Returning to Room 7 and taking the passage ahead takes the characters to another cave.
Inside the cave is a large Troll.
The troll is near the far side of the cave. He attacks as soon as the characters enter.
The troll has no visible treasure, it is all behind the secret door in the wall opposite of the tunnel the characters came in from.
Additionally there are passages to the left and to the right.
Taking the left tunnel, the air is cooler and more damp. Entering the cave the characters will see the same stream from Room 4 emptying into this room. It forms a large dark pool which then continues on to drain at the far wall.
Inside the pool is a Giant Octopus. It pulls it's massive bulk out of the pool to attack the characters. Due to the size of the room it can only bring out six of it's eight tentacles to attack.
It seems likely that this octopus swam into here ages ago and has grown too large, or too complacent, to swim back out.
While the Octopus has no treasure it keeps there are the remains of several past victims at the bottom of it's 20's deep pool. There are 1d6+3 former adventures at the bottom of this pool. They had Treasure Types of U and V each.
This room is a dead end.
The passageway beyond the cave leads to another cave. There is more diffused light here and more of the strange plants. But that is not all.
Inside this cave are three (3) Carcass Crawlers. They are currently scuttling around and will attack when the party enters.
They have stashed here and there standard treasure type B and an additional 2d6 rubies of 1d6x10 gp value each.
There are two exits on the far side of the cave, one to the right and one to the left.
--
Note about the plants. These plants were made by the necromancers to feed on the magical energies of these caves and to provide oxygen and food to the various creature here they needed for experiments. Casting a "sunlight" spell or other bright light (Continual Light, but not Light) will cause them to wither and die.
Following the light, it enters another cave system. This one is a smaller cave with an exit to the right.
Entering the cave the smell is horrible.
Inside are 4 Troglodytes.
They are gathered around an old corpse of one of their own sitting in a throne like seat. They appear to worship it. When the party enters they will scream in rage and attack.
The troglodytes all have their standard treasure here, at the foot of the corpse. Additionally, there is an extra 1,000 gp here in assorted gems and jewels.
The dead troglodyte is exactly just that.
Once again, returning to Room #2 and taking the tunnel that was on the right.
This opens into a large cave system similar to what was seen in Room #5. There is a diffuse glow ahead.
This cave is inhabited by a group of 10 Cave Locusts. They are bit tougher than the typical ones encountered because they have been eating the strange plants in this room. They all have maximum hp.
There is one larger than normal Cave Locusts as well that is their leader. This monster has 4 HD and AC 2 [17]. Saves are the same, and its bite does 1d4 and its jump does 1d6.
There is no treasure here. The cave exit is towards the glow.
Going back to Room #2, and taking the tunnel on the left (now on the character's right) takes them down another tunnel.
This tunnel is long and makes a lot of turns. It opens into a very large cave. There is a glowing portal near the far wall near the ceiling. Out of the portal a bunch of flying figures.
These are tiny Dragonettes (2+2 HD, attacks #3, (claw, claw, bite) 1d3+!/1d3+1/1d6+1 + Breath Weapon. Their breath weapon is a puff of hot smoke that is mildly irritating causing 1d4 hp of damage or half on a save.
They fly in and eat a pile of Rot Grubs feasting on the corpse of a goblin.
If the characters ignore the Dragonettes they will eat the grubs and fly off. If the characters approach the grubs they will be attacked and there is a chance the rot grubs will also attack.
There is a small stream that runs through this cave. It comes from a waterfall and flows into a hole in the ground. The water is dark, cold and has a sulfury taste, but it is otherwise fine. There are blind fish in the stream the characters can try to catch. If they are using spears to get fish then the fish have AC 4.
It will take the PCs a couple of hours to fully investigate this cave, party due to its size and complexity of the terrain. They cant reach the portal, there are no rocks near enough and the stream is not deep enough.
Note: Tonight's visual was created using Stable Diffusion XL from NightCafe.
Taking the center opening leads down a rough-hewn passage. There is a light ahead, but it is diffuse.
It looks like there is a room beyond, but this is an illusion. The Gelatinous Cube uses this illusion to trap victims. Even its simple brain has learned that it can trap the most food here.
There is only a 1 in 6 chance that anyone will notice the gelatinous cube here unless they are specifically searching for something strange or out of the ordinary. Beyond the cube is a collection of treasures from years of victims.
There is 1,000 gp, 1500 sp, 3000 cp, and about 50 gems worth 5,000 gp total. There is a dagger +1 and a mace +1.
This is a large cavern. The ceiling of the cave is 20' high (about the about they went down the stairs). There are three tunnels extending out from the far wall. One to the left, one to the center, and another to the left.
In this cavern are 4 Carrion Crawlers (or Carcass Crawlers).
They will attack as soon as the characters are nearby. They have a small treasure horde nearby.
Level Four seems to be mostly rough-cut stone as if the entrance from Level Three was cut out of an existing cavern system.
When the PCs get to bottom of the very long stairs they find another door. It is locked but can be picked at a -10% to an Open Lock roll.
The door is trapped on the level Four side. So one the character pass through the doors will close, trying to open them will release 1d4+1 poison darts. They "attack" as normal-level human causing 1d4 points of damage. They are coated with poison so a save vs poison is needed. The poison was stronger ages ago so in stead of death it causes violent sickness on a failed save. The character is useless for 1 hour. A cure wounds spell or potion of any sort will cure them.
Notes about level 4.
These are natural caves that the necromancers and wizards cut into for their magical research. There are gems here as well as monsters. There is a magical glow about the place, but torches are still recommended.
There are noises coming from everywhere. GMs should roll for random monsters using the tables for a Level 4 dungeon.
There is a natural sink hole that leads to Level 5 later on in this level.
Beyond the door in Room 30 is a flight of stairs descending into darkness.
Once every character is out of Room 30 the doors will slam shut behind them. They are locked and there is no keyhole or access to the lock from this side. Thieves can't pick the locks here. The doors are also solid. They were designed to keep out the creatures from Level 4 out of the labs on Level 3.
Only by using the word from Room 29 ("Jabrexi") will the doors open.
The stairs go down a very long way. The stairs are rough-hewn, and characters can only move at half-speed to keep from falling.
--
GMs should reward the characters if they remember the passphrase. Also, reward character for completing this level.
This room is right off of the smaller lab (Room 29). This room is large with lots of operating tables in the center and desks and workbenches along the walls. There are large vats along the walls.
When the characters enter this room, zombies begin to crawl out of the vats. They are covered in thick sticky blood.
Vat Zombies (5). These zombies have 2+1** HD and are faster than normal zombies and can attack at any point in the round. They also have +1 to damage and AC of 4.
These zombies are one of the last creations of the Necromancers.
The zombies have no treasure, but the remains of the alchemical equipment will get 1000 gp in gold, 3000 gp in silver and 4000 gp in copper. There are also gems (2030 gp) and other equipment (1000 gp) if the characters can haul it out.
There is a large door on the far wall, it can be open easy enough.
This room opens up from the hallway to reveal the last creature worked on by the Necromancers.
It is a Zombie Owlbear (5HD, attacks like an owlbear, but last in initiative like a zombie).
This creature lacks any intelligence including the knowledge or the will to move to another room. It will attack anything this room.
There are three skeletons on the ground. They wear the remains of what could have been wizard robes. The robes have been slashed. The story here is a little obvious, these were the wizards working on this beast and it killed them.
One of the robes has a wand of magic missiles with 5 charges left. Another has a ring of protection +1, and all have about 45 GP total.
Searching the room will find a lot of lab equipment, some materials for sewing up corpses and surgical gear. There is a stone slab near the door out with the word "Jabrexi" on it in the language of magic.
Blue Flame, Tiny Stars, or more properly, "Blue Flame, Tiny Stars: A Memoir of Early Experiences Playing the Holmes Edition of the World’s Most Superlative Role-Playing Game" by Stephen Wendell, is a memoir of one man's first experiences with Dungeons & Dragons.
Stephen's story here is a familiar one. I could have recounted a very similar tale of the summer of 1980 after being exposed to D&D back in December of 1979. But his tale is an earnest one and an engaging one.
The sales pitch for this book includes the line "Warning: Reading this book will make you want to play D&D!" and that is 100% true. Reading through Wendell's recollections of his first encounter with D&D, via the Holmes Basic Rules (same as me) made me want to pull out my Holmes set and roll up a new character. It reminded me of summer days coloring in my own dice with a white crayon and then playing games at night with my brother or friends.
This is not a long book, a little more than 30 pages. It also reads much faster than its size would suggest because it is so engaging. Wendell manages to do something rather magical here. He engages you in his own discoveries and makes you recall your own at the same time. It is not just a fantastic new tale; it is a fantastic OLD tale that you already know.
I have talked a lot about Holmes Basic and its enduring appeal. This book is a love letter to that set and that time.
The book is on sale in lots of places, and Wendell sells it in a variety of formats (print, pdf, epub), all at Pay What You Want (at DriveThru). But seriously, find the suggested price and pay more than that.
Regardless of what you pay for it or how long it takes you to read it do pick this one up. Especially if you started as part of the "Second Generation" of Gamers that did not learn from war games or from the ancient masters. We taught ourselves or learned from others that also taught themselves. This is the group that both Wendell and I (and likely many of you) claim membership in.
Props also for including the quote from Carl Jung. Seriously was this book custom-made for me? We even have the same dice.
If you are part of that Second Generation, then you owe it to yourself, or at least that 9-11-year-old version of yourself, to pick up this book. It is more than just a nostalgia grab. It is the real thing, and I am happy to have it.
I am sticking my copy inside my Holmes boxed set where it belongs.
This room is really a wide hallway with many smaller cells on each wall to the left and right. There are four on each lower row on both sides and four above these in an upper row for a total of 16 cells.
The cell doors are steel and not bars. It is difficult to hear anything at all on the inside, but the doors do feel warm. The locking mechanism is broken so unlocking one will cause the others to open as well.
Opening the cells will release 8 Hellhounds (3 HD each). These animals were going to be used for breeding purposes but they have been forgotten. They are hungry and quite insane. They will attack everything in the room, including each other.
Once one Hellhound is down the nearest three will attack it and attempt to eat it. If they succeed (two rounds to do this) then their HD increases to 4 HD.
Each hound is wearing a jeweled silver collar with 500 gp. The magic of the collar kept them locked onto this plane.
Coming down the hall from Room 26 is another chamber. This one has a locked door similar to those on Level 2.
Inside, this room appears to be empty. There is a door directly in front of the door the party just came in. Next to the door is the statue of a knight.
The statue is a Living Statue (D&D Basic Set).
This is a Rock Living Statue, a creation of the wizards that used to control these lands. Now it is a forgotten guard to the magic laboratories beyond.
Instead of spotting magma from its fingertips it will spit it up from its mouth. It can only do this once every other round. It does 2d8 points of damage. Its fists do 1d6+1 twice per round.
Going left, you go through a hallway to another chamber. This one is square. There is an opening straight ahead. There is a statue of a demonic-looking dragon figure. It has gems for eyes.
The gems are not real but the dragon is.
Coming within 5' of the "statue" will breathe a gas that turns the victim to stone. They get a saving throw vs. Petrify/Paralysis. Victims get a +2 bonus to their save, the dragon is rather hungry.
This is a creature, but its own skin has been turned to stone due to a horrible magical experiment to create a dragon that could breathe a cloud of petrification gas and it worked, to a degree. The dragon turned itself to stone. It is still alive and it can't move or eat, so it is quite insane now. It can't be killed.
Once it breathes it has to wait another hour to breathe again. Anyone turned to stone will become normal again in 5 turns, but their Dexterity will suffer a permanent reduction of 1 point.
The hallway leads to another room. There is an opening on the right and one to the left.
In this room are 3 Giant Pythons.
How they got here is anyone's guess, but they attack the party as soon as they enter. They do not have any treasure.
The opening to the right leads back to Room #12. The opening to the left leads on to the rest of the level.
--
Today's monster comes to you because I needed to reinstall Python 3.11.2 on my computer for work.
Further down the hall there is a cell to your left.
This cell is filled with a thick green haze/mist. Visibility, including dark vision and infravision, is reduced to 1 foot.
After 1 round the mist will start to poison the PCs. They must make a saving throw vs. Poison or be rendered unconscious. Any unconscious PC will loose 1 point of Con every turn until they are taken out of the mist. Any character reduced to 0 Con dies. An unconscious character will revive in 1 turn and be back at normal Con with 1 hour of rest per Con lost.
I the character makes the save, their Con loss is 1 point per hour. These characters will regain Con at the rate of 1 point every 30 mins of rest.
There are three skeletal remains from previous victims here. They have 200 gp, 300 sp, 55 cp, five gems of 5 gp each, and a dagger +1.
Continuing through the door of Room #23, the hallway continues there is a cell on your immediate right.
Inside this room are three (3) large Giant Crab Spiders. They have maximum hp. Their bite has poison as per the B/X rules.
There is a glow coming from a portal 10' from the ground. If the PCs stay in this room for longer than 1 hour three more crab spiders will appear.
--
Another dip into my Monster and Treasure Assortment tonight!
Returning to Room #20, the characters can now go to the right (previously left).
This hallway leads to a closed door. The door is not locked. Inside is a circular chamber. There is a door just like the one the PCs entered on the other side.
On the walls above the characters are 2 Gargoyles. As soon as the PCs are all in the room, they will swoop down and attack.
Behind a loose stone near their roosts is their treasure hoard. There is C x2 treasure, as well as an additional 1,000 gp in assorted gems.
