Gelatinous Geometries

by Jeff Simpson

For characters levelled 2-

5. All maps use a 5 ft
scale.
Originally published in
the OSRG 'zine vol III.

In which the Elder Cube,

an intelligent gelatinous
cube of staggering size,
hires the adventurers to
storm a geomodron
base so that he may one
day send forth
gelatinous pyramids or
gelatinous cylinders into
the world.

Thank you to those who

helped me evade
copyright. Rules for the
geomodrons, a
completely original race
of lawful beings whose
charge is to maintain order in
the universe may be found in
the second tome of monsters
published for the advanced
edition of the world's most
popular role-playing game, likely around page 87. The instructions will lead them to a cave deep within the
earth; feel free to include any number of adventures along
This adventure begins while your party is in another the way. When they reach the destination, they are met
dungeon; replace a wandering monster with a gelatinous with a wide open cavern that ends in a small fort carved
cube who bears with him a scroll floating about his jellied into its northern wall. The room is filled with noxious gas
form. This is a messenger sent by the Elder Cube to seek that, if inhaled, requires a Save vs Poison. Failure results
brave heroes who will aid him in his quest to produce in death. A team of gelatinous cubes, emissaries of the
new gelatinous shapes. The letter is given below: Elder Cube wait here. They will give the party the gel-suits
that the Elder Cube mentioned in his letter (see the
Greetings, solids. I hope my servant finds you well; I am appendix for rules on the suits). They may then 'drive' the
the Elder Cube and I seek your help. The Geomodrons, cubes through the cave of gas to lay assault on the
Arbiters of the Third Dimension, possess a factory in Geomodron Factory. Once they reach the other end, the
which they create more of their automatons. As cubes will wait outside, anxiously waiting for the players
representative of all Gelatinous Cubes, we seek to capture to return with news of victory.
this factory so that we may produce our slimy brethren in 1 Entry Hall Arched pillars of carved bronze flank the path
a multitude of new shapes. Should you agree to help us north. The pillars contain engravings of geometric forms
in storming this den of geometric oppression, follow the in two, three, and four dimensions.
instructions herein to find their secret hideout. Your 2 South Atrium A 6-HD Lurker Above lives here, waiting
payment will be a set of gel-suits, given to you as a gift, as for organic creatures to enter so that he may feed. The
well as whatever detritus is found within the ordered halls geomodrons provide no sustenance to the Lurker Above
of the Geomodrons. and are thus left alone.
Sincerely, the Elder Cube. 3 Library There are 3 Monodrons here who act as
librarians. The collection of books here largely consists of
tomes containing mechanical diagrams of geomodrons.
Tucked in a parts catalogues is a magic-user scroll. This
scroll contains Protection from Normal Missiles, Lightning
Bolt, and Anti-Magic Shell. Magic-Users of at least 8 th level
can tell that the Anti-Magic Shell was scribed hastily and
bears with it the chance of failure. When casting it, there is
a 60% chance of success, a 30% chance of failure, and a
10% chance that it summons a foul demon whose HD is
equal to the casters own HD+1.
4 Duodron & Quadron Production This room features a
vat that pours molten bronze into a series of casts, which
when cooled, contain geomodrons. There are 9 Duodrons
and 4 Quadrons, both armed with spears. The Quadrons
will direct the Duodrons to form defensive spear-walls
when applicable.
5 Storage There are many crates in this room, containing
various spices and peppers. It is unknown what the
geomodrons are doing with such supplies. There is
6300gp worth of spice and 3000gp worth of pepper.
6 Tridron Production This room is similar to room 4, but it
contains a single Tridron fighting off an angry xorn. The
xorn became confused when he discovered the Tridrons,
who greatly resemble his people and is enraged at their
existence.
7 Workshop Workbenches line this room. They are
covered in small hammers. 7 Duodrons work away at
hammering sheets of copper while they are supervised by
a Tridron. There is a suit of chainmail +1 on a
workbench.
8 North Atrium A statue that is unbeknownst to the
adventurers, but what would be recognized by us as a
double helix structure dominates the middle of this room.
In actuality, the two 'arms' of the statue are 2 iron cobras.
9 Monodron Production This room is similar to room 4,
but it contains 16 Monodrons.
10 Prefect's Chamber There is a single Decadron overseer
here who is seemingly 'plugged in to' a console here
which no doubt
controls geomodron
production. Should
the players seek
forgiveness and
promise to leave, he
will allow them to
escape unmolested. If
not, he will fight them
to the death. The
console contains 10
'buttons' that are
actually small peridots,
worth 10gp each, and
5 large blue quartz
stones, worth 100gp
each.
11 Hidden Vault The
entry to this room is
hidden behind a
bronze bas-relief mural
in the east-west hallway exiting the north atrium. The bas-
relief depicts the four base geomodrons - the spherical
Monodron, the plank-like Duodron, the pyramidal
Tridron, and the cuboid Quadron, entering through a
portal to what looks like great riches. Also featured are a
triangle, square, and pentagon. Further inspection of the
relief reveals that those three shapes can be pressed as
buttons, and that there seems to be no way to 'reset' their
position - once pressed, they are permanently set in that
position. To open the door, one must push the square and
only the square. The reasoning behind this is that if all
three shapes were expanded into the third-dimension,
forming platonic solids, the cube would be the only one
whose number of faces is not divisible by 4, whereas the
tetrahedron, octohedron, dodecahedron, and
icosahedron (coincidentally the shape of your dice) are
divisible by 4, thus allowing the base forms of
geomodrons to enter.
Within the room are 6 Star Rose Quartz gems worth
5000gp each, used as focuses in creating new
geomodrons, and the Lawman's Cane, detailed in the
appendix.
Appendix
Gel-Suit This strange fleshy membrane may be worn over
top of any clothes or armour and protects the wearer from
gelatinous cubes. Trying to adventure while wearing one
of these suits is difficult and those who do will always
move at one-half their normal speed.
The Lawman's Cane This quarterstaff-sized pole gains
powers when wielded by a lawful character. They may
cause the weapon to take the form of a spear or a long-
hafted warhammer, both with a +2 enchantment. When
striking a chaotic creature, any damage rolls of a '1' are re-
rolled.