The Gibbering Tower: Part 1

An ominous tower lies in a valley among dark woods. Moans and unintelligible voices from the tower occasionally rattle the valley and reach a small frightened farming village. Rumors say that long ago a demon-worshiping sorcerer once lived in the tower, but no one dares investigate. Can a brave party of adventurers explore the tower and bring an end to its demonic utterings?

Back when I first got into Labyrinth Lord, I remember downloading the Gibbering Tower as Goblinoid Games’ recommended “starter” adventure. According to this post, it was included as an insert in bags at GenCon in 2011. You can find it free for download here.

The thing that drew me to it was its one-page format. Given my love of one-page dungeons, I considered it a prime candidate for my table. However, as I read it, I realized it would need a lot of work to work at my table.

That’s not to complain, mind you. It’s a free adventure – who can complain about that? However, I came up with improvements that I think make for a fun adventure. So I wanted to post my revisions here, in case someone else could get use out of them. Here's the nature of (and reasons for) the changes.

·        I added more treasure. Discounting the value of magic items, it didn’t seem like there was enough treasure in the tower to provide a first-level party the XP to ascend to second level. Considering that exploring the tower’s quite dangerous, I would expect there to be more rewards for the death-defying party that braves its corridors.

·        I was also surprised to see that the Gibbering Tower, an old-school adventure, didn’t have a random encounter or wandering monster table. I added one.

·        The Gibbering Tower also left several questions unanswered. I answered them.

• Who was the sorcerer who lived here, and what happened to them?
• Why does the library’s guardian attack the PCs?
• How much are the stargazing instruments worth? (Because you know someone will ask).
• Why are all those human remains in the cellar?
• Where did those ghouls come from, and why is one in an iron maiden?
• What are the cauldrons for?
• Why are there two dead adventurers in the cellar?

·       I also made some changes to make the stuff in the tower make more sense to me, such as removing the glass sphere and pit trap in front of the pantry (because who digs a pit trap in front of their pantry)?

So, here is the first level of the revised Gibbering Tower.

INTRODUCTION

Once upon a time, a necromancer found magic crystals in an underground cave. Eager to harness their power and achieve immortality, he commanded his reanimated servants to build a tower above them.

In the tower, he conducted perverse experiments to achieve everlasting life. His efforts culminated in one final ritual on the tower’s highest level. The experiment went horribly wrong. His bid for immortality destroyed the tower’s roof and rendered him a gibbering blob of flesh. Ever since, his tower has garnered suspicion from the townsfolk…

NOTES FOR THE REFEREE

Each level of the tower is 10ft. tall, making it 40ft. tall at its highest point. All doors are iron-bound wood. All monster statistics should be compatible with Basic Fantasy RPG. To use with Labyrinth Lord, change ascending AC to descending. This adventure uses the “silver standard” for treasure value. For use with BFRPG or LL, change copper to silver and silver to gold.

The stairs and floors in rooms #1-3 and #5-7 have trails of thick, dried saliva on them (from the gibbering mouther in #7). Every piece of furniture has chew-marks on its lower half, as if from the passing interest of an uncommitted beaver.

1D6 RUMORS ABOUT THE TOWER
1. A conjurer of demons and devils once lived there (false)	2. You can hear whispering ghosts in the tower’s glade (false)
3. Two adventurers once went inside and never returned (true)	4. Huge bees the size of a man’s forearm enter and leave the tower (true)
5. A necromancer once lived there. He captured people and reanimated them as zombies, forcing them to build the tower (true)	6. A local huntsman was there when a purplish-black explosion erupted from the tower’s top, shaking the ground like thunder (true)

A stone tower stands ominously in the clearing of a dark wood. It rises four stories, with arrow slits on the second and a large, broken window on the third. A grappling hook and short, rotted length of rope hangs limply from a third-story window. Half of the tower’s fourth level is crumbled and broken, open to the sky. An iron-bound wood door leads in from the ground.

·         Arrow Slits: 2ft. tall and 6in. wide.

·         Window: Leads to #6.

·         Fourth Level: Leads to #7.

·         Door: locked with an iron bolt from the inside.

1. RECEPTION AREA: A circular room 40ft. in diameter. Rotting chairs surround a long wooden table. A fireplace sits in the southwest wall, a terrarium of silvery fungus atop its mantle. Two spiral staircases exit this room. The north one leads up; the south one leads down.

·         Fireplace: Emits a low humming sound. The chimney contains a hive of 5d6 giant bees. If harvested, the honey from their hive is worth 1d10x100sp.

·         Fungus: Lampbright (Argenti Luminos) fungus, which burns as lantern oil. It is worth as much as lantern oil and, if cultivated, produces one “flask” every 2d6 days.

2. SITTING ROOM: A hemispherical room occupied by a set of dusty old furniture. Two arrow slits let in light. Two doors pass through the wall that bisects this floor; the southwest one is ajar, while the southeast one is shut. The stairs continue both up and down.

3. NECROMANCER’S BEDROOM: A simple bedroom. An arrow slit on one wall lets in light. The sheets on the bed are decayed and disheveled. A wardrobe stands along the wall, and a fireplace against the other.

·         Bed: The legs of the bed have been chewed. A locked iron box decorated with skull and bone motifs hides under a loose stone beneath the bed. The box itself is worth 20sp and contains 1d6x100cp and 1d4x100sp in metal teeth, wedding rings, and heirloom necklaces from the necromancer’s victims.

·         Wardrobe: Its doors hang open to reveal 1d4 moth-eaten robes. (They once belonged to the necromancer. While they were once fine, they are now only worth 2d6cp each).

·         Fireplace: The hive of giant bees lies between this level and room #6.

4. LIBRARY: The door to this room is shut. Opening it reveals a disused library. Crumbling and decayed books lie on shelves. In the corner stands a stuffed owlbear in an intimidating pose.

·      Door: the side of this door facing #4 is scratched and beaten, where previous adventurers shut the door to escape the animated owlbear.

·   Books: Most books here are damaged beyond legibility and value, but searching the shelves reveals 1d4 books on anatomy worth 60+d00sp each. Especially thorough searching reveals a scroll of ward against undead, though the damage it has suffered gives the scroll a chance to cast attract the violence of nearby undead if the caster fails a saving throw.

·   Owlbear: This taxidermized owlbear animates and attacks if anyone enters this room besides the necromancer. Wearing the robes of the necromancer may dupe it.

5. LABORATORY: A hemispherical room with several wooden tables. Shattered glass vials and broken alchemical equipment lie atop them. A tattered journal lies on the floor among shards of glass. Much of the room’s contents are tipped over and missing, as if it’s been ransacked.

·         Glass Vials: The adventurers in #15 took most of the valuable contents here, but four intact canisters remain of small animal bones, dried eyes, dried locusts, and animal fat. Though these contents have little value on their own, an alchemist could use the animal bones and fat to make a potion of animal control or dried eyes and locusts to make a potion that gives the imbiber compound eyes for 1d6+6 turns.

·         Journal: Although decayed from time and saliva, a reader can vaguely discern that the author was obsessed with magic crystals and believed they had the power to extend one’s life eternally. The final pages indicate they were ready to test this theory.

6. CHART ROOM: A hemispherical room with a window along one wall and a fireplace beside it. A breeze flutters the illegible astrological charts scattered about. Broken stargazing instruments lie on the floor, tipped over and strewn about. The ceiling, inlaid with brass patterns, resembles the night sky.

·         Window: 3ft. by 2ft. with broken wooden shutters, a rusted grappling hook, and short rope hanging from it.

·         Fireplace: The main hive of giant bees lies between this level and room #3.

·         Instruments: most have been irreparably damaged by falling over (during the explosion) and chewing (by the gibbering mouther). Some were taken by the adventurers in #15; however, an astrolabe hidden under a table in the corner is worth 1000sp.

·         Ceiling: Those who stare at the ceiling for three rounds must save vs. fear or flee for 2d6 rounds.

7. CONJURING ROOM: The stairs emerge into a 40ft. diameter circular room. Half the roof is blasted away, revealing open sky. A hole in the floor lies where the fireplace once was. Rubble covers the floor, coated with slime and residue. In the center, remnants of blackened runes are etched on the stone. (The gibbering mouther spends most of its time here, slithering among the rubble. It attacks living creatures out of a desire to chew soft flesh but may react differently if they remind it of its former life.)

·         Fireplace: Giant bees enter and exit here.

·     Rubble: remains of the necromancer’s furniture lie intermixed with the bits of rock. Searching the rubble reveals the burned and weather-worn remains of the necromancer’s spellbook. Though most pages are destroyed, a character that studies it could learn the spell regenerate flesh (see next post).

·     Runes: knowledgeable PCs might recognize the runes as those related to necromantic rituals for increased lifespan.