Adventure Site Contest 2: The Mound of Akbarj

Written by Kurt
AD&D, levels 4-6
Burial mound in a forest.
  Deep in the tangled forest of Ymi - an ancient burial mound, the tomb of an exalted wizard from ages past. Guarded fanatically by the hooved geese-men that are the Katar. A massive oak is said to grow from the barrow, its blood-infused branches bearing gemstones of exceedingly rare size and brilliance. It is well known in town that the tomb is protected by the birds of Ak, ferocious beasts that are capable of turning a man's flesh into solid stone.
  There’s something primal about a forested burial mound. Here east of the Mississippi, mighty earthworks slumber beneath the thick forests, monuments to a civilization that fell countries before Columbus, for reasons that are still mysterious, hidden until aeronauts first took to the skies. As adventure sites, mounds might function similarly to carved tombs but there’s a different mythic resonance when bodies are interred beneath soft earth, where green and growing things cover rot and decay like a damp and earthy blanket. Kurt’s back with a second adventure site, this time a mound.
  Our story, seen above, is that this particular mound holds a dead hero of the truly weird Katar, who have horse feet, goose beaks, and a fondness for archery. Rumors of a tree with gem flowers atop the mound may draw PCs in, but the real money is found by mugging the dead for their burial cash, as is tradition. Beyond that, it’s a pretty standard dungeon delve, with random encounters slightly unclear as to whether or not they’re rolled within the mound.
  Our map is simple, a photo of a clean pencil-on-graph-paper affair. The layout, while simple, does manage a minimal level of choice, the apparent coinflip east/west at the outset made less of a coinflip by there being a noisy gas trap to the east. Secret doors are tasteful, less a must for exploration, more what you’d expect for service in a complex. Stairs bug me a bit, because they show different levels of descent. It’s fine, and as expressed last time with the Cryo-Caves, the size is good.

​  As is typical with a tomb environment, the main static threat is with traps and undead, and this is where I really am curious about that random encounter table. Reading it directly, it’s a table just for the forest around the mound, and with a lot of wildlife wandering around that would make sense, but in that case then it’s a fairly low-interaction site, and anything that requires hours of searching (as one room does for its loot) is just a mild inconvenience.
  Katar, the weird goose/horse/men, are pretty gnarly foes with the warriors 5HD each, so anytime they do get rolled that’s a scary war party at level. The monsters that are keyed, though, whew…the guardians of the mound are four cockatrices, which are a nasty threat even outdoors in the relative open. The special monsters are reskinned KAMADAN, SON OF KYUSS, and EYE OF FEAR AND FLAME for the undead defenders, exotic but findable. The truly nasty room (I approve) is the one with three rust monsters magically hovering in statis above a floor full of coins. As expected, touch the coins, and now your plate armor is in danger…
  On the subject of coins…if I ran this, you better believe I’m changing the ratios, because this is a place that loves platinum pieces. In particular, in the forward decoy tombs there are PP hoards while the final real tomb has a GP hoard, which feels a bit odd. Totals seem pretty decent and magic items are fine, all book items but that’s no problem. I do like the potion of delusion in the false tomb, that’s nice.
  Over all, ease of putting this into your own game will probably be Katar-dependent. Goose-beaked horse-hooved ogre-hit-die humanoids are a good threat and I’d be curious to see how they integrate. The rest of the mound is a very solid little trapped tomb in the woods, and those woods could be anywhere.