The Serpent Shrine

Let's take a few minutes to roll up the Serpent Shrine in hex 302.296:

• d4 for number of levels = 1
• d10 for the difficulty level of the dungeon = 3
• d10 for the starting room of the dungeon (per AD&D DMG pg 169) = 4 which translates to room 2
• d8 for number of rooms = 8 (plus starting room 2)

I'm feeling like making this a themed dungeon so lets see what the main monster will be for the Serpent Shrine. Rolling d100 on Monster Level III (DMG pg 177) comes up with 65 meaning ogres and a d6 shows there are 2 ogres infesting the place. Looking at AD&D MM pg 75, d100 comes up with 13%, so they are in their lair, which means potentially more ogres, slaves and loot. 2d10 for number appearing comes up with 3 ogres total, along with 6 females, 5 ogre younglings, and 6 prisoners. I generated the treasure shown below (room 6) and will spread out the monsters based on dungeon rolls.

This might end up being a lucrative delve, after all...hmmm.

Turning back to DMG pg 169, we roll up the dungeon and get the following:

I rolled up the rest of the dungeon (see below) and came up with the backstory based on the rolls. 

A group of ogres wandering south and heavy with loot from the northern wars, saw the same green glow that the Fort Rackham refugees previously described to the party. The ogre chief, Gurishnak, was mesmerized by the scintillating hues of the temple as they connected with the Chaos inherent in his being. After brutally suppressing any dissenters, he ordered the tribe to make for the temple and soon they too felt the pull of the shrine. While moving towards the shrine, they encounter a group of bugbears and have little trouble convincing them to join them on their pilgrimage. Clearly the Chaos Lords are speaking to them all!

They find the shrine largely abandoned and quickly make it their lair. The chief spends his time endlessly staring at the baroque carvings that cover every surface of the ancient shrine as if he could understand them and frequently begins chanting in a strange hissing that has no relation to the crude ogre tongue. This has struck terror into the hearts of the other ogres and bugbears, but also convinced them of Gurishnak's favor in the eyes of the Chaos Lords. Gurishnak has told them that soon the Chaos Lords will reveal their purpose and they reluctantly await their fates for who can defy the will of Chaos Manifest?

Key:

Room 1 - The Entrance (No Encounter)

The northern corridor has a trap (Pit, 10’ deep, 3 in 6 to fall in). The room is otherwise empty.

Room 2 - The Evil High Priest Chamber (Monster with Room Treasure)

Chief Gurishnak (24hp) is here studying the room's carvings and praising the Chaos Lords by chanting in the ancient tongue of the Serpent Men. There are 6 small coffers in alcoves containing a total of 6000sp and the chief has 48gp in his pouch.

Room 3 - The Unholy Altar (Trap)

This is the source of the shrine's unholy power. An incredibly ancient stone altar made of a strangle mottled green stone monolith, completely unlike the material used in the shrine's construction, stands in the center of the room. It is covered with strange serpentine images and indecipherable hieroglyphs which glow with a very faint pulsing light. The pulses occur in a completely random pattern that does not repeat, and makes any sane observer deeply uneasy. Any sane being staring at these blasphemous carvings will begin to feel nauseous within a few minutes and pass out for d12 hours if they persist in their unhealthy obsession. The room is otherwise empty, but any visitors feel that the monolith is strangely sentient and seems to be waiting for...something.

Room 4 - Old Storeroom (No Encounter)

Empty room

Room 5 - Ogre Prisoners (No Encounter)

I rolled no encounter for this room and decided to make this the ogres' slave pen.

Interestingly, almost all the AD&D humanoid/army entries (orcs, ogres, etc) have information for how many prisoners or slaves the humanoids have, but no way to randomly determine if they're 0-level mooks or someone more interesting (NPCs, etc). I adapted the Monster Level I: Human Subtable from DMG pp175 (and minimized dwarf, elf and halfling entries since ogres like to eat them):

d100 Result

01-25 Human (0-level)

26-27 Dwarf (per AD&D MM)

28 Elf (per AD&D MM)

29 Halfling (per AD&D MM)

30-45 Gnome (per AD&D MM)

46-100 Character (roll on DMG character subtable; use d4 for character level)

I roll 6 prisoners: dwarf, gnome, human, NPC L3 cleric, NPC L3 fighter, NPC L3 fighter. Let's see if the PCs find them...

Room 6 - Ogre Guardroom  (Room Treasure)

I rolled a room treasure for this room and decide to place the remaining two ogres here. The two ogre subchiefs (17hp, 20hp) lounge here, guarding the prisoners in room 5, the ogre nursery in room 7 and, most importantly, the tribes loot. The subchiefs have 59gp and 47gp in their belt pouches. I rolled a room treasure of 3,000sp when generating the room and it is contained in a huge chest in the northeastern corner. The tribe's loot is in sacks piled next to the chest and consists of:

2,718cp

        Gems (qty 8): DMG pp25-27

            Fancy Stone - Coral: crimson (100gp)

            Fancy Stone - Amethyst: deep purple (100gp)

            Ornamental Stone - Turquoise: light blue-green (10gp)

            Gem Stone - Fire Opal: fiery red (1000gp)

            Semi-Precious Stone - Citrine: pale yellow brown (50gp)

            Ornamental Stone - Turquoise: light blue-green (10gp)

            Fancy Stone - Spinel: red, red-brown, deep green (100gp)

            Fancy Stone - Pearl: lustrous white, yellowish, pinkish (100gp)

        Jewelry (qty 4):

            Belt, Silver jewelry with gems (11764gp)

            Ring, Wrought gold jewelry (2965gp)

            Ring, Ivory or wrought silver jewelry (321gp)

            Orb, Silver jewelry with gems (10563gp)

        Total Hoard Value:               27,096gp

            Total Monetary Value:            13gp

            Total Gem Value:              1,470gp

            Total Jewelry Value:         25,613gp

Room 7 - Ogre Nursery (Monster with Room Treasure)

The 6 female ogres (14hp, 13hp, 13hp, 14hp, 13hp, 10hp) occupy this room with their 5 hideous offspring (young ogres as goblins; 4hp, 1hp, 3hp, 2hp, 5hp). The room treasure consists of 300pp and jewelry in small coffers:

        Jewelry (qty 4):

            Ring, Gold with gems (3,000gp)

            Comb, Ivory or wrought silver jewelry (321gp)

            Decanter, Wrought silver and gold (1,000gp)

        Total Hoard Value:                 5,821gp

            Total Monetary Value:        1,500gp

            Total Jewelry Value:           4,321gp

There is a trap just outside the northern door (Pit, 10’ deep with spikes, 3 in 6 to fall in).

Room 8 - Bugbear Barracks (Monster with Room Treasure)

The 7 bugbears (11hp, 17hp, 9hp. 19hp, 5hp, 8hp, 13hp) that the tribe befriended in the wilds occupy this room. They have a total of 99cp between them and the room treasure is in sacks in the southeastern corner (2,150ep and an Ebony Fly Figurine of Wondrous Power). A nice little bonus if the PCs make it this far!

Room 9 - The Sacrificial Cells (No Encounter)

This secret room once functioned as the holding cells for the temple's sacrificial victims. It is currently covered in the thick dust of eons and otherwise empty.

Next time: We delve the shrine!