Opposites in Balance

[vito]

Being a huge fan of the writings of Michael Moorcock, I really love the theme of duality and the opposition and balance of paired opposites.
The cosmic battle between Law and Chaos is just cool. The fact that these two sides must remain in balance or the entire universe will be destroyed is even cooler.

That's why I like Chillfire Destroyers from 4E D&D. They are elementals with a core of sentient fire barely contained by a skin of living ice. These beings of chaos must destroy and consume all things around them for the energy to maintain the delicate equilibrium within their bodies.
I just can't understand why my friend Jim, a huge third edition fan who has played neither 4E nor AD&D nor OD&D, thinks they are stupid. Different strokes for different folks I guess?

Anyway, I have a few Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books and I've been wanting to DM a game for the longest time.
I want to throw a Chillfire into the adventure. I think it would be neat to roll up some kind of glacier/volcano themed dungeon and put this elemental of fire and ice in one of the lower levels someplace.
The heat from geothermal vents bores tunnels through the slowly crawling walls of ice above. Frost ceilings collapsing, lava rising, and a giant living embodiment of the whole place burrowing and crawling around eating up adventurers.

Tell me I'm not the only person here who would think that's awesome?

[tavis]

I do think that's awesome! Areas freezing over, filling with steam, etc. will let you change the pace of the dungeon like we've been talking about in another thread. Check out Delta's D&D blog for some simple OD&D rules for exposure to cold, steam, etc.

If the chillfire is a living embodiment of the dungeon, it'd be awesome if hacked-off bits of it could be used as a map until they melt!

[vito]

Yeah! Maybe the 'veins' in the creatures arms could represent tunnels in the place. That would be neat. I'll be sure to read that blog, thanks!

I think I'll generate the dungeon randomly for the most part, but I have a few ideas for specific things I want to put in there.

In the upper levels of the glacial caverns, the adventurers may see prehistoric animals preserved in the ice. As the ice melts, these creatures are thawed and brought back to life. The adventurers might even discover a frozen adventuring party.

A geyser found in one room has a strange orange algae growing around it. The algae comes to life and becomes an ocher jelly or something.

There's a pit of boiling mud on one of the levels inhabited by shambling mud men.

At the bottom level there's a strange whirlpool of magma. It turns out to be a dimensional gateway to the plane of elemental chaos. The heroes must figure out a way to seal the gate and prevent demons and elementals from swarming out.

The drifting glacier doesn't just carry frozen beasts and boulders. It carries pieces of the ancient ruined temple of a forgotten empire from a faraway land!
Chaos cultists have searched far and wide for this temple. After they found it, they moved in and dedicated it to evil. There is a sacrificial altar and a demon idol sculpted from ice. Breaking them up or melting them reveals a cache of magical treasures stashed away by the subhuman and degenerate chaos cultists.

I think I'll scan the maps when I'm done with them and show them off here!

[coffee]

This sounds awesome, I can't wait to see what you do with it.

[murquhart72]

One of the biggest, best dungeons IMC is in fact an active volcano jutting out of a glacier! It used to be a Dwarven mine/citadel before the volcano burped, flooding some areas with magma/steam and the resulting floods from melting ice surrounding the mountain making for some very weird layouts and environments. It's now inhabited by lizard men who migrated north and can operate in the cold because of the heat emanated by their new lair.

[vito]

Here's the first level of that dungeon so far.