March 2, 2011 / Scott A. Murray / 5 comments
Encounter Codex presents encounters you can quickly slot into any adventure. They are system neutral and easily adapted to any edition (and other game systems for that matter) with little effort—just add stats from your favorite monster manual.
[previous encounter]
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Features of the Chamber
• This cramped chamber has a domed ceiling nearly 15 ft. overhead. It is covered in an elegant fresco of subjects around the edge of the dome worshipping a radiant queen in the center.
• A single ray of light shoots down through the apex of the dome, illuminating a marble bust set into a niche. The bust is fixed in place.
• Rising from the floor below the niche is a stone altar, its surface angled sharply like a scribe’s desk. Nine small painted panels in three rows of three are fixed on the altar’s surface.
• The scent of burning glass singes the air.
This dungeon chamber contains one encounter element: the sliding picture puzzle…
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December 15, 2010 / Scott A. Murray / 4 comments
Encounter Codex presents encounters you can quickly slot into any adventure. They are system neutral and easily adapted to any edition (and other games for that matter) with little effort—just add stats from your favorite monster manual.
[previous encounter]
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A three-headed skeleton encased in ceremonial plate armor surveys this pillared hall from atop a throne of glass.
Features of the Chamber
- The air in this wide hall is cold and drafty. It carries the faint odor of incense and burning wax.
- Two rows of columns support a vaulted ceiling. The pillars are inscribed with hundreds of screaming faces; iron torches are set into them at two humans’ height.
- A three-headed skeleton wearing plate mail etched with arabesques sits on a black glass throne. It clutches a bone staff topped with an elf skull, and its central head wears a crown of platinum.
- Three black marble pedestals stand before the throne. There are closed tomes with a silver bookmark threaded between the pages atop each.
- A wrought iron scale also stands on the altar…
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November 3, 2010 / Scott A. Murray / 3 comments
Encounter Codex presents encounters that can be quickly slotted into any adventure. They are system neutral and easily adapted to any edition (and other games for that matter) with little effort—just add stats from your favorite monster manual.
[previous encounter]
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A radiant yellow orb—like a miniature sun—gleams from beneath a veil of crushed rubies. Hieroglyphs inked onto the wrappings of nearby mummies shimmer in kind…
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October 6, 2010 / Scott A. Murray / 3 comments
“Encounter Codex” presents individual encounters that can be quickly slotted into any adventure. They are system neutral and easily adapted to any edition (and other games for that matter) with little effort—just add stats.
[Previous Encounter]
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A narrow catacomb stretches toward a T-intersection roughly 20 paces ahead. The jaw and limbs of a four-armed gargoyle statue peek out from the darkness of the left corridor. The repetitive pinging of iron against stone echoes from the passageway to the right. Chunks of debris litter the uneven floor, saturating the air with the musk of ancient masonry.
Dungeoneers reaching the intersection find that the passageway to the left is merely an alcove in which a large, lime-stained statue of a gargoyle stands. Dried blood and pieces of broken stone lie strewn about its base. Close inspection of the detritus reveals that it is the shattered remains of petrified dungeoneers—arms, legs, shoulders, torsos, and one complete head…
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August 18, 2010 / Scott A. Murray / 3 comments
“Encounter Codex” presents individual encounters that can be quickly slotted into any adventure. They are system neutral and easily adapted to any edition (and other games for that matter) with little effort—just add stats. [Previous Encounter]
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An arched, 10-ft.-wide corridor stretches far into darkness ahead. Wispy cobwebs drift on the chilly air, gliding along deep shadows that sink into the recesses of the cracked masonry. The pervasive musk of ancient stone is broken only by a hint of what smells like a distant campfire. A floating humanoid figure wreathed in a faint azure light studies you from the gloom.
Floating in the hallway is the ghost of a well-dressed male elf named Valarel. He greets the players in a jovial albeit raspy voice, eager to strike up conversation after centuries of loneliness. His topics of choice are card game strategy, tailoring, and his lover Fiona…
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Encounter Codex presents encounters you can quickly slot into any adventure. They are system neutral and easily adapted to any edition (and other game systems for that matter) with little effort—just add stats from your favorite monster manual.
