Deuce Gorgon's Manster diary

October 1
Gil is coming over to hang out while his parents are out of town for the weekend. I've been working on this new adventure since the last time we all played and I can't wait to see if their characters can make it all the way through. I still have to add most of the traps and creatures, but that's the fun part. I don't know how far they'll get on the first night since they're going to be starting out in the secret dungeon below the real thing, but we'll see.

October 4
Gil's been bugging me all week to give him a hint of what his character is going to encounter, but I told him he's just going to have to wait. I did tell him that he better make sure his paladin stocks up on healing potions. I can't wait until it's game time.

Game Master Notes
Adventure Copy - Read to players

The trail of the evil sorceress has led you north through an ancient and uncivilized land of trackless wilderness. You are battle hardened and weary from the many adventures you have endured on this chase, but you sense your quarry is near so you push on, because that is what heroes do. The trail grows cold at the base of a massive canyon wall that stretches east to west for miles, unbroken in either direction. The wall ascends thousands of feet into the clouds, and its already smooth face is rendered practically unclimbable due to a coating to moisture and lichen. The only sounds are the dripping of water and the croaking of a single raven filtering down from somewhere above the clouds. The sun is beginning to set, and night falls quickly in the part of the world.

Sorceress' Tower - Lower Entrance

The sorceress has a secret lower entrance for her tower through a cave in the canyon wall. Teh cave is hidden by an illusion spell that makes the opening look like solid rock. The illusion mimics current weather and seasonal conditions so that it always appears exactly like the rock around it.

Player Check
Ask the player to make and Observation Check. If he succeeds, read: As the sun continues to set, you notice a single bat fly out from what appears to be the solid rock of the canyon wall. Hundreds of others quickly follow the single bat as they disappear into the fading light on their nightly hunt.

If he fails the Observation Check, then read: As darkness falls, you hear the growls of something large and hungry coming this way through the trees.

Room Descriptions For Map
1.Guardroom - The walls and ceiling are covered in soot. The remains of whatever furniture there used to be in the room.

2.Trap Room - A grate covers the floor for a small ledge around the edge of the room. An open shaft rises vertically from the room into the mountain above. If a player walks straight across the grate, thousands of gallons of water will pour down out of the shaft.

3.Map Room - Old brushes, parchment and inkwells are scattered about in the room. A large map of the kingdom lies on a table half finished.

4.Pantry - Shelves and cabinets line the wall. A few dried bundles of herbs hang from the rafters. Rusted pots and pans are scattered on the floor.

5.Kitchen - Two large ovens line the east wall, while an enormous roasting pit is on the west wall. A ten-foot wooden table sits in the middle of the room.

6.Serving Room - Shelves of china and few tarnished silver trays are stored here. Everything is covered in a fine coating of dust.

7.Plating Room - Four dumb waiters line the north walls for the purpose of sending food and supplies to the upper floors of the keep. Three of the dumb waiters are in disrepair: the one closest to the eastern wall is functioning.

8.Teleportation Room - The room is bare except for a giant tapestry on the west wall depicting the sorceress ruling the world and a teleportation dais carved from a single piece of black stone that sits in the center of the room. The dais is the only way to access the upper reaches of the sorceress's keep.

9.Antechamber - A few moldy couches line the wall. Scrawled above them are the words "There is no next."

10.Teleportation Control Room - This is a secret room. The door is hidden behind the tapestry in the Teleportation Room. Glowing tubes run the length of the room, feeding into a box with several levers. A faded map above the box seems to indicate a set of coordinates.

11.Privy - The south entrance appears to be for men. The north, for women.

12.Guardroom - A heavy iron door with multiple locks secure this room. Inside, a scarred and stained table and chair sit in the middle of the room.

13.Weapons Room - Racks for spears, swords and shields line the walls.

14.Barracks - There are ten bunks here with moldy and moth-eaten mattresses.

15.Officer's Quarters - Several charts and maps are scattered about the floor, and a tattered green flag hangs on the wall.

16.Training Cavern - Wooden dummies for sword practice and archery targets are staged about the room.

17.Underground Lake - The water is deep, cold an still. A strange glowing moss grows here, casting an eerie reflection on the water.