Page 1 of our room descriptions covers areas 1 & 2. This is where parties entering this level via the teleportation portal in the tower's foyer will arrive. I tried to establish the theme of this level (STARS!), and quickly give the players a glimpse into the tower's extra-dimensional nature with the dome ceiling and night sky above. I also wanted to remind the players why they're ostensibly here, hence the statue of the apprentice himself, holding a depiction of a treasure they can seek out.
I also like to start a dungeon level already giving players things to come back to, a short to medium term goal, the puzzle door. I'm a big believer in telegraphing opportunity as well as danger, so giving them a handout of the star configuration on the door should help clue them in that constellations will be a big part of puzzles on this level.
Hopefully this all works together to get the players thinking (and subsequently moving) looking for more clues as to the purpose of these stars, and what the statue & its fancy lantern could portend.
Behind the puzzle door is a treasure vault, something the players can return to after some exploration for a nice, magical reward. Opening the puzzle-door should feel like an accomplishment, so in addition to treasure, I tried to give the room some gravitas, making it seem important to the astromancer.
I also tried to make the treasure within the chest make sense in the context of the dungeon, things the astromancer would value. And of course a haughty wizard considers the most likely burglars of his treasure to be his own peers, so he's chosen a guardian best suited to slay magicians.
As for the magic item, I wanted something with frequent utility, but nothing so powerful as to overshadow the spells and abilities of the PCs. And in true DCC fashion, I wanted it to feel a bit swingy, turning off when anyone in the party rolls a fumble (hopefully this generates some good-natured grumbling at the unlucky player who costs their whole party the bonus for the rest of the day).
It's probably worth noting a couple formatting choices I've made. This layout is obviously heavily inspired by OSE's core books, as well as the Shadowdark rulebook, but I've kept some "box text" room descriptions as its one of my regular group's favorite parts of DCC modules. Finally, some may judge me for "modernizing" the monster stat blocks, but I prefer the more stat-block style over the condensed old-school lines for ease of use at a glance mid-game.
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