CELLARS - LOWER LEVEL

NOTES FOR THE GAME MASTER (NOT TO BE READ TO THE HEROES):
The lower level of the cellar is very dangerous indeed!  The Heroes drop down onto the squares marked 'X' in Room 'P'.  Place one Hero on each 'X', or as close as possible if the square is occupied by a Monster.  Use the Count's Blood Points and teleporting ability to lure the Heroes away from his real tomb in Room 'V'.  The rest of the dungeon is filled with monsters and traps to weaken the Heroes before the Count arrives to give the coup de grace.


Notes: 

P.  Tell the Heroes "There are three Wolves in this room.  Each wears a leather collar with a glowing red gem set into it."  While a Wolf wears one of these collars it regenerates one Body Point each turn, but cannot get more than three Body Points.  A character can try to chop the collar off with a blow from a hand weapon, but must declare he is aiming for the collar before rolling.  When a Hero aims for the collar he rolls half his normal attack dice (round down, but always let the Hero roll at least 1 die).  Any skull rolled will sever the collar, at which time the Wolf stops regenerating.  The Heroes cannot use the collars; they are destroyed when removed from the Wolves.


Q.  The door to this room is locked and has a Fighting Doorknob trap on it.  Tell the first Hero that searches for treasure in this room "You examine the coffin, and see that it is silver with a lifelike etching of the Count on its slab."  If a Hero open the coffin, the room fills with gas (this trap cannot be found when searched or disarmed).  Any Hero in the room looses 1 Body Point.  Tell the Heroes "As you open the coffin a hollow laugh echoes up from inside, and suddenly a poisonous gas billows out."


R.  Place the two pools in this corridor when a Hero gets into line of sight of them.  The pools are 15 feet deep and  appear to contain water, but this is an illusion.  If the Wizard searches for traps in this corridor he will discover the traps on the pool, and the Heroes can then avoid them.  The Heroes must jump across the pools to get to the other side.  When a Hero jumps across and the traps have not been detected by the Wizard, roll a red die.  On a roll of 1-3, a fireball hurtles up from the pool and causes the Hero 2 Body Points of damage.  Until the Wizard finds the traps in the pools, a fireball will be shot out every time a Hero jumps across a pool and fails the die roll., no matter how many times this occurs.  The first time you have two Heroes on one side of a pool and two on the other, make a Wandering Monster roll.


S.  The Weapons Rack contains one Broadsword, one Longsword, and a suit of Chain Mail.


T.  When a Hero enters this room, read "This large chamber is draped with rotten black wall hangings and foul wall mosaics portraying the Count ripping throats out of his victims!  Two Mummies, both shimmering with a faint magical light, start towards you."  The two Mummies here are immune to spell attacks, and gain 1 Body Point each time a spell is used against them.  They may exceed their normal Body Point maximum.  If a Hero casts a spell at a Mummy, read "The faint magical light surrounding the Mummy glows brighter for a moment, then fades.  The Mummy now looks stronger!"

When a Hero searches for treasure in this room, read "The tomb before you is an imposing, great sarcophagus some ten feet long, and its sculpted surface shows the Count reclining."  It takes two Heroes to lift the lid, if one tries tell him "You are not strong enough by yourself to open this coffin."  When the lid is lifted, read "Suddenly a seething mass of blood-red tentacles burst from the coffin and attack!"  The tentacles fill the room, and no Hero may move around in it, or out of it.  Nor may a Hero enter the room while it is filled with tentacles.  The tentacles may attack each Hero in the room every turn.  Damage done by a Hero against a Tentacle affects the Mass.

The stats for the Tentacle Mass are:  Attack:  3;  Defend:  0;  Body:  10;  Mind:  0.  

If the Game Master rolls 3 skulls for a tentacle attack, a tentacle wraps itself around the Hero's throat and starts to strangle him while also draining blood through a puncture wound on the neck.  The Hero loses one Body Point, and on each combat turn thereafter until the tentacle mass is destroyed the Hero looses 1 Body Point (do not roll any more attack dice against this Hero) and the tentacle mass gains 1 Body Point (it can exceed 10) from the nourishing blood!  The Hero can still attack, but does so with only half his normal attack dice (round down, but the Hero always has at least 1 attack die).  The Hero cannot get loose from the tentacle on his throat.  It remains attached until the Mass is destroyed.

When the Heroes destroy the tentacles, read "The mass of tentacles bursts and everything in the room, including you, is covered with foul, sticky blood."  Each Hero moves 1 fewer movement squares per turn for the remainder of the adventure, unless the blood is burnt off with a fire spell (such as a fireball, so jumping over a pool in location 'R' can actually have one beneficial effect!).  There is no treasure in the coffin.


U.  When a player enters this room, read "The statue before you stands in front of a deeply red stained door.  The room itself is draped with black and red curtains covered in vampire bat designs."  Unless the Count has already been banished to his tomb, place him next to the statue.  When his wounds are reduced to half normal, read "The Count looks at you angrily and touches the red door.  He seems to pass through it and vanishes."

When a Hero tries to open the red door, the Gargoyle comes to life and attacks.


V.  The door into this chamber is locked but not trapped.  This is the true tomb of Count Von Bleistift.  The enormous sarcophagus at the back of the room is where the count will retreat to if reduced to zero wounds and forced into mist form.

The Count is arrogant and believes he needs no special defenses here, other than the four Zombies in the chamber.  If the Count has any spells left he will position himself behind the Zombies, use his spells, and then make his way forward into hand-to-hand combat.  Otherwise, he waits just inside the door and attacks the first Hero to enter.  This is a surprise attack, and the Hero's movement should stop when it is made.  That Hero's turn is over.

If the Heroes manage to kill the Count, read:  "With a despairing cry the ghastly Undead fiend crumples before your feet.  His body is cold and limp, yet somehow you know that you have not destroyed him yet.  From his remains, a wisp of mist rises and drifts under the lid of the great sealed sarcophagus you see in the distance.  The Count's body crumples into dust."  Remove the figure for Count Von Bleistift from the board.

The Heroes must now destroy the Count within his tomb.  The lid is not trapped, although it takes two Heroes to open it.  When they open the tomb, read "Inside the tomb you see the Count's body beginning to re-form on a bed of earth."  If the Heroes try to attack the Count's reforming body with either weapons or spells, read "Your attack [or spell] has no effect on the Count.  You will need other means of destroying him before his body reforms."

The Count can only be destroyed by hammering the stake of Morr (from location 'L') into the Count's heart.  If the Heroes do not have this, they cannot kill the Count.  His body will slowly re-form, and no magic or weapons can prevent this.

If the Heroes use the stake, read "A terrible, ghastly shriek is ripped from the blood-red lips of the Count's re-forming body and a great gout of blackish blood spurts from his chest!  His skin peels away from his yellowed bones, which crumble and fall to dust, leaving only a reeking pool of filth behind!"

If a Hero searches for treasure in this room, under the tomb he finds two chests.  The first contains 200 gold coins, a ruby ring worth 100 gold coins, a jewelry box worth 50 gold coins, and three Potions of Healing.  The second chest contains a diamond brooch worth 250 gold coins, a magical dagger which inflicts 2 attack dice of damage (see artifact card), three spell scrolls - one with Inferno of Doom, one with Swift Wind Attack, and one with Burning Hands of Destruction (see artifact cards), and a magnificent tiara set with small pearls and an amethyst worth 500 gold coins.  It's a big reward, but if the Heroes manage to destroy the Count they deserve it.

The Heroes do not find the above treasure if they do not manage to kill the Count.  They will only be able to search under his tomb if he has been killed.


W.  When the Heroes first enter this room, read "This small alcove is bare, except for a lever in one wall."

If a Hero pulls this lever, the blocked passage to the right disappears.  Read "With a grinding noise the wall to the East disappears, opening the passage beyond."


X.  These stairs lead to the surface.  When the Heroes climb them, if they have the Steel Boots,  read "You begin to climb the stairs.  You notice that the steel boots are no longer glowing - apparently they received their power from a magical source in the Cellars.  They are now normal boots."

Whether or not they have the Steel Boots read: "You make your way to the surface, and emerge at a secret door which opens behind a wardrobe in the manor house.  You search the house for Johannes Von Bleistift, but he has escaped, leaving nothing of value behind.  You return to town, and regale the locals with your adventures in the Cellars."
