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View Full Version : Tomb of Horrors: memorable endings



Brigham
2010-08-27, 02:12 AM
My group wrapped up the ToH tonight. We didn't complete it, per se, but we made it out of the tomb alive. I'm interested in hearing other creative endings/resolutions to the Tomb of Horrors (any version 3.0, 3.5, 4th).

After seven sessions, two original characters remained with two additional characters having joined. We solved the tomb, so we thought. We confidently walked out of the tomb. Within minutes two of us were dead. One was incorporeal. The fourth did what any sane man might- he ran and did not bother to look back. Worse, the horror of the tomb had been unleashed on the world.
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The following might require knowledge of Tomb of Horrors for full appreciation, but hopefully everyone can enjoy it.

Setting:
The DM turned the ToH into a cursed carnival of sorts. The tomb was basically the same except for flavor text. He added the following room, though, which turned the tomb on its head. The carnival was run by the corrupt Azerboo and inhabited by the cursed undead who had fallen prey to his guile. Our party, initially out for glory and gold, soon endeavoured to save the cursed folk. . .

A single door met us at the end of the stone hallway. Our relief at finding another untrapped door faded quickly at the sight before us. Beyond the door a dream once beckoning now a nightmare invited our entry. It was. . . pleasant.

A quiet fireplace at the far wall was lightly obstructed by two ornate, soft chairs- the kind one might occupy while smoking a pipe. We cautiously entered as boisterous laughter echoed down the chimney. A glance in the mirror revealed that we were all much younger. Mere children- more of Azerboo's trickery.

A pine tree decorated with metallic string and shiny baubles dominated the rear, right corner of the room. Beneath the tree four presents sat atop an orange and black rug. A pull-along toy duck rested nearby and a little doll with a cape was left on the mantle above the fireplace. The knight we had hired found an interest in this doll. The pale doll, however, held no interest in the knight.
*****

We routed the lot of them. That little vampire bastard. The demon duck. The boa constrictor hiding as a rug beneath the tree which in turn was some swarming shapeshifter and not a tree. As we regrouped I noticed the presents under the tree remained pristine. One was addressed to me, the other three to my compatriots respectively. I picked mine up and knew immediately that inside this package would be the thing I desired most at that moment. Wisdom? Knowledge? What dark secrets I could know, but my heart was heavy for those burdened by Azerboo's curse. I thought to myself "Release those cursed by Azerboo" and I opened the box.

A golden skull with red-jewel eyes stared back as we peered into the box. The guild treasurer rushed to grab his haversack, but the knight, haversack already in hand, wrapped the sack over the present and it disappeared into that strange space. As he did this, the knight winced, but continued- must have been post-battle pains.

We left the funhouse of horror and were met again by the Ring Leader, the Strongman, the Seer and the Lion Tamer. "Back so soon? Have you procured the items we asked- those that will weaken Azerboo's hold over us?"

"Better still," I said "I have taken the one thing that will release you all forever". The Ring Leader looked puzzled. "Do you not feel different?" I asked. "No," he said, "we will gather in the main tent." He left to call together all the undead slaves who tended to Azerboo's evil circus.

Minutes passed and the large tent space had filled. I, along with the treasurer and our two muscle-men, a knight of glory and an insane berserker, stood at the center ring while these poor undead folk, trapped for centuries, perhaps millennia, peered on hopefully.

"You said you possess the means to our freedom?" asked the Ring Leader.

"Yes, the golden skull, but I don't know why it wouldn't have released you already. I wished for the one thing that might release you all, but it seems there is more to do. What can you tell me about this?" I reached into the knight's haversack. My heart struggled to beat for a moment, perhaps it was the excitement of defeating the horrors of Azerboo. I looked to the Ring Leader as I held the skull to him. He was mortified. The whole host of undead recoiled in terror. The red-jewelled eyes of the golden skull flickered in the soft moonlight shining through the dilapidated tent. I looked to the treasurer. I looked to the knight. My heart. . . stopped.

A burst of red light blinded me as the pain coursed through my chest. As the daze wore, I saw the Ring Leader, still mortified, but tinted red. In the same hue I saw my limp body below me. I. . . I'm in the skull. The knight tried to retrieve the skull to the bag. Red light filled my strange cell. As it passed, I saw the limp, armor-clad body of the knight next to my corpse. I glanced over- he was also with me in the cell. "The skull." I thought.

The undead circus folk were terrified. The treasurer and the berserker ran in opposite directions. We began to move. The skull was following the berserker, but he. . . he was running for town! The berseker was too fast for the skull, but towns really don't move at all.

Through the red eyes of the skull I would that night witness the final, terror-stricken moments of every single soul of Bauerville township. Here we all remain, in an infinite cell of the red-crystal skull, resting in the street of an empty town no one will visit. The bodies are piled high around us. Some have ventured in to retrieve the corpses of dear ones or to defeat the no doubt far rumored demon skull of Bauerville. They all die. They always die. We will ever after watch them die for us.


That is how we wrapped up Tomb of Horrors. Has anyone else an interesting resolution to share?

senrath
2010-08-27, 02:14 AM
The group I ran through it got taken by surprise and was slaughtered by the mutant gargoyle. They refused to try again after that.

WitchSlayer
2010-08-27, 02:22 AM
I'm going to be sending my party into the Tomb of Horrors after they finish up with the current story arc they're in.

Brigham
2010-08-27, 02:24 AM
That precipitated our first character death in the Tomb. We avoided that particular door afterward. :smallwink:

raitalin
2010-08-27, 03:26 AM
I made up an optimized team consisting of a Warforged Dungeoncrasher, a trapmonkey Factotum, a DMM Persist Cloistered Cleric and a Master Specialist Conjurer for a one-shot run through the dungeon.

They were defeated by the CR 3 Brain-in-a-jar.

Initially, the Factotum was dominated while searching the corridor of spheres. He informed the group that the sphere containing the BIAJ was solid and then attempted to abduct the wizard when the group made camp the night. He was brutally thrashed by the Dungeoncrasher. When the group continued searching the next day the Wizard was dominated (rolled a 2) after finding and entering the sphere hiding the BIAJ. I ruled that since the Cleric and Fighter had stating they were waiting for the all clear the wizard had 2 rounds before they acted. Between the narrow corridor, the near-limitless summons and the BIAJ pinning the Cleric down with telekinesis it wasn't a pretty end.

I offered to let them resurrect, but they gave up, losing D&D once and for all.