Dungeon: Temple of Time, Part 1
Kind of stealing the idea from Legend of Zelda, but making it my own and putting it in a D&D context. Meant to be kind of psychological and puzzle-y. Hope you enjoy it.Â
Location: deep in an expansive mountain range, several days travel from the nearest settlement. Not high enough to be snowy all year ‘round or to require acclimation to high altitudes, but the journey there is still treacherous.
Appearance: The structure is made mostly of interlocking wooden blocks, with iron support used sparingly around windows and places that need reinforcement(such as the pillars suspending part of it over the edge of the mountain). It has a ground floor and a couple smaller basement levels, as well as a few interconnected towers protruding from the top. The walls all have enough holes in them that a quiet breeze blows through the entire structure - excluding the inner sanctum, which is sealed off by solid walls of iron.
In the past, the wood was all clean and sturdy, and the temple was magically warmed. Sound was also muffled by magical enchantments, making meditation easier but also making it harder to know when and if there were intruders in the building. Yellow and white stained-glass windows on the outer walls and ceilings provided a tranquil and holy atmosphere.
The wood has been magically protected against rot and mold, so in present day what’s left is all dry and dusty. The quiet atmosphere has remained, but the broken glass and skeletons have made the silence eerie instead of relaxing. A large portion of the main floor has collapsed down the side of the mountain leaving a gaping hole in the side of several rooms, and leaving a few rooms completely destroyed. Some wild animals wander the area, but it offers them little.
History: this temple was built as a place of solitude by a group of Githzerai(psychic monks that live in the spirit world)  in ancient times. For centuries they lived alone and undisturbed in the mountains, but eventually rumors spread of the temple’s existence and the power held within.
A nearby faction of tribal humans grew envious of the supposed power and organized a raid on the holy site. They caught the Githzerai by surprise, destroying much of the temple with their catapults and forcing its defenders to take shelter in their inner sanctum as the day turned to night. In one final effort to save themselves, the monks mustered all of their psychic power to suspend the flow of time and await rescue.
Because of the time distortion in and around the temple, each room has two separate descriptions - one for the past, and one for the present. There are doorways all around the structure that act as portals from one time to another, which need to be manipulated in order to reach certain areas. The portals cannot be detected, except by abilities or spells that specifically detect magic portals(such as the Detect Portal feature received by Horizon Walker Rangers), because the energy they give off is virtually indistinguishable from the energy given off by the entire structure.
Past: There is a specific timeline of events for the 24 hours before the ritual that created the time loop.
12:00 am - 5:59 am: Everything is silent. Any result on the random encounter table that indicates an amount of Githzerai is replaced by a patrolling Wax Golem, and any result indicating an amount of humans is replaced by harmless pets, such as small mountain cats, birds, or monkeys. Aside from random encounters and stationary Golems, the rooms are all empty; except for the sleeping areas, in which almost all of the beds are occupied. Â
6:00 am: The monks get up with the sunrise and begin their morning routines. The rooms are all empty except for the main eating area and the shrine, which have twice as many people as is listed in the room's description. Random encounter results indicating humans are still substituted, but results indicating Githzerai are not. Any Githzerai encountered are noticeable from at least one room over due to their chanting of morning hymns. Aside from that, the rooms are all still empty.
10:26 am: Several rooms on the southern side of the temple are hit by flaming projectiles from the human attackers’ catapults, knocking down the southernmost tower. Any creature inside the tower at the time must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d10 damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. The fighting quickly spreads through the temple and continues through the day.
7:30 pm: As the sun sets the attackers launch a final volly of catapult fire, causing large portions of the temple to collapse and fall down the mountainside. The fighting continues into the night, but all rooms and random encounters now have half as much creatures in them(rounding down).
Midnight: The surviving monks retreat into the inner sanctum if they can, and then perform the ritual to maintain the loop. At exactly midnight, a golden ripple in the air can be perceived spreading quickly through the entire temple, resetting everything it passes to the state it was in at the beginning of the loop. Any outside creatures present when this happens have a 25% chance of being displaced, waking up in either the human attacker’s encampment or the sleeping areas of the monks(chosen at random). The members of the faction the creature is displaced to treat them as one of their own, denying that anything is out of the ordinary. They forget about the displaced creature when the loop reaches this point again.
The people in the temple all appear distant and strangely unemotional, even when fighting each other. Anyone who attempts to discern their emotions can tell that the Githzerai seem uninterested or focused on something else, while the human invaders seem insane and unaware of their surroundings. This is because they are all subconsciously aware that they've been in a loop for the past few thousand years. Anyone not part of the time loop who attempts to hide from or sneak past members of either group(excluding Constructs, Beasts, and Apparitions) has advantage on the ability check.
Any creature who attempts to leave the general area around the temple from the past automatically finds themselves lost on the way down the mountain, and wanders back to the temple after d6 hours of travel. An ability check made to avoid getting lost with a result of 20 or higher reveals that it is impossible to avoid being turned around towards the temple, due to the magic surrounding it.
Any object taken from the past into the present immediately ages several thousand years, reducing most objects and creatures to dust and dry pieces of bones.
Present: The halls of the temple are continuously filled with eerie whispers and flickering shadows. Any ability or spell that can detect magic or psychic energy reveals that the area is under the effects of a powerful ritual, but does not reveal the details. If such an ability can detect the location of a magical or psychic effect, then it is possible to discern that the energy appears to be coming from the inner sanctum under the structure(following the normal parameters of the ability).
???: Every time-portal in the temple has a 10% chance of leading to an unknown time period every time it's used. It is unclear whether this time period is in the past or the future, because it is almost unrecognisable. There is no evidence of the temple, except for a crumbling stone archway around the door used to access this period and a few worn-down boulders with ambiguous carvings on them. The mountain range and the surrounding country is all submerged in a vast ocean, with only the highest peaks protruding from the water as rocky islands. A successful DC 10 intelligence(nature) or wisdom(survival) check reveals that it is a few degrees hotter than either of the other time periods, and a result of 15 or higher also reveals that the air smells tropical. Anyone who studies the water for more than a couple minutes will catch glimpses of titanic sea creatures breaching for air or swallowing smaller animals. The door that lead to this area always acts as a portal leading back.
Roll a d20 for every few hours the characters spend in the dungeon. If the roll is 17 or higher, roll on the appropriate random encounter table. Each time period has a different frequency for random encounters, represented by another die roll. You may choose not to roll if the characters are already in combat. If a result implies that the encounter’s creatures wouldn’t be moving from room to room, and the players are staying in one place when the die is rolled, the encounter takes place the next time the players enter a new room.Â
Past: Roll 2d6 every d4 hours.
3: A Warlock of the Great Old One with a pet Gazer, who's here studying the time-warp phenomenon.
4: A trained mountain cat(panther) cowering under the rubble.
5: A berserk Clay Golem at 50 hit points, or d4 Wax Golems (50% chance).
7: 2 Berserkers looking for something to attack.
8: D6 Bandits carrying torches.
9: A Scout with d4 Giant Boars under his/her control.
10: Two parties fighting each other. Separately roll a d6+6 and a d6 to determine the creatures in each group.
11: A Bandit Captain riding on a Dire Wolf.
12: A Gladiator standing over the corpses of several Githzerai.
Present: Roll 2d6 every d6 hours.
2: A Nothic that was attracted by the psychic energy.
3: 2d6 Goats that seem to be fighting for dominance of a large rock.
4: A flock of 2d6 Bloodhawks attacking a wounded Aurochs(d8 missing hit points).
5: D4 Vegepygmies and a Thorny.
6: D4 Giant Goats munching on shrubs.
7: A mountain cat (Panther) looking for food.
8: D6 Skeletons (a mix of humans and Githzerai), which don't come to life until sentient creatures approach.
9: A particularly majestic Eagle(or an Owl if encountered at night).
10: An extremely old human skeleton with it’s skull smashed open.
11: A Saber-toothed Tiger taking a nap.
12: A Swarm of Cranium Rats hiding under something.
???: Roll 2d4 every d8 hours.
3: A beached Giant Shark which is still slightly alive(half hit points, half xp).
4: Two red-furred apes(Baboons).
6: A Swarm of Mudquippers.
7: The skull or jaws of an unknown sea creature, about 2d6 feet long and 2d4 feet wide.
Room descriptions and map to be added in part 2. For now this could just be used with some kind of stock map, or you could make it up yourself. Also, I’m aware that some of these monsters appear only in Volo’s Guide, and not everyone has that book - I’m sure you’re creative enough to look up the creature and find something equivalent. Clay Golems are something I made up, and their rules will appear in part 2. I also made up Mudquippers - which are basically just quippers but with a walking speed and the ability to breath air.
