Dungeon Bringer 2 Page 9
“Fuck you,” I muttered to myself. I’d arrived at the treasure vault and used its open spaces to set up a few defenses. I didn’t want to spend any ka on traps, but rearranging walls didn’t cost me even a single mote. I erected new barriers inside the open room that would route the dungeon lord’s attacking force down a serpentine path. That turned the twenty feet of open floor into a twisty little maze twice the length of the room. It wasn’t much, but it forced the attackers into a narrow tunnel that my forces could more easily defend.
It struck me how similar this was to the tower defense games I’d played before, only it was a lot messier. I’d beaten the first wave, but the second wave was coming and I didn’t have the budget to string up all the defenses I would have liked.
I returned to the burial chamber and plopped down on my throne. The core’s hum soothed my ragged nerves and pushed Rathokhetra back into the dim recesses of my mind. Maybe that was why I liked it there.
I pulled up the tablets and looked through the options available to me, but I was distracted by a pulse of anxiety from Pinchy before I could make any progress.
The scorpions had stayed behind to keep an eye on the entrance to the other dungeon, and it looked like that had been a good idea. Pinchy’s eyesight was terrible, so she couldn’t tell me exactly what was coming, but she could feel their feet pounding against the floor. They were too close together and marched in too disordered a formation for her to give me an accurate count, but there were at least twenty of them coming.
And they were coming fast.
“Thanks, Pinchy,” I muttered. “Let’s open the butcher shop for business.”
Chapter 6: The Brink
WITH THE ENEMY ON THEIR way, I took one last look at my tablets to make sure I hadn’t missed anything important. If there were any upgrades that I’d gained on the way to third level that could help me and my people, I needed to take them.
I started with the Tablet of Incarnation. There was only one first-level ability in the bunch, and it was aptly titled Incarnate. That one was already in my repertoire and allowed me to physically appear anywhere within my dungeon for a whopping one minute at the astronomical cost of ten motes of ka. That ability could turn the tide of battle if I used it at the right moment, but only the most dire of circumstances could justify its cost. I still cringed when I thought about all the power I’d burned using Incarnate when I’d first arrived in Soketra. Sure, I’d saved Nephket and her sisters from almost certain death at the hands of Kezakazek’s raiding party, but the price had been ludicrously high.
Of the second-level abilities on the Tablet of Incarnation, I’d already invested motes into The Dungeon Speaks and The Dungeon’s Visage. Those two abilities cost me nothing to use and let me communicate with any creature in my dungeon or appear anywhere within my dungeon. They were handy tools, but they wouldn’t win any fights.
That only left a handful of second-level dungeon abilities available to me from the Tablet of Incarnation.
<<<>>>
THE DUNGEON DETECTS
Duration: Permanent
Cost: 5 motes of ka
This ability allows the dungeon lord to detect any magical items within 100 yards of his dungeon. The dungeon lord is aware of the general location (within 50 feet) and approximate power of the magical item. The dungeon lord does not know any other details about this magical item.
THE DUNGEON REVEALS
Duration: Permanent
Cost: 5 motes of ka
This ability allows the dungeon lord to mark any hidden, invisible, or otherwise concealed creatures or objects within his dungeon. All marked creatures or objects are visible to the dungeon lord's guardians, worshipers, or traps that require detection. The creature or object remains marked until it leaves the dungeon.
The dungeon lord may mark a creature once every six seconds.
ENHANCED PROFICIENCY I
Duration: Permanent
Cost: 5 motes of ka
This ability adds +1 to the dungeon lord’s chances of hitting with a weapon, inflicting damage with known spells, successful use of skills, and resisting the effects of hostile magic.
INCARNATE EFFICIENCY I
Duration: Permanent
Cost: 5 motes of ka
This ability reduces the cost of the Incarnate ability from ten motes of ka per minute to eight motes of ka per minute.
<<<>>>
I weighed each of the new abilities but wasn’t sure I saw a power-up that would help me win a fight.
The Dungeon Detects definitely wouldn’t tip the odds in my favor in a battle. I’d keep it in mind for the future when I needed to do some treasure hunting, but there was no way I’d expend any of my precious ka on that until I had more to spare.
The Dungeon Reveals seemed a better bet, but only if my foe threw some truly sneaky fuckers at me. My RPG experience told me that rogues could hide in shadows and there were plenty of invisible monsters out there, but if my opponent didn’t have any of those on her payroll, those would be wasted points. I made a mental note to pick this up if any unseen bad guys started to pick off the wahket, but it was a no-go for the moment.
Improving my proficiency likewise seemed like a minor benefit. For starters, proficiency was useless unless I incarnated, and that cost a damned fortune in motes. And, unless the monsters we were about to face were significantly more powerful than I thought, I was confident my existing combat skills and kickass khopesh would be more than a match for any enemies if I did have to incarnate.
Which made the Incarnate Efficiency I ability a tempting choice. Unfortunately, I only had twenty-three motes of ka in the juice bank, which meant there was no practical difference between paying ten motes for a minute and paying eight motes for a minute of incarnation. I could still only afford two minutes of incarnation.
Nope, fuck that.
It was time to look at the third-level abilities. I hadn’t tapped into any of these yet, and I kept my fingers crossed that another review of them would reveal some killer combination I could use to my advantage.
<<<>>>
EXPERTISE I
Duration: Permanent
Cost: 10 motes of ka
This ability imbues the dungeon lord with the knowledge to use two skills with proficiency. Available skills vary by region. Consult your familiar for more information.
SPELLCASTING I
Duration: Permanent
Cost: 10 motes of ka
This ability allows the dungeon lord to cast first-level arcane or divine spells from one of the schools of magic (abjuration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, even location, delusion, necromancy, or transmutation). The dungeon lord gains a number of spell slots equal to a wizard of his dungeon’s level for arcane spells, or a cleric of his dungeon’s level for divine spells. The dungeon lord may purchase this ability more than once to learn different schools of magic. The dungeon lord may also purchase this ability more than once to learn arcane or divine spells from schools already selected.
The dungeon lord must incarnate to cast spells.
<<<>>>
Unless one of the skills I could learn was Kick All Ass, the Expertise ability seemed useless at the moment. After this clusterfuck wound down, I’d have to check what skills were available with Nephket, but for the moment I didn’t see how it would benefit me. The spellcasting trick would be cool, but because it required me to incarnate, it wasn’t a viable option. Best case, I could buy Spellcasting I, incarnate, and then throw around first-level spells for a minute before I ran out of motes and had to turn back into a will-o’-wisp.
That was a pretty shitty ROI for dropping motes into an ability. Next.
“Let’s see what the Tablet of Engineering has for me,” I muttered. The first tablet disappeared, and the second floated into view before me. I peered at its surface and stroked my chin as I considered my second-level options.
<<<>>>
ALARM
Cost: 1 Easy encounter
Limi
t: No
Spawn: Yes
Combinable: Yes
Damage: N/A
Reset: 30 seconds - 6 seconds per dungeon level (minimum 6 seconds)
Type: Mechanical
The trigger for this nonlethal trap must be placed on a single five-foot square. When a nonresident creature steps on the trigger an alarm alerts the dungeon lord, guardians, and worshipers within the dungeon. Alerted creatures are aware of which trigger caused the alarm to sound.
The dungeon lord may choose for the alarm to be audible to intruders, or silent. Silent alarms can still be heard by the dungeon’s residents, but not by the intruders.
<<<>>>
That was an interesting little trick. It would be handy in the future, but I already knew the bad guys were coming. I didn’t need to be warned when they were close because I already had a scout with an eye out for them.
This was my first close look at traps, and I wanted to make sure I understood them. I examined each section of the trap’s description carefully, and the tablet provided me with an explanation for each of them.
The cost section informed me that the cost of a trap was the same as the purchase price for guardians of the same difficulty level. An easy trap would cost me the same as an easy encounter. In my third-level dungeon, that meant three motes of ka. Not a fortune, but nothing to sneeze at, either. It wouldn’t take long for me to run out of ka if I sprinkled traps around willy-nilly.
The limit of zero meant that this trap could be placed as many times as I wished to pay its cost. Again, that was pretty neat but not very helpful.
The “yes” in the spawn section told me I could place this trap inside one of my guardians’ spawn chambers, and combinable meant that its trigger could occupy the same five-foot-square section of my dungeon as another trap’s trigger, another trap, or even another type of dungeon feature entirely. That seemed very useful, and I filed that tidbit of information away for later use.
This trap didn’t cause any damage, and the reset value defined how long it would take for the trap to be ready to trigger again after it was set off. At third level, the alarm trap would reset twelve seconds after it was first tripped.
Finally, because it was a mechanical trap anyone with enough perception to find its trigger and enough skill could disable the mechanism. Any trap that was disabled would be reactivated at sundown when my guardians respawned.
With that information tucked away securely in my wee little brain, I dove into reviewing the rest of the traps at my disposal.
<<<>>>
NET TRAP
Cost: 1 Easy encounter
Limit: No
Spawn: Yes
Combinable: Yes
Damage: 1 per dungeon level
Reset: 30 seconds - 6 seconds per dungeon level (minimum 6 seconds)
Type: Mechanical
When this trip is triggered, a spiked net falls from the ceiling. The net covers the same five-foot-square area as the trigger, and all creatures in this area suffer one point of damage per dungeon level and are immobilized for six seconds.
After six seconds have passed, the target may attempt to free themselves with a Strength check. If this check fails, the target suffers an additional one point of damage per dungeon level and their next strength check to free themselves suffers a minus one penalty. This penalty is cumulative.
The target can be freed at any time by an ally outside of the net. This requires six seconds.
PIT TRAP
Cost: 1 Average encounter
Limit: No
Spawn: Yes
Combinable: Yes
Damage: 1 – 6 per dungeon level (Average 3)
Reset: 30 seconds - 6 seconds per dungeon level (minimum 6 seconds)
Type: Mechanical
When this trap is triggered, the five-foot-square section of floor where the trigger was placed collapses inward. Any creature on this square of the floor falls into the trap and suffers 1 to 6 points of damage per dungeon level.
Creatures who fall into the trap may climb out with a successful Dexterity check, with a minus one penalty per level of the dungeon. If the creature does not climb out of the trap before the trap resets, they may not exit the trap until someone outside of the trap either triggers the trap again or pries open the floor.
RAM TRAP
Cost: 1 Average encounter
Limit: No
Spawn: Yes
Combinable: Yes
Damage: 1 – 6 per dungeon level
Reset: 30 seconds – 6 seconds per dungeon level (minimum 6 seconds)
Type: Mechanical
When this trap is triggered, all creatures in the five-foot-square area of the floor where the trigger was located are pushed forward ten feet. All pushed creatures suffer 1 to 6 points of damage per dungeon level and suffer an additional 1 to 3 points of damage per dungeon level if there is a dungeon wall within five feet of the trap’s trigger location.
SPEAR TRAP
Cost: 1 Average encounter
Limit: No
Spawn: Yes
Combinable: Yes
Damage: 1 – 6 per dungeon level
Reset: 30 seconds – 6 seconds per dungeon level (minimum 6 seconds)
Type: Mechanical
When this trap is triggered all creatures in the five-foot-square trigger area are impaled by spears that thrust out from an adjacent wall, floor, or ceiling. The spears caused 1 to 6 points of damage per dungeon level.
<<<>>>
As nice as all those traps were, I was concerned about their usefulness in the coming battle. I had no idea what Delsinia would send after me, and that limited my ability to intelligently deploy traps to kill them.
Based on the zombie trumpeter, I bet that Delsinia’s guardians were mostly of the shambling undead variety. Skeletons and zombies were definitely as tough as my guardians, but that probably meant that Delsinia had a whole horde of the damned things just waiting to take a bite out of me and my people. A trap would take down a couple of the horde, but the rest would just amble on by while I waited for the mechanism to reset.
Traps might not be the best answer.
I peeked at the level-three abilities, but none of them looked very promising.
<<<>>>
KA REFINERY
Cost: 10
Limit: 1/core
Spawn: Yes
Combinable: Yes
Damage: N/A
Reset: N/A
Type: Arcane
This chamber refines one mote of ka per dungeon level from the streams of the geomantic nexus. This chamber must be placed on a stele.
MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY
Cost: 10
Limit: No
Spawn: Yes
Combinable: Yes
Damage: N/A
Reset: 30 seconds – 6 seconds per dungeon level (minimum 6 seconds)
Type: Mechanical
When this ability is activated, a single trap within the dungeon lord’s dungeon has its reset time reduced to the minimum.
TROUGH HALL
Cost: 10
Limit: No
Spawn: No
Combinable: No
Damage: N/A
Reset: N/A
Type: Cultivation
Once created, this chamber produces enough non-meat food to sustain up to five creatures with the challenge rating equal to the dungeon’s level. Creatures that require meat cannot be sustained by this chamber.
<<<>>>
Well, so much for the engineering tablet. The Ka Refinery seemed like an awesome chamber to build, but not when I had an enemy breathing down my neck. The Mechanical Efficiency ability just seemed weak, no matter how I sliced it, because traps already had reduced reset times as the dungeon increased in level. Maybe it would be more functional when I was a much higher level than I was now, but I didn’t like it.
I was intrigued by the trough hall, though, because what the fuck was a Cultivation type? I contemplated that for a moment and imagined some sort o
f weird dungeon farm with rooms filled with food for my guardians to gorge on, but vegetables didn’t seem like they were going to cut it for a bunch of cat ladies and the scorpion queen. I also had a sneaking suspicion that drow weren’t big on fruits and veggies, either, which would leave Kezakazek hungry.
Maybe if I found some herbivorous monsters who could also serve as food, the meat eaters could chow down on the plant-eating guardians, who would then respawn at sundown.
Seemed efficient, but gruesome as hell. I didn’t think I could use my guardians as a food source even if it would keep the wahket fed and happy.
“On to the next,” I muttered, and summoned the Tablet of Guardians.
The list of monsters I could summon had expanded significantly, but I didn’t have the time it would take to integrate them with my other defenses. Besides, if I held out long enough to get the temple and turn all the wahket into my worshipers, they’d be able to gain levels and I wouldn’t need any more guardians.
I shuffled past the monsters to look at the three other abilities available to me at third level.
<<<>>>
ADVANCE GUARDIANS
Cost: 10 motes of ka
When this ability is activated, all guardians with a challenge rating below the dungeon’s current level are advanced to a challenge rating equal to the dungeon’s current level.
ARCANE CONDUIT
Cost: 10 motes of ka
The dungeon lord may cast any arcane spells known through his familiar. The familiar must be able to speak and move freely in order to cast the spell, and the spell can be disrupted if the guardian is injured.
DIVINE SPEAKER
Cost: 10 motes of ka
The dungeon lord may cast any divine spells known through his familiar. The familiar must be able to speak and move freely in order to cast the spell, and the spell can be disrupted if the guardian is injured.
<<<>>>
I’d already explained to Kezakazek why I didn’t want to purchase the Advance Guardians ability, so I scratched that off my list. The other two abilities, however, could have immediate implications for this battle. The unfortunate part was that I would burn twenty ka just to set up the combo. And that would only give me access to one kind of spell, and from one school.
Rathokhetra stirred at the back of my thoughts, and his disapproval made me want to go ahead and blow all my ka just to spite him. Sadly, the old bastard was probably right. It would be far more efficient in the short term to just incarnate and lay waste to my enemies rather than invest in spellcasting abilities I might not have the opportunity to use.