I couldn't condense it enough for the 2019 OPDC so I expanded it to my satisfaction instead. I think it will be best for characters with some experience and problem-solving tools under their belts.
The Color Dungeon has two trees growing outside- one with red fruit, and one with blue fruit. Eat the appropriate fruit and you become insubstantial to and utterly unaffected by the opposite color, and you and your equipment are stained that color for the rest of the day. If you eat both, you become purple and are unaffected by Red and Blue objects. Having normal coloration allows all things to affect you.
Normal- Interacts with everything as normal.
Red- Interacts with Red and typical objects normally. Intangible to Purple and Blue.
Blue- Interacts with Blue objects and normal objects as usual. Intangible to Red and Purple.
Purple- Interacts normally with typically-colored objects and Purple objects. Intangible to Red and Blue objects.
THE TWO SEALS
A massive gate of red stone seals the entrance. Beyond it, a massive door of blue stone also blocks off the entrance hall. A lever behind each gate will open it slowly, then reset as the gate slides back down.
THE SPLIT DECISION
To the left and right are corridors with pits, covered by red or blue tiles.Gigantic blue tentacles occasionally wave through the red floor, and will make blind attempts to grab people. Red people are insubstantial to the tentacles, naturally. The Blue floor also has purple hanging loops that people can swing across on if they are purple, one at a time. The floor between this pits (where the players are presumably standing to weigh their options) is actually an elevator platform that shakes, then slowly begins to descend into a flooded trench where the Kraken lurks, which both pits lead into. The overgrown octopus(actually a polymorphed dog) has figured out how the colors here work and can change color between Red and Blue (with one round of unwitting purple while it changes) and occasionally switches which floor it reaches up through, hoping to snag people. The beast can also swim through a long, dark, and labrynthine flooded cavern to reach the frozen cavern. The elevator can be raised back out of the pit via operation of an underwater wheel-lever in the flooded kraken-pit where it lowers
THE COLOR PRISON
Over the blue tiles is a hallway that doubles back on itself and passes three locked prison cells, access to which is barred with colored iron bars that one can reach through but not squeeze through.
The blue cell contains a vampire named Crim and his coffin. He is not actually trapped, but IS pretty bored and hungry, and will make no secret of this. He will follow around the players and demand probably nonlethal tributes of blood (1d8 damage) from any non-blue characters if he sees them. (He will make additional reaction rolls to individuals on merit of how tasty their blood is) This will suck the red right out of them, decolorizing reds and turning purples blue(though apart from this blood-draining trick he is still unable to interact with purple objects unless turned purple himself). If threatened, he will retreat to his cell then sulkily stalk people to eat them, but if his demands are met he will aid the party in half-assed fashion. He and the purple wizard are not on speaking terms due to quarreling over a lover, and they will pretend the other doesn't exist to the point of ludicrousness.
The Red cell contains a blue chest full of treasure and has no key to its iron-bar door, but the cell could be unbarred from the inside by someone able to interact with the bar.
The purple cell contains a wizard, Drawjim, who claims he built the dungeon but was betrayed by his apprentice and imprisoned. Naturally he wishes to be freed, and promises the players any reward they name if they will free him. His cell is locked and doubly trapped with runes that trigger on anyone crossing the barrier for a 5d6 fireball and a 5d6 Ice Storm, and he says to safely extricate him the key must be retrieved from the neck of the guardian dragon, and the wands of unblue and unred must be tapped against his cell to undo the magics.
THE TRAPPED DOORS
Past the red tiles is a room with 3 other exits blocked by flames that obscure all beyond them. Once there is no weight on the Red tiles, flames appear to block the entrance as well.
There is a riddle written on the floor that can be read from the perspective of those entering the room-
"It is wrong to cut off a mans left leg, and wrong to cut off his left arm, but if you do both, he is all right. Two wrongs therefore make a right, and of course three lefts also make a right. Barred by flames, there are two right paths, and two wrong paths for moving forward. Visitor, calculate the number of lefts contained in the rights and wrongs to know which flames are left harmless, then leap through boldly!"
The dead end flames conceal long drops to the Dragon's Lair, causing 3d6 fall damage and then, presumably, a lot more dragon-induced damage. The correct flames can be sprinted through for no damage at all, but cautiously creeping through or poking 10' poles into them will reveal them to be deadly to the tune of 2d8 damage per round and perfectly capable of melting metal and incinerating wood.
THE BAR CHAMBER
Red and Blue bars bar form walls that prevent complete access to this room. A giant dog sleeps in the center of the room. If roused, it will bark and alert the treacherous Apprentice in the Sorcerous Chambers, who will unleash his dog-hordes.
THE MAZE-VAULTS
A mighty purple Inexorable Beast roams this area, tracking the players down by smell over and over, and 'respawning' a mere 1d6+4 dungeon turns after it is slain. There are a great many huge slabs of stone colorshifted to force intruders on circuitous routes, and purple slabs at each entrance to the Maze-Vaults to keep the beast from escaping.
There are also a great many rooms with treasure chests inside. Assume the chests are of the color they appear unless otherwise specified, and that they are locked. The keys are around the Guardian Dragon's neck.
1a- This chest is Purple and therefore hard to interact with. It is also behind 5' of solid stone in every direction. It contains the Immaculate Garnet, a gem of 5000 coin value and the ability to turn things Red or Blue based on which color they are, overall, closer to.
1b- The chest here contains 1000 coins worth of Red Gold, and a single coin smeared in lethal contact poison. The only clue is a single dead mouse within the chest. Even if the players are wearing gloves when it is collected, when counting treasure or paying a merchant later, the poison coin will surely be touched with bare fingers eventually.
1c-The bottom of the chest is actually thin red paper barely able to support the 1000 coins within. Any excess disturbing of the chest will cause the paper to tear and the coins to tumble down the chute beneath into the dark, flooded caverns of the Kraken.
1d- The Red Noose within this chest will strangle people till they're blue in the face, causing 2d6 damage per round of strangulation but allowing them to slip through with 1hp remaining once they've turned Blue. It is also somewhat hidden, having passed through the bottom of the blue chest it is in and lying in a coil on the ground beneath the bottom of the chest, making it invisible to the casual observer unless the chest is moved.
2a-The chest here contains 1000 coins worth of Blue Gold, and also a small 1HD gelatinous cube within which the coins are suspended. The clue is the dust that has accumulated, apparently in thin air, in a uniform, flat layer 1 inch above the coins(on the top layer of the cube).
2b-The chest here is and contains an Immovable Rod that is Purple and therefore immaterial to things of exclusively red and blue hues. The chest is bolted from the inside by said immovable rod and made of heavy stone weighing 800 pounds, requiring an hour of pickaxing to break open or some manner of cleverness in moving the chest straight up 1 foot before opening, so the rod no longer holds it shut.
2c-Sealed away behind a 2' brick wall on all sides is the chest containing the Blue Diamond, which turns people Blue if light shone through it falls upon them and is worth 5000coins.
2d- This chest contains a Scroll Of Unfortunate Teleportation which can teleport the party anywhere in the world, provided they don't actually want to go there. Touching the chest it is contained inside teleports whatever touched it to a random room in the maze-vaults.
3a- This chest is made of glass and full of Rust Gas that makes it appear orange and opaque. The gas causes all exposed metal objects to save or crumble to dust, and metal objects that do save to turn Red.
3b-This chest is full of red hearts which function as red fruits, but grosser. The vampire will eat them if given the opportunity.
3c-The chest here is a mimic half starved from its inability to eat anything red or blue.
3d - The Blue Bulwark- A towershield that blocks all frontal attacks directed at the wielder, provided they are not Red or Purple, of course (Any bloodstained weapon likely counts as red). A 4hd skeleton blocks the entrance to this room with this unbreakablish defense, and is wielding a cursed purple longspear that stabs the user in the kidneys whenever it misses to poke through the shield.
4a-The Red Crystal Sword- A Vorpal Sword encrusted with Red crystals that make the handle unwieldable (unless you are blue or Purple) and the blade worthless except for use as a magical club (unless you are striking a blue or purple enemy in which case the crystals are no hindrance).
4b- The Ruby Exemplar- This 5000coin value gem turns things Red if light is shone through it onto the target. The chest is not red via color trickery, but by virtue of being red-hot from a contained and enraged Fire Elemental.
4c-This chest is full of Blue shrunken heads from hanged criminals that function as blue fruits but grosser
4d-This room is defended by crossbow bolts that shoot from holes in the walls, change color, then shoot across the room again every round, alternating blue and red. Within the chest is the Purple Bolt that forces Purple beings struck by it to save or die.
SORCEROUS CHAMBERS
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| Biffno |
Huge bookshelves and piles of junk have been stacked to the ceiling in rectangular-ish stacks. A player may find any mundane(though damaged) item here with 1d6 rounds of searching, albeit in a random color of Red, Purple, Blue, or regular. Climbing the piles of junk is easy but confusing to do in a rush- roll under Intelligence instead of climbing or anything if attempting to climb the stacks in a crisis situation (such as being swarmed by dogs)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is here, and wields the Wand of Unblue that he will use to turn Purple things Red and Blue things Normal as it suits him. (It also turns green things yellow.) He has gone mad with power and will kill anyone who defies him even slightly. He also wields a regular whip that he uses to try to trip people at range so the dogs can eat them. His only memorized spell is two casts of GreasePaint(as Grease), one Red and one Blue, which he will use to keep people prone or make them fall from the junk-piles if they are climbed.
If defeated he will cacklingly reveal the Wand of Unred has been taken by the kraken. He will, ideally, flee from combat to the Color Cavern before this happens where the two great guardian beasts will be unable to harm him so long as he is Purple.
The Mad Dogs- Two dozen dogs, 6 red, 6 blue, 6 purple, 6 normal. All are mad with hunger and confusion over constantly passing through each other and fight as 1hd monsters that attack randomly, unaware of their coloration, until someone is dragged down by their attacks, at which point they all try to maul downed individuals. They will prioritize eating over fighting.
The Cleaning Demon- The polyamorous lover of both the vampire and wizard, the wizard turned the demon purple out of jealousy, causing the rift between himself and the vampire and alienating the demon, who aided the apprentice to get back at the wizard, but now regrets their actions and wishes to get things back to normal and also devour the uppity apprentice's soul. the apprentice Unred'd the thing and turned it blue for his own safety. The demon currently appears as a hulking blue ogre-maid and is responsible for keeping the place tidy and maintaining the junk-stacks. The apprentice(or anyone paying attention when the apprentice foolishly reveals the name) may command the demon for one round by invoking their true name 'Manushakaguyn' but this will enrage the demon if the command is frivolous or against the demon's own desires. The demon is already furious with the apprentice, of course, and will be well-pleased if chromatically reunited with both the vampire and wizard. If only reunited with one of the two, will be annoyed as that's what started this whole mess, and the vampire or wizard will be pleased if able to interact with their lover, and incensed if denied once more.
COLOR CAVERN
A room of Red and Blue stalagmites, stalactites, and columns, with a lake of chilly water taking up the left side of the room that is spanned by the Blue Bridge. If entered by anyone but the Wizard the Kraken and Dragon are both alerted and will arrive in 1d6 rounds (roll separately) to slay intruders with grasping tentacles and burning breath, and to incidentally guard the Purple Pedestal, upon which is engraved the following spells. The center of the room where the Pedestal sits can be reached both by dragon-breath and Kraken-tentacle, but they cannot reach tentacles/breathe fire more than a few dozen feet past their own 'side'
- Redden- Turns a target Red, or a blue target purple.
- Bluify- Turns a target Blue, or a red target purple.
- GreasePaint- As the spell Grease, but the grease is a color of your choice and dries into paint in a few minutes.
- Polychromorph Other-Turns a target into another living form that you have seen before, provided both target and intended transformation are the same color.
- Painted Gate- Summons a random demon of a color of your choice. If you know a demon's true name and color, you may summon them specifically.
- Drawjim's Instant Dog- Grows a dog from a mammal corpse. Dog is of similar size to corpse.
- Fireball- As Fireball, but Red
- Ice Storm- As Ice Storm but Blue
- Wall of Fire- As wall of fire, but Red
- Animate Red- As Animate Dead, but only works on Red corpses
The lair itself is a series of descending concentric stone ledges with a lava pool at the bottom and a few streams of lava trickling down into the center. It is full of fumes, broiling hot, and an unpleasant place to be for anything but a dragon. Holes in the ceiling lead back to the Trapped Doors area.
KRAKEN LAIR- an underground lake frozen over partially by thick, floating ice-bits. The Wand of unred is at the bottom and it has turned the water here full-on Blue, meaning Red and Purple characters can traverse the place as though it were a hollow cavern filled with air instead of water, and the Kraken is limited to being Blue here lest it 'fall' through the blue water and splatter. The reason for the chill is due to excessive Ice Storm target practice.
It will swim up the channel to menace people with its tentacles, but for the most part cannot reach much past the left side of the Color Cavern.
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