Page 177 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

7A. JUNK ROOM Treasure. The safe contains ninety 1-pound gold in-
Zox stores curious bits of junk here until he finds cre- gots (100 gp each), ten red garnets (100 gp each), a set
ative uses for them. The room's contents are as follows: of Nolzur's marvelous pigments, and Zox's spellbook,
which is missing its cover and has lost a few pages due
Table. A 2-foot-high, roughly hexagonal table made of
to adventuring mishaps. The spellbook contains all the
welded scrap metal is covered with scavenged bits of spells Zox has prepared plus animate objects, fabricate,
broken machinery and scraps of food. glyph ofwarding,jump, and rope trick.
Music. Tinny music emanates from the southern door-
way (leading to area 7c). 7c. TINKER SHOP

7B. LIVING QUARTERS Tinkerer. A wild-haired gnome wearing a grease-
stained apron over threadbare robes (Zox Clammer-
Pet. A giant badger playfully chews on a stuffed toy in sham) sits atop the table, using a set of tinker's tools to
the middle of the room.
tune a Tiny music box that is playing a tinny tune.
Furnishings. The dingy furnishings include an un- Guardian. Rex, a shield guardian painted with gold
made bed, a drafting table, and an iron safe (see "Iron stars and crescent moons, stands next to the table.
Safe" below).
Loose Pages. The floor is strewn with sheets of parch-
Alcoves. Alcoves to the south contain a poorly draining
ment bearing sketches of metal contraptions (includ-
privy and a modest kitchenette where food molders in
ing the Simulacrux in area 2).
unclean pots and filthy pans.
Arch. Set into the west wall is a stone arch decorated Rex the shield guardian accompanies Zox wherever
with inlaid images of dancing goblins. Carved into the he goes. Unlike most shield guardians, Rex doesn't have
arch's keystone is the letter D. an amulet and thus can't be commanded by another
creature. Zox has stored a greater invisibility spell in the
The giant badger fights only in self-defense. Charac-
shield guardian.
ters who use magic to speak with it can learn the follow-
Zox Clammersham is a rock gnome archmage, with
ing information if they ask it the right questions:
these changes:
• Zox is afraid of the "scary red metal wearers" (hob- • Zox is chaotic good.
goblins) and has befriended the "burning men" (azers) • He has these racial traits: He speaks Aquan, Auran,
and "smileys" (lava children) that live in the surround-
Common, Gnomish, Ignan, and Terran. He is Small
ing caves. Zox has a bodyguard named Rex. and has a walking speed of 25 feet. He has darkvision
• Zox normally gets food from the nearby fungus forest out to a range of 60 feet. He has advantage on all
(see area 12), but the "scary red metal wearers" re-
Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws
cently set the forest on fire.
against magic.
• The combination to Zox's iron safe is "prairie dog,
• He has the confusion spell prepared instead of
wombat, badger, armadillo, wombat."
banishment.
Arch Gate to Level 6. The arch embedded in the west
Zox retired to Trobriand's Graveyard after the rest of
wall is one of Halaster's magic gates (see "Gates," page
his adventuring party fell prey to the perils of Under-
12). Its rules are as follows:
mountain. Having lost all track of time, he doesn't know
• The gate opens for 1 minute if a creature stands how long ago his companions perished or how long he's
within 5 feet of the arch and either sings a D note or been by himself. Zox has no interest in joining another
plays a D note on a musical instrument. adventuring party, preferring to work alone.
• Characters must be at least 9th level to pass through Zox carries a key that unlocks the palace doors, and
this gate (see ''Jhesiyra Kestellharp," page 10). The he wears a scaladar control ring on the middle finger
first creature to pass through the gate triggers an el- of his left hand. This ring allows him to command the
der rune (see "Elder Runes," page 12). scaladar on this level. He never willingly parts with the
• A creature that passes through the gate appears in ring, going so far as to swallow it to prevent its theft. If
area 47a on level 6, in the closest unoccupied space attacked or threatened, Zox activates the room's ball tur-
next to the identical gate located there. rets, then orders his shield guardian to attack.
Zox's music box has no magical properties beyond
Iron Safe. The square iron safe measures 2 feet on
a side and weighs 1,000 pounds. It has AC 19, 50 hit its ability to play a tune. The music plays continuously
but stops if the box is dropped, shaken, or otherwise
points, a damage threshold of 15, and immunity to poi-
handled roughly. The box is a Tiny object with AC 10, 1
son and psychic damage. Instead of numbers, the lock
hit point, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.
has tiny pictographs of the following burrowing animals:
Provided it has 1 hit point, the box can be repaired with
armadillo, badger, chipmunk, gerbil, meerkat, mole,
prairie dog, rabbit, tarantula, and wombat. tinker's tools. Repairing it requires 10 minutes and a
A character who spends 1 minute with an ear pressed successful DC 15 Dexterity check, whereupon the music
resumes playing.
to the safe door can try to pick the safe's combination
Zox plans to use the Simulacrux (see area 2a) to
lock, doing so with a successful DC 25 Dexterity (Per-
ception) check. The correct combination is prairie dog, create enough scaladar to build new things and com-
wombat, badger, armadillo, wombat. A knock spell or fortably control what he now views as his domain. The
biggest obstacles to his success are the hobgoblins that
similar magic also opens the safe.
keep stealing his scrap metal.
LEVEL 13 I TROBRTAND'S GRAVEYARD