The Ice-Mirrored Hall
RoomDCC 72 · p.14
Open source p.14Area 3-10 – The Ice-Mirrored Hall
The timeworn steps are covered in a slick coat of frost. The air grows colder as you descend, burning your lungs and eyes. Just as it seems the pain could grow no worse, the stairs open into a curious cavern.
The light from your torches and lanterns casts scattered reflections of the party into eternity. All around, sheets of hanging ice reflect and refract your slightest motion in a dizzying whirl of light and shadow.
The bewildering chamber is the result of hundreds of stalactites and stone draperies covered in slick ice. The entire chamber—ceiling, floor, and walls—is layered in ice, creating a maddening cavern of mirrors.
Pools of water litter the chamber and are indistinguishable from the ice-covered floor. The pools are not frozen solid; if weighted with more than 100 pounds, the surface ice breaks, spilling the PCs into the icy waters below. The pools range from 6 to 11 feet in depth (). Escape from a pool is readily accomplished with an ally on the shore; selfrescue can be accomplished with a DC 12 Strength check. Characters suffer a penalty to Stamina and Strength for each round spent in the icy waters. Those reduced to 5 or less Stamina or Strength slip beneath the icy waters and begin to drown. The stat damage is healed at the rate of one point, per stat, per half hour spent near a heat source.
Lokim, an aging ice giant warrior, lurks within the shadowed recesses of the chamber. Blind, the giant suffers a penalty to hit (already figured into his stats) but otherwise suffers none of the chamber’s debilitating visual effects (see below). The giant has memorized the chamber and cannot be lured into the pools.
Judge’s Notes: Without reliable visual references, PCs can find it exceedingly difficult to navigate the chamber’s weird environs. Judges are encouraged to track the heroes’ progress on the map, asking the players to call out left or right at junctures.
Melee combat proves as challenging as navigation. PCs are presented with a bewildering number of potential targets. On a successful melee attack, the attacker must also roll ; a 9 or better indicates he hit his intended target, and on an 8 or less he strikes a reflection.
The icy chamber makes it nearly impossible for PCs to use ranged weapons or spells effectively. As per above, ranged attacks must succeed on a roll of 11 or 12 on to score a hit.
Once a “true” target is located, it may be attacked without penalty. However, if the target moves more than 10 feet from its original location, the guessing game begins again. Lokim is aware of this tactic and stays in constant motion, striving to avoid dead ends where he can be cornered.
Finally, while the confounding maze of mirrors is enjoyable for combat, players need not be subjected to the PCs’ frustration more than once. If there are no threats lurking in the maze, assume that it takes PCs 10+ minutes to navigate the chamber their second time through.
Lokim, the Blind: Init ; Atk broadsword melee () or spear melee (dmg ); AC 15; HD ; hp 47; MV 40’; Act ; SP crit on 22+, immune to cold; SV Fort , Ref , Will ; AL C.