Troika! Tuesday: Yvild the Mold Maker's Magnificent Lab

06 Jan, 2026

I wanted to practice writing a dungeon so I took a Watabou layout I liked and riffed on it.

General Info

Unless stated otherwise the general construction is sleet gray bricks riddled with orange mold. The height from floor to ceiling is 15'. The air is warm and damp.

Corpses left in the dungeon become a Mold Thrall after 1 day.

Key

1. Mold Accumulation Chamber

   Holes have been drilled into the ceiling and walls for winds to carry spores from various areas. Glass chambers 10' around and 20' tall populate the central area. Grooves have been dug into the floor to ease the transport of these heavy glass structures. On the southern wall a table with various chemicals and notes dominates the area. Various descriptions of how to make different elemental molds as well as detailed notes on mold men sapience are scrawled in a lazy hand.

2. Mold Man Uplift Chamber

   A large stone coffin adorned with fake jewels and gold glitters under a sconce of glittering lichen. Inside the coffin is a mechanism that will drop the floor of the room by 100' feet and fill the room with Spores of Sapience. Test your Luck when inhaled or become a mindless thrall of the mold. After three days the infection is permanent. The floor resets after 10 minutes.

3. Teleportation Mural

   Amidst a room of overgrown moss and curtains of lichen, a mural is hidden. Carved into the eastern wall and inlaid with radiant drops of the Sun's light is a towering piece depicting a dragon's body being consumed by the earth. When gazed at the body begins to be consumed more and more until only the gaping mouth remains. The teleporter leads to room 12.

4. Lair of Mold Men Thralls

   22 mossy cots criss cross the room. Curtains of moss unfold near body heat, dropping 22 Mold Man Thralls covered in a vibrant orange mold. The infection makes them giggle and belch constantly.

5. Mold Filled Boulder

   Massive gashes and cracks line the floor and walls. A 400 pound Mold Boulder sits in a crater in the room. Body heat within 20' of it causes it to go crashing in that direction. Cracking it open reveals a velvet like mold that powered the stone.

6. Tampered Vent

   One of the sluice gates for the outside air has been tampered with to be kept open. The glass case for this one has been shattered open. An Earth Elemental fused mold rampages as a storm through the room. The walls are covered with a thick layer of the mold, about 5' feet. Doors are stuck when closed.

   Buried in the mounds of mold is an expertly tailored doctor's bag. Inside are 12 vials of a turquoise fluid with red coral spiraling through the liquid. These are Perfect Mold Sapience vials. A dose of one will completely transform anyone under 26 skill into a mold filled automaton. Creatures with a higher skill instead take an ongoing poison effect every 10 minutes until they die or are magically cured. Damage as a sword. \

7. Masterwork Chamber
   Along the northern wall a butcher's harness holds a writhing Mold Ogre. Its screams come out as wet gasps of orange mold that fall, frothing from its mouth. The restraints will only hold for another 2d6 minutes before it falls from the wall. Statues of a similar looking figure flank the eastern and western walls, depicting a spirited debate.

   Buried in the Ogre's belly is a Gem of Intelligence. When paired with the stave in room 14, it allows a user to store their entire being inside the gem. Currently the elf Yvild the Mold Maker is trapped inside the beast's gut after a failed experiment.

8. Drying Room
   Set into the walls are glowing orange stones providing a nice dry heat to the room. Mold isn't growing freely in this room. From a few different racks strips of mold hang, tough like leather.

9. Fountain of Daylight
   10 Mold Men Thralls sit enraptured by the fountain of daylight. From it's expertly worked gold spouts a strong trickle of liquid daylight pools. Any obstruction of the light will cause them to stir.

10. Mold Bricks
    The bricks in this room have the orange fuzz of mold growing through their cracks and pores. They wait patiently until their prey are in the middle of the room and then they will collapse the floor and fall from the ceiling and walls. Test Luck to not take damage as a hammer. 17 Mold Bricks fight to the last.

11. Unfinished Mural of Mighty Weapon Scrawled into the floor is an impressive outline for a work of art depicting the great Yvlid cutting down a Dream Wyrm. Everything is finished save the weapon he is using. Taking the time to finish carving and applying the liquid daylight will cause the weapon to become material, dealing damage and attacking at a +1 and granting Mold Manipulation at level 4.
    Mold Manipulation
    Control the flow and growth of mold at an astonishing rate. Great Mold controllers can drown structures in waves of wonderful growth.

12. Teleporter Room
    A grand mural of a mound of mold consuming the flesh of a terrified human. Staring at it for a few minutes will cause it to change and become an image of a great elf reconstituting from the mold. This mural teleports to the other mural.

13. Chamber of Consciousness Transfer
    Two large wooden beds with straps fill the center of the room. Detailed sketches on a table show the process on how to use the staff and gem to transfer the consciousness of one being to another using the staff and gem. As well s the process on how to make more holding gems.

14. Staff Vault
    The stands upright on a plinth in the center of the room. Moving the staff will cause a six teams of trained imp gunners to shoot holding gems at whoever is grabbing the staff. If struck by a gem they will fall over limp and their soul will be inside the gem.

Encounters - Use each encounter only once

1. 8 Mold Man Thralls chasing a beam of escaped Sunlight.
2. 10 Mold Bricks scurrying after a fat warm rat.
3. Cries from the Mold Ogre, a mix of Elvish and the guttural language of the Ogres.
4. A gust of moldy wind, Test Luck or lose 1d6 stamina coughing.

Bestiary

Mold Man Thrall

Skill 6
Stamina 6
Initiative 1
Armor 0
Damage as Sword

Mold Boulder

Skill 14
Stamina 24
Initiative 2
Armor 2
Damage as Large Beast

Mold Bricks

Skill 4
Stamina 9
Initiative 2
Armor 1
Damage as Club
Special
Each Brick initiative token drawn in succession gets a +1 to their attack or action. So if a four bricks are pulled in a row the fourth brick will get a +3 for their turn. This resets when a round ends, a player token is drawn, or a henchmen token is drawn.

Impling Gunners

Skill 8
Stamina 7
Initiative 2
Armor 0
Damage as Crossbow

Mold Ogre

Skill 18
Stamina 30
Initiative 3
Armor 1
Damage as Hammer
Special
Every third attack a spell is randomly cast at no stamina cost.

1. Flash
2. Fire Bolt
3. Grow
4. Wall of Power
5. Darkness
6. Shatter