Map-a-Week: The Old Tower

Our Map-a-Week this week is The Old Tower. This is a simple location that can be placed anywhere, so I'm going to put it on the 'Journey' map at location 7. The interesting thing about this map is that while there are twelve locations, I'm having a hard time finding some of them. I see 5 and 3, and I just spotted 2, but 1 and 4 are well disguised. Ah, there they are. I had to zoom in on the map to find them. 1 is just below the door on the downward side of 6; 2 is the opposite door. 3 is the little copse just below the tower, and 4 is in the northwest corner. 5 is the northeast. 6 through 12 are the tower locations.

Alright, let's stock this puppy.

1. Southern door. This strong wooden door is locked at all times (DC 25 to open). The key is long lost.

2. Northern door. This strong wooden door has swollen into its frame (DC 23 to open). It isn't locked. However, the door is covered by an assassin vine (30 hp) that has grown over the side of the building.

3. Copse. There is an ankheg lair here, home to at least five of the creatures. Their tunnels do not extend to the tower.

4. A pair of dire wolves (45 hp) have a lair nearby, and frequently hunt in the surrounding area.

5. There is a treant (66 hp) in this part of the forest. While it is helpful by nature, this treant is very old and somewhat senile. There is only a 30% chance that it will notice passers-by. If it does, and the party is able to convince it to help them, the treant will recite tales of the time when the tower was young and how the humans built it and defended it from goblins. These events are centuries old, however, and have no bearing on the current state of the tower.

6. The window (DC 18) is an easier means of ingress to the tower entrance. Once inside, the characters will be faced with a strong odor of death. There are a pair of tables that have been overturned and broken, and two human corpses that, though long decayed, still smell terrible. If they are disturbed in any way, they will rise up; they are ghouls (13 hp) in suspended animation, awakened by the party's touch. There is no treasure here.

7. The tower itself has decayed, though it is still a solid structure and these walls can't be easily breached. Inside, the wooden beams and stairs have rotted away, making it impossible to climb to the top of the tower. It can be reached by other means such as levitation, though. Anyone who attempts to ascend the tower will be attacked by four Huge Monstrous Centipedes (18 hp each).

8. The trapdoor leading to the basement of the tower is carefully hidden, requiring a DC 28 Spot check or a DC 20 Search check to see. The door handle is concealed beneath a perfectly fitted stone and requires a DC 22 Str check to open.

9. At this corner of the tunnel, six bandits (Rogue 3, 15 hp each) have prepared an ambush. They will fire crossbows at anyone who comes around the corner. After a single shot, they will retreat to room 10. If the party appears strong, they will gather up what they can and flee through the tunnel at 12. If the party looks weak, the bandits will attempt to flank them and defeat them so as to take their belongings.

10. Here are four more bandits (Rogue 3, 15 hp each). There are several tables in the room upon which are some bags of treasure. If the bandits are unable to escape with the treasure, the party will find a total of 600 gp, 2000 sp, and 3500 cp.

11. Here is the bandit leader's quarters. He is a 6th-level Rogue, NE, stats as per DMG NPC section. In a chest he has a sack with 20 gems worth 500 gp each, along with his personal treasure.

12. This tunnel leads far into the woods, coming out in a hidden ravine. The bandits will flee the area if they are able to escape this way.

And that's it for this mini-dungeon. Next time, I'll be doing more monsters, of course.

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