10 The ceiling in this area of the dungeon is weak 13
and, not surprisingly, chooses this exact moment chamber, the gap 3d4-ft wide and several
The classic adventuring environment, the dungeon is
the place where heroes cut their teeth, learning quickly
that opening every closed door without first checking
for traps isn’t the best way to survive and explore a
second dungeon. Welcome to Dungeons, Uselss Ideas,
a random collection of bad ideas for those days when
you – the gamemaster – simply don’t care. This title
is packed with information that will prove to be as
unnecessary and worthless as anything that I have ever
created. You’re welcome.
• Random encounters. At right, so just glance
over there and you’ll instantly know what to do
with this.
• What’s behind the door? At right, but down a
bit, you’ll find 1d12 terrible ideas for what the
PCs may find when they open a locked door in
the dungeon.
• More dungeon encounters. If you dare, flip this
sheet over and you’ll find more worthless ideas.
• 3d6 dungeon inhabitants. Where the other
tables feature all sorts of things, this
one is only living creatures and
characters.
As you And that’s it! Please don’t be
use the too upset that this work
many ideas sucks.
presented within
this worthless work,
please consider making
a mark by each item as you
throw it at your players. That
way you’re less likely to repeat ideas
and keep things fresh and exciting at
your table.
Or, if you’re worried about marking up this
spectacularly unnecessary expansion, you can always
keep detailed notes in a journal. I mean, I would never
bother with notes, but you do what’s best for you and
your campaign.
If you want to tell me why these encounter ideas suck,
you can reach me on Twitter: @philipjreed
Dungeons, Useless Ideas, writing, layout, and design copyright © 2021 Philip Reed.
Some art © 2011 Dave Allsop, used under license. Some artwork © 2017 Dean Spencer,
used with permission. All rights reserved. Some artwork © Sverker Castillo, used under
license. Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games. Some
graphics and artwork © 053StudioSign, Design Projects, IgorNP, and Roman3dArt, used
under license from Shutterstock.com
A deep gash cuts through the floor of the
1 Wooden crates and barrels stacked haphazardly to
the ceiling litter the room, making it impossible
for more than two heroes to enter the area at a
time. If the party starts pushing the crates and
barrels aside to make more space for the group,
they discover that every single object in the room
is connected by a thin cord; unless the party’s
rogue successfully identifies and disarms the
trap, moving one or more item causes everything
to tumble; any PC in the room when the pile of
crates and barrels falls suffers 2d6 damage. If the
heroes look inside the objects, they find that each
is filled with stone and bricks.
2 Spiderwebs cling to the walls and ceiling of the
chamber, hanging like a thick cloud over the area.
2d3 large spiders are in the room. If one of the
players has been particularly annoying, feel free
to upgrade the 2d3 arachnids to giant spiders.
3 A patch of inky tar bubbles and burps, the thick
substance blocking the passage. To cross, the
heroes must successfully jump to the other side.
Those who fail the leap fall into the sticky mess
and suffer 2d4 damage every round until they
manage to escape the tar pit.
4 Human bones are scattered across the corridor,
many of them still covered with scraps of flesh. A
bloody trail leading away from the party suggests
that whatever slaughtered and dismembered this
unlucky explorer may have been dragging chunks
of corpse with it when it left. Should the fact that
the stench of death clings to the bones concern
the adventurers? It is clear that these bones have
been laying here for only a few hours.
5 A discarded torch. The smell of smoke lingers,
suggesting that the torch was recently dropped.
Who dropped it and where are they now?
6 One wall of the room is made entirely of
stained glass, the artistic work as elaborate and
impressive as any stained glass window seen in
the wealthiest of cathedrals. The scene, a trio of
dragons attacking a small town, is in motion, the
glass itself shifting and changing as the PCs watch
in amazement. If attacked, the glass breaks and
the enchantment is shattered. The scene can be
seen from both this room and the adjacent one;
breaking the glass is the only way to enter the
nearby chamber.
7 The spiral stairs lead down for dozens of feet,
each step slick with moss. Once the party reaches
the foot of the stairway, they’re surprised to find
that it leads to a dead end. Unless you’re feeling
particularly generous, there’s not even a secret
door waiting at the foot of the stairs. What a
waste of time!
8 A shimmering blue ooze coats one of the
dungeon’s many doors, the sticky substance
completely obscuring the door’s lock and handle.
If someone foolishly touches the ooze, even when
wearing gauntlets or gloves, they instantly suffer
3d4 damage. Fire destroys the ooze.
9 Whispers on the wind reach the ears of the party,
making them question what dangers may await
at every turn as they work their way through
the dungeon’s many corridors. Roll 1d4: 1. A
wizard enchanted one of the dungeon’s many
doors, binding a spirit to the wooden door. The
apparition is forever trapped . . . and it has seen
some things. Will it share some of its knowledge
with the heroes? 2. A trio of goblins pursues the
party, hanging back just out of reach and hoping
to scavenge whatever scraps the adventurers may
leave in their wake. 3. The indecipherable voices
are coming from a gateway between worlds; one
of the nearby dungeon doors – stuck and will not
open no matter how hard the heroes may try –
leads to another world. Currently, all that may
cross between the worlds is sound. 4.Swinging
from a rope by his neck, the choking and gasping
wizard is near death when the party happens
across him in the dungeon. He can barely speak
and is begging for his life. Who strung this wizard
up? It had to have happened recently, because
how else would he still be breathing?
1 A flooded chamber, the water held back by the
door that the heroes opened so very recklessly
a moment ago. Let’s hope they can swim! How
much water is in the chamber? That’s for you
to decide. Anywhere from “just enough to
be annoying” to “the room’s wall collapsed
and a subterranean lake is now free to drown
everything in the dungeon” is acceptable.
2 The room is a single cramped, tiny space with a
metal cage with a locked door sitting in the center
of the chamber. Roll 1d4: 1. An empty cell. 2. The
corpse of a naked elf, dead for weeks, is sprawled
out in the center of the cell. 3. His eyes bandaged,
a human warrior demands to know who is there;
he may be blind, but his hearing is excellent. 4. A
dwarf who is unsure of who he is, where he is, or
how he got here.
3 A small workspace with a wooden table, two
uncomfortable chairs, 3d4 books, a few magic
scrolls, and the cobweb-covered skeleton of
the entrapped wizard who was forced to scribe
scrolls for whatever vile monster kept him in this
chamber for what must have been many years.
to collapse. Each PC must make a Dexterity
check; those who fail are struck by debris
(inflicting as much damage as the GM wishes).
Immediately following the collapse, the dungeon
floor is littered with stone and it is possible that
particularly cruel gamemasters will rule that an
entrance is blocked by difficult to move stones. (A
deranged GM may also state that a dozen or so
large spiders also fell when the ceiling collapsed
and are now attacking the party.)
11 A discarded sack in the middle of the passage
catches the attention of the heroes. It’s an empty
sack, holding nothing of value. Let’s see how long
the object distracts the party from the adventure.
12 As they open the door, the party notices a thick,
dark cloud seeping from the newly-revealed
chamber. The room is completely filled with an
inky, heavy smoke that makes it difficult to see
and even harder to breathe. If they investigate the
room, they find a circular pit in the center of the
chamber. The smoke is rising from the pit and
any who descend to explore the situation soon
find a portal to a demiplane of smoke. Unless the
heroes have a magical means of breathing, they
die if they spend more than a few moments on
this distant world.
4 Gravity in the room is different than in the rest of
the dungeon, with the far wall the room’s “floor.”
Any hero who steps through the open door is
automatically affected by the new chamber’s
gravity; the PC must make a successful Dexterity
check or “fall” onto the new room’s floor. Those
who succeed this check catch themselves before
falling and are left hanging from the door frame,
legs dangling in the “gravity is weird” room.
5 Another door! Set only a foot back from the first
door, this second is a slightly smaller size and,
behind it, a third (smaller still!) door. How far
does the door, behind door, behind door gimmick
go before there’s something there? Roll 2d6 . . . or
just keep going until the final door is too small for
the PCs to squeeze through and then show them
a chamber of unreachable riches.
6 A captured adventuring party. Each member of
the group is chained to the dungeon’s walls and
they have been stripped of all but their clothing.
Will the heroes free the delvers and help them
locate the party’s stolen weapons and armor, or
will the PCs abandon this group to their doom?
dozen feet deep. Below, at the bottom of the
chasm, the PCs can make out a river of magma,
bubbling and hissing, violently splashing
against the sides of the tear in the earth. The
party will have to make a bridge, turn back, or
jump the chasm.
14 The floor gives way unexpectedly, dumping
all who fail a Dexterity check into a pit of
poisonous snakes. If you’re feeling cruel, the
ceiling above opens at the same time, liberally
raining even more snakes onto the adventurers.
15 A troll, armed with a giant cleaver and a wicked
grin, is devouring the remains of a half-orc who
clearly got up on the wrong side of the bed.
The troll glances up from its meal at the party
and cackles madly. Will the troll feast, or with
the heroes defeat this slavering villain? If the
heroes defeat the troll and inspect the half-orc’s
body, they find a coin purse with 3d6 silver, a
+1 magic dagger, and an empty waterskin. The
corpse’s other possessions are too battered and
abused to be of any value.
16 A metal cage hangs from the ceiling, a dust-
covered skeleton wearing tattered, ruined robes
chained to the cage’s metal bars.
17 A light cuts through the darkness of the passage,
bobbing gently as it slowly – though steadily
– advances toward the adventurers. Prudence
Baxter is lost. The villager, an elderly man of
some sixty winters, is searching for his missing
grandson and asks the PCs for help.
18 Slick with moss and slime, the dungeon floor is
potentially treacherous. Anyone moving at more
than a walk across the slippery stone floor must
make a successful Dexterity check or slip and fall.
19 Several crystals, most the size of a man’s finger,
are embedded in the walls of the chamber. These
crystals glow in the presence of evil. If the party
tries, they may be able to hack away at the rock
around the crystals and take a few of them.
Unfortunately, separating the crystals from the
walls drains them of their enchantment and
makes them completely worthless.
20 This area is surprisingly well-kept, as if someone
has been sweeping and cleaning the room in
preparation for guests. The two doors both lock
from the inside; maybe the party can take a little
time to rest?
7 The door is stuck, requiring a successful Strength
check to force it open. As the door swings inward,
the heroes hear a loud “snap” followed by a moist,
squishy sound. The flattened, misshapen pile of
goo and bones that was blocking the door was
once a zombie. Don’t step in it!
8 A large table and several chairs, all overturned
and broken, litter the room. Several broken urns,
battered chests, and shredded sacks are also
scattered across the area, although none of them
hold anything of value. The faint sound of non-
stop whispering comes from somewhere above;
glancing up, the heroes see many unblinking eyes
staring at them from grates in the ceiling.
9 The room’s floor is an illusion, and any who fail to
disbelieve the arcane mirage step into a 20-ft deep
pit filled with spikes. Or poisoned spikes, if you
feel that the adventurers haven’t suffered enough.
Artwork © Dean Spencer.
10 A circular pattern of bright crimson stones in the
center of the room glows if one of the PCs steps
on it. As soon as no one is standing on the red
section of the chamber, the stones unleash a burst
of blue flames that inflicts 3d6 damage to anyone
in the room. Gonna try and dodge that one?

6d6 creatures in the dungeon.
6 • A young dragon, thinking of making its home in this dungeon.
7 • 2d3 frog folk are cooking a troll’s leg over a lava pit.
8 • Two skeletal musicians are seated in one corner, playing a tune.
9 • The squid-headed monster uses its mental powers to attack.
10 • Its claws snapping viciously, the crabman lunges at the party.
11 • 2d3 ratfolk scurry in the shadows, looking for things to steal.
12 • 2d4+2 goblins are ripping the flesh off of a bear and eating it raw.
13 • A water elemental lurks in the stream running through the room.
14 • 3d3 giant wasps have nested high above . . . and they are angry.
15 • A lesser demon is tasked with recovering a lost spellbook.
16 • Towering over the PCs, the giant demands the intruders pay.
17 • A mimic disguised as a door waits patiently for its next meal.
18 • An ogre carrying a large sack stuffed with gems and coins.
19 • A thrashing zombie, being held down by a fallen column.
20 • 3d4 giant rats gnawing at the remains of a massive lizard.
21 • Its sword held high, the lizardman growls and charges.
22 • 3d6 kobolds have made this room their home and will protect it.
23 • A giant worm lashes out from a well in the center of the room.
24 • The goat-headed warrior raises its shield and flail. Time to kill!
25 • A sleeping stone elemental. At first, it looks like a pile of rocks.
26 • The undead warrior’s amulet glows a bright blue. A magic item!
27 • The cyclops turns to face the heroes, smiling as it moves to strike.
28 • A large bat attacks, its beating wings extinguishing torches.
29 • A pack of 4d4 wolves, lost in the dungeon and seeking escape.
30 • A goblin necromancer and 3d4 goblin skeletal warriors.
31 • A giant snake curled around a stone pillar, waiting to attack.
32 • A medusa lives here and loves her collection of stone heroes.
33 • The floor is actually a trapper. Will the heroes notice in time?
34 • Several giant ants defend the entrance to their tunnels.
35 • The lich is protecting its phylactery, a coffin made of gold.
36 • A dragon seeking a magic crown that it thinks is in this dungeon.
1 A small pool of clear, clean water fills most of the
area, the outer edges of the chamber’s stone floor
crumbling and falling into the pool. A drip, drip,
dripping sound suggests that the water is coming
from somewhere above. The water is pure and
safe to drink. Refill those waterskins, gang!
2 If the heroes aren’t careful, one of them may
trigger the trap door in floor of this passageway.
The trap door, when tripped, unexpectedly
drops a random PC into a pit. Roll 1d6: 1. This
empty pit is 10-ft deep. 2. As above, but there
are spikes in the bottom of the pit that deal 3d4
damage to the unfortunate hero. 3. The pit is 20-ft
deep, lined with razors, and the victim suffers
6d6 damage. 4. The pit is 20-ft and filled to the
halfway point with deadly acid; the adventurer
takes 2d4 damage every round they’re stuck
in the acid pit. 5. Falling into this 30-ft deep
pit is dangerous enough, so why are there two
animated skeletons waiting at the bottom of the
pit? 6. This 40-ft deep pit is occupied: a gelatinous
cube is stuck in the bottom of the pit and unable
to escape. It has survived solely on the flesh of
those unlucky enough to fall into the pit.
3 The stone statue of an elderly warrior, outfitted
in chainmail and with one hand shaped as if it
was holding a sword (which it is not at this time)
stands on a pedestal in the center of the room. If
the PCs investigate the statue, they soon find that
it speaks, demanding that they return the sword
they have stolen from the sword’s open hand.
Does that means the sword is somewhere nearby?
3d6 wounded monsters in the dungeon.
3 • The upper half of a zombie uses its arms to drag itself toward the party. It hungers.
4 • A goblin is so focused on bandaging its leg that it doesn’t hear the PCs approach.
5 • A once-powerful ogre is slumped against the wall clutching a deep slash in its stomach.
6 • A troll bleeds where the arrow pierces its chest, and where the tip protrudes from its back.
7 • The giant spider moves slowly as three of its legs, now severed, twitch on the floor nearby.
8 • The minotaur lifts its head as the party enters the chamber, but it is too weak to move.
9 • One head caved in, the ettin’s remaining (living) head is screaming from the pain.
10 • An eye tyrant, two of its eye stalks dead and flailing wildly. The thing’s central eye is gone.
11 • Three frog folk, each one cut deep and bleeding out. Unless they’re healed, they’ll all die.
12 • A flesh golem has been unstitched in several places and is a mass of tangled, useless limbs.
13 • The screaming, sobbing orc is limping along, a jagged greatsword stuck through its thigh.
14 • A lizardman leans on his staff, using the weapon as a crutch. His left leg is a bloody mess.
15 • A ratfolk warrior is clutching one hand to the bleeding spot where he once had a nose.
16 • More a pile of bones than an animated skeleton, the thing is trying to put itself together.
17 • A stone elemental, smashed and battered, is trying to reattach its shattered arm and leg.
18 • A fungusman, its mushroom-like head horribly disfigured and dripping a clear ooze.
7 Many mirrors form the walls of this maze-like
chamber, slowing movement as the heroes search
for an exit. The mirrors are smashable, though
doing so alerts the goblin guards in the adjacent
chamber who rush to attack at the first sound of
breaking mirrors.
4 A locked, wooden chest that any talented rogue
8 Painted lightning bolts on the stone floor are
should have no difficulty opening. Inside, the
faded and worn; clearly it has been many years
party finds 6d6 gold coins, a single healing
since the patterns were first painted. Any hero
potion, and a silk cloak decorated the finest
who steps on one of the lightning bolt designs
embroidery work. Unfortunately, the cloak is an
triggers a burst of lightning from the ceiling; each
enchanted object and attacks the party as soon as
PC must make a successful Dexterity check or
the lid of the chest opens. It has a 50/50 chance
suffer 2d6 lighting damage. This happens every
each round of landing a blow on the nearest PC;
time one of the PCs steps on one of the painted
the magic cloak’s unseen, invisible blows deal 2d6
lightning bolts.
damage each time they connect with a hero.
9 Drifts of sand – ankle-deep near the center of
5 A large organ stands in the center of the room,
the room and waist-deep around the edges – fill
playing an unrecognizable dirge although there is
this chamber. Once every five minutes, a pit in
no musician seated at the instrument. The organ
the center of the room opens, sucking down
continues playing its somber tune no matter what
everything in the room, as grates above pour
happens in the chamber.
more sand into the chamber. Can the heroes
find something to cling to, or will they be sucked
6 Metal strikes metal, the clashing and clanging down into whatever horror waits below?
sounds growing louder as the heroes move down
the passageway. Three goblins are fighting an
10 Dozens of bubbles float in the chamber, kept aloft
undead knight; the goblins don’t appear to be
by unseen forces. If the PCs touch one of these
doing all that well.
bubbles, it explodes in a magical burst of energy
that deals 1d4 damage to all within a few feet.
The bubbles are relatively easy to avoid – they’re
At times, you’re not looking for slow and move in fairly predictable paths – but
anything beyond a skirmish between if multiple bubbles are close when one is ignited,
the heroes and a handful of monsters. the explosion causes a chain reaction that deals
That’s where the following table comes 6d6 damage to each of the room’s occupants
into play. at the time of detonation. Just don’t touch the
bubbles and everything will be okay.
Roll three six-sided dice and have a
blast murdering the party!
If you’re looking for even more ideas
for possible dungeon inhabitants, you
can flip open almost any collection
of monsters and throw the first thing
you see into the dungeon. If it doesn’t
make sense – for example, a dinosaur
when the party is seven levels below
the surface – just rule that magic
made it happen. After all, magic can
do anything you can imagine. Maybe
a wizard cast a shrink spell on the
dinosaur, carried it into the dungeon,
and reversed the spell’s effect as soon
as they found a chamber large enough
to house the full-size dinosaur. What
is the dinosaur eating to survive? Why,
stupid adventurers who don’t expect to
encounter a dinosaur in the dungeon,
of course!
What’s that? You want even more?
Okay, fine. Casually, during the
session and without sounding too
eager, ask the players about their
favorite monsters. Jot down the names
as the players share their opinions
. . . and then use that list as your next
3d6 NPCs in the dungeon. random monster table.
3 • Albert Janssens, a young rogue of twenty winters, looking to escape. You may as well get something useful
4 • Dragging a heavy sack, Karmen Arias tells the party to let her pass. out of those very lazy players for a
5 • Sword drawn, Naser Meskini asks the heroes if they are trustworthy. change, right?
6 • Estela Jursaite is trying to hold a door closed and begs the PCs for help.
7 • “Have you any healing potions?” Dylan Dermaut offers to buy potions. Remember the golden rule of
8 • The warrioress Seda Gatayeva tells the PCs she is searching for her lost sister. gamemastering: the player
9 • Vergin Balan, an elderly half-orc warrior, asks the PCs for help saving his friends. who brings the best snacks
10 • The merchant Moti escaped from orcs and says that they’re close behind him. gets the most leniency
11 • Zoran Repar, a wounded bard, asks the heroes if they have handled the stone golem. when it comes to judging
12 • Trapped behind a portcullis, Kug-Bau Sangasu cries out to the heroes for help. die results.
13 • Chen Meaker is a wounded thief, looking for healing . . . and something to steal.
14 • The cleric Elsa Beitz, running toward the heroes, yells out: “flee, you fools!”
15 • Maria Sashova is dragging a chained, captive goblin toward the dungeon’s entrance.
16 • Chained to a dungeon wall, Yasam Egemen swears to the PCs to aid them if they free him.
17 • His robes dusty and caked in mud, the wizard Basil Levy is sorting through a stack of books.
18 • Her dress now bloody, Peza Selimi is cutting off the head of a goblin when the PCs meet her.
11 A drip, drip, dripping sound grows louder as the
heroes venture down the passageway, the splitter,
splatter, splotter of moist drops a rhythmic
percussion that is unmistakable in the otherwise
dead silence of the dungeon. Soon, the party finds
the source of the noise: a dozen corpses hang
upside down from the ceiling, the dripping blood
from their bodies making the floor slick with
fresh, warm crimson-colored blood.
12 The cracked and worn stone floor of the chamber
has several gashes running through it, any one
of which allows the PCs to see into the room
below. How will they reach what appears to be
an unguarded treasure chamber? (Unguarded?
Unlikely, my foolish friends.)
13 The stairs are covered in vines and weeds, the
underground vegetation so thick that it forces a
Dexterity check when ascending or descending
the stairs. All who fail this check trip and fall
down the stairs, suffering whatever damage
makes the GM happiest.
14 Any PC who makes a successful Perception check
notices that the stone walls of this chamber are
carved to look like faces. Humans, elves, dwarves,
goblins, orcs, and many other humanoids are
represented, and once noticed, the staring eyes
of the hundreds of faces cannot be unseen. Any
who investigate closely have a 50/50 chance of
realizing that these faces weren’t carved; some vile
practitioner of evil magic has use a flesh to stone
spell to transform the heads of hundreds into the
blocks needed to construct the room’s four walls.
Things get much worse when the heads start
talking to the adventurers.
3 An aging troll calls this chamber home and 8 The humanoid wizard from a distant plane of 13 A group of 3d4 thugs have claimed one of the first
wishes only to be left alone. He has barricaded existence is thin and pale, standing taller than rooms near the dungeon’s entrance as their lair.
one of the entrances to the room and the only most human men and as slender as an elf. The band of criminals keep their ill-gotten gains
other door – a heavy, metal object with a working The thing’s thick, rough flesh is as course and here and they’re ready to die to protect the goods.
lock – is kept closed and secured at all times. The wrinkled as cheap leather, suggesting that the
troll has a handful of valuables and will fight to creature comes from a world bathed in intense 14 A random monster. Please use the table at far left.
protect his home from the invading PCs. and unending sunlight. The wizard, Hru Anpiel, (6d6 creatures in the dungeon.)
is accompanied by a number of zombie guards
4 The owlbear shrieks, the thing’s cry a bizarre equal to the number of PCs + 1d3. Anpiel has 15 A snakefolk knight in heavy plate armor and
blend of an eagle’s screech and a bear’s growl. access to whatever spells the GM feels will give carrying a two-handed sword. The humanoid
The PCs have stumbled across the monster’s lair
where it is protecting 2d3 eggs.
the party the most trouble . . . and he has the
spellcasting prowess to unleash spell after spell for
warrior, snake-like skin and head, is dragging
a captive behind him, the unfortunate goblin
as long as necessary. Anpiel is seeking a crystal shackled and gagged. The goblin’s eyes go wide
5 Snapping and snarling, the gnoll drops from a skull that is worth thousands of gold; the object when he sees the heroes. Although the goblin
ledge overhanging the chamber, the monster’s was stolen from his world centuries ago and he cannot talk, it is clear that he is hoping that the
sword drawn and ready for battle. A single gnoll recently learned that it is hidden somewhere adventurers will rescue him. The snakefolk knight
is no threat to the heroes, right? Unfortunately, within this dungeon. He wants that skull! hisses at the PCs and demands they stand aside
this gnoll is the advance scout for a large force of and let him pass. Or else.
the human-hyena hybrids. Typically, the monster 9 A giant pushing an over-sized wheelbarrow that
would return to its companions and report on the is loaded with gold, silver, gems, and whatever 16 4d4 zombie dwarves! These mindless monsters
PCs’ position, but this time one of the objects the other valuables the gamemaster wishes to toss are searching for living characters and creatures
heroes snatched up from an earlier encounter in into the mix. The giant murdered a dragon a few to attack and eat. If the party defeats the zombies,
the dungeon is a sacred artifact of the gnolls. This weeks ago and he is still ferrying the now-dead they may find a map that highlights a nearby
particular scout is offended at the PCs stealing his wyrm’s hoard to his private chambers. If the party secret door. Beyond the door, the heroes find a
tribe’s valuable property. is particularly high-level, make sure to give the long-forgotten stairway that leads to an ancient
giant several bodyguards so that the adventurers dwarven treasure hoard.
6 A goblin assassin, garbed in dark leather armor have basically no chance of surviving the
encounter. Or not, if you’re weak and want to side
and wielding twin short swords, has been tailing 17 Its body completely enveloped in black, noxious
the heroes for several hours. The monster was with those ungrateful players yet again. fungus, the strange humanoid beast lurches from
hired by a merchant from one of the nearby the darkness, its arms outstretched. An undead
towns who was offended by a member of the 10 An NPC. Select one of your own creation, or roll creation, this zombie releases clouds of poisonous
party the last time the group visited the town. The on the table at left. (3d6 NPCs in the dungeon.) gas whenever it is struck by a bladed weapon.
goblin is waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Any inhaling the gas suffer 2d6 damage.
11 2d3 lizardfolk on patrol. The monsters live in a
7 A hobgoblin warrior leading a band of 3d4 vile cavernous chamber three levels below the current 18 Carrying the frail, desiccated corpse of its former
goblins. The raiding party chased a group of dungeon level and are searching for food to take master, the iron golem speaks only a single word
villagers into the dungeons and then lost track of to their struggling tribe. Their plan is to ascend to when it spots the party: Help. The golem has been
their victims in the dungeon’s winding passages. the surface and raid nearby farms if they cannot wandering the dungeon for decades, fighting
If the heroes defeat the evil hobgoblin and his find enough food to snatch from other dungeon off attackers as it searches for help for its long-
soldiers, the villagers will eventually come out inhabitants. dead master. The thing is semi-intelligent, with
of hiding and beg the PCs for help. Maybe the the maturity and awareness of a toddler, and it
nearby village will offer a reward to the party for 12 A wounded monster. See the table at left (center). insists that its master is only wounded and needs
returning the frightened villagers to their home? (3d6 wounded monsters in the dungeon.) magical healing. What can the PCs do to help?