Classic Dungeon Trivia 10: The Return

I'm back and so are the obscure D&D module references. You know the rules, first one to guess which module I pulled the following excerpt from gets...well, nothing really...except for the honor of telling their family and friends that they knew an obscure D&D fact faster than anyone else!

Good luck...yer gonna need it

12c. Human Female (11th level thief: HP61; Strength 15; Intelligence 15; Wisdom 8; Dexterity 18; Constitution 16; Charisma 17) chained to the wall. She will gladly admit to being a thief caught trying to find the King's treasure room, and volunteer to aid the party faithfully for a chance to escape. If opportunity presents itself, she will heist as much in gems and magic as she can and then slip away, but until then she will actually help the party. Of course, during this time she will be casing each character to learn what he or she carries.

BTW, the winner of the last Classic Dungeon Trivia was Zandari in 8hrs 59 minutes

Classic Dungeon Trivia 9

As the doors to this magnificent room clanged open, the party barely had time to register their surroundings before Sir Vincent of Diakuw charged forward through the flames. Having recognized the danger immediately, and seizing on an opportunity to finally use his broadsword of Iron Phoenix Slaying, he did do battle with the abomination and stuck down the fell beast in an hour and 49 minutes. And in the wake of the epic battle, Vincent claimed his reward: the fabled Chocolate du Hershey...in bar form.

Cursing the intrepid adventurers for so cleverly defeating his well laid plans, the Dungeon Overload is forced to rethink the ingenuity and guile of his quarry. With a wicked grin, he devises his most insidious room yet. "Try this on for size" he whispers...

Although the walls are the same as elsewhere (rough blackish stone), the floor of this room is covered with ceramic tiles arranged in mosaic fashion. The majority of the thousands of tiles are golden brown in color, but patterns of white and black tiles appear in various places to enhance the effect of the very striking designs thus formed. The designs (various flowing lines, etc.) are purely decorative, and carry no mysterious message or meaning.

Arrayed throughout the room are fourteen different pools, each about ten feet in diameter, with sides sloping to a maximum depth of five feet in the center. This mystical arrangement is doubly amazing, since all the contents of the pools are different. . .

Classic Dungeon Trivia 8

When we last met our stalwart adventurers, they were on the long and perilous Journey to the Rock, and the powerful, but grim, barbarian Daddy Grognard led the way.

In TWELVE #$%@ing minutes!!! I had barely finished typing and he already guessed right. Oh well, chocolate for Big D.

This week, our hearty band has arrived at an unusual chamber...let's see how they react

Light and flame fill your senses. Before you is a 110-foot square room filled with fire. Polished black glassteel reflects the flames into a seeming eternity. Jets of fire soar 100 feet above you into the domed ceiling from four deep pits.There is a set of golden doors in the center of each wall. There is another door in each wall on each side of the double doors. There is a platform in front of each set of doors. A glassteel pathway goes all the way around the room, connecting the platforms. Two 10-foot wide pathways cross the room and meet in the center of the flames at a round platform. This middle platform is 30 feet wide, with a smaller ring in the middle of it. Hanging from the ceiling is a black frame that sits like a tent over the central platform.An Iron Phoenix sits stately on the frame.

I Take My Throwing Knife, and Throw It...Knife Style!

I finally got to watch the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons episode of Community. I haven't seen the show before, but I saw the commercials and had to find this episode at least.

I didn't go into it with much hope, just because most people that "make fun" of D&D don't really understand it so it just comes off as awkward and sorta lame, but I have to say I really enjoyed it. They had a fairly good idea of what the game is about and played it fairly seriously...well, as seriously as any of my players have ever played.

I feel like a total nerd because I recognized the map in front of the DM as the map of the demonweb from Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

Side 1

Side 2

"I won Dungeons & Dragons...and it was Advanced!"

edit: Part 1, Part 2

Monthly Poll - Favorite Old School Module

Stolen directly from Grognardia's web site

So much for January. That didn't take long.

Sort of a small turn out for last months Monthly Poll so this shouldn't take long.

In 1st place for the favorite "deceptive" creature with 36% of the votes was the Doppleganger

2nd Place goes to the Water Weird (one of my personal favorites)

3rd place is Gas Spore. I have to say here that I've never known a party to race forward to start hacking on a beholder, so the gas spore was never really that much of a surprise for them.

At 4th with 12% was the lovably mimic. Everyone loves a treasure chest with teeth!

in 5th with 4% was the Lurker Above and in dead last without a single vote was the forgettable Trapper.

This month we gonna find out which classic D&D module or series of modules was your favorite, either to play or to run. Or maybe its just the most memorable.

Classic Dungeon Trivia 7

I thought last weeks was tough....wrong again. Vincent Diakuw was able to get it right in an hour and 56 minutes. Although, this time I actually had someone guess wrong. Maybe I'm getting more cryptic.

Anyways, the answer was Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits

On to this weeks trivia...

Player's Background

For weeks, you’ve been looking for adventure in this forsaken wilderness, with nothing much to show for it. It’s autumn now, with winter fast-approaching, and you’ll be in real trouble if you don’t earn some treasure soon.
As you’re finishing breakfast at a cheap inn, a traveler walks into the common room. In a loud voice he says, “Peace be upon you all! I, Hakeem the merchant, seek Hargath Stonehand and his worthy friends! ”

If anyone decides to talk to Hakeem, he says,

“As I passed through Sylvanhome forest on the way here, I stopped at The Manor, a fine palace owned by the wizard Lirdrium Arkayz. His servant Jenlar Temlin paid me to look for you and deliver his message to you. The wizard needs adventurers to undertake a quest, and he is willing to pay well anyone who answers his call. The letter of his servant explains all. Good day, my friends.” He lays a scroll on your table, then turns to leave.

Classic Dungeon Trivia 6

Continuing with my effort to stay of track with Classic Dungeon Trivia Friday's, I'm actually going to post one on a Friday!

As to our last installment...Grendlewulf answered correctly with U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. The candybar goes to him.

Now, on to this weeks moderately challenging trivia. And in the words of your dark lord and mine "I have you now!"

THE CHAMBER OF OPPOSITION
This room is 30' across and 70' wide, the door opening in the center of one 70' wall. Directly across from the door is a mirror of opposition. Lounging throughout the room are 20 ogres (AC 5, MV 9", HD 4+1, hp 25 each, #AT 1, D 1-10). When the door is opened, one of the characters who opened the door will automatically look into the mirror; the DM should roll randomly to determine which one. This character's opposite will step out of the mirror andattack. At the same time, the ogres will join and attack the party. The ogres will automatically treat the opposite as their leader.

Classic Dungeon Trivia 5

Damn it! I just realized I've missed the last TWO Classic Dungeon Trivia Fridays. So I'm gonna do one now, and in 4 minutes after one of you D&D Savants answers it I'll start posting one every Friday...I hope.

As for the last one JB answered correctly in 1hr 11min, and I think he stalled just to make me feel better. Or maybe he was hung over from New Years Eve. Regardless, the correct answer was D2: Shrine of the Kuo Toa.

On to the first of this weeks Classic Dungeon Trivia...

Bedroom

This bedroom is dirty and decayed; the floorboards appear intact but rubbish is scattered everywhere and webs are profuse on the walls and ceiling. From the doorway, you can see a glint of light in the fireplace from what appears to be a small, highly reflective object. There is no furniture in here.

The object in the fireplace is simply a fist-sized chunk of crystal. It has no value though it is superficially attractive. In the webs live two large spiders (AC 8; HD 1+1; hp 7 each; #AT 1; D 1 hit point plus poison) which are 90% likely to attack (check each round anyone is in the room).

The spiders’ poison is relatively weak — saving throws against poison are at a bonus of +2 and the effects of a bite are less severe than most. Thus the poisonous bite will not kill the victim though he/she will be incapacitated and completely helpless for 1-6 hours.

Classic Dungeon Trivia 4

I'd like to thank Christopher B for waiting nearly 2 1/2 hours before answering last weeks Classic Dungeon Trivia. I swear I'm trying to make these somewhat challenging, but it's just not turning out that way. Lets try another before I get really serious with you guys.

STEPS OF THE ZIGGURAT If the group reaches this point they will be able to see low altar stones with shells upon them. There are 2 such containers on the first tier of the ziggurat, and other pairs on each successively higher altar. Each tier of the pyramid is 12' high, and the steps are steep. These steps must be ascended by all creatures passing through, so that homage can be paid to the goddess, an offering paid, and passage continued elsewhere. Groups coming in from other tunnels are held in waiting areas while appointed representatives perform the necessary obeisance.

Classic Dungeon Trivia 3

Fine fine fine...last weeks trivia took Christopher B a grand total of 20 minutes to guess that the room was from the classic fun house dungeon C2 - The Ghost Tower of Inverness.

I swear this week I'll get you meddling kids and your dog too!!

So here goes...

Classic Dungeon Trivia 2

And the answer is:

Since last weeks Classic Dungeon Trivia was so easy (Grendelwulf guessed it in 33 minutes, and I have a feeling part of that time was spent reading it and making breakfast) I'll have to fine something a little more obscure.

This weeks trivia is from a classic D&D module and I decided to give you a room description rather than a background snippet. Lets see if it'll take more than 33 minutes to figure this one out.

1st part

The corridor ends in a wall lined with five cubicles. Each has a human-shaped indentation in it, surrounded by scroll work and other ancient carvings.

2nd part

The cubicle forces you out onto a 5' x 5' square that glows with a cold white light. The other squares in this 40' x 40' room are gray, blue, green, and yellow. In the center of the far wall is a 10' wide passageway. In front of the opening, straddling two squares, stands an intricately detailed statue of a handsome man, 7' tall, wearing a richly jeweled crown. His left hand is resting on the hilt of a longsword, and his right arm is outstretched, palm down, toward the center of the east wall, as if in greeting — or in warning.

Classic Dungeon Trivia

This picture is not from the module

Thought I would try something a little different. I'll post an excerpt from a classic D&D module, and we'll see if anyone can identify which module it was pulled from. Sometimes it will be from the adventure's background or a description of a memorable room or encounter. I'll stick with published TSR modules so I don't get too obscure. Otherwise, whats the fun?

I don't have any prizes for you other than a chocolate bar, but you'll have to come pick it up from my house cause my wife won't let me cross the street after dark. And now for our first except....

"Days ago, your group of adventurers joined a desert caravan. Halfway across the desert, a terrible sandstorm struck, separating your party from the rest of the caravan. When the storm died down, you found you were alone. The caravan was nowhere in sight. The desert was unrecognizable, as the dunes had been blown into new patterns. You were lost."

My First Adventure

I can still remember, vividly, my first foray into the world of Dungeons and Dragons. It was the summer of 1979 and I was 8 years old. My neighbor's daughter used to work at the local Goodwill and one of her co-worker's, a nice man named Jessie was an avid gamer. You can read a brief history of my introduction to gaming here.