A Key Has Been Acquired!

The Champions Portal

"Champions Portal" is the first stage of my megadungeon "Dark Atlantis". (More background information here). A party of mercenary adventurers from the Dark Company recovered a means to open a stable portal to Atlantis - actually a sort of 'gate' to Atlantis.

The first groups of explorers through the gate report a hexagonal chamber of black stone lit by a ring of glowing blue crystal around the upper walls. Entry triggers a magical vision to appear.

A woman's face, with similarities to Nefertiti and depictions of other aristocratic women, appears and explains in a multitude of ancient languages that entrants have entered the "Champions Portal". By overcoming they challenges of brawn, brain, and bravery contained entrants may reap rewards and ultimate open the portal to the city of Atlantis itself.

Behind her, an amazing city is shown. Concentric hexagonal islands with wide canals between hold an amazing assortment of buildings - temples, towers, bizarre constructions with no obvious purpose. Flying creature and perhaps craft flit through the air. Ships of various sizes in the canals and under magnificent bridges, all within an enormous caldera. In the center, a massive temple with a statue of what can only be Poseidon.

The illusion fades and adventurers are then left to their own devices.

Experimentation has shown that people can enter and exit this portal at any time, but only once per day.

6 Keys Are Required

The entry chamber is a hexagon that is about 60 feet across. In the floor in the center, about 20 feet across, is a crystal inlay hexagon that glows a diffuse white. At each vertex there is a diamond-shaped recess without crystal two inches in depth. Experimentation has discovered within each recess is a thin band of gold with geometric patterns cut into them. The recesses are supported mechanical somehow. - they appear to be some sort of buttons that push in. Significant direct force appears to be useless to force them down further. Liquid poured into them does slowly drain.

1 Key Has Been Acquired

The third exploratory group gained entry to the second level of the Champions Portal and there defeated a minotaur who carried a large crystal, diamond shaped, about 10 inches long, with a gold band that has geometric patterns cut out of it.

This crystal smoothly slotted into the center right recess in the hexagon in the entry room and was drawn down until it's top became flush with the floor. A warm glow emitted from the crystal as this was happening. After a few moments, the glow faded.

(Texoma Dungeon Con team: we were short on time to end this properly so if you don't mind, I'm hand waiving that forward).

New Three Alignment System

Gamestyle

surival/extraction dungeon crawl, not overly complicated. Potentially for convention play. 

Premise

characters are being forced to enter the dangerous place.

Alignments

There are three alignments:

• Guilty: you have been found guilty and sentenced for significant crimes of blood or gold that you did commit.
• Innocent: you have been found guilty and sentenced for significant crimes of blood or gold that you did not commit.
• Fuck You: you might have committed significant crimes of blood or gold, you might not have, you might even want to go - but not for purely selfish purposes.

These could have consequences.

• Only the innocent person can . . . be blessed, touch a unicorn, wake the sleeping princess with a kiss, and so on? 
• Only the guilty can . . . be condemned (whatever that means - soul consumed?), touch cursed items without suffering greater curse?
• Only the 'Fuck you' can make a pact with a power.

North Texas RPG Con 2026

 I ran two sessions at North Texas RPG Con with two people playing in both sessions. A bit of panic the day before as I'd discovered I'd lost the maps of lower levels of The Champions Portal, which had all the notes of encounters and the like but I was able to mostly replicate levels 2 and 3, at least enough to play. The first team found a non-standard access to the second level so I spent some time Thursday night detailing it, only to have the second team more thoroughly explore the first level (but not completely by any means) and different paths to the second level and beyond. But prudence and the clock were against them so the session ended with their safe extraction.