D&D Adventure Caves of Chaos - Minotaur & Shunned Cavern

February 27, 2009

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4e D&D, Advice/Tools, Dungeon Masters, Encounters

I’m skipping a bit out of sequence for those of you who have been following along. We’ve covered the kobolds, orcs and goblins. Today, rather than continue with the hobgoblins I’m going to cover the minotaur cavern and the shunned cave, areas I and G.

Cave I: Minotaur cave.

The garden in front of this cave is neatly tended and organized. Rows of potatoes, turnips, beets, cabbages, carrots, and chard are visible. The pepper plants appear to have succumbed in the last frost. Small footprints are visible, and it is clear that whoever works this garden is of small size wearing poorly made shoes (Nature or Perception DC 17). A DC 18 nature check will reveal that bits of dung in the garden belong to various different creatures including orcs, goblins, and kobolds. The cave itself has nothing of note about it. It appears to be a completely natural cavern. There are no footprints in the unworked stone floor (though a DC 30 perception will reveal movements of a large hooved creature). There are no small footprints leading into the cave. A DC 20 perception check will note 1 large hoof print near the cave entrance that is mostly obscured by the other small footprints.

When he needs food the Minotaur comes out to hunt at night. Usually he quickly scours around for any stray or careless humanoids and then heads into the hills looking for big game. He took down a large elk not too long ago, however, and hasn’t needed to leave the valley. He still likes to come out at night to keep abreast of any changes in the immediate area. If the PC’s come to the area at night there is a 50% chance that he will not be home and they will encounter him out of doors. If the minotaur is not in the caves the Minotaur Dizziness effect of his cavern is not in place.

Terrain: The floors of this cavern are difficult terrain. It is unworked, natural cavern flooring.

Lighting: Bright Light from lanterns. (Minotaurs in this edition don’t have darkvision (or infravision))

Minotaur Dizziness (zone, arcane, illusion):

Your head swims. The walls of this place seem to waver just a bit. After a moment you feel better, but a faint buzz persists. You can’t seem to locate the source.

All (non-minotaur) intelligent creatures that enter the cavern are susceptible to the minotaur dizziness effect. It is a zone that covers all squares of the minotaur cavern. A creature that starts its turn in the cavern must make a saving throw. If it fails each step it moves that round will be in a random direction rather than its intended direction.

DC 18 arcana check will reveal the presence of the zone. DC 22 will reveal that it is not native to the area, i.e. that it is caused by a present living force such as a creature rather than being a persistent magical anomaly. A character can remember a legend about a minotaur that caused people to become lost forever with a DC 20 history check. After a character has seen the minotaur, a DC 16 arcana check will reveal that the zone is caused subconsciously by the minotaur and that it is not affected by it.

Suggested implementation: Make the saving throw secretly for each character each round. If they fail, wait for them to declare their move and then randomly decide which direction they move. If you are using minis, then tell them their new location (or place thier mini in the new location) otherwise secretly keep track of where they are.

Area 42: Stirge Cavern.

I took this encounter straight from the original. It is definitely more than should be included, but it can be easily toned down by simply removing some of the stirges. The stirges are starving and will attack anything with blood in it. Alternatively you could have the stirges be affected by the Minotaur Dizziness, making them easier prey for the party.

Name	Level	Type	XP
13 Stirges	1	Lurker	1300
encounter Level	6	Total	1300

Area 43: Fire Beetles

There are 5 fire beetles scavenging here. They will not attack unless a character gets within 4 squares of it. Once provoked, they will fight until reduced to 25% of their HP.

Name	Level	Type	XP
5 Fire Beetles	1	Brute	500
encounter Level	1	Total	500

Area 44: Spiders

Silken sticky strands cover the floors, walls and ceilings of this area of the caverns. The cavern floors are already difficult terrain, but if they weren’t they would be now. If it comes to matter, the walls and ceilings are also difficult terrain here. The spiders will only attack creatures that touch their webs.

Name	Level	Type	XP
1 Ettercap Webspinner	5	Controller	200
2 Ettercap Fanguard	4	Skirmisher	350
2 Deathjump Spider	4	Skirmisher	350
encounter Level	4	Total	900

Area 45: Minotaur Den

Here he lives, the big baddy himself.

Name	Level	Type	XP
1 Minotaur Warrior	10	Soldier	500

Make perception checks for the minotaur as soon as the characters enter the caves. As soon as he hears them he will begin to hunt them, preferably sneaking up and taking them from behind. If he encounters the players in the wild he will try to use the same tactics. If you wish to make the encounter more difficult, then have him use hit and run tactics as he moves throughout the caverns. With the dizziness in effect he should be able to separate out the party and pick them off. If this will be too difficult for your players, then have him rush in slashing and goring.

His home cave is decorated with patterns of bones and skulls. He has patiently crafted for himself a large throne made from the bones of his victims. It is held together quite sturdily by sinews taken from his victims. The throne wieghs 200 pounds and is worth 350 gp if the PC’s can find a buyer. The throne would only sell to someone with an evil bent or an obsession with death. There is no-one in the keep who will buy the throne, but Jothran Yolandus, Marlin Drouhust, or the Mason’s Guild can all help them find a buyer. They will all charge 25 gp for thier services (payable up front) and the transaction will take 3 weeks. There is a 10% chance that the throne will be lost or stolen. Jothran will re-imburse 200 gp, Marlin will re-imburse nothing, and the Mason’s Guild will pay full value if this unhappy even happens.

He keeps a horde of captured items behind a big rock in the back of his cave. It isn’t really a secret door (DC 12 perception to find) so much as a big rock. It takes a DC 26 strength check to move to rock enough for a small creature to get through. Another DC 26 strength check will allow a medium creature to move through.

Cave G: Shunned Cavern.

This is a very dark cavern. It smells musty, even near the entrance. A DC 19 perception will reveal the sound of dripping water.

Lighting: Darkness (I’m giving the owlbear darkvision rather than low-light vision)

Terrain: Difficult. This is unworked cavern floor.

Area 32: Waste pit. This is where the owlbear dumps all her trash. There are scattered bones, bits of tattered clothes and armor and rusted weapons. There are also 2d4 copper, 1d6 silver, and 1d4 gold scatterd amongs the refuse. If the characters do any searching, make a perception check for owlbear. If it beats a DC 27 it will come to investigate.

Area 33: Underground pool.

The sounds of dripping water grow louder here. In this cavern small rivulets of water drip into a large pool of water. Something catches your light at the far end of the pool.

The light at the far end of the pool is a patch of fungus that glows under ultraviolet radiation (like light). When the characters move within the tremorsense range of the ochre jellies they will move to attack.

Name	Level	Type	XP
3 Ochre Jelly	3	Elite Brute	900
encounter Level	4	Total	900

Area 34: Owlbear. This is where the owlbear lives. She goes out to hunt when she’s hungry, but a surprising amount of creatures come here for the water. She is hungry and will attack unless given food right away.