Talon's Height: Dungeon - The Shattered Tower

Find below full details of a small dungeon environment in the Brightwood in Talon's Height, which is fairly easily transported into any moderately high-magic game (just have Rupprecht be working for someone else, or for himself). It's a small, linear dungeon, though set up in a way that I think should encourage interesting discovery and decision-making. This is a low-level treasure trove, with a mix of combat and non-combat challenges. I'll post the Dragon's Tooth (home of Targyn's Kobolds) soon, which is still smallish but environmentally and tactically much deeper. I want to edit it first, though, to trim the fat on the text; 4 pages of A4 for an overview and 8 rooms is too long. Anyway, give me whatever feedback you have on this one!

Morale, mentioned below, is basically the B/X version; roll 2d6 for the group when either they hit 1/2 strength (or HP for a single monster). If you roll above their Morale, the group attempts to flee in a reasonable manner. Yes, that means Morale 12 = Unbreakable. I've listed Magic Item and Monster information/references after the Hex entry.

6. Hex 5-5: Shattered Tower:

Description: A bulky, ugly mage's tower partially largely destroyed in the Spellplague. Some would consider the shattered stump an improvement. The area around the tower is surprisingly clear of plant life given it has been over a century since it was inhabited; however, undergrowth is now beginning to encroach.

Inhabitants and Behaviour: Camped in the ruins is Rupprecht the Gold, a scruffy N Conjurer, who has expended 1 x 4th-Level Spell Slot. He is accompanied by, and guarded by night by, 1 x Ice Mephit and 1 x Magmin (Morale 8, Rupprecht). He is friendly, though guarded. He won't give up his find, though he is happy to talk shop with other adventurers. He has been hired by Nimthur to retrieve magic items, and will be paid per item. #See the bottom of this post for an additional piece of information, in lieu of working spoiler tags to hide it from my players.#

He will defend himself if necessary, and will strike preemptively if he judges the situation to be going south (usually casting Mage Armor or Conjure Elemental first). Rupprecht carries 37gp on him, as well as a Ice and Fire Brooch.

Services: Intrepid adventurers, especially arcane-inclined ones, might turn this into a Stronghold.

12a. Dungeon – The Arcane Treasury

Approach: Via the arcane-sealed trapdoor to the basement in the ruined tower.

Overview of Inhabitants and Behaviour: Amongst the various protections for the wizard's hoard are arcane constructs and fumblebugs. The constructs actively seek to bar progress; the fumblebugs do so by their nature.

Locations:

Trapdoor

/\

Entry Room – Chasm of Clumsiness – The Guard Room – Trapped Treasure Room

A. Trapdoor and Entry Room

Environment: A ladder leading down to a 10-foot diameter circular stone-built room. Dark when the Trapdoor is closed, natural light when it is open.

Inhabitants and Behaviour: None.

Exits: The Trapdoor is a Knock Knock Mimic, left here by the wizard to guard his hoard. It closes again after visitors leave the room below. An open stone doorway leads to the Chasm of Clumsiness.

B. The Chasm of Clumsiness

Environment: A 30-foot long, 2.5-foot wide, unwalled stone bridge crosses a practically-bottomless chasm. The room is dark. The flagstones are irregularly eroded in a way inconsistent with heavy footfall. A lone pickaxe is jammed into side of the bridge about halfway across. Any adventurer in the area of effect of a Fumblebug (see Inhabitants and Behaviour) must make DC11 Acrobatics or Athletics check to walk across the bridge upright, with Disadvantage if they run, but the bridge may be crossed at a crawl without a test. A failure in the former case leaves them hanging on by their fingernails, requiring a DC13 Acrobatics or Athletics test to climb back up by themselves (though of course their friends may come up with some clever way of helping them up).

Inhabitants and Behaviour: There are 8 x Fumblebugs (Morale 5) buzzing around. They apparently do not need sustenance, but they find any visitors fascinating, and will investigate them. Any adventurer trying to cross the bridge will have 1d4+1 bugs buzz within range. The bugs leave them if they make it across. The bugs eat ground stone, if they need luring (the flagstones may hint at this).

Exits: Stone portals at either end of the room give access to the Entry Room and the Guard Room.

C. The Guard Room

Environment: A 50x50ft room with a great paired series of pillars progressing from the Chasm room to the Treasure room.

Inhabitants and Behaviour: 2 x Animated Armors and 1 x Flying Sword (Morale 12) seek to prevent progress. The Armors stand in the middle of the room and repeat, in a monotone, orders for interlopers to leave. The Sword lurks round the sides. They will seek to stop thieves getting any further at all costs. The Armors will, ifthere are good targets, smash a trapped pair of pillars (the central pair in the room) – the deadfall causes 1d10 damage to anyone within 20ft, requiring a DC15 Dexterity Saving Throw to halve.

Exits: Open stone doorways lead to the Chasm and the Treasure Room. There is a tripwire across the doorway leading to the Treasure Room (DC13 Investigation), which if tripped triggers a Poison Spray spell. It can only be tripped once.

D. Trapped Treasure Room

Environment: A 15x10ft room with a glass-fronted display case, a small chest, a bookshelf, and tired-but-comfortable furnishings (armchairs, rug, etc). The display case is charmed with Acid Splash (DC14), which activates if someone seeks to open or break the glass. It contains Figgle's Amusing Grease Wand, the Axe of Plant Slaying, a Colourthief's Brush, the Amulet of Hope, and the Book of Epic Boredom. The chest has a Poison Needle Trap. It contains a bolt of valuable silk (worth 10gp), a pouch of Flash Powder, and 2 x Healing Potions. The bookshelf is untrapped and has a variety of historical and scientific books on it, which may be of value to the right buyer and will contain useful information.

Inhabitants and Behaviour: There is apparently a Lion guarding the treasure, but it is an illusion. It roars menacingly at interlopers.

Exits: An open stone portal back to the Guard Room (with a tripwire across it; see under Guard Room).

MAGIC ITEMS:

*Healing Potions - WotC 5e DMG

*Amulet of Hope, Book of Epic Boredom, Colourhief Brush - Arnold K at Goblin Punch, here: http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2015/01/d100-minor-magical-items.html. The Book has a DC of 16.

*The others are by me:

Ice and Fire Brooch (Conjuration)

Magic Item

LOCATION: Rupprecht the Golden

If a spellcaster expends a Level 4 Spell Slot at the beginning of a day, they may charge the brooch. If activated, it summons a Magmin and an Ice Mephit under the owner's command for the next 24 hours.

Axe of Plant Slaying (Transmutation)

Magic Weapon

LOCATION: The Shattered Tower, Brightwood

A large forester's axe (counts as battleaxe), but causes +2d4 additional damage against plants (including Plant monsters).

Figgle's Amusing Grease Wand (Conjuration)

Magic Item

LOCATION: The Shattered Tower, Brightwood

Designed by a really aggravating Forest Gnome, this wand is charged with the Grease spell (maximum 3 charges). The Spell DC is 14. As an additional effect, any who fail their Save lose their next Action (whether this round or next), as they desperately flail and run on the spot as they slip, making exaggerated squeaking noises as they go. The wand does not regenerate charges on its own, but if a spellcaster expends spell slots (of any level), that many charges of Grease are added to the wand, to its maximum.

MONSTERS:

*Conjurer, Ice Mephit, Magmin, Animated Armor, Flying Sword, Lion - WotC 5e products.

*Fumblebugs - Originally by Skerples, found here: https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/11/osr-attack-sheet.html. My 5e entry, very closely based on that, as follows:

Fumblebugs – Unaligned Beast

Tiny, AC14, 3hp, 20ft fly, +4 Dexterity Saves, -2 Wisdom & Intelligence & Charisma Saves

A gold beetle the size of a thumb. Drones like a buzz saw in flight. It looks slow and harmless, and it is... mostly. The fumblebug produces an (as-yet-unexplained) anti-coordination field. It does not display as magical to Detect Magic, however. Whatever it does, it works.

You can't swat the fumblebug. Your swing goes wide. Bite it, and bite your own cheek. Anyone and anything in a 15' radius becomes clumsy, uncoordinated, or out of sync. It's a bit like being drunk. Creatures take a -1 penalty to Dexterity-based checks (you do not have to tell the players this beforehand). The range for critical failure increases by 1 (so on a natural 1 or 2). These effects are cumulative. Any attack rolls made in range of 20 fumblebugs are automatically critical failures. The cumulative Dexterity penalty cannot kill a character, but they should move very, very carefully away from the area.

The fumblebug is immune to most attacks a bug-eating predator could use (melee attacks, stomping on it, etc). It can't be caught either. Its defences didn't evolve to deal with distant or esoteric threats, so arrows, poison gas, and so forth might work. You could probably lure it with food, if you could figure out what it likes to eat.

*Knock Knock Mimic - Originally by CaryBogart, found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/4xwq6f/knock_knock_mimic/. My short version:

Knock Knock Mimic – Neutral Monstrosity

A rare type of Mimic which morphs into a door, trapdoor, etc. It doesn't try to attack anyone. If knocked twice in succession, a mouth replaces the handle and asks “Who's there?”. Its objective is to hear a Knock-Knock joke; if it does, it will laugh, and then swing up and open.



#SPOILER: Rupprecht tells visitors who stop to talk that he met sentient giant beavers near the High Lake whilst travelling here.