Long Stair Dungeon Style Zones part 4

Second long stairs game went well. Will continue another few of these zones.

Zones part 4 - Amber  Zone
Zones part 5 - Alcheringa Zone
Zones part 6 - Cyclopean Zone
Zones part 7 - Lost Temple
Zones part 8 - Forbidden City

I should probably read the second long stair forum on rpg net too and see if i can add my content there. Four more emo class descriptions too too with my proficiency rules and spell lists. Then ore campagn stuff. Was given a 2nd ed moster folder too which is handy. Frightening at my memory of the 1st ed monster books - or is there just a kind of logic once learned is easy Looked 4th ed ones again - some cool ideas but variations and monster feats take up lots of space. Undecided if short best for DMs but i suspect short description with essays on types better.

Last session the party found an invisible imp and it followed them home. A few weeks working and studying later and the base suicide rate had doubled. Map disappeared and other oddness. Ordered to not speak dungeon languages above 3rd landing (?). Their grumpy corporal was in prison for a stabbing and confessed voices told him to. A bit of investigating and getting a K9 unit (dog + handler) to help they tracked the imp and barley managed to touch it with 200 rounds and a few silver shots. Chandra used her magic missiles and stopped it. They wrapped imp in a silver net and had locked up. Stolen maps had imp obscenities, devil sigils and extra section beyond known exploration in the goblin mine marked as "Amber Wizard". The Imp was using suggestion so has been sealed in electric pentacle in a sealed soundproof room. Silver vivisection tools and testing regeneration powers his reward.

A few days rest and some veteran squaddies in the ranks, the party set off to identify the map marked section. They passed a thin stone bridge over a giant pit where albino stirges attacked and Carter the forward scout missed being drained just. They next found gnomes trying to awaken a petrified nameless god, certain they would be rewarded. Hassan convinced them this was silly and they agreed they needed to know more. The gnomes advised a goblin distillery was near and the party found the goblins feeding donkey and carrion crawlers corpses int copper boilers. Bomb drone flown into boiler exploded killing workers and half collapsing building.

A skirmish with a goblin wizard who used stinking cloud on them was a mild hazard but he and his flunkies went down in a hail of lead. Found zombies digging up a crypt. Grenaide finished them off and party collapsed roof with demolitions charges on crypt. A trapped pile of coins, a bullete hole were found and the party camped behind a waterfall at a watering hole. While hiding they saw some dark elves lay spore bomb mines and later four kobold kids have a drink. Morning they rescued the same three and and a half kobolds from a giant spider. Someone put them in their backpack and debates over using them as bio drones ensued. The kids seemed keen to serve their heroes. A final battle with legless suicide bomber kobolds in go-carts was finished with a grease cantrip, but the blast blocked the tunnel resulting in a days digging. Finally the door to the Amber Manour was found.

A painting had an alluring effect on a female trooper so they slashed it out of its frame. Using a cable spy cam through the keholes was very effective and the party entered a room with music. The inhabitant introduced himself as Vincent De Cambion and was also lost (aparently). Found an alchemist (actually a hungry doppelganger) who also offered to join them. On the theory keep our eemies close they let the strangers travel with them. Moving on the next room fountain hid four bullywugs, three tribal and one with a puffy shirt, leggings, and a cutlass. Went down without too much trouble but they kept the dandy one prisoner and bayoneted the rest. They found a painting of hell where the Cambion revealed himself and climbed into the painting and said goodby. Kane was poisoned by a tiny gold chest but lived (just). Rooms of carpentry tools, another with cakes and another with baskets of thoroughbred puppies. The Alchemist put some in his pocket for "safekeeping". The dandy bullywug ate a puppy (for medicinal needs) and got death threats from party. They met a Dwarf busy smashing holes in walls looking for loot but he said the loot was his and kept going. A menagerie of monsters in cages provided easy XP in a barrel targets. With the entry missing the team started getting desperate. A flumph almost killed the geologist but Magic missiles finished it off when autofire would have killed both. An Amber family madman duelist insisted on fighting so they shot his legs out from under him and stabilized his wounds and left him.

Stepping through another painting after killing its inhabitants (four halberdier guards) they found a room of snow globes. If placed in a socket on a pedestal the painting would open a gate to a corresponding world. After opening the gate home they put a rope through and moved trooops both ways. More monsters came and a Shadow managed to wade through fresh troops with shields with gun-ports and route them. Finally escaped with all but one snowglobe, the bullywug dandy and kobold kids, sacks of puppies, a few books in medieval french, some paintings slashed from their frames and a magic fencing foil.

Fairly hilarious game in all and an impressive number of fights and encounters.

Probably back to gammaworld for a few months. Back in Sydney next week.

Amber Manour Zone
This region usually entered through a secret door, mansion doors or some other common door in another zone. The architecture is regal even baroque, but run down, abandoned and haunted. Indigenous aristocrats of the house of amber have been encountered, many masters of xenomethodology. The house is laden with art work, statuary and books of great material value. Many are works based on lives of the Amber line. Halls of bedrooms, dining halls, libraries, enclosed gardens, wine cellars, servants areas, hobby and folly rooms. Other creatures including shape shifting paradimensional entities, doppelgangers and lycanthropes have been met. Goblinoids and demihuman adventurer parties have been encountered along with lost humans. Some have been trapped for weeks in the place. The atmosphere of decadent decay and madness is pervasive but it has the best access to spell books. It is mostly well lit by magical candles and lamps.

Amber Manour Zone Hazard 1-3 d20
1 Crossbow trap
2 Gunpowder trap
3 Magical explosives glyphs
4 Pile of treasure marked with Amber family crest
5 Trapped writing desk
6 Collapsing book shelf
7 Cursed or peculiar item
8 Floor collapses to lower level
9 Dumbwaiter drops to lower levels
10 Trapped stairs
11 Doors sealed trap party in section
12 Magical guardians – statues, golems, animated weapons, etc
13 Furniture animates and attacks by surprise
14 Trapped treasure – poison needle
15 Poison gas trap in chest
16 Bee swarm occupies area
17 Magical fountain with quixotic properties
18 Madness effect save vs Wis, or minor mentail ailment
19 Painting urges party to enter then traps them in pocket world
20 Cursed scroll

Amber Manour Zone Mysteries 1-3 d50
1 Painting featuring pre-fall room with family members
2 Painting portrait of family member imprisoned in artwork
3 Painting is a gateway to o microworld with some drama afoot
4 Diary of Amber family member
5 Book of gothic poetry by family member
6 Magic journal of a wizard or priest
7 Spell book possibly trapped, cursed, poisoned or haunted
8 Book of blasphemous lore involving depraved rituals of imprisoned elder gods
9 Secret door or compartment found
10 Graffiti left by intruders and family members
11 Library of sprawling rotten worm eaten books
12 Collection of depraved prints of Amber family scandals
13 Portrait resembles party member
14 Gateway to alternate world
15 Poster of adventuring party as wanted, fresh printed and poster
16 Poster for circus or carnival dated for near future
17 Feast all laid our ready to eat, magical
18 Entangled in curse with Amber family doomed to repeat action in loop
19 Entangled in curse with Amber family, someone infected lycanthrope
20 Entangled in curse with Amber family, diabolic blasphemous magic gone awol
21 Alchemical lab filled with apparatus and ingredients
22 Summoner lab with magic circles and ingredients for rituals
23 Menagerie with caged and free range monsters
24 Talking parrot knew Amber family
25 Painting is a window to another plane
26 Painting of amber family with Adventurers family member
27 Trophy room with stuffed monsters, animals, unicorns and other beast
28 Exotic magical privy chamber
29 Magical bird lays bizarre magic eggs
30 Shaved tied up bugbear crying from ordeal
31 Room of adorable groomed puppies including poodles, spaniels and Pekinese
32 Strange collection room
33 Vivisection room with dissected creature in progress
34 Astrolabe room with astrology and astronomy books from many different worlds
35 Wardrobe with hundreds of regal outfits of family member
36 Cellar full of wine and cigars and cheese
37 Larder of family member with exotic unknown food items
38 Artisans room filled with tools and half made goods of one trade
39 Haunt face in wall, if opened chained skeleton inside
40 Torture chamber with skeleton victims and black robes
41 Secret meeting room with 13 chairs, hoods and secret society symbol
42 Prisoner manacled to wall
43 Map room of various globes and charts from different worlds
44 Painting is a gateway to different time place or world
45 Painting is a gate to another underworld zone
46 Painting of a populated town, friendly traders can be reached
47 Sculpture room sorted by theme, collection from various worlds and periods
48 Private study of some Amber family wizard, possibly haunted by him
49 Painting of Amber clan member inspires obsessive love if fail Wis save
50 Amber family member seems helpful but wants to pass on their curse to another

Amber Manour Zone Encounter lv 1-3 d100
1 Group of Amber family members engaged in some drama
2 Lone Amber family member glad to see you wants to be friends
3 Lone Amber family member and party member feel love on sight
4 Couple from Amber family ask help to break curse
5 Cambion rake wants party to introduce him to ladies
6 Wizard descendants of Amber looking for loot
7 Orc party looking for loot
8 Gnoll party looking for food
9 Kobold party putting up traps
10 Goblin wizard and entourage looking for loot
11 Bugbear wearing Amber crest asks for help to escape
13 Skeleton guards attack
14 Zombies attempt to capture party to return to master
15 Amber family member wants to duel
16 Amber family member accuses you of murdering kin or lover
17 Amber family member offers to show you something really amazing
18 Goblins eating somebody over fire from smashed furnature
19 Hobgoblin guards arrest party
20 Bugbear guards warn you to turn back
21 Haunt tries to waste your time with stories
21 Haunt wants to watch you eat a meal
22  Haunt guards arrest party to throw in corpse filled dungeon
23 Haunt from Amber family crazily attacks
24 Haunt from family declares love for party member
25 Elves exploring for magic and gems
26 Dark elves looking for cursed items
27 Dwarves looking for gold
28 Curious gnome band looking for mysteries
29 Dwarf offers to help you escape to another world for gold
30 Guards step from a painting and attack
32 Wight from Amber family crypt
33 Waterweird fountain
34 Medusa among statuary, Amber family member cursed by God
35 Giant Beetle from garden
36 Small elemental summoned and left behind
37 Imp who wants out and wants to use heroes
38 Frog men come seeking mates
39 Cloaker on a coat rack
40 Crypt Thing teleport you deeper in
41 Displacer beast from menagerie
42 Doppelgangers pretend to be adventurers or Amber family
43 Young bronze dragon trapped wants to join you
44 Cheeky pseudo dragon former familiar of Amber wizard
45 Dryad in a garden chamber with force protected glass ceiling
46 Eyewing spies on party for master
47 Giant frogs in pond, will stop for music
48 Ghouls and ghast from family crypt
49 Githyanki looking for mindflayer to kill
50 Githzerai looking for Githyanki
51 Phaze spider kurks in roof cavity left as a tiny one from extraplanar trip
52 Mind Flayer and thralls, very cowardly, eating Amber clan driving him mad
53 Scarecrow from the garden wants to be human or will kill you
54 Hungry lone lost Grell worker looking for food
55 Shadow creeps after party looking for weaklings
56 Witch looking for magic items, especially jewellery or mirrors
57 Evil duplicates step from broken mirror to fight
58 Halfling explorers seeking nice furniture
59 Amber wizard familiar offers its expert help
60 Item of furniture attacks
61 Animated weapon and or armour attacks
62 Harpy in avary shits on party and hurls abuse
63 Hell hound looking for victims to drag to hell
64 Kenku monks seeking books
65 Subterranean lizard camouflaged on ceiling
67 Devil swine claims Amber ancertry and offers his help
68 Manticore seeking revenge on Amber clan who did this to him
69 Lesser Mimic hidden as chair, door or chest or erotic statue
70 Mongrel men looking for master Amber
71 Phantom Count Amber fear attacks group
72 Greenhouse with unbreakable roof and killer plants
73 Poltergeist throws furniture and junk at party 
74 Rakshasa as human wants to join adventurers
75 Satyr from garden looking for ladies
76 Stirge Aviary with husk corpses about
77 Serpent man wizard disguised as human seeks commerce
78 Winged Panther pet of family
79 Large mummified crypt cat
80 Rascally Flumph hides in chandelier
81 Lesser demon/devil looking for souls to claim
82 Amber family lycanthrope willing to follow you
84 Animated evil toys stalk party crying mamamamamamama
85 A modron with an abacus and book recording population of area
86 A magic playpen of outer planes babies fighting while golem nanny tries to stop
87 Ape butler tries to serve drinks and take your coat
88 Zombie butler follows with tray
89 Amber wizard offers strange non adventuring magic
90 Amber family rake offer drugs, booze, women and other extraordinary vice
91 Amber family child looking for her pet, actually 400 year old wizard
92 Lost familiar looking for help
93 Amber family child haunts tease party and lead them to hazard
94 Ghost lights like willow-whisp but harmless observers and ill-omen
95 Stone Golem butler repairing damage
96 Wood Golem housekeeper cleaning room
97 Gibbering mouther made up of fused Amber family bound in room
98 Astronaut or robot hopelessly lost, possibly with laser
99 Amber family member with room full of polymorphed former lovers now animals
100 Hunting dogs now a feral pack with mix of war mastiffs, bull terriers, greyhounds and war pugs