In the last installment I sketched out a region which I’ve decided to call Bergarus Vale after the Bergarus Mountains that loom in the northeast.

In this installment I will detail a dungeon in that region, the entrance of which is called called “The Radovol Door” or “The Door In The Pit”.

(Yes, it took me two years to finally finish this thing. I’ve had a lot of distractions. If I were starting this project today I’d probably use Shadowdark instead of DCC, but for now I’ll continue with DCC.)

Tasks

These are the tasks from The Gygax 75 Challenge for this phase:

• Describe the entrance to the dungeon in 7-10 words. You can tell a lot about a place by looking at its doors.

• Create a point-to-point map. This is a simple map with circles (rooms, caves, etc.) that are connected to each other by lines (passages, tunnels, halls, stairs, slides…). Don’t worry about visuals just yet, this map will help you create a good flow for the dungeon. You can add scale and detail later.

  • You will draw three levels. For each level, include at least d6+6 rooms/areas and connect them. Make sure they aren’t connected like a string of pearls (all in a line). At least half the rooms should have more than one way in/out. Add more rooms if you need ‘em!

  • Include several (say d3+1) ways up and/or down per level. These exits may double-count, e.g. a stairs down on level 1 is also the stairs up on level 2 and/or level 3. Remember that it doesn’t have to be stairs: you can use slides, shafts, elevators, rivers, etc.

• Come up with 1 theme per level. Try rolling d3+2 for each theme to generate a sort of budget. This will help you remember to reinforce the themes multiple times each level. (Unlike a real budget, it’s okay to over-spend!) Example themes: tomb raiders, spiders, machines, fountains and pools, or fungi. As you stock the dungeon you will spend your budget to incorporate references to your themes via ornamentation, creatures, sensory details, etc. It is okay for a theme to “spill over” into the level above or below.

• Make a list of about a dozen iconic monsters and place them in rooms/areas. You can put them in rooms or passages, and on any level. Generally, the more dangerous the creature the lower it will be found. If any of the monsters help sell one of your themes, remember to reduce the budget accordingly. Your monsters could also be arranged in a 2d6 wandering monster table. Put the ones most likely to roam around in the middle of the table.

• Spread d6 major features throughout the dungeon. Features should be interactive: traps, puzzles, talking doors, magic fountains… If any of them reinforce a theme, reduce its budget. These are features that are unique or notable. Fill in around these features with general “dungeon dressing” as needed. If you roll a small number, make each feature really impactful!

• For each room/area, note any treasure. Roll a d6 for each area. If it contains a creature or feature, there is treasure on a 1-4. Otherwise, there is treasure only on a 1. If you have random treasure tables, you can go ahead and roll up each of these piles of treasure now to save time later.

• Name three wondrous items and locate them in the dungeon. Pull them from your source material or make them up. Again, if they reinforce a theme, you can reduce that theme’s budget. These are probably in addition to any magic items that get rolled up as part of placed treasure, unless you rolled some really good ones.

• Spend any remaining theme budget adding detail. Note unusual smells, weird lighting, odd stonework, statues or other decorative elements, disturbing noises, messages written on the wall, corpses of previous adventurers…

Rather than step through them in the order above, I’ll present a complete dungeon with sidebars explaining the use of “budget” and other non-obvious details.

The Door In The Pit

A dungeon for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG.

Introduction

Two weeks ago, the villagers who still work the Radovaol copper mine unearthed a mysterious door. The miners would swear that the door was sealed and resistant to any external force.

After the third night the door disappears. Some local youths went through the hole, and never came back. That was over a week ago.

The miners appealed to the Earl to send some guardsmen into the hole to recover their fellow miners. The Earl, or rather the scribe who intercepted the message, sent you instead.

Entrance

The entrance is an unbreakable stone frame around a square chute three feet long and just big enough around for one person at a time. The drop is about 20’ to the floor below.

Level 1

(click to embiggen)

Atrium

Dropping down the chute adventurers find themselves in a circular room about 50’ meters across. A hall extends north, and a second, shorter hall extends east.

North Hall

The north hall resembles a comfortable, even decadently luxurious mansion from over a millennium ago: polished marble walls, stone door lintels, sconces every few meters. Touching the sphere in each sconse makes it light up with a bluish-white light equivalent to a candle or oil lamp.

The doors themselves are of a dark, polished wood. Everything is well preserved. Even the stone floor has no dust.

Library

Shelves full of books line the walls, floor to ceiling. The books are about a thousand years old but well preserved. Each is in Ancient, a language mostly known to scholars. If translated, the books contain valuable knowledge of physical and magical principles forgotten to modern scholarship. Many books are written by an “Anaxandre Markiz Paluzarian”.

Only one chair and side table sit in the very center of the room.

Study

A chest-high bookcase stands along one wall. (Overflow from the library?) Just like the Library all books are in Ancient or other esoteric languages.

Most of this room is dominated by a couch, a side table, and an arm chair all arranged so that a person could transfer easily between one and the other.

Clockwork Room

This moderately sized workshop contains various clockwork projects in various states of assembly. Among the completed machines are:

• An orrery depicting Eordh orbiting the sun and the two moons orbiting Eordh. Five other planets also orbit Eordh.
• A pendulum clock that keeps good time.
• A mechanical calculator the size of a table that can add, subtract multiply, or divide up to twenty digits.

All the gears and parts are of iron or brass, but even the disassembled parts might be worth a king’s ransom to the right collector or mechanic.

These machines make a distinct ticking, ratcheting sound when activated. This will draw the attention of Servants and Watchers.

Bedroom

The spartan chamber contains only a bed frame (no mattress or sheets), an empty wardrobe, and a metal trunk. The trunk pops open with a hiss, a sudden burst of cold air, and a weirdly chemical smell.

The trunk contains archaic, high-class clothes neatly folded including a red knee-length robe, a black ankle-length robe with a hood, and a noble-quality blue coat with matching breeches, shirts, and hose that only look a little worn.

Privy

The door of the privy bears a green devil face with a circular open mouth. The privy itself is simply a tiny room with a cylindrical hole for waste.

At the bottom of the hole lies a sphere of absolute darkness. Anything deposited into the privy is torn into atoms which are scattered in another dimension, i.e. annihilated completely.

Kitchen

This well-appointed kitchen has a stove and pans, but is utterly devoid of food.

Pantry

The pantry is huge, big enough to store weeks if not months of dried or easily preserved food. The shelves are completely empty and clean even of debris or animal droppings.

East Hall

The east hall looks starkly functional, with bare stone walls and no doors.

Drone Storage

• 1d3 active Servants
• 1d6 inactive Servants

Servants return to this room when they have completed their rounds. Only a few Servants are active; the rest have deactivated themselves to conserve power. Deactivated Servants will reactivate if jostled.

Drone Repair

This room contains mostly inscrutable tools, a work bench at Repairer height, a frame from which to hang a broken drone (currently empty), and a ladder to the second floor.

Cleaning Supplies

This room contains brooms, mops, dustpans, and shelves full of cleaning fluids. Some of the fluids have been used up or evaporated over the centuries, but most still have some liquid in them. All are poisonous: if swallowed, make a Fortitude save to avoid 1d8 damage. 10% are caustic: 2d6 damage to skin; if swallowed, contents do 2d6 damage on a successful Fortitude save and 4d6 damage if the save fails.

Staircase

Set off in its own alcove from the Atrium, this stone spiral staircase leads down to Level 2.

Level 2

(click to embiggen)

This level resembles the East Hall: polished gray stone walls, mostly open doors with a few metal doors.

Staircase

Set off in its own alcove from the Square Room, this stone spiral staircase leads up to Level 1 or down to Level 3.

Square Room

This room contains doors that lead to the Machine Shop, the Myrmidon Room, the Artificing Lab, the Sentry Room, and a False Door.

Machine Shop

This room contains an assortment of hand tools, some of them incomprehensible, and larger stationary tools like lathes, power saws, and arc welders. (Characters may not necessarily know what these are, so the Referee should describe their shape without naming them.) Each has a pedal that activates them. If characters get in the way of a stationary tool’s business end, they take 3d6 damage.

The largest stationary object, however, is a 8ft square metal box with two 3 ft square doors more or less at the center of the front of the box. A red crystal window into the left door reveals a space lined with multiple large arms, currently in repose. The right door has a clear crystal window onto a space lined with glass lenses. If somtething is placed into the right chamber, the left chamber is empty, and both doors are closed, both chambers light up. In a few minutes, the left chamber will contain a solid steel replica of whatever is placed in the right chamber. This “fabricator” can reproduce arbitrarily intricate shapes, but it cannot reproduce the interior of an object, nor can it reproduce any magical properties.

Artificing Lab

The tools in this room are even more mysterious: engraving tools and wands of various sizes and tips, all of them magical. Someone skilled in the art of artificing could make use of them, but they are useless to a modern Wizard.

Other than a workbench and some mostly rotted books with incomprehensible formulae, this room contains nothing else of interest.

Myrmidon Room

• 1 inactive Myrmidon

This room contains only an inactive Myrmidon, a sleeker, more deadly version of the Sentry. It will not respond unless jostled or damaged, at which point it will activate and try to kill any organic being it sees.

Sentry Room

• 1d3 functional Sentries
• 12 non-functional Sentries

Sentry drones return here between patrols. Most of the Sentries have become non-functional over the centuries; only a Repairer can reactivate them, given time and access to the Machine Shop and Artificing Lab.

“False Door”

A fifth door is locked and bolted from the adventurers’ side. Upon opening this door anyone within five feet of the door who fails a Reflex save will take 2d6 damage from rocks and loose earth or the velocity of the door swinging their way.

(This used to be an entrance to the dungeon, but an old landslide buried it and collapsed the caves that led to it.)

The rockfall will also alert the Sentry Room that intruders are in the complex. Watchers will sound the alarm.

Repairer Storage

• 1 active Repairer
• 5 inactive Repairers

As with the Servants above, most of the Repairers have deactivated, having nothing to do. Only one is currently active, and performs rounds every day or so to check for breakages or malfunctions.

If an alarm sounds, the Repairer may investigate (1 in 3 chance). An inactive Repairer will reactivate if jostled or struck. Repairers generally don’t fight unless their existence or a critical system is in danger.

This room has a Repairer-navigable ladder leading up to Drone Repair.

Control Room

A window in this room overlooks the Sphere Room. Eight 3 ft long levers attached to the floor control the Sphere, although figuring out how is a matter of trial and error. Each lever has three basic positions: Down (toward the operator), Mid (midway), and Up (toward the Sphere). The current positions, in order from left to right, are Down, Mid, Up, Mid, Up, Up, Down, Mid. Levers will maintain their position unless moved.

• Pulling all levers Down will deactivate the Sphere.
• Pushing all levers Up will cause it to run amok, activating all deactivated drones in the complex. This state drains magical energies from the surrounding area; all spells have a 10% chance of simply failing.
• Other positions than the original settings will cause an imbalance in the Sphere; all those in the Sphere room take 1d6 electrical damage per turn while the condition persists.

Each alteration to the Sphere has a 1 in 6 chance of attracting the Repairer in Repairer Storage to investigate. Deactivating the sphere will activate all the Repairers, who will attempt to reset the levers to their original positions.

This room has a Repairer-navigable ladder leading down to the Cold Room. The cold comes up the hatch.

Sphere Room

This room contains a 10’/3m sphere suspended in midair, crackling with arcs of lightning. Touching the sphere, or attacking it with a metal melee weapon, does 4d6 lightning damage. It has 30 HP.

The sphere is an Aetheric Long Distance Distribution Engine. It provides power to all the drones on this level and the level above. If deactivated or destroyed all drones become immediately inert, except for the Repairers, all of whom will activate and rush into the Control Room. Repairers can repair a broken Sphere, but it will take 1d6 days and access to the Machine Shop and Artificing Lab, assuming both places are more or less intact.

Goliath Room

• 1 Goliath

This huge automaton is inert unless jostled or damaged. If roused, it will attempt to destroy any organic being it sees.

Level 3

(click to embiggen)

Descending the stairs, the second level has the same functional look of the previous one: bare stone walls, no ornamentation, It has the same sconses as the first level, but stark and functional. Unlike that level, each door along the long hallway has an iron door and a metal bar that seals each room from the outside.

The air in this room is cold, even beyond what one would expect from being so far underground.

Staircase

Set off in its own alcove from the Circular Room. this stone spiral staircase leads up to Level 2.

Circular Room

The floor isn’t stone but seven hexagonal metal plates 6’ (2m) across with partial plates covering the gaps between walls and floor. Each plate is riveted in place, although the center plate’s rivets are fake. The center plate may be pried up, with difficulty; it provides a sheer 20' (6m) drop into the Crypt.

Doors lining the walls lead to every other room on this floor.

Alchemical Lab

• 1 Homunculus

The reagents in this lab have long ago lost their potency, although some may remain poisonous. The residue of each jar smells foul and does 4d6 damage if swallowed (half damage on a successful Fortitude roll).

A halfling-sized, misshapen humanoid creature floats in a tank of chemicals. It bears scars across its body. If disturbed it will attack in a frenzy for 1d4 rounds, then, if the door is open, it will make a break for freedom.

Android Room

• 1 Android

This traveller from another time and place bears scars over its androgynous body. It is chained to a wall. It speaks a language no one can understand.

The android can understand gestures and acts of kindness, like efforts to free it from its heavy chains. However, it yearns for freedom, and if unchained it will escape, albeit with an unintelligible apology. If attacked it will defend itself.

Anatomy Room

The most prominent feature in this room is a stone slab long and wide enough to accomodate a humanoid. A nearby chest of drawers contains strange steel and silver implements whose use is best left to the imagination.

Cool Room

The air in this room is unnaturally cold. Ice condenses on the walls. Characters will take 1 point of frostbite damage per ten minutes they spend here.

This room consists of a strange-looking contraption built into the wall, with a 3’/1m wide tube leading into the floor. The contrsption can be shut off by pressing a large button on its face, or by doing 10 points of damage to it.

The tube, and the access hatch around it lead to The Crypt.

Ghoul Cells

• 5 Ghouls
• 1 Revenant

This room is divided into six separate cells, numbered 1 through 6 from left to right. Metal doors with a barred window keep each inmate contained. The doors are held by a complicated latch, not a lock. The latches are rusty, however, and will break with sufficient force.

Th latch to cell #3 is broken. If not encountered as a random encounter, the Ghoul inside will attack the party. Inside its cell they will find the mostly eaten remains of the four youths who ventured into the dungeon before the current party.

The Ghouls in cells #1, #2, #4, and #5 are quiet, but easily roused by the sound or sight of living prey.

The Revenant in cell #6 is more coherent, but speaks only an archaic language. Through gestures it will try to convey that it wants to be let out. If freed, the Revenant will only attack to escape; its goal is to pursue vengeance against someone long dead.

Necromancy Room

• 1d6 Skeletons
• 1d3 Zombies

This room contains a mix of skeletons and zombies, milling around aimlessly. The skeletons and zombies will not attack unless they are attacked, since they have no specific orders.

Specimen Room

• 4 Crawling Hands

This room contains various body parts preserved in jars. Four crawling hands are still “alive”, free, and will wreak havoc against anyone who enters.

Level 4: The Crypt

• 36 Necromatons, Unprimed
• 1 Necromaton, Ensouled

Under the floor of the central hallway above lies the Crypt of the Necromaton. This area is only accessible through service hatches (indicated on the map) or the large hidden door set into the center of the higher level’s central hallway.

This is a circular chamber about 100’ in diameter. Its walls are bare rock, but the floor has been leveled. (The ceiling is the iron floor, 20’ above.) A sarcophagus sits on a raised dais, covered in frost. Around it are a silent squad of 36 deactivated skeletal-looking automatons, standing in three rings of 6, 12, and 18 facing the sarcophagus. Stone pillars brace the ceiling.

Revivication

If the Cooling Engine on Level 3 is deactivated, or if the party breaches the access hatch or the central door above the crypt itself, the reanimation sequence will start. First the Cooling Engine will shut down. Ten minutes after either event, or if the automatons or the sarcophagus are disturbed, the automatons will begin to stir. 1d6 will begin to move, then 1d6 rounds later 1d6 more, and so on.

If the automatons down any party members, they will attempt to cart the body away for dissection.

1d6 minutes after automatons stir, or sooner if the sarcophagus is disturbed, the sarcophagus unseals and the Necromaton itself will arise. Beyond defending itself, its first priority is to secure specimens for dissection to make more phylacteries. (The bodies of the previous party aren’t quite fresh enough.)

Wandering Monsters

Level 1

Roll 1d6: on a 6 or more, a Servant appears.

Add 1 to the roll on the die for every loud noise the party makes. If they alert a Watcher in the levels below, 1d6 Servants will be on alert, patrolling the halls.

Level 2

Roll 1d3:

1. Watcher
2. Repairer
3. Sentry

Level 3

Roll 1d6:

1. Watcher
2. Crawling Hand
3. Skeleton
4. Zombie
5. Ghoul from the Ghoul Cells (if already killed, reroll)
6. Sentry

Post-Awakening

A day after the Necromaton awakens, all drones will awaken and all un-dead will be destroyed. Until the Necromaton abandons the base it will be an armed camp. Roll against the following table for each level.

Monsters

Android

Special: low-light vision, infravision 60’, immune to mind-altering magic, heal 2hp per round.

See DCC core book p. 394.

Crawling Hand

Special: infravision 60'

A disembodied zombie hand that can crawl like a spider and likes to leap from heights.

The listed Initiative is only for surprise purposes. Otherwise, use +0.

If it surprises its victim and gets a decent angle, it can strangle them for 3d4 damage, much like a garotte. Otherwise, its leap does minimal punching or constricting damage.

Drone, Goliath

Special: drone

A large (10’/3m) humanoid mechanical being, with a small, flat head, two huge arms and four thick legs. It also has shoulder-mounted raycasters which are non-functional. Nevertheless, its huge hands can rend steel and smash puny mortals into paste.

Drone, Myrmidon

Special: drone

A prototype for the next generation Sentry that was never perfected. Myrmadons fight like superior Warriors using an array of melee weapons. However, they cannot fire any ranged weapons with any accuracy (the flaw alluded to).

Myrmidon Weapons

• Dagger 1d4
• Club 1d6
• Sword 1d8
• Spear 1d8

Drone, Repairer

Special: drone, self-powered, multiple attacks

Repairers are cylindrical automatons that trundle along on four short, extensible legs or wheels on flat surfaces. Their flat heads contain three lenses and a light to illuminate recessed machinery. They have two large arms ending in powerful pincers, two small arms ending in specialized tools, and an extensible arm containing a fine manipulator with four mutually opposable digits.

Unlike other drones, Repairers have an intrinsic power supply, so they can function even if the Sphere is deactivated.

Repairer Arms

The Repairer may use only one arm per round.

• Left Claw 1d4
• Right Claw 1d4
• Cutter 1d6
• Torch 1d8
• Fine Manipulator 1d2 or weapon

Drone, Sentry

Special: drone

These vaguely humanoid drones – a caricature of a human body with a single-eyed hemisphere for a head – monitor and defend the lower levels. Sadly, the accumulated centuries have rendered many inert and others slow to react.

Sentry Weapons

• Raycaster 1d12, 90’/180’/360'
• Short Sword 1d6
• Spear 1d8

Drone, Servant

Special: drone, two attacks

These pillar-like automatons exist to keep this level spotless. Intruders who attempt to smudge or (shudder) take something are treated like vermin and killed.

Drone, Watcher

Special: drone

A tiny box with a large eye that scuttles spider-like on the ground or clings to overhead railings. If it spots intruders, it makes a loud screeching sound that wakes even the least functional drones on its level.

It also sends a silent alarm that alerts the Sentries on the second level.

Ghoul

Special: un-dead, paralysis, infravision 100'.

See DCC core book p. 414.

Homunculus

This halfling-sized, alchemically created humanoid is hairless and abmormally strong and tough. It has a human-like brain but no memories or language and the instincts of animal.

Revenant

Special: un-dead, infravision 100'.

This decayed corpse still has un-life in it. Revenants are compelled to resolve an issue from their former life, usually revenge against their killers.

Skeleton

Special: un-dead, half-damage from piercing or slashing weapons.

See DCC core book p. 426-427.

Zombie

Special: un-dead.

See DCC core book p. 431.

Special Rules

Drone

All drones have the following properties:

• Low-light vision.
• Does not eat, drink, or sleep (except for a sleep mode).
• Immune to all mind-affecting spells.
• Immune to any effect that cannot harm an inorganic object.
• Cannot heal on their own, but can be repaired.
• Destroyed when reduced to 0 HP, but may be rebuilt.

Infravision

As a house rule, Infravision can only detect sources of heat, notably living bodies. A large heat source can reflect off cold objects to give a creature with Infravision a rough sense of the room, but it cannot distinguish small details or room-temperature objects.

The default radius is 30’, but other creatures may have keener senses, i.e. a longer range.

Low-Light Vision

Low-Light Vision partially replaces “Infravision” as a house rule.

Low-light vision requires some light – a candle or star will do – and transforms near-darkness into dim light. However, low-light vision cannot see in total darkness.

The Necromaton

(Inspired by “The Necromaton”" by Antonio DeMico.)

Appearance

In general outline each Necromaton “instance” looks like a metal skeleton. A barrel-like thorax replaces the rib cage, and the “hips” are an ellipsoid. The head looks like a stylized skull with black lenses for eyes. A third reddish “eye” on its forehead emits rays of magical force.

Despite the Necromaton’s seemingly emaciated appearance, it’s actually very heavy, being close to solid metal. Between that and its ability to fly through magical means it can slam into a target with tremendous force.

When first awakening, the Ensouled Necromaton will have a thin coating of frost.

After The Adventure

When fully dressed, the Necromaton wears flowing robes. To move among humans it wears an articulated but still creepy-looking mask of a bearded man or veiled woman. (The mouth movements never quite worked right.) It may also wear a silver mask made from its ancient death-mask, or any convenient full-face mask.

It may replace its usual robes with what it thinks a Marquis might wear; it’s usually wrong.

(For its full story, read “The Artificer’s Tale”.)

Attacks

Each Instance may use each weapon only once per round.

• Raycaster: (head-mounted) 1d12 or stun, range 90’/120’/240'
• Arm-Blade: 1d6
• Body-Slam: 2d6
• Claw: 1d3 or weapon

If the Raycaster is set to stun, the target must make a Fortitude save or be rendered unconscious for 2d6 rounds. Another character may take a full round to shake them or slap them awake.

Spells

Only the Ensouled Necromaton may cast spells. It must use one Action Die to cast a one-action spell or two dice to cast a one-round spell. (This leaves a third die to attack or react.)

These are the spells it knows, all cast with a +10 Spell Check at an effective Caster Level of 7:

• Chill Touch (1)
• Comprehend Languages (1)
• Detect Magic (1)
• Dispel Magic (3)
• ESP (2)
• Fire Resistance (2)
• Magic Missile (1)
• Magic Shield (1)
• Mending (1)
• Planar Step (3)
• Transmute Earth (4)
• Wizard Sense (4)

Note that its body does not count as armor, and it neither can nor needs to incur Spellburn or Corruption.

Abilities

Resistances and Immunities

• Immune to poison, energy drain, and all ills flesh is heir to.
• Immune to sleep, charm, paralysis, and mental effects.
• Immune to any other effect that cannot harm un-dead or drones.
• Resistant to cold (half damage)
• Resistant to magic (roll twice, pick the better roll)
• Resistant to Turn Undead (roll twice, pick the better roll)

“Instances”

All of the Necromaton’s bodies are called Instances.

Each Primed Instance contains a large piece of alchemically preserved and enchanted flesh to anchor the Necromaton’s soul. A single “Ensouled”, Primed Instance houses the lich’s soul. Unprimed Instances lack this component, and cannot house the lich’s soul. If all Primed Instances including the Ensouled Instance are destroyed, the lich dies permanently.

Instances that are not Ensouled can carry out the Necromaton’s orders independently like any other Drone.

Transferrable Soul

The Necromaton’s soul can reside in only one Primed Instance at a time, but it can sense the location of all Primed Instances at all times.

If the instance currently housing its soul is destroyed, the soul migrates to the nearest Primed Instance almost instantaneously. The Necromaton can willingly transfer its soul between Instances as a full-round action.

The lich’s soul can also control all drones and Instances within 90' of itself directly.

Other Abilities

• Truesight 60’: The Necromaton can see even without visible light by using other wavelengths of light, the eddies of magical aether, and other preternatural senses. Thus it knows not only what’s in front of it out to the given radius, but whether that object/being is real or illusory and magical or mundane.

Tactics

The Necromaton always acts rationally and strategically. It will attempt to win with overwhelming force; if that fails, it will retreat.

Newly Awakened

When first awakening, the Necromaton is at its most vulnerable. It has only one body. It will attempt to Prime six Instances with phylactery cores it kept with it during its unintentionally long sleep. Meanwhile, the Unprimed Instances will fight off any intruders.

With Primed Instances

Once it has Primed six Instances, and maybe dissected a body or two to Prime even more, it will reclaim its refuge from any remaining interlopers and escaped experiments. All beings besides drones will be killed. All damage will be repaired. All entrances will be resealed, and the Goliath will attempt to turn the “False Door” on level two back into a real entrance.

If it doesn’t have enough “components” to fill its Unprimed Instances, it will raid the nearby town of Radovol and slaughter residents until it has enough. One freshly killed human body in good condition can Prime about 12 Instances; bodies in poor condition but less than a day old can Prime 1d12 Instances. Bodies more than a day old are useless.

In Retreat

If the combat should turn against the Necromaton, it and as many Drones and Instances as can follow will forsake the complex for the mountains.

Licenses