Part 3 of my investigation into "Hobbits have a Roadside Picnic."
Traps
"I don’t exactly understand your terminology. What traps?”
Noonan laughed. "That’s folklore," he explained. "Stalkers’ jargon. Bug traps—those are the areas of increased gravity."
1. Hell Slime
A green sludge found filling storerooms, wells, and cellars. It is unliving and unmoving.
Hell slime can only be contained by stone or ceramic.
When exposed to other nonliving materials (leather, wood, paper, cloth, glass, etc.), the hell slime quickly breaks it down and converts it into slime, so that the whole grows by the consumed object's mass. Hell slime can quickly get out of control in this way: as it gets bigger, it consumes more, and stretches into new regions, devouring portions of the dungeon.
When it comes into contact with a living body, it infects it. Skin, organs, and muscles are left intact, but the slime begins to painlessly eat the creature's bones. A PC who comes into contact with slime should determine where the slime touched them (roll randomly if it's not clear from the fiction). They lose 1 hp every turn. For every 4 hp lost, all bones are permanently destroyed in that segment and the slime crawls up the body.
For example, if a finger was infected, first the hand is lost - then the arm to the elbow - then the elbow to the shoulder, then the ribcage, then the spine. When the spine is consumed, the person dies (if hp loss hadn't already killed them).
Amputation is the only way to stop the advance of hell slime on the body.
Carrying hell slime outside of the dungeon is a capital crime in every kingdom. There are always potential purchasers.
2. Moulds and Spores
3. Revenants
Most revenants are dwarves who were buried in the Tombs.
4. Weird Walls and Keys
Throughout the dungeon, walls of strange material bifurcate and cut off passage towards the dragon's lair. They were not made by the dwarves, but are products of the zone--they grow spontaneously and shift between delves.
Concept keys: Burglars have learned that each wall can be defeated by a certain thought called a concept key. When exposed to a song, a feeling, a word, an image, these walls melt away like mist in the morning.
Dungeon keys: The dwarves made keys for their doors, chests, manacles, cuckoo clocks, etc. Any key that was within the Mountain at the coming of the dragon is a dungeon key. Keys from outside the dungeon will not work.
When a weird wall is touched with a dungeon key, the key disappears and the wall is destroyed. Dungeon keys are a sure-fire and fast way to get past weird walls.
However, there were only so many keys in the dungeon. Each time one is used, there is one fewer. There will never be any replacements made. And the walls are constantly growing and constantly shifting. The Union can foresee a time where there are no keys left, but the walls remain. That is why the Union prefers to open weird walls with visualization techniques and save the keys for emergencies. Burglars are here for quick riches, and so make free use of the dungeon keys.
The types of weird walls are:
1. Walls of Web: Although nobody has ever seen a spider of any size in the dungeon zone, there are walls seemingly made of black webs. They are sticky to the touch (dealing 1 hp of damage if touched with bare skin).
Breaking: The thick cords resist the bite of most swords and axes, but they can be sliced through in 1 turn by a magical weapon--the cords reweave themselves after 1 turn, closing the gap.
Concept key: Walls of web melt away into black motes when told secrets: a burglar must speak aloud a personal fact that no one in the company knows. A burglar alone cannot use this concept key.
2. Walls of Flesh: Some walls are made of flesh and sinew. Some are like a giant's arm twisting through the passageways: some are riddled with teratomas of hair, mouths, eyes.
Breaking: The walls can be butchered. A 5' passage can be cut into a wall of flesh with hacking weapons and 2 turns. There is a 1-in-6 chance that the blood of a wall of flesh is hell slime. If eaten, the meat is deadly.
Concept key: Walls of flesh whisper riddles. If the riddle is guessed, the wall melts into a pink sludge.
3. Walls of Will: There are unseen walls. Some evil will (the dragon's?) prevents a company from moving forward, as if solid steel stood in their way.
Breaking: Walls of will cannot be broken.
Concept key: A hopeful thought born of song will break the will that holds the company back. One burglar must sing a song or recite a poem that engenders hope in the company.
4. Walls of Fire: Fires rage in the dungeon that block off passage: they have no fuel, but are otherwise similar to the fires of the natural world. (Dragonfire, discussed below, is different.)
Breaking: Walls of fire cannot be broken. They have never been successfully extinguished by water. Jumping through a wall of fire deals 2d6 damage and ignites anything flammable on the character.
Concept key: Walls of fire will evaporate into choking black smoke if an item of significance is sacrificed to the flames.
5. Black Oil
Black oil is scum that sloughs off the waters under the Mountain. It moves with the speed and stimuli-based instincts of a slug.
If black oil is covered the surface of the water, the water cannot be navigated without suffering the penalties of the oil.
Terrestrially, the black oil is easy to avoid if there is ample space. However, black oil can sometimes drip down from the ceiling onto a random burglar. Each burglar passing under the resting place of a black oil has a 2-in-6 chance of triggering it. If a burglar is carrying a magical treasure, this chance increases to 5-in-6. The burglar is allowed a Save to avoid the dropping oil.
When covered in oil, each round the victim suffers the following effects in order. They will suffer effect 1 until no longer applicable, then suffer effect 2 until no longer applicable, then suffer effect 3.
1. Eat through armour: The black oil will first eat through the victim's armour. Each round, the armour's AC bonus is reduced by 1. At 0 AC, it is destroyed beyond repair.
2. Eat treasures: The black oil is drawn to magical treasures from the dungeon. If the victim is carrying such treasures, each round there is a 3-in-6 chance the black oil will devour it. When devoured, it explodes, dealing 1d4 damage to the victim.
3. Eat the victim: The black oil deals 1d4 damage to the victim each round. Victims killed in this way become oil-covered skeletons (1HD).
Removing a black oil requires fire or a gem. If burned with fire, each oil can withstand 2d8 (average 9) points of damage. The victim also takes this damage. If the black oil is fed a gem, both the gem and the oil are instantly destroyed.
The Returner faction seeks out black oils to feed treasures to, deliberately.
6. Witch Lanterns
Certainly these are of the category of magical treasure, but are avoided as traps by burglars.
These lanterns glow with green light. Around them cluster 1d8 shadows which move jerkily, stutter-stopping along the walls and floors. Victims who are drained of their Strength rise as new shadows, bound forever to the lantern that killed them.
Extinguishing the green flame destroys all bound shadows. Most of the witch lanterns have been destroyed in the upper two levels, but some still exist in the lower deeps.
7. Shimmers
Shimmers are 10' x 10' manifestations of destructive physical forces. Difficult to see in torchlight, impossible to see in sunlight, but easily spotted in the dark: they are practically invisible, appearing only as a light glimmering in pitch black or like a heat mirage in low light.
In a large dark room, shimmers can be spotted outside of the range of torch light automatically when moving at exploration speed.
In a corridor, shimmers are more dangerous. The front-line burglar has a 2-in-6 chance (elves have a 3-in-6 chance) of seeing a shimmer directly ahead of them. A 10' pole is already too close for comfort: the burglar gets a +2 to their Save but might still be sucked in to the shimmer. The only reliable method of discovering them before walking into them is by throwing objects (like acorns) ahead of you as you move. Moving in this way forces the party to move at a maximum exploration rate of 20' per Turn.
Those who step close to a shimmer are allowed a Save to throw themselves backwards out of its grip. On a failure, they are instantly destroyed, their body ripped apart as if squeezed by an invisible giant.
8. Enchanted Wells
The wells that the dwarves carved into the Mountain have all been tainted by the dragon's presence. Drinking from any of them is perilous because their effects are unknown.
Delvers have mapped the effects of certain pools in the first two levels. For example, the well at the North Crossroads shrinks imbibers for 3 Turns (30 minutes) to a twelfth of their size (feet become inches).
When drinking from an unidentified well, roll on Goblinpunch's Perfect Potions List. The result is tied to that room forever.
Waters bottled in hermetic vials can be sold on the black market.
There is a 2-in-6 chance that any enchanted pool has a black oil haunting it each time the room is visited.
9. Phantoms
Revenants are not the only way the dead haunt the dungeon. Burglars may bring the ghosts of those they know, living or dead, with them under the Mountain. They manifest as phantoms.
A phantom is a seeming, an illusion, made out of condensed smoke and light. They are physically present and can interact with their environment, but have only a Strength of 1. If they ever suffer a single point of damage, they vanish in puff of smoke.
To stock phantoms in your dungeon, ask your players questions and use the answers to build them into the random encounter table.
The phantom appears as...
1. A group of rival burglars
2. A beloved family member of a member of the company (living or dead)
3. An NPC from Lake-town that is well known to the company
4. Union guardsmen hunting burglars
The phantom is...
1. Desperate to tell a certain member of the company a random rumour: they treat this as an omen of utmost importance, no matter the subject matter
2. Spiteful to a member of the company, insulting them in a way that is uniquely painful
3. Eager to lead the company deeper into the dungeon, promising treasure
4. Quiet, following behind the company without saying anything
10. Blinding Sound
The Blinding Sound is a trap that is not tied to a location. Put it on your random encounter table.
The Sound begins as a low rumble, barely discernable. If the company is standing still and being utterly silent, they can sense it without a roll. If the company is moving at exploration speed, each burglar can roll to detect the rising pitch of the sound with a 4-in-6 chance (hobbits get a 5-in-6 chance). If the company is moving faster, they can only detect it with a 2-in-6 chance. If successfully detected before it rises, the company can take preventative measures. Burglars carry custom ear muffs as protection.
Once noticeably audible, the Sound effects any who can hear it. Each victim is allowed a Save to plug their ears at the last minute. If successful, they are blind for 1d30 days. If unsuccessful, they are blinded permanently.
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