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View Full Version : Help with a dungeon design



BRC
2009-12-08, 06:36 PM
So, My PC's are about to enter a dungeon. This dungeon is essentially the prison cell for an incredibly powerful demon/devil (Not quite sure which yet) who is starting to escape. In the meantime he's still stuck in the dungeon's central chamber, but he's starting to port in minions and mind control people from the surface. Last adventure was the PC's getting to the entrance to the dungeon by fighting through mind controlled enemies. But that's not important.

Now heres the thing, this demon is way above the PC's level in terms of what it can do, in fact, I'm hardly going to bother getting stats for it. It can fly, it has lots of minions, it's invisible, it is really really good at killing things with fire, it's fast, and it's almost impossible to kill.

Which is why the people who sealed it away put very powerful items in the dungeon with it, each of which is stored in a separate chamber and each of which can be used to counteract one if it's strengths. Each of which also corresponds nicely to a theme or concept, and (Coincidentally) to one of the PC's. The challenge of the adventure is getting the items, with the final fight being, more or less, a reward as the PC's use the things they've gathered to smash the demon to pieces.
Where I'm having trouble is coming up with challenges for each room that defend the Item in question. It's possible that some of the rooms have been overrun with the Demon's minions, but I don't want to do that too much. I don't want this entire adventure to be straight combat. Each Item also has an inscription above it, describing how it should be used.

Life is a quarterstaff. When used in the central chamber it causes flowers to grow everywhere, spraying pollen that sticks to the Demon, rendering it visible. It's probably going to be used by the party Druid. I'm not sure what defenses the chamber should have, or what the inscription should read.

Air is a Boomerang, when thrown in the central chamber it turns into a massive vortex, keeping the Demon on the ground and knocking it out of the air whenever it tries to fly. I don't know what the challenge should be to get it, but the inscription reads"Aim High". The party Ranger will probably use this.

Sea is a Mace with the head replaced by a glass sphere full of water. When smashed in the central chamber it floods it, stopping the Demon's fire magic. The ocean-deity worshiping cleric will probably use this. The inscription reads "In case of fire, break glass". The glass will not break outside of the central chamber. Dunno about the challenge.

Chaos is a deck of cards that, if thrown in the air in the central chamber scrambles the Demon's control over it's minions. It will probably be used by the party rogue with a penchant for gambling, dunno about the challenge but the inscription will read “ Fingers on a hand eyes on a face, Choose High" (Or to put it another way, 52 pickup)
Law is a scroll containing a list of charges. When read aloud in the central chamber it causes chains to spring out and grab the demon, rendering it helpless. The challenge here will be one or more traps, perhaps an encounter trap. I want the inscription to be some ridiculous legalese that basically says "Once you've used the other items except the dagger, read this aloud in the central chamber". I could use some help with the exact wording.

Death is a Dagger. Once all the other items are used, you Coup-De-Grace the Demon with the Dagger to kill it. This room will be guarded by Undead, and will contain the inscription "Apply directly to the heart".


What I'm looking for is help filling in the gaps here. Any suggestions?