Dao
Terrain:
Total Party Levels:
Total Magic X.P.:
Total gp X.P.:
Monster X.P.:
Elemental Plane of Earth
25
see below
30,150
Kill: 8,356
Defeat: 6,267
Retreat: 2,089
Set Up
The PCs learn of a foolish dao named "Rockhead" who trades precious gems for lead. If they want to
buy lead for trading, assume that it costs one gold coin for every hundred gp weight.
While adventuring in an area which might lead to this lair, the PCs discover an abandoned crate holding
5,000 gp encumbrance of lead, marked "For Rockhead. Receive on Delivery, 2,500 Gold Coins."
The Lair
No matter what Rockhead pays for his lead, he can always sell it back for a profit. A vein of pure
uranium-235 surrounds this lair. Travelers in this radioactive cave must protect themselves with leaden shields
or die, as they learn after the lead has been sold. This lair is a circular, air-filled, tunnel, 10' high by 10' wide,
with an entry cave which connects it to other areas. Rockhead himself lives in a bulge which he has shielded
with lead, but the rest of the tunnel loops for three miles through radioactive soil, until it returns to the entrance,
and then the lair again.
When PCs arrive, an obsequious dao servant greets them and leads the party directly to Rockhead's lair.
The area looks like a round cave, 30' in radius, with an exit on either side. Rockhead appears to be the only
occupant. This dao buys lead with foolish delight, eagerly fingering the metal and tossing PCs 1-3 gems per
200gp weight of lead. He keeps 100 topazes in his sleeve, worth 100gp each. Behind the walls of this chamber
are 5,000gp weight of assorted lead plates, a set of metalworking tools worth 100gp, 200 more topazes worth
100gp each, and a 5’ thick lead shield which surrounds the whole lair. Rockhead can reach this treasure cache
with his passwall ability.
While PCs sell their lead, the porter and two invisible dao creep into the tunnel to an area between the
lair and the cave exit. They each plug the passage with a wall of stone, then use rock to mud on the cave floor.
Now, characters have to circumnavigate the whole tunnel to return to the entry cave and leave.
4 GENIE, DAO:
hd 8 +3 hp 47 thaco 11 morale 15 int 5 to 12 align neutral evil ac 3
move 9” ground / 15” fly class “B” / 6” burrow #att 1 damage 3d6 exp 5,000
spells 1 per day change self / detect good / detect magic / gaseous form / invisibility /
misdirection / passwall / spectral force / wall of stone / fulfill another’s limited wish
spells rock to mud 3 per day / dig 6 per day all spells at the 18th level
Radioactive Earth
When the PCs try to leave, they discover the mudpit and dead end. Rockhead grins at them, then
soothingly describes his lair's circular nature. He explains that they need only walk around the lair to escape-but
an "evil" radiates from the dirt in the tunnel, which must be blocked with heavy metals. Rockhead completes his
speech by saying, "Only your lead, I mean, my lead, can save you." PCs find two dead pech slaves in the tunnel
loop. The corpses are bald, and bits of fallen hair dot their clothing. While the PCs are exploring the tunnel,
Rockhead hides the lead he bought from them behind his walls, with the other treasure.
The radiation in this vein forces everyone to save vs. death magic once per turn. Even characters who
leave the tunnel by magically passing through earth suffer radiation poisoning, since the lair lies at the center of
a uranium vein, and the deposit is five miles in radius. Failing the first save means nothing, but after a character
fails two saves, he experiences nausea which halves Strength, Dexterity, and hit points. Also, the victim's hair
starts to fall out, halving Comeliness. If a third saving throw fails, the victim loses 1-10 hp and will suffer that
damage again every day, until dead or magically cured. Any victim that fails four saves dies instantly. Cure
wounds spells will restore lost hit points, but only a heal or regenerate spell can cure radiation sickness. After
three weeks, radiation survivors start healing naturally, recovering one point of each damaged statistic per day.
Objects which become soiled with dirt from this vein become permanently radioactive. Living beings
can wash the radiation away, but, while dirty, a contaminated character transfers radioactive dust to everything
he touches. Since radiation can only be detected by its effects, PCs should be very suspicious of anything they
carried during this encounter. For every week that a victim spends within l' of a contaminated item, he must
make another saving throw against radiation, as described above. Although this contamination may force PCs to
discard treasured items, devious characters might find uses for contaminated objects. Award characters 200
experience points for successfully using radioactivity, as if they had found a magical item.
Lead blocks radiation, and the PCs could travel through this area safely if they covered themselves with
a leaden shelter. Assume that ten gp weight of the soft metal can be hammered into a plate that covers one
square foot. Fusing lead plates into a shelter requires one turn per square foot or twice that time if no tools are
available. Characters with a blacksmith proficiency (see the DSG) can halve this time period.
The PCs will probably have to return to Rockhead's lair and buy their lead back. This time, Rockhead is
cold and businesslike. He demands the return of his gems and one human slave. Clever bargainers can persuade
him to accept sums of money over 10,000gp or some powerful magical item. The party can trade, or fight. Once
the PCs have left, these dao use dig to destroy their walls of stone, and let the mud dry, resetting this trap. Who
said "Rockhead" meant "stupid"?