lvl 1 room 3: Tlaca Glyph (Scythe)

The frescoes of this octagonal room illustrate a giant skinless god swinging a black scythe through a crowd of Tlaca warriors. A Tlaca glyph carved from stone rests on the floor. Again, someone has written “Don’t touch!” in chalk next to it. There are shattered bone fragments on the stained ground. One of the walls appears to have been tunneled out by a burrowing creature.

If the glyph is touched all creatures must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 slashing damage as an obsidian blade comes scything out of the wall. The stone door to room 2 is unlocked, the stone doors to 8 and 9 are locked. The tunnel leads to area 10.

Sidebar: Tlaca Glyphs

The walls of the temple are covered in hieroglyphs, frescoes, and designs. These enchanted Tlaca Glyphs are carved from stone in the shape of Tlaca hieroglyphs. The idea is to make the players want to interact with them. The first one they meet is friendly, the second one unleashes a scythe. Someone from the Skullduggery Guild wrote “Don’t touch” in chalk next to it. This is meant to tempt the players further. You know there’s someone at the table who will touch it simply because someone else told them not to.

In a game I ran I had the players come to a fork with two tunnels leading down different sides. Written in glow-in-the-dark paint was a warning: “Don’t go this way.” there was no sign as to who wrote it. My players debated for a long time about which way to go. The Skullduggery guild also uses a form of hobo code, writing on the walls in chalk to warn other members of the guild. However, they mean nothing if you don’t already know the code.

Where are we going with this?

First week of blogging and I got a lot writing done. I did research on gold mining, Mayan symbols, and debated buying a carved Mayan glyph. Summer is in two weeks, I feel like I’ll be posting a little less then. At that point, I’ll be happy to get 1 post a day in.

My goal is to have my 20 levels drawn up over the summer. I draw my maps by hand using my iPad, apple pencil, and Procreate. I’ve already started to draw up level 2. What I’m sharing with you today is a rough draft of Level One’s Stonehell style one page dungeon. Stonehell separates its levels into quarters, but I prefer smaller levels so that you can get to different layers sooner.

lvl 1, room 2: Tlaca Glyph (boon)

The frescoes of this octagonal room illustrate Tlaca warriors fighting an army of undead. The scene is dominated by a gigantic black dragon shaped like a newt. A Tlaca glyph carved from stone rests on the floor. Someone has written “Don’t touch!” in chalk next to it.

Any creature who touches the glyph is affected by the heroism spell. The effect lasts 1 minute and can only affect a creature once.

lvl 1, room 1: Stucco Frieze

The walls of this octagonal room depict the four Tlaca deities of rain, corn, sun, and war. A DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) test identifies them as:

  • Quiyahuitl, goddess of rain.
  • Tlaolli, goddess of corn.
  • Tlahuilli, god of the sun
  • Caxtiltecatl, god of war

This room is empty. There are holes in the frieze from where the Skullduggery Guild explorers removed valuable gems with a knife. The stone door to room 2 is unlocked, the stone doors to 4 and 5 are locked.

Skullduggery Guild Camp

At the base of the great pyramid of Atzoatl is a small camp made up of 20 Skullduggery Guild explorers. The camp smells of cook fires as men prepare for more expeditions.

There is a central large tent which serves as the headquarters for Capitan Juan Alvarez who is working with a few other explorers to draw a map of the dungeon.

  • Skullduggery Guild Explorer: HD 1; AC 7 [12]; Atk 1 longsword (1d8); Move 12; Save 17; AL C; CL/XP 1/15; Special: None.
  • Players can buy a map of what the Skullduggery Guild has discovered so fare for 25 gp. (the map only has the first three rooms on it).

NPC: Capitan Juan Alvarez

Alvarez wears half plate armor and a large jeweled Tlaca dagger on his hip. However, he is friendly to new comers. He is more than happy to let the players go into the dungeon. The guild has an official claim on the temple and they will not stop anyone who wants to go into the temple. However, the guild charges a 20% fee on anything being carried out of the temple. Alvarez and his men will fight to press the claim on that 20%.

GM Background: Alvarez has been taking late night trips into the dungeon alone when his men are asleep. His jeweled dagger is enchanted and allows him to see in the dark, but it has also started to make him more bloodthirsty. The dagger is slowly turning Alvarez into a werejaguar. Each time the players meet him he will be more and more aggressive.

Level Two Overview: The Tomb of King Amoxtli

There are two entrances to this level. The first is through a large pit found on level one: The Temple of Initiation, the second is accidental. Two miles outside of Capistreia at the Peralta Mine, one of the pits accidentally smashed through one of the tomb’s walls. The miners were immediately set upon by a swarm of giant hissing cockroaches that dragged them away to be eaten.

It is also the final resting place of the mummified remains of the warlord King Amoxtli. He is the oldest mummy in the Temple of the Bat-Faced God. His tomb is defended by the undead spirits of his most loyal warriors who were buried alive beside their king. There are also numerous cunning traps to protect the treasures he was buried with.

A few days ago, Miguel Peralta sent a group of laborers to seal off the dungeon with bricks, none have returned. They’ve been taken alive by the warrior spirts, to be fed to King Amoxtli.

NPC: Governor Diego Delgado

The governor has a keen mind for business and obsession for gold.

Unlike his former captain, Delgado (lvl 2 Rogue) is more interested in business then exploration. At one point, he hoped to earn enough money on behalf of the crown to earn himself a position at court. However, he realizes now that he will probably never be welcome back into high society back home. Now, Delgado is focused on wringing as much wealth out of this forsaken jungle as he can.

Besides his plantation operations, Delgado also owns several taverns in Capistreia. He manages and manipulates several back room deals to obtain as much gold as he can. He has a hidden vault full of gold somewhere on his plantation. Rumors abound that he has a King’s ransom squirreled away. Many have tried to find where he hides it, but anyone who comes too close to the truth winds up dead.

DM Secret: Delgado is obsessed with gold to the degree of madness. He will do anything to cheat, swindle, or steal as much gold as he can. He is a cunning thief and prefers to con others out of their holdings rather than kill. A year ago, Delgado obtained a piece of cursed treasure, a Tlaca gold coin. He keeps the coin on his person always and obsesses over its safety. He keeps his vault in the wine cellar of his plantation and it is filled over a ton of gold nuggets, worth 100,000 gp.

Cursed Tlaca Coin Anyone in possession of this coin become obsessed with gold and hoarding it.

The Granddaddy of All Dungeons

Rappan Athuk is the closest someone can come to the Platonic ideal megadungeon. It is massive at over 55 levels, and that’s not counting the surface levels and wilderness area. It comes in different flavors (Swords & Wizardry, Pathfinder, 5e). It is dense and creative while still tying back to a classic trope. It is home to the cult of Orcus and you have to go take care of them. Perfect.

This is something you can dig your hands into and begin to pry apart revealing its eldritch secrets from within. I have the Swords and Wizardry PDF version and I love it.

One aspect that I like is that there are many levels, but they are smaller than one might expect. Stonehell has massive levels, but I prefer shorter levels that promote delving deeper and deeper. That’s a design choice I’m going to steal for Temple of the BFG. I want you to explore around rather than slogging through more and more of the same level. It would make more sense that one faction is dominating a level, rather than multiple factions living on one level.

Finally, the best part is the fact that this a dungeon that can grow. They are adding new levels and have done so over the many years since the d20 years. You could play in Rappan Athuk for years and never grow tired of it. That is where I’m setting my sights for Temple of the BFG. Even if I miss the mark, I’ll still land among the stars.

Rappan Athuk

Capistreia

  

Population: 10,950 humans, 1000 other

Ruler: His Excellency the Honorable Governor Diego Delgado

Ten years ago, the explorer Tomas de Vigo led his men to the new world in search of gold. They discovered gold while panning the nearby river and founded the colony of Capistreia on the beach where they landed. De Vigo took an expedition of men into the jungle and never returned. Building the port fell to his second in command, a greedy toady named Diego Delgado. The shrewd officer soon established several profitable plantations and began shipping sugar and citrus fruits across the Great Ocean.

Several ships full of prospectors arrived a year after reports of gold reached the Old Kingdom. The population has been booming ever since. The placer gold found in the creek comes from hard-rock deposits. Many prospectors go out into the jungle searching for these deposits.

  • Delgado owns a large plantation and manor house outside of town where he grows sugar and citrus.
  • A massive stone tower rises from the cliff to protect the town from pirates. Presidio de Vigo has 50 soldiers lead by Capitan Karla Fortes.
  • The Thirsty Señorita serves as both a tavern and the base of operations for the Skullduggery Guild. It’s popular for the rum and fried plantains. The Skullduggery Guild are sells words who offer their services to protect prospectors from the jungle.
  • The Collegio Maximo is a large campus on the edge of town. It has been built as a place to host researchers, archaeologists, and anthropologists interested in studying the remains of the Tlaca civilization.
  • The Mission Nuestra Señora de Valero was one of the first buildings constructed in Capistreia. Located in the city center, it is a place of protection and worship in the Creator.
  • The Outfitters there are countless shops set up on the main three roads in Capistreia selling all manner of useful products for prospectors including pans, pots, boots, and tools. They are willing to buy any treasure that they can turn around and sell over the Great Ocean.   

Behind the Screen: Capistreia

The purpose of Capistreia is to serve as a base of operations for the players. It is a place for the players to deposit their loot, buy supplies, get some healing etc. However, I want to make it a little more interesting than that. Capistreia’s inspiration is part lawless mining boomtown and part Spanish colony. There are lots of people coming here looking to make their fortune.

Capistreia is purposefully vague, there’s so many people smashed into a tiny town that DMs could fit anything in here. While the town is mostly human, any strange elf, dwarf, or half-dragon could fit in the muddy streets. People are coming from all over the world. The point of this town and dungeon is you could easily drop it into your home campaign. No matter what strange character your players come up with, the setup is they came from over there and now they are here.

Alternatively, with new ships bringing new prospectors and settlers all the time there are plenty of opportunities for new players or characters to join.

If not now, then when?

Ever since I was in Junior high I wanted to write Dungeons and Dragons books. It’s been a dream of mine ever since my best friend Jack introduced me to it all on a Boy Scout camping trip. I still have the players handbook he gave me which is now bound in duct tape. I read it so much that it creaks when you open it.

However, as I got older I realized it was just a dream. I got a degree in Education, not game design and started a career as a History teacher about 7 years ago.

After my 2nd year of teaching my Principal Dr. U asked me “when are you going to get your Masters?” I hemmed and hawed about it. Oh someday I’m sure. “Well what are you waiting for?” She asked. “Do it now before you have kids and all that.”

She was right. What was I waiting for? Who’s permission did I need to pursue this? None but my own. So I was enrolled at American Public University by the end of the week. I completed my Masters in Military History with a focus on World War II in 2014.

Coming into writing for the DM’s Guild was the same situation. I have notebooks full of “great ideas.” I’m sure you do too. For me, it was always “ohhhh someday, wouldn’t that be nice?” Again I had to ask myself: who’s permission was I waiting for? No one was going to come out and tap my on the shoulder and say “OK Willett, it’s your turn.”

So I sat down and started writing. I did everything myself. I did the layout on Word, I used Stock Art. Then I put it out there. Then I did it again.

If you’re reading this right now, I figure you’re probably like me. You might have some really great ideas rattling around in your head and you’re just waiting for the right time to get them out there.

I’m here to tell you: stop waiting. Stop making excuses and just do it. It doesn’t matter if it’s going to be good. In fact, your first books are going to be rough. That’s ok. It’s not a failure if you learn from it.

The DM’s Guild is awesome for this. If you’ve got an amazing idea for that Sci Fi novel Amazon Kindle lets you do self publishing as well. And for the low price of $3 you can get an author copy of your book to put on your shelf. Self publishing is easier than ever now.

In future installments of “Willett encourages you” I’ll talk about how to get pages written, or the value of teaming up with an editor or layout artist. But for now I leave you with this advise: If you’re not going to do it now, then when are you? Might as well be now.