The Forgotten Smugglers' Cave #13: Twisty Passages

This is an installment of a new dungeon adventure set in the Portown milieu, which I'm writing for Holmes Basic D&D. You can find the Introduction to the dungeon here: Area 1.

Each entry includes part of a "pointcrawl" map showing the area & any exits, which include links allowing you to navigate the dungeon:

	Area 14 ||
	13. TWISTY PASSAGES
	|| Area 11

13. TWISTY PASSAGES. This is a natural labyrinth of narrow, winding passages that is supernaturally challenging to navigate due to the effects of a dying smuggler's curse. This area can be entered from either the stream tunnel to the south (Area 11) or from the north (Area 14, to be described).

Movement. Due to the disorientation, movement in the Twisty Passages is handled differently than standard movement. Each turn, roll 2d6 and add the total number of turns the party has spent in the area (i.e., add 1 on the first turn; add 2 on the second turn, etc), and then consult the following table:

Encounters in the Twisty Passages (2d6 roll + turn number):

3-4. Nothing. The party wanders aimlessly.

5. An Item. A piece of equipment, showing signs of age and disrepair, is found on the floor of the tunnel (roll on the "Equipping the Adventurer" reference sheet; re-roll if the result doesn't make sense; e.g., a horse).

6-8. Cursed Doubloon. A double-sized platinum coin (worth 10 gp) lies on the tunnel floor. If any character handles it, note this, as they will suffer a penalty on a save made when leaving the area (see below).

9. Eerie Noise. The party hears one of the following noises echoing through the tunnels (roll 1d6): 1. Coins Jingling; 2. Scraping; 3. Thudding Footsteps; 4. Crunching & Cracking; 5-6. Ghostly Whispering. If the party moves towards the noise, there is a 3 in 6 chance that the next turn will be either #11-12 below (for noises 1-4) or #13-14 (for noises 5-6). 

10. Skeletal Remains. Human bones, scattered about, along with 1-2 items per #5 above. If a platinum doubloon is brought into the area, the bones will begin scraping themselves together, which after 1d4 rounds form into a partial skeleton (treat as a skeletal torso below in #11-12), and inexorably move towards the doubloon. 

11-12. Undead Smuggler. The animated remains of a smuggler, now cursed to search the tunnels endlessly for platinum doubloons. They will move inexorably towards and attack any character carrying a doubloon, but will depart if given all doubloons possessed by the party. (The ghost periodically steals the doubloons back and scatters them throughout the tunnels). 

Form (roll 1d6):

1. Skeletal Torso (DX 3, AC 9, HD 1/8, 1 hp, AT 1 claws for 1 point, turned as skeleton with a +2 on the roll), and wears/carries 1-2 items per #5 above. This is the upper half of a skeleton, and pulls itself across the floor with its arms.

2. Skeletal Legs (DX 12, AC 9, HD 1/8, 1 hp, AT 1 kick for 1 point, turned as skeletal torso). This is the lower half of a skeleton (pelvis and legs).

3. Skeleton (DX 12, AC 7, HD 1/2, 2 hp, AT 1 claws for 1d6). Carries 1-2 items per #5 above, and 0-2 (1d4-2) doubloons.

4. Skeletal Duelist (DX 15, AC 6, HD 1, 5 hp, AT 2 weapons; turned as zombie). Wears leather armor and wields sword & dagger (2 attacks/round), and has 0-3 (1d4-1) doubloons.

5. Zombie (DX 6, AC 7, HD 2, 9 hp, AT 1 claws for 1d8). Wears leather armor and a backpack with 1d4 items per #5 above, and has 0-3 (1d4-1) doubloons.

6. Big Zombie (DX 4, AC 5, HD 3, 14 hp, AT 2 bones for 1d6; turned as a ghoul). Wears chainmail and wields two large bones.

13-14. Mysterious Figure. Just visible down one tunnel stands the silhouette of a short figure. If approached, it withdraws into the darkness. If followed, it will lead them to the Ghost's Resting Place in the next turn (see below); otherwise, roll again as normal.

15-16. Ghostly Thief. A random party member must save versus spells or have a random piece of small equipment or treasure (preferentially a magic item) spirited away to #17-18 below.

17-18. Ghost's Resting Place. This area appears as #10 Skeletal Remains (see above). However, a narrow niche in one wall conceals a small hiding space (5' diameter, 5' height). This is difficult to find; treat as a secret door unless led here by the Mysterious Figure above. Inside the space, a skeleton sits against a locked chest holding roughly 1,000 platinum doubloons (value 10,000 gp), as well any items of characters that were stolen. Opening the chest will cause the ghost to materialize before the party. 

The Ghost. The characters hear a whisper that the ghost, Ness Sentra, was once the leader of the "importers" operating in these caves. They operated successful for decades, until she executed a heist of platinum doubloons from the wizard Zenopus. This proved her downfall, as her second-in-command, Mot Daxor, grew obsessed with the coins, and led a faction in mutiny against her. She slew Daxor in a duel but was backstabbed by one of his cronies. Mortally wounded, she fled here, and before dying swore that all who came for the treasure would be doomed to search for it forever.

The ghost is treated as an Reinvigorating Spirit, a new monster written up here. It will only restore a lost level once the curse has been lifted.

Reinvigorating Spirit (1): DX 9, AC 3, HD 4, 30 hp, AT 1 touch for 1d6

Lifting the Curse. The characters will sense that the curse can be lifted placing the remains of Sentra in her rightful place in a sarcophagi in the Crypt of the Arch Smugglers (Area 24), where Mot Daxor was instead entombed, and that the coins will then be theirs.

19+. An Exit. Roll the d12 again, on 1-6: exit to the south (Area 12); on 7-12: exit to the north (Area 14). When attempting to leave the area, each character must save versus spells, with a -1 on the roll for every 5 doubloons handled. On a failed save, the character will feel compelled to continue searching the caves for doubloons, and will lose one point of wisdom for each day spent outside the caves. This loss is permanent until the curse is lifted.

Chronologically on this blog, the previous post installment was Area 12 and the next posted installment will be Area 14.

Notes:

The name and description are inspired by the "maze of twisty little passages, all alike" in the original text adventure game, Adventure (aka Colossal Cave), which I played once on a memorable evening in the early '80s, and then more extensively in its cloned form in Infocom's Zork I on my home computer. (The pointcrawl map format that I am using for these drafts is also inspired by the hand-drawn maps that players would make for navigating these games). And then, obviously, having a pirate (Adventure) or thief (Zork) in the maze that steals stuff is also inspired by those games.