LAIR OF THE LAMB: An After Action Report of a Beautiful Funnel Dungeon by Arnold K

GOBLIN PUNCH's Arnold K put out LAIR OF THE LAMB, a 0-level funnel lovingly handcrafted to teach old-school thought and design. I was taken with it because I've always thought funnels are a great way to get new players used to character death, teach non-reliance on character abilities, and drive home survival as a good strategy. Plus, I don't see why DCC should get a lock on the funnel.

The Lair of the Lamb

How I imagined the child-god

Basics: The PCs start off dehydrated in the dark with no resources except a shared knife and the burlap sacks they were cut out of. The Lamb hunts them as they try to escape. Their first goal is to find water.

System: Originally written for Arnold's own GLOG, but I used BX D&D (1981). The modules include Appearance, Personality, and Profession tables which were used. I also added my own "Reasons your characters share this unfortunate fate?" table.

Three players and their party of 9 unfortunates- and why there are here:

1. Hini- athletic, unhinged graverobber- who was so devoted the Temple kidnapped her
2. Kat- beautiful, scheming carpenter- whose roving eye offended the Betrothed
3. Hans- brutish, jocular baker- whose crime was impersonating a cleric
4. Regis- athletic, irate butcher- whose love is a crime
5. Tawny- brawny, cynical wet nurse- fated to make a bad mistake
6. Fritz- boney, scheming butler- loved by too many
7. Brandon- athletic, cautious poacher- whose poverty offended the tax collector
8. Don- delicate, formal architect- who drew the jade coin
9. Kay- pale, proud baker- loved by too many

"Your characters wake up in the pitch-black groggy, thirsty, and with stiff limbs...what do you do?"

1. BOWLS: PCs grope around in the dark deciding if they should rescue more of the people trapped here or if they should just take their extra burlap sacks. The Lamb interrupts them following the arguing of Fritz & Brandon. All PCs are able to pass DEX checks to move around the Lamb which feasts on a burlap sacked occupant.

2. GOATS: The barn animal smells attracted the PCs across the hallway to the goats. They gathered one goat, removed the bells, and took a wooden bowl. The Lamb picked up their scent again, but the PCs heard it coming and ran to the #5 Landing. Oh, and Tawny being a wetnurse, decides to try and nurse her two other companions instead of finding water.

DM note: Sure! Its a very interesting use of a starting profession. I asked the player to roll under 1/2 CON to supply two otherwise it is just 1-- or none in the case of a CON check failure.

5. LANDING: PC who were thrown in here due to religious reasons investigated the steel doors on the northern wall ascertaining by the bas reliefs they were in The White Temple with the abhorrent child of Vandoh (The Lamb). They grab the torch off the wall (light!), the locked chest (heavy!), the gong and hammer (something!), and progress South to #6 Tumblers.

DM note: I tried to limit how much I asked players roll and instead tried to make them support actions/questions with their backgrounds and professions. If it fit: sure you know that or can do that.

6. TUMBLERS: On their way, they kick in the closet door to take a broom (could be used as a torch and another gong). At the mural of the four-handed fish, they fiddle with the tumblers and when the level is pulled Hini, with 1 HP, gets acid in the face. This PC try to fiddle with the tumblers again, but this time with one of the gongs over their heads. No acid, but wrong sequence still, and The Lamb arrives! Tawny charges The Lamb but the all but bitten in half. Half of the PCs are able to move past with a DEX check. The remains PCs push The Lamb back with torches.

DM note: The goat is still alive.

8. THE PIT: PCs meet Akina and take her into the party after she pleads for release. Through questioning, PCs ascertain that escape is to the East and the #9 Fountain is haunted.

9. THE FOUNTAIN: PC risked a trip to the fountain by pushing the goat in the room first and having it promptly succumb to the drowning spirit that haunts the room. That's enough for the PCs and they head back to The Pit to continue East.

DM note: The goat is dead. So The Lamb should be present at the fountain, but at this point they had encountered it rather recently so I thought I would give them a slight breather.

11. COMET MURAL: PCs first attempt to go East but hit the locked door. They pocket the sheep skull and head south to the #12 Mouth Mural.

12. MOUTH MURAL: PCs proceed to pull 1d4 teeth out of the mural for each of their groups. Then start moving south again to the #13 City Mural as they hear The Lamb. But a sacrifice is made! Hans decides to go back into the room and run out with the pole holding up the unstable ceiling. A DEX check is made...and...1 short! Hans is crush by the falling blocks right as he is about to make it out.

DM note: Second sacrifice the PCs made with their characters.

13. CITY MURAL: The PCs pause to briefly morn the death of their fellow captives. Akina pipes up and explains she used to come here is listen to the sights and sounds of the city. The smell of the outside draws the characters to investigate the crack to the south. However, as Fritz pushed through the crack, he was overcome by hoards of biting red spiders and is pulled out by Brandon. Meanwhile, Don investigates west #14 Sarcogphagus and Kat pushes east to the moldy door #16 Mold.

14. SARCOPHAGUS: The PCs briefly investigate the tomb, pushing the lid off and taking the two rings ($$$). They don't bother with investigating the crawl space to the north.

DM note: I was using a slightly earlier version of the Lair of the Lamb. This is changed in the new iteration of the document. Same for rooms 11, 12, & 13 I believe.

16. MOLD: PCs don't bother the mold and want even less to do with it once it starts shifting slightly in its sleep. They instead push on to the east to #18A Ledge.

18A. LEDGE: PCs investigate the room and, with Akina's help, ascertain the smashed structure in the middle is an old elevator. They find the rope and all climb up to the ledge above ending the game.

DM note: Yeah, I might have made this a little more difficult but I was ready to bring the game to a close at 2.5 hours. I thought they did a good job and enjoyed themselves. Certainly, they are ready for part two.

BODY COUNT

Hini- dead- acid

Tawny- dead- The Lamb

Kay- dead- The Lamb

goat- dead- drowning

The map of the area made with Hex Kit and the HPS tile kit.
The adventure takes place in the White Temple

PART II: Brief Summary of the End

MOONBASE BLUES: An After-Action Report 1 of 2

<!--Let's switch fonts to add to the sci-fi mood-->

 MOONBASE BLUES 

concept by D. Shugars
written by I. Yusem
art & layout by W. Denning

itch.co NOW!
DTRPG NOW!

BEGIN REPORT: The crew of the Skiff-class ship Sparrowhawk:

• Marine Cmd. Dukes
• Scientist: Archeology Ysuko
• Scientist: Roboticist Iko

<!--All randomly generated by Saker Tarsos MOTHERSHIP character generator -->

Under the unscrupulous leadership of former corp-union smasher Cmd. Dukes, the three were charting a course to a small lunar facility, AZURE BASE, known in these parts for conducting some sort of clandestine geological work. Dukes was hoping for a quick snatch-and-grab of some valuable intel and a tidy payday.

The three awake in the Security station groggy. All have new clothes on, but only Ysuko has her duffle bag [laser cutter, hand welder, crowbar, body cam, laser cutter (!), mag boots, bioscanner, vacsuit, & other goodies]

<!--I'll try to be brief for each section -->

SECURITY: Automated AI clicks on to assign them AZURE BASE tasks including making the beds in HABITATION and to bizarrely look up in 4 hours. Player divide up equipment, download both FACILITY MAPS, and head to the GREENHOUSE.

<!--MOONBASE BLUES comes with a single page spread of the two interior maps for player use as an "in-game" object-->

GREENHOUSE & MED BAY (glass-domed): Players witness one figure being mutilated in the Auto-doc while a second "surgeon" conducts this grisly procedure. 

The figure in the Auto-doc has his cavity split open. Various blue painted mechanical parts are being put inside. The "surgeon" over seeing this butchery blue wires running through his head, neck, eyes, and mouth in a grisly halo.

Horrified by the butchery, Cmd Dukes tries to halt the process. Ysuko jumps in with the laser cutter. Meanwhile Iko explored the hydroponics and stole a tranq gun from another pair of strange figures. 

Their leader has both eyes replaces by prisms with blue paint seeping from the wounds.

All three characters fend off an attack and make for HABITATION. Iko hot-wires the door control shut and Ysuko curses her luck at poor laser-cutter handeling at point-blank range. 

HABITATION:Before entering Iko hot-wires the door controls again to only permit entry after a certain amount of time. Collecting themselves, Cmd. Dukes loses it- the horrible sights of the disfigured people and Auto-doc mutilation- has caused him to fail his Panic Check and gain a phobia of Auto-docs <!--player specified-->. The other two keep it together- mostly. 

Once through the door, the players are greeted by two groups of the Devoted (as they call themselves): Two figures staring off through the open shutters at a bizarrely blue-lit horizon; two figures viciously stabbing themselves in the arms yelling about their unnatural red blood-- "BLUE! BLUE! NOT RED! BLUE!"

Player make it up to the second floor to both unclog the toilet in restroom B (as asked by the AI)and ransack the living quarters (but make the beds as ask by the AI). New gear as follows:

• 2x foil space blanket
• 1x mouse
• 1x jury-rigged shotgun
• 2x AZURE BASE security protocol punch-card

<!--MOONBASE BLUES also comes with a "I Search the Body" d100 chart-->

Before leaving, the two Devoted staring off into the turquoise horizon warn the characters in unison: "You will see the Truth. You will know the Truth. We will make you. All of you."

OBSERVATION & GEOLOGY LAB: More dismay as the characters are confronted with 5 devoted huddled around the telescope in prayer lead by a woman with a face painted blue and one eye replaced by a prism (The Prophet). Seeking to the right, the characters enter the Geology Lab and are immediately struck by the blue light of a meteor fragment. All three players fail a Sanity save sending their characters reeling with early Meteor Psychosis-- the meteor and its light filling their mind's eye. Even Cmd. Dukes' mouse ran up to it.

Ysuko recovered first and blasted the meteor with the laser cutter. Blue dust, one atomized-mouse, and screams from the Devoted filled the air: "The Heretics have destroyed the ORACAL! Bring them to the Truth!". Two figures jumped Cmd Dukes trying to both crush his skull (20 total health lost) and subdue him with a tranq. gun. Iko had stumbled back to the door out of OBSERVATION but fired off a quick tranq. gun shot into one of the cultist who dropped into a heavy sleep <!--Critical 33 vs 34 COMBAT-->. Ysuko seared off the face of the second Devoted.

 AND WE ENDED IT THERE...PART II

<!--Notes to self for the future and to you the reader-->

• Give the players time in the opening (and prompt them if needed) to: (1) get a sense of their surroundings; (2) divide up the one load-out kit.
• Keep describing the Devoted (both singular & groups) as unique. Really layout for the players how wrong these people have become. If the player gag, cringe, or make a face- I've hit the mark.
• I wish I had prepped a little more about what was in each area. Just to ensure I had enough in-game "stuff" around to help players solve problems since guns are low and they start with nothing. Player-driven solutions using in-game stuff is awesome.
• Keep the stress coming! Drop by drop.

STAVE OFF DOMESTIC CANNIBALISM: Here is a quick campaign

You really don't need much except a map, creatures, a rule system, and a goal.

And since this little idea has infected my brain I might be able to add more like an ornery head rat named "Old William", a Unseelie rattle rustler named "Great Auntie Oakleaf" replete with spurs and a giant silver belt buckle that says "Ride 'em Hard, Leave 'em Wanting", PC complications like a failed relationship, older sibling got the farm, orphan, and trouble with the law.

Here is a nice document on Oklahoma cattle drives which seems very gameable: https://www.okhistory.org/historycenter/forms/tdcattledrives.pdf

MAKING A LASTING IMPRESSION: Downtime & institution building

Sidney Sime

I think a key element of D&D abandoned by editions after 2e is the notion of domain level play. The promise of griffin riders at 9th level as a 2e fighter was a dream that always kept me going and still motivates a lot of my characters presently.

Creating a thieve's guild, starting a cult, growing wizard's tower or other "keeps" is not only a great sink for the hoards of coin players haul in, but it firmly shifts the momentum of the campaign's plot into the hands of the players. Then the DM is playing and reacting almost to ~90% of what the players are interested in grown from the campaign's soil (which is what the DM is interested in). This combination, I think, makes for a more enriching campaign.

Factions, in general, are roughly the same thing.

A lot has been written on this, but what I like about Ben's take on factions and "keeps" is that he's developed a pretty light way of tracking these types of actions. Which is what you need in a game-- just good enough to make it work.

Also Sime

RPG GOALS for 2020

Sidney Sime

RPG GOALS for 2020

RUN ALL THE 2019 'ZINES- I whipped up a quick hex map that incorporated Temple of the Blood Moth and the Demon Collective Vol. 1 and a few others all in the horror setting of Jack Shear's Urazya. I think the sum of the parts comes out better than Ravenloft and as gruesome of LotFP without either.

MOTHERSHIP- Thankfully this is already happening. My players will shortly complete their 4th session of Dead Planet. I am really enjoying the system. Feels like a BX body with a d100 engine and its been good to learn a very new system. MOTHERSHIP is also quite versatile with a setting that feels like drifting from Aliens to Event Horizon to Ghost in the Shell to Bladerunner and back again.

I am most excited to build a world while at the same time the game itself is being built. Maybe capture some of that early D&D experience. Hex 001 is the DEAD PLANET the rest is blank out there on the Rim.

THE BARRENS of CARCOSA- Speaking of space, I am still drawn to this setting because it, to me, represents a more interesting wilderness/hexcrawl campaign. The interactions between peoples, giant space brains, rayguns, weird buzzing monoliths warning everyone of a meteorite about to crash, and shoggoths all are ripe for gonzo hijinks. Reading through Geoffrey McKinney's Barrens always makes me curious about what the player will do. And surprise is part of the fun of DMing. Additionally, I think Carcosa as a setting challenges the players to make their own goals and put their own plans into motion. 

I also had the good fortune to get a copy of the player's guild from someone else's campaign with a lot of custom BX homebrew like an Astronaut class, a neat rule that for every negative stat bonus you roll on a "helpful mutation" table, and a cleric that can turn deep-ones. Carcosa is a great basic twist on early D&D. 

THROUGH ULTAN'S DOOR- I've run Through Ultan's Door Vol. 1 a couple of times and really had a good time. I think it scratches a Planescape itch for me, but might be superior in that the concept is more accessible. Because everybody dreams, they at least have a concept when you say "adventure in the Dreamlands". That word "dreamlands" conjures something in the same way as the equaly generic "dungeons and dragons".

The set-up I have used is that the players are part of a cult, recently smash by the censors, who escape to the dreamlands to ensure their new "chosen one" receives the mark of their god. The long term goal is to restart the cult- however the players believe that should be done.

B4 THE LOST CITY- One of my favorite modules and one I am currently re-writing to practice layout. I recently had the idea of turning this into a Carcosa module. Maybe the three factions are actually an experiment by a giant brain overmind. Zargon is a previous experiment gone bad. But the city itself represents huge potential for humans to retake as its filled with old technology.

DOLEM WOOD- This follow up to Old School Essentials is going to be beautiful and I think really nail the fairytale vibe that is blessedly not Tolkein, but still what we draw on when we think of D&D.

ULTRABLUE- I keep having the bubblings of my own heartbreaker. I guess I really want to infuse a game of D&D with some of the same energy that was at the Blackmoor table. The way I feel like that needs to happen is have various aspects of play have distilled to meaningful options. And despite being a fan of BX, Holmes Basic feels more like that to me.

1d12 UNITS OF ROT & RUIN

One day I will get around to posting my revisions to Forbidden Caverns of Archaia. I really do enjoy the module, but it desperately needs more of that Hot Springs Island/MOTHERSHIP layout-functionality.

Until then, here are d12 Units of Impurax I am trying to design to challenge my 5e players (all rough outlines):

UNITS OF ROT & RUIN

01 | Ogre swinging a maul of pestilence
02 | Chariot pulled by 10 armless, biting zombies that fan out when it comes to rest
03 | Goul skirmishers that leap into battle to paralyze then withdraw; hit-and-run
04 | Bone constructs of rotting crows, vultures, birds, and other vermin
05 | Black pudding & green slime bombs
06 | Vermin jars- stinging and poisonous
07 | Giant centipedes lashed to 10' poles or tied to zombies' heads
08 | Giant rats (because why not)
09 | Phlegm goblins: toad-like goblins that spray mucus as web and drawback in
10 | Bloated rot runners: zombies filled with rot grubs- 1-3 explode enemy lines, 4-6 explode friendly
11 | Fungus druids
12 | Spells & spell-like effects that could be used

1. The Toll of the Grave- a bell ringing that stops the hearts of the living
2. Roil of the Earth- dead spin in their graves creating unstable ground
3. Rot & Ruin- all armor & weapons receive a notch (or whatever degradation)
4. A Gout of Gas- Explosions of methane: 1-4 push, 5-6 fire
5. Enfeeble Ray
6. Prismatic Pestilence- Black, blue, purple, red, yellow, brown
7. Spore Cloud
8. Poisonous Blood- attack receives as much damage as given
9. Taint the Soul- WIS save or possession (award XP for devious actions)
10. Summon Blood Elemental- 1 HD for each dead creature on the ground (better as an item?)

THE POWER OF CIRCULAR THINKING: "Dungeons" are best organized as loops.

I think, at a basic level, the single best thing a person can do to create interesting dungeons is design them in loops. In part, because it provides for an immediate choice: left or right, red door or blue door, wide rotting rope bridge or thin natural rock bridge? And choice is at the heart of exploration.

Jennell Jaquays seemed to understand this very intuitively and her technique is covered very extensively by The Alexandrian in a post describing such. Loops are used with nested dungeons, vertical paths, incomplete paths etc to create dungeons interesting to explore. Even if there were no monsters, the connections in the Dark Tower promote curiosity as do the ones in Caverns of Thracia.

A more recent concise statement of the power of loops in dungeon design was pointed out by Questing Beast in an article discussing how the Rogue-like game, Unexplored, improved their procedural generation via loops. The image below is from the article.


A lot of the examples in the above image would make solid D&D predicaments: Do we go left or right? Do we risk traps or monsters? What does our (hopefully rolled randomly) party composition provide for-- can we take the obvious shorter but dangerous route? Choice is at the center of these questions. Loops make it easy.

Dyson Logos recent post one of his community-funded maps The Gardens of the Absent City. Now its a pretty great dungeon from the beginning because of the pillared hallway to the far left and the gardens and lake to the far right. But what you can subconsciously detect right away is its got a lot of loops.

Looking at the article above and thinking of major and minor nodes, I feel like there are about 8 major nodes and ~4 minor ones. This combines to make several large and small loops in the dungeon. The map feels interesting to explore because few single routes allow you to see everything- you have to choose. However, the players will end up at a familiar spot allowing more educated planning to attack the next loop- choice again only rewarded with more information.

This can be enhanced by adding themed nodes in some manner. Maybe by obstacle type as in the Unexplored image above or by the environment. With that additional layering, loops become even more enticing to explore because they cross several of these themes. In Dyson's map, that might be temple (A), lake (E), garden (C), crypts (F), back to the temple (A).

A DM could also connection points to extend a theme from one area into another which create a unique setup but also alerts the players to the presence of loops. For instance "E" is a lake/water in the environment. While "A", "B", and "D" nodes kinda look, to me, like a temple with a well linking "A" to "E". So what if you have a lot of fire god statues, but a lot of water monsters walking around. This is interesting because it is unexpected and it alerts players to a potential alternative path in "A" other than the four doors they see.

Loops create choice, choice creates interest in exploration, exploration provides reward beyond combat.