[WiP] What's happening under Iorek's Tower - Creepy Crypts Dungeon

EukalyptusNow

I've started mapping what's under the ruin of Iorek's Tower

The basement looks empty at first glance. There's a prison cell behind the secret door.

A (rather strong) prisoner managed to dig through the wall into the old tunnels behind - and eventually escaped through a hole he covered up with the boulder.

After his escape, he told others of the tunnels and the pit going deeper underground.

These old tunnels might just be the location of a long forgotten treasure my players - and some other people are searching for... at least that's the idea for now.

Will add the other levels as I progress. For now I haven't added lighting to keep the map readable.

EukalyptusNow

Going deeper:

If our adventurous heroes climb ( or - gods forbid - jump) down the hole, they will enter the Mushroom Caves - which are the uppermost level of a lair / underground laboratory.

The creatures inhabiting it grow two different kinds of mushrooms: A "healthy" type, with mild healing properties and a strong scent (which may be used to fool the creatures, whose primary senses are hearing and smell)...

... and a flesh-dissolving, slightly magical type, that requires flesh as nourishment, which the creatures try to provide in the form of unfortunate adventurers.

The "bone disposal hole" near the mushrooms may actually be used to climb down to the lower levels, allowing for a dangerous stealthier approach than the central shaft or the stairs.

A few items that resisted the corroding spores of the mushrooms were considered "special" and placed on a stone slab serving as makeshift altar, along with special "holy" mushrooms.

Looking forward to running this - haven't done "old school dungeons" in a while.

EukalyptusNow

Third level - This is where things start go get interesting:

This is an abandoned experimental facility. It's purpose was to weaponize rock-creatures of the underdark that reproduce by multiplying through magic energies and a bath in certain substances.

The spidery "worker clones" climb up the central shaft to collect the mushrooms for the magic cloning baths. They also bring corpses to the mushrooms and dispose of the bones in the "waste room". They will only attack if their opponents are severely handicapped (such as when climbing), or as a last resort.

The Golem-like warriors are comparatively slow but very sturdy. They are activated only by magic command from the central control crystal (which will be at lvl 4), or when intruders attack the workers / trigger certain alarms.

The enchantments controlling the clones are slowly growing weaker, so both close types will occasionally display traces of their original behaviour, or simply erratic behavior before reverting back to "program".

Years ago, some adventurers dug a small tunnel that bypassed the portcullis from the main stairs. They then fell victim to the warrior clones.

Details of cloning and clone storage rooms:

"Stuff no one will ever notice" ;) : Outer magic circles drawn using the the bronze inlay texture from Marine Dungeons 2:

The waste disposal room, with the remains of two "decommissioned" worker clones: