Hi Fellas! I am crrently writing a little supplement( 3 rooms) to the module S2 white plume moiuntain! The author clearly leaves room for such an undertaking and i have decided to finish it for personal use! I would appreciate feedback on this first room i have designed -especially comments in regards to weaponless combat that takes place in this room!
For now i will title this room #28:
28: Stairs lead down 100 feet from the secret door at area #9 to this room which is Keraptis'
indoctrination center! The room rectangular in shape has a dozen steel operating tables com-
plete with heavy duty leather restraining straps. There are bizarre looking instruments including
glass beakers,test tubes,and every manner of apparatus used for chemistry available. Next to
one of the operating tables is a steel tray containing several hypodermic needles(a rather
primitive version that is).In this room are what is left of Keraptis' renegade gnomes they are
fanatically dedicated to keraptis and have been running the indoctrination center here at the
mountain for centuries! 12 gnomes(AC:5 MV:6" HD:4th level fighters HP:36,27,25,22,22,20,
20,20,19,18,16,16; #AT: 1 D: 1-6 (short sword) SA: grapple)-six of them will attempt to
grapple the first player to enter the room if they are successfull they will inject him with a
hypo(thus paralyzing him/her for 1 turn-no save) and strap him onto one of the tables(once bound characters of less than 20 strength will be unable to free themselves) while
doing this they will laugh horrendously and hysterically, they will be covered by the other 6
gnomes who will imediately draw their short swords and engage the party to prevent them
from giving aid to thier first victim!Meanwhile the gnomes leader Garnet Grimgold ( AC:-2 due
to 18 dexterity and +3 chainmail, 5th level fighter/7th level illusionist; HP:44 #AT:1 D: 1-4 +3
due to magic hammer-double damage when thrown; SA: illusionist spells) will stay at the far
end of the battle casting spells, throwing his hammer +3 dwarven thrower(specially enchant-
ed by Keraptis' so as to be wielded by a gnome with the same result as dwarves! ) and
shouting orders to his crew. his memorized spells are:change self,color spray,hypnotism,wall of
fog,detect magic,mirror image,ventriloquism,non-detection, and paralyzation. He will begin his
attacks by attempting to cast his paralyzation spell on the second character that enters the
room. If this is successful the 6 gnomes that are engaged in grappling will strap the paralyzed
character to a table as soon as they are done with the first victim! After his paralyzation spell
Grimgold will attempt to follow up by casting a mirror image on himself then he will begin
hurling his magic hammer at the party in the following rounds. If the battle starts to go badly
for the gnomes Grimgold will order his grapplers (operating assisstants) to draw their short
swords and attack with them otherwise all 6 will continue to overwhelm one character at a
time until all are strapped to tables. If the battle is obviously lost to the gnomes Grimgold will
cast a wall of fog in front of himself and attempt to escape to area 29 by the back door
there he will make his final stand assissting the black dragon in any way possible. These
gnomes will not be surprised as Keraptis' has informed them of the parties presence moments
before thier arrival . searching of the room and any of the fallen gnomes(besides Grimgold) will
reveal no treasure. however the lab equipment could fetch 500GP from an alchemist in a large
city if kept intact and complete. Also in the northeast corner of the room is a dresser with a
book on it. This is Grimgold's spellbook containg the following spells:
1st level: change self,color spray,darkness,detect invisibility,hypnotism,phantasmal
force,wall of fog
2nd level: blur,detect magic,improved phantasmal force,invisibility,magic mouth,
mirror image,ventriloquism
3rd level: fear,invisibility 10' radius,non-detection,paralyzation,spectral force
If the characters are defeated they will all be brainwashed (treat those reduced to 0 or less
hit points as knocked unconscious) by a method involving drugs,hypnotism, and minor brain
surgery!!!They will be placed as guards in the upper level and this will effectively end this ad-
venture! However this may create a new adventure perhaps friends and/or family will offer
rewards for thier return and a new party will take up the cause(it would be tricky to subdue
these new guardians without permanently harming them!!!) In any event nothing short of a
restoration or wish spell will restore them to thier normal selves due to the brain surgery.
DM NOTE: the weaponless combat table on pages 72-73 of the dungeon masters guide will
be needed to determine the outcome of grappling,each of the gnomes should be considered
as having 15 strength and 16 dexterity for this purpose. Once one gnome scores a succesful
grapple the next gnome attacking will gain +20% on his percentage due to the fact that the
player will be so encumbered by the first attacker as to be considered slowed or stunned on
the "to hit" grappling table.Once two have scored hits the fight is effectively over as 3 of the
other gnomes will also grab hold automatically and the final gnome will inject the player with
the hypo. Regardless of how quickly any character is overpowered it should take a full round
additional for the gnomes to carry him over to the table and strap him in. If the
DM does not
wish to use the weaponless combat table he can simply give the victory automatically to the gnomes, in such an instance they will take one melee round to grapple and overpower and
one additional round to strap the player to the table. This is not too unreasonable as this
portion of the battle is designed to be a mismatch in favor of the gnomes and may force the
party to prevail without one or two of thier strongest fighters!! That magic -user better save
the day or the party could be in big trouble!
Well that's it for now -what do you think? BIG QUESTION--what level do you think Keraptis should be? Everything seems to point to him being 18th level archmage when you consider there are permanency magicks and such throughout the mountain but obviously this would be hard to balance with characters ranging fron 5-10th level--perhaps i should make him a bit senile from his vast age thereby forgetting his most powerful spells!
Posted: seeking arcane knowledge, will pay well for old writings,books,scrolls,alchemist cookbooks, and other odds n' ends that will aid me in furthering my pursuits!
         -Thenraine the silver magus
