TOMB OF THE SERPENT KING: LEVEL 1 -- The False Tomb
Written by [email protected], compiled and edited by Erasmus.
1. Entrance Hall (Empty): Sounds of dripping water. Openings lead to
rooms (2A), (2B), (3) and (4). Stone door at end of hallway leads to
room (6).
2. Warrior Burial Chambers (Trap & Treasure): Sharp smell. Wooden coffin;
clay statue of snake-man warrior inside. Statue is hollow; contains gold
amulet (50 sp), dried snake skeleton, poison gas cloud (Save vs NonMagic or take 1d6 damage).
3. Scholar Burial Chamber (Trap & Treasure): Wooden coffin; clay statue of
snake-man scholar, scrolls (crumbles to dust if touched). Amulet and
poison same as in room (2).
4. Sorcerer Burial Chamber (Trap & Treasure): Wooden coffin; clay statue
The Tomb of the Serpent Kings is designed as a "learning" dungeon for
new players. When you first start up Super Mario Bros, the game doesn't
give you any instructions. The first level is cunningly designed to teach you
the rules: jump on enemies, pick up mushrooms, look for secrets, get coins,
avoid pits. There is no tutorial. The game itself is the tutorial. This dungeon
is designed to take a group of non-gamers and teach them the basics of
dungeoneering.
Lessons:
• Burial chambers 2A and 2B teaches that dungeon is organized, that
there are patterns, that there is hidden treasure, and hidden dangers.
• Cursed ring teaches that hidden treasure can be magical, and sometimes
cursed.
• Barred door teaches that there are deadly traps, and that the dungeon
can be lethal.
• King and brides teaches that there are undead in the dungeon, and that
they can use the environment against them (lure them into hammer
trap).
• The room with the statue teaches that there are secret passages, and
that they are associated with statues.
of snake-man sorcerer, silver ring on
statue; amulet and poison same as in
on a finger, turns fingernail long and
poison dagger). Every morning while
finger falls of and turns into snake.
right hand. Prying of ring breaks
room (2). Ring is cursed; If worn
pointed like twin fangs (count as
wearing ring; save vs magic or
5. Barred Door (Trap): Heavy stone bar; hangs off two iron pegs, requires
3 PCs to lift (or +1 STR for each missing PC). Lifting bar presses
button on wall; huge stone hammer swings down from ceiling, save vs
non-magic to dodge or take 1d10 damage. Shoving another PC gives
+2 to save, but gives that PC -2. Hammer breaks door to room (6),
then retracts into ceiling.
6. King and Brides Burial Chamber (Monster): Large chamber, stone coffins
(3); skeleton of snake-man king and two brides, if disturbed will animate
and attack. Sharp weapons deal half damage.
Snake-man king and brides (2):
AC 12, HD 1, Fangs (1d6), Ml 12
7. Large Statue (Empty): Giant statue of an ugly snake-man god. Water
leaking in from ceiling; pools of water on floor. Floor has eroded;
revealing a staircase underneath statue leading to level 2.
LEVEL 2 –-- The Lower Tomb
Room contains 3 stone coffins; Two snake-brides remain (corpses), third
coffin is empty (snake-man has wandered off into the pool in room 11
and dissolved). Brides attack if disturbed.
Snake-bride corpses (2):
AC 12, HD 1, Fangs (1d6), Ml 12
13. Collapsed Tomb Chamber (Monster): Collapsed roof; debris can be
removed by excavating. Inside room is snake-man mummy wielding greataxe; will attack and make noises as soon as head becomes visible
through rubble. Funeral trinkets; Gold chain (100 sp), clay snake-man
servants (empty), spell scroll (of referee's choosing), ring with emerald
stone (300 sp).’
Snake-man mummy:
AC 12, HD 1, Great axe (1d8), Ml 12
8. Alcove (Empty): Directly under the statue in room (7). Narrow (5’’'), only
fits one PC at a time. Water on floor.
9. Hall of Statues (Empty): Six huge snake statues overlooking the PCs.
One can be moved to reveal room (10), requires 3 PCs to move (or +1
STR for each missing PC).
10. Assassin’’'s Guard Room (Treasure): Fragments of rotten furniture; Fang
shaped silver coins in remains of drawer (50 sp). Mural depicts snake
dripping poison from its fangs. Two polearms hooked on wall.
14. Primitive Tomb (Monster): Sealed with thick stone door as in (12). Crude
carvings and paintings on walls depicting snake-men civilization (workers
building monuments for rulers). Single stone coffin contains badly
mummified remains turned ooze. Grave goods are clay copies of workers
and builder’'s tools (hollow and empty). Bludgeoning weapons deal half
damage vs oozes, fire deals double damage.
Black ooze:
AC 12, HD 1, Constriction (1d6), Ml 12
11. Pit Chamber (Monster): Stone statues encircles room as in (9). Pit in
15. Priest Common Room (Treasure): Wooden door. Three beds, rotten
middle of room; water trickling down from stairs (7) and alcove (8) has
filled pit with black oily water (smells like licorice). Pool; contains 2
mummy hands (crawling claws), insane mummy’'s head (spouts gibberish),
heavy cold chain (100 sp), a magic silver ring. Silver ring; while worn,
causes one eye of wearer to pop out of their skull and turn hard as
glass (eye still sees normally). Important: Pool must be emptied before
any treasures can be retrieved.
shelves; scrolls record the ravings of trapped mummies. Snake-god icon
carved into green-painted walls.
Mummy hands (2):
AC 16, HD 1/2, Claw (1d4, save vs non-magic or disease), Ml 12
12. Brides Tomb Chamber (Monsters & Trap): Sealed with thick stone door,
can be levered open. Pressure plate at passage into room; triggers a
lightning bolt spell from electrum plate inside room (plate fires once,
worth 200 sp).
16. Unfinished Tomb (Empty): Sealed with thick stone door as in (12).
Room has been half carved out of the rock. Nothing of interest.
17. Clay Army (Treasure): 18 clay snake-men warriors, hold rusty swords or
wood bows. Statues are hollow and empty. One statue has quiver with
3 magic arrows (+1 damage bonus, tip glows when readied on a bow).
Another statue can be moved to reveal Basilisk Hall (covered in level 3).
18. Slanting Stairs (Trap): Protected by very ornate stone door (braided
snakes in twisting partners). Faint wind. Third step triggers trap if
weight put on it; stairs tip to become smooth stone ramp. Bottom of
ramp has spike pit. Trap resets 5 rounds after it has been triggered.
Ramp is easy to slide down safely if PC is aware it’’'s there.
19. Shield Arena (Monster): Large arena-like room with a high ceiling. Walls
entirely covered in shields in different shapes and sizes (from tribes
defeated by the snake-men). Most shields are rotten, but some are still
usable. The arena opens onto a narrow path along a bottomless chasm.
Here the Stone Cobra Guardian waits. If wall is searched following can
be found; renown knight's shield (500 sp), dust covered mirror shield
(sunder to reflect a spell that targets wearer).
The Stone Cobra Guardian: A stone knight clad in carved armor (braided
twin snakes), wielding a huge dented sword. Wants to protect the tomb and
kill any interlopers.
AC 14, HD 2, see below, Ml 12
Attacks patterns (Use on per round):
1. Shield Draw: Call to a shield attached to the wall of the arena. Shield
will fly towards the guardian, dealing 1d6 damage to anyone in it's
path. Save vs non-magic avoids damage. Guardian can sunder shield to
reduce suffered damage by half.
2. Leap and Slam: Guardian leaps into air and slams 5' to 20' away from
its starting position. It will not land directly on creatures, but any
adjacent creatures take 1d4 damage, save negates. Creatures that take
damage are knocked prone.
3. Twin Slash: Swipes at two targets with sword. Targets must be on the
same facing (front, side, or rear), and must be adjacent to the Guardian.
This is a normal attack, dealing 1d6 bonus damage on a successful hit.
Lessons:
• Room 10 teaches that hidden rooms have more treasure.
• Pit chamber 11 teaches there are hidden monsters. Some monsters deal
damage and inflict diseases. It's hard to hit a monster clinging to your
friend's throat.
• Look for treasure at the bottom of pits and pools. Magic items can
solve problems
• Lightning bolt trap in room 12 teaches that sometimes the floor is
trapped. Traps are deadly. Approach unknown rooms with caution.
• Noise from mummy in collapsed tomb chamber (13) teaches that you
can hear some monsters before you see them. Some rooms are best left
alone.
• Oozes live in dungeons. They are difficult to bludgeon, just as the
skeletons were difficult to slash.
• Some rooms are empty.