Warlock’s Hideout – Last Minute Dungeons
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Need a dungeon in a hurry? Here’s a quick little tale with details.
No stats, just a simple map with a short story and coherent monsters. Enjoy!
Overview:
A spider-infested cave is now also reluctantly shared by a warlock and his minions as they strip the cave of its natural crystals.
You choose what kind of minion: goblins, hobgoblins, rough bandits, etc. Pick something fitting for your groups level.
Adventure hooks:
– The players notice a strange light in the wilderness and discover a cavern that is clearly inhabited.
– A minion steals an important luxury (spice, book, cooking pot, etc) from the player’s camp and the tracks lead here.
– Townsfolk complain about expensive items going missing. It’s the minions stealing from the town.
– Livestock, or maybe even townsfolk, have gone missing and the players are tasked to find out what’s happened.
– A minion steals a carriage and it belongs to the players or a quest giver of your choosing.
Note: Several props in the game are meant to be removed if the players interact with them. This include the cobwebs, the wall illusion and so on. Use your own discretion.
Entrance:
At the entrance of the cave are several older lanterns. They’ve been shaped a long time ago by the first inhabitants of the cave, either by magic or carved in stone. Though ancient, these lantern are now lit and there’s a (stolen) carriage outside.
To the west is where the players arrived from. To the east is thick brush and thorns. The entrance is not very hidden and someone has cleared the entrance of debris and cobwebs.
Wooden Gate:
The minions have reinforced the crumbling walls and even installed a gate here to keep spider’s out. It’s not hard to break down by someone with some strength or knowledge of doors, but the sound could alert the minions in their camp.
Storage:
The minions keep empty containers here. It’s a good clue that someone is in the caves and this place is not abandoned.
Spider’s Secret Entrance
Only accessible if the players decide to look for an alternative entrance and succeed on an appropriate skill check. Tracking, wilderness lore, geology, etc. Your choice. A narrow gap leads to the main hideout of the spider population of the forest.
Spider’s Main Room:
This is where the majority of the spiders will be. They do not venture out of this cave unless they notice an easy prey (they can smell fear and sense creature sizes) or are hungry for a snack and head to their pantry. If they have a fight with the players they will not try to kill, but will rather take the players to the pantry for consumption later.
Spider Pantry:
Where knocked out players are stored for later.
Spider Deterrents:
Built to keep the spider’s out. The jail door can also be used as a defensive installation by the minions if they are alerted to the presence of the players.
A key to the wooden door can be found at the minion’s camp. The door is only opened by the warlock if someone says the password. (“Cobwebs”).
Minion’s Camp:
The minions have been influenced by the educated and persuasive warlock. The camp shows unusual signs of urban lifestyle, like a surprising number of (stolen) luxuries like tobacco, spices and even books. Note that the minions have not had the foresight to make the camp fire safe. Most of the floor and bedding is covered in thick layers of dry leaves which could potentially turn the cave into a stove if someone were to cast a fireball or otherwise set things on fire.
Story hook:
The minions admire the warlock’s sophistication, but have grown tired of the caves and plan to take the warlock and his treasure by force any day now. They discuss this any time they believe nobody is listening as they are terrified of the plan failing and the warlock taking revenge. If the players persuade them they will agree to band together against the warlock.
Treasure:
A key to the wooden door leading to the crystal caves.
A small treasure trove of fine trinkets: Chandeliers, ornate bowls, books, exotic maps, tobacco, fine butter, aged cheese, etc.
A scroll of Dispel Illusion
Wall Illusion and Warlock’s Bed Chamber:
The stone wall here is a simple illusion kept in place by a spell cast by the warlock. It’s there to deter explorers, but there’s also a very real wall made out of wood, similar to the wooden gate at the start of the cave.
Crystal Cavern:
This used to be a place of worship a long time ago. The statue in the middle of the room is carrying a massive crystal, but its features are no longer visible. The room used to have many more crystals, but many have now been removed by the warlock and ground to dust during experiments.
Warlock’s Lab:
The warlock is hard at work trying to find a crystal powerful enough to attract the original deity worshipped at the cavern. Unbeknownst to him the deity left the cavern due to the crystals being removed in the first place. After months of futile attempts, the warlock is growing ever frustrated and this has resulted in the contempt amongst his minions.
A player investigating the lab notes will discover that the warlock is planning to sacrifice one of his minions in an attempt to power the crystals. The players can use this as proof to make the minions turn on the warlock.
Combat tip: The warlock will use the scroll of “Control Spiders” if his minions turn on him or fail to stop the players. He will also try to escape through the secret spider entrance, hoping the players did not discover it yet.
Treasure:
Scroll of “Control Spiders” (Gives caster control of spiders for next 5 minutes.)
Multiple fine crystals
Laboratory gear
Books on local history, occult geology and summoning powerful demons
An ornate ivory pipe and fine tobacco
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