Continuing my Tower of Visions dungeoncrawl posts (#1 is here). I’m
posting one encounter each time and later I hope to make some sense of the
whole thing.
Actually this encounter here is based on my friend’s first idea for the
dungeon: The Stairs of Mortality.
There is no room, just an infinity of darkness, an eternal abyss. The
only path through it is a set of stairs wide enough that can allow two people side
by side (but not fighting). The stairs appear to climb forever but there is a
light above. When the party enters it seems more like a star, as it is pretty
far. After climbing for a long time (enough for a long rest or 4d4 hours) the
characters start to see things coming from the Abyss (from all directions).
Mirrors, floating and rotating in the dark, each one man-sized and
diamond-shaped.
The mirrors start at long range (60-100 ft.) where it is practically
impossible to see their surfaces. When within medium range (0-60 ft.) the Judge
can allow a Perception/Luck so that a character can try to see details in one
of the mirrors (if the character succeeds roll on the table below and describe
it). Basically each mirror shows a possible reflection of a character. Each
mirror has AC 15 and 3 hit points. There are 1d2+1 mirrors per character. The
mirrors take 1d2 rounds to get really close to the party.
Once within medium range, ask for initiative (each mirror rolls
initiative on a d10). The action of each mirror is to cut a character, dealing
3d6 points of damage (but can’t reduce a character below 0). The target can
avoid this with an Agility/Dexterity check or any other crazy idea. If the
target tries to shatter or attack the mirror they also must roll on the table
below (although using a shield or some other protection could allow the
character a saving throw or Luck roll). Why that? Because breaking (magic)
mirrors is unlucky.
If a character falls to 0 hit points because of a mirror attack, roll on the table. If a character drops to 0 (i.e. is affected by a mirror), the other mirrors pass by and won’t attack that character that round. The mirrors will fly around the party for just 1d3 rounds then fly back to the darkness.
Finally, after the encounter, if the party keeps climbing the stairs
they reach the next door after more 4d4 hours of walking. If someone falls in
the darkness or rolls the ‘8’ result, consider that they appear again when the
party leaves the room (but again for them on the table ignoring any ‘8’
result).
Each effect below tries to describe first what the character sees in the
reflection. If brought to 0 hit points by that mirror, that reflection
becomes the reality.
The Mirrors of Mortality Table (Roll a d8):
1 - The character sees herself as a youth, almost a child. Reduce your
age to something around 10-14 years old (or the equivalent of your race). If
you have a positive modifier (or 0) in Str, Con or Per/Wis, reduce it by 1 (and
adjust the Stat). For example: in DCC RPG, if you had Str 12 (+1), you Str is
now 9 (mod 0). On the bright side, your Luck mod increases by 1 (if you don’t
use Luck, as in 5E, just give the PC a free Inspiration after each long rost…
the gods seem to favor the young).
2 - The character sees herself as old and decrepit. Increase your age to
something around 80-100 years old (or the equivalent of your race). If you have
a positive modifier (or 0) in ANY Stat reduce it by 1 (and adjust the Stat).
Check the example above. Your Speed is reduced by half. If you’re playing DCC
RPG, double your Luck points. That is how much Luck you have before you die of
old age. You don’t recover Luck points anymore. If you’re playing something
else, like 5E, you gain a number of Inspiration (yeah, I know it doesn’t
accumulate and I hate that rule) or Advantages equal to 7+1d6... after that the
Grim Reaper is coming for you.
3 - The character change sex and, because of that, one random stat
increases by 1d4 and another decreases by the same amount (no maximum and a
minimum of 3). If you like craziness, the Judge will select a secret trigger
(like “getting drenched” or “falling below 0 hit points”). When that trigger
happens change your sex again. If your character is for any reason sexless
(like a golem) you now have a sex (and the entire package), live with that!
4 - The character becomes his opposite. In most parties this means
inverting Alignment, god, philosophy, maybe appearance (for some reason Chaos
loves spikes and piercings) and general behavior. If playing the DCC RPG, the
Judge can choose a very different Birth Augur (or just roll again). The
character is still the party’s friend (this isn’t a free card to be a jerk). If
this is too much hassle then the reflection represents a different path in the
life of the character, one where a single and very important event played out
differently, according to the Judge’s call (for example: one monster or enemy
wasn't killed by the character or perhaps the character’s brother didn’t become
a villain etc.).
5 - The character sees herself as she is and is emboldened by that,
recovering either 2d3 Luck or 2 Hit Dice of hit points (Judge’s choice). If
rolled a second time, your reflection is actually more confident than you and
will come out of the mirror to begrudge you for not living to your fullest
potential. This reflection is now a real NPC, a better and bossy version of the
character (+1 to all Stats and maximum hit points) and will probably become an
enemy in the log time (or a very weird patron for the party).
6 - The character sees herself as a very young child (anything between
5-8) years old. Reduce her physical stats by half and add +2d3 to her Luck
(Stat and points!). Either the character is a 0-level PC or (my favorite
option) change her class to an Alice/Fool of the same level (the awesome class
from A Red and Pleasant Land).
7 - The character sees just a dusty skeleton. She was dead a long time
ago!***
8 - A black surface without any reflection.
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| Bye and thanks for playing! |
***[OPTIONAL] Believe it or not the entire “Rock falls everyone dies”
thing has its place in the game when used right. Adventyring (and
dungeoncrawling) is an extreme hazard prone career. In this particular
adventure it happens when the character is brought to 0 hit points by a crazy
magic mirror and then rolls a ‘7’ on a table. Not bad in my opinion but, as
they say, YMMV. So, if you don’t like this change the idea (or just remove the
entry and roll a d7). An option could be that for the ENTIRE world the
character died a long time (if you must roll a dice to know how many years ago…
like 1d4 or 3d6, depending on your campaign). This means that probably most of
the last adventures and deeds of the character never happened. Because the
party is inside the Tower of Visions they don’t know that and the entire new
timelines doesn't catch up with them. When (if…) they leave the dungeon they
will see a place where probably some things happened differently. The “dead”
character is now a living paradox, a weird clone of the original, the “true
character” which died some years ago. The Judge is encouraged to come up with
all kinds of weird and esoteric consequences: maybe divination magic can’t find
her anymore (remember, she is dead!), or she can’t be raised from the dead (no
soul?) or maybe she can’t burn Luck anymore (the Fates don’t know her) etc.
OR, if you don’t want to remove the character from the game and want
something crazy but more simple, just pick one of the cool un-dead classes from
the Gongfarmer Almanac and bring the character back.
[OPTIONAL] Place a NPC here to spice things up. He appears to be an old
goblin but is an immortal and cursed human called Dokab. Give him stats roughly
equivalent to a 5th level fighter (or similar monster of your choice). He is
seeking “the Mirror of Dust” (i.e. any mirror on the table that ages or kills
you) to remove his “undying curse”. The fact is that the mirrors of the Stairs
actually avoid Dokab, because he was cursed by a deity. Dokab did titanic
atrocities (and a few really good things) through the ages, usually with
different names and aliases. He just wants to die. He does not trust anyone and
so tells that he is looking “for a loved one trapped in a mirror”. If pressed
he’ll attack (he is pretty reckless as he can’t really die). His curse?
Basically, you can’t bring Dokab below 1 hit point unless you use something
like a Wish. Oh, if the party pushes him off the Stairs, roll a d6. There is a
1 in 6 chance that he hits the right mirror and the party (unwillingly)
releases him from the curse. However, if that does not happen, well, the party
will probably meet an angry immortal waiting for them outside the Stairs. The
Judge is encouraged to use Dokab as a recurring and really dangerous enemy. An
observation: if this guy is an immortal of legend why the “low level”? (although
in DCC RPG a 5th level Warrior is really something.) Well, he is immortal and
nothing can really hurt him, so he got a bit rusty with his skills. Although if
the party really rekindles his anger, he’ll train for a few months and “recover”
his lost levels (imagine if Alexander the Great was cursed not only with
undying and a goblin form, but also with never again rebuilding his empire…
imagine how pissed off he would be. That is Dokab. If you have ever read the
Malazan Book of the Fallen, this dude is Kallor but he looks like a lowly
goblin, which doesn't help). Oh, and removing Dokab’s curse will anger the
deity that cursed him. Use that to maximum enjoyment (of the Judge of course)
and start by removing a few Luck points.
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| Art by Amelia Plant. |
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