Developed with Grandini
This dungeon node is an underground bathhouse. It is connected to a surface building, and to the underworld below. It can be part of a Social Underworld faction, or independent.
Google docs version here.
Photo from South China Morning Post
GENERATING UNDERGROUND BATHHOUSES
Place a token at the center of the map. That’s the lobby, accessible through a door in the building above (John Wick style nightclub, old Roman structure, historic building, etc).
Roll your dice sized D8 and lower around the lobby. These are your mundane rooms. Roll your larger dice (D10 to D00) further out - those are the underworld baths, where stuff gets weird. You can connect the rooms at the edge of the page to tunnels leading to your other dungeon complexes.
Rooms numbered 1 through 8 are open to the public - though they may sometimes be reserved for private use by a faction. 9 through 00 are members or staff only.
Some rooms in a bathhouse may be sex segregated - in that case, use the color of the dice to determine which. Warm colors for women, cool colors for men. Or the entire bathhouse might be exclusive to one or the other.
In some parts of the world (particularly the United States) a “bathhouse” is a euphemism for a brothel or sex club. Decide if your underground baths fit that description.
CONNECTIONS
Halls in the Baths are 10 feet wide and softly lit. If they connect to a room with water, they have tile floors. Otherwise they’re soft carpet. Doors are made of varnished wood and swing both directions. Those between public and private areas are locked, but doors between rooms 11 to 00 are not locked.
Doors to the underworld beyond are sturdier than the wood doors used in the interior, and are all locked. The ones that lead to dangerous areas might also be guarded. Banging on the doors from outside will usually get an armed response, though the players might be able to talk their way past. Players who make a good impression on the bathhouse owners can get keys to these doors for free passage.
Roll your dice sized D8 and lower around the lobby. These are your mundane rooms. Roll your larger dice (D10 to D00) further out - those are the underworld baths, where stuff gets weird. You can connect the rooms at the edge of the page to tunnels leading to your other dungeon complexes.
Rooms numbered 1 through 8 are open to the public - though they may sometimes be reserved for private use by a faction. 9 through 00 are members or staff only.
Some rooms in a bathhouse may be sex segregated - in that case, use the color of the dice to determine which. Warm colors for women, cool colors for men. Or the entire bathhouse might be exclusive to one or the other.
In some parts of the world (particularly the United States) a “bathhouse” is a euphemism for a brothel or sex club. Decide if your underground baths fit that description.
CONNECTIONS
Halls in the Baths are 10 feet wide and softly lit. If they connect to a room with water, they have tile floors. Otherwise they’re soft carpet. Doors are made of varnished wood and swing both directions. Those between public and private areas are locked, but doors between rooms 11 to 00 are not locked.
Doors to the underworld beyond are sturdier than the wood doors used in the interior, and are all locked. The ones that lead to dangerous areas might also be guarded. Banging on the doors from outside will usually get an armed response, though the players might be able to talk their way past. Players who make a good impression on the bathhouse owners can get keys to these doors for free passage.
Bathhouses can serve as a headquarters complex for a Crime Family (pg 174), or any other faction that needs a home on your underground map. If you’ve got one picked out, the staff and guards are all drawn from that faction’s roster.
If the bathhouse is not affiliated with a faction, it’s a neutral meeting place and underworld crossroads, staffed by 3D6 Useless Civilians (pg 191), 2D6 Security Guards (188) and 2D6 Mobsters (190), though not all of them are working at any given time. Anyone who disturbs the peace is ejected violently.
In addition to security and services, the bathhouse might also employ a few specialists.
Acupuncturist
This occult practitioner of non traditional medicine combines arcane acupuncture and the power of placebo to impart their needles with real therapeutic benefits - or maluses.
3 flesh (1 dice), 3 grit (1 dice). AC 10. Saves 16+.
Needles (+4 in melee, +1 if thrown, see below for effects)
Constitution, Dexterity, & Intelligence 13.
On a successful needle hit, the acupuncturist chooses one of the following effects
Reiki Master
This faith healer dramatically overestimate their ability to channel universal energy, but sometimes stumbles into genuine supernatural formula for restoring vitality to their patients.
4 flesh (1 dice), 0 grit (no dice). AC 10. Saves 18+.
Charm 2/6.
2 in 6 chance to cast Cure Wounds or Cure Disease each time they try.
GUESTS IN BATHHOUSES
The bathhouse is a nexus between the underworld and surface, and a gathering place for underworld inhabitants. Guests may be mundane humans, representatives of random factions, or randomly rolled underworld inhabitants.
Rooms rolled on a D8 or lower have human or human-passing guests. Rooms rolled on a D10 or higher may be patronized by nonhuman creatures, even if the result shown on the die is 1 through 8. So a sauna in the inner ring would be full of humans, while morlocks and trolls might visit one on the outer ring.
If the bathhouse is closed for part of the day, rooms with guests are empty, except cleaning staff.
MONSTERS IN BATHHOUSES
Besides staff and guests, Bathhouses are often infested with spirits and magical creatures.
In addition to security and services, the bathhouse might also employ a few specialists.
Acupuncturist
This occult practitioner of non traditional medicine combines arcane acupuncture and the power of placebo to impart their needles with real therapeutic benefits - or maluses.
3 flesh (1 dice), 3 grit (1 dice). AC 10. Saves 16+.
Needles (+4 in melee, +1 if thrown, see below for effects)
Constitution, Dexterity, & Intelligence 13.
On a successful needle hit, the acupuncturist chooses one of the following effects
- Restore d10 grit
- Paralyze a target for d4 rounds
- Target ignore the effects of poison or disease for a turn
- Give a +3 or -3 to saves vs magic or stunning for a turn
Reiki Master
This faith healer dramatically overestimate their ability to channel universal energy, but sometimes stumbles into genuine supernatural formula for restoring vitality to their patients.
4 flesh (1 dice), 0 grit (no dice). AC 10. Saves 18+.
Charm 2/6.
2 in 6 chance to cast Cure Wounds or Cure Disease each time they try.
GUESTS IN BATHHOUSES
The bathhouse is a nexus between the underworld and surface, and a gathering place for underworld inhabitants. Guests may be mundane humans, representatives of random factions, or randomly rolled underworld inhabitants.
Rooms rolled on a D8 or lower have human or human-passing guests. Rooms rolled on a D10 or higher may be patronized by nonhuman creatures, even if the result shown on the die is 1 through 8. So a sauna in the inner ring would be full of humans, while morlocks and trolls might visit one on the outer ring.
If the bathhouse is closed for part of the day, rooms with guests are empty, except cleaning staff.
MONSTERS IN BATHHOUSES
Besides staff and guests, Bathhouses are often infested with spirits and magical creatures.
Akaname
These ugly demons lick up filth that collects in wet places. They are not only harmless, but essential to keeping the Underground Baths free of fungus and mold. Harming them earns the ire of management.
4 flesh (1 dice), 4 grit (1 dice). AC 12 (natural agility). Saves 14+.
Grasping Fingers (+1, d6 damage) and lashing tongue (+1, d4 damage)
Immune to poison and disease, double damage from blessed weapons.
Alkyl Nitrite Elemental
Legacy of pre-80s bathhouse culture, this solvent-scented spirit is instinctively drawn to stressful situations, and will try to forcibly calm everyone down - by giving them a whiff of muscle relaxants.
1 flesh (1 dice), 8 grit (1 dice). AC 12. Saves 14+
Bash (+1, d4 damage)
Takes a maximum of 1 damage from physical attacks. Can shift form at will, flow through cracks, soak into porous matter, and so on.
Anyone who breathes its vapours must make a Save vs Stunning or have their STR reduced to 3 until they leave the cloud.
Bannik
These bearded fey look like domovoi who have spent too long in the tub. If interrupted while bathing, they fling boiling water and strangle intruders. If approached politely, they dispense vague prophecies.
4 flesh (1 dice), 0 grit (0 dice). AC 12 (leathers). Saves 16+.
Medicine 3/6
Bucket of Boiling Water (One use, Save vs Hazards or roll D4 for Horrible Wounds on Burning table pg 46), Knobbly Hands (+1, d6 damage)
Immune to poison and disease, double damage from iron weapons.
Birch Dryad
These tree spirits have soft, droopy bodies from spending too long immersed in hot water. They enjoy striking bare skin with their spindly limbs, producing an invigorating stinging sensation.
4 flesh (1 dice), 5 grit (1 dice). AC 12. Saves 14+.
Birching (+2, removes 2D6 grit, grants +4 to all Saves until the grit is restored)
Charisma & Dexterity 16.
Leather Golem
This animated outfit has perfected its Village People act. Articulated by residual magic and an urge to punish naughty bathgoers, it always stops just short of seriously hurting you. Can be reprogrammed by speaking its command-safeword out loud, but good luck guessing that.
9 Flesh (3 dice), 9 Grit (3 dice). AC 12 (leather). Saves 10+
Two Whips (+5, D8), Two Restraints (+5, squeeze D10 dmg/round, Vandalism to rip free) or one of each
Immune to everything constructs are immune to. Fails all saves vs mind control.
Attacks never inflict Horrible Wounds. Leaves you alone after you hit 0 Flesh.
Rusalka
These slavic sirens are low ranking fey, which spawn in steamy places infused with lust and magic. They have beautiful voices, but if allowed to grow too numerous will gang up to devour unwary bathers.
4 flesh (1 dice), 0 grit (0 dice). AC 12. Saves 16+.
Charm 4/6.
Claws (d4 damage) and teeth (d4 damage)
When three or more Rusalka congregate, they sing a song that entrances listeners on a failed Save vs Magic. Those entranced must disrobe and join them in the water. The illusion is broken when the Rusalka begin clawing and biting.
Immune to poison and disease, double damage from iron weapons.
Vodyanoy
These wizened frog men swim up from the magic infused rivers of the underworld to drown unwary bathers, then resurrect them as undead slaves. Their nicotine stained gills mark them as severe tobacco addicts, and they are easily bribed with cigarettes.
4 flesh (1 dice), 12 grit (3 dice). AC 12 (rubbery skin). Saves 11+.
Stealth and Athletics 3/6.
Bite (+1, d4+1 damage) and two claws (+1, d4+1 damage).
Dexterity 16, Strength 16. Breathes underwater.
Drags incapacitated foes underwater to drown. Drowned victims are resurrected as per Resurrection (page 103) and enslaved to the Vodyanoy until the teapot containing their soul is broken.
CHAMBERS IN UNDERGROUND BATHHOUSES
Token: A welcoming lobby. Armed guards politely relieve visitors of their weapons, unless they’re trusted friends of the management. A front desk and map direct guests to the services on offer. Stairs or an elevator lead up to the surface. D6-1 guests, D4+1 guards and D4 staff.
1: A locker room. Low rent public bathhouses have coin operated lockers with removable keys, while high class establishments have attendants who check your personal effects and issue robes and towels. Visitors are expected to shower before entering the other bath facilities. D6-2 guests here. There are 3D6 people’s personal belongings here, either in the coin lockers or watched by an attendant. Burglarizing one is a roll on the I Search the Body table (pg 146).
2: Banya or sauna. Wooden walls, floors and benches, filled with steam. D10-4 guests here.
3: Modern swimming pool. Olympic length, 12 feet deep. Jetted hot tubs nearby. D10-4 guests here.
4: Large bathing hall, themed after a historical type of bathhouse - Roman, Turkish, Japanese, etc. Mixture of wood, stone and tile. Multiple warm and cold pools. High ceilings. Might even have windows to the surface. D12-4 guests here, plus a couple attendants.
5: A massage parlour. Couches and tables, curtains, maybe even private rooms. Lots of scented oils and so on. D6-2 guests here, and an equal number of masseuses. Room decorated with a couple items from the Things to Burgle table on pg 135.
6: Alternative medicine clinic. Decorated with occult paraphernalia, mostly fake but occasionally genuine. Massage tables for acupuncture or reiki. D6-2 guests here, and an equal number of masseuses. The room is decorated with a couple Occult Treasures from pg 135.
7: A bar. Could be dingy, loud, jazzy, expensive, etc depending on taste and ownership. May sell drugs as well as booze. D10-4 guests here, plus a barkeep. The liquors in the bar are worth $1,000, but take up ten inventory slots of bulky glass bottles.
8: A sunroom. Lots of deck chairs and lounges, a high ceiling with a big skylight in the courtyard of a building on the surface. D10-4 guests here, and a single attendant.
9: Private/members only lounge. Could be used as a meeting room, or a hangout for a specific faction. Furnished comfortably, though not necessarily lavishly. 2D6 members of a random faction if the lounge is occupied, or D8 each from two factions if in use as a meeting room. Roll a couple times for Contraband (pg 134) to see what’s stashed here.
10: Employees only room. Lockers, fridges, old couches and chairs. Possibly a punch clock if the management hasn’t gone digital. D6-3 employees in here, taking a break or working on stuff that isn’t customer facing. A couple Things to Burgle (pg 135) are kept here.
11: Mechanical room. Contains pipes, boilers, electrical stuff. An intruder here could shut off power to the whole complex, flood the place, poison the water, etc.
12: Out of order locker room. Hidden stash of treasure behind a loose tile. Roll twice on tables of your choice from pg 134 to 135.
13: Pool filled with some kind of slime (pg 126). Immersion in the ooze is a form of therapy - possibly not for humans, depending on the composition of the slime. If you’ve got creatures in your social underworld who can survive immersion in the slime, there are D6-2 of them lounging. Otherwise the place is unused.
14: Gas sauna, filled with some kind of gas (pg 124). Immersion in this gas is a form of therapy - possibly not for humans, depending on the composition of the vapors. If you’ve got creatures in your social underworld who can survive immersion in the gas, there are D6-2 of them lounging. Otherwise the place is unused.
15: Leech Therapy room. 3D6 Giant Leeches (pg 220) in a pit with a salted rim, to stop them from climbing out. Attendant use huge tongs to grab leeches from the pit and apply them to patients. Gentle application of table salt makes them detach once the appropriate level of bloodletting is achieved. D6-2 guests, and a couple leech handlers.
16: Sensory deprivation chamber. Water filled, insulated tanks with breathing apparati. D6-2 Latent Psychics and D4-3 Prometheans in the tanks, honing their psychic abilities. They may psychically lash out at anyone who disturbs their solitude by shaking the floor. Sensory Deprivation can aid in magical research. A full hour of immersion grants a +4 to the next Save vs Magic made to cast experimentally or scribe a scroll.
17: Mineral spring. Bubbling pools of heated water, rich in dissolved minerals. A Lithic Noble, Seismic Knight, or Lithic Envoy lounges in the hottest pool (pg 232), accompanied by D4 Peons. They guard a sealed lead box of $5,000 in slightly radioactive gold ingots, which they use to make deals with surface dwellers. Unless you’re here to rob them or barter, they ignore you.
18: Abandoned baths. The pools are dry and empty.
19: Abandoned baths. The pools are full of cave algae, an alternative ecosystem based on dissolved minerals and trace organic matter. An Octopus, Toad Queen, or other amphibious beastie (pg 218) lives in one of the tubs. There’s 5D100 dollars in dropped coins and jewelry in the pools, but touching the algae gives you a horrible rash.
20: A drain. Pipes pour wastewater into a hole in the earth. There’s a grate to stop things from climbing up from the depths below. A couple treasures (pg 134 or 135) have washed down here and got stuck. There’s a risk of being dashed against the metal by rushing water for 2D6 damage if you’re not careful. Roll for a creature from table 154 (pg 186) that lurks here, either beneath or above. If your underworld has vertical connections as well as horizontal, this can lead to a complex below the Bathhouse, like a Cistern (pg 152) or Limestone Caves (155).
30: Rustic log banya, with steam seeping under the doors. A chorus of female voices laugh and sing inside. D4 Birch Dryads live here. They beg visitors to get naked so they can whip them - trying to make it sound relaxing or sexy instead of obnoxious and weird.
40: Rustic log banya, with steam seeping under the doors. A lone voice grumbles to itself inside. A single Bannik lives here, 50% chance he’s bathing and reacts violently to intruders.
50: Spotlessly clean but unused set of baths, tiles polished to a mirror sheen. D6 Akanames live here and eat any filth that grows on the surfaces. They’ve got $500 in dropped coins, lost rings, watches, etc, which they’ll trade for delicious trash.
60: Abandoned bondage playroom. Restraints, sex swings, toys, etc. All unused since the 80s. A Leather Golem haunts this dungeon, looking for intruders to “punish”. Roll a couple times for Contraband (pg 134) to see what treats the original occupants left behind. Unfortunately, they didn’t practice safe sex. Careless handling of the trinkets inflicts a disease (pg 128-129) on a failed Save vs Poison.
70: Pool filled with magical water (pg 127-128), dribbling from a thematically appropriate fountain. Immersion is a form of therapy - possibly not for humans, depending on the composition. If you’ve got creatures in your social underworld who can survive immersion in the water, there are D6-2 of them lounging. Otherwise the place is unused.
80: Abandoned bath. The water still runs here, connected to an underground river. A Vodyanoy lives in one of the pools, emerging from the surface to smoke. 2D6 Revenants (pg 202) serve him as slaves. Their souls are stored in jars at the bottom. If broken, they stop attacking and fall dead. The frogman has a random magic item in his hoard, from pg 139.
90: Abandoned lounge. Faded posters and pornography on the walls. Bills for long gone musical acts. Couches covered in old stains. An Alkyl Nitrite Elemental haunts this place, encouraging visitors to relax by weakening their muscles. The old posters and pictures are worth $150 altogether.
00: Enormous containment pond. The stone edges are carven with runes of binding. A Paradox Beast (pg 234) swims inside the pool, trapped by the sigils. The purpose of the room is up to the DM. It may be a prison for the creature, or the bathhouse may be harvesting the water touched by the monster, which has some magical property. The beast promises rewards to visitors if they free it.
Other: The entrances to this room are hastily walled off. Inside, a shimmering pool of water casts strange light on the walls and ceiling of the abandoned chamber. Beneath the surface, another room is visible - upside down. The water acts as a portal to another room - choose a chamber in an unexplored dungeon complex somewhere else in the undercity. Depending on where, people and creatures from that region may already be using the portal as a secret entrance/exit to the bathhouse.
Crossing Parallel(s) by STUDIO M.R.D.O, StudioLaM ( Jinhyun Jun, Minkyung Song, Kangil Ji)
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