S. Harlan – Snakes and Chutes and Ladders.pdf

(691 KB) Pobierz
Snakes AND Chutes and Ladders
venomous fun • by s.harlan
The   12th   Earl   had   a   sense   of   humor.   He   offered   prisoners   a  
choice:  five  years  added  to  their  sentence  in  his  dungeon  (not  
a  healthy  place),  or  instant  freedom  through  the  Pit.
Prisoners  choosing  the  Pit  were  taken  to  a  large  metal  door  in  
a  hill.  They  were  given  a  club  or  cheap  dagger,  a  pair  of  boots,  
a  pair  of  baggy  pants,  and,  if  they  had  the  money  for  it  (which  
some   of   his   political   prisoners   had),   a   potion   of
neutralize  
 
poison.  They  were  shoved  inside;;  the  door  closed  and  locked.
The  only  way  out  was  through  the  door.  The  only  way  to  open  
the  door  from  the  inside  was  with  the  key.  The  only  way  to  get  
the  key  was  to  get  past  a  giant  rattlesnake,  five  floors  down.
The   Earl   designed   the   Pit   himself.   Chutes   take   you   down.  
Ladders   take   you   up.   If   you   try   to   climb   down   a   ladder,   2d8  
rungs,  starting  from  the  top,  turn  to  snakes  (as  the  spell
sticks  
 
to  snakes).
The   floors   are   thirty   feet   apart,   but   there   is   a   layer   of   twenty  
feet   of   dirt   under   each   floor   before   the   ceiling   of   the   level  
beneath.  The  chute  walls  are  smooth  and  torches  have  a  20%  
chance  of  going  out  during  the  exciting  ride  down.
The   slide   that   starts   in   the   second   floor   hallway   deposits   its  
rider  five  feet  above  a  hole  in  the  third  floor,  which  leads  to  a  
chute  to  the  fourth  floor.  Falling  damage  may  apply.
The   curving   slide   from   the   fourth   to   the   fifth   floor   makes   a  
person  dizzy.  Torches  have  an  80%  chance  to  extinguish.
The   12th   Earl   let   the   Pit   fall   into   disuse,   but   the   16th   Earl  
revived  it  briefly  for  the  traitors  in  the  Rebellion  of  Prince  Loré,  
and   then   again   for   the   traitors   to   King   Bron’s   Reinstatement,  
and   the   traitors   to   the   Second   Rebellion   of   Prince   Loré.   The  
16th  Earl  was  politically  savvy,  and  also  humorous.
The   Earls   are   long   gone   now,   of   course,   but   the   Pit   is   still  
there.   Rumor   has   it   that   the   giant   rattler   that   guards   the   key,  
magically  enchanted  to  live  forever,  was  given  two  large  rubies  
for  eyes,  and  those  gave  him  a  taste  for  treasure.  Rumor  has  it  
that  over  the  decades  he  has  sent  out  his  snakes  through  the  
air  holes  to  find  him  gems  and  jewels  and  shiny  coins.  Rumor  
has   it   he   has   amassed   a   vast   hoard   this   way,   over   the  
decades.  No  one  can  say,  though—like  the  long-­ago  prisoners,  
no  adventurer  or  thief  has  ever  returned  with  the  tale.
d20
1–3
4–7
8–11
12
13–16
17–18
19
20
Inhabitant  of  room  or  hallway  segment
(check  when  corners  are  turned)
Nothing
1d2  pit  vipers
1d2  spitting  cobras
1d4  garden  snakes
snake  food  (2d10  rats)
snake  food  (insect  swarm:  spider)
snake  food  (insect  swarm:  leech)
ghost  of  adventurer,  moaning  and  wringing  its  
hands  but  doing  little  else
NOTE:  Because  the  Pit’s  inhabitants  can  move  through  holes  
that   have   developed   in   the   walls   due   to   rats’   enthusiasm   and  
other   corrosion,   even   previously-­cleared   rooms   are   likely   to  
have  fresh  creatures.  Check  again!
d6
1-­2
3-­4
5-­6
What’s  lying  around  a  room  or  hallway
Nothing
1d6  skeletons  of  prisoners
1d4  corpses  of  adventurers
Adventurer   corpses   have   either   1d2 potions   made   by   a  
 
reasonably   competent   local   apothecary,   which   have   a   70%  
chance   of   working   (d6):
healing  
(1),
cure   disease  
(2-­3),  
 
 
neutralize   poison  
(4-­5),   or   something   unidentifiable   and  
ineffectual  (6);;  or  an  anti-­venom  counteract  a  snakebite  within  
1d4   rounds.   (Adventurers   come   prepared   [although   these  
adventurers  did  not  come  prepared  enough].)
Lurking   around   the   top   of   the   ladder   going   from   the   bottom  
floor   to   the   fourth   floor   is   a pit   viper   wight.   There   was   a   time  
 
when  adventurers  were  coming  here  like  it  was  an  amusement  
park,   whacking   at   him   endlessly   until   one   of   them   finally   did  
him   in.   Man,   is   he
pissed.  
He   is   just   like   a   regular   pit   viper,  
 
except   when   he   successfully   bites   an   adventurer   he   starts  
draining  levels  rather  than  injecting  poison.  To  be  avoided.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/5.0/
• scary rattlesnake from
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rattlesnake_Mivart.png

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin