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Another Monster in the Basement
Feb. 8th, 2026 09:21 amThere's one more encounter to recount from my D&D game last weekend. Yes, it's a week since we gamed and I'm still catching up on writing about it. I said the group was very productive despite a short gaming session!
Recall that the group is going through an adventure I created called The Collector's Menagerie.
In a story that turned out to be like a twisted take on the boardgame Clue the group is investigating a mansion where exotic monsters have escaped their cages following the recent, totally-no-reason-to-be-suspicious death of the wealthy owner. Instead of "Colonel Mustard in the Library with the Candlestick" it's "Stirges in the Conservatory try to kill you!"
After choosing to descend to the basement first, a reasonable choice as they were told by the butler other household staffers were trapped down there and they could hear faint cries for help wafting up the stairwell, the group already fought a carrion crawler in the kitchen and a few ghouls in the crypt. (What's that, Clue doesn't have a room named the Crypt? Well, Clue doens't have a basement either! ...Okay, nominally it does, but it's not part of the gameplay. 😂) The voice calling for help could still be heard from the last room in the basement.
The group, at this point, was wary of a trap. Deadly monsters— deadly to zero-level household servants, anyway— seemed to have the run of the house. Could someone still be alive at the far corner of the basement? Especially when the room at the far corner of the basement was literally the shit-room?
Yes, the shit room. A room with a large grating leading to the sewer. The room where things like food scraps and chamber pots were emptied, then occasionally shoveled into the sewer. And from amid the literal shit-pile next to the floor grate the group could hear "Help me! In here! I'm stuck!" Total trappage. 😅
"It could be an illusion," the group reasoned.
"You think it's fake shit?" I asked.
"Or a mimic," they added. "A mimic impersonating a pile of shit."
"You think it's intelligent fake shit?"
At least this time they decided to find out rather than close the door and nope out of it. Though they sent in the NPC first. 😂
Sure enough, it was a trap. But not a mimic. No, the shit was real. And in the pile of shit was a real monster, an otyugh.
It appeared first with a tentacle-like appendage rising up out of the muck. Then a rough body with greenish-brown skin and a huge mouth. And two more appendages, these covered in spikes at the end. The otyugh reached out with its spiky tentacles and tried to wrap them around Otonio (the NPC).
Otonio dodged the attack and retreated. He regrouped near the door, where the rest of the group was holding. He drew a bow, as did Herran and Leoghnie. It seemed nobody wanted to fight toe-to-shit-covered-toe with the Otyugh. 🤣 But between a volley of arrows and some damage-dealing spells from Ryuu-Han and Kiarana, the group vanquished it without taking further damage. Or getting any shit on their boots.
Recall that the group is going through an adventure I created called The Collector's Menagerie.
In a story that turned out to be like a twisted take on the boardgame Clue the group is investigating a mansion where exotic monsters have escaped their cages following the recent, totally-no-reason-to-be-suspicious death of the wealthy owner. Instead of "Colonel Mustard in the Library with the Candlestick" it's "Stirges in the Conservatory try to kill you!"
After choosing to descend to the basement first, a reasonable choice as they were told by the butler other household staffers were trapped down there and they could hear faint cries for help wafting up the stairwell, the group already fought a carrion crawler in the kitchen and a few ghouls in the crypt. (What's that, Clue doesn't have a room named the Crypt? Well, Clue doens't have a basement either! ...Okay, nominally it does, but it's not part of the gameplay. 😂) The voice calling for help could still be heard from the last room in the basement.
The group, at this point, was wary of a trap. Deadly monsters— deadly to zero-level household servants, anyway— seemed to have the run of the house. Could someone still be alive at the far corner of the basement? Especially when the room at the far corner of the basement was literally the shit-room?
Yes, the shit room. A room with a large grating leading to the sewer. The room where things like food scraps and chamber pots were emptied, then occasionally shoveled into the sewer. And from amid the literal shit-pile next to the floor grate the group could hear "Help me! In here! I'm stuck!" Total trappage. 😅
"It could be an illusion," the group reasoned.
"You think it's fake shit?" I asked.
"Or a mimic," they added. "A mimic impersonating a pile of shit."
"You think it's intelligent fake shit?"
At least this time they decided to find out rather than close the door and nope out of it. Though they sent in the NPC first. 😂
Sure enough, it was a trap. But not a mimic. No, the shit was real. And in the pile of shit was a real monster, an otyugh.
It appeared first with a tentacle-like appendage rising up out of the muck. Then a rough body with greenish-brown skin and a huge mouth. And two more appendages, these covered in spikes at the end. The otyugh reached out with its spiky tentacles and tried to wrap them around Otonio (the NPC).
Otonio dodged the attack and retreated. He regrouped near the door, where the rest of the group was holding. He drew a bow, as did Herran and Leoghnie. It seemed nobody wanted to fight toe-to-shit-covered-toe with the Otyugh. 🤣 But between a volley of arrows and some damage-dealing spells from Ryuu-Han and Kiarana, the group vanquished it without taking further damage. Or getting any shit on their boots.
