Tags
Caves, Crypt, Dungeon, Dungeons & Dragons, Dyson Mega Delve, Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, Maps, Megadungeon, Mines, OSR, RPG
No, no, no, no, let me ask you a question. When you came pulling in here, did you notice a sign out from of this cave that said “Dead Dwarf Storage”?
Oh, never mind, my bad.
The Dwarven Crypts are the last map of level of the Dwarven City in the Mega Delve. This map is linked to the Marble Hall map and is found on the far side of the collapsed bridge. Once a small mithril mine, these tunnels were later converted into crypts for several dwarven clan and families from the city.
There are three types of crypts in here – in decreasing order of importance they are Tombs (with sarcophagi and typically with doors), Vaults (with doors), and Crypts (open-air niches where the dead are placed).
The entrance to the dwarven crypts is home to several massive spiders who took up residence here to avoid the over-crowded environs of the Venomous Hall below. Further into the crypts and we enter the domain of rot grubs, ear-seekers, and everything except for the expected undead. The dwarves buried here left this world content, entombed within their family city, in the very mines that they worked. They are not restless in any way.
However, a long sinuous beast does live here, occasionally snacking on a giant spider, otherwise subsisting off the treasures of the dwarves buried here. This foul dragon is treated as a black dragon in all respects, but is very long and thin and thus able to squirm through even the narrowest of openings.
I figure that instead of random tables to determine what’s in each crypt, I’ll go with a die-drop table and the number / size of dice dropped are based on what kind of crypt you are investigating (1d12 for a simple crypt, 1d10 & 1d12 for vault and 1d10, 1d12 & 1d20 for a sarcophagus). Maybe I’ll get a chance to work on them over the next few days…
Great stuff. The lack of undead in a crypt level will freak out experienced players. 🙂
This one is particularly interesting to me in that it’s basically a giant loop, with sidetracks and one (or two, if the adventurers find that secret door) sub-loops.
Will we ever be able to see the dwarven city as one big layout. I’d be willing to purchase all the beautiful maps compiled together in some book or something. I love your work and it inspires me to try and be better. Thank you for sharing