TEXT: 1
  Table of conTenTs
  Level Map  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .2
  Foreward   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .3
  Background   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .5
  Chamber 01   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .5
  Chamber 02   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .6
  Chamber 03   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .7
  Chamber 04   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .8
  Chamber 05   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .9
  Chamber 06   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .10
  Chamber 07   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .12
  Chamber 08   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .13
  Chamber 09   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .13
  Chamber 10   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .15
  Credits   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .18
  OGL   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .18
  
  2
  The black skull laughs 
  Dungeon Map
  
  3
  The black skull 
  laughs
  An adventure for 4-6 characters of 7th-9th level
  by Ed Greenwood
  forwarD:
  You might notice that the map to the Black 
  Skull Laughs is a little... plain. Simple even. 
  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE funky dungeons 
  with irregular-shaped rooms, little connecting 
  stairs that descend and curve, linking secret 
  passages, etc . It’s just that I wanted to do 
  two things for this adventure: 1 . provide 
  a realistic dwarven-made minor waystop 
  warehouse (which, let’s face it, would be 
  very simple and utlitarian in layout), and 2 . 
  show that even a boring predictable layout 
  could yield adventure fun, properly dressed . 
  I hope you agree!
  -Ed Greenwood
  aDvenTure 
  backgrounD
  The High Lord of Endreth is distraught. His 
  crown is gone, seized while he slept by “scores 
  of marching skeletons” who overwhelmed the 
  few guards of tiny Endreth Keep, took the High 
  Lord’s crown, and marched down Endreth 
  Vale to the Crypt of the Black Skull, an ancient 
  dwarven goods-hold used for centuries to inter 
  the noble dead of Endreth. The Crypt is haunted, 
  crawling with undead and fell magic, and local 
  legends say it is ruled by the Black Skull—the 
  undead remains of evil Lord Blackskell, who 
  founded Endreth six centuries ago.
  High Lord Berlus Thoreraun is frantic to get 
  his crown back. Persistent local rumors have 
  whispered that the crown—a distinctive plain steel 
  circlet with a singl dagger-blade “glory spike” 
  above the wearer’s forehead—keeps its wearers 
  alive beyond their due span of years, if no steel or 
  magic slays them. Since the crown was seized four 
  nights ago, the tall and hale Thoreraun has become 
  bent, wrinkled, and frail. His hair falls out in great 
  tufts. He has offered his own weight in rubies to 
  anyone who returns the crown to him, intact. The 
  Endreth riches are scattered in the keeping of local 
  holy men, who attest that there are rubies enough 
  to make good the High Lord’s promise.
  The Crypt of the Black Skull is hollowed 
  out of a grassy hill (actually solid rock 
  under a light drift of soil) . It is centuries old, 
  and its existence is widely known . Dwarves 
  built it as a secure storehouse when trading 
  was profitable, then slowly converted it to a 
  mausoleum as the trade routes died out . 
  The True History of the Crypt: A few 
  generations ago, a magic-wielding outlaw 
  named Rovan took over the crypt to use as 
  a hideout for his bandit gang . The exact time 
  frame can be adjusted to fit the campaign; the 
  oldest humans around probably remember 
  these events from when they were children 
  (but old people tell wild stories) . The bandits 
  are thought to have looted most of the dwarves’ 
  buried wealth and rigged the place with 
  magical defenses for their own protection . 
  But something happened to Rovan and 
  his bandits . No one knows what, but it was 
  sudden; they retreated to their lair after a 
  raid and never came back out . 
  What happened is that Rovan disturbed 
  something the dwarves had entombed in 
  the farthest chamber . It was one of their 
  own most powerful warrior-wizards, a 
  dwarf named Blackskell, who had sought 
  the ultimate power of lichdom . The dwarves 
  killed him before he could finish his vile 
  rite of transformation and sealed him into 
  the last chamber of what was then still a 
  storehouse . But the dwarf had completed 
  more of the rite than his executioners knew . 
  Negative energy was flowing to him—a 
  mere trickle, barely any at all—but it was 
  enough to bring about undeath . 
  After walling Blackskell into the last 
  chamber, the trade routes went into decline 
  and profits fell off. The dwarves whispered 
  that it was Blackskell’s curse . “Blackskell” 
  gradually morphed into “Black Skull,” and 
  as the need for a trade warehouse waned, 
  the dwarves converted more and more of the 
  chambers into mausoleums . Eventually, they 
  
  4
  moved their operation to a different area 
  entirely . The noble families of Endreth then 
  used the front chamber as a mausoleum for 
  many years, until Rovan moved into the area .
  These events happened so long ago and 
  the result was so psychically devastating that 
  the warrior once called Blackskell now knows 
  itself only as the Black Skull . When Rovan 
  opened the last chamber, the Black Skull was 
  set loose . It killed the bandits, performed 
  experiments and rites upon their corpses, 
  raised many of the dwarves and other 
  creatures interred in the tombs, and modified 
  the Crypt to its own liking . Finally, after 
  decades of mad contemplation, it dispatched 
  skeletons to seize High Lord Thoreraun’s 
  crown, in the belief that the crown was the 
  only missing piece of its ambition . 
  What Can Be Learned Locally: The layout of 
  the Crypt is well known from local nursery 
  rhymes and legends, so characters can get 
  a rough description of the floorplan (“ten 
  rooms, one behind another, connected by 
  thirty-foot corridors”) from almost anyone 
  in Endreth with a DC 10 Diplomacy check . 
  Locals are quick to point out that no one 
  with any sense goes near the place .
  A second, DC 15 Diplomacy check finds one 
  of those people without much sense who has 
  gone near the Crypt in the last year or knows 
  someone who has . They describe the tall, black, 
  iron “gates” of the Crypt (huge, solid doors 
  made of many layers of iron plates and straps 
  bolted together and well-oiled to keep rust at 
  bay) as now standing ajar, bent and twisted by 
  some terrific force that erupted from within. 
  They attest that nothing lives there, even 
  though it’s the perfect sort of dark, dreary place 
  where one expects to find bats and coyotes. 
  Those bold few who ventured within a few 
  yards of the entrance describe scraping sounds, 
  like bone dragging on stone, and report seeing 
  “eerie, flying things, and worse.” 
  Wild tales and ghost stories can be 
  thrown into the local rumor mix, too, to 
  keep characters on their toes . 
  The locals’ physical descriptions are 
  correct . The crypt consists of ten identical 
  chambers, each 30 feet from front to back 
  and 70 feet side-to-side . The rooms are 
  joined by identical, straight, 10-foot-wide, 
  30-foot-long corridors that extend from the 
  center of one chamber’s back wall to the 
  center of the next chamber’s front wall . 
  The Safe Route: A DC 20 Knowledge 
  (History) or Knowledge (Local) check turns 
  up a villager or local herder with one more 
  very useful piece of information . During the 
  time when the bandit Rovan held the Crypt, 
  he protected it with deadly, magical traps . He 
  also engineered a safe path through the traps 
  so he and his bandits could get in and out 
  quickly . The safe route involved following a 
  specific path through the chambers. Legend 
  says that the path hugged the walls in some 
  sort of pattern, but no one knows for sure—
  assuming it ever really existed at all and 
  wasn’t just another wild rumor .
  conDiTions in The crypT
  No living thing larger than a mouse has moved 
  in the Crypts for a long time . Everything 
  is covered in thick dust . There is no light 
  except what the characters bring with them . 
  The front chambers are nicely finished with 
  smoothed walls and stone-tiled floors.  The 
  construction becomes gradually less polished 
  as one moves deeper into the Crypts . The 
  walls change to brick, then to rough-cut stone . 
  The floors become uneven flagstones, then 
  crushed gravel, then chiseled stone . Many of 
  the walls had niches carved into them where 
  bodies or coffins were placed, but most of the 
  niches are now empty .
  The Black Curtains: A black curtain hangs 
  across the rear entrance from every chamber, 
  closing it off from ceiling to floor. These 
  curtains radiate silence (aura faint illusion) 
  and darkness (aura faint evocation) from the 
  back (corridor) side, so it blocks both light 
  and sound from deeper in the Crypt . They 
  are magically bonded to the ceiling so they 
  can’t be torn loose . A curtain can be sliced 
  from the ceiling or burned, but either action 
  destroys its magic . Of course, the curtain 
  can just be pushed aside when someone 
  walks through and allowed to fall back into 
  place afterward . Their sole purpose is to cut 
  off sound and vision between chambers.
  Characters hear a faint, sad moaning 
  sound when they touch a curtain . With a 
  DC 25 Perception check, they can identify 
  that the moan is coming from the curtain 
  itself; otherwise, the sound’s origin is 
  impossible to locate . 
  The Safe Route: Rumors about a safe route past 
  the Crypt’s traps are true, although the Black 
  Skull has changed some of the particulars . 
  The safe route passes through the first nine 
  
  5
  chambers of the Crypt; by following it, anyone 
  can traverse the chambers without activating 
  most of their defenses . In general, characters are 
  safe only if they stay on the path the entire time 
  they’re in a chamber; if they leave the path, then 
  get back on it, they’ve lost its protection in that 
  chamber . Exceptions are noted individually .
  The safe path hugs either the right or left 
  wall of a chamber, from entrance to exit . 
  It is always 10 feet wide . The 30-foot-long 
  corridors between chambers are completely 
  safe (with one exception, the final corridor). 
  Unless noted otherwise, creatures from the 
  Crypt will not pursue characters who leave 
  a chamber, headed either toward the exit or 
  deeper into the tomb .
  Assuming the entrance is at the bottom, 
  the path is as follows: 
  Chamber 9
  Chamber 8
  Chamber 7
  Chamber 6
  Chamber 5
  Chamber 4
  Chamber 3
  Chamber 2
  Chamber 1
  There is no safe path through chamber 10 .
  The Black Skull placed clues marking which 
  directions are safe, but the clues are subtle and 
  subject to misinterpretation . Understanding 
  the paths is of enormous help to the characters, 
  so it’s best if players figure out the clues on their 
  own rather than receiving the information on 
  the basis of a simple skill check . They’ll be more 
  likely to pay attention to possible clues if they 
  heard in town that such a path might exist .
  The most startling things in the room are the 
  twelve human skulls that float in air and dart 
  from one spot to another. They move forward 
  and seem almost to gaze at you with their empty 
  eye sockets before darting away again. A few of 
  them always cluster about the floating coffin.
  The dwarven skull at the entrance is looking 
  toward the right; it is the first clue to the 
  direction of the safe path .
  The flying skulls are the combined 
  remnants of three skull swarms (CR 2, AC 
  14 [f-footed 12], hp 9 each, Fort +0, Ref 
  +2, Will +3, melee 1d6, collective belch of 
  lightning/electric energy [1d6 dmg, Ranged 
  Touch +3]) created by the outlaw wizard 
  Rovan to keep folk away from the Crypt 
  when his outlaw band was using it to store 
  their ill-gotten gains. As long as characters 
  leave the floating casket alone, the skulls are 
  only curious, not hostile . They dart behind 
  the floating coffin if attacked or if magic is 
  unleashed in the chamber. If the floating 
  casket is disturbed, the skulls attack.
  The caskets in the chamber held the 
  faithful wives and mistresses of the many 
  High Lords of Endreth . Every one has been 
  plundered by adventurers and now contains 
  only harmless black mold, cobwebs, the 
  The crypT of The 
  black skull
  The great iron doors of the tomb must have stood 
  twelve feet tall before something buckled them 
  as if they were parchment or gigantic, dried 
  leaves. Now they yawn wide, bent and twisted, 
  their bottom edges gouged into the earth and 
  overgrown with vines. Between them is a dark, 
  empty opening, ten feet wide and ten feet high.
  1. enTrance chaMber 
  (cr 8) 
  (SAFE: RIGHT)
  The first thing you see at the entrance to the 
  chamber past the broken gates is a skull nailed to 
  the floor with a long spike. It probably is the skull 
  of a dwarf. The chamber beyond is about seventy 
  feet wide and thirty feet deep. It is crowded with 
  at least three dozen rotten, wooden coffins. Most 
  of the coffins sit in niches around the walls, but 
  some have collapsed (or been dragged) into the 
  room, where they lie in heaps of crumbling wood. 
  Most of the wooden coffins have been forced open, 
  splintered apart, or had holes knocked through 
  them. The damage appears to have been done 
  long ago. Yellowing bones can be seen within.
  There are also four stone caskets, two each along 
  the front and back walls. The lids to these have been 
  pushed off and lie askew or smashed on the floor.
  A fifth stone sarcophagus floats in midair, 
  about ten feet from the center of the back wall. 
  This casket is closed and undamaged. A ten-foot-
  wide black curtain hangs on the wall behind it.
  
  6
  shriveled bodies of long-dead spiders, and 
  the bones of the dead—minus their hands 
  and heads . Lurking in every casket are two 
  crawling hands (CR ½, AC 14, hp 9 each, 
  Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +2, claw +5 (1d1+1 plus 
  grab, can climb, mark quarry [must wound 
  creature to mark it] and strangle) that 
  will scuttle and leap to attack the nearest 
  living creatures, once their casket has been 
  disturbed . The hands are also Rovan’s work .
  So is the floating coffin. It is empty 
  except for four crawling hands . The chest is 
  protected by an effect similar to spell turning 
  (caster level 13th)—it reflects the first 10 
  spell levels to be cast at it .
  If an unreflected spell affects the floating 
  casket or anything physically touches it, the 
  casket explodes, hurling stone chunks in 
  all directions and dealing 4d8 hp weapon 
  damage to everyone in the chamber . 
  Characters can make DC 19 Reflex saves to 
  cut the damage in half . 
  The casket detonation also hurls the 
  four crawling hands (which are immune 
  to damage from the blast) into the room . 
  Select their targets randomly and roll a 
  melee attack for each. A hand always tries 
  to grapple after a successful hit, and always 
  strangles if it grapples . 
  Anyone who keeps to the safe path 
  through this room will be ignored by the 
  flying skulls and crawling hands. If they 
  leave the path at any time, however, then 
  they are no longer protected . Keeping to 
  the safe path involves climbing over a few 
  heaps of broken coffins, but that by itself 
  presents no danger .
  The first coffin along the wall to the left 
  of the entrance is alone among the wooden 
  coffins in that it hasn’t been dragged from 
  its shelf or broken open . It contains an intact 
  and harmless human skeleton that still has 
  its head and hands, and no crawling hands . 
  A darkhood is draped over the skull (see 
  below). This coffin can’t be reached from the 
  safe path without using ropes or poles .
  Treasure
  DarkhooD
  Aura moderate transmutation; CL 5th
  Slot head; Price 27,000 gp; Weight 1 lb .
  DESCRIPTION
  This black head covering has no eyeholes, 
  though two grim eyes are painted on its 
  face, and the wearer has no difficulty seeing 
  through the cloth . The hood gives the 
  wearer darkvision to 60 feet (or if the wearer 
  already has darkvision, extends its range by 
  60 feet) and the benefits of the death ward 
  spell once per day for 7 minutes . The death 
  ward automatically affects the wearer the 
  first time each day he is exposed to magical 
  death effect, energy drain, negative energy 
  effect, or channeled negative energy. The 
  hood itself takes no damage from acid 
  (though it offers its wearer no protection 
  against acid attacks or effects).
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements 
  Craft 
  Wondrous 
  Item, 
  darkvision, death ward; Cost 13,500 gp
  2. guarD chaMber (cr 8)
  (SAFE: LEFT)
  Two lines of impassive, armored figures stretch 
  right across this otherwise bare stone room; it’s 
  impossible to proceed without passing between 
  them. All of these human figures stand silent 
  and motionless in full plate armor, their faces 
  concealed by helms with no visors, every limb 
  and joint encased in overlapping, gleaming, 
  blued metal. Their hands are at their sides, where 
  swords and daggers hang in scabbards. 
  A mummified hand is nailed to the floor at 
  the entrance. A black ring—possibly tarnished 
  silver—circles the index finger.
  The same sort of black curtain that you 
  encountered in the Entrance Chamber hangs 
  across the back of this chamber. 
  Something small and yellowish-white lies on 
  the floor in the front right corner of the room. 
  The mummified hand points out the safe 
  path toward the left . The hand is not 
  “pointing” with its index finger; it is flat on 
  the floor, palm up, with the fingers to the 
  left . The ring is silver and so badly tarnished 
  that it’s worth only 1 silver piece . The bones 
  will fall apart if the hand is kicked or pried 
  off the floor to get at the ring.
  
  7
  There is a total of 28 guardians standing 
  in two rows of 14; that’s one guardian every 
  5 feet from the right wall to the left . The 
  first row is 10 feet into the room, and the 
  second is 10 feet behind the first. They were 
  arranged here by the wizard Rovan . 
  The four suits closest to the left wall (on 
  the safe path) are illusions. They flicker if 
  someone walks through them but don’t 
  dissipate unless swept away by magic . The 
  undead of the Crypt don’t see them at all . 
  Fourteen of the armored suits are undead 
  guardian phantom armor enhanced to 
  gain a +3 morale bonus to attacks with 
  their longswords (CR 2, AC 21 [touch 11, 
  f-footed 20], hp 13 each, Fort +1, Ref +2, Will 
  +3, melee longsword +8 [1d8+2/19-20] or 2 
  slams +4 [1d4+3]) . Characters who examine 
  the armor closely can detect that some are 
  undead with a DC 26 Perception check . 
  If any undead suit is attacked, struck, or 
  touched in any way (by characters, by other 
  undead, or even by shrapnel or a kicked stone), 
  that suit animates and attacks. Each round, 
  1d10 more suits animate and join the fight. 
  They keep attacking until destroyed or until 
  they have no more foes in this room . In that 
  case, they return to their original positions . 
  Characters who never step off the safe path 
  in this chamber won’t be attacked by any 
  phantom guardian armor . They are fair game 
  once they step off the path anywhere in this 
  room, even if they get back on it immediately .
  The paranoid wizard Rovan hid a wand of 
  floating disk inside the back-and-breast plates 
  of one suit of guardian phantom armor . This 
  phantom armor will never fall down, even if 
  its legs are knocked out from under it, it’s 
  knocked to pieces, or when it’s killed . The 
  suit (or what’s left of it) just hangs in the air, 
  and the wand can be removed intact .
  The remaining ten suits of armor are just 
  that: empty suits of armor . The joints are 
  riveted together to keep the suits standing, 
  but they could be made functional again 
  with extensive repair .
  Treasure
  wanD of floaTing Disk
  Aura moderate transmutation; CL 1st
  Slot head; Price 1,600 gp; Weight 1 lb .
  DESCRIPTION
  This wand of floating disk has 26 charges 
  and also glows constantly with a greenish, 
  as if a light spell has been cast on it . If the last 
  charge of the wand is used, it stops glowing .
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements 
  Craft 
  Wondrous 
  Item, 
  floating disk, light; Cost: 800 gp
  3. The inner guarD (cr 8)
  (SAFE: LEFT)
  This chamber is bare except for six intact, 
  upright, Large inhuman skeletons arranged in 
  two rows. The bones have aged to a yellowish 
  brown. The creatures have long, curved claws 
  like rusty scimitars; one of them is missing its 
  left arm. Scraps of mismatched armor rust on 
  their bones. The skeletons at the four corners 
  of the formation wear four different crowns. A 
  black curtain hangs at the center of the back wall.
  What appears to be the arm from one of the 
  skeletons is shackled to the floor in the entrance 
  by two chains only a few links long.
  Something small glints on the floor, off to the left.
  The arm in the entrance points toward the 
  left. It is chained to the floor by manacles at 
  the wrist and shoulder in such a way that it 
  can be lifted a few inches off the floor but 
  can’t be repositioned . Tendons still hold the 
  bones together tightly .
  The glint to the left of the entrance comes 
  from a row of four gold coins . They stretch 
  from the front portion of the safe path to 
  the back, passing between the two troll 
  skeletons on the left and the two in the 
  center . They can’t be picked up without 
  leaving the safe path unless they’re scraped 
  closer with a pole or some other tool . That’s 
  their purpose; to lure the curious off the safe 
  path, in case the skeletons and crowns don’t 
  do the trick .
  The skeletons are those of trolls . 
  None of the crowns resemble the Crown 
  of Endreth . At the front left corner is a 
  crown of two circlets, one atop the other, 
  joined at the front and back by plain golden 
  medallions in the shape of shields . At the 
  
  8
  front right is a crown of a single golden 
  circlet with nine fanglike points projecting 
  up, evenly spaced all around . At the back 
  left corner is a tall crown that looks as if it’s 
  made from thin, gold-plated rods fused into 
  a tapering cylinder and decorated with tiny 
  golden leaves and buds . At the right rear is a 
  crown that resembles a golden, open-faced 
  helm with three thornlike points sweeping 
  up above each ear .
  The first time someone touches a crown, 
  they activate a magic mouth spell that speaks 
  these words in a cracked, breathless voice: 
  “You show intelligence to have come this far. 
  Consider my offer: take one crown, then leave, 
  and none of you will die.” 
  The voice is that of the Black Skull, though 
  characters have no way of knowing this . The 
  offer is genuine … to a point.
  A character can determine the value of a 
  crown with a DC 25 Appraise check (these 
  are not common items) . The DC increases 
  to 28 if the appraisal is performed without 
  handling the crown . 
  The crowns and skeletons can be touched 
  safely . If a crown is removed, all six skeletons 
  (CR 3, AC 14 [touch 12, f-footed 11], hp 
  27each, Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +5, melee bite +8 
  [1d8+5], 2 claws +8 [1d6+5]) animate . They 
  stand more fully erect as if inhaling a large 
  breath, turn their skulls in unison to face 
  the person holding the crown, and their eye 
  sockets light up with a dull glow, but they 
  take no overtly hostile action . They watch 
  this way for 30 seconds . 
  If the characters are still in the Crypt at 
  the end of 30 seconds, the skeletons move 
  to close off the black curtain across the inner 
  exit from this chamber. They do not attack; 
  they position themselves to block further 
  ingress into the Crypt .
  As soon as someone strikes a skeleton, 
  affects it with magic, or damages a crown 
  that a skeleton is wearing, whether or 
  not the skeletons have animated yet, the 
  skeletons spring to the attack. Once a fight 
  is underway, the troll skeletons fight until 
  they are destroyed or the Crypt is clear of 
  intruders . They will mindlessly hack at 
  fallen or dead intruders until the bodies are 
  diced into gory sludge .
  The skeletons cannot attack anyone who 
  hasn’t stepped off the safe path in this 
  chamber unless that character attacks them. 
  Removing a crown without leaving the safe 
  path is nearly impossible, so the skeletons 
  should have at least one person to fight. 
  They have no restriction against being on 
  the safe path . If they have no more allowed 
  targets, they position themselves to prevent 
  characters from moving deeper into the 
  Crypt and try to drive the intruders out by 
  advancing menacingly; if they can’t attack, 
  they can still threaten . In this situation, they 
  ready actions to attack anyone who steps 
  off the safe path, attacks them, or casts a 
  spell at them .
  These skeletal trolls are the undead 
  servants sent forth by the Black Skull to 
  seize the crown . He adorned four of them 
  with crowns that he deemed unimportant 
  from burials deeper in this crypt, thinking 
  this might bribe off any fools from Endreth 
  who came to recover their ruler’s crown .
  Treasure
  Four gold crowns: the one with two shields 
  (96 gp), the nine-pointed crown (120 gp), 
  the ring of golden rods (400 gp), and the six-
  thorned crown (280 gp) .
  4. The chaMber of The 
  haMMer (cr 8)
  (SAFE: RIGHT)
  A huge, sculpted dwarven hammer hangs from 
  the center of the ceiling, head down, its handle 
  seeming to be part of the surrounding stone. It is 
  glossy black, gleams with a high polish, and a faint 
  aura of greenish light pulses and flows around it.
  Standing in the chamber are two rows of 
  intact, upright human skeletons, their bones 
  brown and caked with dust and spider webs. 
  There are 21 in each row. Each skeleton wears 
  disintegrating scraps of leather armor and holds 
  a rusty scimitar or other blade at its side, with 
  one exception: the skeleton in the center of the 
  back row holds a glowing longsword pointed 
  toward the ceiling as if in silent salute. 
  The dried, blackened foot of some unfortunate 
  creature—probably human, but the remains are 
  too mangled to be sure—is spiked to the floor in 
  the chamber’s entrance. A black curtain hangs 
  across the back wall.
  The toes of the foot point toward the right, 
  indicating that the safe path lies in that direction .
  The hammer was carved along with 
  the rest of the chamber; it’s not attached 
  to the ceiling, it is part of the ceiling . This 
  nonmagical adornment marked the spot 
  where the dwarves negotiated and sealed 
  
  9
  trade deals (they were negotiated “under the 
  hammer,” which means openly and fairly 
  to the dwarves) . Characters recognize the 
  symbolism with a DC 10 Knowledge (History) 
  check, or automatically if they’re dwarves . 
  The wizard Rovan cast the spell that gives the 
  hammer its pale glow . Aside from that, it has 
  no power and is completely harmless .
  The skeletons were placed here by 
  Rovan to protect the more important, 
  deep chambers . Close examination of any 
  skeleton reveals clearly that its bones are 
  completely splintered . They must be held 
  together by magic, because without it, they 
  would crumble into fragments .
  If intruders keep to the safe path, the 
  skeletons remain motionless . If anyone steps 
  off the path, anything touches a skeleton 
  or the floor off the safe path through a 
  character’s action, or a skeleton is attacked, 
  all 42 skeletons react . Their bones whirl up 
  into a bonestorm (CR 8, AC 23 [touch 20, 
  f-footed 17], hp 72, Fort +5, Ref +11, Will +11, 
  SR 20, melee swarm [3d6 plus 3d6 unholy]) 
  that rages through the chamber for 2 rounds . 
  Characters on the safe path are not attacked 
  by the swirling bones, but they are subject to 
  the bonestorm’s unholy winds . Those that 
  fail their DC 18 Fortitude save are pulled 
  off the safe path and into the storm. At the 
  end of the 2nd round, the bones reform into 
  two silent rows of skeletons again—but if 
  someone is still off the safe path at that point, 
  the storm erupts all over again the moment 
  the person so much as shifts his foot . 
  While the bonestorm is raging, the armor 
  and blades of the skeletons whirl through the 
  air along with the bones . The lone exception 
  is the glowing longsword, a longsword of 
  healing (see below) . When the skeletons 
  fly apart into a bonestorm, the longsword 
  remains motionless in the air exactly where 
  it was . At the end of the bonestorm, the 
  ranks of skeletons seem to reform around 
  the sword, as if it is their anchor point . 
  The longsword can be claimed three ways . 
  The first is to destroy the bonestorm; at the 
  moment of its destruction, the sword clatters 
  to the floor. The second is to snatch the sword 
  from the air while the storm is raging . If this 
  is done, the bones won’t reform into skeletons 
  and the bonestorm is effectively destroyed—
  but this final storm lasts for 4 rounds instead 
  of 2! The third is to freeze the bonestorm in 
  midair, which can be done by uttering the 
  word that is stitched in clear, foot-high letters 
  onto the back (the side toward chamber 5) of 
  the black curtain in this chamber . The word is 
  “HULGORL .” If this is said aloud while the 
  bonestorm is attacking, the bones instantly 
  become motionless in the air . Characters 
  can walk through the room safely, and the 
  longsword can be taken. This effect lasts until 
  hulgorl is pronounced a second time or for 3 
  rounds, whichever is shorter, whereupon the 
  storm recommences . If the sword was taken, 
  the storm lasts for a total of 4 rounds instead of 
  2 before being destroyed . The word hulgorl can 
  freeze the bladestorm just once per 24 hours .
  Treasure
  TeMplar’s blaDe
  Aura moderate conjuration; CL 3rd
  Slot head; Price 4,750 gp; Weight 3 lb2 .
  DESCRIPTION
  This +1 longsword can also create the effect of 
  a cure light wounds three times per day with 
  a touch . If used to heal the wielder, this is a 
  swift action .
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Magic Arms and 
  Armor, cure moderate wounds; Cost 2,875 gp
  5. The warning (cr 7)
  (SAFE: LEFT)
  The walls, ceiling, and floor of this chamber are 
  marred with deep black scorch marks, and the 
  words “GO BACK” have been burned into the floor 
  with tremendous heat and force. Two things are in 
  motion. The first is a silently floating, menacing 
  giant’s head, jaggedly severed at the neck. Its eyes 
  are closed, but a nimbus of blue flame flickers 
  around the head. The flesh is gray and rotting, and 
  its gap-toothed mouth hangs open slackly as if the 
  jaw is broken. The second is a cloud of foot-long, 
  smooth, tapering sticks of wood (aura moderate 
  evocation, DC 18) that dart and swoop about as if 
  they had wings, always point-first.
  
  10
  The lower leg and foot of a human or 
  demihuman, stripped of all flesh and muscle, is 
  shackled to the floor in the entrance to the chamber. 
  A black curtain hangs across the back wall.
  The safe path through this room is along the 
  left wall, as indicated by the direction of the 
  foot on the skeletal leg . 
  The flying sticks of wood are a lightning 
  wand golem (CR 6, AC 21 [touch 20, f-footed 
  19], hp 27, Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +1, melee 
  slam +4 [1d8+3 plus burn 1d6; Reflex save 
  vs . DC 13 against slam]) created from a 
  pile of discharged wands of lighting bolt . The 
  golem uses the stats of a warden jack swarm 
  but can also fly with 40 speed and launch 
  a lightning bolt once per round . The golem 
  is controlled by no one and nothing, except 
  that it won’t discharge lightning into the 
  safe path area . It launches one lightning bolt 
  (as the spell, caster level 7th, 7d6 damage) 
  per round, toward a randomly-selected 
  target off the path, as a free action. 
  The floating head is a burning giant, 
  beheaded (CR 3, AC 13 [touch 10, f-footed 
  12], hp 19, Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +2, melee 
  slam +4 [1d8+3 plus burn 1d6; Reflex save 
  vs . DC 13 against slam]), an undead creature 
  that is immune to electrical damage (it was 
  magically modified by Rovan to coexist with 
  the wand golem) . When the characters arrive, 
  the head is slumbering . It awakens if anyone 
  makes noise or is struck by a lightning bolt 
  (presumably the character utters a pained cry 
  of some type) . The head is driven by rage at its 
  own state and an insane hatred of the living . 
  Once awake, it laughs maniacally, hisses, 
  wails, and snarls out threats, pleas, even bad 
  advice—most of it barely comprehensible 
  because of the head’s broken jaw, and all of it 
  gauged to intimidate, taunt, or lure intruders 
  to their dooms . 
  Although the head is deranged and 
  wants only to slay intruders, it retains more 
  intelligence—and a bit more sanity—than 
  characters are likely to expect from it . It is 
  certain to attack the characters eventually, 
  but not immediately. First, it wants to find 
  out what they’ve seen and why they are 
  here . Its speech may be garbled, but there 
  is cunning behind it . It tells the characters 
  no more than it must to keep them talking, 
  trying all the while to get them to spill 
  something important . If they are circumspect 
  and clever in talking to it, they might trick 
  it into revealing something useful about 
  the Black Skull, the location of the crown, 
  or what lies ahead in the next chamber . If it 
  realizes it’s been tricked, the head swears in 
  rage and attacks. 
  The head has no control over the lightning 
  wand golem but knows the properties of 
  all the chambers of the Crypt . If characters 
  win past this chamber without destroying 
  the head, they can encounter it again in any 
  chamber on the way out . 
  6. wiZarD’s DooM (cr 9)
  (SAFE: RIGHT)
  This chamber once held workbenches all around 
  its walls, but they have been destroyed by wildly-
  raging magic. All that remains are their ashes 
  and eerie illusions of how they once looked: high 
  tables of stout, dark wood littered with glowing 
  decanters and jars, with symbols chalked on the 
  few cleared areas, and with vivid blue, emerald 
  green, and ruby red flames burning without fuel, 
  dancing in the air above the chalked runes. 
  Circling slowly and endlessly in the air are 
  the grisly pieces of a man. He was decapitated, 
  and his body was split into four pieces, as 
  he screamed in horror and clawed the air in a 
  desperate attempt to cast a spell. You can tell 
  this is how he died because his face still twists in 
  terror, his mouth still gapes wide from his dying 
  scream, his legs try to propel him backward, and 
  his disembodied arms still weave the complex 
  motions of an aborted spell as they drift slowly, 
  gracefully, endlessly clockwise around the room.
  Although the head has no eyes, just empty black 
  pits, it turns as if scrutinizing you in the entrance. 
  Dozens of translucent silver-white drifts of 
  hissing radiance swoop and race about the room like 
  tiny comets, swooshing along the walls and between 
  the pieces of the dead wizard without disturbing or 
  being disturbed by them in the slightest.
  An unlit, crimson candle about two feet long 
  and as thick as a man’s wrist also floats serenely 
  around the room, never coming into contact with 
  any of the other drifting objects.
  Positioned in the entranceway are two dried 
  up, shriveled eyes. A black curtain hangs across 
  the back wall.
  
  11
  The eyes in the entrance (removed from 
  the drifting head) look toward the right, 
  indicating the safe path . The path can also 
  be discerned by careful observation of the 
  objects drifting in the room; they never drift 
  above the safe path .
  The body is that of Rovan, the 12th level 
  spellcaster who led the outlaw band that 
  once used these chambers as a stronghold . 
  This grisly death was his reward for 
  breaking the seal on the Black Skull’s prison . 
  The wizard and his body are thoroughly 
  dead . All of the odd characteristics of this 
  chamber are residue of the spell with which 
  the Black Skull killed Rovan . 
  The first time any of the wizard’s body 
  parts are touched, the deep, rolling toll of a 
  gigantic, unseen bell will be heard, and every 
  creature throughout the Crypt is alerted that 
  living intruders have entered this chamber .
  If someone grabs a piece of the body, 
  they realize that it is weightless . If released, 
  the piece drifts up to its former level and 
  resumes circling the room . The body parts are 
  neutrally buoyant and can’t lift or support the 
  weight of anything other than themselves . If 
  removed from this chamber, the pieces decay 
  to bones and dust in under a minute . 
  Should anyone examine the drifting right 
  arm and hand, they notice a ring on one 
  finger. Its special function is described below.
  The comet-like things darting about the 
  room are remnants of the last, desperate 
  spells cast by Rovan in his fight to the death 
  against the lich, captured and wrapped 
  up by the Black Skull’s strange magic that 
  lingers in this room. This same effect will 
  take hold of and nullify most spells cast 
  here by the player characters . Touch spells 
  function normally, but all other castings 
  have no effect except to become a new ball 
  of light and join the others already zooming 
  around the room .
  The room is thick with these racing spells . 
  Every living being not on the safe path in 
  this chamber must roll a DC 20 Acrobatics 
  check to dodge the spell-balls whooshing 
  past . If that check fails, the character is 
  struck by a spell . Roll 1d12 on the list below 
  to determine what the spell is . The spells 
  have their full, normal effects, and the target 
  gets to make standard saving throws against 
  them . Chain lightning is the only spell on the 
  list that will affect more than one character, 
  regardless of how many targets the spells 
  usually have . Even a spell such as fireball 
  just wraps itself around the target character 
  and affects no one else.
  1. acid fog (within the struck being, who 
  takes 2d6 damage of excruciatingly painful 
  inner corrosion upon impact and on each 
  round thereafter, for 6 additional rounds)
  2. slow (struck being can take only 1 action/
  round, their AC is -1, -1 penalty to Reflex 
  saves and attack rolls; this condition lasts 
  for 12 rounds)
  3. cone of cold (6d6 damage; struck being is 
  covered with momentarily-hissing frost) 
  4. lightning bolt (6d6 damage)
  5. fireball (6d6 damage)
  6. magic missile (1d4+1 x5; the bluish bolts 
  will burst forth from the contact point to 
  curl back and stab into the struck being)
  7. burning hands (5d4 damage; fire erupts 
  from the struck being and curves back to 
  sear only that being)
  8. A spell cast by the player characters 
  earlier in the round (if no such spell exists, 
  lightning bolt for 4d6 damage)
  9. magic missile (1d4+1 x2; the bluish bolts 
  will burst forth from the contact point to 
  curl back and stab into the struck being)
  10. baleful polymorph (into a fox, must make 
  Will save to lose spellcasting ability and/
  or spell-like abilities, extraordinary and 
  supernatural abilities)
  11. invisibility (for 12 minutes, Will saving 
  throw negates, SR applies)
  12. chain lightning (8d6 [Reflex for half 
  damage, SR applies] to struck being, then 
  bolt arcs to 8 other targets, if that many are 
  present within 30 feet of struck being, for 
  4d6 [Reflex save for half damage])
  Every time a character is struck by one of 
  these spells, ask another randomly-chosen 
  character (preferably one who is on the safe 
  path) to make a DC 15 Perception check . 
  Success means that the character noticed 
  
  12
  a swirl of light around Rovan’s right hand 
  when the spell went off. There is a ring 
  on one of his fingers that, over decades of 
  exposure to the magic here, has become 
  attuned to the room’s unique properties. 
  While in contact with Rovan’s magic-infused 
  flesh, it acts as a focal point for the room’s 
  energy . If it is removed from Rovan’s hand, 
  the racing spells slow down; the Acrobatics 
  check to dodge them is reduced to DC 15 . If 
  a character puts the ring on, all of the spells 
  erupt at the same time . Every character, 
  even those on the safe path, is struck by a 
  random spell . Then the spells dissipate, the 
  body parts and candle drop to the floor, and 
  the illusions fade from view . 
  The candle is normal in every way but 
  one; like the pieces of Rovan’s body, it 
  is weightless while in this room . If it is 
  removed from the chamber or the ring is 
  removed from Rovan’s hand, it becomes 
  just another candle . 
  Treasure
  ring of rovan
  Aura moderate abjuration; CL 3rd
  Slot ring; Price 3,500 gp; Weight --
  DESCRIPTION
  This sizeable and ostentatious ring grants 
  the wearer a +1 deflection bonus to AC, and 
  a +1 resistance bonus to saving throws .
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Forge Ring, protection from 
  law; Cost 1,750 gp
  7. The spell guarD (cr 10)
  (SAFE: RIGHT)
  In this otherwise bare chamber stands an evenly 
  spaced row of seven black-robed, black-gloved, 
  steel-masked figures. The central figure wears 
  a crown: a golden circlet with a single dagger-
  blade ‘glory spike’ above the wearer’s forehead.
  As you approach the entrance, the robed 
  figures raise their arms and begin tracing the 
  patterns of spells in the air. 
  A black curtain hangs across the back wall.
  Nothing is positioned at the entrance to this 
  chamber to indicate where the safe path lies . 
  Characters who make a careful inspection 
  of the floor can detect scratch marks and 
  spike holes with a DC 16 Perception check . 
  The positioning and angling of the marks 
  implies that whatever was here pointed 
  toward the right .
  The crown is a gold-plated iron replica 
  of the High Lord’s crown, not the real thing 
  (which is of plain steel) . The Black Skull 
  made this counterfeit crown and wore it for 
  several years before rejecting it in favor of 
  stealing the real one . The players are likely to 
  ask whether they recognize this as the crown 
  they seek. If they paid close attention at the 
  beginning of the mission, the gold plating 
  will tip them that this is not the real crown . 
  If they’ve forgotten the details from their 
  briefing, you can either shrug and tell them 
  to take notes next time, or let them try a DC 
  18 Intelligence check or a DC 20 Knowledge 
  (Local) check to see if their characters 
  remember something that the players forgot . 
  Otherwise, they’ll have to guess .
  The “masks” are fully enclosed steel helms 
  with small eyeslits; they entirely conceal the 
  heads of their wearers. The figures’ robes 
  have large hoods that are pushed down and 
  bunched around their necks, so there is no 
  gap between the helmet and the robe . The 
  black gloves worn by the figures are elbow-
  length, so no skin can be glimpsed between 
  glove and sleeve, and they wear tall, black 
  boots under their ankle-length robes .
  The concealing costumes serve to hide 
  the true nature of these seven “wizards .” 
  They are actually just animated skeletons 
  (undead) that have been drilled to feign 
  spellcasting whenever a living creature 
  approaches this chamber from Chamber 
  6. Mimicking is all they do; they cannot 
  actually cast spells .
  Characters may use Spellcraft to try to 
  determine what spells are being cast . The 
  DC for this check is 19, as if the skeletons 
  are casting 4th-level spells . If someone 
  succeeds, tell them it’s a 4th-level spell 
  but nothing they’ve encountered before . If 
  someone succeeds by 5 or more, they realize 
  that the motions are just a pantomime with 
  no magical effect.
  
  13
  The seven skeletons (CR 1/3, AC 16 [touch 
  12, f-footed 14], hp 4 each, Fort +0, Ref +2, Will 
  +2, melee 2 claws +2 [1d4+2]) won’t move 
  out of their positions or stop their miming 
  unless attacked, directly or indirectly. Once 
  attacked, they fight until destroyed, and will 
  pursue enemies through the Crypt .
  The skeletons are not the real threat . Pick 
  any four skeletons randomly (but not the 
  skeleton wearing the crown) . Crammed and 
  hunched inside those skeletons’ ribcages are 
  four berbalangs (CR 6, CE Medium, AC 20, 
  touch 15, f-footed 15, hp 68 each, Fort +6, 
  Ref +6, Will +9; DR 10/good or silver, melee 
  bite +10 [1d6+3 plus paralysis]; speed fly 40 
  ft . [good], SA projection, paralysis 1d4+1 
  rounds DC 18, Spell-Like Abilities at will: 
  bleed, ghost sound [DC 14]; 3/day alter self, 
  charm person [DC 15]) . The berbalangs are 
  immune to damage while in their ribcage 
  sanctuaries, and they stay there while 
  the skeletons are being destroyed . When 
  characters approach or bend down to inspect 
  and loot the fallen corpses, the berbalangs 
  burst out of the fallen skeletons to catch 
  the characters flat-footed. Once in the fight, 
  the berbalangs pursue enemies fearlessly 
  through and even out of the Crypt until one 
  side or the other is destroyed . They ignore 
  anyone standing on the safe path unless that 
  character attacked a berbalang in this or the 
  previous round . They prefer to team up 
  against PCs and focus on enemies who cast 
  spells or wield significant magic items. 
  Treasure: Gold-plated replica of the High 
  Lord’s crown (296 gp)
  8. The charnel chaMber
  (SAFE: LEFT)
  Coffins are stacked into two enormous, pyramid-
  like piles in this chamber. A 10-foot-wide path has 
  been left clear all around the walls and through 
  the middle of the room, connecting the entrance to 
  the black curtain on the back wall. The piles look 
  stable. The coffins are closed and undamaged.
  Circling the coffins is the translucent, feebly-
  glowing figure of a man. In his left hand he 
  clutches a black, spiraled rod with a silvery grip. 
  In his right hand he holds a longsword with a 
  black blade; unreadable runes flow along the blade 
  from hilt to tip. His legs fade into nothingness, 
  and he flies rather than running, while mouthing 
  silent curses and what may be warnings.
  About three-quarters of a ribcage is bolted to the 
  floor in the entrance, though most of the ribs are broken.
  The ribcage is positioned so the head of the body 
  would be toward the left, indicating that the safe 
  path lies in that direction . There is no danger 
  in this chamber, but the path might matter if 
  anything has pursued the characters here .
  Each pyramid contains 36 coffins: 8 on the 
  bottom layer, 7 on the second layer, 6 on the 
  third, etc . The stacks are about 12 feet high . 
  The ghostly figure looks menacing and 
  hurls itself aggressively toward anyone who 
  steps off the path or approaches the coffins 
  too closely. Contact with the figure or his 
  weapons causes an unpleasant chill and the 
  character sees faint, ghostly shapes gliding 
  at the edges of peripheral vision for a few 
  rounds, but there is no other effect. This 
  phantom and its weapons are incorporeal 
  and harmless . He can’t be banished, driven 
  off, or affected in any way, no matter what 
  is done to him . He will be an annoying 
  distraction while the characters linger in his 
  chamber but nothing more . 
  The coffins contain the shrouded, skeletal 
  remains of many noble dwarves . Every 
  coffin has been opened and plundered, then 
  carefully closed again without damaging 
  the interred bodies, so there’s no treasure to 
  be found here, with one exception . One of 
  the outlaws hid a leather belt with six small 
  pouches, each containing a stoppered ceramic 
  vial holding a cure light wounds potion, in a 
  coffin that was overlooked by the Black Skull.
  Treasure: 6 cure light wounds potions
  9. The haunTeD 
  TapesTry (cr 10)
  (SAFE: RIGHT)
  On the left-hand wall of this chamber hangs a 
  gigantic tapestry that stretches from the front 
  wall to the back. It ripples continually as if stirred 
  by breezes that can’t be felt, and glows an eerie, 
  emerald-white that lights up the scene so vividly 
  that it looks real. The tapestry depicts a castle 
  
  14
  on a steep, bare fang of rock towering above a 
  nightmarish forest. Translucent women in white 
  robes and cloaks flee through the forest on ghostly 
  horses. The horses and riders actually flow out 
  of the tapestry and gallop silently through the 
  air across the room in front of you, to fade away 
  just a few yards short of the opposite wall. The 
  riders are pursued by gigantic flying serpents, 
  each as long as three horses, armed with gaping 
  jaws and propelled by rows of undulating, frond-
  like appendages. As the flying serpents cross the 
  room, ther flesh melts away to reveal decaying 
  skeletons. They never quite catch the obviously 
  terrified riders with their snapping jaws.
  A black curtain hangs across the back wall.
  The safe path through this room is along the 
  right wall, as suggested by the riders fleeing 
  for safety toward that wall . There is no other 
  indication at the entrance .
  The tapestry is attached to the left wall 
  by hundreds of small hooks . Removing it 
  is possible, but it will take an average-size 
  adventuring group about an hour if they 
  want to protect the tapestry from damage . 
  If characters try to damage the tapestry by 
  cutting or burning the cloth, it moans loudly 
  and leaks glittering white ectoplasm that 
  swirls into the room like smoke . A character 
  standing within 10 feet of the damaged spot is 
  caught in the ectoplasm and blinded for 1d4 
  + 1 rounds with no save . All characters who 
  hear the moan (everyone in the chamber who 
  isn’t deafened somehow) must make a DC 
  15 Will save to avoid becoming frightened; 
  those who fail must flee from this chamber to 
  escape the ghostly, flying serpents they see 
  pursuing them . When a frightened character 
  enters another chamber, let him make 
  another DC 15 Will save . If the save succeeds, 
  the character recovers his wits . If it fails, the 
  character flees to the next chamber and tries 
  again to make a DC 15 Will save, and so on .
  While in this chamber, characters can 
  avoid the ghostly shapes simply by staying 
  out of their path, which is the middle 10 feet 
  running lengthwise across the room . Anyone 
  who enters or crosses that path must make 
  a DC 10 Acrobatics check each round if they 
  want to dodge the figures. Failure means one 
  of the shapes plunges through the character’s 
  body, with the effect described below.
  If a character comes into contact with a 
  rider or a flying serpent by any means—
  touching, grabbing, striking with a weapon 
  or staff, or getting in the way as one races 
  across the room—a magical trap is triggered. 
  The floor under the feet of that character 
  becomes insubstantial, and the character 
  falls through . The character gets to make 
  a DC 20 Reflex save to leap aside before 
  the floor flickers away entirely. Characters 
  are out of harm’s way if they are on the 
  safe path, because the riders and pursuing 
  serpents fade away as they reach that zone . 
  A falling character plummets 20 feet into 
  a chamber directly beneath this one and 
  with the same size and shape . The character 
  takes 2d6 falling damage and lands prone . 
  If the character fails a Perception check with 
  a DC equal to the falling damage, then he is 
  also unaware of the titan centipede (CR 9, 
  CE Colossal, AC 22, touch 2, f-footed 21, hp 
  135, Fort +16, Ref +3, Will +3; melee bite +15 
  [4d6+24 plus poison]; SA trample [6d6+24, 
  DC 31], poison: DC 24, 1d6 Dex/round for 
  6 rounds) in the lower chamber until it 
  attacks. The creature is magically sustained, 
  but it still hungers for live food and attacks 
  immediately. It almost fills the chamber, so 
  any movement the character makes is likely 
  to trigger an attack of opportunity.
  Trapped 
  Corridor: 
  Unlike 
  the 
  other 
  connecting corridors in the Crypt, the 30-
  foot corridor beyond the black curtain 
  in Chamber 9 is trapped . When the lead 
  character has moved 20 feet up the corridor, 
  an iron portcullis slams down across the exit 
  from Chamber 9 and another slams down 
  where the passage opens into Chamber 10 . 
  Over the course of the next five rounds, 
  five more portcullises slam down into the 
  corridor, one per round; when all seven 
  gates are down, the corridor is divided into 
  six 5-foot segments . The gates fall in any 
  sequence you choose . They fall between rows 
  of squares; characters in the four adjacent 
  squares are endangered when a gate drops . 
  After falling, all of these obstacles remain 
  down; trapped or pinioned PCs will need 
  to force their way out by spell, lifting (and 
  possibly wedging), or bending the bars .
  
  15
  Their trouble is only just beginning, 
  however . Four dwarven skeletal champion 
  archers (CR 2, NE Medium, AC 19, touch 
  10, f-footed 18, hp 17, Fort +3, Ref +1, Will 
  +3; DR 5 bludgeoning, immune cold; 
  melee longsword +4 [1d8+1/19-20], ranged 
  longbow +6 [1d8/x3] or rapid shot +4/+4 
  [1d8/x3]) step into view in Chamber 10 and 
  send volleys of arrows up the corridor at the 
  trapped characters . They shoot at the closest 
  character until that PC is disabled or dying, 
  then shift their attacks to the next closest 
  character, and so on . The skeletons keep 
  attacking until either they are destroyed or 
  they have no more targets .
  If characters destroy the skeletal champion 
  archers with ranged attacks or spells without 
  raising all the gates between themselves 
  and Chamber 10, the gates rise seemingly 
  by themselves (the Black Skull raises them 
  from his throne) . As the gates rise, a dwarven 
  skeleton (CR 0, NE Medium, AC 16, touch 
  12, f-footed 14, hp 4, Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +2; 
  DR 5 bludgeoning, immune cold; no attacks) 
  in splendid robes steps into view . It carries 
  a silk pillow on which sits a silver bell . 
  The skeleton rings the bell, which tinkles 
  melodically, then turns and motions toward 
  the characters’ left, in grisly pantomime of a 
  doorman ushering guests into the fine home 
  of a nobleman . This assumes the characters 
  don’t destroy the skeleton the moment it 
  appears; it tries to carry out this routine even 
  if attacked and never fights back. 
  If characters raised the gates and moved 
  into Chamber 10 before destroying all the 
  skeletal champion archers, then this skeletal 
  servant approaches them after the fight ends. 
  Characters should already have spotted the 
  Black Skull by then .
  Falling Portcullis Trap, CR 4, mechanical, 
  Perception DC 25, Disable Device DC 25, 
  manual reset, no reachable bypass (switch 
  is in Chamber 10); each portcullis slams 
  down for 6d6 damage, DC 20 Reflex avoids, 
  characters hit by the portcullis are pinned 
  beneath it; DC 25 Strength check lifts the gate.
  10. The black skull’s 
  lair (cr 11)
  (NO SAFE PATH)
  In this crimson-carpeted chamber, a skeletal figure 
  sits on a throne made of bones, coffin cushions, 
  rusting weapons, and pieces of ornamental armor, 
  near the left-hand wall. It wears a tattered burial 
  shroud and a crown that matches the description 
  of the High Lord’s crown.
  Two giant, impassive guards holding heavy 
  flails and wearing plate armor flank the throne. To 
  the right of the throne sits a large, ironbound chest, 
  and atop the chest is a small, smooth, ivory coffer.
  The seated figure is, of course, the Black 
  Skull . Switches that raise the portcullises in 
  the trapped corridor are set into the right 
  arm of his throne . 
  In life, Lord Blackskell was a formidable 
  dwarven lord . Hoping to extend his 
  natural life as he aged, he turned to a study 
  of magic . In bargaining with something 
  from beyond, he set in motion a process 
  that transformed him into a lich tyrant, 
  but the transformation didn’t occur until 
  after he had been executed by shocked 
  members of his clan and buried in this 
  final chamber. When Rovan’s bandits 
  reopened the final chamber during their 
  renovations in the crypt, the lich—now 
  calling himself the Black Skull—emerged, 
  slew them all, raised many of them and 
  the interred dwarves as undead, and took 
  command of the Crypt .
  The lich wields a nonmagical scepter as 
  a weapon . The Black Skull is deranged but 
  still a cunning combatant .
  His guards won’t attack until after the 
  Black Skull exchanges coldly haughty words 
  with the intruders, or at the moment they 
  charge, attack him, or unleash any spell in 
  his direction . He is arrogant, has a hollowly 
  breathless but firm voice, and is too mad to 
  know fear; he will fight until destroyed.
  The Black Skull is curious as to who the 
  intruders are, who sent them, and what they 
  seek—he hopes they came to negotiate over 
  the terms of the locals’ servitude to himself, 
  but he doesn’t rule out the possibility that 
  they’ve come to take the crown . He is quite 
  willing to explain who he is, why the crown 
  is rightly his, and why he deserves the fealty 
  of all who live in the region .
  
  16
  The two guards are giant phantom armors 
  who are CR 4, AC 18 [touch 9, f-footed 18], 
  hp 37 each, Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +4, melee 
  heavy flail +7 [2d6+7/19-20], space 10 ft., 
  reach 10 ft., and attack as the Black Skull 
  directs them through some sort of mental 
  link. He will sacrifice his guards to keep the 
  characters back from him .
  Neither the ivory coffer nor the iron chest 
  is locked or trapped. The coffer contains 
  only a lock of gray hair—all that remains 
  of the Black Skull’s long-dead wife . The 
  chest contains a potion of gaseous form, an 
  adamantine dagger, a mace of smiting, and 
  the other treasure listed below . Substitute 
  treasures of your own choosing, if you prefer . 
  One possibility is a parchment containing 
  instructions for traveling through the 
  tapestry in Chamber 9, if that’s an adventure 
  you’d like to pursue .
  Treasure: golden yellow topaz (600 gp), 
  violet garnet (400 gp), jade (100 gp), 
  chrysoberyl (60 gp), peridot (50 gp), blue 
  quartz (13 gp), turquoise (11 gp), malachite 
  (10 gp), +1 flaming greataxe (8,320 gp), +1 
  scimitar (2,315 gp), +1 dragonhide plate armor 
  (3,300 gp), +1 mithral shirt (2,100 gp), arcane 
  scroll (jump, darkness, flaming sphere; CL 3, 325 
  gp), 2 potions of resist energy 10 (300 gp each), 
  divine scroll (bless water, burning disarm; CL 
  2, 150 gp), potion of hide from animals (50 gp) .
  The Black Skull (lord BlackSkell)
  XP 9,600
  Dwarf Lich Tyrant Aristocrat 10
  LE Medium Undead (augmented humanoid)
  Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17
  Aura fear (60-ft . radius, DC 19) or majesty 
  (60-ft . radius, DC 19)
  DEfENSE
  AC 23; touch 13, flat-footed 20 (+5 armor, +2 
  Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural)
  hp 85 (10d8+40)
  Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +10
  Defensive Abilities channel resist +4; DR 
  15/bludgeoning and magic; Immune cold, 
  electricity, undead traits
  OffENSE
  Speed 30 ft .
  Melee touch +12 (1d6+2 plus awe), or +2 
  morningstar +12/+7 (1d6+4), and touch +7 
  (1d6+2 plus awe)
  Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft .
  Special Attacks awe
  STaTISTICS
  Str 14, Dex 14, Con -, Int 17, Wis 12, Cha 18
  Base Atk +7; CMB +8; CMD 20
  Feats Dodge, Furious Focus, Mobility, 
  Persuasive, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Vital Strike
  Skills Bluff +14, Diplomacy +20, Disguise 
  +15, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (history) 
  +11, Knowledge (local) +11, Knowledge 
  (nobility) +11, Linguistics +11, Perception 
  +17, Ride +10, Sense Motive +19, Stealth +18
  Languages 
  Aklo, 
  Common, 
  Draconic, 
  Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, 
  Halfling, Infernal, Orc, Undercommon
  SQ rejuvenation
  ECOlOgy
  Environment any
  Organization solitary
  Treasure NPC gear (+1 glamored chain shirt, 
  +2 morningstar, circlet of persuasion, cloak of 
  resistance +2)
  SPECIal abIlITIES
  Awe (Su): The touch attach of a lich tyrant 
  forces an intense feeling of awe onto its 
  victims in addition to dealing damage . The 
  target must make a DC 19 Fortitude save or 
  be paralyzed for 1d4 hours . Remove paralysis 
  or any effect that removes curses will end 
  this effect. Those succeeding at the Fort 
  save must immediately make a DC 19 Will 
  save or be dominated by the lich, as per 
  dominate monster . The victim receives a new 
  save every day . Undead are not subject to 
  the paralyzing effect of the touch, but are 
  affected by the domination . A creature that 
  saves against the touch cannot be affected 
  by the same lich’s awe for 24 hours . As a full 
  round action, the lich may use the negative 
  energy of its touch on itself, healing damage 
  as if it had used its touch attack against itself.
  Fear Aura (Su): Creatures of less than 5 HD 
  in a 60-ft . radius that gaze upon the lich 
  while this aura is in effect must succeed on 
  a DC 19 Will save or become frightened . 
  Creatures with 5 HD or more must succeed 
  on a DC 19 Will save or be shaken for a 
  number of rounds equal to the lich’s Hit 
  Dice . A creature that saves against the aura 
  cannot be affected by the same lich’s aura 
  for 24 hours .
  The lich tyrant may only have one aura 
  active at a time. This is a mind-affecting fear 
  affect. The lich may suppress this effect in 
  favor of its majesty aura as a free action .
  
  17
  Majesty Aura (Su): All creatures within 
  a 60-ft . radius of the lich, and that can see 
  it, must succeed at a DC 19 Will save each 
  round or be unable to take any hostile action 
  toward the lich for 1 round . A creature that 
  saves against the aura cannot be affected by 
  the same lich’s aura for 24 hours . Undead 
  beings within the radius rally, gaining a +2 
  morale bonus to hit rolls and damage for 
  as long as the aura is active . The lich may 
  suppress this effect in favor of its fear aura 
  as a free action . (The lich tyrant may only 
  have one aura active at a time .) This is a 
  mind affecting effect. 
  Rejuvenation (Su): When a lich tyrant 
  is destroyed, its phylactery immediately 
  begins to rebuild its body . This process 
  takes 2d10 days . If the body is destroyed 
  before that time passes, the phylactery 
  merely starts the process anew . After this 
  time passes, the lich awakens fully healed, 
  lacking any gear it left behind on its old 
  body, and begins plotting revenge on those 
  who dared defy it .
  
  18
  bring a genius To The 
  Table!
  creDiTs
  Author:
  Ed Greenwood
  Cartography:
  Sterling Hershey
  Graphic Design and Typesetting:
  Hyrum Savage and Lj Stephens
  Editor:
  Steve Winter
  Producer:
  Hyrum Savage
  Developer:
  Owen K .C . Stephens
  Creative Director:
  Stan!
  Produced By:
  Super Genius Games
  www .supergeniusgames .com
  Copyright ©2012 Super Genius Games
  All logos are the trademark of Super Genius Games All rights 
  reserved .
  Published Under the SRD, OGL, and d20 (v 3) License ©2000, 
  Wizards of the Coast, Inc .
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  System Reference Document. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors 
  Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on material by E. Gary Gygax and 
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