THE THEATER. When a mystery cult of St. Manganese summoned the demon ANTONIN, he shattered their minds and rebuilt their shrine as a nightmarish theater, pulsing with music and violent light. It now contains ANTONIN, who starts in room d6+3, and the 12 GIBBER-MEN he’s AWAKENED. (ANTONIN: stats as chain demon carrying random TREASURE. GIBBER-MEN: stats as cultists, or zombies.)
AWAKENING. Ailment, cured by a REST outside the theatre. No detriment. TERMINAL (X): become a GIBBER-MAN. Roll BEARING or contract AWAKENING upon first entering each room 4-9.
RANDOM ENCOUNTERS.
1-3 d4 GIBBER-MEN.
4-5 ANTONIN enters a random adjacent room.
6 ANTONIN arrives.
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1 SHAFT. A hole in the earth, looking down through CATWALKS (2) to the STAGE (3). 2 GIBBER-MEN advertise “a new play of metaphysical proportions”, bringing whoever obliges down to THE STAGE (3) and strapping them in. 3 more GIBBER-MEN hide in wait to push dissenters onto the CATWALKS (2).
2 CATWALKS. d4 GIBBER-MEN reset pulleys and adjust polychromatic lights. Doors randomly lead to room d8+1, where 2 means SHAFT (1).
3 STAGE. Towering, imperfectly scrubbed white walls surround a pile of cushions hiding manacles. Six doors ring the performance area (4-9).
4: Gentle splashing.
5: Thunderous, omnitonic music.
6: Odor of blood and paint.
7: Low red glowing.
8: Whistling and undulating light.
9: Nothing.
Once an audience is shackled, a performance begins, not stopping until it ends or the performers die. Each act (d4 ROUNDS long), roll BEARING or contract AWAKENING.
I: COSMOGONY. Titanic instruments swim through seas of light.
II: SEX. 2d4 GIBBER-MEN enact an sadistic orgy.
III: STRIFE. The GIBBER-MEN descend upon each other and the audience. (1 HD, 2 HD if restrained.)
IV: SACRIFICE. The GIBBER-MEN ritualistically impale one of their own on a massive needle. (Automatically contract AWAKENING.)
V: APOTHEOSIS. Icy chiaroscuro, total stillness.
4 POOL. Two GIBBER-MEN, mutually cannibalized, slumber fitfully in a pool of liquid manganese. Between them sits a TREASURE.
5 ORCHESTRA. A GIBBER-MAN operates titanic, cacophonous instruments. If he stops, ANTONIN and d4 GIBBER-MEN arrive in d4 ROUNDS to restart the noise.
6 SHRINE. Torchlight illuminates a statue of St. Manganese coated in blood and paint. In the offering-bowl before it sits Antonin’s notebook, containing bloody charcoal portraits (12 GIBBER-MEN and mutilated self-portraits), a map of the theatre, poetry, manifestos, and mad hieroglyphs.
7 WARDROBE. Red light illuminates a forest of ill-proportioned mannequins draped in ritual robes and masks. d4 GIBBER-MEN hide ramrod-still among them, grabbing whoever comes close.
8 SCULPTURE. In the center of a broken ring of towering, polychromatic glass sheets, a chest-high chandelier orbits on a chain, whistling as it swings. ANTONIN occasionally comes to reinvigorate the contraption.
9 PAINTINGS. A disemboweled GIBBER-MAN (1 HP) uses his own entrails to paint a savage mural. Behind a tapestry of a brutal battle are stairs to the SHAFT (1).
GLAUGUST 6: “Art movement dungeon.” Inspired by The Theatre and its Double and the Outlast video essays I've been watching. (Eventually for Pb's STARTER BOX, though if anything gets cut from that project, it's this.) Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.
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