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Dungeon Crawl Classics #46The Book of Treasure Maps

A COMPILATION OF ADVENTURESFOR CHARACTER LEVELS 3-16

Credits

Developer: Harley Stroh

Writers: Casey Christofferson, Kameron Franklin, Scott Green, Andrew Hind, Chris McCoy, Christina McCoy, Ken McCutchen,Jeremy Simmons

Front Cover Artist: Brad McDevitt

Back Cover Artist: Mike Wilson

Interior Artists: Chris Anderson, Friedrich Haas, Cory Hamel, Cliff Kurowski, Jesse Mohn, Chris Watkins, Mike Wilson

Cartographer: Jeremy Simmons

Editors: Aeryn “Blackdirge” Rudel, Ken Hart, Liz Rich

Line Editor: Harley Stroh

Graphic Designer: Joseph Goodman

Proofreader: Mike Ferguson

Playtesters: Heidi Baker, Mark Baker, Michael “Sgt” Barnes, James Beauschesne, Clint Bennett, Kathy Christofferson, Jerry“Damage” Cook, Neil Dawson, Stephen Elliott, Jeremy Hardin, Chris Hind, James Hind, Brad “The Phoenix” Hurley, Zach "nopants" Kirkendall, Chris McCoy, Christina McCoy, Chris McGowan, Roger Pierson, Anthony “Visage” Pittman, Adam Wellman

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Table of Contents

Adventure Title . . . . . . . . . Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Levels . . . . . . .Page

The Temple’s Tribute . . . . . . Kameron Franklin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 . . . . . . . . . .3

Secrets of the Blue Moon . . Ken McCutchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6 . . . . . . . . . .16

Cadwul’s Corkscrew . . . . . . Jeremy Simmons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9 . . . . . . . . . .33

Fane of the First Spell . . . . . Chris and Christina McCoy. . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12 . . . . . . . .48

The Aqueous Vault . . . . . . . Casey Christofferson with Scott Green . . 13-15 . . . . . . . .68

The Bloodfire Spire . . . . . . . Andrew Hind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-16 . . . . . . . .88

DCC World

Each of the adventures in this book can be usedstand-alone, or set in the world of Áereth from DCC#35: Gazetteer of the Known Realms. In the KnownRealms of Áereth, the island on which The Temple’sTribute is set can be found in the Empyrean Ocean,off the north-western coast of the Southern Province,at the start of the chain of that becomes the BarrierIsles.

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Dungeon Crawl ClassicsThe Temple’s Tribute

By Kameron M. FranklinAN ADVENTURE FOR CHARACTER LEVELS 3-5

IntroductionRemember the golden days of role playing, whenadventures were underground, NPCs were there to bekilled, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragonon the 20th level? Well, those days are back. DungeonCrawl Classics feature bloody combat, intriguing dun-geons, and no NPCs who aren’t meant to be killed.Each adventurer is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl,with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and thesecret doors you know must be there somewhere.

The Temple’s Tribute is designed for four to six playercharacters of 3rd through 5th level. While the charac-ters can be of any basic character class, a good mix thatincludes a rogue and a strong warrior type would behelpful; having at least one cleric is highly recommend-ed.

Adventure Summary

The characters have procured a boat and are sailing toa mysterious island partially revealed on a map in theirpossession (see handout A on page 15). As theyapproach the coastline where the village marked on the

map should be, they are attacked by a shark zombie.When they finally land at the village, they find only a fewexhausted, gaunt inhabitants who speak fearfully ofsickly lights that fill the night skies and dead relativeswho rise from the grave and attack after sunset. In fact,zombies are pounding on the gates to the village.Should the characters stay the night, they will beexposed to the rays of negative energy generated by anevil artifact in the center of the island and the remainingvillagers will die.

When the characters pass beyond the village’s protec-tive walls, they enter a prehistoric jungle. Each day inthe open risks an encounter with enervated or zombiedinosaurs, and each night exposes the characters tomore negative energy. Following the map, the charac-ters make their way to a rope bridge that crosses a riverand is guarded by a hungry, but enervated elas-mosaurus.

As the characters climb the switchback trail to the tem-ple at the top of the plateau, skeletal archers shoot atthem from guard towers. Inside the temple, necro-mancers and clerics of Lasheeva defend their profaneartifact and years of tribute in gold and gems.

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Game Master’s Section

Encounter Table

To help the GM prepare, we have included a quick ref-erence table showing all encounters at a glance. Loc –the location number keyed to the map for the encounter.Pg – the module page number that the encounter canbe found on. Type – this indicates if the encounter is atrap (T), puzzle (P), or combat (C). Encounter – the keymonsters, traps, or NPCs that can be found in theencounter. Names in italics are classed NPCs. EL – theencounter level.

Loc Pg Type Encounter EL1-1 5 C Shark zombie 41-2 6 C 1-2 human commoner zombies 21-3 6 C 6 human commoner zombies 32-1 7 C Enervated elasmosaurus 43-1 8 C 8 human archer skeletons 33-2 8 C Megaraptor skeleton 43-3 9 C 2 human Clr2 4

C Brucca, Human Clr6 63-4 10 T Glyph of warding (blast) 43-5 11 C Armuum, Half-elf Wiz5 5

T Ghoul touch 33-6 11 C Human Clr2 23-7 11 C Human Clr2 23-9 12 T Poison wall spikes 5

T Ceiling Pendulum 3

Scaling Information

The Temple’s Tribute is designed for four to six charac-ters of 3rd to 5th level, but it can be easily modified forparties of different sizes or levels. Consider adaptingthe adventure using the following suggestions:

Weaker parties (3 or fewer characters, or lower than3rd level): Remove the shark zombie from area 1-1entirely; remove half the zombies from area 1-3; replacethe enervated elasmosaurus in area 2-1 with a collaps-ing bridge trap (CR 1; mechanical; location trigger;bridge collapses entirely when first character reachesmiddle, plunging them into the river; DC 20 Reflex saveavoids; Search DC 24; Disable Device DC 20); remove2 of the skeletal archers from 3-1; remove the megara-ptor skeleton from area 3-2 entirely; lower the humancleric in area 3-3 to 5th level and replace the glyph ofwarding trap in area 3-4 with an inflict light wounds trap(CR 2; magic device; touch trigger; automatic reset;spell effect (inflict light wounds, 1st-level cleric, 1d8+1,Will save half damage); Search DC 20; Disable Device26); lower the half-elf wizard in area 3-5 to 4th level andreplace the ghoul touch trap with a ray of enfeeblementtrap (CR 2; magic device; touch trigger; automatic reset;spell effect (ray of enfeeblement, 1st-level wizard, Atk

+0 ranged touch, 1d6+1 damage to Str); Search DC 26;Disable Device DC 26); replace the poison wall spikestrap in area 3-9 with a wall blade trap (CR 1; mechani-cal; touch trigger; automatic reset; hidden switchbypass (Search DC 25); Atk +10 melee (2d4/x4,scythe); Search DC 22; Disable Device DC 2).

Stronger parties (7 or more characters, or higherthan 5th level): Replace the shark zombie in 1-1 with adire shark zombie; double the zombies in area 1-3;replace the megaraptor skeleton with a tyrannosaurusskeleton; add 10 human warrior skeletons to area 3-3.

Getting the Players Involved

The adventure begins with the characters already near-ing the island by boat. Use the following hooks to pro-vide the appropriate motivation for the PCs:

• One of the PCs inherits an old painting. While get-ting it repaired and reframed, the PC discovers ahalf-finished map of an island with markings thatindicated the location of some great treasure.

• A cartographer has hired the PCs to complete ahalf-finished map he recently acquired. There aremarkings on the map that indicate the possiblelocation of some great treasure.

• An aging sailor regales the PCs with a story of atropical island he once sailed to, where the nativespaid tribute to their god by bringing gold and jewelsto a temple on a plateau in the middle of the isle. Hehas a half-finished map of the isle he is willing tosell them.

Island Nights

A cult of Lasheeva that currently inhabits the temple onthe island has recently constructed an artifact they callLasheeva’s arch. Every night, this artifact radiateswaves of negative energy that extend out in a radius farenough to encompass the entire island. Waves of sick-ly purple and green light wash across the sky from duskto dawn. Any living creature caught outside during thenight must make a Fortitude save (DC 17) or suffer theeffects of an enervation spell. A Spellcraft or Knowledge(arcana) check (DC 24) can be made to identify the lightas the result of an enervation spell effect.

Character Death

PCs that die on the island will be raised the followingnight as a zombie by the necromantic magic ofLasheeva’s arch. Characters that die in area 3 will beanimated as a skeleton by the clerics of Lasheeva andany equipment of value will be stored in the temple vault(area 3-9).

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Background StoryLong ago, a small native kingdom ruled this island anderected a great temple to its patron deity. The kingdomoften conducted raids on neighboring islands to captureprisoners and gold for sacrifice at the temple. Tales ofthe wealth hoarded within the temple spread far, andmany foreign adventurers came to the island with hopesof infiltrating the temple and stealing some of the fabledtreasure. The natives, with the aid of their deity and themonstrous inhabitants of the island jungle, repulsed thewould-be raiders time and again.

However, these incursions exposed the natives tosomething much more deadly than steel and spells. Avirulent plague ravaged the island kingdom, reducingthe population to a fraction of its numbers. Oppressedneighbors took advantage of the kingdom’s suddenweakness and attacked, dragging off uninfected sur-vivors as slaves.

For many years the island sat uninhabited. Eventually,some of the descendants of that kingdom returned tocarve out a place for itself. Life was hard for the smallgroup, and while stories were told about the great tem-ple, no one dared to brave the dangerous expanse ofjungle between the new village and the ancient templesite.

Recently, a cult of Lasheeva, on the run after beingousted by Lady Mayor Elarabeth of Halcyon, happenedupon the island and rediscovered the temple. Theybegan constructing a necromantic artifact calledLasheeva’s arch. Once the construction of the artifactwas complete, the cult dispersed, leaving only a smallretinue behind to conduct tests and protect the archuntil the group was ready to use it in a revenge plotagainst Elarabeth.

Player BeginningStart the adventure by reading the following to the play-ers:

The placid, blue-green waters of the ocean slap playful-ly against the hull of the ship as it drifts closer to theshore of the jungle island. The sail luffs in the dyingwind, and you are once more oppressed by the humid-ity and heat so common to this clime.

Even though you are still several hundred yards away,you can make out a handful of wooden huts along thebeach. There does not appear to be anyone movingabout, however.

Area 1: The VillageAs the PCs explore the village, have them make a Listencheck (DC 5) at various times. Those who are success-ful hear the muffled thuds of several fists poundingagainst solid wood, accompanied by faint moaning.

The natives’ village consists of four “family” longhouses,two fields used to grow vegetables, and a palisade thatsurrounds the village and separates it from theencroaching jungle. Each family also owns a fishingcanoe, although one of the canoes has a large, jaggedhole in the bottom of the hull, the result of the one andonly encounter the villagers had with the shark zombiethat patrols the waters.

The population of the village has been decimated by thewaves of negative energy emitted by Lasheeva’s arch.The survivors remain inside their huts, slowly wastingaway, too afraid of the strange lights in the sky eachnight and the undead that were once their family andfriends to help themselves. The natives will tell the PCsabout their plight in halting common, but they will notleave their huts for any reason. A successful Spellcraftor Knowledge (arcane) check (DC 24) will reveal the vil-lagers’ symptoms as being the result of prolonged expo-sure to an enervation spell. If the PCs spend the nightin the village, any remaining natives they found uponlanding will succumb to the necromantic magic of thearch. They should find at least one survivor.

Unless noted otherwise, ceilings are ten feet tall. All wallsand doors in this location have the following statistics:

Wood Wall: 6 in. thick; hardness 5; hp 60; Break DC20; Climb DC 21.

Simple Wooden Door: 1 in. thick; hardness 5; hp 10.

Areas of the Map

Area 1-1 – Shark Zombie Territory (EL 4): (This areais not marked on the map.) The clerics of Lasheevahave animated a shark zombie and commanded itto patrol the waters by the village to keep thenatives from fleeing.

Development: When the PCs’ boat comes within30 feet of this area, the shark zombie attacks. Theshark zombie has improved cover against anyattacks from the boat (+8 bonus to AC, +4 bonus onReflex saves). PCs who enter the water and arecarrying 16 pounds or more will automatically sink ifnot actively swimming. Slashing or bludgeoningattacks made underwater suffer a -2 penalty anddeal only half damage.

Nonmagical fire does not burn underwater. Spellsor spell-like effects with the fire descriptor require aSpellcraft check (DC 20 + spell level). If the check

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