Long Stair Dungeon Style Zones part 9

My current long stair game (see my blog) and proposed imperial dungeon engineer corp have military build rails into dungeons and put forward bases and armed camps in dungeons - so mega dungeon feels more like a wilderness game - escorts guard party till they get to new zone and can be met again (hopefully) to carry loot back for the party. A dungeon pigeon service or equivalent would be handy.

during first session players start zero then pick class by end of session - sorcerors work better than wizards because spells just pop into their heads from dreams not study. An academic studying xeno methodology texts could go wizard. The people running the gate know this and explorers are as much guinea pigs as anything. One character played an Islamic Imam who was  a cleric by end of session. A trap specialist became a theif who has dealings with base black market, while another has become an MP and wanted to be a paladin. Drone operator turning sorcerer worked well too. Finding a wand with read magic and a spell book at zero lv might help too.

One result of this has been running dungeon more like wilderness with sections more detailed like dungeons. I have railway lines and escorts move explorers to front line and new territory. Also forward bases can collect prisoners, loot etc. If we did another session (i was gaming with old crew in home state over hols) i would have 5000 orcs attack the gate.

http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/impirial-dungeoneon-engineer-corps.html

This is something i did before i came across long stairs which was heading in a similar direction in some ways. Im also reminded that prisoners since ancient times forced into mines so being locked in megadungeon with food given for loot seems plausible too. 3rd world diamond mines obviously search everyone and treat as a prison. May work for future game on my Exile island game.

I have considered a Gygaxian cavern, glacier, hell, stone barrows - prehistoric ruins of cave wizards and a boiler room settings. Some kind of aquatic level (a semi sunken city under pirate caves? Also treasure tables for each level so you can get gist of the style of each world more. Also considered with all these long stair games being fairly random sandbox would let me invest in role playing my npc's a bit more or even solo play.Will take requests but should be getting back to my gamma stuff.

Forbidden City Zone
A decayed jungle  filled ruin in a canyon, sprawling with pre human civilization. Savage beings dwell amid collapsed and ramshackled temples and streets. Things from the decadent past occasionally are spat from the past to menace explorers. Sealed vaults and elder portals sometimes release ancient inhabitants or trap visitors. Sewers and tunnels beneath the city lead to hidden crypts sealed with black secrets from the pre-human age. While outside the city the jungle has more monster filled swamps and ruined ancient buildings. Savage frog men, reptilians, tropical goblinoids and hideous mutants and mongrelmen call the city home. More magical monsters and dangerous beasts dwell below and hidden in well, caves and deep volcanic lakes. Reptilians are very comon but the ancient races included bat people, giant spider mages, serpent men, fish men, rat men, undead, draconians, doppelgangers which may still be found. Many parts of the city are sunken into caverns or been buried intact but some are open streets with sky and canyon walls surrounding the city. Exiting the city into the jungle seems difficult and dangerous. Anything above a certain height attracts flying monsters.

Forbidden City Zones Hazard 1-3 d20
1 Deadfall
2 Sinkhole to lower level
3 Mudslide
4 Wall collapse
6 Quicksand
7 Shadow of gigantic flying beast scatters local life
8 Spider web
9 Steak trap with diseased spikes
10 Pit, possibly ant-lion lair
11 Snare vine trap for one person
12 Net trap for small group
13 Quake shakes earth, shakes stones from above
14 Miasma of plague hanging over area
15 Flies swarm over party, any already wounded get diseased or maggots
16 Poison dart trap
17 Mudslide into depths or monster lair
18 Food spoiled by grubs, molds and slimes
19 Tribal totem curses any who pass it
20 Body of dark water or bog teeming with life

Forbidden City Mysteries 1-3 d20
1 Ancient scrolls or tablets from elder races
2 Strange idol of forgotten race
3 Cultist stash with mask, dagger and robe
4 Mummified corpse of ancient race
5 Tribal totem with shrunken adventurer head necklace
6 Slave escaped, actually from elder age and really lost
7 For a moment see a glimpse of city as it was in ancient times
8 Broken cart with scraps of merchant goods
9 Exotic escaped slave speaks unknown language
10 Desperate lost mad explorer with map
11 Scratch built ruined home of surface folk from only a few years ago
12 Disguised shape shifter pretending to be escaped slave
13 Goblin maid presents you with a human baby
14 Wall collapses revealing room untouched for thousands of years
15 Gurgling pool has shiny gold relics glinting on bottom
16 Mysterious seam on rock wall
17 Adventurer in trap almost dead
18 Freshly exposed tomb of ancients
19 Wall carvings or painting display ancients worshiping awful gods
20 Gateway to ancient past or other worlds opens at certain times

Forbidden City Encounter lv 1-3 d100
1 Ogres playing fatal violent contests with prisoners
2 Kobolds start fire in area, smoke chokes any nearby
3 Goblins playing dice with shrunken heads
4 Orcs with captured slaves of any sentient species
5 Goblin scouts on giant Flies, wasps or dragonflies
6 Goblin hunters riding giant crickets
7 Goblin head hunters with blowpipes and bows
8 Goblin shaman with body guard destroys food supplies with spells
9 Goblin champion with band of heroes seek to kidnap humans
10 Mongrel man leaps from trash heap to ambush
11 Horde of mongrel men lumber towards party
12 Mongrel men watch tribal leader battle
13 Orcs whipping mongrel men slaves digging
14 Orcs roasting a mongrel man on a spit
15 Were snake sorcerer with charmed followers
16 Were ape seeks a mate tries to join party to get close
17 Were crocodile guards a water feature
18 Were Hyena and gnoll followers follows party for days till weak
19 Were lion/panther/tiger rules local area with mongrel men slaves
20 Rust monsters looking fro scraps
21 Carrion crawlers with paralyzed victims
22 Giant ticks in dust heap
23 Orc adventurers exploring for loot or secrets for master
24 Lizard Men war band looking for things to fight - obsidian blades
25 Serpent man sorcerer with lizard men guards wants party knowledge
26 Serpent man in disguise tries to join party and aid them, has a laser
27 Young mage spiders ambush party with spells, at least one web spell
28 Bat man wizard covers area in darkness and gets his wingless inbred kin to attack
29 Bat men stalk party then attack at night
30 Frogman warrior challenges single combat
31 Frogmen band croak for more allies behind party
32 Frogman shaman offers healing for killing tribal enemies
33 Frogmen playing ball with severed head in a pond
34 Frogman riding giant warnewt guarding tadpoles
35 Frogwomen collecting spawn in reed baskets
36 Mutant frogmen exiles attack anything
37 Dragon flies overhead
38 Mongrel men worshiping heap of mud
39 Mongrel men with captured slave
40 Dumb pretty slave really mongrel man outcast, children normal mongrel men
41 Mongrel men Olympics pitiful displays of subnormal feats
42 Mongrel men about to butcher one of their own, all attack party
43 Mongrel men serving a serpent man, very disciplined and well trained, armoured
44 Serpent folk hybrid humans seek mating opportunities from party, then try eat them
45 Serpent folk hybrid human soldiers searching for slaves and sacrifices
46 Serpent folk hybrid human cultists seek to convert party and stay with them
47 Mongrel man shaman needs zombies, offers to buy party members
48 Dinosaur controls large area, hatched here from egg
49 Charmed servants of evil magic snake folk search ruins for sacrifices
50 Fish man war band hunting for sacrifices or food
51 Fish man shaman tries polluting party water with spells
52 Pack of wolf sized devil frogs hunting
53 Giant snapping turtle controls a pond
54 Giant toad tries to eat party
55 Anaconda or reticulated python constrictor snake
56 Piranha fill water body
57 Giant lizard (many species) always hungry
58 Human tribal savages exploring - suspicious of others
59 Savage dwarf headhunters with poison blowpipes, bows and darts
60 Green Elf savages looking to see if ancient evils afoot
61 Dark Elf merchants here to trade, was shops here a few thousand years ago
62 Shape shifted dragon tries to talk and aid with wisdom for new spells
63 Zombie citizens broke free from mudslide after 3000 years
64 Living mud heap oozes after party from bog
65 Bog mummy crawls from earth wants meat and fancy clothes
66 Shoggoth in drain oozes by, glares with hundreds of eyes
67 A great old one flown in from the stars, "you! native where is the embassy gone?"
68 Yith possessed wizards seeking ancient records
69 Yithian time space traveller with lightning wand and wand of digging at work
70 Zombie cultists chanting gods name as they attack
71 Frogmen and lizard men fighting over dinosaur corpse
72 Firenewts in imperial regalia searching ruins for ancient enemies
73 Firenewts on riding birds looking for easy prey wit javelins and fire
74 Kobolds swarm from the bushes, low morale skirmishers
75 Kobold shaman seeking proof this city was kobold owned
76 Kobold war band with archers, spearmen and swordsmen in ranks
77 Hobgoblin hunters with goblin followers
78 Hobgoblin tribals with obsidian bladed clubs
79 Bugbear mercenary seeks work for gold
80 Bugbear hero wants party help in tribal coup
81 Bugbear thugs think party look easy prey for food and slaves
82 Bugbear gang ask for modest toll fee
83 Bugbear lone hunter stalks party and surrounds camp with traps
84 Goblin gangs battling over an escaped slave
85 Fish men serving aboleth look for captives
86 Charmed humans serving aboleth looking for magic items and metal
87 Lizard men with rust monster on chain looking for bog iron and lost loot
88 Green elves cooking a carrion crawler bbq, happy to share
89 Mask wearing savage gnomes with slingshots and hatchets
90 Multiple normally hostile species having a swap meet
91 Cave worm pack - wolf size carnivorous grubs attack from ground
92 Shrieking cave fungi alarm goes off
93 Myconoids seek to trade potions for killing enemies
94 kenku monks here on pilgrimage to kill evil
95 Skeletons in ancient militia armour looking for outsiders to slay and flay
96 Sons of kyuss walk the streets from an ancient crypt or tower
97 Mage spider seeks to trade spells he can sell back in the ancient past
98 Kobold mage has fused 5 mongrel men into a flesh mech for him to pilot
99 Wizards and guards from exotic lands here to find elder secrets
100 Warrior on quest to find ancient gateway to past for quest







I did a few geomorphs too and will try to make a few every future long stair post.