Old Game Notebook: Lair of the Dristivasa
Following is an encounter area that was part of a large, ruined Hindu temple complex that I created for use with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition game system some time in the mid-1990s. Its central feature is a relatively obscure monster from Indian folklore called a Dristivasa, which by all accounts would seem to be a primordial cousin of the more familiar Carrion Crawler. It was part of a pretty vast amount of content that I developed for an "Indian Adventures" campaign setting I hoped to have published but which the pretty terrible playtest group I had at the time hated (along, it turns out, with everything I ran for it). Now that I have started scanning and reading back through this old material, I am thinking that 5th Edition versions of some of it might be called for!
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D) Black Hole
This is one of the few shrines that is still periodically used, by a tribe of aboriginals, and examination by a ranger in any of the areas will reveal it has been used within the past few months.
D1) Outer Shrine
"This shrine appears to be of a very primitive style and in a dilapidated state. A crumbling stone and wood pavilion form two outer rooms, butted up to a small natural cave entrance."
Both the areas are in sorry shape and can be perused from outside through holes in the walls and ceiling. An examination of the cave entrance will reveal it was once sealed up but is now open.
D2) Inner Shrine
"A hideous stench permeates this small, foul cave. The source of the stench, a deep, dank pit, lies in the center of the cave."
The pit is 60 feet deep. The area at the bottom is larger than at top, so that it is impossible to see the entire area from above. Stagnant water lies in the pit, but it is not immediately obvious that it is a mere 1 foot deep.
In a niche behind a rotting cloth screen are some dirty vestments, a bunch of leather thongs, and three sharp, ancient-looking iron axes (used to dismember sacrificial victims).
A grotesque, caterpillar-like creature called a Dristivasa, three feet thick and 12 feet long, with a dull gray body and a scarlet head, is also in the pit. It squeezes through waterlogged passageways up into a nearby swamp, where it kills or finds carrion and drags it back to its lair.
Dristivasa, AC 6, MV 12, HD 8, #A 1, D/A 2-8 , SA Death gaze, SD Nil, INT Low, AL CE, S L (12’ long), hp 64. Making eye contact with this monster necessitates a save versus Death. If this is failed, the victim will suffer a painful death in seconds. It attacks and rips apart its living or dead prey with a round mouth full of chitinous "teeth."
The worm will attack anything that enters the pit. It is able to crawl out of the pit in a round on its many legs. However, it is pretty dangerous, and the DM should only do this if the players deliberately make a lot of noise to attract its attention (or unless the DM really wants to screw with the party).
A Ring of Protection from Poison +4 lies in the muck of the pit, which gives + 4 on all saves versus poison.
