Sanctum of the Serpent Vaults

I have begun working on my level of Death by Dungeon and it has been a lot of fun to both get reacquainted with the three little books from OG D&D and to build out a dungeon level by simply picking a name. Sanctum of the Serpent Vaults as a title is evocative as hell, and even if all the other level names were taken, I likely would have picked it anyway.

The name got me thinking about cults, cause snake cults are a core sword & sorcery trope these days. Cults are fun, but also kind of boring, and I wanted to mix the delve rules with the wilderness rules to create a world within a world. The level is also pretty high as far as D&D levels go (7 to 8), so needed lots of meat on the bones. So I opted for the idea that this sanctum is the last refuge of a religion whose apocalypse happened, but didn’t turn out the way they prophesied.

I am thinking of recording some videos about this project to unpack my process more, but to give you a taste of where I am going, here are some of the high points:

• The religion is called the Church of the Shimmering Scale and the name of their god is simply God. Other people name their gods, but the Church knows there is only one true God.
• The level can be reached by two different entrances, the Hall of Scales and the Bone Forest.
• At the center of the level is the Yawning Lake, an oil slick shimmering body of water that ripples from the things that live within.
• On the shores of the Yawning Lake sits the City. Once home to tens of thousands of zealots, it is now a ramshackle shell of its former glory. The streets run red with blood as three factions fight over the scraps; the God’s Venom, the God’s Joy, and the God’s Wake.
• At the center of the Yawning lake sits the Weeping God, a statue continuously weeping tears of the slick substance that pretends to be water in the lake. At this colossus’ feet is the Grand Dias, where a million souls or more were sacrificed in his name.
• Behind the Grand Dias is the Stair, a winding confusing tower of slick stone stairs that leads up to the Spires hanging from the ceiling above.
• Embedded in the ceiling of the Sanctum is the Eye of God, a vast glowing eye that rains a sickly green light, keeping the City in perpetual day and the Bone Forest in perpetual twilight.
• The Stair leads up to the Spires, which hang upside down from the ceiling. Four in total, they are each claimed by the last powers of the Church. The largest is held by the Tyrant. The second largest the Hierophant. The third largest is held by the Archivist of the Collegium. The fourth largest by the Necrolord of the Dead God.

There you have my starting point. I am setting up a space filled with tensions and factions. Depending on which side of the level the adventurers enter from, they will get a different flavor, which I think sets up some nice replay-ability. More to come soon!