The Old School Dungeon – Populating Level 1, Beyond Room 9

In our last article we introduced some Kobolds as part of the special Wandering Monsters who respond to the shriek of the disturbed Shrieker at Map Key 9. This and the peep holes in some secret doors begins to suggest an emerging theme. Kobolds aren’t particularly fearsome creatures but their main strength lies in their numbers. When we refer to the rules; Moldvay page B37, OSE Rules Tome page 183, Labyrinth Lord page 83, we see that there are 4d4 (4-16) of these creatures. As we are placing monsters and treasure before we move on to random determination of the remaining room content we can decide that indeed a group of Kobolds, as suggested by the Shrieker special wandering monster list, would provide interesting and formidable adversaries for a group of beginning players.

Note that there is typically no connection between a Wandering Monster and one that is deliberately placed. Usually with Wandering Monsters they are random and its a case of instant monster, just add dice. However, we can build themes out of the special table we have devised which tie things together.

We will jump ahead a little and decide to put four Kobolds at Map Key 22 as watchers and the remainder of their pack at Map Key 17; we decide to have 16 Kobolds in total.

As Dungeon Master, How Do We Decide?

The Dungeon Master must use their imagination and daydream a little. Various things can invoke the imagination. If we were the Kobolds what would we do? Ask: who, what, why, where, when, and how? We shall assume that this band of Kobolds are far from being dumb creatures, there is nothing silly about them in their description, and that they will use all their cleverness in pursuit of their own goals and in opposition to player characters. Like the player characters a band of Kobolds are exploring this underworld, perhaps they are simply hunting, or searching for treasure, or exerting their influence over territory and will repel unwanted intruders, etc. All of these are suggestions, any of which, or a combination thereof, give us something to work with.

Map Key 22

Map key 22 is an oddly shaped room whose purpose was once that of a guard post for map key 2 can be spied upon from behind the secret door. We can borrow information from map key 2 and begin to write our map key for 22 as follows:

22. Guard Room. This oddly shaped room once served as a guard post but little remains now except for some empty stacked wooden boxes. They are sturdy enough that Halflings and Dwarfs can stand on them but the weight of Elves and Humans cause them to break. Little toadstools have begun to grow on them.

Secret Ref Info: Beside the south secret door is a hidden switch, a stone which is slightly more worn than the others. There is a 3-in-6 chance of spotting it; 4-in-6 if the character is an Elf. There is a peephole in the door which allows Map Key 2 to be spied on from behind the door. If the switch is not found the door may 2-in-6 be forced open.

There are four Kobolds here taking turns as watchmen spying on Map Key 2 so they will not be surprised by Player Characters there. They are as short as Dwarfs and so they have found a box from the guardroom to stand on which allows them to use the peephole. The moment they see light at Map Key 2, or detect movement with their infravision, they will depart and report to their leader at Map Key 17. The route they take is from 22, through 19, taking the corridor south to 17. This trip takes 2 turns because Kobolds move 60’ per turn. Should combat begin the Kobolds move 20’ per melee round. Refer to Map Key 17. for what the Kobolds do after they inform their leader about intruders.

Kobolds: Armor Class 7, 1/2 Hit Dice, 3, 2, 4, 3 Hit Points, Move 60/20, Saving Throw Normal Man, M6, Alignment Chaotic, Moldvay page B37.

It’ll be more interesting if we give our Kobolds names; Nipper, Gnasher, Howler, and Sniff. Admittedly these sound better in their native Kobold but if their names express qualities about them that are easy to understand all the better because it aids in role-playing these monsters. It doesn’t have to be very serious if that is not to your taste.

Note – I think it is important not to belittle or other such creatures. When treated like statistical fodder they won’t make very interesting opponents. The Dungeon Master has to understand that the villains of the story, even though they might not be sympathetic characters, are worthy of exposition.

A Wholistic Understanding of the Rules

As you can see, we do not have to write anything in a linear fashion. We can move around and put things where we want them when we place our main treasures and monsters. We don’t have to write anything more beyond statistics but if we broaden our thinking about the rules we begin to form a more whole understanding of how the game is meant to be played. In my experience it is not enough to cite statistics. We need to consider how the rules interact with each other and this will lead us to an understanding of how to role-play the Kobolds. This is part of our mastery of the game. For a new Dungeon Master/Ref it may not be intuitive at first and you can’t be expected to know every rule and how they interact with each other. I am not suggesting you need to write down any of the following.

How do intelligent Chaotic creatures such as Kobolds behave? The interesting thing suggested by the description of the Kobolds (Moldvay page B37) is that they are dog-like. The Dungeon Master can use this to interpret the Kobolds further; perhaps they act somewhat like a pack of dogs or wolves, albeit due to their Chaotic alignment (refer to Moldvay page B11), they will act more out of individual self interest, and their behaviour, according to their description, is unpredictable. You can use your own imagination to expand on what the rules say.

We can also infer from their alignment that the four Kobolds at Map Key 22 will, in view of their self interest, think better of a fight with the player characters until they can re-join their “pack”. Even though their behaviour is Chaotic, their individual survival depends on the the pack which greatly outnumbers the player characters.

We can therefore consider potential Kobold strategy. The pack of Kobolds might attempt to lure the player characters to a position where the pack of Kobolds can ambush players, e.g. attack from two directions, or to where the terrain favours them and, they can shut a door and escape, prevent Player Character retreat, parlay, etc. This will make the game much more interesting to play. We decide that an attack from two directions at once will be the preferred Kobold plan.

In any melee with the Kobolds morale is checked after the first Kobold is slain in melee and thereafter when 1/2 of the total number of Kobolds are slain. The Dungeon Master rolls 2d6 and if the sum of the dice is greater than their morale, 6, the remaining Kobolds either choose a Fighting Withdrawal or a Retreat, Refer to Moldvay page B24 and B25. The actions of the Kobolds should be strongly motivated by a desire to survive conflicts. Only when monsters pass both morale checks do they stand their ground and fight to the death.

The Dungeon Master does not have to wait for the morale check. They can intelligently role-play the Kobolds and can choose a Fighting Withdrawal or Retreat in melee if they wish.

As Kobolds prefer to attack from ambush, per their description, we might infer that when this is not possible they will choose to avoid melee, avoid the player characters entirely, or risk a parlay. The intelligent monsters do not have to fight the player characters and a bargain of some sort, usually one in which the players give the monsters treasure, might be enough to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Pantomime aside, can the players verbally communicate with the Kobolds? Can they understand each other’s speech? The player characters speak Common and any monster has a 20% chance of speaking Common. Characters and Monsters (intelligent ones) speak one of the alignment languages, Law, Chaotic, and Neutral. Intelligent Monsters also have their own special language which is named after them. Refer to Moldvay page B13, B30, B37. We can imagine they howl, and yip, bark, and do so in a chilling intelligent manner. It might be described as follows:

You hear strange howls and barking in the distant darkness but there is something about it which is intelligent, like speech. One voice calls and others answer.

At this point the novice Dungeon Master can begin to see how the various parts of the rules relate to one another as a whole and now understands more fully how to begin to role-play the Kobolds. We can begin to use our imagination to find their purpose. Let us jump to Map Key 17. What are the Kobolds there doing? Let us propose they have explored Level 1 of the underworld, and that they know its layout. We shall decide that there are 10 Kobolds at Map Key 17. One, Growl, stands guard watching outside of room 22 in the eastern corridor at the bend looking North. There is another guard, Wag, posted at the door to the south corridor of Map Key 17. The remaining 8 Kobolds are inside the room, Map Key 17. Just for fun we’ll name them too; Bark (their leader), Yowl, Pant, Drool, Fearbite, Scruf, Limp, and Snort.

We will decide that the Kobold’s leader is Bark who is not a chieftain because this is not a lair; so no extra hit points. In keeping with the Chaotic alignment of Kobolds we will also decide that Bark would selfishly like nothing more than to find something magical in the underworld which would one day make him\her the leader of the pack, perhaps the +1 magic sword. A magic sword in the hand meaning the world by the tail.

We can imagine some possible actions on the part of the Kobolds. When the Kobolds at Map Key 17 spot the Player Characters entering the underworld they report to Bark.

Case 1. The Kobolds at Map Key 22 move to Map Key 17 and inform Bark (allow one turn for the Kobolds to deliver the message and for Bark to issue instructions) who then divides the pack into two with Bark in the first group, 8 in each group, first group moving through 17 through 20, to 2, and the second group moving from 17 through 19, through 22, to 2. The idea is to ambush the Player Characters from two directions at or near Map Key 2. The Kobolds know all about the secret door at Map Key 2. Because Kobolds move 60’ per Turn it will take the first group at least three turns to reach Map Key 2 so the second group will move to Map Key 20 and wait one turn before moving to Map Key 2. This will allow the entire pack to attack at the same time. It also means that the players will only have three or four turns to explore before being ambushed.

Case 2. Should the Player Characters turn east towards Map Key 7 this will interfere with the planned ambush, which we might imagine won’t suit Bark but the sound of the Shrieker will possibly draw the Kobolds to attack the players anyway from behind via our special Wandering Monster Table.

Case 3. Should the Player Characters turn west towards Map Key 20 they may well run into the first group of Kobolds before the second group can arrive behind them because it will only take one turn to arrive there. Both the Player Characters and the first group of Kobolds arrive at the same time. The second group of Kobolds will arrive three turns later.

Case 4. Should the Player Characters discover and open the secret door at Map Key 2 they might discover the Kobolds in Map Key 22 spying on them. The Kobolds will undoubtedly attempt to withdraw to Map Key 17 if given a chance and Bark can still try to attack the Player characters from two directions but the second group will arrive later than the first. You can count the squares from the centre of Map Key 17, remembering that the Kobolds move 60’ per turn or 20’ per round of melee to determine how long it takes each group to move.

In order to understand how the ambush/encounter might play out we will want to refer to the topic The Encounter in Moldvay page B23, particularly the sub-topic Order of Events in One Game Turn. As the Kobolds have spotted the Player Characters at Map Key 2 the Kobolds cannot be surprised. Therefore, at step 5 of the order of events only the players will roll for surprise. If the Party of Player Characters is surprised the Kobolds immediately attack. When the Player Characters are not surprised, and the Kobolds win initiative at step 5 they attack.

If the Player Characters win initiative they may attempt to Parlay with the Kobolds per step 7 of the order of events. The Dungeon Master can then role-play Bark who will obviously want something of value in return for allowing the Player Characters to go on their way; weapons/treasure and/or magical things. What you do here is really up to you but if a bargain of some sort is not reached and the Kobolds do not immediately get what they want then combat will begin, refer to the topic Combat Sequence in Moldvay page B24.

Note – Although we do have a Monster Reaction table in Moldvay on page B24 it is meant for wandering monsters and there is really no need to use it because we have already decided what the Kobolds will do.

Even if the players do win initiative chances are though that combat will result from the ambush and how that conflict ends is a variable you as the Dungeon Master can’t control; and do not try to, let the dice fall where they may.

• The Kobolds might fail a morale check during combat with the result they conduct a Fighting Withdrawal or Retreat. They aren’t cowardly creatures but are simply unwilling to risk further loss from the encounter once surprise is no longer possible. Where will they go? The Kobolds will withdraw to Map Key 17.
• If the Player Characters conduct a fighting withdrawal to the exit at Map Key 1, and escape the underworld, the Kobolds will not follow per what we have decided at Map Key 1.

The Dungeon Master has freedom to role-play the Kobolds in any way they see fit. The Kobolds may withdraw from the underworld if a bargain is reached and trouble the player characters no further. This we imagine is not from cowardice but from the knowledge that any further chance of a second successful ambush has been lost.

I hope I have not scared anyone away. You do not have to be this elaborate in your thinking if you do not want to do more than cite statistical information but a little thought about role-playing the monsters will make the game much more interesting. The totality of the above is not explicitly in the rules; it is our weaving of the threads together that makes it into the beginning of a story. The Player Characters then complete that story in how they respond. You shouldn’t attempt to control the outcome as the Players are meant to complete the story. Your function is to set things in motion and let the players resolve the outcome.

Let’s proceed to writing a description of Map Key 17.

Map Key 17

17. Cross Room. What purpose this chamber once had is now forgotten and nothing is left which might provide a hint. The Kobold leader, Bark, has posted guards outside the south and east doors to warn of intruders and 8 Kobolds are waiting impatiently for orders.

Secret Ref Info: The Kobold leader, Bark, has planned an ambush and is awaiting news from the guards he\she has posted at Map Key 22.

The plan is that the Kobolds at Map Key 22 move to Map Key 17 and inform Bark (allow one turn for the Kobolds to deliver the message and for Bark to issue instructions) who then divides the pack into two with Bark in the first group, 8 in each group, first group moving through 17 through 20, to 2, and the second group moving from 17 through 19, through 22, to 2. The idea is to ambush the Player Characters from two directions at or near Map Key 2. The Kobolds know all about the secret door at Map Key 2. Remember that Monsters can open any door.

There are two half rotten false doors in this room which can be removed as if the door was being forced open, 4-in-6. Concealed behind the western door is a niche in the wall containing a lever switch that opens the northern secret door. Behind the northern false door is a sword shaped niche which is empty. It once contained a magic sword. There is a secret door in the north wall which has a peephole that may be spotted 1-in-6 if there is light in this room 4-in-6 if the room is dark due to the faint glow from the candle showing in the peephole. There is no visible means of opening the secret door, nor may it be forced open except by magic. There is no x-in-6 chance of opening this door.

There are 10 Kobolds at Map Key 17. One, Growl, stands guard watching outside of room 22 in the eastern corridor at the bend looking North. There is another guard, Wag, posted at the door to the south corridor of Map Key 17. The remaining 8 Kobolds are inside the room, Map Key 17. Just for fun we’ll name them too; Bark (their leader), Yowl, Pant, Drool, Fearbite, Scruf, Limp, and Snort.

Kobolds: Armor Class 7, 1/2 Hit Dice, 4 (Bark), 2, 4, 3, 3, 4, 3, 2 Hit Points, Move 60/20, Saving Throw Normal Man, M6, Alignment Chaotic, Moldvay page B37.

Map Key 21

21. The Closet. This room might be best described as a closet. It stinks for there is a pile of dung here. At the end of the closet a lit red candle floats in mid air illuminating the closet.

Where did I get the idea for the candle? I just made it up. If you want to make the teleportal look like something, a floating head, wall/floor diagram or symbol, etc., that is your decision. The teleportal could be invisible!

Secret Ref Info: The secret door contains a peephole which is not easily detectable from the other side, Map Key 17. There is a pile of dung here behind the door, it is Ghoul dung. Grant characters a 1-in-6 chance of identifying what it is. The players may infer there is a Ghoul somewhere in this underworld.

Where did I get this idea about the Ghoul dung? I just made it up, and used the x-in-6 rule to quantify it. Another way of quantifying things that fall outside the scope of the rules is to use Attribute Rolls, example: the Ghoul Dung could be identified by rolling equal to or less than an character’s intelligence using a d20. Example: if a Character’s INT is 10 the player would need to roll less than or equal to 10 using d20 to identify the dung as that of a Ghoul.

At the end of the closet is a lit red candle floating in mid air, it cannot be touched, it burns but is not consumed, it marks an invisible teleportal to Level 3 Map Key 9. Entering the northernmost square transports a character or monster to Level 3 Map Key 9.

Note – It might be interesting to have the candle burn down as it is used a certain number of times. This would limit the number of times the teleportal could be used.

We’ll jump to Level 3 Map Key 9 to provide necessary information there.

Level 3 Map Key 9

9. The Cave. This small cave has a lit red candle floating in the air of the southern niche illuminating much of this room. There is an iron door in the east which has a small rectangular open grille of iron bars at face height.

Secret Ref Info: The lit and glowing candle floating in mid air cannot be touched, it marks an invisible teleportal to Level 1 Map Key 21. The candle burns but is not consumed. The easternmost door is made of iron and locked; there is a keyhole. The iron door cannot be opened without the key except with magic or unless it is picked. If the grille in the door is peered through characters can see more cave beyond, Map Key 8.

In the Following Articles

In subsequent articles we will continue populating Level 1 of the underworld and develop further the themes suggested by our content. At any point we can revise our previous content based on our creative inclusions. Until the next article!

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