Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Megadungeons: Don't Fall Asleep!


"Good luck young adventurer! The Forsaken Halls await you. But a word of warning: do not fall asleep - it is said that those who slumber in the Halls will awaken only to madness! If you absolutely must pass a night in the Halls, seek you a place of sanctuary, such as a shrine of Law. Heed me well, for the town asylum is full of those who did not!"

Sleeping in the Forsaken Halls is not a good idea. Anyone sleeping for more than a consecutive hour must Save (vs. Spells) or wake up completely mad (Wis 1). The madness of the Halls plunges the victim into a waking nightmare, screaming, weeping, and flailing until remove curse or some similar healing is administered.

There are, however, a few safe locations in the Forsaken Halls. The challenge is testing them.

Taking a victim out of the Halls' can be dangerous too, due to all the screaming and wailing. Double the chance for wandering monsters.

This is a good way to discourage players from stopping to sleep every time the Magic User uses his magic missile spell up. The saving throw is an interesting way to handle it, because as characters level, their chance of making it through the night unharmed gets better. It also makes an interesting default trap out of simply getting the characters stuck in a room or difficult level for a long time, and have to start making some kind of save or check to stay awake!

8 comments:

  1. I used to grin like a loon when a PC would go berserk and attack a fellow PC. It was amusing to watch weeks of pent up anger and petty grievances come to the fore as PCs, who were not even effected by the magical insanity, began to attack.

    Good times...

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  2. You're had some really great stuff lately. When are you thinking of updating your Mega-dungeon Resource Page?

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  3. I like it - a very simple fix to a very common problem - the 5 minute workday. Just put the dungeon far enough away it's not trivial to head back to the village.

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  4. It solves the problem, and it fits the source material - thumbs up! Although I'd have a variety of possibilities, some more whimsical like 'get donkey's ears'.

    Just thought of another one - turn into a monster of Hit Dice equal to your level - and that's where monsters in dungeons come from.

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