The Vault Door
RoomDCC ATG · p.21
Open source p.21Area 2-9 – The Vault Door
Tapestries hang from the east and west walls, woven from fine silk intermixed with gold and silver thread. Dominating the scene is a deity with a stoic expression devoid of a mouth. His clenched fist holds the tongues of a dozen unfortunate individuals who hang suspended in air from their open mouths.
A tall arched iron door is set into the northern wall. It is embossed with Amun Tor’s religious sigil. Dominating its center is a circular dial, intricate in design, festooned with letters.
The door holds the spirit of a monk who served as a cus-
todian for the labyrinth. He betrayed Amun Tor’s trust by sharing secrets he eavesdropped upon that were whispered by worshippers in the halls. As punishment, Amun Tor had him imprisoned within this vault door, rendering him incapable of speaking.
The spirit can manifest eyes within the face of the door that gaze at the party. Even in punishment, the loose-lipped monk still yearns to proudly display the secrets he knows with others. He can only communicate by blinking. He knows the combination to the door, but he is also limited in how he can communicate with the party. By blinking, he can provide “yes” and “no” responses to questions the party may ask of him. In doing so, they may be able to deduce the passphrase. After he answers 20 questions, his spirit’s ability to manifest within the door ceases and he is incapable of reappearing until the next dawn.
The code for the combination lock is HONOR. The code can be cracked without learning it from the door (see countermeasures below).
The dial on the door is connected to a trap linked to the floor.
Detection: A successful DC 18 find trap check allows a character to notice a slight groove at the base of the wall just above the floor indicating the floor is designed to shift.
Trigger: Each time the dial is turned and does not use one of the correct letters of the combination, the trap’s effect causes the floor to recede.
Effect (PC Action): When the dial is turned and lands on an incorrect letter, the floor slides 5’ under the wall toward the vault door. The floor can retract six times before it disappears. A character standing on the retracting floor when it withdraws the last 5’ automatically falls. The pit below the floor is 70’ deep. Anyone falling into it takes damage from the fall. The entire pit area is shrouded in magical darkness concealing a grell lurking patiently near the door leading to area 2-10. It has been over a month since Zimgrazhan last fed it, and it hungrily waits to reach up with its tentacles and attack any characters choosing to leave the chamber through the southern hallway to area 2-8.
Grell: Init ; Atk tentacle melee ( plus paralysis and grapple) or bite melee (); Crit M/; AC 11; HD (hp 26); MV 10’ or fly 30’; Act ( per tentacle plus bite); SP electricity immunity, infravision 100’, paralysis (DC 9 Fortitude save or paralyzed for 1 turn); SV Fort , Ref , Will ; AL C.
The grell’s swollen head resembles a floating brain with a razor-sharp beak. Ten barbed, tentacle-like appendages extend from its mass and reach out to paralyze and ensnare its victims. Anyone hit by a tentacle must make a DC 9 Fortitude save or become paralyzed for 1 turn and become grappled. After a character grappled in such a way regains control of their body, they may attempt a DC 14 Strength or Agility check to escape. Any attack made against the grell can specifically be directed at its tentacles (AC 13). Damage to the grell is halved but renders tentacles unusable.
Countermeasures: A character attempting to crack the safe without learning the combination must succeed on five DC 18 disable trap checks. The successful checks need not be consecutive. Each failed check causes the floor to withdraw 5’.
Reset: The trap automatically resets 10 minutes after the whole floor has slid under the wall or immediately after the correct combination has been dialed on the safe.