1. Giant bubbles which float about int he corridors and rooms of the
dungeons. The
slightest touch will explode them, causing from 1 to 10 dice damage
depending on
the level they are on. These bubbles might (1 in 6) contain a gem.
2. Statues which have 1-4, 1-6, or 1-8 different actions they perform
when approached
within 20'. Options are
do nothing,
point in a random direction,
point towards the nearest treasure,
recite a meaningless poem,
give a rhyming clue to a treasure,
emit a loud screeching noise,
pursue and attack,
offer a real or false map, etc.
3. A box of animal crackers which will spring to life when grasped;
for example,
a bear might dump a bowl of porridge on the player's head,
a giant fox might demnd a bunch of grapes or else he'll attack,
a lion will attack unless a thorn in his paw is removed, and so on.
At least one of the animals will give some treasure or aid of some
sort.
4. Rooms which emit rays or gases which cause unexpected reactions or
force players
entering to do things they do not necessarily desire to do, i.e.,
a room which causes all who enter to wish to attack
each other,
a room of greed,
a geas room,
a room which causes a sex to change,
a cursed room, etc.
5. Devices which have numbers of levers, buttons, dials or whatever;
and the movement of
each will cause a different thing to happen.
Typical examples of results:
1) damage to mover;
2) change alignment;
3) become another class;
4) become a monster;
5) lose a level;
6) teleported elsewhere
7) release various missiles which come out or down within a certain
area;
8) open pits or slides;
9) give various treasures;
10) give a magic item; and
11) give some bonus to experience or abilities
6. Door which will open only for a certain class of player or to one alignment.
7. Doors which will open only for monsters.
8. Doors which will open to allow traffic into an AREA but not out of it.
9. Doors which have intelligence (and which are usu. malign).
10. A lengthy corridor 20' wide, at the end of which is a 20' square
room which, upon being
entered, slides backward with an imperceptible motion, so that when
it is left from its
opposite side the party is actually traversing a section of the same
20' corridor
again. This process can be repeated with one or more additional rooms
in series.
11. A passage which slants down one level to a set of stairs which lead
to a door to an
elevator room which goes down one or two levels. The exit from the
elevator room is
another down-slanting passage at the base of which is a slide down.
In this way no
less than five levels will be descended while the party believes that
only two have been
descended.
12. Vegetation which holds (grass is fine for this),
entwines (vines or brambles),
moves,
flails branches (shrubs and trees),
shouts warnings,
hurls missiles (fruit, nuts, thorns), or
emits perfumes which cause death, forgetfulness, sleep or the like
(flowers and fruits).
13. Furniture which is animated to trip, confine, and smother (rugs
and carpets) or
move about and hug and kick (stools, chairs, divans) or blinds and
throws down (tapestries
and wall hangings). (Ours is known as the "Living Room".)
14. Room complexes which are all parts of a monster, the first room
being the mouth, the
next the stomach, and so forth.
15. Lice or other parasites which turn to germs or burrowing killers
if removed from the
body of a recently killed monster.
16. A pit which is also a transported, sending anyone who falls into
it into an exactly similar
pit (or elsewhere).
17. Slides at the bottom of pits which lead to a mosnter.
18. A great bas-relief face which if looked upon will either bestow
some worthwhile
knowledge or increase to the beholder or else cause him to save versus
magic or lese
be turned into a wart on its face or something similar (see A. Merritt's
FACE IN THE
ABYSS for a good example.
19. A wishing well which gives fulfillment of wishes according to the
value of the item tossed
within it. Of course, some wells are inhabited by a horrible monster
who hoards
treasure.
20. Treasures which are hidden as part of the monster: Fur that is of
great value, gem eyes
or claws, horns of precious material, creatures whose hard shells are
actually shields
of magical value, magical teeth and fangs, gizzards full of gems, hollow
horns with
magical items inside, spikes which are platinum, and so on. (Checking
this all out
requires a lot of time...)
21. Chests and cases with false bottoms and hidden compartments, so
the entire treasure is
difficult to find. For example, a wand might contain a secret compartment
with a
highly valuable magic ring.
22. Statues with a small piece missing; if the missing portion is found
and replaced, the
statue turns back to its original form and serves the person. A Cyclops
with a missing
eye, for example, which is a very large diamond held by a nearby monster.
If the eye is
found and replaced the Cyclops will serve for a limited period of time.
Of course,
some such statues are Stone Golems which will attack when made whole.
23. Have an area where magical items are forged and constructed, run
by next-to unbeatable
creatures. For an exorbitant price these items can be purchased, but
there is
no guarantee that they will actually work. Examples of prices are:
trades for a number
of other items greater in overall value than the desired item; the
entirety of a Red
Dragon's horde, some item in the possession of a Evil High Priest,
Wizard, or demigod.
24. A hall of gambling where there are some great items to be won, but
where the stakes are
large amounts of money and magic items and the games are fixed. (Teach
the players
that you can't expect to get something for nothing!)
25. Items such as rings, apparel, weapons, etc. which cause bickering,
and discord, thus
bringing more monsters to the sound of thet loud arguing.
<e.g. ring
of bickering and discord>
26. Items which cause their wearer to immediately shrink to a minimus,
requiring a
Growth Potion to restore normal size once again.
27. Items which cause warning devices to fail and alertness to wane,
thus ESP doesn't work,
secret doors are missed, slanting passages go undetected, and so forth.
28. Treasures protected by force fields. The force fields will give
damage if touched, but
levers and buttons nearby will have a chance of lowering the field.
Naturally, most of
these switches will cause bad things to happen.
Monstrous Tricks and Combination Monsters: (Additions)
1. Animals which appear to be perfectly harmless but are deadly:
Oxen which are cross-bred with Gorgons, small lizards
which are able to breath fire,
creautres which to huge size if approached too closely,
or animals which turn to
some horrid monster if touched are typical examples.
2. A giant with faces or multiple heads which can never be surprised,
and with four additional
eyes is able to see invisible and hidden objects
and co-ordinate no less than
two attacks per melee round.
3. Giants known as "Rock Giants" which so closely resemble stone that
they can be detected
seldom (1 in 12 is a good percentage).
4. Fire-resistant mummies. Many players will get used to frying these
monsters with oil,
but watch the fun when they run into one of these
critters!
5. Skeletons who are able to hurl their finger joints as if they were magic arrows.
6. Monsters which are in endless supply due to a magical point of origin.
"Greyhawk" had
a fountain on its 2nd level which issued endless
#s of snakes.
7. Containers which are filled with a gas || liquid which turns into
a monster if the gas ||
liquid is dispensed.
8. Similar types of monsters who dwell and act together such as:
8.1. A Medusa riding a Gorgon, or one who has a
pet Basilisk and a pet Cockatrice.
8.2. A Balrog riding a Red Dragon, or a Balrog with
Salamanders as servants, or a Balrog with a pet fire-breathing Hydra.
8.3. A Frost Giant riding a White Dragon.
9. Dissimilar monsters who still act in combo such as:
9.1. A Troll with a magic spear riding a Purple
Worm.
9.2. A Lord with magical arms and armor riding a
Wyvern.
9.3. An Ogre-Mage mounted upon a Manticore.
9.4. An Evil High Priest riding a Chimera.
9.5. Hero/Warlock Elves mounted upon Lammasu.
9.6. Thieves with Bugbear guards.
9.7. A Cloud Giant riding a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
9.8. A Wizard with a pack of Hell Hounds.
9.9. Mars mounted upon Talos' shoulders.
10. Of a similar nature are monsters which appear to be something other
than they actually
are such as:
10.1. An Ogre Jelly monster which appears to be
a mere Ogre, but ...
10.2. A Snake which is actually a Grey Ooze.
10.3. A Giant Spider-like Black Pudding.
10.4. A Symbiotic Dragon which spits Ochre Jelly,
Black Pudding, etc.
10.5. A seeming Golden Dragon which is actually
mobile Yellow mold.
The possibilities here are numerous and very deadly, and these combinations
should
only be used sparingly or very deep in the dungeons.
MONSTER LEVEL TABLES: (Change)
I.
1. Kobolds
2. Goblins
3. Orcs
4. Skeletons
5. Giant Rats
6. Centipedes
7. Bandits/Berserkers
8. Spiders
9. Stirges
10. Footpads
11. Dwarves/Elves
12. Gelatinous Cube
II.
1. Hobgoblins
2. Gnolls
3. Zombies
4. Ghouls
5. Warriors
6. Conjurers
7. Robbers
8. Theurgists
9. Burglars
10. Giant Toads/Ants
11. Bugbears
12. Carrion Crawler
III.
1. Wights
2. Heroes
3. Swashbucklers
4. Thaumaturgists
5. Magicians
6. Cutpurses
7. Sharpers
8. Harpies
9. Wererats
10. Giant Snakes/Spiders
11. Giant Weasels/Hogs
12. Ochre Jelly
IV.
1. Dopplegangers
2. Wraiths
3. Gargoyles
4. Ogre
5. Evil Priests
6. Myrmidons
7. Enchanters
8. Pilferers
9. Shadows
10. Giant Beetles
11. Giant Scorpions
12. Lycanthropes
13. Carnivorous Apes
14. Owl Bears
15. Displacer Beasts
16. Blink Dogs
17. Phase Spiders
18. Giant Ticks
19. Will O'Wisps
20. Rust Monsters
V.
1. Trolls
2. Ogre Magi
3. Superheroes/Paladins
4. Wyverns
5. Spectres
6. Mummies
7. Druids
8. Hell Hounds
9. Invisible Stalkers
10. Minotaurs
11. Manticores
12. Lammasu
13. Cockatrices
14. Sorcerers/Necromancers
15. Thieves
16. Salamanders
17. Hydra (6-8 heads)
18. Umber Hulks
19. Rust Monsters
20. Giant Slug
VI.
1. Giants
2. Titans
3. Hydra (9 & more heads)
4. Dragons
5. Golems
6. Basilisks
7. Gorgons
8. Fire-Breathing Hydra
9. Chimerae
10. Vampires
11. Hell Hounds
12. Lords/Paladins
13. Balrogs
14. Beholders
15. Evil High Priests
16. Wizards
17. Master Thieves
18. Lich
19. Purple Worm
20. Rust Monster