Pulp Dungeon

Carlock's Tower

by Timothy Brown


Note: a "hit" equals average damage of a sword attack.

Encounter 1: Crumbling Tower

The gray stones are crumbled and missing in places. No obvious doors at ground level. One window 20 feet up. Adventurers have a few nminutes before the timber wolves close in.

4 Timber Wolves: Scraggy beasts that will attack out of starvation.

Monster Style: Wolves circle and try to catch a party member alone before assaulting the group. Confronted by the group, they will retreat for a few minutes, but will attack to the last wolf.

Physical Attributes: Emaciated and near death. Any damage kills them. Move twice as fast as a human.

The Ruins: Interior floors rotted and collapsed. No trap doors or other entrances to the dungeon from insie the tower.

Treasure A small iron box, locked and no key. Inside, a 50gp gem and a half a piece of parchment with illegible scrawl.

Encounter 2: Protectors of the Cellar

Nothing in the tower, but after searching the grounds, find two crumbling structures: a well and a set of storm cellar doors, both overgrown with bushes. The well has a nest of vipers 30 feet down.

4 Vipers: normal, highly poisonous.

Monster Style: Startled and try to protect the nest. Will strike at characters.

Monster Attack: Bite causes no hits, but can inject a poison that can kill sick/inform characters in 3d6 minutes. Stronger characters are sickened and slowed to half speed for at least a day.

Physical Attributes: 1 hit monsters, slither as fast as a human walks.

4 Gargoyles animate to protect the true entrance to the cellar.

4 Gargoyles: Ancient stone guardians vary in power; lesser variety common to the surface world.

Monster Style: Terrifying brutes will ambush--large bonus for surprise and are capable of flying.

Monster Attack: Claws (1 hit each) and Bite (2 hits).

Physical Attributes: 4 hit monsters, hide equivalent to chain armor.

Encounter 3: Storm Cellar

Steps lead downward, with filthy long roots impeding progress. Mason jars smashed on the ground, rotted shelving, and vines. A heavily padlocked gray door is across the cellar from the steps. Giant crickets infest the cellar--found easily enough if looked for, otherwise, they ambush.

4 Giant Crickets: 4 feet long, enormous black eyes and antennae.

Monster Style: Ambush by leaping out of the darkness. Surprise bonus.

Monster Attack: Bite (1 hit). Also leap onto victim to crush (every third round of combat). A successful crush inflicts 2 hits and the character must roll 1-2 on a d6 to remain on feet.

Physical Attributes: 3 hit monsters. The chitin is especially tough and can be worked by a skilled artisan into shields.

Treasure: mason jars contain spell ingredients; 8 jars intact (worth 5 silver pieces each)

Encounter 4: Guardian

Hallway beyond the storm door has stone floors, walls and ceiling. Two recesses in the walls. Hall ends with another padlocked door. No natural light. Adventurers find a silver chalice on a two-foot pedastal in each recession. Each is filled with gray ash and engraved "My beloved: Angela, "Katrina," "Gabrielle," and "Bernice." The first three are tarnish and filled with cobwebs. Bernice's however, is polished and clean. Touching Bernice's chalice brings an immediate attack by the Inflictor.

Inflictor: Round blob of flesh with one large bloodshot eye and several specialized tentacles, hovering magically.

Monster Style: Attacks from ambush if possible, but usually for tormenting restrained victims. But it can fight. Moves slowly and cannot flee.

Monster Attack: 4 tentacles: acid (1 hit, and dissolves non-magical armor/shield on contact), razor edge (2 hits), flame (2 hits, short range), and thumb screw for painful (1/2 hit) on fallen victims.

Physical Attributes: 6 hit monster. Thick hide. Cannot flee, but can change altitude.

Treasure: Chalices are worth 5 gold each.

Encounter 5: Laboratory

Ransacked years ago, splintered tables and chairs, smashed vials, scattered papers, bones of all sorts scattered about. Among the debris, black slime.

Black Slime: 1 monster accumulates and feasts on rusted metal.

Monster Style: Clings to walls or passageways where it gets scraped off. Subtle, often not noticed until damage occurs.

Monster Attack: Stinging irritation to exposed skin, leaving a rash (no damage). All metal is corroded and dissolved. In 3 minutes, weakens metal. After 6 it is rusted, pitted and useless.

Physical Attributes: Washed or burnt away.

Treasure: Nothing of value. Papers are legible in an archaic language and signed by Carlock, about a large beast he was building out of parts of other animals. It is not known whether it was completed. It lives on the pain of others.

Encounter 6: Old Torturer

Magical darkness suppresses all natural light. Adventurers can feel their way along, bumping into tables with skeletons strapped to them, cold steel implements lie on the tables as well. The Executioner resides here, trying to get the adventureres onto the stone slab tables, empowering the beast in Encounter 10. Each hit against the adventurers powers up the beast in 10, doubly so if the Executioner can get an adventurer on a slab.

Hobgoblin Executioner: 1 7-foot tall, wears a black hood, thick gloves, shaggy brown fur.

Monster Style: Grabs a poker and hot tongs. If he captures a player, he'll chain them to a slab. He can dissipate the darkness with a single command.

Monster Attack: 1 hit for the poker, 1 hit for the tongs

Physical Attributes: 2 hit monster, leather armor equivalent from hide. Speed and dexterity equal to human.

Treasure: Four stone blocks have been worked loose and put back into place--easy to spot by a dwarf. One contains jewelry taken from victims: pearl earrings (50 gold each), amulet (15 gold), rings (75 gold total), pair of gold teeth (5 gold each).

Encounter 7: Library

Smashed and ruined tables and chairs, pages of books mostly shredded and decayed. The room is especially cod and drafty. The ghost of Bernice roams the room, protecting the letters Carlock once sent her. She is jealous of all living beings, especially females. Each year of aging inflicted bytheghost further powers the beast in Encounter 10.

Minor Ghost: 1 Bernice appears as monstrous flying hag.

Monster Style: Activated whenever a book or paper is touched.

Monster Attack: No physical damage, but ages them from 1-4 years from fright. Characters must roll 1-2 on a d6 to avoid the fright (and aging).

Physical Attributes: 3 hit--only silver or magical weapons inflict damage. Can fly, turn invisible, and fly through objects.

Treasure: Love letters bundle, tied with ribbon, hidden in a drawer. Last ones mention "the mine is theheart of the beast" and "from the heart of the beast I will love you forever." Be sure to work a lot of sappy, bad poetry to make clues less obvious.

Encounter 8: Half Troll

Large coffin, padlocked from outside, wrapped in chain and rope. Wood has splintered a bit--as if something inside had tried to get out. Inside, a half-troll beast which slumbers often, but wakes whenever someone tampers with the coffin. It will get out this time in 1d3 rounds.

Man-Troll: 1 man with troll flesh stitched/grafted to him.

Monster Style: Brutish advance, no tactics.

Monster Attack: 2 claws (1 hit each). Poison on every other strike. If both claws hit, hugged and bit for one more hit.

Physical Attributes: 4 hit creature. Will regenerate 1 hit each round if hit by edged weapons, but NOT from fire or acid attacks. If head is cut off, will stop regenerating.

Treasure: Secret door in small chamber (stoop to enter), a dust-covered chest. Locked and with a poison needle trap: roll 1-4 to avoid needle. If stabbed, 1d6 hours of sickness. inside, 5 leather bags hold 100 silver coins each, and 25 bags hold 100 copper coins each. Several same-size empty bags are inside each.

Encounter 9: Meat Room

Corridor behoind secret door rough hewn from the rock. Chill breeze brings stench of rotting flesh. Opens to large chamber holding carcasses dangling from chains, buzzing flies, maggots, etc. Characters must get through chamber without banging against carcasses--poisonous larvae upon contact.

Poisonous Larvae : Gray and slimy with red bulbous head, no bigger than a thumb..

Monster Style: Love to burrow into living flesh.

Monster Attack: 1d4-1 will crawl through clothing before first will burrow. Three bites inject enough poison to slow a man to half speed, six bites knocks unconscious, nine kills man.

Physical Attributes: Easily plucked and any damage will destroy.

Treasure: None

Encounter 10: The Beast

Rough cut chamber slopes away into darkness. Yellow eyes peer from the gloom. A small yellow box glints in the torchlight froma shelf.

Carlock's Beast: 1 magical animal construct: body of a lion, wolf head, eagle wings, octopus tentacles. Thrives on pain and suffering of others.

Monster Style: Semi-intelligent, sizes up opponent. The room is the lair, defends to the last. Attacks weaker ones first, to gain from inflicted pain.

Monster Attack: Three attacks per round. Two claws (1/2 hit each), jaw (1 hit). Also grapple victims in tentacles 12 feet long: roll 1-3 on d6 to avoid tentacle grasp.

Physical Attributes: 2 hit monster. It also gains "phantom hits" whenever characters suffered damage--for every hit adventurers suffered since encounter 6, beast gains 1/2 hit. Any successful aimed attack against the heart (Carlock's) immediately kills beast. Hide is tough as chainmail, flies, and runs at Lion speed.

Treasure: Gold box contains cloud pepper--powerful spell component that mighty wizards will pay thousands of gold pieces for back in the civilized cities.


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