Return to the Tomb of Horrors

In this quest, the heroes must find and destroy the reconstituted spirit of Acererak. Start Area

It has been more than two decades since a stalwart band of heroes infiltrated the dreaded Tomb of Horrors and destroyed the lich Acererak. However, strange creatures have been spotted roaming the Hill of the Skull, and rumors of Acereraks return are too portentous to ignore. If Acererak has returned and is using the Tomb, there will likely be numerous traps and monsters guarding him.

Quest Goals

You must successfully plumb the depths of the Tomb of Horrors, find the source of the new evil there and eradicate it once and for all.

Chapter 1: Entrance Level

There are three different entrances to the Tomb, and the heroes must decide which one to enter before proceeding to the official Start Area.

Tunnel A

The corridor is of unadorned stone, roughly worked. It is dark, and cobwebs fill the upper part of the 30-foot-long passageway. A pair of oaken doors stand at the end of the passageway; they open outwards by great iron pull-rings.

The roof 20' overhead is obscured by these hanging strands, so casual observation will not reveal that it is composed of badly fitting stones. If the roof is prodded with any force, or if the doors are opened, the roof of the tunnel will collapse and inflict 5 gold power dice of damage to each hero.

Tunnel B

The floor of the corridor is a colorful mosaic of stone, with a distinct, winding path of red tiles about 2' wide (the line snaking its way south down the corridor) easily visible to the onlooker. The walls are covered in unusual artwork, scarred and defaced many years past.

This is the true entrance tunnel, and leads to the Start Area (see below).

Tunnel C

This passageway is walled with unadorned stone. It is 10 feet high and extends 60 feet into the hill, ending at two huge doors set side-by-side in a wall of stone blocks. Above the lintel hang large horned skulls, similar yet unlike. The skull on the left has a smiling aspect. The eye-sockets are rounded and the teeth appear to be set in a smiling curve. The horns on the skull curl upward at the ends. In contrast, the skull to the right seems forbidding. The eye-sockets are widened and angular, and the teeth are set in a grim line. The horns on the skull point straight down.

The doors here are triggered to set off the crushing wall trap. If the doors are touched, they will not open. The crushing wall quickly descends to the floor and then begins moving toward the doors. It moves one square on the Overlords turn (and thus will kill all of the heroes in four turns). The wall can only be stopped by a continuous prolonged Melee action (5) action, which may be a group effort.

Introduction

Start Area

The tunnel stretches off into the darkness. You can only see about 50 feet ahead. Directly in front of you is a large pit that spans the corridor, flanked by two alcoves. The smell of decay is strong.

This hall is a trap convention, and none of the traps are visible to the heroes. Additionally, the western door leading to Area 1 is not part of the alcove, and can only be reached by going into the pit.

If the heroes enter the dart portion of the corridor, the Overlord indicates its position and activates it immediately. Likewise the Scything Blades are also placed on the board after the heroes enter the spaces where they are located.

Once the heroes have reached the Scything Blades, they will be able to see the rest of the corridor, and the master skeletons at the end. The skeletons will not attack until they are seen.

The yellow portal in the southeastern alcove is a teleport to Area 3.

Area 1

The door leading to this area has bars, allowing a view into the room. A statue of a large gargoyle stands in the center of the room. Around the statue are parts of another, older gargoyle statue, now smashed to pieces. The standing statue has 4 arms, and in one of them a large gem can be seen.

The golem here is an enchanted gargoyle, and will not attack the heroes unless the gem is touched. Attacking the statue does no visible damage, and in fact the golem cannot be harmed unless activated.

If activated, the master golem has Quick Shot and 2 extra wounds per hero. The gem is worth 200 gold.

Area 2

A series of four magical doors leads into the main portion of Area 2. Each door represents a different element (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water). Each door has a symbol corresponding to one of the elements, and attached to the wall next to the first door is a cup of water, a feather, a torch, and a pile of dirt. The correct item must be touched to the

symbol in order for the door to open. If the wrong item is used (for instance, the feather applied to the water symbol), the hero touching the door takes 2 damage, ignoring armor.

The door to the south has strange symbols painted upon it. It is a large X with arrowheads on each end of the X. Below this symbol are 4 small symbols. The first is merely a smaller version of the X with the arrows. Then left to right are a circle, a triangle, and a horizontal line. Mounted to the wall next to the door is a shelf containing a cup with what appears to be water, a feather, a pile of dirt, and an unlit torch.

The first door is the Air door, and the feather must touch the symbol. If it does, the door opens on its own. It costs 1 Movement point to use an item on the symbol, and none to open the door.

Another closed door is before you. This time the large symbol is the circle. Beneath it are the same smaller four symbols from the first door, in the same order.

This door can only be opened by touching the dirt to the symbol. If the

wrong item is used, the user takes 2 damage, ignoring armor.

Yet another door stands closed, facing west. This door has a large triangle on it, with the same 4 smaller symbols beneath it.

This door must be touched by the torch (lit or otherwise).

A fourth door stands at the end of the corridor, adorned with a large horizontal line, with the 4 symbols beneath it.

If water is touched to the symbol, the door opens.

A glittering hall opens up, running north and south. It is 20 feet wide and has a ceiling 20 feet above the floor. This area is similar to the entrance corridor, for the floor is of inlaid tiles and the walls and ceiling are painted with figures of animals, strange signs, and glyphs. The figures are holding colored globes, but several have been burned or blacked out. Primitive graffiti adorns the artwork, quite possibly authored by the two large ogres in the hall.

The meaning of the colored globes has been lost over the years, and has been

abandoned in favor or a more straightforward method of guarding the Tombs secrets. The yellow door at the southern end of the hall can only be opened with the yellow rune in Area 3.

Area 3

This miserable cubicle appears to have absolutely no exit.

The yellow archway from the Start Area teleports the heroes to the large red Xs in the middle of this room. The beastmen are here to guard the yellow rune, which unlocks the yellow door in Area 2. The Overlord should take note as to exactly where each hero is placed on which X.

The only way to exit the chamber is if the heroes all step away from the spaces where they started in this area, and then stand on those same spaces exactly as they were when they appeared (they must all be there together). If that happens, the heroes are teleported right back to the yellow archway in the Start Area.

Chapter 2: Chapel of Evil

Area 1

This chamber was obviously a chapel, judging by the furnishings and the wall mosaics. A mosaic path leads directly up the center aisle between remains of great wooden pews. It leads through a wooden railing to what appears to be an altar formed from a single block of glowing green stone.

The monsters here are the new acolytes of Acererak, working to rebuild the chapel to its former glory.

Area 2

The cool air of the chapel is instantly dispelled by the heat coming from this short corridor. The hell hounds here are the clear source.

The three doors with pits on the other side are stuck shut, and require a prolonged Melee (2) action to open them. When the action succeeds, the doors will open immediately, and the hero performing the action must roll power dice to see if he or she falls into a pit. Three black dice for the first door, two for the second, and one for the third. On a blank, the hero stumbles into the pit, suffering 2 wounds that ignore

armor. It takes 2 Movement points to climb out of a pit.

Area 3

At the end of the corridor is a door formed of huge oak planks heavily bound with iron bands. Several locks seal it off, including two separate keyholes and an enormous padlock.

The door at the northern end of the corridor requires a prolonged Magic (3) action to open it. When it opens, the boulder is activated.

The blue portal at the southern end of the corridor is hidden behind a false wall, and cannot be accessed until the boulder crashes into it. The boulder then disappears, and the portal is revealed.

Chapter 3: False Crypt

Area 1

The heroes appear on the red X in this area.

An unidentifiable menace hangs in the air, no doubt worsened by the maniacal priests rushing toward you.

The dark priests here will move directly to the corrupted tiles of this corridor. As long as a dark priest is standing on a corrupted space, he has Fear 2.

Area 2

In the chilly darkness are skeletal forms, moving around an entity resembling descriptions of the lich Acererak.

The shade is the tormented soul of a former adventurer, and the skeletons were his companions. They are enchanted to attack anyone disturbing the false crypt as a warning to others.

Area 3

This is a huge room, cluttered with a wide variety of items. The walls are lined with shelves upon which broken pots and debris are scattered. There are broken remains of furniture around the floor. In the midst of the destruction is a large coiled object that begins to rise.

Area 4

This room, filled with funerary offerings and furniture, has been looted. There are

four rotting sofas, several throne-like chairs, stands, small tables, chests, and braziers, all jumbled together, along with vases and urns that are dented, chipped, and broken.

Long ago this room was filled with a unique breed of deadly asps. The pervasive magical evil of the Tomb has evolved these asps into a new form of medusae. These creatures all have Poison. North of the room are some short passageways with a pit at their intersection.

A cold wind blows through these tunnels. It seems to be coming from a large pit.

The pit is very deep and any hero falling in will be killed.

Area 5

After a turn to the south, the corridor ends in what appears to be a cavern. The size of this chamber cannot be determined, for silvery webs shot through with delicate streamers of gold fill the air.

A master bane spider has made this cavern its home, and like some of the

other monsters in the Tomb, it has developed additional defenses. The spider has 10 extra wounds, and Leap.

There are two treasure chests in the room, as well as the Cloak of Time and Space. Whichever of these three treasures a hero touches first, the other two will disappear. It is not possible for the heroes to acquire more than one.

Area 6

This room is unnaturally quiet.

There are two traps that activate as soon as all of the heroes have entered the room. The boulder and crushing wall will both continue moving back and forth until the boulder hits the wall. If that happens, the wall is destroyed, but the boulder continues to roll.

The doors leading out of this room will shut behind the heroes when they have entered, and it requires a continuous prolonged Melee (4) action to open them. They will shut again as soon as the heroes have all returned to the room.

Chapter 4: The Tomb of Acererak

Area 1

You enter the remains of what used to be a massive throne room. A makeshift wall has been erected to the west, with a door in it. Pastel pillars are still visible in places, but most have been destroyed.

The demon and his two hell hound pets are charged with protecting the blue rune.

Area 2

This is the other half of the former throne room. More pastel pillars have been shattered here. To the south, a massive blue door stands closed. Strangely, there appears to be unguarded treasure tucked in the corners of the room.

The kobolds are not visible, and will not attack unless the treasures are touched, or the blue door is opened.

Area 3

A quartet of kobolds stands in a line, challenging you to pass through this corridor.

Area 4

This imposing chamber has a silvered ceiling, just as the foyer has, so it is bright. The walls are of ivory inlaid with gold, and the floor is polished common agate.

Area 5

A thick haze is in the air, making you feel disoriented. The further into the chamber you move, the worse it gets.

This room is slightly out of phase with the rest of the Tomb. As long as the heroes are in this room, their movement is reduced by 1 and the chaos beast has Fear 2.

Area 6

This burial vault has an arched ceiling with a 25-foot peak. You can clearly sense the evil power of Acererak in this room. His ghastly form rises out of a skull that lies on the floor.

Acererak is a master shade with 20 extra wounds. If he is killed, the skull must also be destroyed or else Acererak will return again on the Overlords second turn after Acereraks death. The skull

must be dealt 20 points of damage (no armor).

There are no glyphs on this level, and the heroes must make their way back to the False Crypt to successfully exit the Tomb.

Scenario Design: Jack Reda Send feedback to The Warp on www.boardgamegeek.com

Based loosely on S1: The Tomb of Horrors by Gary Gygax.