Some Monsters for the 1st Level

I've started work on the rest of the 1st level.  It will have about 100 rooms, and 20,000 xp worth of monsters and loot (80% of that being loot).  That should allow the characters to reach 2nd level, unless the PC's keep up their current rate of attrition.

I'm using the conceit of level being equivalent to time passed since the gatehouse lever was flipped, and the dungeon opened up to all comers.  So, there would be relatively few incursions in the first level - because I'm not adding doors to the outside on this level, and because this is the first area the PC's will be exploring, the wizards haven't had time to dig very far into the dungeon.

That has some constraints on a "realistic" dungeon ecology.  The first level needs critters who have survived for millenia with no contact with the outside world.  They would, of course, have contact with the inhabitants of lower levels, so it's not nearly as constrained an ecology as the moathouse, which is packed full of cannibalistic automatons.

After the gatehouse, I'm thinking it's time to back down on the super-science and toss in a bit more of the sorcery and savagery.  All right, you the reader can certainly see the super-science here, but to the players it'll just be standard fantasy fare.

Dust Ghost
AC: 8
HD: 1
Move: 90' (30')
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d4
No. Appearing: 1d8
Save As: Fighter: 1
Morale: 10
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: Chaotic

Philosophers of an early age debated whether an artificial intelligence could have a soul - something that lived on after death.  The dust ghost provides a literal answer to that question, but leaves the greater metaphysical question unanswered.  An automaton that has survived for centuries will leave an imprint of its thought processes and computations in the form of an electrical charge in the surrounding air.  Should the automaton be destroyed, these computations may continue on, powered by the static electricity present between motes of dust in the air.  These computations are necessarily twisted by this new medium, leaving the bodiless intelligence full of uncontrolled fury.

The dust ghost appears as a vaguely humanoid figure, composed of motes of dust in the air, with tiny little glimmers of static electricity flashing over its body.  It will typically arise from the dust of the floor, and surprises opponents on 4-6 on a d6.  It will strike with its fists, causing electrical damage.

Earwig, Giant
AC: 6
HD: 1
Move: 90' (30')
Attacks: 1 (2 after first successful attack)
Damage: 1d4
No. Appearing: 2d6
Save As: Fighter: 1
Morale: 7
Treasure Type: U
Alignment: Neutral

These massive insects live off the fungus present in underground ecosystems, but won't turn up their noses (tails?) at a bit of fresh adventurer meat.  Adult giant earwigs are four feet long, with a nasty bite, and a razor-sharp set of pincers on their tail.  On the smaller garden-variety earwig, these pincers are purely ornamental - this is markedly not the case for the giant variety.

On their first successful attack against an opponent, the earwig will run up onto its victim, biting him in some exposed location.  For subsequent attacks, while it is on its victim's body, it will also use its tail.  Both tail and bite do 1d4 points of damage.

The earwig's victim may spend a round flinging the creature from him, to prevent further tail attacks.  This will require a successful "to hit" roll.

Shrieker, Flat
AC: 9
HD: 2
Move: 3' (1')
Attacks: See below
Damage: Nil
No. Appearing: 1d4
Save As: Fighter: 1
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: Neutral

The flat shrieker is a less-ambulatory version of the normal shrieker.  It grows as a large, fleshy flat fungus attached to a floor, wall, or ceiling.  As with a normal shrieker, light within 60' or movement with 30' will cause vented sacs on the fungus to open, sounding a hideous shriek for 1d3 rounds.  For each round of shrieking, there is a 50% chance that a wandering monster will come to investigate.