Another secret door can be found underneath the fountain-like structure in the middle. There is a 10ft drop down into the center of the room.
This room is filled with the same sorts of snakes that came out of the fountain during the encounter in Room 11.
There are 2d10 snakes in this room. Additionally, there is 3d10 Type U treasure here.
I want to share a few books with you today. Not reviews, but I do want to talk about them.
Most everyone reading this blog likely knows about this book.
The Grimtooth Traps books were not official AD&D books, but nearly everyone back in my gaming groups in the 1980s had one or access to one.
These next two are less well-known.
They are the Game Master's Book of Random Encounters. The large hardcover (brown) we got my son for Christmas from Amazon. The smaller green "magazine" style one I bought last week. At a grocery store in South Carolina.
All three books share the same origins and goals. They are third-party products designed for "any RPG" but obviously for their respective current editions of *D&D. They fill a niche market of DM's tools, so a small number of people will buy these.
The biggest differences?
For the Traps Too book, my then-DM and I had to drive to Springfield, IL, to get it. It was 35 miles away, and then we had to go to a store downtown (Black's Hardware) because our regular D&D stores (Waldenbooks and B. Dalton's) didn't carry this.
I found the magazine Gamemaster's Book of Random Encounters in the periodical rack in the checkout line at a grocery store next to copies of People, Us, and whatever holiday cookbook magazine America's Test Kitchen was selling.
This is just one more example of how ubiquitous RPGs are getting.
Hell, even at my sister's funeral people from a side of my family I barely know were talking about how great Baldur's Gate 3 is. (Spoilers. It is great.)
Sometimes, it is easy to forget how great we have it now. Sometimes it is easy to forget how scarce or rare things used to be.
We are really in a Golden Age of RPGs now and sometimes it is nice to sit back and soak it all in.
In Room 11 there are three small secret rooms behind the many alcoves. All are covered here.
Each of these rooms are small, 10' x 10' or so. Their function is unclear. They could have been guard rooms, storage rooms or something else.
There are no treasures and no monsters here.
Going back to Room 2, and moving on down the gallery there are the larger exits to the left and to the right. Taking the left leads to a long hallway.
The room is a large, circular chamber with a high ceiling. The walls are made of smooth, polished stone, and the floor is covered in a thick layer of dust. There is a single door in the far wall and a large fountain-like structure in the center of the floor. There are alcoves in the walls with gargoyles in the recesses.
The traps in the room are all triggered by pressure plates. The first trap is located by the doorway. If a creature steps on the pressure plate, dart traps will fire (from the gargoyle's mouths), dealing 1d6 damage, save vs Poison or take another 1d8 points of damage. The second trap is located in the center of the room. If a creature steps on the pressure plate, a pit trap will open, dropping the creature 10 feet to the ground below (1d6 hp damage). The third trap is located under the fountain. If the trapdoor is opened, a swarm of poisonous snakes will pour out.
Ten (10) snakes come out from under the fountain. These snakes are blind and are the same color as the stone. They use the same stats as Giant Rattlers.
There is a cache of gold, 105 gp, hidden under the fountain.
Moving to the right there is another room, similar to room 9.
This room was also a research library. The books here have been destroyed by water and fire. All are beyond saving.
On the back wall of Room 8 there are two small rooms. To the left (perspective of the entrance) is door to room 9.
This room is a small research library. The light inside is magical (no fire near these books). Most of the books are treatises on magical animals and monsters. Anyone spending an hour or more reading through these books will gain 10 XP. Spending a week with the entire collection would grant 1000 XP.
There are a few books on the Gravlok Ka Varnash, including how it came to have that name; a powerful wizard had cast read thoughts on it and it scrambled his mind so completely that this was all he could say.
There is no way to transfer all these books, there are too many. But It is possible to spend some time reading here.
There is nothing here about the Vampire Queen save for books sing her praises or talk about how brutal she is with her enemies.
At the end of the hall of Room 7 is a large circular chamber. There is a large dark, circular pit in the center of the room.
The floor of the ring slopes down and the center ring rises up four feet from the floor.
There is ancient writing on the surface of the center ring. The words, if anyone can speak Draconic, tell of an ancient creature, the Gravlok Ka Varnash.
The pit can be opened and the creature released if the rituals are followed on the side of the pit.
Gravlok Ka Varnash
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 13 (8hp per HD)
Attacks: 12 × tentacle (2d6 each) + poison
THAC0: 10 [+9]
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Saving Throws: D4 W5 P6 B6 S8 (13)
Morale: 12
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 1,200
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type: Nil
This creature is a mass of writhing tentacles. Each tentacle can attack on its own and hit a separate target. Doing 8 hp worth of damage destroys a tentacle.
The creature is immune to mind affecting magics like sleep, charm, hold, and ESP.
The wizards here had been studying the creature until it ate too many apprentices.
