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Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #2The Secret Machines of the Star Spawn

Written by Mark TaorminoAN ADVENTURE FOR CHARACTER LEVELS 6-10

Mark TaorminoWilliam Z. Cohen, Jeremy Kear, Kevin Watson Mark TaorminoSam Saldivar, Simon Whiting Brian McCranieBradley K. McDevittStephen“Chuck”Bowman Jacob Blackmon, Stephen“Chuck”Bowman,Joshua LH Burnett, Steve“Ragnar”Hill, Brian McCranie, Bradley K McDevitt, Robert Bruner and James Bluto Neal

Alyssa Faden, Alan ChamberlainAlan ChamberlainThomas Allison, Timothy Brannon, Timothy Connelly, Grant Foster, Justin Ryan Isaac, Jason Mellas,Mitchell D. McPhetridge, Heath Row, and Ed Salzberg

Executive Producer:Associate Producers:

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Credits

OSRIC™ System COMPATIBLE: This product uses the OSRIC™ System (Old-school System Reference and Index Compilation™). The OSRIC™ system text may be found at http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/osric. The OSRIC™ text is copyright of Stuart Marshall. “OSRIC™” and “Old-school System Reference and Index Compilation™” are trademarks of Stuart Marshall and Matthew Finch and may be used only in accordance with the OSRIC™ license.

MMD-002 Copyright © 2015 Mark Taormino, All Rights Reserved. Made in the USA.

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AUTHORS NOTE:

GM BACKGROUND:

GM NOTES:

RUMORS TABLE:

Thank you for purchasing this module. I hope you enjoy it! What I remember enjoying most from playing RPG modules in the “old days” (early 1980s) - was that it was all about “fun and memorable encounters” the way I saw it. This is a detailed adventure with a lot of scalability to fit your players and their varying role-playing styles as well as yours as the GM.

Eons ago, Harlan Kilmm a.k.a the “Star Spawn” was a powerful warrior and leader during the Battle of the Paleozoic period on Earth and fought vigorously in the long-term war against the Elder Things. Eventually he was captured by the Elders and banished into the outer rim of space. Not because he was too dangerous (they could deal with that), but because he was too “weird.”

So he was locked in another dimension through a Phase Mirror and cast off to drift forever amongst the stars...never to return. For untold millennia he drifted through space. Locked in his own twisted mind, he schemed and plotted his eventual escape. As the countless, lonely years passed, the isolation began to drive him insane and his heart grew ever more wretched and evil. From the void of his prison he watched and he waited.

Until one fateful day when a ship called The Venture piloted by Captain Buck Starblaster accidentally warped into the same space-time occupied by the Phase Mirror and shattered it.

Starblaster and his crew had unsuspectingly freed the Star Spawn who, because of his telepathic abilities, easily subdued them and took control of the ship. He made them say lies...do things....the Captain was strong. The Star Spawn tortured the crew’s bodies and minds with strange and unusual experiments, amusing himself with this new fleshy play-thing. He finds humans “fascinating.” He killed them all except for Captain

This module is designed for 6-8 characters of levels 6 to 10. The party should consist of Fighters, Clerics, Magic Users, and a Thief or two. Of course feel free to work with the Players to figure out whatever you and your group feel is best. They should be able to inflict mass damage to their enemies in just a few rounds. If you feel you need to scale down or scale up the encounters go ahead.

Starblaster, who for his arrogance and filthy smart mouth, was frozen in Carbonstone and kept as a trophy.

Over the next few years the Star Spawn traveled gleefully around space and time creating chaos, havoc and mayhem. He collected intelligent species and technology from across the galaxy to fuel his sick and twisted experiments as he delved into the darkest regions of science and magic in search of immortality. One day he will have the power to stand against the Elders as one of them. To this end, he has been constructing his ultimate invention...The Eternity Machine, designed to give him eternal life.

After searching for many years, the Star Spawn found the perfect planet to dominate and continue his evil work. It was a primitive planet but rich in intelligent life.Leaving his ship in protective orbit around the planet, he set up a new home-base inside an active volcano.The geothermal heat and access to vast mineral wealth made it an ideal location, but also...he had always wanted an evil lair nestled in an active volcano ever since he was just a little baby Star Spawn.

This volcano is on the far eastern slopes of Hell’s Peaks a mountain range the players are familiar with from childhood. This is the perfect hidden location to build his secret machines.

1. “A little green monster with a exposed brain for a head, mutilated my cows and killed them!”

2. “Highwaymen reported seeing a strange flying beings around the Volcano and adjacent areas!”

3. “Women of all races; Human, Dwarven, Elven and even Half-Orc have been abducted and taken to the volcano for wicked experiments”

4. “The Star Spawn has a strange soft spot for music and stage theater. It is rumored he even has huge room for some kind of weird musical entertainment!”

5. “A great Mage known as Eon the Wisenheimer adventured into the volcano recently and never returned. He was looking for Dungeon Breaker horns for a powerful spell he was making. We miss him and his funny crooked blue hat.”

6. “Inside the volcano is a bodiless head that talks. He will speak lies and try to steal your arms and legs for himself.”

The Players will have heard 3-4 of the following rumors from the locals. Roll a d6 from the list below:Sa

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1. Little Green Bastard - (#1d4): AC: 0, MV: 120 ft, HD: 5, HP: 40, #AT: 3 [2 claws / 1 bite], D: 1d4/1d4/1d8, SA: Brain Freeze (Save vs Paralyzation or be Paralyzed for d4 rounds unable to attack or do anything), SD: (see new monsters section), SZ: Small to Man Size (3’ to 5’ feet), MR: 50%, AL: Chaotic Evil, Level/XP: 5/1,275 + 5/HP

2. Interceptor Drones - (#1d4): AC: -1, MV: 150 ft, HD: 5, HP: 40 each, #AT: 1, D:1d12, SA: None, SZ: Very Small, MR: Standard, AL: Neutral, Level/XP: 5/50 + 7/HP

3. Ogres - (#1d6): AC: 5, MV: 90 ft, HD: 5+2, HP: 42 each, #AT: 1, D:1d12, SZ: Large, MR: Standard, AL: Chaotic Evil, Level/XP: 5/750 + 6/HP

4. Brain Striders - (#2d8): AC: 0, MV: 255 ft, HD: 8, HP: 64 each, #AT: 2, D:1d4,1d4, SA: Mind Blast (see new monsters section), SD: Energy Shield (see new monsters section) SZ: Gigantic (8 ft diameter), MR: Normal, AL: Chaotic Evil, Level/XP: 8/3000 + 10/HP

5. Police Robots - (AC: 1, MV: 90 ft, HD: 10, HP: 50 each, #AT: 2 (robotic electrical shock tentacles), D: 1d8,1d8, SZ: Man Sized (5 ft/6 ft), MR: Normal, AL: Neutral, Level/XP: 10/60+10/HP) When robots detect a Player in their presence they will speak in a robotic voice the following words in Common: “Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!” or “Stop the Humanoid! Stop the Intruder!” before attacking!

6. Space Worms - (#2d4): AC: 3, MV: 120 ft, HD: 6+2, HP: 48 each, #AT: 1, D: 1d8, Paralysis, 2d6, SZ: Large (5 ft/6 ft), MR: Normal, AL: Neutral, Level/XP: 3/105+3/HP6.

PIT TRAPS:

COMPUTER DOORS AND KEY CARDS:

DISRUPTOR PISTOLS, BLASTER RIFLES, ETC:

WANDERING MONSTERS:All pit traps in the dungeon are 10 feet deep and have rusted spikes on the bottom. A fall into one will cause 2d8 damage but Player can Save vs. Paralyzation for half damage. In addition there is a 50% chance that the spikes will be poisoned so roll a d100 to determine the result, anything higher that 50% will cause the player to become poisoned and they will incur an extra 1d4 damage every turn until they are cured.

Certain doors in the Spaceship Levels and some of the Dungeon Level may require a digital KEY CARD for entry, unless the Players can Teleport or use some magical means of entry. The key cards are about two inches high and three inches long and made of a strange solid hard plastic. If a door requires a certain key card the encounter will tell you which ones can be used for entry: e.g (W, R, B). All doors that use passes are made of a smoky metal that can take 250hp damage before breaking open. Each door opens via sliding right to left into its adjacent wall then sliding shut after a few seconds:

Scattered throughout the adventure the Players may come across futuristic weapons like disruptor pistols, blaster rifles, etc. Unless the Players have any other means of identifying their use (e.g. NIVEK explaining it to them or watching the aliens or monsters using them) they will have to make an Intelligence check (roll a D20 and hope they roll under their Intelligence score) otherwise risk damaging themselves with the weapon. Each weapon has two settings: Stun and Kill. If the “stun” setting is used and a hit is scored then the victim must make a Save vs. Paralyzation or fall to the ground immobilized for 1d4 rounds. If the “kill” setting is used then the Disruptor Pistols cause 1d8 damage per blast/charge and Blaster Rifles cause 1d12 damage per blast/charge. Each is treated like a +1 missile weapon. The battery packs hold 8 charges (1 charge used per firing) when fully charged and can be re-charged in any active Power Station Plug on the Spaceship (GM’s discretion on location and quantity). Recharging takes four turns per battery pack per plug.

WHITE:

RED:

BLACK:

Access to the Dungeon Level Transporter Room (Encounter#13)

Access to the Spaceship Levels 1 & 2 Elevators (S1 Encounter#10)

Access to the Eternity Machine (S2 Encounter#11 The Gateway Door)Sa

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The Duke is at the head of the table. His noble andweathered face is clearly distressed as he stares out of a window into the night as if his mind is a million miles away from the bountiful feast at hand. He is flanked by two Royal Guards. A barking dog can occasionally be heard in the background along with a clanking chain. Seated next to the Duke is his trusted wizard known as the Seer of Blackraven who is staring down your party with a look of woeful disdain while some of you lick food off of your fingers like oblivious children. He has a look on his face as if he can barely tolerate your existence as he twirls his sinister looking black goatee.

The Duke turns to you and speaks in a deep and bellicose voice. “The evil in that volcano must be stopped. It controls legions of monsters that attack our outer settlements and kill our people. The last group of adventurers to brave the Volcano dungeon left a just a week ago. My best knight and son-in-law, the valiant Lord Thornberry was leading the expedition. He returned today, a shell of his former regal self. The rest of the party did not come back. We pray they can return to their families in one piece.” You slowly look at each other and continue to chew your food with your mouths open and drink your wine. The Duke looks very stoic and continues speaking, “You are either brave souls or foolish idiots for taking on this challenge. I need the bravest, the strongest and the smartest group of adventurers I can find for this task. Are you up to this challenge? I will pay you 100,000 in gold coins and jewels if you can complete this task.” You choke on your food and spill your wine from your mouth while nodding your heads in agreement.

The Seer stops twirling his goatee and speaks inquisitively, “Perhaps you foolish idiots – I mean, ‘brave souls’ would like to chat with Lord Thornberry about his recent experience in the Volcano dungeon,yes?” Once again, you all slowly look at each otherand continue to chew your food nodding your heads in agreement. The Duke, the Seer and the servant maidens look at each other uncomfortably. The Duke snaps his fingers and the two Royal Guards walk off into the darkness. You all take another sip of wine it is so delicious - you must get the vintage before you leave. You can hear a chain sliding on the ground and the dog barking sound is getting closer.

After many moons of travel, bickering, mischief and petty crimes you find yourselves in the middle of a dinner celebration in your honor at Blackraven Keep. Nestled in the valley of Hell’s Peaks, the castle is the largest stronghold this far east into the wilds.You are in the massive dining hall at a huge table filled with delicious food lit by hundreds of candles on four hanging chandeliers. Twenty foot high tapestries line the walls of the chamber depicting happy times in the land. One of the tapestries shows a handsome knight marrying a fat woman princess. You recognize the princess as Lady Sabre the Duke’s daughter. A huge fireplace fills the chamber with welcome heat and warmth. Yes this is the good life. You have answered the “call of adventure” from the Duke himself and are awaiting your mission and enjoying a hearty last meal before your journey. Music plays faintly in the background. Three gypsy servant maidens are attending the table bringing food, drinks and flirtatious fun to your party. So far you filthy animals have managed to gobble down many delicious giant roasted turkey legs, stuffing, corn, fruits, vegetables and a very, very tasty red wine.

PLAYERS BACKGROUNDRead the following aloud to the Players at the Start of your Adventure…

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