Saturday, 8 November 2025

Gnome Muderdomes

























So while plotting gnome eco domes possibilities, i came across this terrible idea.

I did play a session where players where given a moon portal mirrie and it instead sent them into a biodome where they soon figured out it was not quite the moon but did find pyramids, a prison, moon toads and met crystal star sprites. Took out a security checkpoint and met fish people living in the works of the platroom they had flooded. The players solved the simulation quickly but appreciated the effort of making a 1km wide moon simulation. 

So another level of Chagrinspire with 5x 1km domes but instead of science and education and a bit of bloodsport fun for elites, these are for simulated battle.

Also known as gnome battledomes but the murderdome name is used by more corrupt gnomes. In theory, they are operated for training and millitary research but a corrupt faction are just exploiting Nullist Black Sphere resources to destroy reality to just make money and enjoy bloodsports. Gnomes working in this area may be corrupt, sadistic capitalists subverting the benevolent plan to erase all history and reality. Like the gold cube cult who want to turn all nass in the universe into gold, which they will admire from a 2d adjacent plane.

The victims of the murderdome are sourced by various means, and most dont know they are in a simulation with an illusory sky and distant scenery. Lots of specialist illusion magicians work here. Once held, victims may be sent straight to a dome or may be made unconscious so they can be studied and cloned before release. This allows interesting ones to be reused again and again. Gnomes might snatch interesting subjects who are otherwise about to die so as not to waste them. Maybe a party start as clones in a dome, unaware they are in a simulation.

The workers in structures around the dome are similar to eco domes with labs, technicians, offices, observers and planning rooms. Information on doors and observation are the same, except it may have a spectator's seating for possibly hundreds or thousands of gnomes arrived by train.  

Sides are usually capped at 100, and the planning offices have an elaborate point buy system operated by Golem cognitive engines to set various odds. Everything is documented, and information of factions has a section in their vast library stacks. You could allocate 100HD per side to simulate this. 100HD kaiju are fine, but handling them is difficult and they may have bombs implanted in their brains. Some exercises are intended to by unfair in numbers-wise or might have other benefits like fortifications, resources or technology. 

Each dome has subsurface areas for underland warfare drills. Sometimes, a vast illusion can project the dungeon levels to the observers while the inhabitants need never know.

1 Wasteland dome - simulates the wasteland during or after the apocalypse

2 Savage dome - simulate tropical prehistory, lost islands to plunder and monster island 
3 Sea dome - simulate marine battles and colonial control
4 Auldwood dome - simulates temperate woodland a vast frontier with elfland
5 Arena dome - a sports field for gnome entertainment

* and sometimes hell just ad fire, lava, undead and devils

Wasteland stuff see DrWho The Wargames and Genesis of the Daleks
For savage stuff see land of the lost TV show
The Prisoner tv series might be possible in a secret psyop minidome
The Starlost has isolated domes ignorant they are on a ship
I considered a section of Shadelport in a simulation or Exile Island

You could make ruined versions with surviving inhabitants.

Players best in the wasteland dome and to not be aware it is a simulation. Then let them break into other domes and finish with them in the Arena dome where they might be welcomed as contestants or thrown in prison. This could make them famous in gnome civilisation.

d12 How Was Subject Kidnapped by Gnomes?
1 Found a portal in a ruin
2 Went through a door in a dungeon
3 Found a magic pool in a strange wood
4 Activated a teleportation trap
5 Found a tiny door in a tree
6 Falling from a cliff
7 Sunk in a ship or sucked into a whirlpool
8 Hired mercenaries take on the underground train
9 Gnomes led into a cave to escape enemies
10 Gnome kidnappers came in the bedroom by night with a paralysing ray
11 Gnome airship fired teleportation trays
12 Snatched from certain death by planar beings serving gnomes

d12 Scenarios
1 Two entrenched factions battle 
2 Invading force vs entrenched faction
3 Fortified faction with two rival invading factions
4 Two invading factions battle over an objective 
5 Fortified faction besieged by an invader
6 Extermination, faction wipes out a weaker defender as fast as possible
7 Round up and capture, and imprison civilians
8 One faction invades and builds defences, then the other invading factions enter
9 One advanced faction vs a larger, less advanced faction
10 One faction vs a horde of monsters
11 One faction vs a single huge monster
12 Gnome forces crush d3 factions for training (no public viewing)

d12 Battlefield Objectives
1 Food cache
2 Armoury
3 Civilian village
4 Bridge or road
5 Resources like wood or minerals
6 Millitary bunker
7 Laboratory bunker and staff
8 Transit hub (rail, docks, canals)
9 Water supply
10 Relaxed defending faction raided by an informed enemy with planning
11 Monsters lair with vast treasure
12 Super weapon or relic

d12 Complications
1 Extreme weather
2 Limited food or water resources
3 Limited equipment (ammo, fuel)
4 Obstacle (river, canyon, lava)
5 Wild humanoids know terrain well, hostile to all 
6 Supply cache at various locations
7 Undead arise from anyone killed
8 Dangerous monsters live here
9 New alien faction hostile to both arrivals
10 Gnome spies meddle with both factions for training
11 Underground structures d4 1=bunkers 2=tunnels 3=dungeon 4=caverns 
12 Reinforcements are called in if a certain objective is taken

Each dome has its own faction, encounter and terrain tables.

Factions might be somehow from the past and stored in stasis or cloned or recently kidnapped.

Dome 1 Wasteland Zone Dome
War torn battlefield and ruins modelled on the trenches and ruins around chagrinspire. It can simulate battles of the apocalypse war, current warfare and secret exercises for invading lower levels of Hell. Mostly gloomy skies, mud, trenches and ruins. There may be train tunnels and bunkers underneath.

d12
 Wasteland Dome Terrain
1 Trenches and dugouts
2 Bunker
3 Ruined village
4 Ruined church
5 Ruined factory
6 Ruined fort
7 Abandoned military camp
8 Abandoned prison camp
9 Muddy flats
10 Minefield
11 River with 
floating corpses 
12 Craters from bombardment or shells, possibly unexploded ordinance buries

d12 Wasteland Dome Factions
1 Ancient allied soldiers (ww1 or Napoleonic tech)
2 Black sphere clone corp infantry (ww1 or
 Napoleonic tech but clones)
3 Crusader knights (1300s crusaders)
4 Templar priest order (1300s crusaders)
5 Chaos warband (mutated templar heretics)
6 Undead crusaders (as above, but hungry, vindictive undead)
7 Dwarves army with blackpowder muskets and muskets (1500s tech)
8 Elves and goblins skirmishers (no guns)
9 Barbarians abhumans (human, beast and elemental)
10 Ancient Exilon City State with chariots
11 Scavengers, an irregular skirmishing force (mostly criminals, 1in6 mutants)
12 Alien minions of the outer void (old ones spawn)

d12 
 Wasteland Dome Encounters
1 Mines or boobytrap with bait 
2 Area slioppery with mud 
3 Muddy obstacles like a 
sucking bog
4 Undead soldiers arise from mud (or swarm undead body parts)
5 Scavengers hungry for loot and meat
6 Landshark
7 Giant carnivorous beetles
8 Giant maggots or flies
9 Giant worms burrowing and eating dead
10 Giant mosquitoes
11 Swarms of rats, giant rats or gargantuan rats size of cavebears
12 Feral automaton or deathguard flesh golem

d12  Wasteland Dome Events
1 Thunderstorm and darkness
Fog covers the battlefield
3 Hear distant sirens
4 Hear distant thundering of artillery or fireballs
5 Rain makes everything muddy and treacherous
6 Snow and cold, mud and pools freeze 
7 Hot and stinking, millions of flies choke air  
8 Stinking miasma or gas
9 Rat stampede of many swarms fleeing something (flood, gas, hunger, monsters)
10 Flying machines fly overhead 
11 Bombardment from artillery or airships
12 Helish giant flaming pools appear, smelling of sulfur, resembling parts of hell

Dome 2 Savage Zone Dome
Steaming tropical jungle with sinkhole caves, carnivorous plants and dinosaurs. For training in jungle warfare against mostly tribal peoples for their airship raiding expeditions around the world. Popular for gnome spectators wanting to see people fight dinosaurs. Their are caves beneath, crawling with monsters. Ruins and treasure here are a distraction or bait for traps. Their is lots of streams, lakes, pools, wetlands and some beachfronts that look nice to land on.

d12
 Savage Dome Terrain
1 Rough cliffs
2 Thick foliage
3 Monster lair
4 Ruined shrine
5 Ruined rubble or shattered pyramid
6 Huge skeleton
7 Pteradactyl nesting rocks
8 Quicksand bog
9 Carnivorous plants
10 Ritual ground
11 Occupied humanoid village
12 Volcanic vent

d12 Savage Dome Factions
1 Reptilian folk war band with dinosaurs
2 Sepant folk wizards with cultists
3 Shipwrecked human sailors
4 Jaguar folk tribe
5 Human tribal cultists who need sacrifices to feed the gods
6 Jungle goblinoid tribe with goblins. hobgoblins and 
7 Bat folk serving their vampire goddess
8 Amphibian folk war band
9 Fishfolk and human cultists
10 Treasure-hunting adventurers tricked into the simulation
11
 Barbarian abhuman tribe or invaders via sea d4 1=human 2=orc 3=beast 4=elemental.
12 Alien minions of the outer void (old ones spawn) and cultists

Grey gnomes of the black sphere can make any type, even plant or bug, and will experiment a bit. They might also make halfling-size versions. 

d12  Savage Dome Encounters
1 Sinkholes d4 1=pool 2=overgrown 3=pit into cave 4=pit into pool
2 Choked in rapidly growing vegetation or carniverous plants
3 Muddy obstacles like a 
sucking bog or boiling mud pool
Giant amphibians d4 1=frog 2=toad 3=salamander 4=caecilian 
5 Giant insects d4 1=beetle 2=dragonfly 3=carniverous fly 4=bee or wasp 
6 Giant reptiles d4 1=tortoise 2=snake 3= 4=
7 Giant reptiles d4 1=fire skink 2=cave lizard 3=gecko 4=chameleon
Giant mammals d6 12=bats 2=rats 3=sabretooth cats 4=glyptadon 5=dire wolf 6=ape
Giant birds d4 1=gull 2=moa 3=hawk or eagle or owl 4=vultue 5=terror bird 6=dodo
10 Swarm d9 1=flies 2=mosquitoes 3=leeches 4=ants 5=bats 6=tiny monkeys
11 Synapsids 4 1=dimetradon 2=gorgonopsia 3=moschops 4=edaphosorus
12 
Dinosaur d10 1=raptor 2=ceratosaurus 3=allosaurus 4=tyranasaurus 5=saurapod 6=ceratopsian with d6 horns 7=pachycephalasaurus 8=stegosaur 9= ankylosaur 10=iguanadon

d12  Savage Dome Events
1 Earth shakes from quake
2 Volcanic vents flare up
3 Swealtering heatwave
4 Tropical storm
5 Invaders from the sea arrive
6 Inhabitant spell user meddles with controls
7 An imate magician knows its a similacra and tries to lead others to revolt
8 Airship passes and shoots some monsters for science or fun
9 Bloodred sky evokes violence and anger for a period
10 Cultists arrive to imprison or seal a primordial entity in a ceremony
11 Mutagenic storms rage creating new monstrosities 
12 Slimey horror from the outer darkness released from an arcane vault

Dome 3 Sea Zone Dome
A salty sea with islands and the water levels can be raised and lowered allowing for sea battles, sea monster, underwater species and maritime or flood scenarios. Also to train Gnome naval and air operations over the sea. Service staff will have a invisible submarine pen to maintain and stock the dome. Weather can be tested also. Ocasionaly some elder maring demon or god is trapped here for sport then harvested by industrial scale alchemy to fuel the Black Sphere operation nullification. The islands also have caves possibly connecting them or tidaly flooded. The gnomes snatch ships world wide but the straits between Exile Island and the Continant like Scar Reef islands are especialy chice grounds for a thousand years..

d12 Sea Dome Terrain
1 Tiny hilly Island
2 Rocks with seabirds and guano
3 Dangerous reef 1in6 with monster lair or aquatic people fort
4 Whirlpool
5 Tiny island with meadows and some woods
6 Tiny island with a cannibal tribe who hate outsiders
7 Tiny island with peaceful, friendly tribe vulnerable to exploitatio
8 Tiny Island with monster lair
9 Sargassum of gigantic seaweed
10 Dark trench where monsters of the deep battle
11 Sunken ruins of city
12 Underwater tribal folk d4 1=mermmaids 2=sea elves 3=fish folk 4=sea grass spirit folk

d12 Sea Dome Factions
1 Barbarian islanders with huge war canoes and martial culture (or any abhuman)
2 Pirates (likely from Shadelport)
3 Explorers ship from another continent 
4 Colony ships from another continent
5 Fish folk and cultists island folk
6 Trireme of mercenaries from age of exilon
7 Ship of adventurers
8 Undead ship and crew led by d4 1=vampire 2=lich 3=mummy 4=
9 Sea elves 
10 Vikings from the frozen north 
11 Tako octopus folk in giant nautilus
12 Sqid folk serving a kraken of the deep

Grey gnomes of the black sphere can make any type, even plant or bug, and will experiment a bit. They might also make halfling-size versions. 

d12  Sea Dome Encounters
1 Hidden rock or reef
2 Shipwreck or pirates
3 Sea giant or sea ogres or 
 sea trolls, shambling seaweed and barnacle-covered
4 Psionic dolphins
5
 Sharks
5 Sea serpent
6 Marine people d4 1=sea alves 2=fish folk 3=mermaids 4=marine iguana folk
7 Giant cephalopod d4 1=squid 2=octopus 3=nautilus 4=kraken warlock
8 Angry whale covered in wounds and rusty harpoons, people live inside
9 Vampire kelp or giant strangling kelp 
10 Sea wolf or other marine lycanthrope
11 Marine Reptile d4 1=plesiosaur 2=kronosaur 3=tylosaur 4=ichthiosaur
12 Dragon turtle or marine dragon

d12 Sea Dome Events
Sea level drops or rises 
4 Tidal wave
3 Fog cloud
Severe storm
6 Dead calm
7 New factions arrive by sea
8 Undersea factions fighting
9 Two new factions arrive to fight each other 
10 Sea choked in sargassum
11 Snap cold with glaciers
12 Gnome submarine trains secret manoeuvres

Dome 4 Auldwood Zone Dome
Temperate woodlands across the kingdom which overlaps frontiers of many coastal kingdoms, the great barbarian plains and elfland. It is divided by rivers, lakes, hills and open grassy areas appealing for human settlent. It is more used for training excercises and secret plans against faeriekind and every human kingdom on the continant (but mostly upper half frontier they share with Auldwood). Underground are caves and dungeons used for dungeon raiding expeditions. There are often ruins from the ancients and prehuman peoples. 

d12 Auldwood Zone Dome Terrain
1 Pine forest
2 Oak forest
3 Mixed forest
4 Haunted forest
5 Fungusforest
6 Sylvan forest
7 Open grassy area 1in6 with a village
8 Stream, river or lake
9 Knight;y Castle d4 1=haunted 2=cursed 3=robber knight 4=ocupied by humanoids
10 Ruined village & graveyard
11 Rocky outcrop with cave lair 
12 
stone circle or monolith

d12 Auldwood Zone Dome Factions
1 Goblin kingdom d4 1=goblin 2=hobgoblin 3=bugbear 4=all types
2 Goblinoid mercenaries d4 1=darkling creepers 2=norkers 3=kobolds 4=nilbog
3
 Elves bright overworld or night underworld types with goblin skirmishers and pets
4 Wood elves and sylvan forest friends and forest changelings
5 Orc soldiers of the dark lord thought log ago destroyed and made by wizards
6 Undead army d4 1=serve a underworld dark god
7 Faerie army with all kinds of spirits, talking animals, fey folk and sylvan beings
8 Giant or troll army with pets and minions
9 Abhuman barbarians d4 1=human wild folk 2=beast folk 3=orc 4=elemental
10 Human army with knights, archers and infantry
11 Dwarf kingdom d4 1=berserkers 2=black powder tech 3=forest dwarf 4=wicked underland dwarves
12 Wee folk d6 1=greencap wood gnome 2=blood lusting redcap gnomes 3=grey gnomes from underland 4=halfling folk 5=beastling (small beast folk) 6=sprites or brownies

d12 Auldwood Dome Encounters
1 Deer
2 Auroch
3 Wolves
4 Boars
5 Bearl
6 Lion
7 Unicorn
8 Satyrs
9 Centaurs
10 Beast abhumans
11 Lycanthropes
12 Faerie folk, elves or demihumans

d12 Auldwood Dome Events
1 Storms and rain batter the woods
2 Huge herds moving through the area
3
 Sunny lovely day
4
 Snow and fog
5 Witches coven comes from hiding in shadows
6 Underland fey corrupt a region
7 Giant fungus zone erupts full of giant bugs and goblins
8 Changelings offer food, wine or parties as a trick
 Undead arise from ground
10 Animals all talk briefly
11 Tree spirits or tree folk highly ambulant
12 Faerie army arrives from outside simulation, to cleanse everyone from woods or underland, Black Sphere troops sent in. Science teams working to capitalise on faerie presence as some kind of power source but results poor so far

Dome 5 Arena Zone Dome
A vast stadium surrounded by ruins and criminal slums. Underneath is a prison and a cursed labyrinth. This is used for sport, training, exhibitions of athletics and violence. Fights from any area might happen here and at times it is restricted for secret millitary exercises. There are race tracks around the outer edge and then fields for various sports within. A central gladiatorial ring has stadium seating for 10000 gnomes. Forces from any zone might appear here, usually facing other factions or to test deathguard flesh golems or automatons. It can be flooded for marine battles. The prison houses factions from various zones, and observing the prison is also entertainment for some gnomes. Prisoners may also be sent into the monster labyrinth below. Lots of ancient architecture celebrating aeons of deathsports.

d12 Arena Zone Dome Terrain
1 Track or sports field
2 Columns commemorating past victories
3 Statues of heroes of arena
4 Cages with monsters or prisoners
5 Shrines to deities
6 Podium for awards
7 Barracks for athletes and gladiators
8 Fighting pits
9 Trapdoors
10 Walls dividing up districts
11 Stadium seats for up close VIPs
12 Illusionary projections d4 1=propaganda 2=upcoming fights 3=past battle scenes 4=cheering crouds

d12 Arena Zone Dome Factions
1 Gladiator school
2 Mixed prison population, fight together or die
3 Clone Corp human infantry with Napoleonic or ww1 kit 1in6 in bicycle corp
4 Mutant chaos warband 
5 Athletics team 
6 Adventurer party
7 Crusader knights and cleric templars
8 Cultists with a summoned entity or petty god
9 Abhuman beastfolk in barbaric finery
10 Scavengers from wasteland, cowardly but sneaky scouts and irregulars
11 Mercenary land knights of the warring lands of the east
12 Barbarians from some harsh region of the world, hostile to all strangers

d12 Arena Zone Dome Encounters
1 Trainer and athletes
2 Gladiators training or on way to fight 
3 Tourists from the underground city
4 Gamblers d4 1=making bets 2=selling drugs 3=eyeing off force odds 4=rigging an event
5 School teacher and children 
6 Screaming gladiator fans want souvenirs and signatures
7 Children collecting war debris like shrapnel, bones, weapons
8 Cart selling snacks
9 Referees having a debate about rules and club financial scandals
10 Clowns who help handle monsters and finish off unwanted wounded, test corpses dead
11 Dancers who perform mid event shows and act as cheer squads 
12 Gnome mentaliss here to bully athletes and anyone with muscles

d12 Arena Zone Dome Events
1 Mid match show with d4 1=dancers 2=cheer squad 3=singer 4=propeganda rally
2 Closes for the cleaning crew to mop up blood, paint and patch  over battle damage
3 Millitary exercise d4 1=training 2=
officer school graduation test 3=weapon test 4=millitary  games
4 Great Gnome Games with gnome athletes and sports from across the gnome world
5 Giant political rally with millitary parade
6 Youth games for the next generation who will get a say in a few hundred years
7 Celebrity and commoners compete in a humorous but deadly obstacle course widely reported in the grey gnome civilisation (think old cartoons + bloody consequences or platform video games
8 Mass execution for cowards and traitors, death by d4 1=dinosaur 2=machineguns 3=automaton 4=steamroller driven by lottery winner
9 Automaton events d4 1=amateur killbot builds 2=ballgame between different automaton guilds 3=collosus fight 3=obsolete automaton demolition derby
10 Children's program where gnomes bring their kids and special shows d6 1=princesses on ice 2=life size golem toys toy teams battle to the death 3=candy golems fight to death and luck select children eat the remains, 4=dramatic reenactment of a Black Sphere crushing some primitive foreign humans from beyond this continent, presented and humour 5=clown gladiators, 6=reject gladiators mutated into horrors and chased by gnomes in tiny battlecars
11 Turkey Shoot, where rich gnomes and followers hunt various captives and monsters as a team sport. Some might be guild or school teams. An amateur event selects audience members to hunt or be hunted
12 Vehicular and mounted combat

Black Sphere Forces
Most forces have 100 fighters from the below table, and 2 or 3 branches might cooperate on bigger operations. Most will have a support unit. These can be used anywhere.

d12 Black Sphere &Grey Gnome Forces
1 Clone Corp human infantry with Napoleonic or ww1 kit 1in6 in bicycle corp
2 Orcs Corps made in a factory by alchemists
 with Napoleonic or ww1 kit 
3 Abhuman beast folk clones
 with Napoleonic or ww1 kit 
Gnome Infantry with Napoleonic or ww1 kit but slightly better than non-gnomes, 1in6 in bicycle corp
Gnome Marines for amphibious assaults with better (ww2) heavy weapons but also use submarines, canal barges, paddle steamers, ironclad warships, inflatable rafts and patrol boats. Mostly work from rivers, canals, swamps and the lake 
Giants, ogres and trolls with head scars and antenna installed and gnome handlers with control devices
7 Gnome Secret Police Deathsquads with automatic weapons and stick grenades
8 Gnome Tunnel Fighters are sappers who use gas, explosives, trench guns, rigid armour and spiked clubs. Notoriously violent and with brutal improvised weapons and armour 
9 Automaton Corp with humanoid infantry
10 Deathguard flesh golem 1in6 chance go berserk any action
11 Air Corp with aerial bombardment from golem planes. Airships deploy death rays, gas or paratrooper infantry. Spotter balloons and even kites with gnomes for surveillance and to distribute propaganda
12 Tank Corp with mini tanks with cannon or machine guns (Reault WW1 style)

d12
 Black Sphere & Grey Gnome Support Squads
1 Trained carnivorous war apes with handlers
2 Cave lizard supply train with ammo, food and supplies
3 Automatons like spiders or pillbugs
4 Gnome snipers, invisible with anti-tank rifles or silent pneumatic needle guns
5 Mole machine is good for surprise moves and moving reinforcers
6
 Artillery, black powder drawn by ponies or shell-based artillery drawn by trucks
7 Gnome infiltration corp is are 
invisible saboteur and spies using dirty tricks
8 Undead human and orc infantry stitched together, controlled by necromancers. Includes d4 1=skeletal cavalry 2=flesh colossus 3=swarms of body parts 4=draconic lich
9 Alchemist Guild with lab wagons safely behind lines. Make ammo, rockets, explosives, incendiaries, slimes, germ weapons, gas weapons, drugs and even living troops with a factory 
10
 Iron colossus 50HD+ golem operated by gnome crew 
11 
Mentalism Guild squad of militarised gnome psychics 
12 Magus Corp, with some bound planar beings, undead spirits, elementals or lesser outer gods bound in a chest to deploy

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