A Sample Dungeon
Here are a few room descriptions to match the map on page 5. The dungeon's not fully described, because these sample descriptions are here to show what your own adventure notes might look like. These may be more (or less) detailed than the notes you use, but they give you an idea of what you need recorded in order to have a ready-to-play adventure planned out. The notes in italics explain why certain things are the way they are. They include reminders for what you will want to do in your own notes.
Boxed Text: The following sample entries include boxed text meant to be paraphrased or read aloud to your players. Boxed text is found in most published D&D adventures. Boxed text represents those features that would be apparent to the PCs upon first entering that area (and is thus very helpful to the mapper). It does not include hidden features such as traps, nor monsters and items out of your PCs' immediate line of sight.
You don't have to literally make boxed text for your own notes, but be sure to highlight material in your notes that you want to use to quickly describe the area in an interesting way. Be sure not to include information that could not be known to the characters, and avoid describing PC actions or emotions (such as, "As you cower in fear..."). Be fair about providing the players with clues, such as the webs in the text for area 1 below, but don't draw attention to them. The best way to write boxed text or note what the characters entering a location would sense is to imagine what you could see, hear, smell, or feel if you were entering the area, then set down the pertinent information as succinctly as possible.
Monastery Cellars and Secret Crypts
The abandoned monastery on the surface is a burned-out ruin, destroyed when the place was attacked years ago by gnolls. The interesting part lies bellow ground, in the cellars and crypts underneath the ruins. A successful Intelligence (History) check (DC 10) lets the PCs know rumors about the legendary jewel lost somewhere within.
1. Entry Chamber
This damp chamber has an arched, vaulted ceiling 20 feet high in the center. The walls are masonry (cut stone blocks), the floor rough flagstones. Thick webs hide the ceiling.
A litter of husks, skin, bones, spider castings, and filth lies in a disgusting pile in the middle of the room (at the point marked A on the map). A Wisdom (Perception) check (DC 20) is required to notice the Creatures (a spider and its young; see below) hiding in the webs above. The refuse pile in the middle of the room contains the Treasure.
Special areas are called out in the notes and on the map by giving them designations such as "A" and "B", making it easier to remember that they're there. The Spot DC for the lurking spider is intentionally difficult, but not out of reach of the intended PCs (in this case, all 1st-level characters). The gem inside the skull is odd and intended to get PCs wondering about what's going on. (It's actually a relatively meaningless detail, other than for the value of the gem.)
Ten moldy sacks of flour and grain are stacked in the southwest corner (marked B on the map). The cloth tears easily, revealing the ruined contents. One of the sacks contains the Trap.
The solid oak door to the west (marked C on the map) is stuck (DC 15 to open). Anyone listening at it who makes a successful Wisdom (Perception) check (DC 10) hears a moaning sound, rising and then fading. This is merely a strong breeze that blows in area 2. As soon as the door opens, the breeze rushes out the new opening in a gust, extinguishing torches and possibly (50% chance) blowing out lanterns as well. Torches can't be relit in the corridor while the door is open.
The low DC for the Perception check is intentional. You want the PCs to hear the moaning and get spooked, thinking it's a ghost or something similarly horrible. Also, always remember to make a note of the DC to open a stuck or locked door.
Some 20 feet down the east passage, on the right side, a secret door awaits discovery. Locating it requires a successful Wisdom (Perception) check (DC 20). If detected, the secret door pivots open with a simple push, the scraping when it does revealing years of disuse.
It's necessary to always note the DC needed to find a secret door. It's also good to note how it's opened.
Creatures
One small monstrous spider and nine spiders hide in the upper part of the webs in the center of the room. If the characters fail to spot the small spider, it drops down on any character in the center of the room. A successful melee attack roll indicates that the spider lands on a character. The spiders remain in the web and eat small meals trapped by the web. They only move down from the web when all is still to eat a meal pacified by the larger spider.
If the PCs burn the webs, the nine young spiders are killed and the adult spider (if still in the web) takes 1d6 points of damage. The web burns for 8 rounds.
Trap: One of the sacks in the southwest corner has yellow mold inside it. If disturbed, it bursts and all within 10 feet must make a Constitution save (DC 12) or become poisoned for one hour.
Treasure
Scattered amid the pile in the middle of the room are 19 sp and a goblin skull with a 50 gp garnet inside. Character only notice the gem with a successful Wisdom (Perception) check (DC 15).
It's not always necessary to write out complete rules, as has been done here for yellow mold. You can add this level of description to your notes if you need it, or you can simply jot down the page number and book where it's found.
2. Water Room
A fast-flowing stream 3 to 5 feet deep enters this rough-hewn chamber at the north from a passage that it fills entirely, and exits to the south in the same manner. Toward the south it forms a pool some 4 feet deep at its edge and about 7 feet deep at the center. The pool is home to a group of blind, white fish, and you can see a few blind, white crayfish crawling among the rocks on the bottom.
A good example of what not to include in shaded text is the fact that the water is icy cold; there's no way the characters could know this just by looking at the water from the doorway. Characters who simply turn around and leave after a glance inside may never discover the sunken skeleton, much less the helpful items beside it.
The monks who once lived here worked this natural cavern in order to enlarge it. A strong, damp breeze makes it impossible to keep torches lit here. Eight rotting barrels remain (at the location marked A) from when the room was used to gather water for the monastery. A few buckets also lie scattered about.
In a ruin, it's always handy to know what a room or area was formerly used for, even if it now serves a different purpose (or no purpose at all). Your descriptions can often convey that former purpose, reminding the players that this place has its own history; it's not just a backdrop for adventures.
Lying at the bottom of the pool (at the point marked B) is the limed-over skeleton of the abbot. Without a successful Wisdom (Perception) check (DC 15), this appears to be just an unusual mineral formation. In its bony fingers, the skeleton still holds a special key that allows the secret door in area 28 to open to the treasury (area 29) rather than the steps leading down into the caverns (area 30). If the remains are disturbed, the act dislodges a tube next to the skeleton. The stream's current carries away the tube unless a character dives into the icy water immediately to get it. This requires a Strength (Athletics) check (DC 10) to swim and overtake the current and a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (DC 15) to grab the small, fast moving tube. If the players do not act quickly, the tube is swept away and lost in a single round. The tube contains the Treasure.
The rules for using an object are presented in Chapter 9: Combat in the Player's Handbook (page 129), but the DM here decided to modify them slightly for a specific situation. Getting the map will be hard for characters unless they act fast and roll well. However, the reward is great, because they are shown a secret passage that they would otherwise miss.
- Treasure: Inside this not-quite-watertight ivory tube is a vellum map, smeared due to water seepage. The map shows the underground levels of the monastery. Areas 1, 2, and the passage to area 3 still show clearly. Area 3 itself has been reduced to a smudge, but just beyond it can be made out most of the secret passage to the south. Several tiny sarcophagi have been carefully drawn around the southernmost terminus of the passage. The rest of the map is illegible
3. Empty Ceremonial Chamber
This large, square room appears to be a dead end. Its domed ceiling arches up to 25 feet high in the center.
The monks brought the faithful here after death, consecrated each corpse, and then carried it to its final resting place in area 24. A wooden platform placed against the south wall served as both a dais upon which to hold the ceremony and as a means to reach the secret door leading into the crypts to the south. The platform rose 9 feet off the ground, with the bottom of the secret door being 1 foot above that. Some knobs just above the level of the vanished platform look like mere bumps in the wall, but one of them when pushed in causes a 10-foot-by-10-foot portion of the wall to swing inward with a grinding noise.
Now only four socket holes in the south wall bear testimony that the platform was ever here. Two are parallel to each other, 10 feet apart and 3 feet from the floor. The other two are 3 feet higher up and directly above the first two. These square holes are 6 inches wide and about 6 inches deep. One still has a few wooden splinters in it. Behind the secret door is a 10-foot-wide passage inhabited by Creatures (ghouls).
Creatures
Unknown to the PCs, two ghouls from area 25 lurk at the south end of the secret passage. If they make a successful Wisdom (Perception) check (DC 15), the ghouls come up the secret passage and wait behind the secret door in ambush.
Monster Statistics
Here are the statistic blocks for the creatures briefly mentioned above. These sample statistics blocks present all the information needed to run an encounter with the spider and one with the ghouls, should they detect the PCs (or vice versa). For your own notes, you can write out this information in as much or as little detail as you like. It's best to include all the information you may need at first, then gradually make the entries more abbreviated (for example: ghouls, hp 22 [x2], passive Perception 10, paralysis (CON DC 10), undead immunities) as you become familiar with various creatures' abilities through repeated encounters. Also be sure to note any ways in which these ghouls may differ from others of their kind (dressed in tattered vestments, constantly finger prayer beads when not in combat, refer to themselves in the third person, and so on).
Small Monstrous Spider
Small beast, unaligned
- Armor Class 13
- Hit Points 8 (2d6 + 2)
- Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 8 (-1) 14 (+2) 13 (+1) 2 (-4) 12 (+1) 4 (-3)
- Skills Perception +3, Stealth +5
- Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
- Languages -
- Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)
Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Web Walker. The spider ignores Movement restrictions caused by webbing.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 1 (1d4 - 1) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking 4 (2d4) poison damage on a failed save.
Spider
Tiny beast, unaligned
- Armor Class 12
- Hit Points 1 (1d4 -1)
- Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 2 (-4) 14 (+2) 8 (-1) 1 (-5) 10 (+0) 2 (-4)
- Skills Stealth +4
- Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 12
- Languages -
- Challenge 0 (10 XP)
Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Web Walker. The spider ignores Movement restrictions caused by webbing.
Actions
Bite Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 1 piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 9 Constitution saving throw or take 2 (1d4) poison damage.
Ghoul
Medium undead, chaotic evil
- Armor Class 12
- Hit Points 22 (5d8)
- Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 13 (+1) 15 (+2) 10 (+0) 7 (-2) 10 (+0) 6 (-2)
- Damage Immunities Poison
- Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Poisoned
- Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
- Languages Common
- Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: (2d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (2d4 + 2) slashing damage. If the target is a creature other than an elf or undead, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success
Example of Play
Using the previously detailed sample dungeon rooms, a DM guides four players through their first adventure. The players are playing Tordek (a dwarf fighter), Mialee (an elven wizard), Jozan (a human cleric), and Lidda (a halfling rogue). These four adventurers seek the ruins of the abandoned monastery, drawn by rumors telling of a fabulous fire opal, supposedly hidden there by the abbot when the place was attacked.
After passing through the lifeless above ground ruins of the monastery, the adventurers find a rubble-strewn staircase leading down.
PC (Tordek): Let's give these upper ruins one more quick examination.
At this point, the players arrange their miniature figures, each representing one character, in the order in which they will march down the stairs (and walk down corridors, and enter rooms). Tordek goes first, followed by Jozan (with the torch), then Mialee. Lidda brings up the rear, her player noting that she will be watching behind them occasionally. If the players didn't have minatures, writing down the marching order on a piece of paper would suffice. After a short discussion and the formation of a plan, each player announces an action for his or her character. Tordek looks down the south passage, Mialee investigates the rubbish in the middle, Jozan looks at the old sacks, and Lidda looks down the west passage. The players position their figures on a floorplan the DM has sketched out on paper.
Since no one paid the webs any attention, the DM doesn't worry about Wisdom (Perception) checks to see the spider. Mialee rolls an 19, Jozan rolls a 12, Lidda an 8, and Tordek a 4. The group all gasp in fear. Mialee rolls a die and would add her Constitution save bonus, except she has none.
DM: [Making some rolls in secret, but knowing there's nothing to find in the burned-out shell of
the monastery.] You don't find anything. What are you going to do now?
PC (Jozan): Let's go down!
PC (Lidda): We'll light a torch first.
DM: Fine, but I'll need the marching order that you'll be in.
PC (Tordek): Fortunately, the torchlight won’t spoil my darkvision- that’ll help us navigate in the dark down there.
PC (Jozan): Okay, we’ll go down the stairs.
DM: You descend southward, possibly 30 feet laterally, and at the end of the stairway you see an open space.
PC (Tordek): I enter and look around.
PC (Jozan): I come in behind the with the torch.
DM: You are in a chamber about 30 feet across to the south and 30 feet wide east and west. There are 10-foot-wide passages to the left and right as well as straight ahead, each in the center of its respective wall. Looking back, you see the stairway entered the chamber in the center of the north wall.
PC (Lidda): What else do we see?
DM: The floor is rough and damp. The ceiling is supported by arches that probably rise to meet in the center, about 20 feet above you- it’s hard to tell because of all the webs. There are some moldering old sacks in the southwest corner and some rubbish jumbled in the center of the floor- dirt, old leather, scraps of cloth, and some sticks or maybe bones.
DM: Okay. As two of you are looking down the passages and Jozan starts looking at the sacks… [The DM rolls initiative for the spider in the webs, and gets a 10.]... Everyone, roll initiative.
DM: Mialee, you feel something land on your shoulder- it feels hairy and moves toward your neck!
PC (Mialee): Yikes! What is it?
PC (Tordek): If I hear her call out, I’ll turn around. What do I see?
DM: Tordek, you heard Mialee gasp, and you turn to see a large hairy spider on her neck. The spider bites. [He rolls an attack roll for the spider, and gets a 16. He knows that indicates a success because he wrote down everyone’s ACs ahead of time and knows Mialee’s AC is 13.] Yug! Mialee, you feel a sharp prick on your neck. Make a Constitution saving throw.
PC (Mialee): Constitution, one of my worst saves! Let’s see; 15 plus 0 is, well, 15. Is that good enough?
DM: You feel okay. [Rolls piercing damage for the spider’s bite] But the bite still delivers 1 hit point of damage. The first round of combat ends and you no longer have the surprised condition. On to the second round, Mialee, you go first. What do you do?
PC (Mialee): I grab it from my shoulder and throw it to the ground, where I can stomp on it with my boot.
DM: Okay, that would be a shove, make a Strength (Athletics) check.
PC (Mialee): Okay, I roll a 14 to grab it and throw it to the ground. Do I succeed?
DM: [He decides that because the spider’s Dexterity bonus is higher than its Strength bonus that it will choose to oppose Mialee’s check with a Dexterity (Acrobatics) roll and rolls a 12.] Yes. The spider lands prone on the ground but looks like it’s going to get up and scuttle away. Perhaps back up the wall to the webs above. Jozan, you’re next.
PC (Jozan): My turn? I run up to it and smash it with my mace! I roll a natural 20! With my bonus, that’s 24 in all.
DM: Good roll! You can move that far and attack, roll damage dice twice and add them together then add your Strength bonus as normal.
PC (Jozan): [Rolling] Sweet! 6 and a 4 is 10, 12 points altogether once I add my Strength bonus.
DM: That mighty blow smashes the creature to bits.
PC (Mialee): Cool. Well, now that all the excitement’s over, I’m going to search through this refuse on the floor like I said I would.
DM: Okay. Looking at the pile of debris, you’d guess it’s probably refuse from the spider; leftovers of its victims and its own castings. Amid bits of bone and tatters of clothing, you find 19 silver pieces. And make a Wisdom (Perception) roll.
Mialee rolls an 11 and adds her +4 bonus for a result of 15; just enough to notice the hidden gem!
DM: You also see something sparkle inside a small skull. Looking closer, you see it’s a gem; a garnet.
PC (Mialee): Great. I get it out and put it in my pouch. We can try to appraise it later. You know, I’m getting a little nervous about that web.
PC (Lidda): Good point. Jozan, why not light the webs with your torch?
PC (Jozan): Okay. I do. What happens? [Looks at the DM.]
DM: The webs burn quickly quickly. As they do, tiny burning husks of smaller spiders fall from the ceiling, but nothing the size of the creature that attacked.
PC (Tordek): [On lookout] What do we see down the passages?
DM: The south tunnel runs straight as far as you can see. The west corridor ends in a door at about 20 feet.
PC (Tordek): Okay, I’ll also glance down the east passage.
DM: You see the east corridor goes straight for about 20 feet and then turns a corner to head north.
PC (Lidda): Let’s check out that door. [Everyone agrees.]
DM: Okay. You walk down the west passage. The door is a great, heavy thing with a huge ring of corroded bronze in the center.
PC (Tordek): Mialee, you’re proficient in Perception, why don’t you listen at this door?
PC (Mialee): Okay. I move forward to listen at the door, can I hear anything?
The DM knows that Mialee has a passive Perception score of 14 which exceeds the DC of 10 to hear the moaning sound of wind behind the door, so he doesn’t ask for a roll and describes what Mialee hears as though she had succeeded on the check.
DM: You hear a faint moaning sound, you can’t really tell what it is, that rises and then fades away. The door is hinged on the left and looks like it pulls inward towards you.
PC (Mialee): I hear moaning on the other side. Let’s get ready for action! And, by the way, I move my position towards the back….
PC (Tordek): [Laughs] Alright, I’ll open the door while the elf scrambles to the back of the line.
DM: Make a Strength (Athletics) check.
PC (Tordek): [Rolls] I only got a 10. If that’s not good enough, can I try again?
The DM knows that a 10 isn’t good enough to open the stuck door but he also knows that if Tordek rolled well enough he would succeed. Since the party seems intent on opening the door and there is nothing preventing them from just trying over and over until they succeed, he decides to move things along.
DM: Tordek, it takes you several minutes of struggling with the heavy, iron bound door before you eventually pry it open in a sudden burst of motion. Immediately a blast of cold, damp air gusts into the passage where you are, blowing out Jozan’s torch!
PC (Tordek): Do I see anything with my darkvision?
DM: Beyond the door is a chamber with rough walls; not blocks of stone like the room behind you. It’s 25 feet wide and extends about 40 feet to the south. A small stream spills through the room into a pool, carrying with it a cold, damp breeze. You don’t see anything moving around, but there are some old barrels and buckets about.
PC (Jozan): I cast light on a rock, since we’ll never get a torch lit in this wind.
DM: Okay, now everyone can see.
PC (Tordek): I look at the ceiling and the floor for any more nasty surprises.
PC (Mialee): I’ll look in the barrels and buckets.
PC (Lidda): Jozan, bring your light over and we’ll check out the pool.
DM: Tordek and Mialee, make Wisdom (Perception) checks. Lidda and Jozan, you can’t search the pool without getting into it, but you can look into the water to see anything that might be there so make Wisdom (Perception) checks too. [The players comply and tell the DM their results, although the DM knows that there’s nothing for Tordek and Mialee to find.] There’s nothing alarming about the ceiling and floor, and the buckets are empty. The pool has some small white fish that look harmless; they also don’t react to your light. The pool itself looks to be about 4 to 6 feet deep with a rough and rocky bottom. Jozan, with your roll of 17 you see that what had at first looked to be a rock formation near the center of the pool looks somewhat like a skeleton, but still…
PC (Jozan): Cool! Mialee, will you cast your own light spell so I can toss this one down into the pool to get a better look at this skeleton? It might be something interesting.
PC (Mialee): Okay, I do.
PC (Jozan): I toss the rock that I’ve cast light upon into the water, toward the center.
DM: Your stone falls to the bottom of the pool, illuminating the center. The formation is clearly a limed-over skeleton; it must have been there for many years. Your stone impacts with it, stirring up dirt and muck, and dislodges what appears to be a cylinder about a foot long. The current quickly begins to carry it away….
PC (Lidda): Oh, no! I leap into the water and get it; at least I’ll be able to see down there with Jozan’s light spell.
DM: Hmm. Make a Strength (Athletics) check.
PC (Lidda): Uh-oh. I'm not proficient in that skill. Untrained, it's just my Strength bonus, right? Uhh... don't have one of those either. [Rolls] Hey! I still go a 17!
DM: You guys are rolling great tonight; you succeed. Lidda, you manage to jump in and swim up to the tube just as the current is going to sweep it out of the room and down the underground stream. You have no idea if there’d be air to breathe if you swam down the dark, narrow passage, which seems to be completely filled with water.
PC (Lidda): Okay, then I try to grab the tube now.
DM: Make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
Lidda rolls high enough to grab the tube. The DM relays this information and Lidda swims up to the surface and climbs out of the pool with the help of the others; all of whom announce that their characters crowd around her to see what she’s found. The DM describes the sealed tube.
PC (Lidda): I dry it off a little, and then open it!
DM: Inside is a roll of vellum.
PC (Tordek): Let’s get out of this room and back into that entry chamber where we can light torches again. It’s probably not going to be easy to read a scroll or whatever with this air current. [The other PCs agree, and they return to the first room, closing the door behind them.]
DM: The tube must have allowed a bit of water to seep in slowly, because parts of the scroll are smudged and obliterated, but you can see what looks like a map of the passages under the monastery. You recognize the stairs down and the room with the pool and barrels. The eastern portion is smeared beyond recognition, but you see that the south passage runs out of the room you’re in now to a blurred area, and beyond that you see a large area with coffin-like shapes drawn along the perimeter. That’s all you can make out.
PC (Tordek): Let’s head south and see what the map is leading toward. [Everyone agrees.]
DM: You pass down a long passage of stone blocks with an arched ceiling about 15 feet overhead. It stretches for about 80 paces, then opens into the northern portion of a chamber that looks to be about 50 feet by 50 feet to those of you with darkvision. It’s completely empty and looks to be a dead end. What do you do?
PC (Lidda): Does this room look like the one with the coffin shapes on the map?
DM: No. You think that this might be the blotched area on the map.
PC (Mialee): I bet there’s a secret door here. Let’s check the south wall.
The DM now decides to make the Wisdom (Perception) checks himself, hidden from the players so that they won’t know the results. He knows that they can’t find anything (the secret door is 10 feet above the floor) but he doesn’t want them to know that. Finding the holes requires no roll, so the DM randomly determines who finds them. He also makes a Wisdom (Perception) check for the ghouls at the far end of the secret corridor; an 18 means they have heard the party tapping on the walls looking for a hollow spot.
DM: The wall seems solid. However… Tordek, you noticed some strange holes in the wall. Square places cut into the stone, each about half a foot on a side and about that deep. There are four all together; two pairs, 10 feet apart, with two about 3 feet from the floor, and two about 6 feet up. You find some wooden splinters in one.
PC (Jozan): Let’s look at that map again.
PC (Tordek): While you do that, I’ll feel around to find if the holes have any levers or catches or anything.
DM: [Making some meaningless rolls, knowing there are no levers to find] You don’t find anything like that, Tordek.
PC (Mialee): The only thing I can think of is that the holes are sockets for some sort of wooden construction….
PC (Lidda): Sure! How about a ramp or stairs? How high is the ceiling in this place?
DM: Oh, about 25 feet.
PC (Lidda): How about hoisting me up and letting me search up high?
PC (Jozan): Good idea. Tordek, will you help me hold her steady?
PC (Tordek): Sure.
PC (Mialee): While they do that, I’ll keep a lookout to make sure nothing sneaks up behind us from the way we came.
DM: Looks clear, Mialee. Lidda’s not heavy, so you guys don’t have to make Strength (Athletics) checks to lift her. You do have to make them to hold her steady so she can… What is it you’re going to do once you’re hoisted up, Lidda?
PC (Lidda): I’ll scan the stone first to see if there are any marks or some operating device evident.
DM: Okay, how about those Strength (Athletics) checks? Tordek, you’re stronger, so Jozan is helping you rather than the other way around. The cleric uses the Help action allowing the dwarf to make a Strength (Athletics) check at advantage.
Tordek’s player rolls two Strength (Athletics) checks and uses the higher roll. The check result is good enough that Tordek and Jozan are able to hold Lidda steady, do the DM makes a Wisdom (Perception) check for Lidda. She finds something.
DM: Lidda, you find some stone projections that seem rather smooth, as if worn by use.
PC (Lidda): Then I’ll see if I can move any of the knobs. Maybe they’ll open a secret door. I’ll push, pull, twist, turn, slide....
DM: Ok, one of the fist-sized projections moves inward, and there’s a grinding sound. A 10-foot-by-10-foot section of the wall, 10 feet above the floor in the center of the south wall, swings inward and to the right.
PC (Lidda): I’ll pull myself up into the doorway, and then I’ll see if I can use my tools to somehow anchor a rope up here to help the others climb.
DM: You get up there, and you’re looking around for a crack or something to wedge a spike into, right? Make a Wisdom (Perception) check.
The Perception check is actually to see if Lidda sees the ghouls waiting in the darkness, but Lidda doesn’t know that.
PC (Lidda): Oops. A 7.
Now the DM begins rolling attacks for the ghouls. The players ask what’s going on, and why he’s rolling dice, but his silence adds to the tension and suspense. The ghouls hit Lidda with their paralyzing touch.
DM: Lidda, make a Constitution save.
PC (Lidda): Oh no! Why? A trap? [Rolls] 1? Arrgh. This is where our luck runs out.
DM: [To the others] You see a sickly gray arm strike the halfling as she’s looking around at the floor where she stands, 10 feet above you. She utters a muffled cry, and then a shadowy form drags her out of sight. What do you do?