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Monday, April 16, 2012

The Dungeon: Level 3 - Bugbear Den

This area was once territory controlled by the Cult of Chaos on Level 2, but the large and fierce bugbears that crawled out of the abyss quickly claimed the area for themselves.  This situation serves the cultists well, as the bugbears serve as a buffer between them and the large minotaurs and ogres who raid the upper levels from their lair on Level 6.

The floor of this area is smooth polished tile.  In contrast, the walls and ceilings are rough cut limestone blocks poorly mortared together.  This works to the advantage of the white apes, who swing wildly through the halls at odd moments.  They sometimes cling to the ceilings of rooms where they wait to ambush the bugbears in play, or hide from the brutes on level 6 during their raids.

Level 3 - Bugbear Den

The rightmost room and hallway are a demilitarized zone - the decor matches the bugbear's rooms, but they know the brutes pass that way.  As a result, the bugbears try to stay safely on their side of the battered heavy door.

As with every level in The Dungeon, you can have the bugbears wait in their rooms for the characters, or you can have them take a more active defense.  One bugbear can run for help and be back in 3-4 rounds with reinforcements of more bugbears, one of the wokans, or both.  Those wokans are twins, but most humans and demi-humans can't tell bugbears apart anyway, so it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

If the character's first meeting with the bugbears doesn't prove hostile, the bugbears may hold out the promise of much gold to lure them into the hole in the floor that leads to the ogre and minotaur caves.  The bugbear wokans know that sending more manflesh down that hole will keep the brutes at bay for a few extra days.

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