The Gibbering Tower: Part 2

Last post, we worked on revamping the Gibbering Tower, a free-to-download adventure for Goblinoid Games available here. This post, we’ll look at the Gibbering Tower’s dungeon level.

8: DESCENDING STAIRS: The stairs descend 50ft. into a cold, damp chamber. No light from upstairs reaches beyond this room.

9. REFUSE: A pile of human skeletons lies here. Their flesh has turned to compost. The room smells of rot. (These are remains of the necromancer’s victims. All their valuables are in the iron box in #3).

·         Pile: Exploring the pile rouses 1d4 Giant Worms.

10. CELLS: Three 10ft. wide and 20ft. long cells. Rusted iron bars with hinged gates provide entrance to each.

·         Gates: All three gates currently hang open, but lock if shut. (Though the lock is simple the key to them no longer exists).

11. TORTURE CHAMBER: An irregularly shaped stone cavern. A bloodstained wooden table with leather straps lies in the middle. A cabinet with several torture implements sits on the northwest wall. A pair of manacles hangs from the ceiling at the northernmost point. An iron maiden leans against the east wall.

·         Cabinet: Several implements for “bleeding” victims lie here, as well as the necromancer’s recipe book. (The necromancer once tortured prisoners in this room to extract and process their pain into poison). Several vials of spoiled poison with broken seals are here, but one dose remains worth 115+1d10sp. The poison, called Extract of Pain, is an inhaled poison (thrown as a ranged attack, explodes in a 10ft. cube) that deals 8d4 damage on a failed save and half as much on a success as the target(s) suffer the pain of the victim from which it was extracted.

·         Manacles: hang from the ceiling to suspend a victim in strappado. Bits of dried flesh cling to the iron and the remains of a human hand lie below them, as if someone ripped off their hand to escape.

·         Iron Maiden: Under the right circumstances, people that die in torturous pain rise again as ghouls. One such soul lies in the iron maiden here. Noise in this room causes him to attempt a frenzied escape. Because it has thrashed in the iron maiden for so long, it has half its maximum hit points. (The sound of combat here rouses the ghoul in #12).

12. PROCESSING ROOM: A 20ft. diameter stone cavern containing several iron vats and cauldrons. (The necromancer once used this room to process the blood harvested from #11 and turn it into poison).

·         Cauldrons: A ghoul lies curled in one. Once a victim of the necromancer, the ghoul tore itself free from strappado in #11 and has wandered the caverns since. Because it ripped its own arm off while escaping, it has one less attack than most ghouls.

13. UNSTABLE ROOM: A 10ft. tunnel weaves irregularly through the rock. Timbering holds up its ceiling, obviously rotten and decayed in places. Bits of pebbles and dust fall from the ceiling. (PCs that progress to the end of this hall must save to halve 2d4 damage from a collapse. Character that fail their save are buried).

14. UNFINISHED ROOM: Hammers, chisels, and discarded picks lie on the floor amidst loose gravel. The rough walls were in the process of being chipped away. (The zombies once carved this room before the necromancer died but have since lost their purpose).

15. DEAD ADVENTURERS: Three corpses lie in an irregularly shaped room 20ft. in diameter. One belonged to an elven woman, the other to a human man. The third appears bulbous. (After entering the window in #6, they searched the rooms upstairs – avoiding #7 – and came down here, where the zombies cornered and killed them).

·         The elven woman wears brittle leather armor, while the human man has the remains of mage’s robes. The elven woman has a shortbow and 17 arrows, while the man has a quarterstaff and spellbook with 1d4 first-level arcane spells. Each has a backpack; one with a set of thieves’ tools and rope, the other with three torches and a tinderbox. They have 8d6cp total in pocket change, two potions raided from #5 (a potion of healing and a potion of longevity), and two telescopes each worth 1000sp each from #6.

·         Third Corpse: belonged to a tumor zombie from #16. It has no items of value and smells horrid. It has two arrows sticking from it, one from its brow.

16. CRYSTAL ROOM: An irregular cavern roughly 25ft. across. The air is cold. Strange, violet-black crystals grow in patches on the floor and walls. They glow eerily. Two rotten corpses stand amongst them, covered with strange growths. An arrow protrudes from the chest of one.

·         Crystals: Like how lava emerges from a volcano, these crystals form where the barrier between the material plane and the plane of negative energy grows thin. In 2d6 years, these crystals will grow large enough to create a portal to the plane of negative energy. Each broken shard of crystal is worth d10xd00sp in value. Undead creatures in the light of the crystals regain 1hp per round. Living creatures near the crystals must save each round or become fatigued, suffering a -2 penalty to all rolls until they rest for 10 minutes. If a fatigued creature fails a subsequent save, they fall asleep (as if unconscious) and cannot be reawakened until removed from the crystals’ influence. A creature rendered unconscious this way loses one hit point per round while under the influence of the crystals as they absorb its life energy. A foot of stone, 1in. of metal, or a thin sheet of lead blocks this effect.

·         Corpses: Two tumor zombies lurk here, the last remaining servants of the necromancer. Like moths drawn to a flame, they spend their time basking in the glow of the crystals. The radiant negative energy has caused them to grow massive, bulbous tumors on their knees, elbows, and neck. Should they perceive living flesh, hunger overcomes all their other desires.

17. STOREROOM: A 20ft. square room filled with crates and barrels. The air smells of rot and mold. (Filled with rotten food. Opening them releases a cloud of spores that deal 1d4 damage for 1d4 rounds with a failed save).

18. WINE CELLAR: A 10ft. square room with a wine rack along the south wall. The room smells of vinegar. Out of hundreds of bottles, many have broken and spilled, leaving a deep red stain and broken glass on the floor. Many bottles seem exotic, imported, and expensive.

·         Wine Rack: One common bottle of wine, seemingly much less expensive than the rest, opens a secret door to #19. When pulled, the bottle unlocks a 4ft. square panel of the wine rack that swings inwards.

·         Exotic Wines: 3d6 good bottles worth 2d4x10sp each.

19. SECRET ROOM: A small closet with two scrolls of create undead, two scrolls of hold person, a +1 dagger of venom, and two blocks of incense worth d10xd00cp each.

20. SHRINE TO NERGAL: A 20ft. square room with an altar in its center. Made of natural stone, the altar is carved to look as if it rests on the heads of four squatting locusts. A red silk cloth (10sp) and several offerings rest upon it. The room smells faintly of incense.

·         Altar: Those who take an offering from the altar without first giving an item of equal or greater value will be cursed by Nergal, hearing a voice slither into their head and say, “You will repay me with your service in death.” When a character so cursed dies, they rise as a wight. A character that provides an offering without taking an item will receive a favor from Nergal for their faithfulness, such as having their wounds healed by a supernatural maggots or their dead friend reanimated to serve them as a zombie.

·         Offerings: A silver offering bowl (2d4x100sp), pewter decanter and goblet (1d4x10sp each), and ceremonial headdress (3d6x100sp).

APPENDIX

GIBBERING MOUTHER

AC: 19	Move: 15/60ft.	HD: 4+3
Morale: 11	Attacks: 1 bite(s) 1d6 + special

An ameboid mass of eyes and mouths. The location of its brain in its gelatinous mid-portion is responsible for its high Armor Class. The mouther’s saliva turns soft ground within 10ft to mush and hard ground within 10ft. slick.

The mouther can spit a blob to a point it can see within 15ft. The spittle explodes into a blinding flash of light on impact. Each creature within sight that fails a saving throw is blinded until the end of the mouther’s next turn.

When the mouther attacks, roll 1d6 for damage. The result determines how many mouths attach to its target. Each mouth deals 1 point of damage when it attaches, as well as 1 point of damage per round it remains attached due to chewing. If a character has three or more mouths attached to them on the gibbering mouther’s turn, they must make a Strength saving throw or fall prone. The gibbering mouther can “flow over” a prone victim as an action and deal 2d6, rather than 1d6, damage.

A mouther can gibber to cause confusion to all characters in a 60ft. radius. A character in this radius must save each round while the mouther gibbers. When a character fails their save, roll 1d8 to determine what action they take.

1: Wander for 1 round

2-5: Stand stunned for 1 round

6-7: Attack the nearest living creature

8: Run away for 2 rounds

ANIMATED OWLBEAR

AC: 16	Move: 30/120ft.	HD: 3
Morale: 11	Attacks: 2 (claws) 1d6/1d6

This taxidermized owlbear attacks anyone besides the necromancer who enters the library. It may be fooled by someone wearing the necromancer’s robes. When outside the library (#4), it must make a morale check each round or return to the library. It ends any pursuit if its prey breaks line of sight. Because of its dry stuffing, the owlbear is vulnerable to fire.

GHOUL

AC: 14	Move: 35/140ft.	HD: 2 (turn as 3)
Morale: 9	Attacks: 3 (1d3/1d3/1d3) + special

When struck by a ghoul, its victim must save or be paralyzed for 2d4 turns. Cure light wounds ends this effect, and Elves are immune. A victim slain by a ghoul becomes a ghoul after 24 hours unless their body is blessed.

GIANT BEE

AC: 13	Move: 50/200ft.	HD: 1d4hp
Morale: 9	Attacks: 1 (sting) 1d3 dmg. + poison

About 6-8” long. They generally ignore creatures unless either themselves or their nest is threatened. When a bee stings a victim, their stinger breaks off and the bee dies the next round. The victim must save vs. poison or suffer incapacitating swelling of the affected body part for 2d4 days. The queen is larger and has 2 HD but no stinger.

GIANT WORM

AC: 17	Move: 20/80ft.	HD: 6
Morale: 10	Attacks: 1 (bite) 1d6 + special

When it hits with an attack, a giant worm attaches to a creature and deals 1d6 points of damage by draining its blood. As an action on its turn, an attached worm can automatically deal 1d6 points of damage to a victim it’s attached to. Its victim may attempt a saving throw as an action on their turn to remove the worm.

TUMOR ZOMBIES

AC: 12	Move: 20/80ft.	HD: 2
Morale: 12	Attacks: 1 (slam/bite) 1d8

Besides acting last in initiative order, the tumors these zombies have grown enable them to only attack or move each combat round – not both.

REGENERATE FLESH (1^st level spell): A creature touched recovers 1hp immediately and another hit point each round for the next 2d6 rounds. A creature that has more than their maximum hit points restored this way suffers the growth of a tumor in the healed location. The tumor is three inches in size for each excess hit point.

RANDOM ENCOUNTERS

Roll 1d6 every two turns (20 minutes) the PCs remain in the tower, as well as every time they do something noisy.

1: Encounter	2: The Gibbering Mouther in #7 gibbers	3: The wind blows in the trees outside
4: Thumping from the ghoul in #11	5: Humming in the fireplace grows louder	6: Eerie silence.

 Roll 1d6 to determine encounter.

1: Gibbering Mouther (from #7)	2: The ghoul (from #12)	3. 1d6 Giant Bees (from fireplace)
4. 3d4 skeletons emerge from a closet or the basement, remnants of the necromancer’s servants.	5. 2d4 tumor zombies emerge from a closet or basement, remnants of the necromancer’s servants.	6: A rival group of adventurers arrives (1d3 fighters, 1d2 thieves, 1d2 clerics, & 1d2-1 magic users).