A Tombpunk Adventure Location
I’ve been playing around with Midjourney, an AI art creator, to see if I can use it as a tool for reference material for artists as I continue to work on projects.
Luckily some of the art that also comes out is really great and evocative art. Some of those pieces have inspired the following dungeon (and more are coming).
Aside from the map (which was done by Denis McCarthy, and his patreon is linked after the map), all the art on this page was created by the Midjourney AI, using prompts generated by me. I’ll post about my thoughts on Midjourney some time later.
I used these prompts and maps to craft an outline of how I think Tombpunk adventures should be presented, so we’ll see how it goes. This is subject to change.
The Tomb of Q-an Nar
(I say it “Kwaar Non”)
The Tomb of Q-an Nar is a small dungeon situated high in the Snowrazor Mountains, about half a days ride from the city of Lastvert, one of the northern most cities of Aquittany.
Though the legends and stories of why it exists are lost, in reality, the Tomb is a resting place of a powerful eldritch horror that subsumed the shattered mind and body of an ancient sorcerer. That idiot.
Darkness Rating: The darkness rating of this dungeon is 2x the number of adventurers + 4 (see Q-an Nar’s statblock below). It can only be cleared by killing Q-an Nar (clearing rooms or defeating foes doesn’t clear remove Darkness.)
Treasure: This dungeon pays 1d3+4 Treasure (rather than the usual 1d3). Payday!
| D6 Roll | Rumors about the Tomb |
| 1 | It holds no wealth, having been long plundered by grave-robbers and scallywags (hey, that sounds like you!) [False] |
| 2 | It contains no foes or traps, but rumor has it all who enter return maddened by the sights they’ve seen due to the arcane architecture. [Partially false] |
| 3 | The Tomb moves its location and entrance, though it is always found in the Snowrazors [False] |
| 4 | Rumors have it that there is a False Tomb and none have found the final resting place of Q-an Nar. [True] |
| 5 | A magical sword resides within. [False] |
| 6 | Those who survive can learn the magical spell: “The Incantation of Q-an Nar”. [True] |
Regardless of how they arrive at the Tomb, the adventurers must contend with the traps inside. The map lays out the key, so use the trap rules below.
To notice a trap, a character must be actively looking for one. A successful Grit test will locate a trap, and a successful Might test will disarm it. If a character fails to disarm a trap, they are hit by the trap and suffer its effect.
Make sure to warn your players this dungeon can be pretty deadly.
Spiked Pit Trap: Everyone who steps on the weighted floor plate that covers this trap must make a Deftness test. If they fail, they fall into the pit trap, suffering 1d4+3 damage.
Rotating Statue: A series of rotating and arcane statues occupy various places throughout the Tomb. When a character moves within a few steps (3 yards/meters or so) of the statue, it turns to face the character, and fires an arcane bolt at this. The Narrator rolls against the characters Deftness. On a success, they deal 1d8 damage. The statue can only fire its bolt once every 2d3 actions (which generally gives adventurers enough time to disarm the traps.)
Pendulum Trap: This trap swings across the doorway in the antechamber/hall. Each character caught by it must make a Deftness test. If they fail, they suffer 2d4 damage.
Secret Doors: None of the secret doors are trapped. It takes a successful Grit test to discover and open the secret doors.
Falling Block: After the characters enter the False Tomb, they will likely trigger the falling block trap! This massive block seals them into this Tomb, causing them to starve and die (the characters will die of thirst about 48 hours after being trapped, give or take. This is Tombpunk after all.) It takes a successful Might Test, made with Disadvantage to move the block, and each successful Test only moves it a bit. 3 successful Tests must be made to clear the block.
Any character caught by the block is instantly killed. No exceptions.
The True Tomb
Inside the True Tomb resides Q-an Nar! Q-an Nar is a massive, undulating, eldritch horror, who the very site of causes all characters who perceive it to make a Courage Test. Those who lost a point of courage must spend their next action or turn fleeing as fast as they can (in addition to losing the normal point of courage). If they return, they must make a Courage Test each round they can see Q-an Nar or flee again (with the same conditions).
Q-an Nar
Lifeblood: 50
Attack: Disadvantage
Damage: 1d8
Special: Q-an Nar raises the darkness rating of any dungeon they are in by +4.
Notes: Q-an Nar can make 1d3+2 attacks each turn, with their tentacles. If they strike a target with a tentacle, the targets mind is filled with horrible visions of the future, the death of the universe and all manner of multi-mouthed, multi-eyed, multi-tentacled things. Struck targets must make a Will test. Those who lose a point of will also lose their next action.
When Q-an Nar is defeated, all the Darkness immediately leaves the Dungeon. Q-an Nar never returns to this location, and the Tomb vanishes 2d3 days later, only to reappear in another reality.
The map art (C) 2022 Denis McCarthy, and is licensed under CCLA 0.4. It was commissioned by me for this post. Check out Denis’s Patreon here and commission him for work!
Adventure text, non-map art, rules and Tombpunk is (C) 2022 Northern Lights Foundry / Alan Bahr. Tombpunk is a trademark of Northern Lights Foundry / Alan Bahr.
You can buy Tombpunk here on DriveThruRPG. It’s published under license by Outland Entertainment.
Alan Bahr 