The Ruins of Grimspire — Dungeon Level 2

A skeleton stands in the middle of this small room, arms stretched out toward you! The skeleton is not undead or animated in any way; it's supported by a framework of lead wires, blobs, and other pieces carefully placed so as to be hard to see from the front. Lying on the floor in the front left corner of the room is a steel flask with a screw-on top; it is rusty on the back side (the side it's been lying on) and is nearly empty; whatever remains of the contents smells truly foul now and is too viscous to be poured out.

This small room is furnished only with a table against the end wall, upon which lies an unsheathed sword with a shining silver blade. The table, and indeed the floor, are quite dusty, and you see no sign that anyone has stepped inside or touched anything. The sword looks clean, though. If the sword is touched, it springs to life and attacks whoever touched it. The weapon has an AC of 16 and falls to the floor inert if struck. It has an AB of +4 and does 1d8 points of damage on a hit. If the character who touches it does not expect it to attack, the sword surprises on 1-4 on 1d6. If the offending character leaves the room, the sword returns to its place on the table; it will do the same if the offender dies, or if all characters leave the room (it will not pursue). If struck down it will reanimate in 2d8 turns and try to return to the table, flying away at 60' per round and attacking any creature that gets in the way.

A heavy-looking oaken chest stands in the far corner, with the lid flung open. You see nothing inside it; it looks like someone has already looted it. The orcs, perhaps. The empty chest weighs about 300 pounds. If moved out of the way, a successful search for secret doors will reveal a well-hidden trapdoor where the chest stood. Underneath is a compartment containing 200 sp, 500 gp, a gold armband set with rubies worth 1,300 gp, and an intricately-carved ivory box worth 1,200 gp.

Looking past the strangely-bent entrance to this room, you see a pair of huge cats. They rise to their feet, eyeing you and growling. 2 Mountain Lions: AC 14, HD 3+2, #At 2 claws, 1 bite, Dam 1d4 claw, 1d6 bite, Mv 50', Sv F3, ML 8, XP 145 ea.

The floor of this room is littered with broken barrel staves and bent hoops; the reason for this barrel abuse is not obvious. Three small barrels remain intact in various places in the room. Two of the intact barrels contain soured wine. The third barrel rattles and clinks as if full of coins; in fact, it contains 500 sp. Opening it by prying off the top will result in an explosion of bright flames which will blind the opener for 1d6 turns unless a successful save vs. Spells is made. Smashing the barrel has the same effect, but all characters looking in the direction of the barrel (including the opener) must save with a bonus of +2 on the die roll or be blinded as above.

In this room, a tall, narrow writing desk with a similarly tall chair stands pushed back into the corner directly across from the door. It is dusty and draped with cobwebs. A few small bones, perhaps those of a rat, lie on the floor near the chair. The center of the floor of this room must be a low spot, as there is a small irregular puddle of mud and water there. The writing desk contains a very old quill, a dried-out ink bottle, and a tattered sheet of parchment. On the parchment are forty-four numbers arranged in pairs, along with the note: COUNT DOWN, COUNT OVER, PUSH The message is in fact instructions for opening the door from room 28 to 29 as described on page 34. For convenience, a handout is provided on page 35. There is nothing else of interest in this room.

This large area has been used as a barracks at some time in the past, as decrepit, tumble-down bunks line the long walls. They have no mattresses, pillows, or bedclothes, and do not look entirely safe to lie on in any case. There is no other furniture in the room. Looking further, you see a pile of bones on the floor about in the center of the far wall. They are small bones as of dogs or cats or perhaps giant rats, though there are no skulls so it's hard to be sure. Lying before them is a bottle and a cleaver. The cleaver is rusty and dirty, and stained and crusted with old blood. The bottle is empty and cracked, and will likely break if handled. There is nothing of value in this room.

These hobgoblins are investigating the orc defenses and stealing what they can. In a sack they have an undercooked rat wrapped in a dirty cloth and 32 sp in coins. No description is given here; the GM should make up an appropriate description based on surprise and possibly a reaction roll if appropriate. 4 Hobgoblins: AC 14, HD 1, #At 1 spear, Dam 1d8, Mv 30', Sv F1, ML 8, XP 25 ea. HP

At the far end of this room is a table; lying on top of the table is a leather scroll tube with silvery metal fittings. The scroll tube on the table may lure unsuspecting victims into the room. However, the middle 10 feet of the room is crisscrossed by almost-invisible spiderwebs, which will be noticed automatically if anyone cares to take a moment and look. Anyone barging in may be surprised on 1-4 on 1d6, and if surprised the victim is automatically trapped in the web. Each round thereafter the character may attempt to break free with a roll to open doors. Meanwhile, the giant black widow spider who lives here will advance and attack. The scroll tube contains a scroll of protection from undead. Giant Black Widow Spider: AC 14, HD 3*, #At 1 bite, Dam 2d6 + poison (-2 on saves), Mv 20' Web 40', Sv F3, ML 8, XP 175 HP

This large space is basically empty, except for two thick pillars rising up to the double- vaulted ceiling. The pillars are plain, with rounded details at the top and bottom, but as you look closer you think you see tiny marks on them. Pixies live here and have marked the pillars with graffiti. Someone who speaks Pixie and reads Elvish might be able to decipher the words, but otherwise a read languages spell will be needed. Most of the writing is gibberish, but a few sayings might be translated: "Beware the grumpy troll, he lost his nose but he still smells terrible!" "Watch out for the invisible spiders, but you'll still never see them coming!" "Help rescue the beautiful dragon from the horrible princess!" "A knight's gold isn't worth a day's work." "We hid the key where you'll ever find it." "Ribbons and riddles and empty boxes, and what do you have to show for it?" "Snoring orcs abound, ready for looting." "Did you bring flowers?" The pixies lair in room 11, but if the adventurers spend much time here (particularly if they read the graffiti) they will come out and tease the party, whispering rude words in their ears, stealing small items, tying characters together with thin cords while they are distracted, and so on. The pixies speak Common well and Elvish with less expertise. Their statistics are given in room 11 below.

Scattered around the edges of this room are at least a dozen large pillows. It appears something small is bedding down on them, but there is nothing present right now. The pixies have a little treasure: 41 ep and 30 gp in loose coins piled neatly in the corner, under one of the pillows. 6 Pixies: AC 17, HD 1*, #At 1 dagger, Dam 1d4, Mv 30' Fly 60', Sv E-F1, ML 7, XP 37 ea. Can become invisible at will and can remain that way while attacking. Surprise on 1-5 on 1d6 when invisible. HP

A heavy round oak table stands in the middle of this room, with a heavy-looking red ceramic urn standing almost in the center. The urn contains oil; it's large enough to contain 10 flasks, but only has 7 flasks worth at the moment. It weighs 50 pounds empty, so pouring out of it will be tricky; the GM must decide exactly what sort of roll might be needed to avoid making a slippery mess on the table and floor. At the bottom of the oil in the urn is a green sapphire worth 50 gp. The urn is large enough that someone could simply reach in and take it, but that character would get very oily. The GM must decide the effects of this.

Regardless of which door is entered: Turning the corner, you see a long corridor stretching out before you. If anyone attempts to proceed down the corridor, the GM should roll a save vs. Spells for all such characters. All who fail will experience the corridor going on forever, but this is an illusion. Those who succeed will suddenly realize the true shape of this space. Even if characters go in both doors, they will have the same experience; someone entering from one door will neither see nor hear those entering from the other. Only advancing into the corridor and making a successful saving throw will reveal the truth and allow the character who saved to see those trying to approach (and at this point, the character who saved can actually move forward and join the others, appearing from thin air from their perspective). Turning back after advancing into the illusion grants a second saving throw; if this one fails, the character will believe it takes them just as long to return as they spent "advancing" into the illusion.

This twenty-foot-square room appears entirely empty. An illusionary wall covers the alcove at 14a. Anyone searching for secret doors in the vicinity of that illusion receives a secret saving throw (made by the GM) and if this succeeds they can see through the illusion; on a failure, the character absolutely believes it is a real wall. The chest hidden behind the illusion is locked and has a poison needle trap, which springs out if an attempt is made to pick the lock; the thief must make a saving throw vs. Poison or die. Inside the chest is some treasure: 600 sp, 400 gp, a well-cut ruby worth 500 gp, and a mace +1.

The description below assumes that the characters have not seen the shaft on other levels. Amend the description as you see fit if they have. Looking through the opening, you see a large, dark space. A bridge lies before you, spanning a dark void and crossing a room that seems to be an irregular octagonal shape. Looking over the side of the bridge, you can just make out a second bridge crossing at an angle below, and above you see another crossing at a different angle. You cannot see either the ceiling or the bottom of the shaft. This shaft drops 60 feet to the fourth level of the dungeon, resulting in 6d6 points of damage to anyone who falls or jumps from the bridge all the way to the bottom. If the fall is accidental, the character may attempt a saving throw vs. Death Ray with Dexterity bonus applied to catch the bridge, suffering no damage but being left in a precarious position. Note that the bridges run in different directions on each level, such that a victim might land on the one on level 3, suffering only 3d6 points of damage.

The floor here is bloodstained, and there are a few teeth that might be human scattered around on the floor. This is the room where characters caught by the pit in level 1: room 11 land.

Note: The description given below assumes characters are entering from the door into the corridor that runs to areas 19 and 20. If the adventurers puzzle out the illusionary wall in area 17a from the corridor side and enter through that door, the GM will have to amend the description. The walls of this room are covered with hooks such as one might use to hang a painting, but most of these hooks are empty. There is only one painting actually present, however, hanging at the right end of the far wall. It seems to depict a wizard in fine pale green robes, seated with his right hand held out making a strange gesture. The painting is actually an illusion, which will be obvious if anyone tries to remove it, as their hands will pass right through it. If any character stands before the painting and holds out their left hand in a mirror image of the painting's gesture, the secret door to area 17b will slowly swing open. There is no other normal way to open the door, even if it is detected; knock should work however.

This small room appears entirely empty. The back wall of this "room" is an illusion. Anyone actually touching it receives a (secret) saving throw vs. Spells to discover that it is an illusion. Those who fail believe they have felt a cold, rough stone wall. It can be freely passed through by anyone who has made the save, as well as anyone who becomes blind before encountering it; such individuals will never be fooled.

This small secret closet contains nothing but a pair of ordinary-looking ivory dice and a small wad of twine. The twine is just twine, here to confuse people. The dice are magical; rolling them confers a magical effect on the roller (with no saving throw allowed) selected from the table below. If any single roller rolls the same number twice, the dice disappear, reappearing in the center of this room in 24 hours. The dice cannot leave the closet; they will become intangible before crossing the threshold, falling to the floor with a clatter (having resumed solidity at that moment) and will then roll to the center of the room. This roll should have the same effect as an intentional roll of the dice. Roll Result of Rolling the Dice Roller is affected by invisibility. Roller receives a permanent bonus of +2 on reaction rolls with kobolds. Any water or wine carried by the roller turns to vinegar; if the roller has none, the next drink they take will be vinegar instead. Roller grows a bushy mustache; if roller already has a mustache, they lose all hair on their head and face. A blob of mud falls from the ceiling and splatters on the roller's head. The roller loses 2d10 coins of the highest denomination they carry. This loss will be felt immediately. For the next three full days, whenever the roller is in a dark place they will see a pair of glowing red eyes just beyond the limit of their light. Roller is drenched in water. If already affected by #10, fire is put out. Roller's hair is on fire. This fire makes real heat and light as if a torch and will ignite anything that can burn, but will not harm the roller in any way. Lasts until remove curse is used to cancel it. Roll Result of Rolling the Dice Roller affected as if by potion of gaseous form. Roller receives cure light wounds; if not needed now, roller gets a warm feeling and receives the spell the next time they are injured.

Note that the entrance to this room is a secret door. The inhabitants have only a 1 in 1d6 chance to be surprised due to the slowness with which this door opens. They surprise on 1-5 on 1d6 due to their camouflage. As soon as the secret door opens you smell a horrible smell. Four subterranean lizard men (i.e. troglodytes) live in this room. Their bedding, which smells almost as awful as they do, lies in an untidy pile in the back of the room. Their treasure was recently stolen, and they are eager for any opportunity to replace it. 4 Subterranean Lizard Men: AC 15, HD 2, #At 2 claws, 1 bite + stench, Dam 1d4 claw, 1d4 bite + special, Mv 30' Swim 40', Sv F2, ML 9, XP 75 ea. Stench has 10' radius, characters in that area must save vs. Poison or suffer a penalty of -2 to their attack bonus.

The secret doors here are plainly visible and easily opened from inside the room. This hidden room is quite dusty, and you can see many kinds of footprints crossing it. Three burned-out torches lie in a pile off to the side of the beaten path. There is nothing of value in this room.

An oblong table has been pushed back into the corner of this room; on top are a corroded metal tray with two brown glass bottles on top. Neither bottle is corked. The bottles are empty. The tray is made of a base metal and is of no particular value. There is nothing else of interest in this room.

In this room you see a bunk bed, a small writing desk and a matching stool. All are decrepit looking. The upper bunk has no bedclothes, while those on the lower bunk appear to have been torn up and made into a nest for some sort of animal. It doesn't look like that animal is still nesting here, however. The furniture is all quite fragile now. There is nothing else of value here.

This area has a strong, stale, musty smell. This is the lair of the giant draco lizards found on this level; 1d6 of the giant draco lizards on the Wandering Monsters table for this level will be present here normally. The pit trap at area 22a opens easily, 1-5 on 1d6 if stepped on; the dracos all know about it and simply launch themselves over it. The pit also resets almost immediately, within just 1d4 rounds. A lever on the back of the large pillar block (area 22b) can be pulled down, locking the doors and making the pit safe. The lever will remain down normally, but the draco lizards rub themselves against the wall to scratch their backs, and usually push the lever back up after a day or two. If they are all killed, it will likely remain in place indefinitely. The pit drops 10 feet, inflicting 1d6 points of damage on the victim or victims; a save vs. Death Ray with Dexterity bonus added is allowed to avoid the trap. At the bottom is a skeleton with multiple broken bones; lying in the middle of the remains, found automatically if they are searched, is a small ruby worth 100 gp and a wax-sealed copper vial containing a potion of growth. Nearby lies an unsheathed shortsword +1, +2 vs. regenerators.

The door to this room is stuck. This room is dominated by a long, tall table running down the center. It is full of glassware of all sorts, along with a small metal brazier. The surface of the table is dented, nicked, and burned in various places. The table is rickety, and will fall if touched, breaking all the glassware in a resounding crash. Roll an encounter check immediately if this happens. The glassware is worth 5d10 gp if it can be removed without breaking it.

The door here is covered in tiny writing. This door is marked in the same way as the pillars in level 2 room 10, i.e. in Pixie written in Elvish characters. Messages on the door are largely gibberish as with the pillars, but these messages can be made out: "Warning, dragon!" "Onward and upward!" "Does anyone remember what grass smells like, and does it really matter anyway?" "Downward and inward!" "Warning, dragon?" "Beware of beetles." "Killjoy was here." "The red is back and the black is up, and green is down except when it's west, and I'm feeling a little fuzzy." "I'm little and fuzzy, and I resent being felt!" "Felt is fuzzy, but I've never heard it complain." "Beware of bugbears." There is nothing else of interest here.

The oil beetles encountered in this room normally must be dealt with before the area can be inspected. When player characters have the leisure to do so: The right-hand wall of this room is covered with a mural painted in bright, almost lurid colors. It depicts a storm over a bay, with brilliant lightning in improbable shades of red, green, and violet. The crashing waves seem to glow as if lit from beneath, and riding the crest of the largest wave is a fishing boat, with its mast broken and the dangling sails on fire, burning blue, green, and yellow. One sailor is visible on the boat, clutching the helm with three hands while his fourth hand pulls pointlessly on a rope trailing from the burning sails. The meaning, if any, of this mad mural is not at all obvious. There is nothing else of interest here. 4 Oil Beetles: AC 16, HD 2*, #At 1 bite + spray, Dam 2d4 bite, special spray, Mv 40', Sv F2, ML 8, XP 100 ea. Spray hits only opponents within 5 feet of the back end of the monster. On a hit, a living creature suffers burns causing a -2 on all attack rolls for 24 hours. HP

This room appears entirely empty. This room is in fact a rather full storeroom, but it is covered by an illusion of vacancy. The orcs discovered the illusion and decided to store many "valuable" items here, i.e. things most others would think of as trash. Anyone entering the room must save vs. Death Ray or fall into the mess, landing on some assortment of trash and junk. Only those items landed upon will actually become visible, while the rest of the room will still appear vacant. Searching the room will require a minimum of 12 character-turns (12 turns for 1 character, 6 turns for 2, 4 turns for 3, and so on). If such a search is undertaken, roll for random encounters every 3 turns as usual. There is nothing valuable in this room at all.

The door to this room is stuck and must be forced. Whoever does so will trigger a trap that will cause a large curved blade to swing down from above the door. This trap attacks at AB +2 and does 1d10 points of damage on a hit. It must be reset manually. In the far back corner of this room is a large chest. The chest is locked and has a poison needle trap, which springs out if an attempt is made to pick the lock; the thief must make a saving throw vs. Poison or die. Actually opening (or breaking) the chest activates the final trap: a cloud of noxious gas that fills the room, inflicting 3d6 points of damage on all within the room. A successful save vs. Poison reduces damage by half. There is no treasure inside the chest, just a note that says, "Gotcha!" None of these traps reset themselves, so once all are triggered the room is safe.

This oddly-shaped room has a row of four pillars bisecting it diagonally. Set into the far wall is a massive, intimidating reinforced door. A group of hobgoblins have been trying to open the door into room 29 (see below) but unless the party has been extremely quiet they heard them approaching and are hiding behind the pillars. If this is the case, the hobgoblins surprise on 1-4 on 1d6. 4 Hobgoblins: AC 14, HD 1, #At 1 longsword, Dam 1d8, Mv 30', Sv F1, ML 8, XP 25 ea. These monsters are carrying the treasure given beside each below. HP 8 ep, 6 gp, 3 pp 3 ep, 6 gp 7 ep, 4 gp 8 ep, 3 gp The door into room 29, below, should be described more or less as follows: The door before you is made of heavy oak, reinforced with iron that is studded with hundreds of round-headed bolts, all being supported by armored iron hinges with inch- thick pins. The iron reinforcements are held in place by forty rows of twenty bolts. The door is secured by an iron bar on the other side, and is nearly impossible to force open. Further, the door fits its frame too snugly to slip a sword or other item through to lift the bar. Knock will open it, of course, but the intended method of entering is to push on a specific sequence of the bolt-heads which will release the bar. This sequence is written on the paper in the writing desk in level 2 room 6 (Office).

As you push the great door open you can see inside the small closet beyond. Three different large urns, one of which has a lid, stand in the center of the room. There seems to be nothing else here. The first urn has two handles (like a trophy), and contains 400 ep. The second urn has the lid, and contains a belt of silver and gold plates (worth 800 gp), a silver clasp in the shape of an eagle with a tiny emerald for an eye (worth 800 gp), and a gold military medal depicting an ancient helmet (worth 1,200 gp). The final urn is small, and inside is a small metal vial corked and sealed with wax containing a potion of healing. Hanging on the back of the door, and thus hidden when the door is fully open, is a battle axe +1. It is secured to the door with three buckled straps that prevent it from moving, rattling, etc. as the door moves. The GM should decide whether the adventurers discover it or not. Note from Writing Desk