The Ruins of the Necromancer's Tower is a very short and easy to play introductory dungeon module written for Swords & Wizardry: WhiteBox. It is designed for approximately 3 characters of low level. The Ruins of the Necromancer's Tower can be placed in any campaign setting and should be located within a day or two's travel from the PC's home town, preferably in a wooded locale unfrequented by the locals.
The remainder of this post is designated Open Game Content as outlined in section 1(d) of the Open Game License.
BACKGROUND
Several generations ago, a wizard took up residence in the PCs home area. Krugerov was his name, and he constructed a small tower on a small hill in the middle of the woods a day or two outside of the PCs home town. Every so often he would travel into town to purchase goods and trade with the locals; when he did so he was exceedingly polite and kind and the townsfolk liked him. His reputation sullied, however, when the corpse of a long-dead townsman wandered back into town wearing clothes Krugerov had purchased from the dead townsman's daughter just a scant few days before.
In response to that horrific event the townsfolk banded together and traveled to Krugerov's tower. As he stepped outside to speak with them, the townsfolk overpowered him and hung him from a tree outside his tower. They piled branches and leaves around the base of his tower and lit them on fire. Finally, they set Krugerov's body aflame and left the accursed site.
Since then, no one in the town has mentioned Krugerov by name or reputation and the area surrounding the ruins of his tower has been shunned.
Wandering Monsters
As Krugerov's dungeons are rank with the remnants of the undead and the filth which goes along with that, giant cockroaches (see THE TOWER, area #1) are prevalent. Whenever a wandering monster check indicates a wandering monster will appear, use the giant cockroach.
THE TOWER
1. Rubble lines the ground at the base of what used to be the walls of a small room. The skeleton of a staircase leading up to a now non-existent second floor lines the west wall. A giant cockroach has taken up residence in a darkened corner under the remnants of the staircase.
Giant Cockroach: AC 5 [14], HD 1, #ATT 1 (mandible bite), Move 16, HDE/XP: 1/15
2. As with #1, rubble lines what walls remain of another small room. Obfuscated beneath the remnants of a secret door in the floor along the east wall is a stairway leading down into darkness. Because the secret door has long been cracked, there is no roll necessary to detect it.
DUNGEON LEVEL 1
2. This 30' by 50' room was once Krugerov's laboratory. A cold, charred fire pit sits in the center of the room, and a stone workbench - stained rusty red in numerous places - adorns the east wall. Along the west wall are several wooden bookshelves containing anatomical and surgical tools, and random loose papers containing sketches of humanoid anatomy.
A zombie lies unmoving on the workbench, strapped in place with aged, dry, and crumbling leather restraints, as it has laid since Krugerov was killed. As the PCs make sound and begin mulling around the laboratory, the zombie will break out of its rotten bonds and move to attack them.
Zombie: AC 8 [11], HD 1, #ATT 1 (strike), Move 6, HDE/XP: 2/30
3. This 110' by 20' room once acted as a prison, where Krugerov would keep his experimental subjects, both alive and undead. As with the door in area #1, the door on the east side of the south wall is made of thick wood with iron fittings and is locked. The north wall is lined with concrete cells lined with iron bars. Two of the cells are connected by a secret passage, built long ago most likely by some of the "guests".
The cells are littered with the bones and detritus from numerous victims; a carrion creeper has taken up residence in the secret passage. Noise from the PCs explorations will draw the beast out of it's hidey-hole.
Carrion Creeper: AC 7 [12], HD 2+4, #ATT 1 (bite)/6 (tentacles), Move 12, HDE/XP: 4/120, Special: bite 1 hp, tentacle paralysis 2d6 turns if save failed.
Searching through the remains of Krugerov's "guests" will find a total of 50 gp worth of coins of various denominations.
4. This 30' by 30' room was Krugerov's private library. Accessible only through the locked doors in areas #1 and #3, or through the secret passageway in area #1, this is where Krugerov would keep his most detailed journals, diaries, diagrams, notations, and research. An ornate oak desk and chair sits in the north-west corner of the room, and equally ornate bookshelves line the south-east corner of the room. Even in their aged condition, the furniture in this room might be worth something to a merchant or noble.
Anyone searching the desk will find both an ornate brass key and Krugerov's dagger, and anyone searching the bookshelves will find a magical research diary containing the spell Krugerov's Cannibalistic Mutation (both detailed in this post). The ornate brass key unlocks the door in dungeon level 2 at the base of the stairs.
Moving the bookshelf in the south-east corner will reveal a hidden, spiral staircase leading to dungeon level 2.
DUNGEON LEVEL 2
The locked door - which opens using the ornate brass key from Krugerov's private study (area #4 in dungeon level 1) - provides entrance to a 70' by 70' room. There are six 5' deep recessions in the room. The north-west recession is actually a pressure-triggered pit trap, which falls 10' to a narrow cave passageway.
The narrow cave passageway leads to a wide open natural cave, approximately 100' by 70', with a 10' drop about half-way through.
What happens in dungeon level 2 is up to the DM. The natural cave should be filled with all manner of bizarre and unique undead creations; as Krugerov tired of working with them, he would lead them into the north-west pit, which would deposit them into the narrow cave passageway. They would eventually make their way to the natural cave, where they await discovery by the PCs. There should be enough undead to make for an exceedingly challenging encounter for the PCs, one from which they stand a decent chance of losing a party member or two.
