TEXT:  
   
  
  © Creative Commons Non-commercial attribution 3.0 Mark Knights 2015 
  The map of the tomb. The compass rose was created by August Firmansaya Phoenix 
  under Creative Commons– Non Commercial Share Alike 3.0 Licence 
  
   
  P a g e  | 3 
   
  Table of Contents 
  Background ............................................................................................................................................. 4 
  Now ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 
  Tomb of the Ghast Queen....................................................................................................................... 5 
  1. Embalming Workshop with Pool of Water ..................................................................................... 5 
  2. Chapel dedicated to God of Death with collapsed floor ................................................................. 5 
  3. Elevator Shaft .................................................................................................................................. 6 
  4. Antechamber for preparation of meeting dead with collapsed ceiling portion ............................. 6 
  5. Priest Robing Room that has been used as a campsite .................................................................. 6 
  6. Crypt for less important burials with pool of water ....................................................................... 6 
  7. Tomb of the wealthiest nobles ....................................................................................................... 7 
  8. Divination Room.............................................................................................................................. 7 
  9. Gallery with the ceiling collapse ..................................................................................................... 7 
  10. Guard Room .................................................................................................................................. 8 
  11. Gallery reduced to ashes .............................................................................................................. 8 
  12. The Grand Crypt and camp site .................................................................................................... 8 
  13. Embalming chamber with partial collapse .................................................................................... 8 
  Handling the NPC's and Adapting the Game .......................................................................................... 8 
   
  
   
  P a g e  | 4 
  Background 
  The only child of the former rulers Queen 
  Esmerelda the III’s coronation was held in 
  the capital city some 208 years ago from 
  the current day.  She was elevated to 
  Queen status in her early twenties after her 
  mother had succumbed to consumption 
  and her father fell to demons that had 
  infiltrated the palace. 
  Esmerelda would prove to be a solid ruler 
  for the first decade on the throne but she 
  would not wed, regardless of the number 
  of suitors that courted her.  The populace 
  began to worry that an heir would never be 
  apparent as the good Queen turned them 
  away. 
  Esmerelda the III was said to be an entirely 
  vain ruler and as her beauty began to wane 
  she began to withdraw from public view.  
  What she did in the shadows is hard to 
  determine for her servants and nobles were 
  all sacrificed and interred in the tomb that 
  had been built for her inevitable demise.  
  The calling of the nobles and servants was 
  a time honoured tradition that was 
  performed when the ruler was terminally 
  ill.  The country fell to grief and prepared 
  itself for an inevitable war of succession. 
  The required month of mourning was 
  observed and the Tomb of Queen 
  Esmerelda was sealed on the final day.  
  The following day a great fanfare erupted 
  in the heart of the Capital and the citizens 
  of the great country arrived in droves to 
  see who the scholars would name the next 
  sovereign of the realm. 
  Instead Queen Esmerelda stood on the 
  parapet of the Palace.  She proclaimed that 
  she had been spared her death by the gods 
  and risen to immortality so that the realm 
  would live in peace forever.  The closing 
  of the Tomb would be the last that the 
  country would ever see. 
  Rumour immediately filled the streets and 
  the powerful sought to find out the truth.  
  The general populace was pleased but 
  other people of power had much invested 
  in the supposed death of the Queen. 
  It came to light over the following year to 
  those that sought the information that the 
  Queen had been dealing with powers 
  beyond the Stars.  She sought to find ways 
  that would restore her beauty of a younger 
  age and make her immortally beautiful.  
  The Queen should have been careful what 
  she wished for. 
  Her withdrawal from society earlier was so 
  she could practise the arts she had learned 
  and become greater in power.  the more 
  gifts that she had though warped her body 
  and it was only via these same magics that 
  she could hide the changes that had 
  wracked her body. 
  As a final step the servants and creatures 
  of the Patron beyond the stars whispered to 
  Esmerelda that her immortality could only 
  be achieved with rituals that would see her 
  consume only the flesh of humans and 
  intelligent creatures.  They told her of the 
  hunger that she would always have as a 
  sign of the hunger that her Patron has, so 
  that she may worship it better. 
  Queen Esmerelda had the servants and 
  nobles that knew the truths of her 
  consultations sacrificed and she fed off 
  many of them in a month long ritual that 
  saw her rise to a kind of immortality in the 
  form of a Ghast. 
  Her rule was initially tempered by the 
  humanity that was left to her, and the love 
  for her country.  But after fifteen years the 
  humanity left and the love for her country 
  was all that consumed her.  She saw 
  enemies in shadows that did not exist and 
  knives in the hands of peasant children. 
  Her armies rose in power and they were 
  largely turned on their own people.  The 
  
   
  P a g e  | 5 
  slave population bloomed and prisoners 
  worked hard in the country fuelling its 
  defences.   
  Under advisement from her generals the 
  Ghast Queen (as her name was now known 
  by the common folk) ordered the Tomb 
  reopened and the opportunity for thirty 
  prisoners a year to enter in an attempt of 
  redemption for five of the thirty. 
  This became known as “Running the 
  Gauntlet” amongst the prisoners for the 
  opportunity offered a slim chance of 
  freedom against the greater likelihood of 
  ending up a meal for the Ghast Queen in 
  the palace if they failed. 
   
  Now 
  The players will take on the roles of some 
  of the petitioners seeking freedom by 
  “Running the Gauntlet”.  They are lead to 
  a small mountain that overlooks the 
  Capital city and the rock quarry that they 
  had been serving as prisoners.  At the top 
  of the mountain they find an elevator shaft 
  and a rickety elevator carriage that is 
  raised and lowered by a pair of Minotaur 
  on a winch. 
  They are lowered into the darkness and 
  torches are lit.  The elevator shaft descends 
  a hundred feet into the mountain where the 
  group are led by their guards through a 
  temple to a God that looks after souls of 
  the dead into a twenty by forty foot room 
  with a large pool of water about a foot 
  deep is located.  
  The lead guard tells them that the five 
  petitioners that are freed will be those that 
  find one of the five gems that combine to 
  make the “Hand of the Lich”, a sculpture 
  dedicated to the Queen.  Once those five 
  gems are located and all other petitioners 
  are dead the elevator will return to take 
  them to freedom.  He then reads some 
  strange words from a scroll.  As the final 
  word is read the entire group falls into 
  unconsciousness in area 1. 
   
  Tomb of the Ghast Queen  
  1. Embalming Workshop with Pool of 
  Water 
  The wake-up room. Players wake up here 
  in complete gear, others are also waking 
  up at the same time – there are 15 or so 
  other criminals in the room, all carrying 
  the equipment that they walked in with.  
  On how to use the other petitioners see 
  Handling the NPC’s and Adapting the 
  Adventure on page XX.   
  There may be a battle here, there may not 
  – depends on how the players work it 
  out.  The other criminals are more inclined 
  to try and find the gems first and then fight 
  for their lives.   
  Petitioner: Use the statistics for the 
  Peasant located in DCC rulebook (p.434). 
   
  2. Chapel dedicated to God of Death 
  with collapsed floor 
  The floor has given way in a couple of 
  places here where a small amount of water 
  pooled and loosened the limestone over 
  time. This hints at the level below this 
  one.  Should a character look into the 
  collapsed sections of the floor there is a 
  50% chance that the area they are standing 
  on collapses also, taking the character 10’ 
  down to the collated rubble (1d6 damag, 
  DC 11 Ref save for half). 
  Through the archway to the south a 
  permanent 10’ conflagration of flame that 
  acts as the Control Fire spell (p. 239 DCC 
  core rules) with a result of 24-25 except 
  for the duration which is permanent until 
  the gems are collected and the other 
  petitioners are dead. The effect protects the 
  entrance to the elevator shaft (where the 
  
   
  P a g e  | 6 
  criminals were initially brought in).  The 
  room is dedicated to the Gods of the Dead 
  and protectors of the souls which were 
  meant to guard Queen Esmerelda, so long 
  ago.   
   
  3. Elevator Shaft 
  This shaft is where the players come in. 
  There are no ropes or elevator here and the 
  top side of the challenge is one 
  hundred feet above along a polished 
  granite surface (DC 20 Climbing 
  skill).  However, the shaft drops a further 
  25 feet and opens into a set of natural 
  caverns below the elevator that is not 
  covered by this adventure. 
   
  4. Antechamber for preparation of 
  meeting dead with collapsed ceiling 
  portion 
  Inside this voluminous chamber there is a 
  massive amount of debris. Hiding in this 
  debris there is a servant of the 
  Ghast Queen who is here to test the will of 
  the criminals that are running the 
  gauntlet.  It is a servitor from beyond the 
  stars sent to serve the Ghast Queen and to 
  oversee her faith to the Being that Is.  
  The servitor is a vaguely humanoid form 
  made from the darkness that exists in 
  space beyond all the stars and thus can 
  remain invisible except when a light is 
  directly shined on it. It remains largely out 
  of sight in the rubble of the Northern 
  corner unless and individual seeks to pass 
  through this room in possession of one of 
  the gems that makes up the Hand of the 
  Lich.  At such a time it will descend and 
  attempt to kill the petitioner unless there 
  are only five petitioners left.  It will not 
  pursue anyone past any of the entrances of 
  this chamber. Door to this room is wooden 
  and unlocked. Strength DC 15 break, 30 
  HP. 
   
  Servitor from Beyond the Stars: Init +0; 
  Atk Chill Touch +4 melee (1d4 cold 
  damage); AC 12; HD 2d8+4; MV 50’; Act 
  1d20; SP vulnerable only to fire damage; 
  SV Fort +2, Ref +0; Will +6; AL N. 
   
  5. Priest Robing Room that has been 
  used as a campsite 
  Lairing in this room at the bequest of the 
  Lich Queen is a Hollow One (p.418 DCC 
  Core Rulebook) by the name of Togs. 
  Togs is a follower of the Being that Is also 
  and is revelling in the attention from actual 
  servitors of the being.  In thanks to the 
  Ghast Queen Togs has agreed to defend 
  the gem of the Hand of the Lich it was 
  given.  Togs also holds a pouch with 17 
  CP and a small glass vial holding the nail 
  clippings of a sea hag.  Door to this room 
  is wooden and unlocked. Strength DC 15 
  break, 30 HP. 
  Hollow One: Spells Known 1st: Cantrip, 
  Charm Person, Chill Touch, Magic Shield, 
  Sleep; 2nd: Mirror Image, Nythuul’s 
  Porcupine Coat. 
   
  6. Crypt for less important burials with 
  pool of water 
  Water leeching from the ceiling has caused 
  a permanent 4’ pool of water to settle here. 
  Jars and baskets of corpses that were once 
  the Ghast Queen’s servants have fallen 
  into the pit and the water is black with 
  their contagion.  Living in the pool of 
  water is a mated pair of 
  Toadmen{Tridlplop & Sisslsploosh) who 
  have one of the gems of the Hand of the 
  Lich.   
  The pair are carriers of disease and with 
  any successful bite attack must make a 
  Fort save DC 10 or contract the Black Spot 
  Disease which comes on in 24 hours 
  
   
  P a g e  | 7 
  reducing the characters Stamina score by 
  d4.  The character must save with a Fort 
  DC 10 for two consecutive days to 
  overcome the disease or their body slowly 
  becomes covered in hard black nodules 
  and they die when their Stamina score hits 
  0.  Must make one save a day and a failed 
  save always does 1d4 Stamina damage.  
  They carry 28 silver pieces otherwise. 
  Toadman: Init +2; Atk Bite +4 melee 
  (1d4+1 and disease); AC 13; HD 2d8; MV 
  25’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +1, Ref +3; Will 
  +0; AL C. 
   
  7. Tomb of the wealthiest nobles 
  This is where the Ghast Queen had her 
  closest nobles interred as she had prepared 
  for her own death. Their worldly goods are 
  in the chests that lay with them and they 
  are looked over by the statue of Set on the 
  south eastern wall.  Treasure in the chests 
  of the room (all locked with DC 15 to 
  unlock or break the chest open is:  320 CP, 
  100 SP, 50 GP, 3 pieces of jade worth 50 
  GP each, a gem of the Lich Hand and a 
  Potion of Gaseous Form. Distribute this 
  treasure amongst the five real chests as 
  you wish. 
  In total there are five traps in this 
  room.  Experience should be awarded only 
  to those traps that the characters interact 
  with. 
  1. In the northern most room if a 
  character passes through this 
  archway it triggers a swinging axe 
  across the corridor with a +2 to hit 
  for 1d10 damage; 
  2. Archway in the north east has a 
  pressure plate just inside the door 
  that breaks the floor and drops into 
  a 10’ pit trap lined with rusty iron 
  spikes doing 2d6 damage Ref Save 
  DC 12 for half damage; 
  3. On the pillar next to the entrance of 
  the north eastern archway there is a 
  magical glyph which triggers a 
  blast of flame in a 10’ radius doing 
  2d4 damage to anybody in range 
  fire damage save Ref DC 14 for 
  half damage. 
  4. On the statue of Set (if it is 
  touched, it has a Zircon worth a 
  100 GP held in an outstretched 
  hand like a black heart) the statue 
  breathes a fine acidic mist out in a 
  15’ cone dealing 3d6 damage to 
  anybody in the area of effect.  A 
  Fort DC 14 save halves the 
  damage. 
  5. The middle chest of the 
  southernmost chests is an illusion 
  and covers a 10’ deep pit doing 1d6 
  damage, a Ref save at DC 10 
  halves this damage. 
   
  8. Divination Room 
  This room has been totally destroyed in 
  previous gauntlets. A backpack with 12 
  gold in it lays in the southern corner and 
  where a Green Slime has attached itself to 
  the ceiling.  Anyone taking the backpack is 
  dropped on by the Green Slime and if hit 
  with a +3 attack takes 2d6 acid damage.   
  The green slime is not an intelligent 
  creature and is immune to all attacks.  It is 
  too slow to be of any further danger once it 
  has dropped to the ground. 
   
  9. Gallery with the ceiling collapse 
  There is nothing of interest in this area. It 
  used to house oil paintings and statues but 
  they are all rubble now. 
  If the characters go searching through the 
  rubble a further 10’ radius section of the 
  ceiling collapses doing 1d6 damage to 
  anyone in the area, though a Ref save of 
  DC 12 halves this damage. 
   
  
   
  P a g e  | 8 
  10. Guard Room 
  The furniture in this room has been 
  smashed by the many battles it has seen 
  and the table and chairs that once housed 
  human guards lays as debris on the 
  ground.  
  Eight skeletons (p.426 DCC Core 
  Rulebook) exist in this room and attack 
  anyone that attempts to enter it.  There are 
  two skeletons at the entrance to the Gallery 
  to the north, two skeletons to the entrance 
  to the southern gallery.  There is a skeleton 
  standing at each of the entrances from the 
  east and the final skeletons stand in the 
  centre of the room moving to replace any 
  skeletons that fall at the other entrances. 
   
  11. Gallery reduced to ashes 
  This room has been destroyed by a major 
  fire that burnt away all of the paintings and 
  sculpture. There are three bases to statues 
  left and with a successful Intelligence 
  check DC 10, the characters can locate a 
  tin container that holds one of the gems of 
  the Hand of the Lich. 
   
  12. The Grand Crypt and camp site 
  This area is where the Ghast Queen would 
  finally have rested but it now stands empty 
  as a shrine to her stupidity. Inside the coals 
  of the campfire is one of the gems of the 
  Hand of the Lich which can be found with 
  an intelligence check DC 10. 
  Any character that touches the 
  sarcophagus of the Ghast Queen is 
  subjected to the effects of a Turn to Stone 
  spell (p.233 DCC core rules) made at a 
  spell check +17. 
   
  13. Embalming chamber with partial 
  collapse 
  Inside here is the final and most dangerous 
  of the guardians in the Gauntlet.  A wight, 
  once the lover of the Ghast Queen, guards 
  the final piece of the gems of the Hand of 
  the Lich.  Door to this room is wooden and 
  unlocked.  Strength DC 15 break, 30 HP. 
  Wight: Init -1; Atk Longsword +4 melee 
  (1d8+2) or Draining Touch +4 Melee (1d6 
  life drain); AC 13 (Chain Mail); HD 3d8; 
  MV 20’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +2, Ref +0; 
  Will +1; AL C. 
  Life Drain is added to the Wight’s HP total 
  when drained from the character.  The 
  Wight cannot drain more life than the 
  character has HP and the Life Drain cannot 
  take the Wight over its maximum HP total. 
   
  Handling the NPC's and 
  Adapting the Game 
  First, to adapting the game.  This is 
  obviously geared toward a group of five or 
  less players due to the number of gems that 
  make up the Hand of the Lich.  all you 
  need to adapt to a larger group is make the 
  number of gems greater and scatter them 
  about.  There are plenty of spaces that can 
  be used for placing the gems and 
  increasing the number that can be freed of 
  the Gauntlet.  The players should begin 
  with three starting character each. 
  What of the other NPC's though?  They are 
  only mentioned in room 1 but there may 
  be heaps of them around.  Do not be scared 
  of these NPC's.  They are an invaluable 
  resource for you as the GM.  Do what you 
  will with them but I see them being used 
  usefully in the following ways; 
   
  It is not envisioned that any other 
  NPC's will find any of the gems, 
  but if the players miss one because 
  of a bad roll then one of the NPC's 
  could have it instead. 
   
  The NPC's are criminals and so can 
  be used in encounters where they 
  attack the PC's to obtain the gems 
  
   
  P a g e  | 9 
  they have on them for adding some 
  XP into the mix. 
   
  If the PC's are coming toward a 
  difficult encounter (e.g. the Wight) 
  and they are all banged up you 
  could weaken the creature as 
  though it had already been attacked 
  by the NPC's.  Throw some dead 
  NPC's around the room for set 
  dressing. 
   
  If a player loses all of his 
  characters he could take on the role 
  of one of the other NPC’s. 
  So, use the NPC's.  You could also 
  introduce some side quests that lead on 
  from this when the players are free of the 
  Tomb with them.  They are a brilliant 
  resource. 
  The end of the adventure requires the five 
  that have the gems to congregate in the 
  temple of the God of Death.  There must 
  be only five living petitioners left and they 
  will find that the Control Fire spell has 
  been lifted and the elevator has been 
  lowered to lift them to their freedom or 
  doom?  That part is up to you.  All 
  remaining players should be given enough 
  experience to lift them to level 1. 
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG (osr)/Adventures/DCC - Tomb of the Ghast Queen.pdf