undermountain the maddgoth's castle, Dungeons and Dragons [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Undermountain:
Maddgoths Castle
by
Steven E. Schend
Table of Contents
Introduction
.....................................
.2
Adventure Overview ..............................
.3
Hidden Stories ....................................
3
History .........................................
3
Rumors ........................................
4
Details of the Dungeon
......................... .5
Ways In and Out
..............................
C10: The Tower of Cages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
C11: Maddgoth’s Quarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
C12: The Hoard Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
C13: The Armory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Undermountain NPCs and Magic
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25-32
6
The Caverns of Maddgoths Castle
................ .8-16
M1: Subterranean Shores
......................... .8
M2: Rictus Mortis
...............................
.8
M3: Waters-deep
Gate
............................
.9
M4: Ropers’ Gate
................................
.9
M5: Maddgoth’s Cavern
.......................... .9
M6: Cavern of the Great Carnage
.................. .13
M7: Cold Cavern
............................... .14
M8: Treasures and Trolls
......................... .14
M9: Room of Flickering Shadows
.................. .15
Maddgoths Castle
............................. .16-25
C1: Main Gate
................................. .16
C2: Grand Foyer ..............................
..16
C3: The Moat
................................. .16
C4: The True Gate
.............................. .18
C5: The Kitchen
...............................
19
C6: Supply Room
............................... .19
C7: Maddgoth’s Laboratory
....................... .19
C8: The Homonculi’s Lair
........................
.20
C9: The High Arches
........................... .21
Credits
Design:
Steven E. Schend
Editing:
Bill Olmesdahl
Cover Art:
Alan Pollack
Interior Art:
Earl Geier
Cartography:
David Sutherland III
Graphic Design and Production:
Dee Barnett
Typography:
Tracey L. Isler
Graphic Coordinator:
Robert J. Galica
A
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UNGEONS
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Introduction
elcome back to Undermountain and the second D
UNGEON
C
RAWL™
ad-
venture. The first D
UNGEON
C
RAWL
adventure was set in the highly-iso-
lated Lost Level of Undermountain, and its construction demanded that no
changes to its location or connections be made to it. Let’s face it—if it was
easy to find or to get to it wouldn’t be called “lost.” Now, with Maddgoth’s
Castle at hand, you’ll find that this adventure is much more open in its construction. It is easy
to move this adventure to any dungeon or adventure, as Maddgoth’s Castle only takes up a few
square feet!
Maddgoth's Castle is a miniature environment with strong story elements that will chal-
lenge any group of seasoned adventurers. To adventure in Maddgoth’s Castle the characters
must shrink to a size small enough for them to enter. They’ll find that their new size gives them
a unique perspective on the problems they’ve had to face in the past.
This adventure, like others in the series, will work as either a stand-alone escapade or as part
of an existing campaign. Maddgoth’s Castle contains ideas on how to link it to an existing
campaign. While this Dungeon Crawl module is set within the F
ORGOTTEN
R
EALMS
® cam-
paign setting of Undermountain, it can serve as part of another major dungeon on any AD&D®
world. This adventure takes place where and when you need it to.
Each D
UNGEON
C
RAWL
adventure contains features that make it usable in many ways. The
module provides many different entrances to the adventure setting, since more options allow
the Dungeon Master greater flexibility when linking the adventure into his or her ongoing
campaign. Other standards of this series include: rumors and hooks to entice the PCs to face
the dangers within; the hidden history and backgrounds on various parts of the dungeon (for
the DM’s info only); and notes on the physical condition and norms of the mapped areas of the
dungeon.
Each D
UNGEON
C
RAWL
module needs no supplementary products beyond the basic AD&D
rule books to become a full adventure. If the DM wants to link the adventure to his or her cam-
paign and expand the map and details, the adventure is easily adjusted to do so. In fact, it is
simple to connect this module to an existing Undermountain campaign in the F
ORGOTTEN
R
EALMS
world, given the many suggestions in the “Ways In and Out” section (page 6). One
small cautionary note, even though we encourage you to alter the dungeon to fit a personal
campaign, be careful. Each adventure location should be reachable only through the specific
entrances and exits given in the module.
D
UNGEON
C
RAWL
adventures are self-contained and playable in any order wanted by the
DM and players. Each adventure does have suggested ranges for PC levels (the average
strength of characters that can survive the rigors of that adventure). Besides that gauge, there
is nothing from keeping DMs from mixing and matching their favorite adventures with these
D
UNGEON
C
RAWL
modules. Maddgoth’s Castle is designed to be a challenge for 4-6 adventurers
of levels 7-10. A minimum of 40 levels of player characters is recommended.
D
UNGEON
C
RAWL
scenes are playable in a vacuum, but linking them together into a coher-
ent adventure or campaign adds more to your game. Imagine teleporting out of the Lost Level
after a long and drawn-out battle against beholders only to find yourself six inches tall and fac-
ing a flock of roc-sized stirges. Now, an Undermountain campaign doesn’t have to be this
tense, but that depends entirely on two things: What the players and their characters are will-
ing to take on and how merciful is the Dungeon Master? Answer well, as you enter the danger-
ous dungeon crawl around Maddgoth’s Castle!
2
he players will start this adventure in one of two ways:
They will either hear about Maddgoth’s strange floating
castle and come looking for it, or stumble upon it accidentally.
No matter which is the case, there are many obstacles for the
group to overcome before the castle.
Even finding this section of the massive dungeon complex
known as Undermountain can be challenging. Several carefully
hidden gates lead to and from the series of caverns in which the
castle is hidden. Players first have to conquer this magical maze be-
fore they can even attempt to find the floating castle of Maddgoth.
Once the gate obstacles are overcome, the party next has to
deal with the caverns surrounding the castle. This is not an
area for the weak of heart. Subterranean horrors like ropers,
trolls, medusa, and even the odd ghost or two haunt these an-
cient tunnels. Before winning the castle, the adventurers must
vanquish these foes. Their path will be difficult and fraught
with peril, but the means to triumph are there. It will take a
brave heart and cunning mind to win the day.
The cavern of the castle is in sight! Surely the quest must be
at an end? Don’t count on it. Getting to the castle is just half
the battle. Surrounding the castle is a field of magical energy
that shrinks any who contact it. Unfortunately, not everything
is affected by the magic. The adventurers will learn to look at
the tiniest creature with a new perspective after this adventure.
The castle is filled with tricks and traps. Merely getting into
the castle proper will test the most hardened group of heroes.
Once inside, the group will become embroiled in a struggle be-
tween homonculi and faerie dragons for possession of the castle
and its contents. The party is played as hapless pawns by both
sides. Can the group overcome the machinations of these tiny ti-
tans, or will they be squashed like the bugs they now resemble?
mountain
boxed sets and the
City of Splendors
boxed set would be
quite useful for playing this dungeon sub-level, none are necessary
for running the adventure as it is written here. There are notes al-
lowing for further development of the scenarios and tying them
closer to Undermountain, and those notes mention various details
within those boxed sets. Again, the details are helpful but not es-
sential to enjoying these scenarios as they are written.
Maddgoth’s Castle is a unique adventure. Since it is entirely
self-contained, it can easily be placed anywhere, in almost any
campaign. The history of the structure may have to be changed,
as well as the background stories of some of the important
NPCs. But all in all, you’ll find the castle can easily be trans-
planted to any small secret room in your favorite dungeon, or
placed on the top shelf in any insane wizard’s laboratory.
History
Maddgoth’s Castle is a relatively new construction in Under-
mountain. Halaster cleared a stalagmite-littered cavern and cre-
ated this miniaturized castle that floats upon a mithral spindle,
for reasons known only to himself. After this small shell of a
castle was built, he cast various spells to protect its exterior from
all spells, and then suspended it within a protective magical field
that shrunk all that touched it. That magical barrier projects
from crystals embedded in the ceiling and the floor of the cavern.
It remained an enigma that caused the death of many wandering
monsters, escaped slaves, and adventurers alike. After centuries
of experience, the creatures of Undermountain learned to simply
avoid the cavern of the castle, since they have had no luck in de-
stroying it or its magic. Only a handful of intelligent creatures
have entered the castle’s cavern in over 400 years.
While lucid dealings between dungeon delvers and Halaster
Blackcloak have been few and far between across the centuries,
Chollas the Variant managed to talk to Halaster during a trek
through the Underhalls in 1309 DR. The wizard apparently was
able to buy the rights to use and control the castle, the cavern
where it floated, and the gate nearby. All the transmuter needed
to do was provide Halaster with a number of spells and a vow to
help him create seven new creatures to unleash into Under-
mountain. Halaster yielded control of this floating miniaturized
castle to Chollas a mere 27 years ago, creating a two-way link
between the
gate
to a similar one in a cellar of Chollas’ home in
Waterdeep. However, Chollas never completed his assignment
of creating new creatures for the dungeon. Soon after gaining
control of the castle, Chollas and his three apprentices began
additional construction, as the castle was found to be only a
shell with no internal structure beyond the floor and outer
walls. Within two weeks of claiming the castle, Chollas and two
powerful archmage friends of his were slain upon using the gate
to reach the castle. The youth known then as Phyrgoth had
drawn his fellow apprentices into a conspiracy against the stu-
dious old mage and they killed him. Phyrgoth then turned
against his fellow conspirators and slew them in turn. Phyrgoth,
soon to be named Maddgoth, was just a 7th-level transmuter a
few weeks shy of 25 winters, and he now claimed this secret
hideaway as well as the collective property of six wizards!
Phyrgoth quickly learned how to use his unassuming and
youthful features to gain the trust of other wizards or their
power-hungry apprentices. His lies and intrigues were easily
swallowed by the greedy and grasping, but their avarice was al-
ould that avarice and wizardry were mutually exclusive, but
that is rarely so. Among all the Realms’ peoples, wizards
are those deemed most likely to hoard items mundane and arcane
alike. Only dragons are more covetous in nature. Those who would
steal from sorcerers and dragons alike should best mind these words:
Those who lust after things of power protect their interests well, far
more than a cautious man guards his own life.
Lady Laeral Silverhand-Arunsun, Lady Mage of Waterdeep
Quite a few of the facts detailed in this section are revealed to
the players only through role-playing with the relevant NPCs
of the area. Of course, some of these facts shall remain totally
unknown, since not even the characters relevant to the areas
know much of the history. With the spells
stone tell, legend lore,
and the like, basic information may be discerned, but Under-
mountain guards its secrets well and Halaster alone knows all its
tales. The material herein is provided exclusively for Dungeon
Masters and should help them formulate plans for combat and
role-playing within the designed areas of the dungeon.
This module uses a number of references to Waterdeep and the
greater dungeons of Undermountain. While the
Ruins of Under-
3
Adventure
Overview
T
Hidden Stories
W
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