Flame and fortune: an attempt at a jaquaysed 5 room dungeon (with a dragon and a floating volcano)

5 room dungeons are best explained here and here. 

Jaquaysing dungeons is explained here. 

 

For this dungeon you will need:

• A world with dragons
  
• A place to put a floating volcano
• A local ruler who lost an heirloom sword (feudalistic ruler is classic, but anything could work)

Things you could rip from this dungeon:

• An obsessed dragonologist that is very protective of her research
  
• A zero gravity room with globules of lava
• A paranoid dragon ruler
  
• A sentient sword that wants to retire from killing

Set up:

Fay of Cairn, a local ruler, is hiring people to retrieve a family heirloom from the Dragon Kur: A sword that has been in her family for generations. She has lost 3 brothers and 4 sisters who tried to reclaim the heirloom by force, as well as the trust of most mercenary armies. Fay will tell people of a secret entrance to the Dragon's den on the condition that they vow to bring her the sword or die trying. Anything else they 'retrieve' on the mission is theirs to keep. 

As the youngest and sole survivor of a ruling family, Fay is cunning but proud. She intends to keep her word, but is arranging wanted posters for those who take on the task in case they don't intend to keep their end of the deal. 

The Location:

The Dragon Kur has made its den in a floating volcano: a piece of floating rock with roughly the outline of a kite. 

It is nestled between two mountain peaks, with a sturdy rope bridge going from a road on the southern mountain to the main entrance of the den. 

Underneath the floating volcano a pillar of magma is rising out of the earth and entering the volcano from below. Above the volcano is slowly leaking some lava, some of which streams off of the sides. 

A smaller, longer rope bridge no less sturdy go from the less accessible northern mountain towards the bottom part of the volcano: the secret entrance, hidden in the permanent shade of the levitating island and the smoke rising from beneath. 

Something like this

Room 1: Rie's office

• The narrow but sturdy rope bridge ends under an overhanging slope, beneath a wooden platform with a hatch in it. 
• 5 out of 6 times you can hear Rie pacing above, 1 in 6 times she is instead sobbing in despair. 
  

Something like this

Rie, fieldscholar at Drix University

Reaction table (d6):

1-3: Distrust (hand on crossbow)
4-5: Hostility (crossbow aimed at players)
6: Aggression (shoot first, ask questions later)

Physique: skinny, long woman with incredibly pale skin and bushy brown hair. Hasn't washed in weeks, hasn't had much sleep

Mannerism: twitchy, selfish, obsessive, high-strung

Wants: to finish her writings on the relation between gravitational disturbances and dragon flight in peace

Fears: people steal credit for her work, that the dragon gets hurt before her work is done, not making her deadline

Knows: how to get to room 3 (only did so once, still has hasn't completely healed from the wounds), the general behaviour of the Dragon Kur.

Rie is armed with a loaded crossbow to scare off intruders. She used to be president of the archery club back at University.  

Rie looks something like this

Upon entering through the hatch you will see:

• Piece of paper with scribbled notes covering the floor 
• The scribbles are fragments of in debt descriptions of gravity, dragons or flight
  
• A shabby wooden desk covered with empty inkwells, broken quills and with a stack of papers
• The stack of papers is the first draft of Rie's dissertation titled: On the interconnectedness of gravitational disturbances in the Smoking Peaks and the nesting habits of the Dragon Kur with 'Too long?' written after it. The first 20 pages are the abstract.
  
• A bedroll in the corner that clearly hasn't seen much use lately
• currently being used as a place for Rie to store the rest of her crossbow bolts
• An opening into the volcano from which air is flowing. 
• this way leads to Room 2. 
• Walking through it, it feels like the tunnel is spinning. In reality, it is gravity which changes slightly throughout the hallway (this should be very obvious).
  

Room 2: The magma chamber

 An approximation of a cross-section (don't take this too literally)

• The tunnel from Rie's office ends up at the bottom of a giant zero gravity magma chamber (2A).
• There is a giant globule of lava at the centre, with various smaller ones slowly drifting about the room. 
• The walls are uneven and filled with cracks, holes and tunnels. Occasionally there is a burst of hot air/steam/gas bursting out of one of these.
• From the bottom of the chamber, magma enters the room. From the top, magma leaves it, as small globules happen to drift that way and get caught by reversed gravity (2B). 
• Players can make out a landing near 2B with a larger cave. Loud snoring comes from this direction. 
• The cave leads to room 3. 
  

Zooming in on this 'landing' I'm talking about

If players use a strategy to cross the room that relies mostly on luck (spanning a rope between the two points, vaulting to the other side, etc.) you could use this luck table for each character crossing:

1: Crisis: the character gets badly hurt (a glob of magma hits them, the rope catches fire, etc.)
2-3: Escalation: Things are going to go bad quickly (glob is about to hit them/rope, etc.)
4-6: Success: They make it across 

*Modify based on stupidity/brilliance of the plan. 

If players want to check out other tunnels than the one the snoring comes from, without any plan or procedure you could use this luck table for each tunnel examined:

1-3: Dangerous dead end (hot gas, magma or a collapse is immanent)
4-5: Dead end (the tunnel stops, becomes too narrow, becomes impassible)
6: The tunnel leads to room 4 (the dragon hoard)

**I advise to telegraph the danger/allow players to react to escalations

Room 3: The ceiling

• The large cave from the magma room (2B) quickly widens into a large cavern. 
• During the day, daylight can be seen entering the cavern from straight ahead. 
• The snoring continues and is clearly coming from above. 
• When looking up, characters see the dragon sleeping on a giant hoard on what looks like the ceiling to them. 
• Gravity shifts in the opposite direction halfway up the room. I advise you tell this to players that ask about it. 
• I said the cavern was in total about 100' tall, my players ran with it, but if it is unrealistic and you have spelunker players, maybe look into more realistic numbers.
  
• If they look carefully they should be able to see the red blade of the sword they are here to retrieve
• Any character looking up will quickly notice multiple smaller cave entrances in the walls closer down to the hoard.  

Dragon's Den (approximation, don't take this too literally)

Room 4: Let sleeping dragons lie...

• A giant hoard dominates the area. 
• Table for dragon activity:
  1: The Dragon Kur is away for up to 10 minutes after which it goes to sleep atop of the hoard. Being paranoid, the dragon does this at random intervals.
  2: Subjects are paying the Dragon Kur their taxes after which it goes back to sleep
  3-6: The Dragon is sleeping
• At all times the Dragon is keeping an eye on the main entrance, sleeping or not. 

• On top of a smaller heap lies the sword the players are to retrieve
• Carelessly climbing the heap will cause an avalanche. You can use a luck roll to see how bad of an avalanche it is and whether or not the dragon awakens.
  

The Dragon Kur is paranoid and extremly possessive of its hoard. If they suspect you are messing with their possessions Kur will start the encounter as hostile: ready to attack. Adjust based on player behaviour.

Kur the Dragon

HD: Equal to a mythical creature
Armour: Almost impenetrable (eyes are an obvious weak spot, add more to your liking)
To hit: Hits a knight over 50% of the time
Damage: One hit peasants, two hit knights
Breath attack: Telegraphed before used but very deadly (ignores regular armour)

Physique: Huge, red scales, regal appearance, feline grace.

Mannerism: Not touching hoard: Commanding, collected, condescending.
                      Touching hoard: Hostile, tyrannical, cruel.

Wants: To get all the money in the world and shove their wealth in peoples faces; opposable thumbs to count their money with.

Fears: Rejection, losing face, seeming weak (will respond to fear with aggression)

Knows: Almost anything. Kur is almost as old as time and a considerable politcal player with a large spy network.

The Dragon Kur looks something like this

The hoard is a stereotypical dragon hoard. I think it is unlikely characters will manage to get away with all of it (though I wouldn't deny them the opportunity if they have a good plan), so I don't have a definitive amount of treasure in mind. I suggest you roll on a treasure hoard table of your own choosing or making. 

"Room" 5: ... and retired blades as well

Gloriebas is a sentient sword that has killed more than its fill while in possession of the Cairn family. It is done killing and just wants to retire. 

When a PC picks it up, Gloriebas will talk to it with a voice like knives on a blackboard and ask it in a hush what they want. 

If the PC tells them that they intend to bring it back to the Cairn family the sword will hold itself hostage. It will threaten to awaken the dragon because it is happier lounging here in a dragon's hoard then it is cutting into fleshy bits for the Cairns. 

Gloriebas is ancient and will know not to take someone on their word if they all of a sudden tell them they won't give it to the Cairn family. They will want some sort of proof or something like an oath (if that holds any weight in your setting). Reward players for coming up with good lies (Gloriebas can't read their minds), but don't let them get away with the sword too easily. 

Gloriebas sentient sword

Penalty on to hit (it doesn't want to be used and will sabotage its user as best it can)
Deals significant bonus damage (it is still a magical blade)
Loud (Gloriebas will always try to give away your position if it thinks you want to use it)

Physique: It's a sword with a red blade. 

Mannerism: Tired, stubborn, distrusting, is slightly disgusted by people made of flesh and bone (after having seen them from the inside as often as they have, who can blame them?).

Wants: To retire; to meet a fellow sentient objects to gossip with about meatbags.

Fears: Being forced out of retirement; the idea of one day waking up as a creature made of flesh.

Knows: Very intimate knowledge about the Cairn family history. Loads of stuff the Cairns wouldn't want to be known.

Gloriebas looks something like this

Thoughts and reasoning: Why try to jaquays a 5-room dungeon?

My feelings about 5-room dungeons are very ambivalent. 

On the one hand, I think it is a great tool for making something when you have very little time, which was the situation I found myself in when I wanted to run a one-shot for the people who didn't have to cancel for our main game. 

On the other hand, they are made to force your players into a particular narrative structure (3-acts, Cambellian mono-myth) that I am sick and tired of seeing used over and over again for all western media (I particularly dislike how some people think it is the only good way to structure stories).

Moreover, I personally love TTRPGs for allowing players to do whatever and the rigid structure of 5-room dungeons goes completely against that idea. 

Having no floors, the amount of jaquaysing that can be done is somewhat hampered. None the less, with two entrances that could feasibly be used, the magma chamber (2) as a hub from which PCs can enter the ceiling (3) as well as the dragon hoard (4) and the possibility to 'make your own path' (ab)using the weird gravity and the verticality of rooms (3) and (4), I would like to think I did a pretty decent job. 

Depending on the amount of play-time and player dilly-dallying the dungeon makes for a nice one shot. You could easily add or subtract a bunch of complexity like luck rolls, wandering encounters, etc. and give your players more/less time to plan their heist depending on your needs. 

I ran it for a group of 3 level 1 Maze Rats characters and they made it out mostly alive, permanently blinding the Dragon Kur, with a very unhappy Gloriebas and a sack half filled with treasures. 

I was upfront about the fact that they would be infiltrating a floating volcano to steal a sword from a dragon and let them pick their 6 items as 'preparation' for the job, which resulted in all of them bringing grappling hooks and a bunch of grappling hook based shenanigans (they did a mission impossible rope descent from the ceiling after climbing up the walls, it was good fun).

Any and all feedback would be welcome. I don't have a lot of experience designing dungeons (which is probably quite obvious from the vanilla themes).