Cats Have No Lord

Turbowurm Bloodchasm

Following up on the post from this weekend about the depthcrawl procedure I plan to try out, this is the full text of the adventure I'll be playtesting this weekend, with a more complete publication hopefully to follow.

This adventure is for Renegades & Razzcals, my work-in-progress weird fantasy old school game with Creative Wronging and includes a new class for that game—The Necromancer.

Turbowurm Bloodchasm

The chasm yawns amidst a massive ruined palace. It opened with the first rising of the second sun, taking the royal treasury and its wonders down with it. Hellgoats come up to eat the treasure. Wurms come up to eat the goats. Treasure hunters go down to die. Necromancers come to bring them life. Blood spills. The cycle continues. Neverending.

Introduction

Turbowurm Bloodchasm is a depthcrawl adventure for Renegades & Razzcals. Players will enter a vast, unmappably complex chasm with a mix of caves and rooms pulled down from the ancient palace above. They may come out with some treasure. They’ll probably die. Follow these procedures to explore the chasm and generate spaces and encounters within it.

Procedures

Exploring the chasm is based on the players’ current depth rating, which starts at 0 and goes up to 10. Each turn players have several options to choose from:

  1. Explore the current depth
  2. Descend to the next depth
  3. Ascend to the previous depth
  4. Rest in their current location

The Danger Clock tracks the risk of an encounter occuring while exploring.

Explore

To explore the current depth, roll 2d6:

2–4 - Arrive at a new location and take 2 chasm tokens.
5–9 - Arrive at a new location and take 1 chasm token.
10–12 - Get lost, eventually returning to your last location, and lose 1 chasm token.

Chasm tokens represent navigational knowledge players gain by exploring the chasm. They may be spent to Descend to the next depth or to discover a Special Location in the current depth.

Travel between locations takes 30 minutes.

Locations

Roll 1d10+Depth three times to determine the location, detail, and obstacle players reach while exploring. All locations have 1d100*Depth gp worth of treasure somewhere in the space, but players must overcome the obstacle in that location to retrieve the treasure.

Players may also choose to spend chasm tokens equal to the current depth to find a special location. Special locations have no obstacle, 2d100*Depth gp of treasure, and a Wonder. Roll 1d10+Depth to determine the wonder they find.

All locations are dark unless noted otherwise in a detail.

Backtracking

The passages between locations are twisting and convoluted, confusing all those who pass through them. Unless players have taken time to map during a rest, they must make an explore roll to navigate back to a previously visited location, arriving at the location they wish to reach on a result of 2–9.

Descend

Players may spend chasm tokens equal to the next Depth to find a path down to that depth. After descending they immediately arrive at a new location without making an explore roll.

Ascend

Players may ascend to the previous Depth from the first location they visited at their current depth at no cost. They may also spend Chasm Tokens equal to the previous depth to find a new passage up to that depth, immediately arriving at a new location without making an explore roll.

Rest

Players may choose to rest at their current location at any time, and must they must rest every three locations they visit or suffer a -1 penalty to future Explore rolls until they rest.

While resting, players may choose to map the previous three locations they have visited, which allows them to backtrack to those locations without making an explore roll.

Danger Clock

The danger clock starts at 0, and an encounter will occur when it reaches 20-Depth. Players should be aware of the current clock value and plan accordingly.

The clock advances in two ways:

  1. The result of any explore roll is added to the clock.
  2. If players spend more than one turn in a single location, make loud noise, or otherwise attract attention, roll 1d6 and add the result to the clock.

Tables

Locations

  1. Cave chamber; low ceiling; very wide
  2. Narrow crevasse; high walls; no visible ceiling
  3. Cave chamber; long and low; small alcoves and grottoes in walls
  4. Cave chamber; oddly round; bowl-shaped depression in center
  5. Palace ruins; minor treasure storeroom; some wooden chests
  6. Palace ruins; grain silo; bags of moldy grain
  7. Palace ruins; guard tower; weapons lockers and old maps
  8. Cave chamber; small central chamber; many larger chambers in spokes off the center
  9. Cave chamber; downward spiraling corridor to tiny space
  10. Palace ruins; royal guard barracks; lots of beds
  11. Cave chamber; underground lake with island
  12. Palace ruins; major treasure storeroom; many chests and shelves
  13. Palace ruins; alchemist’s laboratory; stills, beakers, and a massive cauldron
  14. Palace ruins; jewelry workshop; workbenches, magnifying glasses, precision tools
  15. Cave chamber; river of lava; narrow natural bridge
  16. Palace ruins; chamber of curiosities; glass cases with fake mermaids and weird coral formations
  17. Palace ruins; library; big shelves, mostly unreadable books in ancient tongues
  18. Cave chamber; massive crystal formations; so hot
  19. Cave chamber; so big and dark you can’t see the walls or ceiling
  20. Palace ruins; Emperor’s throne room; massive black marble throne and diamond columns

Details

  1. Choked with rubble of colorful frescoed walls.
  2. Splotches of dried blood everywhere
  3. Covered in strange green dust (sneeze if inhaled)
  4. Clumps of faintly glowing red fungus here and there
  5. Narrow hole to surface letting in sunlight
  6. Trickles of fresh blood from tiny holes in the ceiling
  7. Remains of former explorers camp
  8. Graffiti in unknown language
  9. Pools of fresh blood on the floor
  10. Giant ancient bones
  11. Very wet and moldy
  12. River of blood from crack in the wall
  13. Very cold and icy
  14. Music playing from no visible source
  15. Loud rumbling sounds from walls
  16. Knocking and calls for help from walls
  17. Silent, nobody can hear each other
  18. All surfaces covered in blood
  19. All surfaces strangely hot to the touch
  20. Walls of volcanic glass

Obstacles

  1. Tiny grumpy cave crabs hoarding treasure. Not particularly dangerous, but scream horrifically if you hurt them.
  2. Wet slippery spots all over floor
  3. Small fires everywhere
  4. Floor covered in tiny snails
  5. Partially flooded with hot water
  6. Treasures in locked chest
  7. Pit trap with obvious trigger
  8. Cave vines grasping at anyone who comes near
  9. Treasure under a fresh corpse
  10. Floor covered in broken volcanic glass
  11. Room fully flooded with hot water
  12. Everything on fire
  13. Surfaces freeze anything that touches them
  14. Extra low gravity in room
  15. Gravity reversed in room
  16. Complete magical darkness
  17. Time slowed by ½
  18. Pile of fresh corpses
  19. River of lava
  20. Portals to hell opening Randomly

Special Treasures

  1. Satchel invisible to anyone but the wearer
  2. Bracelet that lets you understand but not speak other languages
  3. Boots that let you hover for 10 seconds
  4. Handcuffs that cannot be unlocked except under a full moon
  5. Staff that stops you tripping on rough terrain
  6. Pouch that refills with food once a week
  7. Mask that lets you breath underwater for 15 minutes
  8. Gold coin you will always know the location of
  9. Dagger that comes back when you throw it
  10. Cloak that lets you hide in shadows
  11. Gem that shows you 5 seconds into the future
  12. Flying carpet (holds 500 lb.)
  13. Pair of Sentient stones that can talk to each other telepathically at any distance (they’ll relay messages if you are nice)
  14. Sword of sundering - breaks opponents’ weapon on a damage roll of 6
  15. Flame guard - oil that grants fire resistance for 1 hour - 6 uses
  16. Dancing bolos - bolos cause a creature to dance uncontrollably when they wrap around them
  17. Shield of friendship - sentient shield wants to be best friends but may stop protecting you if you can’t keep it up
  18. Cup of wisdom - drink blood from the cup to get one answer to any question
  19. Crown of command - spikes drive into head, anyone in 100 ft. Obeys your commands but deals d6 damage to you every minute, blood trickling in your face
  20. Resurrection stone - stone placed in corpse’s mouth brings them back to life so long as it stays in their mouth but will turn them evil in d4 months

Encounters

  1. D4 wurmlings feasting on a corpse
  2. D4 treasure hunters triggering a trap
  3. D4 hellgoat kids eating treasure
  4. Necromancer hunting for bones
  5. D6 wurmlings attacking a hellgoat
  6. D4 hellgoat kids eating a treasure hunter’s weapons
  7. Necromancer raising a skeleton
  8. D6 wurmlings chasing a necromancer
  9. D6 treasure hunters killing a wurmling
  10. Turbowurm devouring a hellgoat
  11. Hellgoat snooping for metal
  12. Turbowurm sleeping restlessly
  13. Necromancer and d6 skeletons Fighting a Turbowurm
  14. D4 hellgoats butting heads with eachother
  15. Turbowurm racing into location
  16. D4 hellgoats goring a treasure hunter
  17. Turbowurm digging a new tunnel
  18. D6 hellgoats feasting on a horde of treasure
  19. D6 Turbowurms hunting
  20. D12 turbowurms guarding nests of wurmlings

Bestiary

Turbowurm

AC 17 HP 40 Save 8
Bite: +6 2d10 damage
Blood Torrent: Save or take damage equal to current HP
Massive worm (30 ft. long and 10 ft. wide); no eyes; huge mouth; pale pinkish flesh; covered in tiny protrusions constantly spewing blood as it squirms around; so fast (impossible to run from in a straight line but not good at turning); wants to eat hellgoats but settles for anything with blood

Wurmling

AC 10 HP 15 Save 12
Bite: +3 1d10 damage
Blood Torrent: Save or take damage equal to current HP
Small young version of the Turbowurm; 5 ft. long and 2 ft. wide.

Hellgoat

AC 14 HP 20 Save 10
Ram: +4 1d8 damage
Hooves: x2 +4 1d6 damage
Fire: On successful attack Save or catch on fire (1d6 damage per round until extinguished)
Big goat; flames instead of fur; eats treasure, melting it in it’s stomach; screams an awful human-like sound when angry or scared

Hellgoat Kid

AC 10 HP 10 Save 14
Ram: +2 1d6 damage
Hooves: x2 +2 1d4 damage
Small goat; fire on the inside but fur on the outside

Treasure Hunter

AC 13 HP 4 Save 16
Sword: +0 1d6 damage
Stupid human looking for treasure but probably going to be eaten by a wurm

Necromancer

AC 10 HP 4 Save 14
Staff: +0 1d4 damage
Creepy looking human in tattered black robes; surrounded by 2d6 Skeletons at all times and tries to avoid fighting

Skeleton

AC 12 HP 4 Save 12
Scimitar: +1 1d6 damage
Resurrected treasure hunter serving a necromancer

The Necromancer Class

Players may choose to play a Necromancer rather than one of the core Renegades & Razzcals classes.

Character Creation

Roll 3d6, the result is your Skeletons (SKT) ability score, representing the number of skeletons you have serving you. Take a random necromancer spell.

All necromancers are creepy in their own way. Roll below for a necromancer creep trait:

Creep Traits

  1. Glowing green eyes
  2. Skull mask with antlers
  3. Walk around on stilts under long pants
  4. Crawl around on all fours
  5. Leg replaced with reanimated bones
  6. Too many fingers
  7. Extra long neck
  8. Teeth constantly chattering
  9. Blue fire for hair
  10. No nose

Combat

Necromancers fight through their skeletons and avoid combat themselves. Necromancers may attack a number of targets up to their current SKT, assigning their available skeletons between those targets. For each target roll 1d12+X with X being the number of skeletons dedicated to that target. Attacks succeed if the modified result is equal to or greater than the target’s AC.

Skeletons deal 1d6 damage each unless modified by a spell.

Damage to the necromancer in combat destroys one skeleton for each point of damage taken, reducing their SKT by one point for each skeleton destroyed in this way.

Reanimation

Necromancers only regain lost SKT by reanimating new skeletons. After combat if they are safe in the location where combat occurred, they may regain 1d6 SKT from the remains of any skeletons destroyed during that combat.

If they are below their maximum SKT, they may also reanimate a skeleton from any remains they find.

Reanimating skeletons requires 10 minutes.

Necromancer Spells

In addition to Reanimation, each necromancer may take 1 additional random spell. Spells are cast with the same magical energy used to maintain control over reanimated skeletons, and necromancers reduce their SKT when casting, with more SKT allowing more powerful spell effects as noted in spell descriptions—SKT in a spell description refers to the number of SKT points invested int he spell.

  1. Touch of death - Target must save or take 1d8 damage for each SKT. If killed, the target immediately becomes a skeleton under the control of the necromancer, adding 1 to their current SKT.
  2. Soul capture - For SKT minutes any creature that dies within sight of the necromancer becomes their undead servant until the end of the spell. Gain 1 temporary SKT for each creature controlled in this way. Use the creature’s maximum damage die for attacks if greater than 1d6.
  3. Fear - SKT targets must save or flee in fear from the necromancer.
  4. Resurrection - Raise a creature that died within the past hour. Requires SKT equal their maximum HP or ability score value.
  5. Corrosive Darkness - Create a sphere of magical darkness for 10 ft. around your. Deals 1d4 damage for each SKT to any creature that comes within the sphere.
  6. Life Transfer - Heal another creature 1 HP or ability score point for each SKT.
  7. Poison - Target must save or become poisoned, taking SKT damage for d6 rounds.
  8. Speak to the Dead - You may ask SKT questions of a corpse.
  9. Fake Death - Creature appears believably dead for SKT hours.
  10. Stave Off Death - A creature that would otherwise die becomes stable and cannot take additional damage for SKT rounds.

Inventory

Necromancers rely on their skeletons to carry things for them. Each wears a backpack. Be careful not to lose it if they die.

Advancement

Necromancers may increase their energetic potential to control the undead and increase their maximum SKT by 1 point through secret rituals with disgusting potions and long nights of meditation. The rituals take one week to complete. Supplies for the first costs 2,000 gp and each subsequent increase costs twice as much as the last.