Category: News

Molok’s Mummies is my entry into the 2021 One Page Dungeon Contest.

A hexagonal tablet, 25 feet across has risen from the soft earth. The grinning face of Molok adorns a trap door in the center. The old folk tell of mummified priests guarding vast treasures. Not even your DM knows how deep nor how dangerous this crypt will be. Will you escape with untold wealth, or will your living soul be consumed to sustain the undeath of Molok’s Mummies?

I built this considering the constraints of the contest, not just that it must fit on one page but also that it should be system-neutral. I minimized space given to art and the map because it’s hard to get the information density as high as can be done with text. I like to be surprised at the table along with the players. I could drop this into my Basic Fantasy RPG game without much preparation beyond copying monster stats into doc for reference.

• Black Pudding AC 14, HD 10* (+9), #At 1 pseudopod, Dam 3d8, Mv 20′, Sv F10, Ml 12, XP 1390
• Blood Shroud AC 12, HD 4, #At 1 whip or 1 blood spray, Dam 1d4 or special, Mv Fly 60’, Sv F4, Ml 9, XP 320
• Bone Chimera AC 17, HD 2, #At 1 bites/2 claws/2 tails, Dam 2d6 bite/1d6 claw/1d10 tail, Mv 60′, Sv F5, Ml 12, XP 240
• Bone Golem AC 19 ‡, HD 8, #At 4 weapons, Dam 1d6/1d6/1d6/1d6 or by weapon, Mv 40′ (10′), Sv F4, Ml 12, XP 945
• Clay Golem AC 22, HD 11 (+9), #At 1 fist, Dam 3d10, Mv 20′, Sv F6, Ml 12, XP 1,765
• Diabolus AC 14, HD 15, #At 1 bite, Dam 2d6+4 + ghoul paralysis, Mv 60’ Fly 20’, Sv F15, Ml 12, XP 3100
• Flesh Golem AC 20 ‡, HD 9 (+8), #At 2 fists, Dam 2d8/2d8, Mv 30′, Sv F5, Ml 12, XP 1225
• Gellybone AC 14, HD 2, #At 1 slap, Dam 1d6, Mv 40′, Sv F2, Ml 12, XP 75
• Ghast AC 15, HD 2, #At 2 claws/1 bite, Dam 1d4/1d4/1d4 + paralysis + stench, Mv 30′, Sv F2, Ml 9, XP 125
• Ghostcap Bloom AC 12, HD 4, #At 1, Dam 1d4 + special, Mv 0′, Sv F4, Ml 12, XP 240
• Ghoul AC 14, HD 2, #At 2 claws/1 bite, Dam 1d4/1d4/1d4, all plus paralysis, Mv 30′, Sv F2, Ml 9, XP 100
• Green Slime AC can always be hit, HD 2, #At 1, Dam special, Mv 1′, Sv F2, Ml 12, XP 125
• Mummy AC 17 ‡, HD 5, #At 1 touch + disease, Dam 1d12 + disease, Mv 20′, Sv F5, Ml 12, XP 450
• Shadow AC 13 ‡, HD 2*, #At 1 touch, Dam 1d4 + 1 point Strength loss, Mv 30′, Sv F2, Ml 12, XP 100
• Skeletal Flayer AC 15, HD 1, #At 1 whip/1 claw, Dam 1d6 + 1d6, Mv 40′, Sv F1, Ml 12, XP 37
• Skeleton AC 13, HD 1, #At 1, Dam 1d6, Mv 40′, Sv F1, Ml 12, XP 25
• Spectre AC 17 ‡, HD 6, #At 1 touch, Dam Energy drain 2 levels/touch, Mv Fly 100′, Sv F6, Ml 11, XP 610
• Vampire AC 18 ‡, HD 7, #At 1 weapon or special, Dam 1d8 or by weapon or special, Mv 40′ Fly 60′, Sv F7, Ml 11, XP 800
• Wraith AC 15 ‡, HD 4, #At 1 touch, Dam 1d6 + energy drain (1 level), Mv Fly 80′, Sv F4, Ml 12, XP 320
• Zombie AC 12, HD 2, #At 1, Dam 1d8, Mv 20′, Sv F2, Ml 12, XP 75

I should build this out for my One Dice Six plugin and put it up on the Empty Z generators.

This man has abandoned civilization, married a squaw or squaws, and prefers to pass his life wandering in these deserts; carrying on, perhaps, an almost nominal business of hunting, trapping and trading but quite sufficient to the wants of a chief of savages. He is a man of much natural ability, and apparently of prowess and ready resource. –Captain Philip St. George Cooke

I think the kids today would call Captain Walker based, very based in fact. This quote from Cooke describing Walker is more a confession of confusion than criticism. In modern vernacular, I imagine him saying, “I don’t get how this guy refuses to follow the rules yet constantly kicks ass.”

If you visit our Pioneer Cemetery, you will find the grave of Captain Joseph R. Walker. This hero of Martinez hardly gets the attention he deserves. Here’s some inspiration to take away.

• He founded and named Independence, Missouri when he was only 21.
• In his 60s, he was still exploring and performing secret missions for the U.S. Army.
• In 1833, his group were the first white people to visit Yosemite.
• He warned the Donner Party not to cross so late in the year and they called him an ignorant pike.
• His policy with hostile Indians: negotiate or be punished. It must have worked well. In all of his adventures, he only lost one man.
• He never let Fremont forget his cowardice at Hawkes Peak: “Frémont, morally and physically, was the most complete coward I ever knew. I would call him a woman, if it were not casting an unmerited reproach on the sex.”
• After the dishonorable execution of Apache chief Mangas, Walker ceased helping the U.S. Army work with Indians, despite a track record of peaceful negotiations and trade.

You might enjoy my upcoming play, The Martini, because Captain Walker appears in the first scene.