Encounter/Room Ideas for an old armory

[Ttttttt]

Hello!
In this last session of my homebrew game, my players have been on the hunt trying to find the location of an army of revenants that are all risen from a side in a war colloquially known as The Betrayor's War. After coming to the realization that they're all equipped with fine crafted armor and weapons unlike the which they've never seen, they learned about and entered an old armory called Durgan's Battery (the name is blatantly used from Pillars of Eternity, but hey, I really like it.)
This armory was used by the same side during the Betrayor's War four years prior and once acted as an extravagant forge used by dwarves and giants thousands of years ago before it was eventually ruined when a god named Osnos was killed and exacted revenge on the people of the continent, turning the beautiful elven deserts and forests into a sun-scorched desert. The players are here to stop the forge from working to help put a halt to the enemy's plans so they can hopefully strike.

This is where I have an issue, what can go into the armory? I'm having trouble coming up with room ideas that aren't just empty. The characters are level 4 and some more lore/location information is below to help with it.

Location: Thousands of years ago, dwarves and giants united and built a forge known as Durgan's Battery. The forge is unlike any others and is built within the heart of a mountain. However, centuries after its construction, the god Osnos was killed and exacted revenge on the continent of Basilica, turning the elvish landscape into a desert. This caused shifts within the tectonic plates and caused most of the armory to cave in. It wasn't until six years ago when a corrupt political party rediscovered the forge (only really going into a few areas of the gigantic complex) and used it to make weapons and armor. Eventually, they were defeated and the forge was set back into dis-use but recently the forge has been re-inhabited
my revenant soldiers of that same side.

If you have questions, feel free to ask! And also I should mention that these are icy revenants because they have spooky unholy and frost powers and it's been revealed to the players that the leaders of the corrupt side were devils from Cania (cold nine-hells place, very spooky ooky).

Another secret is, is that they aren't revenants but are all connected to a hive-mind, a necromancer of sorts.

Thanks!

[Athan Artilliam]

Big fire elemental
Old animated golems
Magical crucibles that always stay hot
Rune press

Are you looking for encounter ideas or set dressing?

[Ttttttt]

Big fire elemental
Old animated golems
Magical crucibles that always stay hot
Rune press

Are you looking for encounter ideas or set dressing?


Most encounter/puzzle ideas but set dressings are also nice!

[Kurt Kurageous]

If you can find an old PDF of AD&D (1st ed, OD&D, etc), there are lists of what was once called dungeon dressings. Its set dressing for the scene. It also included various rooms to be found in a (your building here).

I never owned 2ed, no idea what might be there.

[MrStabby]

Rust monster hive

Animated forge that has gone wild and runs round belching fire at people

Smith golem

The restless undead spirits of sentient weapons that got melted down in the forge

A portal to the elemental plane of fire.

[Athan Artilliam]

A portal to the elemental plane of fire.

Dont forget the Plane of Earth for raw materials, the Plane of Air for bellows, the Plane of Water for quenching, & the Plane of Metal for music

[nickl_2000]

-A permanent illusion or set of Magic Mouths that teach Smithing classes.
-An old (possibly malfunctioning) golem walking around that enforces safety standards
-Animated combat dummies to test the weapons on.
-An old cache of rare metals
-Old stone tablet with instructions on how to make magical weapons, but they are in old dwarven runes and need research to figure out what they actually mean
-another group of adventurers who are also seeking to loot the ruins after hearing about them.
-The rust monsters mentioned above are almost obligatory



Will add more to this post if I think of more.

[Athan Artilliam]

Four history buffs & some cameras

You have 3 hours to begin!

[Sorinth]

In terms of monsters Fire Elementals, Mephits, Salamanders, Animated Armor/Swords, Golems all fit. And with revenants you can add a necromantic vibe as well so Ash Zombies and the like.

Since you mentioned it's supposed to be a huge complex, I would suggest figuring out a central source for heat that powers multiple forges. That way you have many forges that are unique for what they can do, so a forge that specialized for building golems, another that creates animated swords, etc... So for example, maybe the dwarves/giants built pipes that transported lava from a nearby volcano and transported it throughout the complex powering hundreds of individual forges. In this way accessing certain areas can be the challenge instead of an encounter. A leaky lava pipe that crosses an underground lake could create a steam room, or just a large lava flow that if cross gets you access to a loot room.