This week I weigh 15 stone. This is the 13th Age Dungeon my players have sepnt the last couple of sessions exploring. The map came from the excellent Dysons Delves book and can be found on his website here.
Demon Monkey Temple.
All the walls are carved like Angkor Wat with similar root, vines and tree things growing across the ceilings and walls. All the doors are badly made out of the odd wood growing along the ceiling and walls.
Background
Like the film Forbidden Kingdom, The Monkey King made fun of someone (probably the Crusader or another Icon without a sense of humor.) and got petrified. Luckily he made shadow clones of himself using his hairs just before hand and they set out to free him from his petrification. This Dungeon is the lair of one such hair. Unfortunately this one found a copy of The Red Book and used it’s diabolic knowledge to make an army of demon Monkeys. However, then he got sealed into the dungeons under his temple. Having explored the Mysterious Temple on the surface, the players have found a way in to the dungeons below cleared an entrance and are heading inside.
Level 4 Dungeon
I had it set at The Champion tier because my players all have a bunch of incremental advances and magic items.
You get into the demon monkey temple proper through a well that was blocked by a wall of stone. The well drops 80 ft down into the pit in room 1. You could also bust in through area 16.
Rolling all the prayer wheels in the demon monkey temple makes a cloud platform that lowers down to the dungeon. It’s missing part of the cloud and glitchy because one of the Prayer wheels is missing.
Room 1: Pit fighting room
This room was used for pit fighting, the pit has sand on floor. The upper edge of the pit is covered in a dozen dessicated/ mummified monkeys just pointing at the players. Each time they enter the room the Dessicated monkeys are opposite the entrance they used pointing at them.
A Flying Monkey is perched on the lip of pit, it flies off as they climb in. Later in the dungeon it can be found making crude Voodoo dolls of the players. (Room 10) (The monkey’s leaving through the apparently empty upper area gives clues to the presence of secret doors.)
Room 2: More prayer wheels and carvings on diagonal wall.
The carving shows a wizard opening a portal using a large broken egg to power it.
The portal shoots rays into his monkeys and they gain special powers, then it shows him and monkeys with special powers fighting toad men.
Room 3: Monkey skull soul storage preparation room.
There is a table with a headless monkey body on it. Another table standing next to it has restraints. There is a poster on the wall (made of some sort of skin) with a Chakra map and directions on how to properly extract Souls, by moving all the soul energy to the head and then popping it off. Probably worth a fortune to an infernalist.
Room 4: Room full of translucent monkey skulls with tiny glow worm like lights inside. They are Monkey souls.
Room 5: Room locked and barred from the outside with three bars. Inside Monkey Ghouls lie in torpor. They are woken and freed if the flesh golems in 6 are activated.
Monkey Ghouls. (re-skinned Ghouls) (1.5 x per player)
Room 6: Prison guard room.
2 Gorrilla Flesh Golems are here. They have bamboo extendable arms so can attack people who are Close. They only attack people trying to leave the room and spend 1 attack each using their expandable bamboo arms to break the bars on the door to room 5 letting the Ghouls join the fight.
Room 7: Cells with dead toad creatures in.
Room 8: Altar with big stone egg broken open on top of it. The walls have carvings of Monkey King on both walls showing him bursting out of the egg and making fun of The Great Gold Wyrm. The wall behind it is burned and is where the portal opened. Messing with any of this room opens the portal and fire gorillas and monkeys come out. Then they are joined by the Fire Monkey Wizard from room 23. (Fire Monkey and Gorilla stats are in the back of the 13th Age Bestiary)
Room 9: Exploding Barrels. Lamp oil that has sort of gone off and become volatile. Remember that Matthias is on fire.
Room 10: Room full of broken dolls. A winged monkey from 1 flies here and starts trying to make dolls of the players. By the time the players get to him he has made a Doll of someone who rolled a 5.
Winged Monkey (reskinned Despoiler Demon)
4th level caster [demon]
Initiative: +9
Horns and daggers +8 vs. AC (2 attacks)—5 damage Natural 16+: The despoiler can pop free from the target.
R: Doll whispers +9 vs. MD (one nearby or far away enemy)—15 psychic damage, and the target is confused (save ends) OR the target can choose to avoid the confusion effect by taking 6d6 psychic damage to clear their head . . .
C: Sow discord +9 vs. MD (2 nearby enemies engaged with the same creature or with each other)—one target makes an at-will melee attack against this power’s other target Limited use: 1/day, as a quick action.
HP 52 AC 19 PD 14 MD 18
Doll swarm (4 per player)
3rd level mook [BEAST]
Initiative: +9
Warning Choking Hazard+8 vs. AC—5 damage
Natural 16+: The target is hampered until the end of its next turn.
Natural 18+: As above, and the target is also stuck until the end of its next turn.
Clinging: Enemies take a –5 penalty to disengage checks against the swarm.
AC 19 PD 17 MD 13 HP 10 (mook)
Mook: Kill one Doll swarm mook for every 10 damage you deal to the mob.
Specific person’s Doll
As swarm but only attacks that person: +9 vs MD: 15 Psychic Damage and Confused for 1 round, may take 6d6 damage instead of being confused.
Room 11: Room full of finished dolls. There are lots of toad men dolls, a black dragon doll, several demon dolls and a knight doll. These are all one use items that attack and confuse the person the doll was made of. There is also a scrying font shaped like the Trigrams, with sticks on the side of the pillar. These can be used in a scrying ritual to get a picture of a person and a fortune. An Int (Searching) type check can get you a doll of someone you recognise. Bonus points for doll of a player's parent (for a 5)
Room 12: One prayer wheel set in the curved corner surrounded by statues of monkeys and burn marks (one is pointing). If the prayer wheel is spun it has one of the following effects.
- Sweat Catches Fire
- Grows monkey Tail
- Must point at whoever is speaking
- Become immune to normal fire
- Grow monkey wings
- Wall crawling
- Gain special monkey king martial art move. this is super effective against the demon minotaur monks. (Like the Rogue Swashbuckling talent but once ever, also a good excuse to multi class Monk)
- Petrified - last gasp saves etc.
Room 13: Mummified monkey hearts in canopic jars in alcoves on the far wall. Creeping sense of doom if they are messed with.
Room 14: A pair of gigantic (King Kong size) zombie gorillas. Not yet animated. Space for Monkey Skull Soul gems in chest (From room 4).
Room 15: A barrel of normal 1HD Monkey Mooks live here. They just sort of look at the players as they have been magically asleep until the wall was dissolved. If attacked they scatter whooping towards 12, 17, 18 and 19. Then they turn up throughout the Dungeon occasionally throwing things or making noises and annoying the PC’s. If befriended cool stuff happens. Opportunity to turn the Dungeon Die up or down.
Room 16: Alcove with robed monkey statue facing stairs with palm outstretched. If you go past it and then try to come back you are blocked if you have killed a monkey. You could allow a saving throw against this. The stairs lead up and are blocked by another wall of stone and is a potential exit or entrance to the outside.
Room 17: Yellow Musk Creeper Tree/Fiendish Orcwort crossbreed. Its dead but still has monkey zombies hanging from it. One of its flowers is intact and players could get a dose of the powder. The branches and roots run out of the room and are the source of the weird roots and branches all over the walls in the rest of the dungeon.
Room 18: Infectious Demon Monkey Swarm. The room is warm and the trees and vegetation poking through the walls are shriveled. There are 4 alcoves with 4 red eyed, red skinned monkey statues carved as if leaping at someone. Between each alcove is a prayer wheel, spinning them wakes the statues up. If a statue touches any monkey it makes them Demonic as well. Use stats for Dretches. Demon monkeys keep pouring out of the alcoves at 4 per round until the prayer wheels are set back into order.
On the prayer wheels are carved 4 shapes that correspond to sounds. The puzzle is solved by choosing the hooting sound which closes the portals.
The alcove with the pit trap looks like it used to have a giant prayer wheel in it (like outside room 19) but it is now missing. The Wheel’s remains are broken open and lie at the bottom of the pit trap. Diligent searching of the prayer scrolls in the remains finds you a scroll of a random cleric spell (written in monkey)
Secret door at bottom of pit trap leads to other caves and The Underworld.
Room 19: See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil monkey statues. The room periodically goes silent, then dark or no one can talk.
The alcove just outside the north exit has a giant 6ft tall Prayer Wheel made of stone filling the space. It is hollow and full of prayer scrolls. A metal thing in the ceiling rattles against the carvings if it is spun making loads of noise and increasing the Dungeon Die by one.
Room 20: Hanging from Orcwort tree roots and branches in the ceiling are 8 small demonic Multiplying Monkeys. They are hostile. Each time a monkey is killed the remaining monkeys become stronger. Starting at 1HD then 2 etc. They also grow and are psychically linked, so mind magic works very well on them. [link to blog post with the stats]
Room 21: Treasure vault hidden behind secret doors from 20 and 22. The door is metal, locked and trapped with a lightning rune. Inside the room The Monkey Paw Wand of Wish (3 wishes interpreted as negatively as possible) is on pedestal in center of room surrounded by golden bricks set into the floor. The runes turn anything that passes over them to gold. Once the ward is dispelled anything not gold to start with reverts back to its normal form.
Shelves have runes and scrolls and other Treasure including tiny prayer wheels with a scroll inside.
Room 22: Room full of Prayer Wheels. If spun anti clockwise from the door they open the secret door. Each one tells part of the legend of Monkey up until his petrification and the monkey hair’s quest to create an army of demon monkeys to free him. Sadly this is all explained in monkey language (Whooping, chattering etc.). Spinning all the wheels makes loads of noise and increases the Dungeon Die by one.
Room 23: Fire Monkey Wizard’s lair. He has some treasure, his room is otherwise very spartan. It has clues leading to the location of the petrified monkey king (probably somewhere in the overworld) he also has a copy of The Red Book. (try to link to it). (Fire Wizard stats are in the back of the 13th Age Bestiary)
Room 24: The room of simian enlightenment. There are a number of monkeys all sat in big stone towers meditating, trying and elevate their celestial selves. They got summoned ages ago and learnt kung fu. They are immortal already so they are trying to improve themselves. If disturbed by players making a lot of noise in room 25 they will come out angry.
Diplomacy could convince them to teach someone kung fu, especially if anyone can put in a good word with any celestials.
Fiendish Half Minotaur Monkey Monks (1 per player)
Large 4th level troop [humanoid] Initiative: +8
Punch or horns +9 vs. AC—27 damage, and one of the minotaur’s allies can pop free from the target as a free action
Kung Fu Charge: The attack instead deals 40 damage on a hit if the minotaur first moves before attacking an enemy it was not engaged with at the start of its turn.
Blood frenzy: Minotaurs gain a +4 melee attack bonus against staggered enemies.
Nastier Specials Durable: The first time each round the minotaur takes damage, prevent 2d6 of it.
HP 94 AC 19 PD 17 MD 13
They have The Lost Scroll of Demon Monkey Style Kung Fu.
Room 25: Room entirely surrounded by the weird tree roots shaped into a dojo. The floor is springy with oddly protruding branches etc.
Room 26: Armoury:
3 racks of heavy Glaives, Staves and other polearms.
Gorilla shaped Heavy Armour. Belongs to the Wizard guy was going to be for his champion.
+2 heavy armour of Heedlessness: You gain a +4 bonus to all defenses during your first turn in battle. Quirk: Needlessly provocative, often beats chest. Armour has space for wings on back.
