What Does Not Kill Me...

Near-Death Experience Rules for DCC

Whenever a character is reduced to zero hit points and does not receive immediate healing, the character has a chance to survive. At any time during or immediately after the end the combat (up to one hour), another player character can check on the body. The player of the deceased may attempt a Luck check (1d20 + current Luck modifier) vs. a difficulty of 10 (difficulty could be variable and set by the Judge depending on the circumstances of death, challenge level of the campaign, and bloodthirstiness of the Judge). Luck points can (and probably should) be spent on this roll. A success indicates survival. A failure indicates permanent death, curable by nothing short of a resurrection spell, wish, etc.

 The surviving character has 1 hit point and will suffer -4 to all actions for one hour following the encounter. The player of a surviving character must also roll on the following table to determine what other temporary or permanent effects may result.

% roll      Result

01-14         Coma (unconscious until Hit Points restored to full)

15-19      Multiple injuries (+1d3 additional injuries)

20-22         Chest Wound (-1d6 Stamina until Hit Points restored to full)

23-25         Leg Wound (roll 1d6 for severity and 1d6 for location)

Severity

1              severed or crushed (half movement rate, permanent)

2-5          broken (half movement rate until Hit Points restored to full)

6              injured (-5’ movement rate until Hit Points restored to full)

Location

1-2          Thigh

3              Knee

4              Shin

5              Ankle

6              Foot

26-28         Arm Wound (roll 1d6 for severity and 1d6 for location)

Severity

1              severed or crushed (-1d6 Strength permanent)

2-5          broken (-1d6 Strength until Hit Points restored to full)

6              injured (-1 Strength until Hit Points restored to full)

Location

1-2          Shoulder

3              Upper Arm

4              Elbow

5              Forearm

6              Wrist

29-31         Hand Injury (-1d6 Strength until Hit Points restored to full)

32-33         Fingers injured (roll 1d6 for severity)

Severity

1              1d4 fingers severed or crushed (-1 Agility per finger permanent)

2-5          1d4 fingers broken (-1 Agility per finger until Hit Points restored to full)

6              sprained or injured (-1 Agility until Hit Points restored to full)

34-36         Brain Injury (-1d6 Personality until Hit Points restored to full)

37-39         Concussion (-1d6 Intelligence until Hit Points restored to full)

40-42         Blinded in one eye (roll 1d6 for severity)

Severity

1              burst or gouged (-1d6 Agility permanent)

2-5          severe injury (-1d6 Agility until Hit Points restored to full

6              minor injury (-1 Agility until Hit Points restored to full)

43-44         Nervous Condition (-1d6 initiative until Hit Points restored to full)

45-47         Paralyzed (conscious but can take no physical actions until Hit Points restored to full)

48-50         Painful wound (may only take 1 action/round until Hit Points restored to full)

51-75         Superficial Scar (roll 1d4 for length in inches, roll 1d6 for scar location)

76-78         Loss of Confidence (-1 to attack opponent that wounded you, permanent)

79-81         Vow of Vengeance (+1 to attack opponent that wounded you, permanent)

82-84         Lesson Learned (+1 Experience Point)

85-87         A Close Call (+1 Luck)

88-90         Battle Hardened (+1 permanent Stamina)

91-93         Horrible Scar (-1d6 Personality until Hit Points restored to full, -1 permanent Personality, roll 1d6 for length in inches and 1d6 for scar location)

94-96         Impressive Scar (+1d6 Personality until Hit Points restored to full, +1 permanent Personality ,roll 1d10 for length in inches and 1d6 for scar location)

97-00         Miraculous Survival (+1 Experience Point, +1 Luck)

Scar Location

1              Head or face

2              Arm or hands

3 -5         Torso

6              Legs or feet

"Against the Cult of theReptile God" Chapter 9 of the Xanthus River Campaign

Our party consists of:
Valerius (Level 2 Warrior)
Absalom (Level 2 Cleric)
Gwen (Level 1 Elf)
Sausage (Level 1 Dwarf)
Babu (Level 1 Thief)

Jack (Level 0 Man-at-Arms)

Knot (Level 0 Rope Maker)
Wheezy (Level 0 Halfling Gypsy)
 

Meanwhile, back in Wince:

Nip (Level 1 Cleric)

Last week, while en-route to their home in Duirndown, the party stopped in Wince to recruit some men-at-arms. While there, they decided to investigate the cult activity they discovered the last time they were in Wince. They soon found some secret tunnels and a map leading to a hidden cult base of operations twelve miles away in the forest. They found the hidden base, an area of the swamp that had been drained to reveal ancient stairs leading underground to an entrance protected by four cult guards, which were quickly dispatched, but only after the death of two of their men-at-arms.

Heading East

The group was presented with three passages to the east, south, and west, and chose the east passage. They skipped a passage filled with doors and found another shorter passage that sloped down and ended in a door. The passage in front of the door was filled with wet mud. The thief inspected carefully and noticed a greenish hue to the mud. Fearing green slime, they poured oil on the mud and set it on fire.

The billowing smoke soon filled the corridor. One of the doors in the untaken passage opened and a female cultist popped her head out, saying "Where's that smoke coming from?" then, seeing the party, shouted, "Intruders! To arms!"

"Intruders! To Arms!"

She rushed to wake the other cultists sleeping in one of the other rooms while her three companions poured out to defend their base. A battle ensued in the hallway with Valerius and Sausage holding the front line and Gwen, Wheezy, and Babu firing bow, sling, and crossbow, respectively, from the rear. Four unarmored cultists, roused from their slumber, soon joined the fray.

Cultists poured into the hall

 

Fierce battle in the hallway

 The battle soon ended with eight dead guards littering the hallway.

After quickly searching the bunk cells, they tried the remaining unopened door, only to find it locked. Valerius kicked it open and surprised the four sleeping guards on their cots.

Sleeping Cultists

Gwen tried to summon forth a dire wolf but failed, miserably, resulting in a sickening amalgamation of inside-out wolf guts, muscles, bones, and fur falling with a sickening splat onto the floor. The rest of the group rushed in and stabbed, chopped, and bludgeoned the unarmed and unarmored cult guards before they could even get out of their cots.

Moving on...

The party then explored the passage to the north and found a kitchen. In the rear of the kitchen was a hall that led to a door. No matter what they did, the door could not be opened, yet it did not appear to be magical. Valerius pulled heroically on the door to no avail. The party concluded that the door was false, set up as a devious practical joke for purposes no one could fathom.

The party then travelled down a southerly corridor, finding two empty but partially collapsed rooms, a westerly passage ending in a flooded cave, and a southerly corridor ending in a door.

They opened the door into two large adjoining chambers with high arched ceilings supported by columns. A ghostly yet beautiful voice echoed from the far chamber, beckoning them forward. Everyone was enchanted by the voice, save Gwen, Knott, and Absalom.

"This looks bad..."

 

"Enter with caution."

Those enchanted by the magical voice walked slowly forward, as if hypnotized, into a deep pit of mud that separated the two rooms. Those with clear heads soon saw the harpy that called to them and began loosing arrows and sling stones at the creature. Absalom, frustrated at the situation, tried to plug Valerius' ears with the only material he had at hand, his bag of night soil, but to no avail.

"Crap! Harpy!"

 

As soon as the enchanted party members had become stuck in the mud, the harpy flew forth to attack them. The harpy ineffectually grabbed at the victims with her claws while she was peppered with arrows and bullets.

"Charmed party members stuck in the mud..No worries the Harpy died"

 Some critical arrow hits quickly brought the harpy down. The enchanted party members soon regained their wits. Babu was able to climb the walls carrying a rope and bypass the mud pit. Soon everyone was across and searched the harpy's nest, where they found fabulous treasure.

After that, they skipped the flooded cave and went all the way back to a westerly corridor they skipped earlier. They found a larder stocked with supplies and a southerly corridor with a collapsed wall, revealing a flooded cave. They followed the corridor and found a trapped door protecting a room filled with casks of wine and beer. They loaded the men-at-arms with the smaller portable casks. Around the bend to the west they located a large entrance chamber supported by four stout columns. Along the walls were bas reliefs depicting an ancient kingdom of serpent men who worshipped giant snakes with humanoid heads.

After confirming that a northerly corridor linked up with the entrance, they backtracked and continued west. At a right turn, Gwen found a secret door. Behind which was a natural corridor that opened to the flooded cavern, and a boat.

The party took the boat across the flooded cavern, taking notice of the albino crocodiles resting on a shore on the north edge of the cavern. Spotting three exits, one west, one east, and one south, they decided on the southern exit. The exit led to a corridor and a four-way junction. The westerly and southerly corridors were covered in mud. Suddenly, a giant angry weasel scurried from the western corridor and attacked! After a brief fight, the party killed the weasel and decided to go east.

Giant Mud Weasel

 The corridor turned to the south and ended in a stout primitive door which was barred from the other side. Valerius busted it down and the party engaged three guards, strange serpent-human hybrids, each carrying two scimitars, in battle while a fourth ran to an adjoining room to summon four others.

Snake-Human Hybrids

Pitched Battle!

 After a pitched battle, all but one hybrid cult guard was killed. The remaining one fled, but Babu and the rest gave chase. As the guard ran down a set of stairs, Babu killed him with his crossbow.

A snake-man fled for his life!

He was followed by Babu and the others!

 The party was exhausted. Though they had spent barely an hour exploring the dungeon, they decided to retreat and rest. They back-tracked to the sleeping cells of the guards, where they left the eight bodies in the hall. They arrived to find a giant lizard feasting on the carrion. The lizard took notice and charged the party in an attempt to defend his find. The party set upon the lizard and it was soon put down.

"Aww... He's CUTE! Who's a cute lizard monster?"

Having secured their rest area, the party pulled all the cots into one room and set a watch while they rested.


TO BE CONTINUED!

Next week: Against the Cult of the Reptile God, Part Two!


Afterthoughts

No real comments this week. Just a lot of fun dungeon crawlin.

Lucinda joined us again. She plans on joining us next week.

The fake door cracked me up. It was fun to see the players put so much thought into it. I finally broke down and told them the truth so they wouldn't spend any more time obsessing over it.

Lucinda, playing Babu, did a great job checking every door for traps, eventually finding the trapped wine cellar.

Absalom and Gwen were out of spells so the group decided to take a rest. We'll see if they get a full eight hours of rest. Ha, right!

After the final fight, all the zero level men at arms leveled up to first level. Absalom and Gwen hit second level.

Explored This Week:

1. Green Slime
2. Fight with Cult Guards
3. Harpy
4. Weasel
5. Snake-Human Hybrids
6. Giant Lizard
 

The Under-City of Duirnhold

Duirnhold was founded by the dwarfish King Duirn over 2400 years ago when an exploratory tunnel into the mountain that now bears his name revealed rich veins of Atuta Dhatu (mithril), iron, copper, gold, silver, and other precious metals and gemstones. In time, the mines and foundries of Duirnhold became one of the most productive and lucrative dwarfish enterprises in all of Agartha.  Traders came up the Xanthus river from across the continent to do business with the dwarfs, trading food, furs, textiles, and other goods in exchange for raw ore, prepared ingots, and finished products such as weapons, armor, metalwork, jewelry, and custom goods.

There are two publically known entrances to Duirnhold. The first is located on the west slope of the mountain in the town of Duirndown near the headwaters of the Xanthus river. The second is located  on the east slope of the mountain facing the desert wastes of Gazh. On this side, a long stairway descends the mountain to the desert several thousand feet below.

Anyone entering through either entrance descends down a twenty-foot wide corridor for a few hundred feet before needing to pass a checkpoint. It is here that the trade goods were inspected and the traveler recorded and given a passport. Past the checkpoint, the corridor descends another mile.
Visitors from Duirndown must cross over a bridge that spans a great cleft under the mountain. The cleft rises several hundred feet above and descends into an interminable chasm below.

 Lower Level

The lower level is the only level accessible to outsiders. It consists of five connected chambers: two Halls of Statues, the Hall of Trade, the Hall of Metals, and the Hall of Goods.

Visitors entering from either direction then pass through one of two impressive Halls of Statues, a one-hundred foot tall vaulted gallery filled with 16 colossal statues of ancient dwarfish heroes and legendary figures. The gallery is imposing and is meant to intimidate and impress visitors as they pass underneath.

Visitors then enter the Hall of Trade, a busy bustling gallery of offices where factors from the various dwarfish mercantile houses meet with visiting merchants to conduct business transactions. Visitors may be taken into the adjacent Hall of Metals or Hall of Goods to inspect the items they intend to purchase prior to completing the transaction.  The Hall of Trade also maintains houses of accommodation for visiting dignitaries. Diplomatic envoys are escorted through one of two passages to the upper level to conduct court business.

Rumors tell of secret doors that lead to hidden chambers and covert passages to restricted levels.

Upper Level

The chambers of the upper level is restricted to the dwarfs of Duirnhold. Only visiting dignitaries may enter.

The upper level consists of one large gallery connected to three smaller chambers as well as three labyrinthine networks of rooms and corridors.

The largest gallery is devoted to the royal palace and the temple to the mountain lord. This cavernous chamber rises five hundred feet and is supported by ten forty-foot wide stone columns. The south end of the gallery is dominated by a large stepped pyramid, a temple to Daenthar the Mountain Lord, chief g the dwarfish pantheon. A moat surrounds the impressive structure. Eight statues of each of the gods of the dwarfs stand against the west and east walls surrounding the temple.

The north end contains the palace of Duirn, an impressive edifice sporting two tapering two-hundred foot tall obelisks and a soaring 150-foot dome. The wide stairs that lead into the entrance is flanked by statues of Duirn's mother and father. During its heyday, hundreds of dwarfs lived and worked within the palace household and the descendants of Duirn held court in the audience chamber.

The southern gallery is 300 feet wide by 540 feet long by 300 feet high. This chamber contains the forge, a mighty furnace that taps into the very heart of the mountain. Here metal ores are melted down and separated into refined metals. During its day, the forge was filled with working dwarfs, rock crushers, blast furnaces, bloomeries, powerful mechanical bellows, crucibles, and foundries. Vents leading to the surface provided fresh air for the bellows and carried away exhaust from the furnaces. Water wheels powered by underground rivers drove the fans that moved the air through the vents.

Ores were mined far below and stored in the adjoining Hall of Ores, a 300 feet wide by 300 feet long by 300 feet high warehouse piled high with various rocks laced with metal ores. The ores were separated into distinct piles: gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and the exotic unbreakable metal the dwarfs call Atuta Dhatu, found only in the deepest places under the mountain.

Finished metals and parts were later cleaned, polished, and assembled into weapons, armor, tools, and other devices in the adjoining workshop. The workshop is 180 feet wide by 540 feet long and 240 feet high. The workshop contained hundreds of work benches and anvils. Ores, metals, and finished goods were then transported to the Hall of Metals or Hall of Goods for trade with the outside world.

A complicated network of metal tracks connected the mines to the Hall of Ores, the Forge, the Workshop, and the trade halls below. Mine carts were pulled by mules.

The eastern gallery is known as the Hall of Workers. The Hall of Workers measures 780 feet long by 420 foot wide by 240 feet tall and is supported by 18 40-foot wide columns. In its day, the hall contained homes and dormitories to house the common unskilled workers, miners, and laborers of Duirnhold. The gallery is a network of public spaces, dormitories, private apartments, dining halls, taverns, and other residential services.

The Hall of Nobles measures 660 feet long by 300 feet wide by 300 feet tall and is supported by 9 columns. The chamber is divided into 12 private multi-story compounds, each belonging to one of the 12 noble families of Duirnhold.

The Hall of Artisans measures 300 feet wide by 480 feet long by 300 feet tall and is supported by 6 columns. This space contains the private residences of the twelve master artisans of Duirnhold. Whenever a master artisan dies, a contest of skills is held and a new master artisan is selected from the general populace.

Secret Locations

There are several secret locations in Duirnhold, including the fabled Vault of Duirn, rumored to measure 300 feet wide by 600 feet deep and 300 feet high, it is said to be filled with the accumulated wealth of thousands of years of prosperity. Its location is unknown. Other locations not shown on the maps above include the catacombs which lead to the burial vaults of the twelve noble families and the ossuaries of the commoners. According to dwarfish tradition, dwarfs are buried in their finest raiment with their most treasured possessions. These tombs are protected by deadly traps enchanted guardian statuary.

The Fall of Duirnhold

Forty years ago, the dwarfs of Duirn uncovered a lost chamber deep underneath the mountain, far down in its very roots. The chamber unleashed a primal force of evil, the titan of chaos known as Zoggolorth, buried since the dawn of time. Once freed, the evil of Zoggolorth quickly spread, corrupting everything it touched. The dwarfs built bulwark after bulwark to defend themselves from the spread of the evil, but it slowly overcame each line of defense. Eventually, the city itself fell. Thousands of dwarfs died in the final desperate battles against the Spawn of Zoggolorth. The surviving dwarfs were forced to abandon their homes and flee for their lives. The dwarfs called upon the aid of the human mages to magically seal the portals behind them, preventing the further spread of the chaos. Today, Duirnhold is sealed behind multiple layers of magical gates. Each gate can only be opened by a magical key in the possession of one of the human mages of Bhaakru.