Like a macabre trout…
The PCs come to a long, relatively thin room. At the far end they can see a door.
Shortly after they enter the room, the door they entered through slams shut. The floor in front of that door drops, revealing spinning, spike-covered drums designed to pulverize anything that falls into them.
At the same time, the floor begins moving like an escalator towards the deadly pit. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, a magical device begins summoning zombies non-stop at the far end of the room.
It is up to the characters to make it to the other end of the room, swimming upstream through the living dead. Can they make it out alive, or will they be bogged down and killed?
Thought someone might like my spin on this encounter. The group i GM for are up in the EL 10-12 range, so that’s why this encounter below is so … powerful. Let em know how it works for you.
Like a Macabre Trout… EL 12
The room stretches out in front of you. Unlike most areas of the dungeon, this seems to be lit, torch flames flicker at the far end of the room, illuminating a large draconic visage coming out of the opposite wall. The dragon’s mouth gapes open it seems ready to close on any that are foolish enough to step into its jaws, piercing them with short sword-sized ivory teeth.
To either side of the dragon’s head are narrow iron doors, slightly rusty in the dungeons damp atmosphere.
The torch light comes from flames that are centered in the palms of draconic hands that protrude from the left and right walls, one on either side. The claws cup upwards, midway up the 15′ wall.
The room is easily 70 feet long, though truthfully it is hard to get the exact length without walking the length.
The floor of the room is a colorful mosaic of red, green, blue, black, and white tiles: some broken and cracked; others whole and shiny. No discernable pattern can be seen in the five colors as they scatter on the floor. Each time looks to be roughly 3 inches square and the tiles cover the entire 20 foot width of the long narrow room.
Trap: The entire floor of this room is designed to slide towards the door that the characters opened. Once engaged the floor moves 30 feet each round. This happens at Initiative action 10. The “scrolling” of the floor continues for 3 minutes before it stops. Once the floor has moved, the trap cannot be reset until 24 hours pasts at which time the floor engages again and it can be triggered once more.
“SCROLLING” FLOOR CR 1
Type magical
Search DC 15; Disable Device DC 25
EFFECTS
Trigger location; Reset every 24 hours
Effect The floor moves 20 feet each round (every 2 seconds) for three minutes.
Trap: When the scrolling floor is activated, a portacullis falls in the entrance door way to the room.
PORTCULLIS DOORWAY CR 1
Type mechanical
Search DC 20; Disable DC 20
EFFECTS
Trigger location; Reset Manual
Effect Atk +10 melee (3d6); Note: Damage applies only to those underneath the portcullis. Portcullis blocks the doorway.
Cost: 1,400 gp.
Trap: When the “scrolling” floor begins, a covered pit is automatically opened. If anyone is unfortunate to be standing atop the pit when this happens, they can avoid the fall by making a Reflex save DC 20. This pit is 10 feet by 15 feet and is adjacent to the door that the PCs entered.
PIT TRAP CR 8
Type mechanical
Search DC 25; Disable Device DC 20
EFFECTS
Trigger location (30 feet away) from the pit is a pressure place that opens the pit cover and engages the mechanism within the pit; Reset Automatic after three minutes
Description When weight of more than 50 lbs is placed on the floor thirty feet into the room, the cover of the pit unlocks opening the pit. There is a fifty foot fall unto spiked and toothed gears that are vertically aligned at the bottom.
Game Mechanics A DC 20 Reflex save avoids falling into the pit (50 ft. deep; 5d6, fall); pit spikes (Atk +10 melee, 1d4 spikes per target for 1d4+5 each); Each round spent in the pit requires a Reflex save DC 24 to keep from being pulled into the gears and chewed up. (4d4+4/19-20);Multiple targets (one target in each of six 5-ft. squares at the bottom of the pit).
Trap: Each round that the room’s mechanism is engaged there is a 1 in 4 chance that a magical sheet of flame will wash over the 5′ between the pit and the majority of the room.
BURNING HANDS TRAP CR 2
Type magic device
Search DC 26; Disable Device DC 26
EFFECTS
Trigger every 1d4 rounds; Reset automatic
Effects spell effect (burning hands, 1st-level wizard, 1d4 fire, DC 11 Reflex save half damage). Flammable items catch fire and burn.
Cost: 500 gp, 40 XP.
As the room’s mechanism engages, the hands cupping the torch flames begin to move, sliding up into the ceiling. This also happens on initiative count 10. As each hand disappears into the ceiling, anouth set of hands appears at the floor level. These new hands are not lit by continual flame and each time a set of hands appears, the hands deliver amonster. As the monsters arrive they move onto the “scrolling” floor and to attack the dungeons intruders.
There are six hands, so five monsters are delivered to the room before the “burning” hands appear again. The following munsters are delivered:
Round 1: Zombie
Round 2: Zombie
Round 3: Wight
Round 4: Zombie
Round 5: Zombie
Round 6: Slaughter Wight
There are a total of 4 slaughter wights, 6 wights, and unlimited zombies.
HUMAN COMMON ZOMBIE CR ½
NE Medium Undead
Init -1; Senses Darkvision 60′; Listen +0, Spot +0
Languages understands creator
AC 11, touch 9, flat-footed 11
(-1 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 16 (2d12+3); DR 5/slashing
Fort +0, Ref -1, Will +3
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee Slam +2 (1d6+1) or club +2 (1d6+1)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5ft.
Base Atk +1; Grapple +2
Atk Options Single actions only
Abilities Str 12, Dex 8, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1.
Feats Toughness
Skills None
Single Actions Only (Ex): Zombies have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. A zombie can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge.
WIGHT CR 3
Always LE Medium undead
Init +1; Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +7, Spot +7
Languages Common
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14;
(+1 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 26 (4d12 HD)
Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +5
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee Slam +3 (1d4+1 plus energy drain)
Special Attacks create spawn, energy drain
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 12, Con -, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 15.
SQ darkvision 60 ft., undead traits
Base Atk +2; Grapple +3
Skills Hide +8, Listen +7, Move Silently +16, Spot +7 (Wights have a +8 racial bonus on Move Silently checks)
Feats Alertness, Blind-Fight
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Create Spawn (Su): Any humanoid slain by a wight becomes a wight in 1d4 rounds. Spawn are under the command of the wight that created them and remain enslaved until its death. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life.
Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a wight’s slam attack gain one negative level. The DC is 14 for the Fortitude save to remove a negative level. The save DC is Charisma-based. For each such negative level bestowed, the wight gains 5 temporary hit points.
A slender, wiry corpse moves toward you, supernatural agility obvious in its motions. Its leathery, desiccated flesh ripples across its body, tolerant of the creature’s quick movements despite being lifeless parchment.
SLAUGHTER WIGHT CR 9
Always CE Medium Undead
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +15, Spot +19
DEFENSES
AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+5 Dex, +4 natural)
171 hp (18d12+54 HD)
Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +11
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee Slam +11 (1d8+15/17-20 plus energy drain)
Special Attacks Power Attack
STATISTICS
Str 24, Dex 21, Con -, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Attack +9; Grapple +16
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
SQ Augmented critical, inescapable craving, undead traits, vicious slammer, Create spawn
Feats Daunting Presence (DC 22), Death Master , Eviscerator , Improved Critical, Improved Initiative, Life Drain
Skills Climb +17, Hide +22, Move Silently +22, Swim +13
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Augmented Critical (Ex): A slaughter wight is so practiced at dealing death that it has learned the trick of better aiming its blows to deal maximum damage. Coupled with its Improved Critical feat, a slaughter wight’s threat range for its slam attack is 17-20.
Create Spawn (Su): Any humanoid slain by a slaughter wight becomes a normal wight in 1d4 rounds. Spawn created by a slaughter wight are under its command and remain enslaved until their master’s destruction. They have the statistics of normal wights (see Monster Manual, page 255 ) and do not retain any of the abilities they had in life. Sometimes a newly created spawn becomes a slaughter wight instead of a mere wight, though the wiles of the dark gods determine such instances (that is, the DM decides when this occurs).
Energy Drain (Su): A living creature hit by a slaughter wight’s slam attack gains one negative level. Removing the negative level requires a DC 21 Fortitude save. The save DC is Charisma-based. When a slaughter wight bestows a negative level on a victim, it gains 5 temporary hit points (10 on a critical hit). These temporary hit points last for up to 1 hour.
Unholy Toughness (Ex): A slaughter wight gains a bonus to its hit points equal to its Charisma modifier x its Hit Dice.
Inescapable Craving: A slaughter wight has an inescapable craving for life force, which it satisfies by using its energy drain attack.
Thanks for the writeup, that is pretty nasty… I’d love to hear how your players react to it, keep me posted!