Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Warren's Butchery - Upper Floor




This is the fourth part of an adventure that I've been working on for awhile. It is inspired by the Warrens zone of Darkest Dungeon
  • The second post describes the exterior areas surrounding the Butchery.
  • The third post describes the first level of the Butchery proper. This is where the crawl-able dungeon-proper begins.
On reflection, my earlier posts felt a little over-wrought and were more tedious than fun to assemble. I'll try to stick to the highlights on this one.

This post continues the description of The Butchery, a two story building with a wrap-around porch. The Boss Hog and his Wretch attendants reside here. So does most of the treasure.


Upper Level: 

This level focuses around two main areas: 
  • The Lab, which contains alchemical treasures for plunder by  
  • The Green House, home of the Boss Hog, the end-boss for this dungeon.
The other rooms are fairly self explanatory. You can use the same encounter table as I shared for the ground floor (replace any results already used) and the Search the Swine Carcasss table from the initial Warren's post for needed search checks. 

The Laboratory is  filled with alchemical equipment and a surgical operating table. Careful searching reveals:
  • Bubbling potion pot: d20 Doses of Health Potion
    • Highly addictive (use your preferred addiction rules).
    • You'll need containers to carry the brew.
    • This stuff spoils quickly. Lasts d6 days (or whatever).
  • Health Potion Recipe, requires:
    • 5 gallons of blood, medicinal herbs, agate dust worth 100 gp.
    • Still highly addictive.

  • Spell Book: Containing a couple surgical rituals:
    • Awaken but without the charm effect. Level agnostic but requires extensive surgery and a successful medicine check.
    • Graft Limb : Replaces a missing limb.  Level agnostic but requires extensive surgery and a successful medicine check.
The Greenhouse contains the Boss Hog and a swarm of Swine Wretch attendants (adjust number as needed for party size). 
  • The Boss Hog will try to throw PC's out through the glass greenhouse walls, removing them from the fight until they can get back to the second floor.
  • The Boss Hog is blind and relies on the Wretches to target characters ( the "Help" action if using 5e).
  • Players will need to balance killing Wretches to prevent them targeting, vs. the retaliation for killing them.
  • The Boss Hog can enter the Laboratory but the rest of the doorways are too small for him to pass.
  • When I ran this fight it worked really, really well. 
Boss Hog stats (repeated from earlier post): 

BOSS HOG

AC:13, HP: 75-200, To hit: +5 w/ reach.

Obliterate Body: 3d12+6 (can only be used with help action from another Swine)
Obliterate Masses: 1d12+2 vs. every enemy within reach. Dex Save at 13 for half damage.
Enraged Flailing: Anytime a Swine within his presence dies: makes an Obliterate Masses attack as a reaction. Up to two reactions per round.


Other Features:


  • The Chute dumps out in the Otyugh pit in the cellar.
  • The Hearth and Chimney, provides alternate access to other floors. 
  • Sun Room is a good place to include a tie-in to another plot, dungeon, etc from elsewhere in your campaign.

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