
| D8 | Description | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shelf, cask, or door creaks | A sudden sharp creaking, maybe expansion or contraction, maybe something else? |
| 2 | Falling object | When a character picks up any item. DC13 Sleight of hands or bump and unsteady/poorly secured item which rolls/drops to the floor. DC15Dex/acrobatics to save the item from breaking/impaling etc. |
| 3 | Gust of wind | A gust of wind shakes the outer door, and blows through the rooms, there is a distant ‘whistling sound’ accompanied. (From the cellar) |
| 4 | Greenslime overhead | DMG pg. 105 |
| 5 | Greasy patch underfoot | Oops! DC14Dex save or fall prone & take 1d4 bludgeoning damage |
| 6 | Stirge nest (cellar or dining room) | 1d4 stirges buzz out from a crack smelling fresh blood. |
| 7 | Volatile barrel/bottle | Its gonna blow (if disturbed in any way) Improvised damage: 2d4-1 |
| 8 | Noxoius Odour | It must have been here a while DC12 Con save or poisoned for 1 min and take some improvised poison damage. 1d4+1 |
Putting it together.
What is this place??
It appears this outbuilding was at the surface level a means to collect, store, study and produce both poisons and potions. Given that it also had some storage, and that the store room is apparently the deepest cut room, it was presumably intended as storage for various vials. However for reasons little understood it instead has been used to store wine.
However it then appears that things take a darker turn. The ‘dining room’ which is a most recent addition, features a bored hole linking it to the Cellar. It appears this bore was used as a funnel. For blood. Given that the room featured a dining room table, crockery, cutlery and a various means of sharp silver objects, this room was likely used as a macabre style dining cum torture chamber. The shackles and manacle on the wall are firmly attached to the wall via a chain, which is also affixed to a winch. It would appear that this is used to some extent to ‘restrain’ or even ‘reel in’ an individual, while also removing the use of their hands.
What actually happened:
In a nutshell. Vampire things. This place the tower and surrounds was long ago under the sway of a vampire. It appears that this outhouse became used as a means to draw and stockpile blood. Due to the remains of ‘a dining room’ one pictures a vampire, vampire spawn or other vampire agent dining with some unlucky and influential sod, who after presumably being intoxicated during the meal, is tied down, cut, potentially somewhat feasted (in a controlled manner given the shackles & winch) but ultimately poured into a newly rolled barrel below.
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