The Ruins of Grimspire — Dungeon Level 3

This odd narrow room seems to be entirely empty, except for a line of muddy boot prints leading from the door toward the back wall. They fade out before they reach it. Despite the tracks, nothing of interest is here.

This room appears entirely empty. You think you hear a distant scratching sound, but you're not sure. The pit opens on 1-3 on 1d6 when stepped on, and drops victims 10 feet for 1d6 points of damage. Potential victims can avoid falling with a successful save vs. Death Ray with Dexterity bonus applied. A giant ant has gotten trapped here, and will attack anyone who falls in. Giant Ant: AC 17, HD 4, #At 1 bite, Dam 2d6, Mv 60' (10’), Sv F4, ML 7, XP 240

In this small room you see a muddy patch just inside the door. It would be hard to enter or exit without getting mud on your feet. There is nothing of interest here.

This room appears entirely empty. Whoever steps on the pit space will perceive it opening up and dropping them 10 feet. A successful saving throw vs. Spells will allow the victim to resist; otherwise, they fall to the floor and suffer 1d4 points of damage. Those not affected by the pit will not see it, and will only know the victim or victims yelled in surprise or fear and then suddenly fell hard to the floor. The illusionary pit will activate every time the space is entered, but those who have already saved against it successfully automatically resist. All others must save or suffer the effects.

This room seems to be entirely empty, except for a large and wicked-looking iron hook jutting out of the center of the far wall at about head height on a human. If examined, the hook can be seen to be bloodstained. There is, however, nothing of interest here.

The room before you is quite strange. There are several pillars, each carved with deep spiral grooves. At the top of each is a wide metal band around the pillars, with an arm or bar of some kind jutting out from each of them. At the end of each of these arms is a metal ball more than a foot in diameter. The spiral grooves are screw threads, and the metal ball clubs are attached to threaded rings wrapped around each pillar. The trap is triggered by stepping on any of several randomly-placed tiles; each character who crosses the room has a 1-2 on 1d6 chance of triggering it, causing the clubs to be released, spinning around the pillars as they fall and striking anyone within 10 feet; victims must save vs. Death Ray or be hit for 2d4 points of damage. This trap must be manually reset, but the humanoid monsters in the dungeon all know how to reset it and they will likely do so whenever the party leaves the dungeon.

A variety of wooden pails are piled up in this small room. They look old and might not hold water anymore; some have rope bails that look pretty weak as well. There are about two dozen pails. Three are serviceable, each able to hold about a gallon of liquid. Other than the pails, there is nothing of interest here.

A large chest stands centered against the far wall. Above it are words, written on the wall with charcoal: "Is it worth it?" The chest is unlocked, and has a dart trap which fires 5 darts when the lid is opened. The opener is attacked first, rolling at AB +3 for each dart; darts inflict 1d4 points of damage per hit. Any darts which miss the opener may hit other characters standing behind that character; the GM should choose appropriate targets, if any, and then roll one additional attack for each dart that misses at AB +1. Any dart that misses twice has missed completely. Inside the chest is a sack. Inside the sack is a long wooden box. Inside the box is a wand of paralyzation wrapped in red velvet. The wand has 10 charges remaining.

The illusionary wall can be detected only with a secret saving throw vs. Spells rolled by the GM for each character who searches the space for secret doors. In the space behind is a large chest, which is not locked or trapped; inside is a note that says "Ha, got here first!" This of course is meant to distract anyone who got past the illusion, preventing them from finding the actual secret door.

As the door opens, a draft of cold, stale air blows past you. The floor of the room beyond is covered in dark tiles; the walls and ceiling are smooth and gray. Note that the shadows are hard to see and thus gain surprise on a roll of 1-3 on 1d6. A compartment hidden beneath a large floor tile (detected as a secret door) contains a sword belt with a longsword +1 and dagger +1 in scabbards on it. 3 Shadows: AC 13 (m), HD 2*, #At 1 touch, Dam 1d4 + 1 point Strength loss, Mv 30', Sv F2, ML 12, XP 100 ea.

A large table lies collapsed on the floor in the middle of this oddly-shaped room; you can see footprints in the dust indicating that some booted humanoids have walked across it. A smaller table stands in the corner, with a fancy glass decanter and seven slender wine glasses. The decanter is about half full of a violet liquid. Anyone drinking the violet wine will find it quite tasty. After 2d4 rounds, each drinker must save vs. Poison or become unsteady. Those who fail this save will suffer -2 on attack rolls and saving throws and be reduced to half movement for the next 2d8 turns. The decanter and glasses are worth 10 gp as a set.

This room is mostly empty, but a backpack lies discarded off to the side, and a pair of boots stand next to it as if the owner just set them down and left them. Both the backpack and the boots are quite old and the leather is cracked and damaged. The backpack is empty except for 11 large teeth that might have belonged to an ogre or troll.

This large, weirdly-shaped room is dimly illuminated by some magic; the light seems to come from above but has no particular visible source. The altar and wall hangings indicate that this is some sort of temple; the wall hangings are dark red, figured with golden embroidered spiderwebs. If the altar is approached, or examined from a distance: Standing in the center of the altar is a golden statuette of a huge spider; the spider's legs would almost hang over the sides of a large platter. The statuette is magic, of course. Touching or disturbing it in any way will cause it to transform into a giant tarantula with golden- colored hairs, and it will attack anyone within the room, always choosing whoever is closest to the altar. It will try to stay between its current target and the altar, and will ignore any character who has succumbed to its poison and begun to dance. The giant spider will not leave this room; if all potential targets leave the room, in 2d4 rounds it will return to the altar and resume its statuette form. If slain, it remains in giant spider form as a corpse, and will regenerate 1 hit point per day thereafter. Regardless of its condition, on the sixth day it arises with 1 hit point, returns to the altar and resumes statuette form. Once this happens, it is fully healed and will have all hit points if activated again. In such a case, if the character who slew it (delivered the final blow) is in the room the spider will attack that character in preference to any others, though it will still ignore them once they begin to dance. The wall hangings actually conceal a 30 foot wide, 10 foot deep area behind the altar: Pushing through the wall hangings, you find yourself in a concealed space behind the altar. A small table with some papers on it and two comfortable-looking chairs stand in the corner to the right, while an armoire and a dressing table with a mirror stand to the left. The oval mirror is cracked diagonally from upper left to lower right. The papers are religious in nature, detailing rites for the worship of the spider god; they are written in Common but include many odd words borrowed from an older language, and other words used in unusual ways, such that anyone who is not already familiar with the cult of the spider god will not understand it. The armoire contains four robes, dark red with golden spiderwebs, including an embroidered spider design in the center of the chest. These robes are old and in poor condition but still usable, and are sized for a smaller adult human (an average woman or a small man) but would also fit most elves adequately. The dressing table has a single shallow drawer holding several small glass jars of dried-out cosmetics in odd colors, particularly including gold and dark green, and a comb made of tin with a few long dark hairs tangled in its teeth. Giant Tarantula: AC 15, HD 4*, #At 1 bite, Dam 1d8 + poison (special), Mv 50', Sv F4, ML 8, XP 280 If bitten, save vs. Poison or begin "dancing" for 2d10 rounds, -4 to attack rolls and saves; onlookers save vs. Spells or join the dance for 2d4 rounds. Poisoned dancers save vs. Poison each round or take 1d4 points of damage.

Floor to ceiling bookshelves cover the long back wall of this room. They are about half full of books, and standing on a shelf toward the right end is a large gold vase. The books are all religious texts and hymnals for the worshipers of the spider god. Anyone consulting these books would be able to understand the papers on the table in room 13, above, but this process will require 4d6 hours; characters may deduct their Intelligence bonus from this time. After doing this, the character could read those papers and then would be able to move or carry the statuette in room 13 without activating it. It will still activate if anyone else disturbs it, though it will ignore the character who has learned the proper worship methods unless that character attacks the spider. If the spider statuette is activated outside of room 13, the spider will do everything in its power to return to the altar in that room. Characters wishing to steal the statuette and perhaps melt it down for its metal value will be rudely surprised, as even if handled by a properly instructed character (as above) it will still activate if placed in heat adequate to melt the gold. If the spider cannot escape the heat of the forge, it will simply die, then begin to regenerate as normal after the fire is out. The gold vase is actually ceramic, covered with gold leaf, and is worth just 100 gp. Finally, the secret door to area 33 is in fact a section of bookshelf. When a specific book is pulled on, it swings open to the left.

Behind the curtain you find a strangely- shaped room with a mural covering the walls. Though it is chipped and peeling, you can still see most of the images clearly. Along the longer diagonal wall you see spiderwebs which begin small and finely detailed near you, becoming larger and stronger-looking as they proceed into the room. Many tiny spiders are visible on the finer webs, with fewer larger ones on the heavier webbing. The back wall of the room shows a very detailed image of a gigantic golden-haired spider in a rampant pose, its mandibles shining with venom. The shorter diagonal wall depicts robed worshipers; you can't tell what kind of creatures they are due to the robes, and also due to the fact that the artist seems to have treated them as an afterthought. There is nothing else of interest in this room.

Behind the curtain is a strangely-shaped room with a mural that covers all the walls. Though it is chipped and peeling, you can still see most of the images clearly. Along the longer diagonal wall are scenes of a city as viewed from above; webs crisscross between them, and giant spiders are visible here and there. Many of the spiders are clutching indistinct humanoid forms; some appear to be struggling, others are limp and marked with red blood. A few of the spiders are obviously wrapping their victims in webbing. The back wall depicts a spider in horrific closeup, so large that only its head, a bit of its thorax, and the joints of its foremost legs are visible. The mandibles drip with venom, and the many eyes seem to stare through you, seeing you only as food. On the other diagonal wall huge egg sacs lie on the floor of a pillared room, while web- wrapped humanoid shapes hang above them. There is nothing else of interest in this room.

The floor of this room is covered with mud. The actual floor of this room is a foot lower than the corridor, and the mud fills that space. It's a sticky, sucking mud, and anyone trying to walk through the room must save vs. Death Ray with Strength bonus applied to do so. Anyone who becomes stuck can escape with the help of someone who is not stuck, generally by pulling them out (possibly with a rope if the victim is too far into the room).

The description below assumes that the characters have not seen the shaft on other levels, which admittedly isn't likely. 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 the floor, and you see archways going in four directions there. Above you is another bridge crossing at a different angle. You cannot see the ceiling of the shaft, but from the sounds of this place it must be quite a distance up. The drop from the bridge here is just 30 feet to the fourth level of the dungeon, resulting in 3d6 points of damage to anyone who falls or jumps from the bridge. Note that this means that player characters will almost certainly be able to see the floor by holding their light sources over the edge of the bridge. In the case of an accidental fall, 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.

The door to this room is open, and is broken badly enough that it can't be spiked shut. As you approach this broken door you hear the sound of water dripping. There is in fact water dripping in the room beyond the door, but the giant tiger beetles inside will be a more pressing matter once they can be seen. A small treasure of 93 gp is piled up in the corner of this room. 3 Giant Tiger Beetles: AC 17, HD 3+1, #At 1 bite, Dam 2d6, Mv 60' (10'), Sv F3, ML 9, XP 145 ea.

The door to this room is spiked from the inside; rolls to force the door are made on 1d8 rather than 1d6, to represent the difficulty in opening it. Once it is open: Opening the door releases an awful smell of death, making you gag and choke. Any character wishing to enter the room must save vs. Poison to do so; failure results in vomiting, and the character suffers -2 on attack rolls and saving throws for 1d4 rounds. Inside the room you see a corpse lying in the far corner. Three spikes are scattered on the floor in front of the door, thrown there when you forced it open; an ordinary hammer lies forgotten beside the doorway. Investigating the corpse: The body appears to be that of a small- framed human wearing bloodstained leather armor. The body is badly decomposed such that you cannot tell if it is male or female. A backpack and a waterskin lie on the floor at its right hand, and a shortsword, dagger, and burned-out torch are discarded to its left. None of this equipment is magical, but the dagger is a standard silver dagger. The waterskin is empty. If the backpack is opened: This poor unfortunate's pack contains a leather-wrapped set of thieves' tools, a tinderbox, cloth wrappings that probably once contained rations, a small silver mirror, and a coil of silk rope. All the equipment is as serviceable as described, though the leather armor will always smell of decay and corruption. Removing the body and returning it to town for proper burial results in 200 XP bestowed on each character as a gift from the gods.

As you open the door you see two man-sized humanoids with pointed noses and ears. They wear leather armor with blackened iron studs, and are armed with large and wicked- looking polearms, and they growl when they see you. These monsters are scouting the orcs for the orc chieftain's main enemy, the Hobgoblin King. Describe them as desired based on surprise and a reaction roll (if appropriate). 2 Urgoblins: AC 14, HD 2*, #At 1 polearm, Dam 1d10, Mv 30', Sv F2, ML 9, XP 100 ea. Regenerate 1 point per round except from fire or acid.

This room appears to have been a kitchen. A stone oven is built into the far left corner, with the opening facing toward you, while on the other side is a larger fireplace-like opening. Decrepit-looking worktables stand against the wall on either side of the oven- fireplace combination; the tops of these tables are scarred from knives, scorched in spots, and covered in dust, as are a handful of items of pottery. There are no metal utensils, pots, or other items of cookware. The metal items were looted long ago by humanoids collecting scrap to make weapons. The fireplace vents through a natural crevice which is too narrow for even a halfling to crawl through; worse, the upper parts of the crevice have collapsed, so that building a fire here will result in choking black smoke filling the room. There is nothing of significant value here.

Someone has piled a bunch of firewood in this room. It's not neatly chopped up and split like a peasant would store up for the winter, but rather random pieces of deadwood in a haphazard pile. One of the "sticks" in the pile is a staff of healing. It has religious writings and holy symbols carved into it, but no metal fittings or decorations. It has 12 charges remaining of a maximum of 30.

This room is full of statues of various creatures, most with expressions or poses indicating surprise or fear. They have been positioned to make it seem that each is reacting to another. These statues are in fact the victims of the medusas in the adjacent room, who will enter in 1d4 rounds and attack.

As you open the door you smell a strange fragrance, the metallic bite of ozone combined with a reptilian musk. The room beyond is well illuminated by several lanterns hanging on metal hooks attached to the wall; the room itself is full of furnishings, upholstered chairs and couches, side tables, rugs, and an assortment of paintings and tapestries. Sitting on a large couch in the center of the room are three women in clinging silk dresses; you hear the hissing of serpents and you realize they are in fact medusas! These medusas are recent arrivals and have not collected any treasure as yet. Check for surprise as normal, and all who are surprised must save vs. Petrification immediately; additionally, those attacking them must make the same saving throws, unless they choose to attack with eyes averted (with a penalty of -4 AB and -2 AC for anyone who does this). 3 Medusas: AC 12, HD 4**, #At 1 snakebite + gaze, Dam 1d6 + poison bite, petrification gaze, Mv 30', Sv F4, ML 8, XP 320 ea.

When the door is opened, an alarm sounds which summons a patrol group of orcs (as given on the Wandering Monsters table for this level) who will arrive in 2d4 rounds. The alarm sounds for up to a turn, but ceases when the door is closed. If anyone looks into the room (or enters it): This room appears to be completely empty. The floor is surprisingly clean and dust-free.

A greenish-gray fungus covers most of the wall to the left of the door. It has been scratched away in a random-appearing fashion. Anyone entering the room and examining the fungus will discover: Now that you look at it more directly, you can see that the scratches are writing. The fungus has filled in some of the letters, but you think it says "Beware the Medusas" or something like that. The fungus is not particularly harmful, though it should not be eaten (save vs. Poison or suffer sickness for 1d4 days; attack and saving throw rolls are -4, movement is half normal). There is nothing else of interest here, except perhaps the secret door.

A small round table stands in this room, and on the table stands a tall reddish-colored ceramic cup. The cup is full of cold, clean water. If someone drinks from it, it is still full when set down; if spilled, an unreasonable amount of water comes out. This cup can produce up to 50 gallons of water per day, which can be poured into other vessels or consumed directly from the cup. However, it cannot be removed from this room; if someone attempts it, it disappears from their possession at the threshold and reappears at its place on the table.

The floor of this room is covered in what appear to be milky white quartz flagstones which glow a warm white color from within. The room appears otherwise empty. The room is in fact empty. Some of the tiles glow slightly bluer than the others. Any character might notice this on a 1 on 1d6 with a casual look, or 1-2 on 1d6 if carefully examining them; both elves and dwarves do better, 1-2 on a casual look and 1-5 when actively studying them. These "bluer" tiles form a dotted line from the entrance to the secret door, and the only way to open the secret door is to cross the room while stepping only on the bluer tiles.

There is a powerful magnetic effect in this room that draws all ferrous metal items to the corner across from the regular door. Characters in metal armor must save vs. Spells with Strength bonus applied to resist. The GM should allow reasonable methods of extracting those who have been trapped, but should roll for a random encounter if this takes very long.

The door to this room is composed of old, decayed-looking wood, with evident water damage near the bottom, but it seems sturdy enough. Inside you see an obviously abandoned rectangular room. Across the room are many broken crates, with damp moldy straw scattered around them. The tentacle worms in this room have mastered the art of opening doors, and know about all the doors both ordinary and secret in this area (rooms 30 through 33). If prey flee through a door and block it behind them, the worms will attempt to take another route to pursue them, possibly causing complications if they enter area 32. 3 Tentacle Worms: AC 13, HD 3*, #At 6 tentacles, Dam paralysis, Mv 40', Sv F3, ML 9, XP 175 ea.

Three large, hairy goblin-like humanoids sprawl on the floor of this room. Upon seeing you they growl menacingly and reach out to pick up the huge axes which lie beside them. Roll for surprise as normal; if the bugbears have surprise they will be able to stand up before the adventurers approach, but will not be able to actually advance on the party. These bugbears have been stealing from the orcs, and have collected 30 gp so far. They have just arrived in this room from room 30, and have discovered the other secret door (to room 33) but have not gone through it yet. They do not know about the tentacle worms; if the worms appear here (for example, while seeking another way around to attack the player characters) the bugbears will flee through whichever secret door the worms did not come through. This might result in a surprise meeting with the player characters. The bugbears also do not know about the secret door into room 14 from 33. 3 Bugbears: AC 15, HD 3+1, #At 1 great axe, Dam 1d10+1, Mv 30', Sv F3, ML 9, XP 145 ea.

You see a backpack lying on the floor of this passage. There are 500 sp, 90 gp, and a silver dagger in the backpack. The secret door to area 14 is a blank, unmarked wall section. It's opened by stepping on a bit of cracked stone just in front of the door, at which point it swings away to the right into area 14.