2024-07-15 One Page Dungeon Contest
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> "We are excited to invite you to the 2024 One Page Dungeon Contest.
> We are accepting submissions starting now and to the end of July.
> The contest challenge is to create an intriguing and fun dungeon to
> play... on only one page. We would love to see you get involved." –
> Invitation to the 2024 One Page Dungeon Contest and the Dungeon
> Contest homepage

I submitted an entry for the One Page Dungeon Contest. Since I would
like the dungeons to be close to the prep I do for my own games so
that I feel like I belong to a community of referees that spends a
similar amount of time for their adventures I took some of my (German)
prep notes, cleaned them up and added some text boxes using Inskape
and decided against spending time on polishing it up.

At the time, my players had a hard time getting past the gate.

* 2023-08-22 Hammond verfolgt den Orkzug is when a player tracked a
  group of orcs as they reinforced the existing orc lair

* 2023-09-20 Das Endes des Balrogs was the first attempt at taking
  the lair in which they faced the fire demon and hell hounds

* 2023-09-26 Der Kampf auf den Galerien von Grosshammer, this is
  where they found a back entrance

Result:

* Orc Halls by Alex Schroeder

At the time I had a second 10-headed hydra, too…

The boss orcs had 3, 5 and 7 hit dice.

And later, when the players had killed all the orcs, a bunch of
goblins led by one Eye Poker resettled the halls.

These are the stats I would use:

* orcs HD 1 AC 6 1d6 F1 MV 12 ML 8 XP 100

  * Grishg HD 3 AC 6 1d6 F3 MV 12 ML 8 XP 300; with gauntlets of max
    strength granting +3; under the influence of the demon

  * Shagdog HD 5 AC 6 1d6 F5 MV 12 ML 8 XP 500; lightning bolt 1×/day
    for 5d6, save vs. spells for half; very loyal to Maufimbul

  * Ashuak HD 5 AC 3 1d6 F5 MV 6 ML 9 XP 500; willing to buy freedom
    and leave

  * Maufimbul HD 7 AC 3 1d6 F7 MV 6 ML 9 XP 700; wielding Fur Hunter
    +1/+3 vs. mammals; traditionalist spear dancer

* boars HD 3+1 AC 6 1d8 F1 MV 15 ML 9 XP 300

* hell hounds HD 5 AC 4 1d6 F5 MV 12 ML 9 XP 500; fire 2/6 for 5d6,
  save vs. spells for half; see invisible (that pack of hell hounds is
  also the random encounter)

* small pyrohydra HD 5 (40hp, 8hp per head) AC 5 1d10 per head F5 MV
  12 ML 9 XP 500; regrowing heads (unless cauterized with fire or ice,
  up to 7 more heads may grow, one per round, each with 8 hp); fire
  breath 3×/day: deal as much damage as it has hit-points left, save
  vs. breath for half; poisonous blood: when cutting off a head in
  melee, save vs. poison or die; immune to fire and poison

* fire demon HD 9+1 AC 4 1d6/2d6 F20 MV 12 ML 11; flying; aura of
  fire 1d6 (everybody within 10 ft); when the first attack with the
  flaming whip hits, the second attack with the flaming sword is at
  +4; only harmed by magic and magical weapons; immune to fire (the
  flaming whip and the flaming sword are two magic items that can be
  taken from the demon)

Clearly, the pyrohydra is the worst if you fight it without multiple
lightning bolts or the like.

As for intelligent monsters, I figured that it would be possible to
somehow sneak in and overhear orcs talk about the four bosses. If
somebody wanted to, the power dynamic could be exploited. As it turned
out, though, my players tried to force the front gate with sleep
spells, alerted the guards, which brought on the fire demon and all
the hell hounds. The enemies were destroyed but the party had to
retreat. Next time, the party found the outlook, sent up a ranger with
dark vision and a magic item that could charm humanoids. He killed the
four orc guards, climbed down the netting into the cavern, found the
way to the shooting gallery, started killing all the orcs and that was
the signal the others needed to begin the race down the the long
stairs. At the bottom, the orcs had cajoled a ten-headed pyrohydra
into the Merchant Hall but it died in the first round after being hit
by lightning bolts and other spells.

The treasure map to the Cistern of Sulphur does not contain any new
monsters or traps; it's not a new lair or dungeon. It's part of the
treasure gained here so all it takes is a one day trip up the
mountains to that sulphur cavern. The only risk involved is random
encounters.

​#RPG #1PDC ​#1PDC