FIRST DRAFT

Strange
Alchemy
A DUNGEON FOR OPEN WORLD DICE GAMES
THE OLD TUBE
Villages have reported dog-headed bandits raiding
and robbing in the region, stealing livestock and silver.
According to witnesses the bandits road on large
roaches.

The local wise man, Hercunius the Alchemist, has

gathered a bounty of 150g from the villagers to pay
someone to run off or kill the bandits.

Hercunius will tell the PCs that the Old Tube, an ancient
sewer left over from some forgotten civilization, is where
the bandits are believed to be hiding. He will say that
he’s heard legends of an even more ancient structure
below the sewer, built in the days when demons and
angels walked the earth. He believes a mythic alchemist
king named Valentine Trismegistus was laid to rest
somewhere down there. If the PCs bring him any magic
items or magical writings he will double their pay. The
truth is that Hercunius raised 300g from the villagers
already but he wants to get the PCs to find Valentine
Trismegistus’s journal. He even hired the dog-headed
bandits to harass the region so he could have an excuse
to raise money to pay mercenaries to do this for him.
The bandits are waiting on him to come pay them but
he’s hoping the PCs will kill them and he won’t have to
pay them what he promised.
1. SEWER ENTRANCE
A 50-foot wide brick tunnel leads into a rocky hill. Four
inches of muddy water cover the floor. Algae grow on
the bricks. Glowing fungal orbs grow on the top of the
tunnel. If touched, they pop. Splashing glowing liquid
below. The glowing liquid can’t be washed off without
alcohol but evaporates after 30 minutes.

2. CLEANSING POOL
The entire floor is a 20-foot-deep pool of green water.
At the bottom of the pool is a tunnel to room 6. The
water is slightly corrosive and will dissolve the rust from
any metal.

3. ROACH NEST
2d6 Razor Roaches live in a nest of saliva-glued sticks,
bones, paper, and fabric. The mostly skeletal carcass
of a cow lies on the floor where two razor roaches pick
at the remaining flesh. Bones show that other animals
were eaten here recently: a pig and another cow.
Searching the nest yields a golden necklace with a tiny
silver dagger pendant. This is a bartering token for the
assassin’s guild, to initiate or cancel an assassination
costing less than 1000g.
4. DOG CAMP ONE
Three large razor roaches tied to posts chew lazily on
a cow carcass. Saddles and reins hang on metal pegs
hammered into the wall. 4 dog-headed bandits have set
up camp across the room. There’s a 1-in-6 chance they
are asleep. Otherwise, they are telling stories, boxing,
or gambling. One plays a fiddle when not sleeping. They
are waiting here for Hercunius to bring them the 300g
he promised. They will wait 3 more days before going
after him. They will call to their companions in room 5
if they feel threatened. In a corner is the stolen canon,
three canon balls, and a small keg of gunpowder.

5. DOG CAMP TWO

Bricks ripped from the sewer walls have been circled
to make a fire pit. 2d4 dog-headed men are camped
here. They have a chest of 200 hacksilver and a brass
trumpet stolen during their raids. One of them has a war
horn and can use it to call their companions from room
4. A pile of wooden boards covers a spiral staircase
leading down to room 8.
6. THE GRAUL’S PRISON
The floor of this cavernous dome room is covered in wet
black leaves and crawling with slugs. The brick walls
are covered with scratched alchemical symbols. A silver
bell hangs at the top of the dome, 60 feet up. Ringing
the bell summons the Graul. The leaves and slugs will
form its giant head. It will open its mouth to be fed
metal. If fed metal, it will close its mouth and collapse,
the metal items will be left behind, transmuted into gold.
The Graul is bound to the bell and destroying it frees the
entity and a powerful wind will blow all the leaves and
slugs out of the cavern and away into the sky where it
will become a dark cloud that occasionally rains slugs
and gold nuggets.
7. THE OLD LAB
Shelves have been chiseled into the brick walls of this
room. They hold bottles of varying shapes and sizes
containing various chemicals. Someone educated in
alchemy could identify hydrochloric acid, nitric acid,
arsenic, and mercury. One bottle is covered with a
silk handkerchief. This bottle contains an eyeball with
a vertical slit pupil floating in a thick yellow liquid. It
moves and appears to be watching, following any
nearby movement. If this bottle is opened all oxygen
in the room is sucked into it and the eye sprouts talon-
tipped legs and a monkey tail and grows to the size of
an ostrich (see Eye Devil).
A tapestry on a wall
depicts a rooster
eating a fox that
is eating another
rooster. Behind
the tapestry is
a wood door
bearing a carved
dragon’s face.
8. VALENTINE’S THRONE
This room seems older than the ancient brickwork
sewer. It appears to be carved from solid rock. A solid
stone throne has been chiseled into the center of the
room, its base connected to the stone floor. On the
throne sits a desiccated old man in a robe covered
in thick layers of dust. His papery skin clings to his
skull, and his eyeless sockets have been covered with
silver coins. His long sparse beard hairs have been
transmuted into gold thread. His skeletal hands grip a
black leather-bound book full of alchemical equations
and esoteric diagrams. The cover is embossed with a
golden VT. If touched, the old body crumbles, releasing
poison gas and revealing a solid gold heart, liver, and
kidneys. A spiral staircase cut into the back stone wall
leads up to room 5.
9. THE IDOL
This room is also carved from solid stone. A layer
of bones from a variety of creatures covers the floor
making it hard to walk. If not traversed carefully, PCs
must save against falling and cutting themselves on
sharp bones for 1d6 damage. Against the wall is a
20-foot-tall stone idol. In front
of it is a stoup containing
two liters of black
sour-smelling liquid.
These are demon
tears. This liquid
is extremely
valuable to
alchemists and
necromancers.
It will boil if
brought into a church.
RAZOR ROACH
Roaches that can grow to the size of oxen. They are
named for the sharp spines on their legs. They can be
tamed and used as steeds but require a large amount of
flesh to eat so they are rarely domesticated.

DOG HEADED BANDITS

Normal humans in every way except they have dog
heads. Every once in a while a human child is born with
a dog’s head. They are often shunned by other humans
and many engage in banditry to survive or join the
priesthood.

THE GRAUL
An otherworldly entity whose digestive process
transmutes metals in this world into gold. It is harmless
in this dimension but knows its giant appearance is
intimidating. It was summoned and imprisoned by
Valentine Trismegistus. It is bound to the bell and will be
summoned any time the bell is rung. It is always hungry
for metal.
EYE DEVIL
A wicked creature summoned from some mysterious
hellish realm. Demonologists believe they are the eyes
of some powerful and curious demon lord who sends
his eyes across worlds to explore. Eye devils can
not speak but most can write and like other demonic
creatures they enjoy making deals with people. They
can shoot a burning ray from their pupil but doing so
leaves them blind for 30 seconds.

HERCUNIUS
Hercunius is an minor alchemist and necromancer. He
mostly works as a healer and advisor to his peasant
neighbors. He knows a few spells of minor healing and
various potion recipes. He always has a flintlock pistol
he invented hidden on his person.