The Wheel of Testosterone

What's this?  An actual content post instead of just play reports and me bemoaning my lack of time to do anything?  Surprise surprise!

I'm working on a fairly big undertaking for what will end up being just one single room/encounter in my megadungeon, but once it's discovered I can guarantee it'll be a popular location to visit: The Wheel of Testosterone.

Spinning this wheel will make you a sexual tyrannosaurus.  Just like me.

Remember this post on the awesome Planet Algol blog?  I remember when it first went up, thinking I needed to both steal that and make a Samuel L. Jackson version.

Never got around to that, until I was reminded of the post on a G+ thread a week or so ago (or maybe it was two weeks back now?  Time flies).  Now, instead of scrolls scattered here an there (I may still do that, and maybe have a researchable M-U spell linked to it), I'll have a bit old "wheel of fortune" that if spun, produces a random avatar of an action movie hero.  I'm thinking d12 rolled twice, for 144 spots worth of badass.  Of course, that means collecting enough badass characters and then giving them stats!  Crowd-sourcing could be done on this...

At the moment, following Blair's scroll, I've been making lists of actors and then listing characters they've done that I like.  But some actors end up playing very similar characters over and over again (Jackie Chan, for example), and some are just sorta badass all on their own.  And then there are actors who had one or two badass roles, but that's it (in my opinion, of course). 

So instead of trying to pick the twelve baddest of the bad, or eleven plus one slot for "others" I think I'm going to just write up a big chart with 144 slots, and just fill things in.  That way, I could feel free to include some classic 80's WWF wrestlers like Hulk Hogan (yeah, I guess he did do a few movies/TV shows) and Junk Yard Dog. 

Planning to pull from standard action movies (contemporary), fantasy adventure, pulp, film noir/hardboiled detectives, westerns and war movies.  Chuck Norris, John Wayne, Schwarzenegger, Stalone, Harrison Ford, Val Kilmer, Toshiro Mifune, Jet Li, Will Smith, Mr. T, and plenty more.

If you've got some ideas for who should be on the Wheel, lemme know in the comments!  If you want to go ahead and do a write-up like Blair's for his scroll of summon aspect of Kurt Russel (all yoinked, by the way, thanks Blair!), that would help me out a ton! 

And of course, should there be a Pool of Estrogen which randomly summons Ellen Ripley, Chun Li, various Charlie's Angels, etc. in the same way?

Need a Special?

I carry around a little pocket notebook most days.  It's useful in general, but over the past few months, since I started working on my Megadungeon, I've been using it most during my commutes to and from work to jot down ideas for special or interesting encounters, traps, monster combinations, or generally odd things I'd like to throw in the Megadungeon.

That little notebook is now full, and I have a new one.  So I decided to copy all of those Specials into a document here on the computer to print out and have easy access to when I get back to stocking the dungeon.  And of course, why not share?  These are just idea prompts, not every encounter will be just like this when I stock them, so if by chance anyone who plays in my Megadungeon has read them, they won't necessarily be at an advantage.  Feel free to use, modify, or mock them as you please (I fully admit some of these are stolen, and some are very cheesy).

Anyway, here are nearly 300 Specials, pulled from my little pocket notebook:

1. X on ceiling marks the spot.
2. Put correct wig on statue
3. invisible and on high floating disk
4. map/riddle on wall, “walk from X to Y without taking a step”
5. mosaics of tarot major arcana cards on walls
6. demon idol, waiting for blood to be spilt on it
7. “chessmen” carved like dynastic kings
8. tank with dangerous creature and a lever that opens a secret panel
9. locked empty chest, work lock again once open to reveal secret panel
10. statue of thirsty individual, empty water basin at feet
11. 2 knight statues, talk, 1 always lies, 1 always tells the truth
12. 3 levers: one drops (slow) crushing ceiling, one drops floor to secret safe area, one resets
13. lever hidden in mouth of statue
14. monster eats treasure then flees
15. statue of St. George stabbing dragon but without spear
16. alcove blocked by force field
17. urn of a swarm of flies (curse)
18. petrified (translucent) gelatinous cube blocks path (stone to flesh scroll nearby)
19. epic poem inscribed on wall, lacuna, fill it in to reveal secret
20. Indy Jones style golden idol on pedestal
21. gorgon statue, breathe on IT
22. statue of frog prince, kiss it
23. magic beans/beanstalk (work like rope trick spell)
24. nasty monster in a cage (shielded from spells/missiles?) with a big treasure
25. wizard's test — proper sequence of spells cast to pass
26. picture of monster, speak to it in its language to pass
27. NPC in trouble has key to open a specific lock
28. pool with negative magical effect, treasure at the bottom
29. proper party composition (1 of each class, etc.) to pass
30. carving of ape, riddle “What slew the beast?”
31. Lever, 4 way, pair of buttons labeled A and B
32. Panels with one bird, two birds, and three birds. Sling on floor.
33. Treasure visible but ethereal
34. illusion – junk looks like treasure, treasure looks like junk
35. Louvre Pyramid/DaVinci Code sorta thing, good stuff in hidden lower pyramid
36. Royal Court statues, king lacks crown, jester wears crown of thorns
37. large movable (with some effort) blocks, spacial puzzle
38. water drain, divert flow, floods room but washes out treasure
39. Land of the Lost style crystal matrix
40. Clay ducks and laughing hunting dog statues, break hunting dog
41. various colored permanent flames around level, assemble in one room in right order
42. nymph wants to be pleasured, will reward handsomely
43. area with 'chaste knight' motif, naughty nymph tries to seduce, rewards those who resist
44. sphinx guardian
45. “Grendel” challenge – pull off a troll's arm
46. spectral banquet – attend with decorum for reward with final course
47. will-o-wisp or ghost whispers lead to location
48. Poetic Fiend: match his rhymes to get reward
49. reconsecrate defiled shrine/altar
50. return missing cursed tiki doll
51. “Maltese Falcon” gem hidden in cheap statuette
52. valuable item used as totem of humanoid tribe
53. secreted in cave at the bottom of a chasm
54. at bottom of a lava pool (like Krull glaive)
55. under plain, unmarked flagstone in corridor is well known treasure
56. hidden inside tough golem, imitate its master and it will obey
57. treasure hidden in extradimensional spot keyed to real world location
58. teleporter leads to treasure, but doesn't lead back
59. famous treasure belongs to Lawful creature who could be an ally if...
60. appears in a mirror only, at certain location
61. ride log flume to secret chamber
62. everlasting flame burns in front of passage
63. “You take the high road and I'll take the low road” 2 doors, slight tilt in floor (Dwarf detection)
64. grid of holes in the wall, clue to correct pattern to fill holes nearby
65. simple instructions written in plain sight but in incomprehensible language
66. sword in the stone, each PC has % chance to pull it out, 1 try each ever
67. floating upside-down on bottom of cloud of smoke on ceiling
68. big item petrified with previous owner, owner will want to keep it if restored...
69. inside talking treasure chest (riddle, password) is big loot
70. basin of poison water must be drunk to get item (HP&HBP)
71. Yule Tree – leave a present, wrapped box appears with magic item
72. magic tree with fruit that act like potions
73. 2 heavy identical statues in different rooms, bring together to pass
74. loot encased in crystal stalactite
75. inside djinni lamp – convince djinni to give it to you
76. empty feast table with enchanted diners waiting for meal
77. loot inside living rock statue (magma filled), he won't lie about where loot is
78. talking hippo with a thorn in its toe
79. white stag, appears to lead somewhere...
80. Indy Jones style boulder trap
81. “virgin sacrifice” on alter
82. Kryptonian Council crystal wall room
83. Sword of Power, Book of Knowledge, Hammer of Skill – which will you choose?
84. Statue of elephantine beast, heart ruby
85. chest of cursed Aztec gold
86. locked, sealed, held door – what's inside?
87. False map leads to monster
88. gremlin in a box
89. silence or light spell on victim of trap
90. talking skull, gives poor council
91. pool of magic water grants water breathing but takes away air breathing
92. zero g trap
93. false tripwire, disarming it sets real trap
94. acid spray does no dmg but melts gear
95. trap victim polymorphed into harmless small animal
96. trap spoils food/water
97. cursed shoes – switch 2 characters' minds
98. portcullis trap to divide party
99. treasure on pedestal in middle of lava pool
100. inflict henchman/hireling/PC with lycanthropy to pass
101. phantom hands pull victims ½ into floor
102. contact poison on jewelry or gem
103. room fills with water, answer riddle to stop it
104. item puts geas/quest on possessor
105. bone prison
106. Throne of Hades – stick to seat
107. large landmark feature, grants 1 wish or recharges spent magic, but drains 1 ability score
108. twisted wishing well
109. treasure dump – half of all treasure instantly teleported home, the other half... Who knows?
110. Mine gasses, magical light safe, flames ignite
111. civilians tied up in orc armor/helmets (Joker in Dark Knight)
112. kobolds carrying bags of rats (rats absorb sleep spells)
113. victim of trap turns gaseous
114. slowly fade out (as dimensional hound)
115. transformation – elasticity for a few days, then become doppelganger
116. looks like ring of protection, but no AC bonus and gives save penalty (but not cursed)
117. temporary contrariness (as ring)
118. constantly gibbering old man latches onto back and can't be removed
119. mark of the Frog Gods of Chaos branded onto forehead
120. any slain PCs/hirelings animated as zombies (wights?)
121. illusion on PCs makes them appear as orcs, gnolls, or worse
122. Underworld Chariot appears, one PC hit must Save vs. Death or be taken along
123. sleep gas, PCs wake up naked but unharmed
124. normal looking water turns anything it touches to gold (Narnia)
125. victim's ability scores switched, Str – Int, Wis – Dex, or Con – Cha
126. monster reset button (for the level)
127. mysterious portal to other site (weird cavern) with special treasure
128. Serpent Man cultists, disguised as monks
129. prisoner tormented but cursed to never escape – if helped in some minor way, gives gift
130. normal, modern middle class family oblivious to setting
131. 'holodeck' style illusion room
132. Chaos Stone – worth $ but causes side effects while carried
133. blink puppies – may latch onto Charismatic PC
134. evil halflings riding undead serpents
135. hapless adventuring party following PCs for 'sloppy seconds' on treasure
136. devil swine information broker
137. deities “leader board” Who's winning the Law/Chaos war?
138. Spiderdragons (Wizards, Warriors & You)
139. Mos Eisley Cantina/Cave Bar (a location here in Busan)
140. recently unearthed mass grave
141. Little Sisters of Eluria (S. King)
142. Kingdom of the Spiders (Shatner)
143. Golden Axe Chicken Dragon riders
144. “Pit of Kharkhoom” style sacrificial pit with beastie
145. einherjar style eternal battleground
146. undersea pirates
147. fire-breathing dungeon chickens (thanks, Jeff Rients)
148. golden calf living statue
149. Red Skeleton (Castlevania)
150. Sleestak & talking skull shrine
151. trolls playing guillotine game
152. Fantastic Saurian Combat! (Verne)
153. talking furniture/dungeon features
154. giant venus flytrap
155. sage & guards/entourage doing research
156. unicorn trapped in crystal
157. halflings selling bad shrooms
158. 13 cowardly dwarves looking for a warrior, hero or burglar to get their stash back
159. Pit of Despair type torture chamber, dead PC may be found here, alive and weak
160. witches brew potions – for a price
161. fishing spot – chance to catch wish-granting fish
162. dungeon brewery – serves Cantina/Cave Bar, etc.
163. Monstrous Seraglio – elves, nymphs, dryads, etc. Whose?
164. Judgment of Paris type trap
165. Frog Prince/Bog Beast type situation
166. unhappy polymorph other victim (Dungeon of Dread)
167. goblin festival around giant phallic symbol
168. chalice grants spell effect once per day
169. baptismal font full of urine
170. pixies on dragonflies (Creature Catalog)
171. evil sentient grimoire (Army of Darkness)
172. painting of town square – teleports party home
173. captive slave girls – just that, no trick monsters
174. doomsday cult worshiping evil wizard
175. The Great and Powerful Zo
176. wolf trainer selling dungeon wolves
177. crucible of black flame (Masters Set)
178. heart stones – teleport back to dungeon room where found
179. restless spirit generator (Gauntlet)
180. fairy circle leads to Fae Realm
181. ancient storyteller, stories provide rumors but charm/drain youth, etc.
182. shimmering stairway – ascends endlessly
183. 12 shrines to the horoscope symbols
184. hill giants celebrating Festivus
185. ancient totem pole w/ PC's faces
186. woman wants to be petrified (was a statue accidentally hit with stone to flesh)
187. humanoids on a diplomatic mission
188. specimens floating in fluid filled jars – who collected them?
189. Monster classroom (or 12 step program)
190. skeletons/zombies endlessly turning wheels, walking on treadmills, etc.
191. monstrous feast hall (Beowulf style)
192. creature vs. creature arena – watch and wager
193. Triple Goddess barge to Avalon
194. Charon's skiff to Hades
195. Scyld Sceffing's funeral longship
196. Jules Verne style Victorian explorers with SCIENCE!!!
197. Lost Boys style vampires
198. crystal & lava palace
199. golden chariot is actually planar gate
200. Mimir's Well – sacrifice to gain Wisdom
201. Round Table – feast day? Empty? Undead?
202. Giant's Dance with dancing giants
203. Underworld Judges (Chinese style)
204. whirlpool in under-lake leads to sub-level
205. sphinx with easy riddle 'guarding' deathtrap
206. Power Source: solar cells on walls, continual light will power electric lighting in other zones
207. Olympians statues, sacrifice to each appropriately to pass
208. Ali Baba style oil jars carried by golems? Gargoyles? Hide in them to gain sublevel access
209. devil with legal office (just sign here!)
210. cannibals' abattoir
211. Chaos Party Headquarters (vote early, vote often!)
212. black lotus powder den
213. hall of skulls on display
214. cursed orb of hypnosis
215. cursed ring of heaviness
216. inferno room (magically sustained normal fire fills room)
217. cistern with underwater access tubes to other zones
218. living rock statue herding gorgons
219. swampy, mucky black dragon lair
220. portal to primitive culture's village, they're praying for a savior to apear
221. summoning pot – with right recipe AND command word, creature serves, recipe works without command word...
222. Duplicator – copies one non-unique magic item, once per PC ever
223. door opens upon void, another door visible if you can fly/teleport to it
224. Chaos Casino – try your luck to get reward
225. Hall of Indifference – ignore any threats or rewards to get real reward
226. Court of Law – organize, clean, sort, categorize contents to get reward
227. vampire and ghoul's feast
228. lesser chimera – snake tail instead of dragon head
229. alligator infested sewers
230. Augean Stables – otyugh (of course) and buried treasure
231. temporary magical spring, filled waterskins become random potions with 1d4+1 doses
232. Thief and Lobbers (Gauntlet)
233. aggressive samurai and ashigaru
234. superhero riding wyvern
235. goblin horde and balrog
236. gnome or kobold spins gold into straw
237. bullywugs w/ battle toads
238. invincible golem, 5 diamonds in head, destroy or remove to stop it
239. Zulus vs. Aztecs
240. djinni home delivery – will carry loot out to your home, for a 10% comission
241. sasquatch kidnappers
242. heart stealing mummy
243. tempting unicorn
244. Wayland's Forge – use to create magic items
245. holy relic of saint so-and-so, auto destroy any 1 undead creature
246. express elevator to Hell, going down! (planar gate)
247. Stairway to Heaven (planar gate)
248. invisible stalker princesses (Lankhmar)
249. old guru telling fortunes with stones, stones are key to puzzle elsewhere
250. caged cricket – released it turns into monster and obeys opener
251. enter room, all gear disappears, reappears when room left
252. Time Master (Wizards, Warriors & You)
253. walls of living human skin, 3” deep and bleeds when cut
254. Bealzebub (SOTN style hanging giant corpse demon)
255. a beautiful bunch of ripe bananas hides the deadly black tarantella
256. moon men collecting specimens
257. jabberwock, bandersnatch and jub-jub birds
258. vats producing slime monsters
259. ice caverns, torches make chunks of ceiling fall
260. dino-riders vs. ice age animal riders
261. League of Chaos Magicians official guild hall
262. mummy & gnolls & manscorpion
263. head-hunting manticore
264. cultists summoning demon, demon kills cultists then rampages
265. puzzle door – match heraldic crests to pass
266. password “by the power of Greyskull”
267. password “Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?”
268. password “As you wish”
269. cannibal babies attack
270. “doctor's office” mad scientist/insane wizard type
271. used magic item salesman
272. guide claims to know location of $, but actually... (releases monster, trap, etc.)
273. magic gem-setter, chance to enchant item but also chance to ruin it
274. dwarves excavating colossal dragon bones
275. directed teleporter – if destination name is known
276. giants with hammers, must be defeated to pass (Golden Axe)
277. “natives are restless” drums, increase Wandering Monster chances
278. The Rose (Dark Tower), Lawfuls compelled to protect, Chaotics to destroy
279. Monster Gym – train physically
280. Monster Library – train mentally
281. Room of Lost Socks
282. floor tiles with various animals and monsters, step on right pattern (Zodiac, etc.) to cross
283. Black Cauldron & Cauldron Born (Prydain)
284. Sorceress polymorphed into harmless talking animal (like Fin Raziel in Willow)
285. Merlin in his Crystal Cave
286. Demonic Tutor – teaches spells for a price
287. brand new sailing ship, but expensive to extract
288. knee-deep water slowly saps strength/spellcasting/something
289. water/fruit/oil of stealth, increases Thief skill % for a short time
290. colony of giant insects with a hive mind
291. heretical manuscript, worth big $ but harmful to Lawfuls
292. sudoku puzzle, solve to pass
293. blank altar – effect granted depending on alignment and who you pray/sacrifice to
294. pair of rhymed verse, one true, one false
295. semi-intelligent powerful creature with $, flatter it and it will drop $ (Aesop, Fox & Crow)

Tackling the Megadungeon: "Specials"

Continued from here.

Baron Gusorio finished off another cup of the fine mead.  He sat quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts.  His rapt audience waited patiently for the gray haired man to continue with his rambling advice.  Already, thoughts were spinning through their heads of the great adventures they would have.
Lord Gusorio finally continued.  "I told you about how we rescued Shalea and then had to get her werewolf curse removed.  Another time, we'd found a fountain in the dungeon--on the third or fourth level, I believe--that could cure diseases.  It was hard to get to, though.  There were lots of slimes and molds in the area, and creatures that fed off of those disgusting lowest forms of life.  Well, after we ran into a pair of mummies on the sixth level, Vertosh the Dwarf and I had caught the mummy rot.  We hauled out all the good treasures from the mummy tomb, gave the others a bit of time to rest and heal up, then set off again to find that pool so we could get rid of our affliction...

I think most DMs and module writers have a lot of fun with the 'special' encounters within a dungeon.  They're the oddities, curiosities, magical zones, and weird stuff that tends to be fairly memorable.  Unlike 'orc encounter #38" a room with howling winds from nowhere and a narrow bridge over a lava pit tends to stick in your mind.  They're sometimes challenging, sometimes bizarre, and sometimes useful.

Often they're just discovered randomly, during exploration (scouting), or they're searched out after learning that they might exist (fact-finding).  But once they're known, and properties of them assessed, they can become useful tools for a party of adventurers.

Like in my example above, curative sites or magical 'buffing' sites can be worth visiting over and over again.  Making a small sacrifice at a shrine to a battle deity might result in a free Bless spell before tackling a dragon or other big monster.  A pool that turns the bather invisible might also be a favorite spot to visit.  There could be a machine (or monster?) that takes in coinage and spits out gems of equal value, making treasure easier to carry.  These sorts of specials are most useful if visited as part of another type of expedition.

But there are times when the 'special' might be worth going to all of itself.  Portals to distant lands or other planes may lie within the dungeon.  A monstrous sage (gold dragons, hsiao, djinn, etc.) may lair within the dungeon, and the party may need to seek out that sage's wisdom.  Perhaps a character has a curse that can only be removed at a specific special location within the dungeon.

If the former, characters will want to prepare for the expedition based on their primary type of expedition.  If visiting that invisibility pool while scouting, leather armor and utility spells are likely best.  But if getting invisible as a way to surprise the Frost Giant Ysgeir and ensure a free round to 'soften him up' then it should be plate armor, fire balls, and all that jazz.

In the later case, getting to the 'special' and then home again is the objective, so only what equipment known to be necessary to reach that area should be brought, and the party will likely not need to bring along lots of men-at-arms or the like.  The Fighters may be armored up in case of surprises, and the spell-casters may want a variety of spells, as those annoying random encounters are likely to be the only battles fought (assuming the party has scouted the area well enough to avoid any new monsters that may have moved in since they discovered the area).  But the expedition will likely tend to be a short one.

Concluded here.

Dust, wind, dude! Meta-puzzles in your game.

I've been writing up lists of ideas for special areas, puzzles, traps, and other ways to challenge players in order to get keystone treasures in my megadungeon.  I figure, if these treasures are important enough to give out rumors of them, and make them into the objectives of exploration, most of them had better be a bit harder to find than just laying there as part of the ogre's pile o' loot.

Most of my ideas are fairly 'in game' or things that would be part of the environment of the dungeon, or things that would be fair tests of character knowledge.   Some, though, are purely things that the players may know or be able to figure out, but would actually be impossible (or nearly so) for a character from a medieval fantasy world.

References to pop culture, music, literature, and the like are things that just would be beyond the pale of your standard D&D character.  I've got no problem putting these sorts of things in my dungeon, but I know some players out there don't like them.  I think they're fun, though, and as long as it's fun, I don't care.

I'm kind of curious, how many of the folks reading this blog (or I guess realistically, how many of the dozen or so of you who actually post comments after reading) mind these sorts of player knowledge puzzles, and how many find them annoying or counter-verisimilitudinous?

How do you open that secret door?

Over on Dragonsfoot, several of us contributed ideas for methods to open secret doors.  It's good to have ideas for this sort of thing.  Just rolling the die is kind of boring.  This way, they may learn the door is there (by searching or a die roll) but not be able to open it, open it by accident, or learn of the method by rumors or hearsay in town, and need to search to find the door!

Some of these ideas work well for special, non-secret doors to special areas as well.

List contributed to by myself as well as DF posters Rath Denacht, Serleran, Wilowisp, and Mike.


-depress stone/brick on wall/floor
-move lever
-pull book
-pull rope/chain
-slide small statue or part of large statue
-pull/turn torch sconce
-speak the password ("open sesame")
-Insert small item into XXXX.
-Color-code.
-Pour liquid.
-Use some element (fire, air, earth, etc etc).
-Specific magic spell.
-Secret symbol worn (ring, amulet, crown, etc etc).
-Hidden lock.
-Answer riddle.
-certain number (or pattern) of knocks on the hidden panel
-with finger, trace a certain symbol (or pattern) on the hidden panel
--opens automatically at certain natural conditions (full moon, high or low tide, high noon, during a thunderstorm, etc.) or similar unnatural conditions created by magic
--device in nearby area opens it (through a method described above)
--pushing or pulling on the door (!)
--touching it with the appropriate body part (forehead, toe, buttocks...I'll stop there)
--playing/singing a certain song
-depress stone/brick on wall/floor: This; but, the stone/brick/ or floor is actually sentient, and the door only opens if you indeed manage to "depress" them. Players have to use Chr to convince them that noone likes them, they're only a silly ol' brick noone cares about, thery're really ugly compared with other, prettier bricks, Etc...........
-move lever: Same idea, but now the PCs must somehow inspire the lever's enthusiasm!
-Insert a key
-Knock on it
-Cast knock on it
-It opens by itself randomly 1/6 of the time (check once per turn)
-The door opens automatically in complete darkness, but closes instantly at the slightest light
-The door has a demon's head carved on it. You have to stick your hand in the mouth and feel around to find the catch.
-The door has a weird insignia carved on it. If you kiss the symbol the door opens
-The door is an illusion but seems real to every test. You have to disbelieve and just walk through it; if you try to walk through it, save vs Spells to see if you succeed.
-There is a bookshelf nearby. Pull a certain book halfway out to open the door.
-Swear at it.
-The door has a face with a magic mouth. You have to talk to it, but the door is (1) aloof and proud, (2) asleep and narcoleptic, (3) cooperative but hard of hearing [mishears what you say], (4) easily distracted, (5) a flippant prankster, (6) thinks it's smarter than you are, (7) believes it is a magic mirror and tries to imitate you, (8) only opens for monsters, (9) lonely and wants to talk for 1-6 turns before letting you go, or (10) believes it is a dragon and the supreme ruler of this level, demanding treasure and respect, except its breath weapon is merely halitosis. Thus you have to convince or trick the door into opening.
-The door is outlined in what appears to be purple crayon. You have to find a purple crayon and draw a handle on the door to open it.
-The door has a rusty nail sticking out of it. You have to prick your finger on the nail and draw a drop of blood.
-The door is an unusual kind of mimic. If you put a day's worth of rations nearby, it will leave its post temporarily to go consume them, then return.
-Pull a lever in a different room.
-The door only opens when a humanoid is killed in this room.
-The door has a hemisphere with three holes on it, arranged like a face: two above, one below. It opens if you put your fingers in the holes as if picking up a bowling ball.
-Coin operated door.
-Security door: if you put on the previous owner's robe and ring, it opens at a touch. Otherwise it does not open at all.
-Only opens for bearded characters. (It was made for gandalf by a dwarf)
-Only opens when moonlight shines on it. How to get moonlight into a dungeon is the problem.
-You have to pull on it, but the handle is gone leaving only a couple of bolt-holes.
-Door is hinged horizontally: push against the top and it lays down like a drawbridge.
-Door is hinged horizontally: push against the bottom and it opens upward.
-Door slides upwards like a gate. You have to jam something underneath and pry it upwards.
-Door is plastic like taffy. You can push through veeeryyy sloowwly, taking a full turn (for each character) to ooze your way through it. If a wandering monster shows up when you are halfway through, you are essentially paralyzed.

Riddles and Puzzles

Thinking about the sorts of riddles and puzzles I'd like to include in my megadungeon. Gygax (and maybe Arneson as well?) was fond of math and logic puzzles, and of course puns. I'd likely use some of those.

But my background in English means I'll also use lots of language based (non-pun) riddles, and allusions to literary works. For example, kennings from Beowulf or the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlusson. References to Shakespeare or the Romantic Poets. Trivia from Geoffrey of Monmouth, Edith Hamilton or Sir Thomas Malory.

I'm envisioning 'puzzles' where, for example, there's a pit or shaft descending deep into the earth. Above it, carved in stone, is the phrase "Aegeus saw the black sails." If you just take a leap of faith and dive in (as Aegeus did when he saw Theseus's ship return with black sails), a featherfall effect will take you safely to the bottom, where there's some swank treasure or a secret passage past a nasty encounter or something like that.

Or maybe a map leads to a secret door, and has a kenning like "The warriors crossed the whale-road, carrying bright war brands." Draw your sword and splash some salt water on the door to get it to open.

Might be a bit more interesting than the typical "3 gallon and 5 gallon jugs, place 4 gallons of water on the scale to open the door/defuse the bomb" type puzzles.

Adventure!

Got ahold of both King Solomon's Mines and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold. The Richard Chaimberlain/Sharon Stone Indiana Jones craze cash-in films from the mid-80's.

Yes, they're B quality cinema. Yes, they retain quite a bit of H. Rider Haggard's racist views (although in both books upon which these movies were based, he's actually fairly progressive for his late Victorian times...). But they sure are a lot of fun, if memory serves.

Maybe the nostalgia bug will bite me in the ass after watching them, and I'll see them for how terrible they really are. Or maybe I'll sit back and enjoy a nice pair of evenings with the wife, after the little guy's gone to bed, basking in the campy fun.

Either way, I expect this to have an effect on my ideas for cool 'specials' to add to my megadungeon.

Special Encounters

Yesterday, Telecanter and Talysman had some posts about 'tricks' in a dungeon. Good reading.

I've been thinking up lots of 'special' encounters lately. They're not all tricks, but quite a few are.

Regarding 'specials' Mentzer's Basic Set gives a good set of ideas to go by:

special
A “special” is anything you place which is not normal, but is not a trap, monster, or treasure. Some typical specials are:
Alarm: Summons special monster, opens dungeon doors, or has no effect at all.
Illusion: A dungeon feature (stairs, room, door, monster, treasure, etc.) is not really there, but is merely a phantasm.
Map Change: A shifting wall moves after the party passes, cutting off their exit. They must find another way out of the dungeon. The wall shifts back after a time (1 turn, 1 hour, 1 day).
Movement: The room (or stairs, or door, or item) moves (turns, drops, closes, rises, etc.) unexpectedly. It might be stopped if a roll for surprise (often with - 1, - 2, or - 3 penalty) shows that the party reacts quickly enough to prevent it.
Pool: Magical water has a strange effect if touched (or drunk, or sprinkled on someone or something), such as healing, inflicting damage, changing an Ability Score, changing Alignment, making something magical for a time, invisible for a time, etc.
Sounds: The room (or item, or treasure) makes strange noises: moaning, screaming, talking, etc.
Statue: A large statue of a person, monster, or gadget (nearly anything you can imagine) is found. It may be valuable, magical, too heavy to move, alive, lonesome and willing to talk (maybe a liar), covering a trap door down, a treasure, etc.
Transportation: This could be a trap door leading up or down, secret stairs, elevator, magical portal to elsewhere (another room, another level, another dungeon), etc.
Trick Monster: This applies to any variation of a listed monster, such as: a skeleton who shoots its fingertips like a Magic Missile, a two-headed giant ogre, a “goop” dragon that spits green slime or grey ooze, a wild bore (a shaggy man who tells long,
dreary stories), a quarterling (half-sized halfling), a Mouth Harpy (who can’t sing but plays the harmonica), an Ogre Jelly (looks like an ogre, but . . .) Rock and Roll Baboon, and so forth.
Weird Things: You may let your imagination run, placing such things as: weapons which fly - attacking by themselves, talking skulls, a magic item or treasure firmly stuck to the floor (or wall, or ceiling), a magical area (zero gravity, reversed gravity, growth to double size, shrink to 1” tall; effect lasts until leaving the area), a huge creature recently slain (too big to fit through the corridors - “But how did it get here?”), and so forth.

The other day, thinking of the kinds of specials I'd like to include in the megadungeon. I wrote down my own list of types, which covers a bit of the ground above, but has a few other ideas as well.

Landmarks: large statuary, frescoes, altars, odd colors, etc.
"Key" Items: things that stand out and have some use elsewhere in the dungeon
Oddities: lingering spell effects, magic mouth, pools/fountains, weird zones, etc.
Puzzles: block passage until riddle, logic puzzle, etc. solved
Quest Giver: otherwise friendly creature will only help if PCs help it first
Transport: mundane or magical access to area normally not connected
Maps: maps, clues, hints about the dungeon, windows/scry points