Warhammer Time: Rise of Da Deffwotch

 

Kaptin of the 1st Krumpany joined by a Duhreddioh Dreddnought

  

Welcome back!

 

I haven't posted in a while! Started skateboarding and some life things occurred. Things are stable again and I have been returning to 3D printing and painting my pet army project, Da Deffwotch!

 

The What Now?

I am a patron of the ever-prolific Gearguts (geargutsmekshop.com) and sometime last year he started releasing some models of Orks wearing looted power armor. I really fell in love with the idea of some Deffskullz looting power armor for that sweet 3+ save and ordered a few of the models to start painting. When the Deathwatch Codex Supplement dropped in the fall, I got the idea to create a very unique Deathwatch army. With my 3D printers, I could easily customize the models to my liking and make them fully one-of-a-kind. I started digitally bashing together models from Gear Guts' line along with some free models I found online and Da Deffwotch were born!

 

Da Lore

Da Deffwotch are a large force of Orks led by Wotch Kommanda Gravekrumppah (not pictured).
Around M37, Gravekrumppah was a particularly kunningly brutal Deffskullz warboss known for loving to mimic human plans and sneak his boys into bases while riding in their transports. His meks were able to mock human communications and trick Imperial forces into landing. In his last exploit as Warboss Gravekrumppah of Da Unduh Takuhs, he fully wiped out the Atomic Spears chapter of Adeptus Astartes and managed to detonate a virus bomb over their only recruitment world, Tallonis XII, destroying any chance of the chapter’s return.

The Inquisition called upon the Ordos Xenos to send the Deathwatch after the genocidal Ork to earn some morsel of revenge for the doom of the chapter and the death of an entire planet. A small Kill Team led by an Astartes in Centurion armor teleported aboard his kroozer, exploiting the chaos caused by a massive brawl that broke out amongst the aliens over which planet to raid next. In the confusion, a marine of the Salamanders chapter struck Gravekrumppah in the skull with a heavy thunder hammer and sent him flying through a few structurally unsound walls.

The Orks proved to be too numerous and vicious and managed to slay the invaders down to the last. Not a single Ork stood to take on the grievously wounded Warboss's place and instead rushed his mangled body to their chief surgeon, Da Mad Dok ‘Eadhacka, who in his own words, "fixed up Gravekrumppah’s body real good like", by chopping off his head and (crudely) attaching it to the beheaded Centurion armor.

When the procedure ended, Gravekrumppah was changed not just in body but in mind. He got it in him that he was not only a powerful Warboss, but a Wotch Kommanda of Da Deffwotch. He started saying "dat da cursed ‘zeenos’ were up to no good and we gotta get da zog outta here and give em a good stompan." His boys didn’t care too much about the change of plans, and went along with their boss, who now demanded he be called Wotch Kommanda Gravekrumppah, Leader of da 412th Wotch of da Ordoz Zeenos of da Inkwizishun. Due to his love of meeting the enemy ‘head’ on in melee combat, Wotch Kommanda Gravekrumppah has died numerous times and his head has been reattached to his trusty suit of armor just as many.

 

What's Next?

I have been printing lots of new models in the last week and I will be sure to post more photos of them as they are painted. Recent prints include: 5 Intercessors, 5 Veterans with Storm Shields and "Deffwotch" Boltguns, 5 Eliminators, Corvus Blackstar, a Razorback, 2 Rhinos, Land Raider, 5 Primaris Outriders, and a Primaris Chaplain on Bike. A whole lot of models with even more character.

Until I get them ready, I'll post my other armies that detail the lore both in real life and in-game about them, kit bashes for said armies, and some terrain I've made.

Warhammer Time: Hive Fleet Stheno's Swarmlord

Kit-bashed Swarmlord

I started my journey through the hobby of Warhammer 40k by buying a Start Collecting Orks kit back in 2018 and have always enjoyed making fun and wacky kit bashes. Each army I have has at least one kit bash that sets it apart from other's and allows me to flex my creativity. With Tyranids, I wanted something that used a non-standard color scheme + make them different than others. It wasn't until I saw a tentacle/cable roller tool for modeling putty that I thought I could make mine have vestigial appendages bursting from their fleshy bits, similar to the Las Plagas from Resident Evil 4. Tyranids are already horrifying, but they can look creepier!

 

I was generously gifted a Treant model and a Hive Tyrand/Swarmlord kit as a Christmas present and inspiration struck! With the right bits and some elbow grease, I could mold the Treant into a Swarmlord to get a second HQ! Using the leftover bits from the Hive Tyrant kit, modeling putty, paperclips to pin pieces, and lots of patience, the monstrosity was born!

Enough talk, let's see some photos!

Progress Shots

 

Complete!

Pardon my messy desk, it's been through a lot of painting and I regularly forget to put a cutting mat down before I paint. I am overall very happy with the end result. I was very skeptical during the entire build process that it was going to look good but to paraphrase one of my muses, Wyloch, "Adding more detail can excuse a bad paint job or decent crafting skills."

 

I'll post more photos of Hive Fleet Stheno soon! I've got Warriors, Hormagaunts, Termagants, a Tyrannofex, a Hive Tyrant, a Lictor, and a whole lot of 3d printed Ripper Swarms in various states of completion.

Miasma and Monsters 1.3 Released

Version 1.3

Changed

• Charm Passive Bonus to Death Saves now changed to a +5% XP bonus
• Slot maximums for land and water vehicles reduced

Miasma and Monsters 1.2.3 Released

 Version 1.2.3

Added

• Clarified that you can use both of your weapons when you have the Dual Wielder Trait when you Charge. You can also perform a Stunt when you charge instead of attacking.
• Clarified that you can carelessly drop what you're holding for free instead of consuming an Action
• Clarified that Called Shots on Arms/Wings lasts d4 Rounds
• Added a Source of XP for spending money
• Added section for how long it takes to transcribe a spell into a book
  

Changed

• Fixed typos
• Ability scores max out at 25/+9
• Skill Recommended Starting Weapons/Armor now updated so you can start with 2 extra light weapons
• Clarified coin requirements for some sources of xp
• Gate spell updated to create a portal to a place the caster has been before
  

Find Your Path: Skill

 

 

H'aanit from Octopath Traveler, strongest party member, change my mind

"What is locked... can be opened... What is hidden... can be found... What is yours... ...can be mine." - Garrett, Thief: Deadly Shadows

Note: all of the rules discussed are based on the current version of the game, 1.2.2.

 

In this post, I'll be going over the Path of Skill for my in-development game, Miasma and Monsters. If you are unfamiliar with the game, please read my post introducing it here.

Not the type looking to solve all their problems with blunt force trauma? Do you prefer to use finesse instead of raw power? Then read on about the Path of Skill. Within it, you will find Bonuses and Traits that will help your character fit archetypes such as the Assassin, Ranger, and Thief.

Passive Skill Bonuses! What are our options?

1. +5' Movement
   
2. +20% to ranges with ranged attacks
   
3. +1 to Skill Saves
   

Nothing game-breaking, but a nice-to-have Bonus that, if taken the maximum six times, allows a player to move up to 70' per Round! Helpful for many Skill archetypes, providing plenty of maneuverability options and working hand-in-hand with many of the Traits contained in this Path. Combine with Shifty to easily get far away from your opponents after Backstabbing them, or pull off charges from super long distances.

Wanna stay far in the back lines and pick off your opponents? Don't like the smell of your foes after they've been stuck with your arrows? Take this Bonus and never fear being too close to combat again! Just don't stray too far from the party, lest you get ambushed. Pair with Rapid Shooter for many shots at far range.

Improving your Skill saves allows one to be much more consistent when performing Stunts, which is a great way to get the tactical advantage necessary for overcoming long odds. Also handy when dodging a dragon's breath or a projectile is the difference between a minor wound and rolling a new character.

Traits

• Accurate 
• "You may reroll any of your ranged attack roll L times per day. You must use the new result and it cannot be rerolled."
• You like it when you successfully hit things, so why not increase those chances? Very handy to keep in your back pocket when you roll a 1 on your nearly broken longbow. Can also be used to help when you have disadvantage. Combine with Lucky for even more insurance!
  
• Backstab
• "When you successfully attack a foe who is already engaged by an ally, you inflict an additional HLd6 damage. You must use an extra light or light melee weapon. You can only do this with one attack per round."
• The bread-and-butter of many Rogues in TTRPGs, this allows you to make up for the lower damage dice of light and extra light weapons.
  
• Block Missile
• "As a Reaction, the character can attempt to grab a missile out of the air that is fired at them or an adjacent creature. The character must make a Skill saving throw to succeed. Saves to grab a missile away from an adjacent creature have disadvantage."
• "How did you just do that!? That was flying right for your face!" - your allies the first time you use this Trait. Yes, you could use this to grab hand-axes and the like too, just make sure to grab them by the handle. I guess you can protect your allies with this too, but we know you took this to protect numero uno.
  
• Dual Wielder
• "You can add your SB to your offhand attacks. Instead of only gaining one additional attack per round with the offhand weapon, you can attack with it for free whenever you use an Action to attack or perform a Stunt."
• Improve your offhand attacks AND get the ability to attack whenever you use a Stunt? Oh yeah, that's a keeper for any dual-wielding ruffian.
  
• Hunter
• "You have Advantage to track, navigate, hunt, and forage in the wilderness. You deal an extra L damage to beasts, mutants, and plants."
• When you and your party are trying to clear hexes, scavenge resources, and hunt monsters, this can prove to be invaluable. Need to track a rampaging weresquid clan back to their lair? Or how about locating the lost colonists sent from Cromar? Hunter will get you there.
  
• Lucky
• "HL times per day, you may reroll a natural 1 on a D20 or force a foe to reroll a natural 20 on a D20."
• You must have cooked your dice in the oven, because you never seem to roll a damn 1. Critical (heh) when you need to protect an ally from being merked by a rampaging baloth or just really don't want to lose a Quality from your nice brigandine coat.
  
• Pack Tactics
• "If you and at least one conscious ally are adjacent to the same creature, then you have Advantage on attacks against that creature. This can only be applied to one attack roll per Round."
• Got a thick-skulled companion that loves to jump into the fray? Join them and revel in your greatly increased accuracy. Needless to say, you should take Backstab with this and go "crit fishing".
  
• Rapid Shooter
• "If you do not move beforehand, then when you use an Action to attack with a ranged weapon, you can attack again with the same weapon as part of that Action. You can only do this once per round and it does not apply to weapons that take 1 or more Rounds to reload."
• Your elementary school dreams of being Legolas have come true! While your foolish allies will have to wait until they're 4th level to make multiple attacks per Round, you can stand back in safety with your arrows spiked into the ground and fell your enemies without fear. Combine with Accurate and/or Lucky if you really want to emulate the Fellowship's Elf.
  
• Shifty
• "After making a successful melee attack against a creature, they can’t opportunity attack you until the beginning of the next round."
• Like dealing melee damage but hate being a target yourself? Take this to perpetually annoy your Referee who keeps rolling melee-only creatures for encounters.
  
• Slippery Target
• "You can use a Reaction to reduce damage taken by half your SB (rounded down), if you can see its source."
• You've got a sixth sense for danger and always seem to come out of scraps looking better than your allies. You can still commiserate with their agony, but on a much reduced scale. Oh yeah, did I mention this can be used every Round?
  
• Sneaky
• "You gain Advantage on Skill Saves to hide in shadows, move silently, and pick locks assuming you have the proper tools."
• Tell your shouty barbarian pal to take a backseat for just a smidge, you need to do some skullduggery. For when you don't want to alarm your foes, because who needs a full stronghold running after you when you can just slip in through a window and make off with their most prized MacGuffins?
  
• Zippy
• "Before or after making an attack roll, you can use your Reaction to move half your movement speed. In addition, you have Advantage on Skill Saves to dodge harmful effects."
• Fly across the battlefield and duck below dragon breath with ease! Great for speeding after a fleeing enemy or when you really need that extra couple dozen feet to introduce that Miasma Man with your short steel. Take with Shifty so you can safely escape melee combat.
  

Capstone Traits

When a character reaches 9th level, they get to choose a Capstone Trait. To choose one of these, one must have at least three Traits from the same Path, demonstrating their devotion to it. 

• Bravo 
• "When an enemy misses you with a melee attack, you can spend your Reaction to make a melee attack against that enemy. You have Advantage for this attack, and if you hit, the attack deals an extra HL damage."
• Remember how the knight on your team has a chance to riposte enemies when they miss? That's cute. Show them how comeuppance is really done with this flamboyant Capstone Trait.
  
• Deadly Assassin 
• "Whenever you hit with Advantage, you score a critical hit. If your attack roll would have crit normally, double your SB when calculating damage."
• Have your Shield Master ally knock enemies prone then you give them the business. Works with ranged attacks too, so take out your targets at range in spectacular fashion.
  
• Sniper 
• "You deal an additional HL damage to targets when using a ranged weapon, ignore the penalties when shooting past combatants, and can use ranged weapons at their ineffective range with no penalties."
• Shoot enemies from long distances, thread crossbow bolts through keyholes, and deal an extra 4 damage per attack when you take this at 9th level. What's not to love? No longer worry about your allies being in the way of your shots, you have mastered the technique of timing their swings to get in a few extra shots.
  

Guild

"Ah, yes. Another scoundrel who served time in an imperial prison. The Gray Fox is offering you a chance to join the Thieves Guild."

 

You've stabbed, sneaked, and arrowed your way to the top of the food chain and now every back-alley thug wants to be on your payroll. You deserve to start a Guild and retire with all your fantastic treasures. You customize each aspect of your guild, from uniform, tenets, and taboos. Will yours focus on the honest pursuit of thievery? Perhaps the more noble profession of assassinations? I guess if you're less bold, you could go for the more socially-acceptable foci such as hunting, crafting, or ranging too. Regardless, once established in a settlement, applicants will flock to your front desk demanding to be interviewed for membership. Remember that they must all pay their dues!

Sample Character Progress 

Below is a sample character progressing from 1st to 12th level. Brawn and Skill were improved upon each level increase until Skill was maxed out at 25. Then Brawn and Mind were increased until 12th level. This is a melee-focused character, taking one Brawn Trait, Riposte, that is eventually traded for Weapon Master when the Bravo Capstone Trait is attained.

• Level 1 
• HP 8, Brawn 12, Skill 16, Mind 7, Charm 7 PSB: +5' Movement Trait: Shifty
  
• Level 2
• HP 12, Brawn 13, Skill 17, Mind 7, Charm 7 PSB: +1 to Skill Saves Trait: Pack Tactics
• Level 3
• HP 3d8 + 6, Brawn 14, Skill 18, Mind 7, Charm 7 PSB: +1 to Skill Saves Trait: Backstab
• Level 4
• HP 4d8 + 8, Brawn 15, Skill 19, Mind 7, Charm 7 PSB: +5' Movement Trait: Zippy
• Level 5
• HP 5d8 + , Brawn 16, Skill 20, Mind 7, Charm 7 PBB: +1 to melee damage rolls Trait: Riposte
• Level 6
• HP 6d8 + , Brawn 17, Skill 21, Mind 7, Charm 7 PSB: +1 to Skill Saves
• Level 7
• HP 7d8 + , Brawn 18, Skill 22, Mind 7, Charm 7 PSB: +1 to Skill Saves
• Level 8
  
• HP 8d8 + , Brawn 19, Skill 23, Mind 7, Charm 7 PSB: +1 to Skill Saves
• Level 9
• HP 9d8 + , Brawn 20, Skill 24, Mind 7, Charm 7 PSB: +1 to Skill Saves Capstone Trait: Bravo Exchange Riposte for Weapon Master
• Level 10
• HP 9d8 + , Brawn 21, Skill 25, Mind 7, Charm 7 PSB:  +5' Movement
• Level 11
• HP 9d8 + , Brawn 22, Skill 25, Mind 8, Charm 7 PSB: +5' Movement
• Level 12
  
• HP 9d8 + , Brawn 23, Skill 25, Mind 9, Charm 7 PSB: +5' Movement

May your enemy's purses be heavy and your actions undetected when you travel down the Path of Skill!

Dungeon Robbing: Pokemon

Sabrina's Gym, courtesy of StrategyWiki

"It hurt itself in its confusion!"

No don't leave! Just because it's Pokemon doesn't mean there's something we can't learn from it. I have lots of memories of overwriting my many hour-long saves in elementary school to start my journey through Kanto anew with different strategies and I imagine many other millennial-aged role-players do too. Ever realize that these games are littered with "dungeons"? Almost every non-town location in the original games meet the "Dungeon Checklist". Mind you, don't literally take the points from that article literally. In Pokemon, you're not killing your opponent's Pokemon, you're knocking them out!

• Something to Steal
• Something to be Killed
• Something to Kill You
• Different Paths
• Someone to Talk To
• Something to Experiment With
• Something the Players Probably Won't Find

Take a look at Sabrina's Gym. We've got a majority of the checklist covered:

• A new gym leader badge to acquire (Something to Steal)
• Plenty of Trainer battles (Something to Be Killed/Something to Kill You)
• Psychic is the strongest type by far in Gen 1, so expect to 'white out' and return to the Pokecenter a few times here
  
• Multiple paths to Sabrina (3 different teleporters lead to 'M', which takes you to the Gym Leader)
• Trainers offer some dialogue (this one is a stretch, these games don't have very meaningful dialogue systems)
• You gotta experiment with all the teleporters to find Sabrina!
• You likely won't fight all Trainers on your first pass here, incentivizing you to find them all to get enough experience to defeat Sabrina

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Of course, not everything in Kanto translates well to an enjoyable TTRPG dungeon.

Vermillion Gym, courtesy of StrategyWiki

In the third gym, players have to find a hidden switch underneath the garbage cans spread across the floor. Two switches must be found in order to open the doors to reach the gym leader, and if you don't know how the puzzle works (or that there's a bug in the first games), it just involves trial and error. Also to add frustration, if you press the incorrect switch, the puzzle resets! Annoying and just wastes time, adding only tedium to your games. They act as filler to a video game's run-time and are only memorable for the amount of frustration they generated. Don't put in puzzles like this unless they are very simple and don't gate progress.

Ice Sliding and Rock Pushing Puzzles

Another memorable puzzle design from the first two generations of Pokemon are the Ice Sliding and Rock Pushing puzzles. These involve either slip-sliding across ice, unable to make movement changes after the initial input, or using a Pokemon to physically push heavy obstacles out of the player's path to the next zone. There's some considerations to be made before putting them into your dungeons. Forcing players to not be able to move on ice until they hit a wall or rock is unrealistic, annoying, and breaks their agency. 

 

Instead of railroading their movement options, instead try converting that into a platform or a ball that's locked onto a track that must be navigated around in order to solve the puzzle. Throw in some traps or monsters that add some danger to the puzzle to ramp up the tension. Imagine a few players having to fend off a wave of weak monsters (maybe even flavored to look similar to Pokemon) while the thief is moving a large ball through a track to fall into a hole, hitting a button that opens the exit door, all while everyone is dodging arrows shooting out of the walls. Maybe instead of a ball to move, there's instead a floating, square platform with four arrows along each edge pointing N/S/E/W. Standing atop an arrow or placing a heavy object on it causes the platform to move in that direction at a rate of 20' per Round. Now place some stone pillars, rotating blades, and some stirges within the room and you've got a memorable room! Remind you of anything?

Dungeon Time

Using these tenets and inspiration from this Gym, let's craft a quick dungeon!

Tomb of the Ooze Lich

Muculous was a wizard who fashioned himself as the world's foremost researcher of oozes. He became so fascinated with the creatures that he transformed himself into possibly the first Ooze Lich. He has a hideout hidden inside a hill and uses his mastery of teleportation magic to send clues/maps to nearby towns to draw in adventurers to use as test subjects. 

GM Note: Highlight the blacked-out text to see the spoiler! His phylactery is the northern most, hexagonal pillar in Room B. It must be destroyed in order to permanently kill Muculous. Note that doing so will make the lair unstable and cause it to collapse in 1 Turn. If Muculous is killed but his phylactery remains, he will respawn in this room in d4 days. If the pillar is struck, it makes a different noise than the others and it smells like rotten eggs.

Wandering Creatures

Roll every Turn, 2-6 chance of an encounter occurring. Roll a D4 for encounter:

1. D4 Ooze Humans. As zombie, without the ability to bite/turn victims to a zombie. Can fall upon prone creatures to envelop them in ooze, causing them d6 damage per Round until escaped. Half from piercing/slashing and double from fire.They are pretending to be puddles of harmless water, will attack when approached.
   
2. Gelatinous Cube, halfway done dissolving a lost adventurer
   
3. 1D8 Orcs/Caratorks/Hobgoblins/Cultists/Brigands, exploring the tombs, weapons in hands, looking to find Muculous's spell research
4. Ooze drips from the ceiling, extinguishing any torches the party is carrying.
   

• A
• 2 clear oozes rest motionlessly above the East and West doors, respectively. Whoever goes to either of the doors first will need to make a save to avoid the ooze landing on their head.
• Clear ooze, 1 HD, AC 11, 1 slam (d6), mv 30', morale 8, if it lands on a creature's head, they immediately take d4 damage from the ooze's acid and another d4 at the beginning of their round until removed. Any damage from fire immediately kills the ooze, piercing and slashing damage deals half.
  
• Clear Oozes shimmer like a soap bubble in light and they give off a "rotten eggs" smell
• Something to Kill You
• Different Paths 
  
• B
• Door immediately opens a room with a 50' drop to a floor covered in bones and a floating platform roughly 10' square a few feet beyond the door. Each of the 4 edges of the platform have a pressure plate with an arrow pointing in that direction (N, S, E, W). If an object weighing more than 10 pounds is placed on the plate, it will depress and the platform will move in that direction at a rate of 20' per Round.
• There are solid rock platforms (gray hexagons) that go from floor to ceiling.
• There is a 20' long, 5' wide blade that rotates on one of the pillars a few feet above the platform. Every Round it moves clockwise 180 degrees above the pillar. If the blades hit something, it will deal 1d10 damage unless a Save is made. It is enchanted to phase through any of the pillars.
  
• 2d6 Stirges have a nest built-upon one of the western pillars
  
• Bottom of the room has two Gelatinous Cubes roaming around
• Something to Experiment With
  
• C
• Teleporter maze
• Muculous created this maze to confuse intruders and to account for the slow speed of his oozes
• If two creatures/objects stand on paired teleporters at the same time, they will end up in one of the rooms combined with one another, generally to horrifying, deadly effects
• Something to Experiment With
• Ensure to hide the teleporter key from the players!
• Center Western Room has an adventurer with a broken leg, currently asleep
• Starving, feverish, and will ask for assistance
• His party left him 2 days to get medical supplies from their wagon and never returned 
• They were killed by the rotating blade in B
• Someone to Talk To
  
• Center room has 5,000 gold coins and 1d6 Potions of Ooze Form
• Drinker's body becomes soft and gelatinous, like an ooze's for 2d6 Turns. They take half damage from piercing/slashing, no damage from falling, and double damage from fire for the duration. Their speed is reduced by 10' per Round to a minimum of 20' per Round.
• Something to Experiment With and Something to Steal
  
• SW room has a Gelatinous Cube in it, with 3 Orcs/Caratorks/Hobgoblins/Cultists/Brigands dissolving inside of it. If the cube is killed within 3 Rounds, 1 of the creatures will have survived and assist the party until they can leave the dungeon. (May try to backstab the party, or run! Make morale checks)
  
• NW room has a hole in the ceiling that leads to a well shaft that runs parallel to the dungeon. The well shaft can be climbed up to exit out into the town square of Dropstone, a small village.
  
• NE room has a Slimosaur in it, laying in wait inside a 6' tall, polished, silver urn. If the urn is touched, the creature will emerge from it as a puddle of ooze and morph into its sauropod form. It will chase them through the teleport rooms
  
• Large, bipedal sauropod ooze (dinosaur) that has sharp claws and strong telekinetic powers. When struck by piercing or slashing weapons, it splits into two. Likes to pick up prey with their telekinesis and throw them up, likely killing them when they fall.
• HD 8 (2 Actions per Round), AC 15, claw (d10), telekinesis (40’ range, like the spell, 18 Brawn save or be picked up and thrown), mv 40’, morale 9, initiative 10
• When split, create two creatures from the one split where they have half the HD of the original creature
• HD 4 = AC 14, 2 x claw (1d8), HD 2 = AC 16, 2 x claw (1d6), HD 1 = AC 17, 2 x claw (1d4)
• Telekinesis scales down in distance as the creature gets smaller
• HD 8: d8x5’. HD 4: d6x5’, HD 2: d4x5’, HD 1: d2x5’ 
•  Muculous's prized creation, result of his last few years of work.
  
•  Something to Kill
  

• D
• False tomb of Muculous. If the coffin is opened, poison gas will escape. All in the room must save or suffer 2d8 damage. Any creatures killed by the gas dissolve into a fleshy puddle and animate as an Ooze Human within d4 Rounds.
• HD equal to what they had when they died, as zombie, without the ability to bite/turn victims to a zombie. Can fall upon prone creatures to envelop them in ooze, causing them d6 damage per Round until escaped.
• All their carried/worn items dissolve if they died, unless magical
• Half from piercing/slashing and double from fire.
  
• Coffin has the remains of glass vials which held the gas and 4d8*100 gold coins.
  
• Something to Kill You, Something to Steal
  
• E
• Long room with 3, 20' deep, spiked pit traps and a large fan on the north wall that blows continuous, strong winds
• Clever usage of tools, high strength characters, magic, or anything else is needed to traverse the room safely.
  
• Falling into the spikes causes 2d6 damage
• Something to Kill You, Something to Experiment With
  
• F
• Muculous's actual lair. He creates oozes and slimes from the corpses of adventurers that die in here.
• He will be within the pipes below the room that connect the four grates together. He can move between grates within 1 Round.
• Each grate can be removed with some sort of Save, check, etc.
• NE grate hides a 4' wide crawl space that leads to a cave with his treasure hoard and research laboratory
•  Muculous, the Ooze Lich. HD 8 (D4s), AC 15, acid touch (2d6), mv 40', morale 10, initiative 10
• Magus, Spell Thief, Steel Trap Mind, Signature Spell (choose one of his spells)
  
• Carries 6 spell books
• Ooze Type
  
• Something to Kill You, Something to Kill
  
• G
• Treasure hoard and laboratory of Muculous
• Roll for the appropriate treasure hoard in your system. Should be fit for an 8 HD spell caster
• Also among the hoard is a spell book of Ooze Form, and a Wand with a random spell in it.
• Something the Players Probably Won't Find
  

Hooks/Rumors 

• The ground by the hill outside of town is really squishy and it smells like an old, uncleaned chicken coop.
• True, the oozes have changed the landscape and many of them smell like rotten eggs.
• One of the players found a note in their bag mentioning that there is a mage's hideout nearby holding riches and arcane knowledge.
• Partially true. The players will certainly be suspicious of this but could be a neat way to steer them towards it.
• The village of Dropstone sits atop Muculous's lair, completely unknown to them. Their grave-keeper started to prepare a new plot when he unearthed a squishy patch of land. Digging further, he found slimy, pitted stone stairs leading underground to a stone door.
• True, but if the players visit the grave-keeper they will find that he has been turned into an Ooze Human! He ventured into the dungeon (door is ajar) and was turned by Muculous.
• The water from the well started to smell like rotten eggs and took on an acidic taste a week ago. Yesterday, a Gelatinous Cube emerged from Dropstone's well and destroyed the town's market stands before it was burned away.
• The well leads to a hole in the ceiling of the NW teleporter room in C.

Wrap Up

Inspiration can strike us from anywhere, even 20+ year-old Gameboy RPGs. Next time, I will be Dungeon Robbing on a memorable locale from the fantastic game, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, but I may also revisit the Gameboy catalog for more treasure. I'm looking at you, Dragon Warrior series!