The Growing Vines Dungeon

Created by Dethnite007
Artwork by Starnightgazer
Fore note: This “module” is set 10 years after the first calamity attack 10,000 years before BOTW.
Puzzle box dungeon relies on burning and reburning vines, all references to the original state and
burned state of the dungeon will be unburned and burned respectively.

The players make their way to Riverside Stables in Hyrule Fields for
transport further south, only to find the stables flooded. The banks
of Hylia River have risen dramatically, and the local stable owners are
unsure why since no heavy rain has occurred recently. The best they
can think of is that something has happened upstream to increase
the amount of water flowing. As the players move up the river and
make it to Floret sandbar, they instantly can tell what the problem is.
Large vines have grown across the mouth of Nabi Lake, forming a
dam. Upon further inspection, the vines seem to be covering the
entire surface of what was Nabi Lake. The vines are solid enough for
the players to walk on and as they head toward the center of the
lake, a small creature can be seen chewing on one of the vines. A
lizard, four-legged and with a dull blue, stoney back. If the players
have seen luminous stones before, they may recognize this,
otherwise they may roll an arcana check. On success, not only
learning about the stones, but the players can also determine that
this creature is unknown to the academic world. If approached the
creature will scurry away and if followed will take the players to a
hole large enough for them to fit through. Here lies the entrance to
the Growing Vines Dungeon.

Room Descriptions

Top Floor Entrance Room (1a): Climbing down the vines, the players
eventually make it to the lakebed, where a stone archway is pressed into the side of a mound. The vines
around them look as if it made a conscious effort not to cover the entry. The walls and floor inside the
archway are stone, smoothed by the water that should have been flowing down this passageway. A small
decline takes the players into room 1a of the map. Upon entering, the torches in the room light up
illuminating the area and the eye symbol of the Sheikah Tribe can be seen inlaid on the walls. These eye
symbols are in every room besides the central room of the dungeon. The lizard can be seen on the other
side of the room squirming into a small crevice. Examining the rest of the room shows nothing besides
the west door, the east barred door, and the south door.

Top Floor Chest Room (1b): A short hallway leading to a room with a chest at the end of it. The chest is
locked upon examination and touching the chest activates the trap in the room.

Spawn: 2 Stalfos and 2 Stalhound

Defeating the monsters unlocks the chest which contains 300 rupees.

Top Floor Central Room (1c): A large cylindrical chamber that seems to go down endlessly. The room is
pitch dark and as the players pass through the door, from 1a the stone flooring ends and becomes the
thick vines they had seen above ground. The vines act as a bridge leading toward the center of the room
where a giant stone column supports the ceiling. A lip large enough for one person allows the players to
circle the column and gain access to a vine to the second level or to room 1d. IMPORTANT, familiarize
yourself with the dungeon layout and the different states of burned and unburned sides of the central
room puzzle

Top Floor Lore Room (1d): A note is found on the ground pertaining to the constellation room puzzle,
passage can be found in the puzzle section below. Two eye switches on opposite sides of the room sit
high up on the walls just out of melee reach. Hitting both spawns a chest with 2 Dusky (rank 1) elixirs.

Top Floor Puzzle Room (1e): Proceed to Sliding Block Puzzle below. Completion gives players a small key
for use on locked door to room 1f.

Top Floor Torch Chest Room (1f): Room containing a chest with torches for the players. This is their clue
that torches/fire is a key to solving the dungeon.

Middle Floor Spiked Beetle Room (2a) A room filled with spiked beetles for the players to fight.

Middle Floor Blade Trap Room (2b): An alcove in the middle of the room contains a map of the dungeon,
allowing players to now see the full-size map layouts given below.

Middle Floor Deku Baba Room (2c): A room covered in deku babas hanging from the ceiling. The walls
and pockets on the ceiling that are not covered by deku babas, thick vines grow along. While the players
can certainly attempt to kill however many deku babas you wish to place in this room as a dauntless task,
a clever player may attempt to crawl under to avoid the deku babas with a Perception check confirming
that the deku babas cannot bite the players who crawl on the ground. Returning to this room during the
burned state, the vines have retracted from the walls and ceilings, but the deku babas remain. Searching
the room, the players can see an eye switch has been uncovered and after shooting it opens a side room
with a chest containing the compass. The compass allows the players to now see how the vines are
connected in the full map central rooms whether they are in the burned or unburned states. This will
require drawing of paths of the full maps as players switch between the states.

Middle Floor Central Room (2d): ONLY LOCATION PLAYERS CAN BURN VINES IN THE CENTRAL ROOM
The distinguishing difference between this room and the top and bottom floors, is that instead of the
stone column, the thick vines seen earlier have replaced the stone. Dead parts of vines can be seen
sticking out of certain areas and upon bringing a flame to these dead portions, ignites the dead vines. As
they burn up, new vines grow in their place and the bridge vines shift to new locations.

Middle Floor Lore Room (2e): A note is found on the ground, the passage below is to imply that a villain
wishing to resurrect Ganon has found this dungeon and has altered it in an attempt to stop the hero.
“This dungeon built for the hero is pathetic. The sheikah coddle him too much with their puzzles and
straightforward layout. Perhaps it is meant for when a new hero rises and is still weak enough to fall to
the simplest of foes. I think I’ll take the liberty to alter some of these rooms, add a few traps of my own.
There’s certainly enough monsters lying around since our lord’s return. A shame that witch got in the
way again, but with her out of the picture and no sealing magic beyond what she possessed, maybe
there’s still a chance.”
Middle Floor Puzzle Room (2g): Only accessible during the burned state as all entries are barred except
the central room door until completion of the puzzle. Proceed to Sheikah Drawing Puzzle below. After
completion and defeat of rusted darknut (or replacement) all doors unbar, and a small alcove opens. A
chest is inside with the boss room key.

Middle Floor Constellation Room (2h): A large domed room, covered in vines along the walls leading up
to the ceiling with a hole leading outside. Dangling from the center of the room, below the hole is a ball
that looks to be made of reflective material casting light about the room. 12 buttons are laid in the
domed wall around the room. The players should be in the unburned state of the dungeon. In this, the
hole is covered by the vines and the room will be pitch black, allowing the constellations to glow. If
entered during the burned state, the hole is uncovered and light is reflected throughout the room,
illuminating it and dimming out the constellations. Proceed with Constellation Puzzle. After completing,
the room goes dark and a a glowing symbol forms on the ceiling, the final letter to spell courage, C. All
said and told, the purpose of this is to have 2 separate dungeons for wisdom and power, the player will
gather the 3 symbols C, W, and P in the sheikah language as a combination for a final dungeon.

Bottom Floor Secondary Vines Room (3a): ONLY LOCATION OUTSIDE THE CENTRAL ROOM THAT
PLAYERS CAN BURN VINES By burning here, players can access room 2g. A note can be found on the
floor informing the players again about this unknown villain. “A peculiar idea has taken to my liking. Our
lord’s power has spread across the country and an abundance lies available for any use I see fit. I think an
experiment is in order, while I wait for the traps to be completed. The creature that dwells at the end of
this dungeon is brimming with pure energy and based on the stones it houses, may be capable of
handling a darker side. I wonder what would happen if this area was introduced to a portion of our lord’s
corruption.” On the edge of the paper is a side note, “These vines are useless, they keep growing, but
nothing more. No thorns, no spawns of evil, not a single murderous intent. Docile, waste of space.”

Bottom Floor Mini-Boss Room (3b): The location the Sheikah expected to be Link’s boss fight before the
dungeon was altered. Shallow water lays undisturbed in this room with pillars rising up in a symmetrical
formation around the center. Room spawns 1 guardian scout.

Bottom Floor Puzzle Room (3c) Proceed to Doors Puzzle below. Completion unbars door to central room
gaining access to the vines leading to room 2g, if players are in the unburned state.

Boss Room (4a) The players enter a large, high vaulted room where vines can be seen growing in and out
of the ground and around the pillars supporting the ceiling. The room is lit by nothing except what seems
to be a glowing blue light coming from around an alcove to their left. In the middle of the room, the baby
lizard seen at the beginning sits perched atop a large rock, softly illuminated by its own dim blue glow.
Again it scurries away, easy to track from its blue light, climbing high up one of the pillars. It stops about
halfway up and watches the players. Once the players have proceeded a quarter of the way into the
room, proceed with the Glowlight Lizard (Malice Corruption) Boss Fight.
Puzzles Signifying Courage, used for Growing Vines Dungeon

Doors

The 3 sets of doors: players arrive in a room with high ceilings and are met with a set of 3 doors only a
several feet in front of them. There is no way around or above the doors as the room is just those doors
and the walls they are laid in; the area is quite cramped.

On the first set of doors are depictions of monsters. The first door shows the face of a bokoblin, the
second a Moblin, and the third of a Keese. It is up to the players to choose what would be the scariest for
them to fight (the moblin). Choosing either of the other two spawns an apparition of the monster that
will attempt to attack the players. The monster will either hit a player and disappear in a puff of smoke
that incurs a roll To-Hit Vitality check to make them sickened or a player will hit the monster causing the
same effect to occur.

After opening the Moblin door, players are met with the second set of doors. The first door shows a Yiga
Clan symbol, the second door is the old Gerudo tribe symbol (crescent moon), and the third is the Hylian
Crest. The dungeon was built by Sheikah after being banished from Hyrule after the first Calamity War
10,000 years pre-BOTW. Because of this, the Sheikah believe it takes courage to stand up against the
Hylian Royalty and is therefore the correct answer. This is also a foreshadowing in the campaign I’ve
created as the King of Hyrule will act more as a dictator as time progresses.

The final set of doors has a Cucco on the first, a pig on the second, and a bear on the third. The pig,
representing Ganon, should hopefully be the obvious choice.

Sheikah Language Drawing

Players enter an octagonal room with a 7x7 tile grid in the center of the room. Once a character steps on
the center tile, the puzzle activates and sends an image of a sheikah letter to the player (private message
the player a picture). Do not send them the translated letter unless their character understands the
sheikah language. The purpose of this puzzle is to have all players work together to create the image
seen by the central player. The puzzle will be 6 letters: O,U,R,A,G,E… the 7th letter C is given in the
constellation room on the middle floor of the growing vines dungeon. To confuse the players, it is best to
spell something different, example AERUGO (word for the rust of a metal)

How the players will work together is that each tile that is not connected requires a player to stand on it.
For instance, “A” requires 2 players, “E” requires 5. Once the central player has received the image, they
may step off the tile to help, however they must return to the center to receive the next image. Once the
puzzle has begun, no other player can activate the central tile to receive an image to keep them from
“cheating”. At the end, for added effect, if using the AERUGO code, the chamber will spawn a rusted
darknut appropriate to the party’s strength.
Sliding Blocks

This puzzle doesn’t exactly pertain to courage, but what’s a Zelda style dungeon without some blocks to
push around.

The purpose of this puzzle is to swap the positions of the light blue and dark blue blocks. The puzzle
takes exactly 20 moves to complete, bearing that 1 move is 1 square space. The same color blocks that
are together, i.e. the green in top left and purple in bottom right, count as 1, two square block, so both
move at the same time. The locked blocks represent pillars or columns that can’t move.

Constellation Room

In the constellation room are 12 switches, if the room is active, as described in room descriptions, stars
will appear along the dome in order from 1-12, represented by the number of stars under each switch.
This puzzle is more of a lore-based combination, using a note left behind by a Sheikah, found earlier in
the dungeon. The passage goes as follows:

“A darkness has consumed the land and our goddess once again takes to the skies to correct the
balance of the world. I felt a tremble in the earth as seven new mountains rose along Death
Mountain’s range to break the clouds that cast evil’s dark shadows. Had it not been for the four
Great Faeries spreading the news of her return just before, I would have believed it to finally be
the end of the world. Next came our goddess’s tears to flood the lands, washing clean the
corruption and pulling its roots from the ground. I was soaked to the bones for the ten days it
rained. With the skies and earth cleansed, the goddess looked last at her people and chose one.
Lest the world forget its way again, they will rise to set it right. For courage is never forgotten.”

Purpose of this puzzle is for the players to press the switches in chronological order based on the story,
so 4, 7, 10, 1. Proceed with rest of room description for effects of completion.
 Growing Vines Dungeon Map

Full Maps: Top(1), Middle(2), Bottom(3), Boss Room (4)

Central Room Puzzle Patterns: Left side unburned, right side burned
Loot drop stats:

Sheikah loot can be distributed as seen fit by the GM, however the blunt weapons should be
easy to get since they will help defeat the boss.

Sheikah style rank 1 metal hammer ACC 3, ATT 6, DUR 6

Sheikah rank 1 wood Quarterstaff ACC 3, ATT 7, DUR 6 Blunt, 2hands, Melee, long + sweeping

Sheikah rank 2 bow ACC 4, ATT 11, DUR 4

Sheikah rank 1 dagger ACC 4, ATT 7, DUR 4

Sheikah chest guard- Rank 2 light chest armor Def 3

Rusted Darknut Plated greaves- Rank 1 heavy armor Def 4 (one rank 3 Knuckle Alloy)

Darknut style rank 3 metal sword ACC 2, ATT 11, DUR 0 (Breaks after one successful attack)

Glowlight Lizard Claw, rank 1 dagger ACC 4, ATT 5, DUR 6, Enchantment Trace (rank 2)
Monster Index:

Glowlight Lizard (Malice Corruption)

Rank 1 Natural Warrior Boss
HP: 160 MP: 60 SP: 60
Defense: 8 (Heavy) Concentration: 13
Initiative: +2 Evasion: 8
Size: (Huge) Vitality: 14
Movement: 4 (Walking)
Claw Scratch Damage: 11 Piercing
To-Hit Check: +5 Range: Sweep 2
Bite* Damage: 9 Sharp
To-Hit Check: +6 Range: Burst 1
Crystal Breath Damage: 10 Light
15 Magic Range: Cone 3
Roll To-Hit Target’s Concentration; on success, the target is Halted by
forming crystals and must succeed a Grapple vs difficulty 10 to break free of
crystals.
Luminous Tail Sweep Damage: 13
10 Stamina Range: Sweep 6
Roll To-Hit Target’s Vitality; on success, target is knocked prone and is
treated as if hit with a Trace (Rank2) Enchantment.
Spread Malice Damage: 15 Dark
20 Stamina 15 Magic (Burn) Range: Burst 1
Malice oozes from you and slowly spreads by Burst 1 at the beginning of your turn,
for the next 2 turns. Any creature entering the Malice or starting their turn in it
takes 4 damage and is made Sick..
Default Weapon: Crystal Claws
(Rank 1 Natural Weapon)
Accuracy: 2 Attack: 8 Durability: 8
Default Weapon: Malice Mouths
(Rank 1 Natural Weapon)
Accuracy: 3 Attack: 6 Durability: 6
Ganon’s Corruption, Many Mouths (Passive)
Malice has mutated this creature with additional mouths and eyes. At the
Beginning of the creature’s turn, the mouths attack any foe on its left or right
side. (Basic Attack bite)
Shattered Armor (Passive)
Hitting this creature with a blunt attack reduces its Defense and Vitality by 1
and increases Evasion and Movement by 1. This can occur up to 3 times;
after that, this Passive cannot be triggered again. Attacks against this
creature from below ignore half of its Defense.
Limited Intelligence
Darkvision
Combat 3 Willpower 3 Accuracy 3
Hearts 4 Magic 3 Stamina 3
Athletics 3 Arcana 2 Nature 2
Civilization 2 Perception 4 Agility 2
Fortitude 4 Influence 2 Command 0
Intimidate 4 Discipline 3 Insight 3
Mechanics 0 Perform 0 Guile 0
Smithing 0 Enchanting 0 Cooking 0
Drops: 1x Glowlight Lizard Claw (Rank 1 Dagger, natural)
10x Glowlight Lizard Hide (Rank 1 Monster Parts)
6x Luminous Stones (Rank 1 Gemstones
Small Fairies, equal to size of party