Creating the dungeon, part 3

An update on the amazing Saltmarsh-without-reading-Saltmarsh adventure! I’ve added the village locations and did some more cutting in a feeble attempt to fit the whole thing on a single page. It will need a pretty small font!

Introduction

“Ah Goodhollow. I remember it well. My mother would take me there. Its markets, fishermen and pearls. Of course it’s flooded now. They say a monster haunts the ruins. Killed the burgomaster and his family, they say.”

Hooks

• Bullywugs have been raiding caravans, and there are reports of giant spiders. Both originate from the area of Goodhollow.
• There are rumors that the people of Goodhollow found something hidden in a cave in the woods, and it turned the village into the dismal swamp it is today.

Location 1: The Village of Goodhollow

Goodhollow is a treacherous marshland. Gnarled trees root in soggy earth. Ponds and streams are hidden by moss and leaves. A thin mist creeps across the grass. Remains of farmhouses litter the countryside, collapsed and reclaimed by nature.

 

In addition to typical swampland encounters, players can run into:

• Webbing between trees heralds a nest of four aggressive giant spiders.
• Two ettercaps shepherd a group of three giant spiders. From a distance the group looks like farmers and cattle marching through the fog.
• A mostly intact farmhouse is used as a nesting ground. Four ettercaps care for two dozen giant spider-eggs. Half of them hatch into spiderlings (giant wolf spiders).
• A bullywug raiding party consisting of 10 bullywugs locked in mortal combat with an ettercap and two giant spiders.

Location 2: Town Square

The town square is mostly submerged. Part of a well peeks out of the water. Errant walls mark the locations where houses used to stand. Two buildings remain upright: an old church and a city hall, its roof collapsed. There is an equal chance of man-spider being in either of these.

Man-Spider

The hideous man-spider of Goodhollow rules the village, blind to its horror. He is almost but not quite like the ettercaps he governs. Mandibles, sticky fur, and scores of eyes wage war against his last shreds of humanity. He has the statistics of a mage, speaks Common, and shares the racial traits of ettercaps. The man-spider greets adventurers warmly, makes small-talk, and offers a tour of the village. He mentions the recent “bandit” problems and graciously accepts assistance. He brings up his wife Wilthulia, who he holds in awe, and that she is investigating a peculiar cave near the village, to which he will lead the party if asked. While the party is escorted by the man-spider, ettercaps and giant spiders do not attack, although they are visibly agitated.

Church

This is a church to Chauntea, in severe disrepair. Some of the stained glass windows are intact, showing scenes of farmers harvesting wheat. Thirteen ettercaps mill about. Four bullywugs are restrained in silk webbing. If man-spider is here, he preaches a sermon of forgiveness before sentencing the bullywugs to death. The ettercaps descend upon them in a starved frenzy.

Mansion

This mansion has a patio, an entryway leading into living quarters and kitchen, and stairs going up to two bedrooms and an office accessible by a narrow hallway. The house is only barely standing. The swamp has crept in, bringing mold and rot. Insects crawl through debris on the floor.

 

Office. If man-spider is here, he shuffles folders on a wet desk in a perverse mockery of administrative work.

 

Bedrooms. One bedroom contains a pile of two child-sized skeletons. The other houses a giant spider hidden on the ceiling.

 

Treasure. Buried in garbage lie discarded worldly possessions. A silver locket (X?). A cache of jewelry. A electrum statuette of Torm. Scattered silverware. A copper cookpot (is that a thing?) that hides a poisonous snake. An ivory comb. A rotting purse containing gold pieces.

Location 3: Bullywug Camp

Note: a bullywug mucker is a thug while a bullywug mud lord is a cult fanatic, both with the appropriate bullywug racial traits.

 

The camp is spread across a 1000 feet area. Characters are likely to run into:

• A hunting party: 1d6+6 bullywugs with fishing spears.
• A raiding party: 1 bullywug mucker, 1 giant toad, and 2d6 bullywugs.
• A tent made from hide and leaves stretched between trees: either empty (2-in-6 chance) or inhabited by 1d4+2 bullywugs and 2d10 bullywug noncombatants.

 

Bullywugs can croak a loud alarm. This causes all bullywugs to flee to the palace, for a total of 50 bullywugs (30 noncombatants), 4 bullywug muckers (with 4 giant toads) and 1 bullywug mud lord.

Palace of the High Mudlord Gorak Accaroak

Three cedar trees of exceptional girth whose crowns have grown to be intertwined form this palace. The bullywugs have stretched hides and thatch between them, creating a pyramid-like structure. The palace is 40 feet to a side. Inside, the floor is made of tangled roots. A knobbly growth on one of the trees forms a raised platform upon which the chieftain sits. High outcroppings, reachable by the bullywugs’ standing leap, contain guards.

 

Gorak is a bullywug mud lord. He is accompanied by his mate Iccirick (bullywug), 1d4 of his bullywug mucker sycophants and 1d6+6 bullywug followers. Gorak believes all the swamp rightfully belongs to his clan and offers help to drive the evil spider-people out of Goodhollow if treated with the proper respects. He suggests that assassinating the man-spider will scatter the ettercaps.

 

Treasure. Without care for the millennia old tree, the bullywugs have hollowed it out. To gain king Gorak’s favor, subjects donate trinkets and baubles which are added to a pile inside. Sifting through worthless glass beads, scavenged weapons, and cheap figurines, recovers 427gp, 581sp and 2600cp, an assortment of 17 gemstones (azurate, quartz, moss agate, onyx, each worth 10 gp), and one amethyst inlaid mirror (120 gp).

Location 4: Petrified Kraken Hag Lair

Overview

A kraken died here. Wilthulia discovered its fossil and dug it out. In its chest she found an elemental gemstone.

Skull

The entrance looks like a hill with a rocky cave. This is the petrified skull of the kraken. The inside is muddy, water dripping from the eye socket above. A wooden door is set in the back. A lit torch on a bamboo stick is wedged into the ground.

 

Torch. Holding the torch grants the effects of a comprehend languages spell. Removing it from its socket frees one swarm of insects (wasps) per round.

 

Arcane Writing. Arcane sigils decorate the skull. Three verses are written in Primordial. A character reading one must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be affected by a temporary form of madness (see DMG). The verses describe:

• Leviathans battling under a starless sky, burning oceans and drowning deserts.
• Tentacles ripping through streets and palaces as a city is pulled into a river.
• Dead-eyed sea spawn scurrying across a gargantuan tyrant and throwing themselves into its maw.

The fourth verse is written in Sylvan:

• Peasants flee a rampaging horde. A dryad offers them shelter in her tree if they offer her their eyes.

 

Door. The door is decorated with faeries and fauns. It is enchanted with arcane lock (DC25). Only a blinded character (or one with their eyes closed) can open it. Behind it is a stairway that ends in a curtain of thick webbing.

Cavern

Past the webbing lies the hollowed out chest of the kraken. Petrified ribs flow like beams overhead. They sprout from the monster’s spinal cord which runs the length of the northern wall. The floor slopes downwards towards a pool of foul water, and is covered by a dense fog.

 

Heart of the Swamp. A red gemstone hangs suspended from silken strands in the center of the cavern. The heart is a legendary artifact. It requires attunement by a non-good creature, has 4 charges (1d4 recharge at midnight) and can cast the following spells:

• Create water (1 charge). The water is fetid.
• Control weather (4 charges). The weather changes one step towards overcast (ground fog), warm, and calm winds.
• Control water (3 charges). The “flood” option must be chosen.

 

Occupants. An ettercap tends to the heart, padding it with webbing. Two giant spiders are hidden in the fog. They attack anyone who touches the heart.

 

Wilthulia. The green/night hag sits by the pool, her mud mephit hidden nearby. She takes the form of a dryad to trick the characters into starting a fight with the ettercap. If her ruse fails, she uses invisibility and jumps into the pool, ready to drown any who follow.

 

Pool. The muddy water obscures vision. It leads down to a depth of 10 feet, and then back up into Wilthulia’s den.

Wilthulia’s Den

Bones of giant spiders litter this pitch black room.

 

Man-spider’s curse. A tarantula-sized spider lies twitching on a wooden board, pinned down by loose fingernails. Freeing or killing it removes the curse on man-spider, restoring his sanity, but not his physique.

 

Witch’s stash. It includes a jar of 2d6 eyeballs (consume one for advantage on the next Wisdom check), a potion of greater healing, a potion of poison (the drinker falls unconscious for the duration of the poison), a book of disturbing children’s stories (25gp), a necklace with three sardonyx gemstones in the shape of beetles (150gp) and a brass cauldron used for summoning familiars (35gp). All of the items are cursed (DM decides how).

Development

Bullywug spies follow the PCs to Wilthulia’s lair. The group consists of two bullywug muckers riding giant toads and commanding eight bullywugs.

 

If Wilthulia has not been dealt with she summons six more mud mephits to get her gemstone back.

 

THE END.