1. a scroll of detect magic
2. Hollowed out book contains a silver key (opens door at area 1 on this level)
3. Hollowed‐out book that contains a red glowing Firestone worth 5,000 GPS (see “Glorious Gems” in the appendix)
4. a scroll of the Percy’s Flaming Purgative spell (see “New Spells” in the appendix).
5. This scroll is covered with magical explosive runes that will explode upon being examined (4d6 damage)
6. a blank book (can be found multiple times)
7. a book covered in yellow mold (1d6 damage if touched, Special: Poisonous spores, Challenge Level/XP: 3/60)
8. A Tome of Chaotic Worship (see “Magic Items” in the appendix)
9. A cursed scroll (The victim will vanish and a drawing of them will appear upon the scroll; if remove curse is cast upon the scroll, the scroll will vanish and they will disappear. Tearing the scroll will inflict 2‐
12 d6 damage on the victim; burning or destroying the scroll will destroy the victim but anyone ‘inside’
the scroll will not grow hungry, thirsty, etc. or age for as long as they are in there).
10. A remove curse scroll 11. Manual of Intelligence 12. Manual of Wisdom
13. A large old book contains a folded up ‘Bag of Holding.’ The bag currently contains a 50 foot rope, 2 bottles of red wine, 18 torches and a pair of boots (medium size, human male feet).
14. A diary of a dwarf named Numren from over 500 years ago (worth 1,000 – 6,000 g.p. to a scholar).
Much of the diary will be gossip about the court, but anyone reading the diary will find mention of a
‘curse’ that has something do with cannibalism, several references to a magic elevator 'powered by the hot blood of the earth' and a 'black stone' found in a cave down by the river causing a great deal of trouble for the miners.
15. A cursed scroll (3 points of intelligence are permanently drained away ‐‐‐ if this lowers the victim below 3, they may become incapable of independent action)
16. A protection from demons scroll
17. A cursed scroll that will cause a fireball to explode, centered upon the reader! (6d6 damage; burst radius of 20 feet)
18. A scroll of two heal spells
19. A map to a treasure (DM’s option ‐‐‐ it is suggested you place it outside the dungeons within a days travel)
20. An old scroll covered in contact poison that will inflict 2‐12 damage unless a saving throw is made.
6) Scholar’s Room: Rows of desks in the room and shelves line the walls. A few rotted books and scrolls remain. Two rounds after characters enter the room, two wights (AC 5/15, MV 9”, HD 4+3, 1 atk 1‐4 + energy drain, hit only by silver or magic weapons) will enter and attack. One of the desks contains a rotted pouch of 15 GPS, a pen made of onyx and chalcedony with a tip made of silver (worth 50 GPS) and a few bottles of dried out ink.
7) Dining Hall and Kitchen: This room contains long tables and benches where the librarians and scholars used to dine. Some rotted wooden cabinets are full of the remains of long decomposed foodstuffs, a few
rusted iron pots, some plates, bowls, etc. A row of marble hand‐washing basins are mounted on the wall with an inscription that says (in Dwarf) “Wash your hands before returning to the scriptorium.”
If carefully searched, a wine cup engraved with fern‐like plants made of nickel silver (worth 20 GPS) will be found among the ordinary crockery (see ‘Metals’ for details of nickel silver).
8) Scholars’ Bedroom: Two dozen dwarf‐sized beds are here, all long since rotted away. A few well gnawed dwarf bones scattered about. Four shadows lurk in the corners and under the furniture and will attempt to attack by surprise. A small trunk under one bed contains some old garments, a +1 dagger, +2 vs. kobolds, goblins, and orcs and a bag of 150 GPS.
9) Scholar’s Bedroom: This room is identical to room 8, but there is no scroll tube, and the ceiling has collapsed. An ochre jelly oozes around in the wreckage and will attack anyone entering the room.
Ochre Jelly, HD: 6, HP: 37, AC: 8 [11], ATK: Acid‐laden strike (3d4), ST: 11, SP: Lightning divides creature, MV: 3, AL: N, CL/XP: 6/400
10) Book Storage: Water has leaked in here long ago, ruining almost all of the books and scrolls. Most of the shelves have rotted away as well. There are piles of rotted wood, leather and paper that look promising, but the heaps are all infested with bookworms that will seek to invade a spell‐caster’s unprotected books or scrolls (1 in 6 chance if someone carrying books or scrolls spends longer than 1 turn in the room). There are a total of 6 bookworms in the room.
The books and scrolls (with one exception listed below) are all ruined. The few legible pages that remain indicate that most of these were account books.
6 bookworms: HD 1 hit point, AC 9[10], ATK: NA, ST 16, SP Devours books and scrolls, MV 1, AL N, XP/CL: B/10
See ‘Malevolent Monsters’ in the appendix for details of the bookworm.
Treasure: A sealed copper tube contains a clerical scroll of cure blindness, cure disease, and cure serious wounds. In a pile of rotted books, the players will find a magic eight ball (see ‘Miscellaneous Magic’ in the appendix).
11) Ruined Scriptorium: Crumbled desks and rubble are all that remain.
12) Lurking Undead: Two wights lurk here and will investigate any sound or light in area 10. The area is empty except for some old rags crusted with dried blood and a few bits of bone and stone.
Wight, HD: 3, HP: 12, 10, AC: 5 [14], ATK: Claw (1d4 + level drain), ST: 14, SP: Level drain (1 level) with hit, can only be hit by magical or silver weapons, MV: 9, AL: C, CL/XP: 5/240
13) Ruined Scriptorium: This room is the same as room 11 (broken and rotted desks and furniture), but there is a silver war hammer lying in the wreckage, still gripped by a skeletal dwarf dressed in rusted armor. The hammer is worth 30 GPS but is so tarnished that it might be mistaken for iron unless inspected carefully.
14) This room is very crumbly. Twelve dwarven skeletons lie on the floor. When players enter the room, the skeletons (AC 6, HD 1, hp 3 each, 1 atk 1‐8 [axe], piercing weapons do 1/6th damage, slashing do ½, blunt do full) attack. The noise attracts two wights (see room 12) in three rounds. The skeletons have only rusty weapons and armor, although one of them wears a gorget made of nickel silver and onyx worth 30 GPS ((see ‘Metals’ for details of nickel silver).
15) Room is filled with inky black magical darkness. Players will have to feel their way out. A single shadow (AC 7, MV 12”, HD 3+3, 1 atk 2‐5 + 1 point strength drain, +1 weapon to hit) lurks in here.
16) Hall: This long hall is over 340’ long in total. Spiral staircase goes up to ruined tower and fortress of hobgoblins. There is also a locked secret door that goes further down into the mines (detect only 1 in 12). If found and opened, this spiral staircase descends thousands of feet to the caves of level 9, location X.
17) Statue of Hrimal, Dwarven God of Knowledge: This is a statue of a wizened dwarf wearing a hooded robe and holding a hammer in one hand and a book in the other. There was a small pool of water in the center, long since dried out. The undead will not normally come here but they will follow any living creature who retreats into this room. The statue radiates magic and law; any undead or evil creature attacking in this room gets a ‐1 on attacks and savings throws. Any lawful creature in this room gains a +1 on attacks and saving throws providing they are not attacking another lawful creature.
Treasure: If players search around in the dirt and pebbles in the bottom of the former pool, they are 2 in 6 likely per searcher to find a silver ‘Ring of the Explorer’ in there (see ‘Magic Items’ in the Appendix).
LEVEL 2a.a. Hobgoblin Tower
The various rooms here are occupied by a band of hobgoblins and their pet carnivorous apes. This tower is built into the side of a hill and is a bit overgrown; it would be difficult to spot it at a distance. There is a 1 in 6 chance (3 in 6 chance if the alarm is raised) per turn of 2‐7 hobgoblins (AC 5, HD 1+1, 1 atk 1‐8 or by weapon).
Introduction:
Special Effects:
Entrances and Exits:
Updating the Level:
1) Entrance: On every map, locations labeled 1 will be the entrances to that map. They are normally labeled a, b, c., etc.
1a) Spiral stairs down to tunnel to level 1a and secret stairs all the way down to 9.
1b) stairs up to level 2 of Hobgoblin tower.
1c) gate to the outside; see 14 and 13 for details. The secret door is well concealed and behind a waterfall.
1d) Stairs up from cellar to level 1 of hobgoblin tower.
1e) Stairs down from level 2 of tower to level 1.
1f stairs up to level 3 1g) stairs down to 2
1h) ladder up to battlements 1i) trapdoor down to level 3.
2) Empty: Areas labeled 2 on the map will always be an empty rooms. The DM can spice them up however he or she likes, adding wandering monsters, a roll from the “Random Happenings and Items”
table, etc.. In addition, the DM can use these spots to place his/her own encounters or locations.
3) The hobgoblins keep their pets locked‐up in here: two carnivorous apes (AC 6, MV 12”, HD 5, 3 atk 1‐
4/1‐4/1‐8 + rending [1‐8] if both hands hit).
4) Eight unarmored hobgoblins (AC 10, HD 1+1, 1 atk 1‐4) with daggers are eating at long tables. Unless slain in 4 rounds they will raise the alarm.
5) Long table with some maps, charts, etc. and some candles. At the DM’s option, some of the maps could provide information about other areas of Khunmar. The hobgoblins might have a map showing the location of Castle Ortrar, for example (Level 1F‐A1) or a map showing a rough outline of the goblin tunnels.
6) Chief (AC 2, HD 4, hp 23, 1 atk 1d10+2 [two‐handed sword], +2 AC due to dexterity, wears 3 necklaces worth 600‐1,000 g.p. each) and four bodyguards (AC 5, HD 2, hp 12 each, 1 atk 2‐9, 3‐18 p.p. each).
Aside from usual furnishings is a keg of ale and an open chest with 560 s.p., 870 e.p., 560 g.p., and two healing potions. On the wall is a taxidermy human head nailed to a shield. The human head is wearing what looks like a shiny helmet that radiates magic with an impressive looking crest shaped like a roaring lion on top; anyone placing it on their head will discover that they have actually placed a cursed brown helmet on their head (see ‘Magic Items’ in the appendix).
7) Barracks: 24 bedrolls are here, and twelve caches of 2‐7 g.p. are hidden around the room. Six hobgoblins (AC 10, HD 1+1, hp 4 each) are asleep.
8) Cellar Room: Enough food (including dried and salted human meat!) for several weeks. A pool of fresh water, too.
9) Eight hobgoblin sergeants (AC 5, HD 2+1, hp 8 each, 1 atk 2‐9) play cards around a table with 167 GPS as stakes. They have eight battered steins made of Nickel silver worth 5 GPS each (see ‘Metals’ for details of Nickel silver). The steins are engraved with the coat of arms of Khunmar (crossed hammers superimposed over an anvil).
10) Partially collapsed room with 3 kobolds chained to the walls. They will beg for freedom and make all sorts of promises but will just run away.
11) Six guards (AC 5, HD 1+1, 1 atk 1‐8, crossbows and swords) are here. Each has 2‐8 g.p. A crank on the wall raises the portcullis at area 13. Two levers: one drops the portcullis, the other opens and shuts the pit. A peephole is in the door, and the hobgoblins will fire through the portcullis.
12) Hobgoblin Warlock (AC 10, HD 4, HP 13, 1 atk 1‐4 [dagger]) 1st‐level magic‐user spells: hold portal, shocking grasp, push 2nd‐level magic‐user spells: mirror image, invisibility
1st‐level cleric spells: cause fear, cause light wounds, command 2nd‐level cleric spells: chant, spiritual hammer
The room is furnished with bones, drums, potion and spell ingredients, etc. A broken chest contains a pair of leather gloves, 365 GPS, two healing potions, and twelve +1 barbed magic arrows (see “Magic Items” for the details of barbed magic arrows).
13) The pit is 20’ deep and half filled with water. The passage ends in a secret door (only 1 in 12 chance to find) that exits on a narrow ledge 2’ wide under a waterfall 35+’ up from the canyon floor. The tower is built into the rocky hillside, and it is 90% overgrown with ivy so it is nearly (90%) invisible from a distance.
14) Pool: 30’ deep. The water cascades over, and the pool is home to three giant frogs: Two 2 HD giant frogs (AC 7, HD 2, 1 atk 1‐6, leap 18” to attack, surprise 1‐4, swallow whole on a 20) and one 3 HD giant frog (AC 7, HD 3, 1 atk 1‐8).
2a.a.14) Partially collapsed chamber: Eight hobgoblins (AC 5, HD 1+1, swords and crossbows) are looking out the windows. In the room are two locked chests that contain 500 SPS each.
2a.a.15) Stairs go down, and a ladder goes up. Two more hobgoblins are here playing dice with 15 s.p. as stakes.
2a.a.16) Battlement: Empty.
LEVEL 2B: The Old Temple and The Watergate
This level has an old temple featuring a dwarf god of black smiting(2). Some areas are overrun with giant spiders(12, 13) and a water trap(9) is also here.
A feast hall contains animated dwarf skeletons that raise long empty tankards and croak out dwarf drinking tunes (6).
A particularly deadly trap is on this level. A room with walls of polished black stone functions as a
“mirror of opposition.”
A winding tunnel exits to the surface (14), but terminates in a cliff face high above the ground so it does not provide easy access.
Introduction:
Special Effects:
Entrances and Exits:
Updating the Level:
The Original DM’s Notes: Level 2b) I always wanted the players to visit the dwarven feast hall which was originally on this level. Here the spirits of dwarves sat ‘drinking’ from long empty ale cups and singing dwarven songs like a bunch of sentimental bastards. I don’t think anyone ever made it in there. If the players sat down at the table, they would eventually become perpetually drunk celebrating undead phantoms themselves.
In the redesign, the dwarf feast hall got moved so I could add 'The Watergate.' The watergate area was inspired by Tolkien's "The Hobbit." I absolutely loved the way Bilbo helped Thorin & Co. escape from the elf king's dungeons by hiding them in barrels which were tossed into the river to drift downstream to Laketown. In adapting this concept, I decided that Khunmar and Hamlet were joined by an underground stream. The humans of Hamlet sold the dwarves anything that the dwarves couldn't produce in the mine (flour, wool, ale, wine, etc.). They would pack these things in watertight barrels and throw the barrels into an underground stream, which would float the barrels down to the watergate where the dwarves would pick them up. After Hamlet fell, the watergate was forgotten, but any group of players that finds it could use it to enter and leave the complex via level 2b.
Roll 1d6 every 3 turns for wandering monsters:
1) 2‐12 tiny spiders (AC 4, hp 1 each, saving throw vs. poison or 2‐8 damage, SA: jump 10’) 2) large spider
3) huge spider 4) giant spider
5) 2‐12 lost goblins (50%)/2‐7 lizard men (50%) 6) 3‐18 giant rats
7‐20) no encounter
1) Entrance: On every map, locations labeled 1 will be the entrances to that map. They are normally labeled a, b, c., etc.
1a) river to Hamlet
1b )Slope down from secret door in back of fireplace in room 7 to level 3b 1c) stairs down to 4b
1d) exit from cave 14 2b.15) Tunnel to surface winds 500’ and slopes upward. It exits in a crevice in the mountainside over 75’ above the ground, ending in a sheer drop.
1e) rough passage down to 2b.s.
1f) to 2f
1g) Secret tunnel from water trap room (10) to Hellavator on level 2 (location 20 on level 2) 1h) up to 1bs
1i) up to 1b
1j) passage off to level 2 1k) river off to Level 2
1l) passage along the river with steps leading up to 1b.
1m) a large hole in the ceiling above the river; water falls down from level 1b; this hole could also give access to 1b.s but it would be a hard climb due to the falling water.
1n) spiral stairs up to 1b.s.
2) Empty: Areas labeled 2 on the map will always be an empty rooms. The DM can spice them up however he or she likes, adding wandering monsters, a roll from the “Random Happenings and Items”
table, etc.. In addition, the DM can use these spots to place his/her own encounters or locations.
3) Abandoned Temple: A large rusty iron statue (10’ tall) of a dwarf in front of an anvil, with hammer held high and a sword blade held on the anvil with a pair of tongs, stands at the front of the room. If touched, the statue of the dwarf smites the anvil with a loud ringing sound eight times. The hammer will strike anything placed upon the anvil as a 10 hd creature inflicting 6‐36 hit points with every blow. Any cursed item (sword, etc.) placed on the anvil will be destroyed; this is an excellent way of ridding yourself of cursed items (unless you are WEARING the cursed item!).
4) Robing Room: This musty old room has pegs in the wall that support dozens of pieces of dusty cloth.
If investigated, these will be discovered to be dwarf‐sized robes and cloaks decorated with woven patterns of hammers, anvils, runes, etc. Each robe investigated has a 1 in 6 chance of having 1‐8 tiny spiders (harmless) in it. The clothes are all rotten and mildewed and will fall apart if worn or handled.
One robe appears to be made from shiny chainmail.
Treasure: One old cape (hanging behind a dirty robe) has a gold brooch worth 500 GPS pinned to it. The dwarf sized chainmail shirt is actually a ceremonial item made of Nickel silver worth 100 GPS (see
‘Metals’ for details of Nickel silver). If worn as armor, it will not protect as well as regular chainmail because the alloy it has been made from is a decorative metal (AC 6 [14]).
5) Guardroom: This stone room once served as the defense point for ‘the Watergate’ where supplies were floated in to the mines from the nearby human village of Hamlet via an underground stream. The remains of a shattered gate and three crossbow slits are in the south wall, from there a short ramp leads down to the beach at 6. There is a rusted and broken portcullis winch near the door (it used to lift the gate at 6 but no longer works) and, from the remnants, the door to 6 appears to have been quite strong.
There are a few bits of broken iron and wood and bone on the floor. A spiral stair in the north wall (1n) leads to the level above (1b.s).
6) Watergate: The river/stream that flows from Hamlet (1a) used to be the means by which many supplies were transported into Khunmar. The humans of Hamlet would pack preserved meat, dried fruit, ale, flour and other things into water tight barrels and toss them into an underground stream that flowed beneath the warehouses in Hamlet. The water would bring the barrels to this point, where a large portcullis that allowed the water to flow through would catch the barrels. The dwarves would pull the barrels from the river and send payment to Hamlet.
Unfortunately, when Hamlet was attacked, the orcs and goblins discovered the underground stream and sent hundreds of troops to attack the Watergate. The beach at 6 is littered with the bones of hundreds of orcs and goblins (and a few dwarves) as well as a few scraps of armor and weapons; this area has
been pretty thoroughly picked over, though, so nothing other than a few tarnished coins are likely to be found. There is another room with arrow slits above room 5 on this level; that is a part of level 1b.s.
When the orcs and goblins attacked, the dwarf archers fired their crossbows and bows and poured flaming oil. Despite staggering losses, the orcs and goblins eventually battered down the gates and made it into level 2b.
The portcullis that blocks the river is very heavy and made of bronze; it is just west of the beach where the bones of the dead orcs and goblins lie. The gate no longer can be raised (it’s mechanism is broken) but the bars have been broken in several places above and below the water line. The river that flows on to 3b flows into here and is blocked by a very corroded bronze portcullis that allowed the water to flow through but was designed to catch larger objects (specifically, water tight barrels of beer, food and other supplies that were dropped into the stream in the basement of the now ruined building in the village of Hamlet ‐‐‐ this was one of the methods that human merchants used to deliver goods to the
The portcullis that blocks the river is very heavy and made of bronze; it is just west of the beach where the bones of the dead orcs and goblins lie. The gate no longer can be raised (it’s mechanism is broken) but the bars have been broken in several places above and below the water line. The river that flows on to 3b flows into here and is blocked by a very corroded bronze portcullis that allowed the water to flow through but was designed to catch larger objects (specifically, water tight barrels of beer, food and other supplies that were dropped into the stream in the basement of the now ruined building in the village of Hamlet ‐‐‐ this was one of the methods that human merchants used to deliver goods to the