The Dim Expanse part IX

Two more pasted rooms from my Dim Expanse files. Both have been ventured through by the first party to set foot in Ulin-Uthor. The first example is a risk-reward area that sits in a junction of sorts, so it has been traversed a number of times during play. Thus far it has been nothing more than a nuisance as PC's scamper through it. The Magic User member of the party risked life and limb twice trying to figure out exactly how to claim the large tome, to no avail. I'll probably change the magic command word in the future.

7: The Flying Books. This large, dusty room has a 20’ high ceiling and is stocked with leather bound books, numbering in the hundreds, sitting upon shelves lining the walls. At the room’s center are various dilapidated pieces of furniture. A few dusty old books are scattered about on the floor. The books are all enchanted, and when someone enters the center of the room, books will begin to shake, kicking up dust and falling from the shelves with a thud. Then, the books will begin to ‘flap’ their covers, and will soon flit about, clumsily taking flight. Seemingly harmless at first, the books will begin to gain momentum. Within a few rounds, the room is filled with flying books, colliding into each other, and the walls, and anyone still in the room. Small squeaky voices in various languages begin to demand “Read me!” “No, ME!” “I’m more interesting!” “I’ve a better plot” “I have fancy drawings!” etc. Every round after the books reach speed, a character will have to save vs. PoD or suffer 1 damage from a book. One particularly huge tome flies slowly about the room. There is a 1 in 10 chance of taking a hit from this book, inflicting 2 damage instead of 1. All of the books reset if no one is within the room, or if the command “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” or any variation thereof is uttered. When the command is used, all flying ceases for 1 full day. Only the large tome will allow itself to be opened, and NONE of the books may be removed from the room (they fly back).

The singular large tome is actually a spell book. It contains: Shield, Sleep, Charm, Magic Missile, Knock, Mirror Image, Web, Dispel Magic, Hold Person, Confusion, Polymorph Self, and Hold Monster.

Lastly, another example of a Recurring Encounter. In Solstice, Goblins are spawned from the very chaos of the underworld, and this area is the result of a failed experiment by some long forgotten Magic User.

20: Goblins Gone Bad! Rooms 20-21 are crawling with the basest form of Goblin spawning, a failed experiment having produced these virtually mindless, violent Goblins. The Goblins Gone Bad are all stooped mottled yellow and orange and each seems to have some sort of defect; no mouth, one eye, ears in wrong place, three arms, two heads, etc. The entire area is demolished and collapsed due to the GGB clawing at the walls, slinging rocks, bashing one another, or anything that moves. Their number is constantly replenished at the Spawning Pit in 21. GGB will not attack on sight, but rather each round when PC’s are within 20-21, there is an accumulative 1 in 6 chance of an attack, reaching 6 in 6 by round 6. Once GGB attack, another GGB will join in at a rate of 1 per round. There are a total of 60 in this area, milling about, crying, screaming, bashing the walls, clawing the floors, fighting one another, and just behaving like GGB. See 21 for spawn rates. All GGB are as follows:

Goblin Gone Bad (60) (AC 9, HD 1-1, Damage 1d3, HP always 3).

Since there are seven areas in which the GGB are milling about, assume that each room has 5 + 1d6 GGB when entered, with room 23 rounding out the number to 60 total. If a long melee ensues, GGB from other rooms will certainly be attracted and join the fray, but only one at a time as noted.

The low level Recurring Encounters allow a Referee to control the level of difficulty if he chooses, and can certainly provide for a nice rolling melee. This particular area provided some heroic moments for the PC's, and some very close calls as it ended with a full and hasty retreat.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee