Mapping the Crypt of the vampire

Lately I've been rummaging through my gamebooks, I have a lot of fondness for Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson's fighting fantasy books (despite the linearity of some of the titles) and city of thieves was actually the first time I experienced the thrill of adventuring in a fantasy city with a character of my own (yes, even before my first game of dnd).

Today though, we are talking about crypt of the vampire, a gamebook by Dave Morris and not part of the FF line. The book is relatively simple, some of the typical FF mechanic are missing (no luck, fixed chance to hit monsters) but the feel is still close, and the adventure has the benefit of offering multiple (and viable) paths. While mapping the crypts, I noticed that despite the linearity of the adventure, the dungeon in itself could maybe be lifted out of the book :

Encounters : 1-2 : 1d6 skeletons, 3-5 : 1d3 enthralled fighters (level1), 6 : Tenebron (Vampire, will only fight for 1 round before retreating, laughing, automatically turned by crucifix or garlic while encountered).

Let's try to key the first few rooms :

1: Main courtyard, an archer (F1) is ambushed behind the fountain which holds 16gp, he is under Tenebron's thrall and can't be reasoned with (unless dispel magic is used).

2: The entrance hall is filled with dust and smells like dirt, a few bats flutter harmlessly.

3: A large room with an old lantern and books on a desk, the sinister bone chair will grip anyone sitting and laugh manically (1:6 chance of encounter each round, save against paralysis to avoid, open door to escape). The books are worthless except for "The three eyes of the moon", worth 50gp.

4: An empty and dusty room

5: A bedroom smelling like lavender, anyone going on the bed falls asleep for 1d6 turns

6: A storage room with an old dusty golden helmet worth 100gp in a crate. 3 skeletons are ambushed behind a set of brooms.

7: Father Bonifacius is a good cleric, the room is safe and Bonifacius will sell any basic ware to passing adventurers, his supplies are limited. He will dispense advice regarding vampires.

8: The cave smells like vinegar, a few good bottles (3 x 50gp) are hidden among the rest. The wine is very strong (save vs poison or get -1 to all hit for the next hour, but +1 to damages of melee attacks).

9: The witch workshop, she is a 3rd level MU with the ability to summon a smoke monster (3HD, 5AC, 2x1d6 dmg). In case of danger she teleports to 23. There is a passage to the surface in the fireplace and a niche hiding a ring of moebius (teleports once in a random location whenever the user would sustain a deadly blow).

10: This part of the forest is infested with deadly mushrooms and 7 dire wolves.

...etc

For the sake of brevity, I'll end my keying here, but most of the content of the rooms was lifted straight from the book. I may end up completing the description later as the exercise was quite fun, and I'll probably map and steal a few more dungeons from gamebooks, videogames (or anything I can put my grubby hands on).

So maybe we can expect a few more articles in that style...