MIDDLE DUNGEONS LEVEL FIVE 15 HAUNTED BOOKMAKER'S OFFICE.

15 HAUNTED BOOKMAKER'S OFFICE. The door to this room is made of a dark red wood and a grotesque face with an open mouth has been carved upon it. The room is furnished as an office. A bookcase holds ledgers related to bets made on gladiatorial contests. A chalkboard holds times of upcoming fights and names of gladiators.

At about a minute after the room is occupied, the spectral figure of a bald old man with a wispy beard and an angry expression will gradually coalesce in the desk chair. This is the undead bookmaker.

Cranky the Undead Bookmaker, Restless Dead (AC 0; MV 9”; HD 10; hp 43; #AT 1 touch; D Curse; SD Limited spell immunity, magic or silver weapons to hit; XP 3002)

Cranky emits an uncanny green light. He is immune to normal weapons and silver weapons do only half damage. He is immune to cold and mind affecting spells (sleep, charm, hold, etc.) Cranky can be turned as a Special undead creature and he is subject to exorcism. He is not evil, but he is kind of a jerk.

Due to his semi-corporeal post mortem condition, Cranky's memory is not that great. Roll a normal reaction roll (DMG page 63) modified by charisma to determine how he mistakes the party.

Adjusted Die Score	Reaction
01 (or less) - 05	“There is the man who ran away with my Lucy!”
06 - 25	“Your'e the bums who owe me money”
26 - 45	“Gladius, you were supposed to throw the fight!”
46 - 55	“Well don't just stand around there looking stupid”
56 - 75	“Get yourself a new outfit, yours looks crappy”
76 - 95	“Come to collect your dough?”
96 - 00 (or greater)	“Young un, I've not seen you in ages”

“There is the man who ran away with my Lucy!”

Cranky has mistaken one of the characters for the man who ran away with his wife, even if the character is female. He will immediately attack that person. His touch requires a “to hit” roll and if he succeeds the character is cursed, roll below.

Roll	Curse
1	Money curse. The character will lose money through bad luck, unsound investments, etc. After each adventure, 90% of their cash wealth will disappear within a month.
2	Cooties curse. The character has become a focus of contempt to members of the opposite sex. Treat his or her charisma as 3 with regard to everyone he or she meets who fit that description.
3	Unlucky curse. The character acts as if carrying a double strength lodestone.
4	Hate curse. Enemies will preferentially attack the cursed character if it makes sense in combat.
5	Ouch curse. An old wound opens up, doing 1d6 damage.
6	Cough curse. The character has a nagging and very loud cough. It is impossible to surprise any opponents under normal conditions. Spellcasting that requires a verbal component has a 50% failure rate. Thieves' move silently is impossible.

Curses are permanent, unless a remove curse spell is applied. Wounds received by the ouch curse can be healed, but only by magical healing, and that is only half as effective as normal as long as the curse is in effect.

“Your'e the bums who owe me money”

Cranky has mistaken the characters for bettors and they owe him for their losses. He will charge everyone 100 gold crescents. If they won't pay up, he will attack as before, except now his touch steals 100 gold crescents from any one he touches (the money essentially disappears into the ethereal plane). If the characters don't have 100 gold crescents, he will steal the equivalent in value. For example if they are carrying a gem worth 1000 gold crescents, it is now worth only 900 gold crescents. If they fight back, he will resort to curses, as above.

“Gladius, you were supposed to throw the fight!”

Cranky is under the impression that one of the characters (randomly determined) is a gladiator named Gladius who won a fight that he or she was supposed to lose. That person owes Cranky 400 gold crescents. If they don't pay up, he will resort to countermeasures as above, depending on the actions of the characters.

“Well don't just stand around there looking stupid”

Cranky doesn't know why the characters are here. He might come to think that they are bettors or people who are supposed to be cleaning his office.

“Get yourself a new outfit, yours looks crappy”

Cranky has mistaken one random character for a buddy of his, a gladiator. He will give them 400 gold crescents in order to get themselves new clothes, armor, etc. Even though the money is magically produced, it is real.

“Come to collect your dough?”

Cranky believes the characters have won a recent fight and he will award them each 150 gold crescents in winnings which will magically appear. When he gets to the last person, he will look them up and down, say “I don't like your mug”, and only give them 50 gold crescents.

“Young un, I've not seen you in ages”

Cranky is under the impression that one of the characters is a relative, perhaps a niece or nephew, with their friends. He will celebrate the occasion by producing a green whiskey bottle and giving it to the relation. This bottle holds a strong liquor that acts as a combination of potions of extra-healing, fire resistance, cloud giant strength, invulnerability, longevity, and super-heroism. The giant strength, invulnerability, and super-heroism will work on any class of character and the potion effects will last 1d8+4 turns. There are as many doses as there are characters in the party.

It is quite possible that Cranky will fail to manifest if the room is re-entered by the same party at a later date. At the discretion of the Dungeon Master, Cranky may or may not remember how he perceived the party upon a subsequent visit, if the DM decides he is present.