Wherein your humble scribe presents a Five Room Dungeon for use with Mini Six, with some creation help from the random tables in D6 Fantasy Locations. This is, of course, largely compatible with D6 Fantasy as well.
Deep within the scorched desert men call Behtep Seretu one will find the great pyramid of Kheptah Atemu, the long-dead Pharaoh of ancient Khemset. Legend tells of a great treasure that was entombed with the Pharaoh – an amulet in the likeness of a scarab, created by the god Khepri himself, that greatly extends the life of its wearer. Like all Pharaohs, Kheptah Atemu must also have been sent to the afterlife with countless artifacts and a kingdom’s worth of gold. True, the legend mentions some kind of curse as well, but those stories are just told to keep away the cowardly, aren’t they? And you, my bloodthirsty gang of tomb robbers, are anything but cowardly.
Room One: Entrance and Guardian(s)
Rising only half its height from the sands in which nine centuries’ worth of storms have buried it stands the great pyramid. A grand archway yawns blackly, inviting the would-be tomb robbers to enter. The climb to reach this doorway is child’s play for any skilled raider. Yet, as the entrance is approached, something strange happens. The faded hieroglyphics depicting the jackal-headed Children of Anubis standing guard on either side of the archway shimmer and begin to move. They detach themselves – paper thin, yet as real as thirst – from the stone walls and attack!
Children Of Anubis (Scale 0)
Might 4D Agility 3D Wit 1D Charm 1D
Skills: Sword 6D, Dodge 6D
Gear: Khopesh (+2D+2)
Static: Dodge 18, Block 12, Parry 18, Soak 12
Room Two: Puzzle or Roleplaying Challenge
The entrance of the pyramid is an enormous, hieroglyphic-covered hallway that descends at a gentle slope, switching back on itself often and abruptly. After a significant amount of this travel, the tomb robbers reach a large, spherical room, across which there is no bridge. A tall, wide spire rises from the center of floor of this room, and runs all the way to the ceiling. A doorway that matches the one the thieves are standing in lies directly across from where the party stands.
Surely there must be some kind of puzzle here, and indeed there is. A Lore check (TN 15) will allow the tomb robbers to recall that at every switchback they passed through on their way here there was a specific, distinctive hieroglyph that appeared nowhere else along the way. Each of these symbols marks an otherwise impossible to see pressure plate. If each plate is depressed in the order they are encountered from the entrance on down the spire will rotate within the circular room such that it will serve as a bridge across the room to the doorway on the other side.
Room Three: Trick or Setback
Deeper within the hallways of the pyramid the raiders encounter a “wall” of fist-sized stone scarabs that continuously rain down from the ceiling and vanish through a narrow drain in the floor. The scarabs fall with alarming velocity, doing 9D damage to anyone who sticks an appendage into the curtain of rain. Any weapon, pole, or other item inserted into the falling scarabs will quickly be battered beyond use. Light and a continuation of the hallway can be occasionally glimpsed through brief gaps in the rain of scarabs.
Upon further inspection it can be noted that a very narrow path may be navigated through the falling scarab stones. To do so requires a series of three Contortion checks against a TN of 15+ the number of dice the character has in Might. Failure results in 3D damage and a retreat by one step, such that the number of Contortion checks needed returns to its previous value.
Once a character has made it through this obstacle and reached the other side, a row of three levers can be seen further down the hallway. When set to the proper sequence (Up/Down/Up) the rain of scarabs will cease for a brief period during which two people may cross the “wall.” A third person attempting to cross must make an Agility check vs TN 13 or be caught in the restarted rain of scarabs, taking 3D damage. Fourth and subsequent individuals may not cross (without taking the 9D damage, that is) until the levers have been set to turn the rain off again.
Room Four: Climax, Big Battle, or Conflict
The burial chamber of Kheptah Atemu is large and airy. Sunlight fills the room, streaming in from carefully crafted shafts built into the pyramid itself. The room is also completely silent – having been enchanted to eliminate all sound. In addition to making communication between tomb robbers quite difficult, this divine silence prevents the casting of any spells within the confines of this room.
These serene beauty of the scene is marred by jarring evidence of a long-passed massacre. Multiple skeletons, some dressed in the garb of burial attendants, some seeming to have been royalty as indicated by their accoutrements, lie strewn about the room, their bones shattered, their skulls fractured, and so on.
A beautiful lapis and gold sarcophagus decorated with numerous scarab designs stands at the center of this room. A Lore check (TN 12) reveals that the ancient Khemseti held the scarab to be a sign of rebirth. Those opening the sarcophagus (Lift check TN 30 – up to 4 characters may add their Lift rolls together to remove the heavy golden lid) will soon discover just how real the belief in rebirth can be, as the mummified body within the sarcophagus returns to life and attacks the thieves.
Kheptah Atemu, Mummified Pharaoh (Scale 0)
Might 5D Agility 1D Wit 1D Charm 1D
Skills: Brawling 7D, Dodge 2D
Gear: Scarab Amulet Of Khepri (+6 armor, allows wearer to regenerate)
Static: Dodge 6, Block 21, Parry 15, Soak 15 (6)
The Scarab Amulet, worn by the mummified Kheptah Atemu, provides divine armor and allows its wearer to regenerate, but it does so at a great cost. Whosoever wears this amulet cannot remove it and will return from death each time he dies with a permanent, cumulative 1D reduction to all Attributes. Only when all Attributes have reached 0D will the wearer truly die. So deceased, the wearer will become a mummy (as the one above) bereft of free will and incapable of any action other than horrific, unstoppable violence directed towards any and all – friend or foe. In this state only can the wearer be killed and the Amulet removed.
Room Five: Reward, Revelation, Or Plot Twist
It is true that Kheptah Atemu was buried with a kingdom’s worth of gold. Numerous golden idols, statues, and trinkets are kept within a secret room located just off the main burial chamber. This room can be found with a Search check against TN 20. In addition to the valuable treasure – which is too much for any small group to carry easily or far in the Behtep Seretu desert – a papyrus scroll is found that, if it can be deciphered (Lore check, TN 25), tells the story of the Amulet of Khepri and what befell Kheptah Atemu as he wore it.
This room has been trapped to release a dehydrating dust upon all who enter it. The trap may be discovered and disarmed with a Traps roll against TN 22. If not disarmed, it will activate and each person exposed to the dust must succeed in a Stamina check against TN 20 or become afflicted with an unslakable thirst. Afflicted thieves will immediately become Wounded and will continue to decline along the Wound Level track one step per hour until they perish unless they can consume 5 gallons of water within 5 hours – a difficult proposition this deep in the desert. A more disturbing cure is to consume 1 gallon of fresh human blood, which those afflicted will actively thirst for.
