Last week I was away in London on business but at least it gave me the opportunity to write up the missing D&D and RuneQuest sessions. I've also updated all the session posts so that their posted date/time is always 23:59 on the day we played.
This week PH was still away on business, MG was at a gig and AW (the RuneQuest GM) was knackered so we had another bash at the Eclipse boardgame instead. KL was victorious by a whisker over my fiancee (who doesn't roleplay with us but does join for the occasional boardgame).
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
RuneQuest - Session 2.3 - 5 June 2013
This week we returned to the RuneQuest after multiple absences caused us to take a break from the roleplaying for several weeks. Those of us who have been around have amused ourselves playing the Eclipse SciFi strategy game with one convincing win for AW and a disputed win for PH; both first time players of the game.
Note that PH is away until July so it was decided that Simon the Dwarf had not travelled to Parsu with us after all but had instead remained in Tristrame pursuing his apprenticeship with the blacksmith.
Note that PH is away until July so it was decided that Simon the Dwarf had not travelled to Parsu with us after all but had instead remained in Tristrame pursuing his apprenticeship with the blacksmith.
Characters:
- Erik Longstride (Me) - woodsman and retired soldier.
- Pai Mai (KL) - martial artist from distant shores.
- Lyjol (MG) - initiate in the cult of the God Learners and amnesiac beserker.
- "The Rat Guy" (PW) - initiate in the rat cult.
The story continues ...
At the end of the previous session we had withdrawn from the village with its strange inhabitants and pitched camp, hopefully in concealment, just off the eastern road. Over that evening/night everyone but Pai Mai took a turn observing the village from a distance with specific interest as to whether anyone would check on "The Guardians" / Broo on the eastern road; nobody did. Meanwhile Pai Mai used his "ancient oriental mysteries" to sneak around the village unobserved*. During this reconnaissance Pai Mai noted that the causeway to the manor house was apparently only guarded by two men. He also observed a dozen armed men gathering in the abandoned Inn for a communal meal; we thought that this was a prelude to them coming out of the village looking for us, but after the meal they just dispersed to their homes.
* Quite how he managed this is unclear; despite being portrayed as a lightly armoured martial artist and examination of his character sheet reveals him to be wearing "samurai armour" equivalent to plate-mail. Possibly he took it off and sneaked around in his pyjamas.
Lyjol had the last watch and as the sun rose he became aware of singing from somewhere nearby. MG announced that Lyjol was putting his fingers into his ears to block the sound, but after being mocked by the rest of us for meta-gaming he removed them. He woke the rest of the characters and we all announced that we were putting our fingers into our ears ;-) Eventually we all agreed to (try to) stop meta-gaming and with weapons drawn we headed stealthily into the forest to investigate.
At the end of the previous session we had withdrawn from the village with its strange inhabitants and pitched camp, hopefully in concealment, just off the eastern road. Over that evening/night everyone but Pai Mai took a turn observing the village from a distance with specific interest as to whether anyone would check on "The Guardians" / Broo on the eastern road; nobody did. Meanwhile Pai Mai used his "ancient oriental mysteries" to sneak around the village unobserved*. During this reconnaissance Pai Mai noted that the causeway to the manor house was apparently only guarded by two men. He also observed a dozen armed men gathering in the abandoned Inn for a communal meal; we thought that this was a prelude to them coming out of the village looking for us, but after the meal they just dispersed to their homes.
* Quite how he managed this is unclear; despite being portrayed as a lightly armoured martial artist and examination of his character sheet reveals him to be wearing "samurai armour" equivalent to plate-mail. Possibly he took it off and sneaked around in his pyjamas.
Lyjol had the last watch and as the sun rose he became aware of singing from somewhere nearby. MG announced that Lyjol was putting his fingers into his ears to block the sound, but after being mocked by the rest of us for meta-gaming he removed them. He woke the rest of the characters and we all announced that we were putting our fingers into our ears ;-) Eventually we all agreed to (try to) stop meta-gaming and with weapons drawn we headed stealthily into the forest to investigate.
The source of the singing proved to be a beautiful young lady in a white cotton dress dangling her feet into a stream that was running through a forest glade. The meta-gaming resumed and we approached stealthily until Lyjol screwed up his Stealth roll and stepped on a twig that snapped with a noise to wake the dead. The rest of us went to ground whilst Lyjol was pushed forward into our first encounter with "The Lady of Parsu", because it was of course she.
Our worst fears were confirmed as MG was forced to grimace and endure Lyjol being seduced and enchanted by "The Lady" whilst we other players mocked AW for whoring out the female NPCs. Lyjol was coerced into paddling in the stream whilst "The Lady" skinny-dipped. He was then of course rewarded with a kiss, a corresponding loss of POW, and then compounded this by failing his "save" to break free from the enchantment and notice that it wasn't just the hips of "The Lady" that were snaky.
Whilst the rest of us were observing "The Lady" from concealment in the tree line she made no secret of her suspicion (maybe even knowledge) that we are there. She ridiculed us for choosing to skulk in the bushes rather than socialize with a beautiful woman and displayed especial scorn for Erik whose sexuality she disparaged*. In an effort to lower her guard we announced our presence and told the still infatuated Lyjol that we were leaving with an invitation to catch up with us later. The Rat Guy remained concealed nearby whilst Erik and Pai Mai withdrew one hundred yards back towards our camp.
* In defence of this accusation later Erik tells that he was married, but his wife was murdered by the Imperial Army during the Ducal Wars.
Eventually "The Lady" announced that she was returning to her manor, that we were welcome to shelter and food at the Inn in Parsu, and that she would "see us later". Lyjol's attempts to make her stay were rebuffed and she left the glade. A confused and crestfallen Lyjol rejoined us and we all returned to the glade to investigate whether she had left footprints or snake tracks; she had left no trace at all. After a brief debate between both characters (do we have sufficient suspicion or are we just harassing an innocent if flirty woman?) and players (are we meta-gaming?) we decided to pursue "The Lady" and restrain her. This pursuit took us through the forest without catching sight of her and then as we broke the tree line we got a brief glimpse of her floating in the sky as she descended out of sight into the manor.
Having witnessed this display of magic we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and planned to instead head three days south to Col, "The City of Exiles" to see whether we could learn anything more about Lamia in general and "The Lady of Parsu" in particular. The Rat Guy has already speculated that she is the security alluded to in the letter and magically summoned by Odkay to protect the hidden war booty.
Travelling from Parsu we made sure to encounter the Broo "Guardians" on the southern approach. This piece of bravado almost cost The Rat Guy his life, or at the very least his leg but the rest of us were barely scratched. The Broo faired very badly as we managed to dish out three hits in excess of 20 points of damage: two crushing martial arts kicks from Pai Mai and a critical spear through the head by yours truly (Erik).
The session ended here.
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
RuneQuest - Session 2.2 - 1 May 2013
PW was living it up in the Caribbean this week so "The Rat Guy" was allowed to fade further into the background.
Characters:
The following morning we gathered supplies (including a parting gift of healing potions from Aflak) and saddled up our horses. The ride west was uneventful until in the early evening of the second day we started descending into the valley containing the village of Parsu.
We spotted a wisp of smoke rising up from the valley floor and followed it to an upturned cart where five Broo were waiting (and failing) in ambush. The Broo charged and everyone except Erik (who has some skill as a cavalryman) dismounted to meet their attack. We were resoundingly victorious: Pai Mai's combination of martial arts kick and Ironhand disembowel at least one Broo, Erik with his mounted advantage skewers at least two others with spears and Lyjol carves up a fourth in a berserker rage. Only Pai Mai is significantly wounded in the encounter.
We pressed on a little further but when it became apparent that we would not reach Parsu by dark we setup a camp a short distance from the road. Pai Mai had become feverish due to an infection picked up from the filthy Broo weapons. Erik went off to forage for appropriate herbs and even though I failed my roll abysmally the GM took pity and Erik came back with something that treated the infection. During the night whoever was on watch (I forget) noticed two young lads on the road to Parsu. They gave our camp a wide berth and our watchman decided to stay shtum.
In the morning we passed the lads heading back the other way and engaged them in conversation. They told us that they lived in one of the remote farms between Tristrame and Parsu and had been sent out for supplies by their father. Theyadded that they would normally have travelled to Tristrame, but on a whim had chosen to go to Parsu instead. This had proved to be a mistake as upon reaching Parsu early thiat morning they had found there were no supplies to be had and had been turned around by the men of the village who were behaving "strangely"; oddly the lads had seen no women or children. Wishing the lads well we pressed on to investigate this strangeness for ourselves.
Parsu proved to be a village of about twenty buildings with a smattering of outlying farms. The "manor house" we were seeking was set a short distance for the village and consisted of a partially ruined squat two storey circular keep with a wooden palisade and gatehouse built upon a low motte. The foot of the motte was surrounded by a moat crossed by a lightly guarded causeway.
Entering Parsu we found ourselves attracting a crowd of local men all of unsettling affect. They answered our questions but without any enthusiasm; it was very clear that they didn't want us there:
Q: Who lives in the manor house?
A: "The Lady".
Q: Who is "The Lady"?
A: She is "The Lady of Parsu", she replaced Lord Parsu when he was killed by Imperial Soldiers during the Ducal Wars.
Q: Where are the women and children of your village?
A: They are up at the manor house with "The Lady".
Q: Can we stay at the Inn?
A: There are no rooms at the Inn.
Q: Who is staying there?
A: No-one, the Inn is closed.
etc.
During the exchange they also asked us a telling question of their own:
Them: How did you get past "The Guardians" on the road? i.e. the Broo
Us: What Guardians :-)
By this time we were getting nervous (and in the real world time was running away from us) and decided to withdraw from the village before the freak show became hostile. Away from the suspicious eyes of the villagers we shared our forebodings and more than one of us remarked that they had noticed red marks, possibly bites, on the arms of many, if not all, of the crowd. Erikmetagames wondered aloud whether "The Lady" might be a Lamia, a demon of which he has heard tall tales told about camp fires during his military service.
The session ended here.
Characters:
- Erik Longstride (Me) - woodsman and retired soldier.
- Pai Mai (KL) - martial artist from distant shores.
- Lyjol (MG) - initiate in the cult of the God Learners and amnesiac berserker.
- "The Rat Guy" (PW) - initiate in the rat cult.
- Simon "The Dwarf" (PH) - dwarven blacksmith's apprentice.
The following morning we gathered supplies (including a parting gift of healing potions from Aflak) and saddled up our horses. The ride west was uneventful until in the early evening of the second day we started descending into the valley containing the village of Parsu.
We spotted a wisp of smoke rising up from the valley floor and followed it to an upturned cart where five Broo were waiting (and failing) in ambush. The Broo charged and everyone except Erik (who has some skill as a cavalryman) dismounted to meet their attack. We were resoundingly victorious: Pai Mai's combination of martial arts kick and Ironhand disembowel at least one Broo, Erik with his mounted advantage skewers at least two others with spears and Lyjol carves up a fourth in a berserker rage. Only Pai Mai is significantly wounded in the encounter.
We pressed on a little further but when it became apparent that we would not reach Parsu by dark we setup a camp a short distance from the road. Pai Mai had become feverish due to an infection picked up from the filthy Broo weapons. Erik went off to forage for appropriate herbs and even though I failed my roll abysmally the GM took pity and Erik came back with something that treated the infection. During the night whoever was on watch (I forget) noticed two young lads on the road to Parsu. They gave our camp a wide berth and our watchman decided to stay shtum.
In the morning we passed the lads heading back the other way and engaged them in conversation. They told us that they lived in one of the remote farms between Tristrame and Parsu and had been sent out for supplies by their father. Theyadded that they would normally have travelled to Tristrame, but on a whim had chosen to go to Parsu instead. This had proved to be a mistake as upon reaching Parsu early thiat morning they had found there were no supplies to be had and had been turned around by the men of the village who were behaving "strangely"; oddly the lads had seen no women or children. Wishing the lads well we pressed on to investigate this strangeness for ourselves.
Parsu proved to be a village of about twenty buildings with a smattering of outlying farms. The "manor house" we were seeking was set a short distance for the village and consisted of a partially ruined squat two storey circular keep with a wooden palisade and gatehouse built upon a low motte. The foot of the motte was surrounded by a moat crossed by a lightly guarded causeway.
Entering Parsu we found ourselves attracting a crowd of local men all of unsettling affect. They answered our questions but without any enthusiasm; it was very clear that they didn't want us there:
Q: Who lives in the manor house?
A: "The Lady".
Q: Who is "The Lady"?
A: She is "The Lady of Parsu", she replaced Lord Parsu when he was killed by Imperial Soldiers during the Ducal Wars.
Q: Where are the women and children of your village?
A: They are up at the manor house with "The Lady".
Q: Can we stay at the Inn?
A: There are no rooms at the Inn.
Q: Who is staying there?
A: No-one, the Inn is closed.
etc.
During the exchange they also asked us a telling question of their own:
Them: How did you get past "The Guardians" on the road? i.e. the Broo
Us: What Guardians :-)
By this time we were getting nervous (and in the real world time was running away from us) and decided to withdraw from the village before the freak show became hostile. Away from the suspicious eyes of the villagers we shared our forebodings and more than one of us remarked that they had noticed red marks, possibly bites, on the arms of many, if not all, of the crowd. Erik
The session ended here.
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
RuneQuest - Session 2.1 - 24 April 2013
Well I'm two sessions behind in blogging my D&D campaign but I've got some respite as we return for season 2 of AW's* Glorantha RuneQuest campaign.
* I've been trying to avoid using any real names other than my own in this blog in order to protect the guilty but it's proved annoying so I've decided to switch to initials.
We had already played about half a dozen sessions of this campaign in 2012 using the Mongoose RQ-II / Legend rules. This previous "season" had started with a warm up adventure where we hunted down some Jack O'Bears that had perpetrated a massacre in a cabin near our village of Tristrame. Whilst we were away doing this, the village was attacked by slavers posing as Imperial soldiers and led by Sarman Arbalest, a former captain in the Empire's army. We followed them to the regional capital, Kustria, where we raided their slave auction, slew Arbalest and rescued the slaves. We returned home to a hero's welcome and with considerable wealth of loot and reward.
Having found the MRQ-II combat system a bit of a handful AW had decided to switch to Avalon Hill RQ-III (actually the Games Workshop reprint) with which most of us we are more familiar; even if that familiarity is dulled by a 20 year break. We thus spent most of this session converting the characters and generating a new one for my best mate KL who's previous character had died during the finale of the previous season.
Characters:
We were surprised to recognise the traveller as one of the Sarman Arbalest's lieutenants, Aflak Ukrow*. Aflak was willing to let bygones be bygones and recognising our capabilities had come to offer us an "opportunity". In exchange for an even share he had information that would lead us to a horde of booty stashed during the Ducal Wars. This information was in the form of a letter he had discovered amongst his dead bosses possessions. The letter described the booty as having being seized when the manor of Lord Parsu was taken during the war and having subsequently being hidden in catacombs beneath that same manor for later retrieval. The letter also suggested that the treasure had been magically secured in some way by a man called Odkay.
* We hadn't killed all the slavers in our previous encounter, just slain Sarman Arbalest plus a handful of his nearest and dearest and then intimidated our way past the rest of his men including Aflak.
Having agreed to the arrangement we wracked our character's memories and questioned the locals to learn:
* I've been trying to avoid using any real names other than my own in this blog in order to protect the guilty but it's proved annoying so I've decided to switch to initials.
We had already played about half a dozen sessions of this campaign in 2012 using the Mongoose RQ-II / Legend rules. This previous "season" had started with a warm up adventure where we hunted down some Jack O'Bears that had perpetrated a massacre in a cabin near our village of Tristrame. Whilst we were away doing this, the village was attacked by slavers posing as Imperial soldiers and led by Sarman Arbalest, a former captain in the Empire's army. We followed them to the regional capital, Kustria, where we raided their slave auction, slew Arbalest and rescued the slaves. We returned home to a hero's welcome and with considerable wealth of loot and reward.
Having found the MRQ-II combat system a bit of a handful AW had decided to switch to Avalon Hill RQ-III (actually the Games Workshop reprint) with which most of us we are more familiar; even if that familiarity is dulled by a 20 year break. We thus spent most of this session converting the characters and generating a new one for my best mate KL who's previous character had died during the finale of the previous season.
Characters:
- Erik Longstride (Me) - a woodsman. A decade previously he fought on the wrong side during the Ducal Wars. Since then he has "gone to seed" living in a cabin near the village of Tristrame. He is the defacto but reluctant party leader.
- Pai Mai (KL) - a traveller from distant shores. The party rescued him from slavers at the finale of the previous season. He was destined for the gladiatorial pits so we assume he's going to be a bit tasty in a fight.
- Lyjol (MG) - an initiate in the cult of the God Learners. Lyjol is also thought to be a veteran of the Ducal Wars but suffers from amnesia and has no memories from before he was "adopted" by the temple at Tristrame. Though normally mild mannered he has proved to be a terror with a greatsword and in combat can be consumed by a bloody frenzy of which afterwards he has little recollection.
- "The Rat Guy" (PW) - a rat spirit shaman. Nothing much is known about his past; he hasn't revealed his real name and just tells everyone to call him "The Rat Guy". Prior to the campaign he had drifted into Tristrame working as a rat-catcher.
- Simon "The Dwarf" (PH) - a dwarven blacksmith's apprentice. Simon (an adopted name) has left his people to explore the human world. In human terms his personality could best be described as "odd" as he tries and sometimes fails to use human mannerisms and customs. He is handy in a fight and insatiably curious.
We were surprised to recognise the traveller as one of the Sarman Arbalest's lieutenants, Aflak Ukrow*. Aflak was willing to let bygones be bygones and recognising our capabilities had come to offer us an "opportunity". In exchange for an even share he had information that would lead us to a horde of booty stashed during the Ducal Wars. This information was in the form of a letter he had discovered amongst his dead bosses possessions. The letter described the booty as having being seized when the manor of Lord Parsu was taken during the war and having subsequently being hidden in catacombs beneath that same manor for later retrieval. The letter also suggested that the treasure had been magically secured in some way by a man called Odkay.
* We hadn't killed all the slavers in our previous encounter, just slain Sarman Arbalest plus a handful of his nearest and dearest and then intimidated our way past the rest of his men including Aflak.
Having agreed to the arrangement we wracked our character's memories and questioned the locals to learn:
- The village of Parsu is two days ride west of Tristrame.
- Now we came to mention it nobody from Parsu has been seen in Tristrame for two or three years.
- Odkay is known in Tristrame having travelled through it with the Imperial army during the war. He was apparently strange even for a sorcerer and not particularly popular.
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Old School D&D - Session 10 - 10 April 2013
WARNING! Contains spoilers for Dyson's Delve.
Wayne's player was away this week so his character was run as an NPC.
Characters:
Characters:
- Barack Kihnos - Cleric 4 - Male
- Blundercuss - Dwarf 2 - Male
- Howayanshite Goblin Slayer (aka "Wayne") - Dwarf 3 - Male
- Vampire Hunter De - Cleric 3 - Male
- Zarjaz the Zazzy - Magic-User 3 - Male
In the face of the cultist forces gathering in the Grand Temple on Level 7 the party withdraws to the secret rooms behind the Goblin treasury to heal, relearn spells and plan tactics. Despite spending about a day plotting they fail to come up with any better plan than trying draw out the cultists piecemeal and pick them off with the help of Sleep and Charm Person spells.
However on their way back through the dungeon the party passes the previously neglected heavily padlocked door on Level 6. There is a brief discussion on how they have resisted the temptation to open this door for so long and then Blundercuss sets about the padlock (noisily) with his "war spanner". Barely has the padlock been removed when the door is wrenched open and four Gargoyles burst out in a rage of claws, teeth and horns. In the ensuing melee only Wayne's enchanted sword is capable of harming the beasts and De, Blundercuss and Barack can do little more than endure the Gargoyle's blows* as they try to hold them in the doorway. Fortunately a well placed Web spell by Zarjaz is able to prevent the Gargoyle's from taking the party apart and give Wayne the time he needs to slay the beasts, the final coup-de-gras being delivered by setting the web aflame.
* And endure a farcical series of natural-1's on their own attacks that culminate with De and Blundercuss in a tangle on the floor.
The chamber that the Gargoyles were locked in is empty except for two stone coffers, one containing coins and the other a pair of matched gold crowns. Somehow in the confusion of the combat De manages to get behind the Gargoyles* and search the coffers in advance. Ostensibly he is looking for another enchanted weapon but he also uses the opportunity to pocket one of the crowns.
* In retrospect I'm not sure how he achieved this, but apparently it seemed reasonable at the time.
After the liberal application of Staff of Healing, Cure Light Wound spells and Healing Potions to the wounded, the party has a brief debate over whether to press on or withdraw one more to regain spells. Zarjaz and Barack favour the latter, but De "feels fine" and insists on pressing on dragging the others in his wake.
Proceeding around the next couple of corners the party reach a cultist guard post which they handily overcome; despite being flanked by additional cultists coming through a secret door. Zarjaz casts Charm Person on one of of the cultists and after the fight the party questions him as to the disposition of the cultist forces*. They learn that there are another dozen or so cultists in the Grand Temple below and that they have a direct surface access via a long tunnel that comes out some way from the entrances which the party are already aware of. Before the party arrived on the scene and disrupted their plans the cultists were exploring and expanding their control upwards through the dungeon. The cultist also tells them that the dungeon continues to descend below the Grand Temple and that the cult occasionally receives emissaries from below. Once the questioning is complete De "stakes" the cultist from behind; perhaps he isn't a fan of mime?
* Since like the others this cultist has had his tongue removed this is quite a lengthy process as the answers have to be conveyed via a combination of mime, sign language and written scrawl.
With Zarjaz still whining about how he needs his rest, De presses on to the top of the spiral staircase descending to the Grand Temple ...
The remainder of this post is unfortunately brief as real life intervened and it was written over a month after the session from incomplete notes.
The staircase is defended by a Living Rock Statue. De is burnt badly in overcoming it. One member of the party repeatedly tries to burst a waterskin over it but it keeps bouncing comically, they eventually succeed but only dowse the creatures remains after the killing blow has already been delivered.
Having defeated the Living Rock Statue the party descend into the Grand Temple. Here they become subject to the singing of a Harpy that charms Wayne. Fortunately Zarjaz uses his own Charm Person spell to counter the effects and the party regards back to the safety of the Goblin treasury on Level 4.
After resting up for two days the party return back to the Grand Temple to find that the cultists have taken the hint and abandoned the dungeon (via their exit tunnel). The only thing that they've left behind is the missing noble-son, Dyson Logos, bound but otherwise unharmed. The party are however suspicious and cast Charm Person and interrogate him thoroughly. Their suspicions are well founded as Dyson is revealed to have been indoctrinated into the cult and left behind as a "sleeper agent". Nevertheless they return him to his father in Muncaester and (presumably) advise him of the viper in his nest*.
* Actually I'm just guessing this is what they did. It's just as likely that the party stabbed him until he was dead, robbed the corpse and returned with "evidence of his death at the hands of cultists" to his father.
This completed Zarjaz's (and Shanks') obligations to the Lord of Muncaester but leaves the other party members feeling somewhat "put out" due to the lack of additional reward for their efforts. They console themselves with the loot that had been retrieved along the way and the possibility of taking their frustration out of Zarjaz's hide.
The only remaining piece of business is the map that De had recovered (see Session 8) so they head back to Level 7 of the dungeon. A thorough search of this level confirms that the cultists have removed all their valuables but the party find a hidden door that leads to a second stairway up to Level 6 and an area corresponding to De's map*.
* They also locate stairs down to deeper levels.
By following the map the party retrieve a treasure of coins, a gem and a jeweled scroll case containing a Magic-User scroll of Continual Light, Knock and Fireball. They also defeat some Living Crystal Statues and almost manage to kill themselves when opening a hidden compartment in a wardrobe results in the wardrobe, and Blundercuss who is inside it at the time, being blasted across the room.
They are frustrated in their efforts to enter one last area, marked with a skull and crossbones on De's map. Zarjaz uses a Knock spell to bypass one heavy stone door only to reveal another one guarded by a pair of Iron Living Statues. Blundercuss is all for taking on the statues but the remainder of the party demur and the matter is settled when Zarjaz refuses; he has no intention of facing something that has been so securely locked away.
The session ended here with the general consensus that this adventure was "exhausted" and that if and when this campaign continues we will start with the same characters but an otherwise clean-slate.
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
Old School D&D - Session 9 - 3 April 2013
WARNING! Contains spoilers for Dyson's Delve.
We had a full house this week with Blundercuss the Dwarf joining the party to replace Red Dongya.
Characters:
- Barack Kihnos - Cleric 4 - Male
- Blundercuss - Dwarf 2 - Male
- Howayanshite Goblin Slayer (aka "Wayne") - Dwarf 3 - Male
- Vampire Hunter De - Cleric 3 - Male
- Zarjaz the Zazzy - Magic-User 3 - Male
- Gizman - Elf 1 - Male - NPC Retainer
Back at Ethanfeld the party restrain Gizman in an inn room and go and catch up with Wayne. Whilst the rest of the party have been fighting cultists Wayne has recruited an old acquaintance, Blundercuss; a fellow Dwarf with whom he served in the army. Blundercuss has a Yorkshire* accent, a distrust of magic, a dislike of wizards and a special hated of unicorns, "The magic bastards." He also carries a Blunderbuss+ named "Boomer", a memento from his time in an experimental fusilier unit; a unit largely destroyed by an explosive accident.
* Apparently all Dwarves come from a mysterious place known as "The North".
+ d8 damage, fires last each round, in other words a crossbow.
It takes two days for Gizman to shake off the effects of the Charm Person spell and though he agrees to remain with the party he is obviously shaken by the experience. He is also unhappy with some of the things that the newly Chaotic De is saying about him; mostly regarding the idea that they need to keep Gizman around so that they can relieve him of his possessions when he dies!
About halfway along the trail back to the Dragonbone Peaks the party is taken unawares when a White Dragon swoops down and grabs one of their pack mules. De fires his crossbow at the receding beast, but perhaps fortunately the bolt bounces unnoticed from its scales. The loss of the mule is not a significant blow as its saddlebags are empty but the incident does shake the party from their lassitude after so many uneventful journeys. The White Dragon is observed to be taking its meal further east into the mountains.
When the party arrive at the ruins that night they eschew their usual campsite in a nearby copse and instead bring Kong (their donkey) and the remaining mule into the main cave. De insists that Gizman stands watch ALL night and the Elf accepts with bad grace. However in the morning Gizman is gone and has taken the last the last mule with him. Urged on by a vengeful De, the party follow Gizman's trail back towards Ethanfeld. But with no mounts, two Dwarves in the party and De laden down with plate mail, the party are slower than their quarry and lose the trail at Ethanfeld. They badmouth Gizman to the locals but are otherwise impotent and in the end they buy some replacement mules and head back to the ruins.
In the party's absence the Cult of Ildoreth have extended their influence over the dungeon and the party run afoul of two guard-posts manned by warrior cultists: one at the bottom of the stairs to the Level 5 and the second at the bottom of the stairs to Level 6.
The remainder of this post is unfortunately brief as real life intervened and it was not completed until two months after the session from incomplete notes.
The party cut their way through the first guard-post without sustaining any serious wounds. The second guard-post is defended by a cultist magic-user and his bodyguard of warriors. They are also swiftly broken and the party chases the surviving magic-user through the corridors encountering another group of cultists and then a random group of wererats along the way. This evolves into a three way fight between party, cultists and wererats.
In the confusion of the the melee the magic-user tries to sneak away. Chugging his Potion of Invisibility, Wayne chases him down a spiral staircase leading to Level 7. He follows until the stone stairs give way to an iron staircase leading down into a 40ft high "Grand Temple" dedicated to Ildoreth. He observes the alarm being raised and a force of several dozen cultists start to gather.
Quietly back-tracking up the stairs Wayne rendezvous with the rest of the party who have finished off the cultists and wererats. De, raving under the influence of the Circlet of Alignment Change, has mutilated the bodies, daubed himself with their blood and is parading around using one of them as a puppet. The rest of the party look on aghast (or amused depending on their inclination).
The session ended here.
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Old School D&D - Session 8 - 20th March 2013
WARNING! Contains spoilers for Dyson's Delve.
This week Red Dongya and Zarjaz were back, but Wayne was absent due to work commitments.
Characters:
Having returned to Ethanfeld at the end of the last session the party are reunited with Red Dongya and Zarjaz. After the usual week's rest they gather once more to return to the Dragonbone Peaks. Wayne is unable to accompany them due to an overindulgence of the alcoholic kind; they leave him to sleep it off on the tavern floor.
Making their way back down to the 5th level the party head east from the well room and then south at the first T-junction. They reach a crossroads and head west with Red Dongya "taking the lead". Red Dongya charges ahead recklessly into a room where a pack of Kobolds have constructed a suspended ceiling 15ft above the floor. From their vantage point they throw flasks of burning oil down upon "The Last Barbarian Princess". She evades the oil and continues her charge south out of one room and into the next. The next room contains more of the little dog men still frustratingly out of Red Dongya's reach. Charging east from this room, she ignores a corridor heading south-east and instead smashes through a door to the north ending up back with the rest of the party; who are still deciding whether to follow her into the first Kobold room.
Having pondered a number of strategies to reach the Kobolds the party decide to leave them be for the moment. Instead they head east from the crossroads. The corridor passes an alcove in the south wall and after 30ft turns south. 20ft after the turn the corridor opens out into an octagonal room where the light of the party's lantern reveals a staff suspended in the middle of the room and a group of armed figures. Shouting her war-cry, Red Dongya charges into the room and runs splat into a Gelatinous Cube and is immediately paralysed. As the flesh dissolves from her bones over the next two rounds she just has time to see that the armed figures were merely reflections of the party in a series of large mirrors that decorate the room. Thus ends the chronicle of The Last Barbarian Princess*.
* It was a shame to see Red Dongya die, but the image of her splatted against the Gelatinous Cube was pretty amusing. According to her player she had, from this incident, finally learned her lesson about not charging recklessly ahead. Alas she would never get to put this new found wisdom into practice.
Though unable to rescue Red Dongya in time, the party ultimately succeeds in eliminating the Gelatinous Cube using a combination of Magic Missile and burning oil. From its bubbling remains they retrieve Red Dongya's +1 Leather Armour and the Staff of Healing that was suspended within the Cube.
The party head back north, through the tapestried hall, east along a corridor and then south into the room where they first fought the Ildorethan cultists. Heading south out of this room they ignore the side corridor that heads east towards the rooms where they found the floating candles and where Ragnfridr the Thief died after having had his arm severed. Instead they continue south-east and then south until they come to a door that leads into a trapezoid room decorated with 6 iron statues of warriors.
Initially the players approach these statues with a wariness born of 20+ years of RPGs. But ultimately curiosity (or sheer bloody-mindedness) gets the best of De and he can't help but trying to poke them into life. True to form, two of them animate as Iron Statues and start trying to beat upon the party. Barack beats them back but on the first blow his mace sticks to one of them. Whilst Gizman and Zarjaz shoot/throw arrows and daggers at the horrors, Barack switches to using the wooden Staff of Healing* as a weapon and with a series of exceptional hits puts down the first statue. Meanwhile De has got both his mace and hammer stuck to the second statue and in return taken several nasty blows. Barack, Gizman and Zarjaz switch their assault to this opponent, but it is De, down to his last longsword, that deals the killing blow.
* It had not been identified as such at this point and fortunately for the players I ruled that it didn't heal the Iron Statues.
After De and Barack have healed themselves the party decides to return to Ethanfeld for the sole purpose of buying a long wooden ladder that they can use to get at the Kobolds. This journey is uneventful and the ladders are successfully acquired. The party don't disturb Wayne who is still sleeping it off on the tavern floor. Transporting the ladders back to the Dragonbone Peaks proves to be a nuisance but not quite as bad as trying to maneuver it down four staircases ... "to me"..."to you"... some of which are spiral. It's a surprise (and probably a missed opportunity) that no wandering monsters are encountered.
After much swearing the party arrive back outside the Kobold lair with their ladder. The resulting battle proves to be anticlimatic as Zarjaz casts a particularly effective Sleep spell and Barack, De and Gizman are able to reach the Kobold's eyrie unopposed. The party loot only a couple of flasks of oil from the Kobolds and in disgust put them to the sword. De bitterly refuses to carry the ladders any further as they are "doing his head in."
The party contains their disappointment and heads to the stairs down to the 6th level in the hope of richer pickings. Despite someone having cleared the carnage from their fight on the stairs with the Ildorethan cultists the party's decent is unopposed.
They exit the stairs into a corridor running north-south that is heavily decorated with gargoyle reliefs. After 20ft the north end terminates at a blank wall and a search reveals no secret doors. Heading south the corridor turns west after 20ft with a door in the south wall at the turn. This door is held closed on the outside by a heavy chain and padlock. Having listened at the door and heard nothing the party decide to leave it for the moment and continue west.
After another 40ft the party turns north following the decorated corridor into a small room littered with smashed gargoyle remains. Whilst the party pick through these, Gizman spies lantern light coming from the western end of a corridor leading out of this room. Signalling for silence he sneaks down the corridor with the others following behind. In the next room three robed and hooded figures are being directed in a search by a fourth robed individual whose shaven head is tattooed with the Holy Hand of Ildoreth.
Zarjaz opens negotiations with a Sleep spell and the three lesser cultists succumb. Gizman charges their leader but is ensorcelled by a Charm Person spell and turns to defend his new friend from Barack and De's assault. Barack bundles Gizman to the ground whilst De chases the leader south out of the room*. Meanwhile Zarjaz finishes off the lesser cultists with his knife and loots spellbooks from their bodies. As the leader reaches the next room De puts a crossbow bolt on his back and then catches up to apply the coup-de-gras. As his prize he claims a map and a bejeweled circlet which he promptly puts on+.
* Actually I can't remember exactly how it went down after Gizman was charmed, but this is probably close enough.
+ A Helm of Alignment Change converting him from Neutral to Chaotic alignment.
The session ended here with the party dragging a distraught (at the loss of his new friend) Gizman back to Ethanfeld.
This week Red Dongya and Zarjaz were back, but Wayne was absent due to work commitments.
Characters:
- Barack Kihnos - Cleric 4 - Male
- Vampire Hunter De - Cleric 3 - Male
- Red Dongya (The Last Barbarian Princess) - Fighter 2 - Female
- Zarjaz the Zazzy - Magic-User 3 - Male
- Gizman - Elf 1 - Male - NPC Retainer
Having returned to Ethanfeld at the end of the last session the party are reunited with Red Dongya and Zarjaz. After the usual week's rest they gather once more to return to the Dragonbone Peaks. Wayne is unable to accompany them due to an overindulgence of the alcoholic kind; they leave him to sleep it off on the tavern floor.
Making their way back down to the 5th level the party head east from the well room and then south at the first T-junction. They reach a crossroads and head west with Red Dongya "taking the lead". Red Dongya charges ahead recklessly into a room where a pack of Kobolds have constructed a suspended ceiling 15ft above the floor. From their vantage point they throw flasks of burning oil down upon "The Last Barbarian Princess". She evades the oil and continues her charge south out of one room and into the next. The next room contains more of the little dog men still frustratingly out of Red Dongya's reach. Charging east from this room, she ignores a corridor heading south-east and instead smashes through a door to the north ending up back with the rest of the party; who are still deciding whether to follow her into the first Kobold room.
Having pondered a number of strategies to reach the Kobolds the party decide to leave them be for the moment. Instead they head east from the crossroads. The corridor passes an alcove in the south wall and after 30ft turns south. 20ft after the turn the corridor opens out into an octagonal room where the light of the party's lantern reveals a staff suspended in the middle of the room and a group of armed figures. Shouting her war-cry, Red Dongya charges into the room and runs splat into a Gelatinous Cube and is immediately paralysed. As the flesh dissolves from her bones over the next two rounds she just has time to see that the armed figures were merely reflections of the party in a series of large mirrors that decorate the room. Thus ends the chronicle of The Last Barbarian Princess*.
* It was a shame to see Red Dongya die, but the image of her splatted against the Gelatinous Cube was pretty amusing. According to her player she had, from this incident, finally learned her lesson about not charging recklessly ahead. Alas she would never get to put this new found wisdom into practice.
Though unable to rescue Red Dongya in time, the party ultimately succeeds in eliminating the Gelatinous Cube using a combination of Magic Missile and burning oil. From its bubbling remains they retrieve Red Dongya's +1 Leather Armour and the Staff of Healing that was suspended within the Cube.
The party head back north, through the tapestried hall, east along a corridor and then south into the room where they first fought the Ildorethan cultists. Heading south out of this room they ignore the side corridor that heads east towards the rooms where they found the floating candles and where Ragnfridr the Thief died after having had his arm severed. Instead they continue south-east and then south until they come to a door that leads into a trapezoid room decorated with 6 iron statues of warriors.
Initially the players approach these statues with a wariness born of 20+ years of RPGs. But ultimately curiosity (or sheer bloody-mindedness) gets the best of De and he can't help but trying to poke them into life. True to form, two of them animate as Iron Statues and start trying to beat upon the party. Barack beats them back but on the first blow his mace sticks to one of them. Whilst Gizman and Zarjaz shoot/throw arrows and daggers at the horrors, Barack switches to using the wooden Staff of Healing* as a weapon and with a series of exceptional hits puts down the first statue. Meanwhile De has got both his mace and hammer stuck to the second statue and in return taken several nasty blows. Barack, Gizman and Zarjaz switch their assault to this opponent, but it is De, down to his last longsword, that deals the killing blow.
* It had not been identified as such at this point and fortunately for the players I ruled that it didn't heal the Iron Statues.
After De and Barack have healed themselves the party decides to return to Ethanfeld for the sole purpose of buying a long wooden ladder that they can use to get at the Kobolds. This journey is uneventful and the ladders are successfully acquired. The party don't disturb Wayne who is still sleeping it off on the tavern floor. Transporting the ladders back to the Dragonbone Peaks proves to be a nuisance but not quite as bad as trying to maneuver it down four staircases ... "to me"..."to you"... some of which are spiral. It's a surprise (and probably a missed opportunity) that no wandering monsters are encountered.
After much swearing the party arrive back outside the Kobold lair with their ladder. The resulting battle proves to be anticlimatic as Zarjaz casts a particularly effective Sleep spell and Barack, De and Gizman are able to reach the Kobold's eyrie unopposed. The party loot only a couple of flasks of oil from the Kobolds and in disgust put them to the sword. De bitterly refuses to carry the ladders any further as they are "doing his head in."
The party contains their disappointment and heads to the stairs down to the 6th level in the hope of richer pickings. Despite someone having cleared the carnage from their fight on the stairs with the Ildorethan cultists the party's decent is unopposed.
They exit the stairs into a corridor running north-south that is heavily decorated with gargoyle reliefs. After 20ft the north end terminates at a blank wall and a search reveals no secret doors. Heading south the corridor turns west after 20ft with a door in the south wall at the turn. This door is held closed on the outside by a heavy chain and padlock. Having listened at the door and heard nothing the party decide to leave it for the moment and continue west.
After another 40ft the party turns north following the decorated corridor into a small room littered with smashed gargoyle remains. Whilst the party pick through these, Gizman spies lantern light coming from the western end of a corridor leading out of this room. Signalling for silence he sneaks down the corridor with the others following behind. In the next room three robed and hooded figures are being directed in a search by a fourth robed individual whose shaven head is tattooed with the Holy Hand of Ildoreth.
Zarjaz opens negotiations with a Sleep spell and the three lesser cultists succumb. Gizman charges their leader but is ensorcelled by a Charm Person spell and turns to defend his new friend from Barack and De's assault. Barack bundles Gizman to the ground whilst De chases the leader south out of the room*. Meanwhile Zarjaz finishes off the lesser cultists with his knife and loots spellbooks from their bodies. As the leader reaches the next room De puts a crossbow bolt on his back and then catches up to apply the coup-de-gras. As his prize he claims a map and a bejeweled circlet which he promptly puts on+.
* Actually I can't remember exactly how it went down after Gizman was charmed, but this is probably close enough.
+ A Helm of Alignment Change converting him from Neutral to Chaotic alignment.
The session ended here with the party dragging a distraught (at the loss of his new friend) Gizman back to Ethanfeld.
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Old School D&D - Session 7 - 13th March 2013
WARNING! Contains spoilers for Dyson's Delve.
There was no game last week because I was in London on business. This week we were short Zarjaz and Red Dongya due to an H.P. Lovecraft double bill at the local cinema.
Characters:
The party are once again in Ethanfeld recovering from their last expedition to the Dragonbone Peaks. To replace Gil-Fimbriel they recruit De, a "Vampire Hunter" a la Hugh Jackman in "Van Helsing"*. When questioned De admits that he hasn't killed any vampires yet but he has put 2 goths and an emo out of their misery. Two retainers are also recruited: Gizman, an Elven Sheriff who has come to the area to investigate reports of the desecration of Elven dead, and Ragnfridr, a professional "adventurer".
* And initially dressed the same, though he quickly took advantage of my decision to change the ruling on the availability of heavy armour so presumably looks more like King Arthur wearing a big black hat now. He is also given the +1 Shield that the party recovered last time.
During this downtime Wayne hires a local sage to research the "white hand" device worn by the dead warriors that the party found on their last expedition. This costs as significant amount of silver but the party learns that the device is the "Holy Hand of Ildoreth", the symbol of an ancient, lawful, but supposedly defunct cult.
After a week's respite the party decides head back east. However that morning it is discovered that Zarjaz and Red Dongya are indisposed and unable to travel. It seems that the night before they had witnessed a mummer's play of such squamous horror that they have temporarily taken leave of their sanity. The rest of the party leave them instructions to follow as soon as they are able and to "bring healing potions."
The party's journey is one again uneventful and they make their way back through the labyrinth unmolested to the Goblin King's treasury on level 4. Here they investigate Wayne's hunch* that the reason they were previously unable to find the Goblin's treasure is that it is concealed in a secret room behind the "public" treasury. Eventually the party locate a secret door which leads into a long corridor which stretches several hundred feet north and east to connect 3 secret chambers.
* Not at all influenced by the fact that the GM hadn't hidden his notes well enough ;-)
This area proves to be inhabited by a party of six Lizardmen. Though they do not attack immediately they do make it clear that they aren't going to allow the party to search the area and carry off any treasure that they might happen to come across. The inevitable hostilities ensue and the Lizardmen end up as raw material for handbags without too much trouble. The party relieve their corpses of a ruby necklace and several sacks of coins; possibly the Goblin treasure that they were looking for.
Buoyed by this success the party descend to level 5. They go back to the corpses of the dead "white hand" warriors and ascertain that they are relatively recent and not of ancient vintage. They then proceed to search east of the tapestried hallway where the glow of a lantern leads them to a band of 4 more "white hand" warriors, this time still breathing. Whilst the rest of the party hides, Wayne extends the hand of friendship. Their reception is not warm and their leader is suspicious, insulting and evasive of Wayne's inquiries. The situation degenerates into violence and the warriors are subdued by Ilkizman's Sleep spell.
Wayne wakes their leader for questioning but despite being at the disadvantage the leader maintains han arrogant and evasive attitude. The party do ascertain that the warriors are members of the Cult of Ildoreth who it seems is not the benevolent deity suggested by the sage's researches. They also learn that they are here on cult business clearing the labyrinth of "unbelievers and other vermin"; it is commented that given the foes that the party has already had to overcome the cultists don't appear to be doing a terribly effective job. Finally the party learns that Dyson Logos (remember him?) is alive, in the cult's clutches and presumably somewhere deeper in the labyrinth.
Eventually the cultist leader's arrogance become too much for Barack and he decides to demonstrate the power of Thor by using a Cause Fear prayer to cow the man. Thor apparently approves rather too enthusiastically and the leader is terrorised into a heart attack*. Attempts to continue the questioning with a different warrior-cultist prove ineffective when it is discovered that all the others have had their tongues removed. The party instead put them to the sword.
* The result of a 1 on his Saving Throw.
Travelling south and then east along the corridor the next room that the party explore is illuminated by a dozen magically levitating candles. They play with these for a bit but are unable to ascertain any significance too them. Eventually, having discovered that when extinguished they fall to the floor but can be re-lit to levitate again, they take the candles with them .
10ft further east along the corridor Ragnfridr open a door in the north wall and the party are surprised by a pair of Ghouls*. This proves to be a sticky little melee with Barack and Wayne both being paralysed and only Gizman's immunity to paralysis saving the party. Once the Ghouls are dealt with the party search the chamber which is decorated with massive sculptures of leering gargoyles. Gizman locates a secret compartment in the mouth of one of the gargoyles, but when Ragnfridr attempts to open it, the mouth closes shut, severing Ragnfridr's arm; he dies immediately from shock. De takes the brute force approach and smashes the gargoyle and mechanism and allowing the party to recover 3 pieces of jewelry from the compartment.
* Actually Thouls/Thoghrin, but they may as well have been Ghouls. Until these recent B/X games I hadn't realised quite how unbalanced these were for low level encounters. 3 attacks and their paralysis power makes them a TPK waiting to happen.
Opening a door leading west from the gargoyle room, Wayne is narrowly missed by a pendulum blade; apparently being short has its advantages ;-) The room beyond is 20ft square with a door leading north. It contains nothing of interest except for a similar trap on the north door. Disarming this trap and opening the door reveals a 30ft stretch of corridor that heads north to end in another door. Halfway along this corridor there is a long stairway leading down to the east.
Guarding these stairs are 6 more warrior-cultists and battle is joined. The fight is long and drawn out over many rounds. Barack, De, Wayne and Gizman initially push the cultists down the stairs, cutting them down one by one, whilst taking their fair share of blows; exhausting their stocks of potions and Cure Light Wounds. It seems for a moment that the tide of battle might turn when cultist reinforcements begin to arrive from the lower level, but the party throw flasks of burning oil to keep them at bay. Eventually having dispatched the last of the cultists on their level the party perform a strategic withdrawl out of the dungeon and back to Ethanfeld.
The game session ended here.
There was no game last week because I was in London on business. This week we were short Zarjaz and Red Dongya due to an H.P. Lovecraft double bill at the local cinema.
Characters:
- Barack Kihnos - Cleric 3 - Male
- Vampire Hunter De - Cleric 2 - Male
- Howayanshite Goblin Slayer (aka "Wayne") - Dwarf 2 - Male
- Gizman - Elf 1 - Male - NPC Retainer
- Ragnfridr - Thief 1 - Male - NPC Retainer
The party are once again in Ethanfeld recovering from their last expedition to the Dragonbone Peaks. To replace Gil-Fimbriel they recruit De, a "Vampire Hunter" a la Hugh Jackman in "Van Helsing"*. When questioned De admits that he hasn't killed any vampires yet but he has put 2 goths and an emo out of their misery. Two retainers are also recruited: Gizman, an Elven Sheriff who has come to the area to investigate reports of the desecration of Elven dead, and Ragnfridr, a professional "adventurer".
* And initially dressed the same, though he quickly took advantage of my decision to change the ruling on the availability of heavy armour so presumably looks more like King Arthur wearing a big black hat now. He is also given the +1 Shield that the party recovered last time.
During this downtime Wayne hires a local sage to research the "white hand" device worn by the dead warriors that the party found on their last expedition. This costs as significant amount of silver but the party learns that the device is the "Holy Hand of Ildoreth", the symbol of an ancient, lawful, but supposedly defunct cult.
After a week's respite the party decides head back east. However that morning it is discovered that Zarjaz and Red Dongya are indisposed and unable to travel. It seems that the night before they had witnessed a mummer's play of such squamous horror that they have temporarily taken leave of their sanity. The rest of the party leave them instructions to follow as soon as they are able and to "bring healing potions."
The party's journey is one again uneventful and they make their way back through the labyrinth unmolested to the Goblin King's treasury on level 4. Here they investigate Wayne's hunch* that the reason they were previously unable to find the Goblin's treasure is that it is concealed in a secret room behind the "public" treasury. Eventually the party locate a secret door which leads into a long corridor which stretches several hundred feet north and east to connect 3 secret chambers.
* Not at all influenced by the fact that the GM hadn't hidden his notes well enough ;-)
This area proves to be inhabited by a party of six Lizardmen. Though they do not attack immediately they do make it clear that they aren't going to allow the party to search the area and carry off any treasure that they might happen to come across. The inevitable hostilities ensue and the Lizardmen end up as raw material for handbags without too much trouble. The party relieve their corpses of a ruby necklace and several sacks of coins; possibly the Goblin treasure that they were looking for.
Buoyed by this success the party descend to level 5. They go back to the corpses of the dead "white hand" warriors and ascertain that they are relatively recent and not of ancient vintage. They then proceed to search east of the tapestried hallway where the glow of a lantern leads them to a band of 4 more "white hand" warriors, this time still breathing. Whilst the rest of the party hides, Wayne extends the hand of friendship. Their reception is not warm and their leader is suspicious, insulting and evasive of Wayne's inquiries. The situation degenerates into violence and the warriors are subdued by Ilkizman's Sleep spell.
Wayne wakes their leader for questioning but despite being at the disadvantage the leader maintains han arrogant and evasive attitude. The party do ascertain that the warriors are members of the Cult of Ildoreth who it seems is not the benevolent deity suggested by the sage's researches. They also learn that they are here on cult business clearing the labyrinth of "unbelievers and other vermin"; it is commented that given the foes that the party has already had to overcome the cultists don't appear to be doing a terribly effective job. Finally the party learns that Dyson Logos (remember him?) is alive, in the cult's clutches and presumably somewhere deeper in the labyrinth.
Eventually the cultist leader's arrogance become too much for Barack and he decides to demonstrate the power of Thor by using a Cause Fear prayer to cow the man. Thor apparently approves rather too enthusiastically and the leader is terrorised into a heart attack*. Attempts to continue the questioning with a different warrior-cultist prove ineffective when it is discovered that all the others have had their tongues removed. The party instead put them to the sword.
* The result of a 1 on his Saving Throw.
Travelling south and then east along the corridor the next room that the party explore is illuminated by a dozen magically levitating candles. They play with these for a bit but are unable to ascertain any significance too them. Eventually, having discovered that when extinguished they fall to the floor but can be re-lit to levitate again, they take the candles with them .
10ft further east along the corridor Ragnfridr open a door in the north wall and the party are surprised by a pair of Ghouls*. This proves to be a sticky little melee with Barack and Wayne both being paralysed and only Gizman's immunity to paralysis saving the party. Once the Ghouls are dealt with the party search the chamber which is decorated with massive sculptures of leering gargoyles. Gizman locates a secret compartment in the mouth of one of the gargoyles, but when Ragnfridr attempts to open it, the mouth closes shut, severing Ragnfridr's arm; he dies immediately from shock. De takes the brute force approach and smashes the gargoyle and mechanism and allowing the party to recover 3 pieces of jewelry from the compartment.
* Actually Thouls/Thoghrin, but they may as well have been Ghouls. Until these recent B/X games I hadn't realised quite how unbalanced these were for low level encounters. 3 attacks and their paralysis power makes them a TPK waiting to happen.
Opening a door leading west from the gargoyle room, Wayne is narrowly missed by a pendulum blade; apparently being short has its advantages ;-) The room beyond is 20ft square with a door leading north. It contains nothing of interest except for a similar trap on the north door. Disarming this trap and opening the door reveals a 30ft stretch of corridor that heads north to end in another door. Halfway along this corridor there is a long stairway leading down to the east.
Guarding these stairs are 6 more warrior-cultists and battle is joined. The fight is long and drawn out over many rounds. Barack, De, Wayne and Gizman initially push the cultists down the stairs, cutting them down one by one, whilst taking their fair share of blows; exhausting their stocks of potions and Cure Light Wounds. It seems for a moment that the tide of battle might turn when cultist reinforcements begin to arrive from the lower level, but the party throw flasks of burning oil to keep them at bay. Eventually having dispatched the last of the cultists on their level the party perform a strategic withdrawl out of the dungeon and back to Ethanfeld.
The game session ended here.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Old School D&D - Session 6 - 27th February 2013
WARNING! Contains spoilers for Dyson's Delve.
Characters:
The story continues ...
The surviving members of the party (Barack, Gil-Fimbriel and Zarjaz) are back in Ethanfeld recuperating after their latest expedition to the Dragonbone Peaks. They divide up the magic treasure: Gil-Fimbriel takes the sword +1, +3 vs. spell users and Zarjaz takes the wand of paralyzation.
During this interlude replacements for Dong and Delast are recruited:
Red Dongya is Dong's cousin and heir apparent to their clan's chiefdom. The story, as she tells it, is that her father, the old chief, is in a coma having being poisoned by Dong in a failed attempt to seize the throne. She has come south seeking vengeance and is under blood oath to return with Dong's head and perhaps a huge sack of gold and mighty enchanted weapon to strengthen her own claims. She also has a penchant for taking the penis' of her kills, fortunately nobody enquired further. She inherits Dong's leather armour +1.
Howayanshite Goblin Slayer is a no nonsense, heavy drinking, goblin slaying Dwarf with a Geordie accent. The party had actually met him previously in Ethanfeld at the end of the session where Delast was killed. But when his player didn't turn up the next session we decided that he didn't accompany the party, the story goes that he was too drunk and they left him at the inn. He is given the potion of invisibility.
The party's journey back to the labyrinth is, as usual, uneventful and they make their way unmolested back to the Manticore's lair on the 4th level. Dong's remains are where they had been left; skewered against the wall by Manticore spines. Somewhat disappointed at not being able to kill the poisoner herself, Red Dongya severs his maggot infested head and puts it in a sack.
Proceeding south the party slay their way through a half dozen chambers that serve as the lair of another goblin tribe. This involves a couple of entertaining moments (at least for me) centred around bashing through barred doors:
In the first one, after Red Dongya has twice failed to bash a door down, Gil-Fimbriel decides to step up and show the "frail" what elves are made of. I have meanwhile decided that the goblins behind the door had decided to unbar it and surprise the next character that tried. So Gil-Fimbriel takes a run up and his player triumphantly rolls a natural 20 and flies through the now unresisting door to land in a heap in the room beyond. The goblins are highly amused ... for the two rounds it takes Wayne and Red Dongya to cut them to pieces.
In the second one, Red Dongya, showing the same capacity for learning from experience as her cousin Dong (and his predecessor Shanks) bursts through a door to face a volley of crossbow bolts from four goblins taking cover behind an improvised barricade. By the book the one bolt that hits should have been her end; she is dropped to 0 HP and a roll on the critical table results in "splattered"; obviously a head shot. But since I'm an old softy and haven't really got into the full B/X mindset when it comes to character death I decided to retcon that Barack (who I was playing as an NPC) had treated her earlier wounds with Cure Light Wounds so she was dazed and knocked to the floor instead. Again the goblins were not so fortunate.
Eventually the party track down and invade the throne room of the goblin "king". The first few rounds of the battle with the king and his retinue are unfortunately vague, though Gil-Fimbriel is slain either by a crossbow bolt or the axe of one of the king's bodyguard. His final words are a request to be interred according to the rites of his people, "Stuffed with catnip and propped up outside the labyrinth with Delast and Finbar." - perhaps he is delirious from the pain.
Following Gil-Fimbriel's death, Red Dongya, Wayne (now armed with the sword +1, +3 vs. spell users) and Barack push into the throne room to engage the crossbow goblins and the king's henchmen, Zarjaz zaps the king himself with a volley of Magic Missile spells; reducing him to 1 HP. At this point two of the king's bodyguard grab and start dragging him out of the room through a side exit whilst his remaining retinue mount a fighting withdrawal.
As soon as this rearguard is sufficiently reduced, Wayne disengages from the fight and followed by Zarjaz pursues the fleeing goblin king. The two burly goblin bodyguard drop the king and turn to face-down the Dwarf. Outnumbered and plagued by poor dice rolling, Wayne is soon on the back-foot. Fortunately Zarjaz is able to end the fight with a zap from his wand of paralyzation; that it has an area of effect is a pleasant surprise for the wizard, though less so for Wayne! Zarjaz despatches and loots the goblin bodyguard, binds the goblin king, relieving him of his battered crown, and then sits down to wait for the paralysis to wear off and Red Dongya and Barack to catch up.
An hour or so later the party interrogate the goblin king as to the whereabouts of his treasure before putting him to the sword. The three chests of goblin treasure prove to be a disappointment though thanks to Red Dongya's unique way of opening them; picking them up and throwing them against a wall, nobody is poisoned by the needle traps. The chests themselves are, much to the parties confusion, empty. Wayne wants to search for the goblin's treasure but the rest of the party decide they don't want to waste the time or lamp oil and the decision is made to descend to the next level.
As previously recorded the stairs down lead out of the same octagonal chamber as the stairs up. Undeterred by a strong draught blowing up the stairs accompanied by the sound of howling wind, the surviving party members descend with Red Dongya and Wayne leading the way. The stairs enter a rectangular room containing two wells, that are the source of the wind, and a weathered statue of a four armed female wearing a crown. The party throw coins down the wells, warily inspect the statue and then consider trying to throw it down one of the wells, it is however too big.
When nothing provokes any reaction the party leave the room via its only other exit, a corridor that heads east 20ft to a T-junction where there is a choice of turning south of continuing east for another 10ft before reaching an archway. They pass through the archway into a 20ft wide hallway that heads north for 70ft before joining an east-west corridor. The walls of the hallway are hidden behind tattered tapestries that are flapping in the wind. After spending about an hour fruitlessly searching amidst the tapestries the party leave, heading west along the corridor.
The corridor terminates after 50ft in a 20ft square room where a pair of giant corpse scavenging insects are picking over the remains of four armoured warriors. The party choose to attack and Red Dongya is almost immediately paralysed by one of the creatures. Wayne follows shortly after, through not before despatching one of the horrors. Pursued down the corridor, Barack and Zarjaz retreat into the hallway. Zarjaz fires his wand time after time but the creature keeps making its saving throw. Eventually Barack is paralysed and it seems that Zarjaz will suffer the same fate when his luck changes and using the last but one charge from the wand he finally freezes the beast.
It takes about an hour for Red Dongya, Wayne and Barack to recover from their paralysis. They return to the room with the dead warriors and searching the corpses they recover sacks containing several hundred coins and 3 gems. They take note that all the warriors are dressed alike in black tabards and carrying shields emblazoned with a white hand; a coat-of-arms with which they are unfamiliar. Zarjaz identifies one of the shields as enchanted and this is added to the treasure haul*.
* Actually Zarjaz didn't even bother to check whether any of their equipment might be of interest despite me adding emphasis when describing their shield. This is the last treasure freebie I'm giving, no more mister nice GM ;-)
At this point it was decided to end the session with the party returning to Ethanfeld to bank their treasure, recuperate and recruit a replacement for Gil-Fimbriel.
Characters:
- Barack Kihnos* - Cleric 2 - Male
- Gil-Fimbriel - Elf 1 - Male
- Red Dongya (The Last Barbarian Princess) - Fighter 1 - Female
- Howayanshite Goblin Slayer (aka "Wayne") - Dwarf 1 - Male
- Zarjaz the Zazzy - Magic-User 2 - Male
The story continues ...
The surviving members of the party (Barack, Gil-Fimbriel and Zarjaz) are back in Ethanfeld recuperating after their latest expedition to the Dragonbone Peaks. They divide up the magic treasure: Gil-Fimbriel takes the sword +1, +3 vs. spell users and Zarjaz takes the wand of paralyzation.
During this interlude replacements for Dong and Delast are recruited:
Red Dongya is Dong's cousin and heir apparent to their clan's chiefdom. The story, as she tells it, is that her father, the old chief, is in a coma having being poisoned by Dong in a failed attempt to seize the throne. She has come south seeking vengeance and is under blood oath to return with Dong's head and perhaps a huge sack of gold and mighty enchanted weapon to strengthen her own claims. She also has a penchant for taking the penis' of her kills, fortunately nobody enquired further. She inherits Dong's leather armour +1.
Howayanshite Goblin Slayer is a no nonsense, heavy drinking, goblin slaying Dwarf with a Geordie accent. The party had actually met him previously in Ethanfeld at the end of the session where Delast was killed. But when his player didn't turn up the next session we decided that he didn't accompany the party, the story goes that he was too drunk and they left him at the inn. He is given the potion of invisibility.
The party's journey back to the labyrinth is, as usual, uneventful and they make their way unmolested back to the Manticore's lair on the 4th level. Dong's remains are where they had been left; skewered against the wall by Manticore spines. Somewhat disappointed at not being able to kill the poisoner herself, Red Dongya severs his maggot infested head and puts it in a sack.
Proceeding south the party slay their way through a half dozen chambers that serve as the lair of another goblin tribe. This involves a couple of entertaining moments (at least for me) centred around bashing through barred doors:
In the first one, after Red Dongya has twice failed to bash a door down, Gil-Fimbriel decides to step up and show the "frail" what elves are made of. I have meanwhile decided that the goblins behind the door had decided to unbar it and surprise the next character that tried. So Gil-Fimbriel takes a run up and his player triumphantly rolls a natural 20 and flies through the now unresisting door to land in a heap in the room beyond. The goblins are highly amused ... for the two rounds it takes Wayne and Red Dongya to cut them to pieces.
In the second one, Red Dongya, showing the same capacity for learning from experience as her cousin Dong (and his predecessor Shanks) bursts through a door to face a volley of crossbow bolts from four goblins taking cover behind an improvised barricade. By the book the one bolt that hits should have been her end; she is dropped to 0 HP and a roll on the critical table results in "splattered"; obviously a head shot. But since I'm an old softy and haven't really got into the full B/X mindset when it comes to character death I decided to retcon that Barack (who I was playing as an NPC) had treated her earlier wounds with Cure Light Wounds so she was dazed and knocked to the floor instead. Again the goblins were not so fortunate.
Eventually the party track down and invade the throne room of the goblin "king". The first few rounds of the battle with the king and his retinue are unfortunately vague, though Gil-Fimbriel is slain either by a crossbow bolt or the axe of one of the king's bodyguard. His final words are a request to be interred according to the rites of his people, "Stuffed with catnip and propped up outside the labyrinth with Delast and Finbar." - perhaps he is delirious from the pain.
Following Gil-Fimbriel's death, Red Dongya, Wayne (now armed with the sword +1, +3 vs. spell users) and Barack push into the throne room to engage the crossbow goblins and the king's henchmen, Zarjaz zaps the king himself with a volley of Magic Missile spells; reducing him to 1 HP. At this point two of the king's bodyguard grab and start dragging him out of the room through a side exit whilst his remaining retinue mount a fighting withdrawal.
As soon as this rearguard is sufficiently reduced, Wayne disengages from the fight and followed by Zarjaz pursues the fleeing goblin king. The two burly goblin bodyguard drop the king and turn to face-down the Dwarf. Outnumbered and plagued by poor dice rolling, Wayne is soon on the back-foot. Fortunately Zarjaz is able to end the fight with a zap from his wand of paralyzation; that it has an area of effect is a pleasant surprise for the wizard, though less so for Wayne! Zarjaz despatches and loots the goblin bodyguard, binds the goblin king, relieving him of his battered crown, and then sits down to wait for the paralysis to wear off and Red Dongya and Barack to catch up.
An hour or so later the party interrogate the goblin king as to the whereabouts of his treasure before putting him to the sword. The three chests of goblin treasure prove to be a disappointment though thanks to Red Dongya's unique way of opening them; picking them up and throwing them against a wall, nobody is poisoned by the needle traps. The chests themselves are, much to the parties confusion, empty. Wayne wants to search for the goblin's treasure but the rest of the party decide they don't want to waste the time or lamp oil and the decision is made to descend to the next level.
As previously recorded the stairs down lead out of the same octagonal chamber as the stairs up. Undeterred by a strong draught blowing up the stairs accompanied by the sound of howling wind, the surviving party members descend with Red Dongya and Wayne leading the way. The stairs enter a rectangular room containing two wells, that are the source of the wind, and a weathered statue of a four armed female wearing a crown. The party throw coins down the wells, warily inspect the statue and then consider trying to throw it down one of the wells, it is however too big.
When nothing provokes any reaction the party leave the room via its only other exit, a corridor that heads east 20ft to a T-junction where there is a choice of turning south of continuing east for another 10ft before reaching an archway. They pass through the archway into a 20ft wide hallway that heads north for 70ft before joining an east-west corridor. The walls of the hallway are hidden behind tattered tapestries that are flapping in the wind. After spending about an hour fruitlessly searching amidst the tapestries the party leave, heading west along the corridor.
The corridor terminates after 50ft in a 20ft square room where a pair of giant corpse scavenging insects are picking over the remains of four armoured warriors. The party choose to attack and Red Dongya is almost immediately paralysed by one of the creatures. Wayne follows shortly after, through not before despatching one of the horrors. Pursued down the corridor, Barack and Zarjaz retreat into the hallway. Zarjaz fires his wand time after time but the creature keeps making its saving throw. Eventually Barack is paralysed and it seems that Zarjaz will suffer the same fate when his luck changes and using the last but one charge from the wand he finally freezes the beast.
It takes about an hour for Red Dongya, Wayne and Barack to recover from their paralysis. They return to the room with the dead warriors and searching the corpses they recover sacks containing several hundred coins and 3 gems. They take note that all the warriors are dressed alike in black tabards and carrying shields emblazoned with a white hand; a coat-of-arms with which they are unfamiliar. Zarjaz identifies one of the shields as enchanted and this is added to the treasure haul*.
* Actually Zarjaz didn't even bother to check whether any of their equipment might be of interest despite me adding emphasis when describing their shield. This is the last treasure freebie I'm giving, no more mister nice GM ;-)
At this point it was decided to end the session with the party returning to Ethanfeld to bank their treasure, recuperate and recruit a replacement for Gil-Fimbriel.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Old School D&D - Session 5 - 20th February 2013
WARNING! Contains spoilers for Dyson's Delve.
There was no game last week because of various sicknesses, work and holiday commitments. This week we were short Delast's player, which given the character was dead wasn't a problem ;-)
Characters:
Whilst recuperating in Ethanfeld, Shanks disappears on a mysterious errand* and is replaced by Dong, a barbarian from the wild north who is in search of a throne to call his own. He is armed with a mighty two handed club, also called "Dong", and dressed in a armoured codpiece, furry boots and a spiked helmet on which he has mounted a candle.
* His player was bored with the character and had apparently been trying to suicide him for the last couple of sessions; not that I'd noticed. It had not occurred to him to simply retire the character and start another one.
After a week back in town, the rested, resupplied and reinforced party returns to the cave and makes their way back down to the goblin halls on the second level. Dong and Finbar take the lead with Barack and Zarjaz following behind. It becomes apparent that after all their recent troubles with intruders the goblins have packed up and left. The party search fruitlessly through abandoned chambers the tedium only briefly enlivened by the discovery of Delast's eviscerated corpse and a brief fight with a fire beetle which Dong despatches at the expense of a minor wound.
The party head back to the hall with the spiked goblins. On the way they come across the unlooted body of the old goblin who had attacked them with flaming oil on their previous visit. They rectify this oversight and relieve him of a gold necklace and a suit of magical leather armour which Dong equips. The hall itself is occupied by two fire beetles. Dong charges forward and dispatches one of them wit ha mighty swing of his big club, Finbar engages and enrages the other with his bow. Unfortunately for Finbar the beetle proves both tougher and faster than expected and is quickly on top of him. He dies trying to ward off its snapping jaws with his bow. Dong and Barack deal with the final beetle but Dong is wounded further. After the battle the party rest and Barack casts Cure Light Wounds on Dong. Little consideration is given to their fallen companion.
Having descended the stairs to the burial catacombs the party spend a couple of hours searching the previously unexplored hallways. A ghoul attempts to ambush them but immediately regrets it when squished by Dong. Eventually they work their way back through the burial caves to the stairs down to the fourth level where they are briefly entertained by a couple of zombies.
Following the stairs down, the party enter an octagonal room from the west. More stairs continue downwards to the south and there is a sturdy but rather battered door to the east. The presence of more bone spikes impaled into the door, walls and scattered about the floor unsettles the party; especially Zarjaz. Listening at the door Barack hears the distant bellowing of some beast. Fearlessly Dong bashes down the door and the party presses on into a corridor heading 80ft east.
30ft down the corridor on the right hand side is a heavy stone door again showing signs of damage. After several attempts Dong and Barack manage to force this door open to reveal a 20ft corridor leading into a 30ft square room with a further door in its south wall. The room contains a pair of brass manacles mounted on the east wall in front of which a couple of words in an unknown runic language have been inscribed on the floor. There are also some food scraps and a battered leather satchel containing a handful of silver coins.
As an unexpected lethargy begins to creep upon the party Zarjaz becomes aware of pools of green gas gathering at floor level and slowly filling the room. Alarmed, the party discover that the door they entered by has swung heavily shut and that the southern door is locked. Fortunately Dong and Barack manage to force the northern door open before they are completely overcome and the party stagger out into the corridor gasping for air.
The party stop to regain their breath and again hear the bellowing of some nearby beast. Warily they continue east. After a further 30ft they pass an archway that leads into a passageway heading south towards the bellowing. To Dong's disgust Zarjaz and Barack insist on continuing east where the corridor ends with a second archway in the south wall.
Beyond this archway is a carnal house with walls and floor decorated with the (moderately) fresh bodies, limbs and internal organs of a number of goblins. From an archway in the southern wall of this chamber comes the sound of a mighty beast stirring. Another bellow issues forth and this time Dong responds in kind as he moves to take a position at the side of the archway. A moment later a manticore launches itself through the archway roaring a challenge to the intruders. Dong swings his mighty club, Barack charges forward with an oath to Thor on his lips, and Zarjaz incants a Sleep spell (unsuccessful) from the rear. The fight is fearsome and both Dong and Barack are sorely wounded before the beast is vanquished.
From elsewhere in the labyrinth there is another roar ...
Despite his injuries Dong is all for pressing on, but Barack and Zarjaz prevail and the party withdraw once more to the surface to recuperate. Waiting for them at the campsite they discover a new elven companion, Gilfimbriel, brother to Delast Elfenprincess, who had been separated from her and Finbar on the road. He is not noticeably distressed at the tale of their demise*; perhaps when the shock wears off?
* As far as I can recall, he didn't even object to a proposal to stuff both elf corpses with catnip in order to use them a diversion whilst dealing with the second manticore. Perhaps he was persuaded by the claim, possibly by Zarjaz, that this would be in accordance with elven funeral practices.
The next day the party descend back to the 4th level and following the mournful bellowing of it's mate they return to the manticore's lair. Once again Dong takes the lead with Barack close behind. Zarjaz and Gilfimbriel provide support with Magic Missile and Elf-bow. However this is not to be another victory to pave Dong's way to a throne. The manticore thrashes is tail and launches a volley of spikes at him and Barack. Dong is hit fatally and his dying body pinned against the wall in macabre repose. Barack only receives a flesh wound from the initial volley and he and the manticore trade blows whilst Gilfimbriel shoots the creature's flank with arrows. It is a close contest and Barack is sorely wounded, but ultimately the party are victorious.
Whilst Barack treats his wounds, Zarjaz and Gilfimbriel investigate an archway leading west out of the manticore's lair into a 20ft square room with a door in the west wall. Heaped within this room is a king's ransom* in copper and silver coins crowned with a chest of gold containing an enchanted sword, wand and potion.
* More of a king's cousin twice removed's ransom.
With their backpacks and pockets stuffed to bursting and the chest carried between them the party return to the surface and back to Ethanfeld ...
The game session ended here.
There was no game last week because of various sicknesses, work and holiday commitments. This week we were short Delast's player, which given the character was dead wasn't a problem ;-)
Characters:
- Zarjaz the Zazzy - Magic-User 1 - Male
- Finbar son of Finwe - Elf 1 - Male
- Barack Kihnos - Cleric 2 - Male
- Dong the Barbarian - Fighter 1 - Male
Whilst recuperating in Ethanfeld, Shanks disappears on a mysterious errand* and is replaced by Dong, a barbarian from the wild north who is in search of a throne to call his own. He is armed with a mighty two handed club, also called "Dong", and dressed in a armoured codpiece, furry boots and a spiked helmet on which he has mounted a candle.
* His player was bored with the character and had apparently been trying to suicide him for the last couple of sessions; not that I'd noticed. It had not occurred to him to simply retire the character and start another one.
After a week back in town, the rested, resupplied and reinforced party returns to the cave and makes their way back down to the goblin halls on the second level. Dong and Finbar take the lead with Barack and Zarjaz following behind. It becomes apparent that after all their recent troubles with intruders the goblins have packed up and left. The party search fruitlessly through abandoned chambers the tedium only briefly enlivened by the discovery of Delast's eviscerated corpse and a brief fight with a fire beetle which Dong despatches at the expense of a minor wound.
The party head back to the hall with the spiked goblins. On the way they come across the unlooted body of the old goblin who had attacked them with flaming oil on their previous visit. They rectify this oversight and relieve him of a gold necklace and a suit of magical leather armour which Dong equips. The hall itself is occupied by two fire beetles. Dong charges forward and dispatches one of them wit ha mighty swing of his big club, Finbar engages and enrages the other with his bow. Unfortunately for Finbar the beetle proves both tougher and faster than expected and is quickly on top of him. He dies trying to ward off its snapping jaws with his bow. Dong and Barack deal with the final beetle but Dong is wounded further. After the battle the party rest and Barack casts Cure Light Wounds on Dong. Little consideration is given to their fallen companion.
Having descended the stairs to the burial catacombs the party spend a couple of hours searching the previously unexplored hallways. A ghoul attempts to ambush them but immediately regrets it when squished by Dong. Eventually they work their way back through the burial caves to the stairs down to the fourth level where they are briefly entertained by a couple of zombies.
Following the stairs down, the party enter an octagonal room from the west. More stairs continue downwards to the south and there is a sturdy but rather battered door to the east. The presence of more bone spikes impaled into the door, walls and scattered about the floor unsettles the party; especially Zarjaz. Listening at the door Barack hears the distant bellowing of some beast. Fearlessly Dong bashes down the door and the party presses on into a corridor heading 80ft east.
30ft down the corridor on the right hand side is a heavy stone door again showing signs of damage. After several attempts Dong and Barack manage to force this door open to reveal a 20ft corridor leading into a 30ft square room with a further door in its south wall. The room contains a pair of brass manacles mounted on the east wall in front of which a couple of words in an unknown runic language have been inscribed on the floor. There are also some food scraps and a battered leather satchel containing a handful of silver coins.
As an unexpected lethargy begins to creep upon the party Zarjaz becomes aware of pools of green gas gathering at floor level and slowly filling the room. Alarmed, the party discover that the door they entered by has swung heavily shut and that the southern door is locked. Fortunately Dong and Barack manage to force the northern door open before they are completely overcome and the party stagger out into the corridor gasping for air.
The party stop to regain their breath and again hear the bellowing of some nearby beast. Warily they continue east. After a further 30ft they pass an archway that leads into a passageway heading south towards the bellowing. To Dong's disgust Zarjaz and Barack insist on continuing east where the corridor ends with a second archway in the south wall.
Beyond this archway is a carnal house with walls and floor decorated with the (moderately) fresh bodies, limbs and internal organs of a number of goblins. From an archway in the southern wall of this chamber comes the sound of a mighty beast stirring. Another bellow issues forth and this time Dong responds in kind as he moves to take a position at the side of the archway. A moment later a manticore launches itself through the archway roaring a challenge to the intruders. Dong swings his mighty club, Barack charges forward with an oath to Thor on his lips, and Zarjaz incants a Sleep spell (unsuccessful) from the rear. The fight is fearsome and both Dong and Barack are sorely wounded before the beast is vanquished.
From elsewhere in the labyrinth there is another roar ...
Despite his injuries Dong is all for pressing on, but Barack and Zarjaz prevail and the party withdraw once more to the surface to recuperate. Waiting for them at the campsite they discover a new elven companion, Gilfimbriel, brother to Delast Elfenprincess, who had been separated from her and Finbar on the road. He is not noticeably distressed at the tale of their demise*; perhaps when the shock wears off?
* As far as I can recall, he didn't even object to a proposal to stuff both elf corpses with catnip in order to use them a diversion whilst dealing with the second manticore. Perhaps he was persuaded by the claim, possibly by Zarjaz, that this would be in accordance with elven funeral practices.
The next day the party descend back to the 4th level and following the mournful bellowing of it's mate they return to the manticore's lair. Once again Dong takes the lead with Barack close behind. Zarjaz and Gilfimbriel provide support with Magic Missile and Elf-bow. However this is not to be another victory to pave Dong's way to a throne. The manticore thrashes is tail and launches a volley of spikes at him and Barack. Dong is hit fatally and his dying body pinned against the wall in macabre repose. Barack only receives a flesh wound from the initial volley and he and the manticore trade blows whilst Gilfimbriel shoots the creature's flank with arrows. It is a close contest and Barack is sorely wounded, but ultimately the party are victorious.
Whilst Barack treats his wounds, Zarjaz and Gilfimbriel investigate an archway leading west out of the manticore's lair into a 20ft square room with a door in the west wall. Heaped within this room is a king's ransom* in copper and silver coins crowned with a chest of gold containing an enchanted sword, wand and potion.
* More of a king's cousin twice removed's ransom.
With their backpacks and pockets stuffed to bursting and the chest carried between them the party return to the surface and back to Ethanfeld ...
The game session ended here.
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Old School D&D - Session 4 - 6th February 2013
WARNING! Contains spoilers for Dyson's Delve.
Characters:
The injured patch themselves up whilst Zarjaz conducts a fruitless search of the crypt. About half an hour into this downtime the party hear a muffled crashing from elsewhere in the catacombs. This is followed by a strong draught that blows dust and debris into the crypt. Going to investigate they discover that the stone archway leading to the stairs back up to the 2nd level has completely collapsed blocking their return to the surface.
Having no alternative the party press on with Finbar and Shanks taking the lead. They head north from the sunken crypt for about 50ft before the corridor ends in a T-junction. Three ghouls lie in wait and rush the party hissing and spitting. The fight is closely fought and at one point Shanks and Barack are paralysed, Delast is incapacitated and Finbar is apparently dead. Two ghouls are still standing and intend to invite Zarjaz as the final guest to their luncheon party. It seems all is lost until Finbar rises from the grave* to slay one of the remaining ghouls and even the odds. With Finbar defending frantically, Zarjaz feeds healing potions to Delast and Barack. Between them they deal with the last ghoul and relieve it of a small pouch containing 4 gems.
* His player forgot I was allowing a character to sacrifice their shield to ignore 1d6 hp of damage, and I decided to grasp at this straw to avoid a TPK.
Still sorely injured and reduced to a single healing potion, the party withdraws to the sunken crypt to lick their wounds. With their lantern trimmed low and a fire made from odds and ends of rags and wood that they scrape together the party camps up for 2 days. The elves take it in turns to stand watch but the time passes peacefully.
Healed nearly to full strength by their rest, the party break camp and return to the T-junction at which they were ambushed. They head west for 50ft past more burials before the corridor turns north. After a further 20ft they find a side-corridor that heads a short distant west before leading onto an ascending stairway. They climb this with much relief.
The stairs lead up into a large aisled hall running west to east. The columns are 'decorated' with the bodies of long dead goblins impaled on them by 8 inch long bone-like spikes. The party suspect a trap* and Shanks is sent forward to investigate. He discerns nothing dangerous and for the moment the cause of the goblins' fate remains a mystery. After a thorough but fruitless search the party leaves by a corridor that heads north from the north-west corner of the hall.
* Mainly due to the GM misunderstanding and cocking up the room description.
After 10ft the corridor turns east for a further 50ft before turning back south for another 30ft where it is joined by a corridor heading east. Beyond this T-junction the corridor continues south for a further 10ft before ending at a door. Shanks overhears conversation from the eastern corridor which allows the party to surprise (with a Sleep spell) a small group of goblins who are standing guard behind an improvised barricade blocking the way east. One of the goblins is unaffected by the enchantment and escapes, shouting alarm, and pursued by Delast. Barack and Zarjaz follow Delast over the barricade but only far enough to loot the goblins.
Left behind on the western side of the barricade Shanks and Finbar are surprised when the southern door opens and a grizzled old goblin flanks them throwing a flask of flaming oil. He causes little damage and is quickly beheaded by Finbar. A brief search of his room reveals nothing interesting.
Meanwhile Delast has chased the goblin east through a small guardroom and then along a corridor south for 40ft before finally bringing it down with an arrow as it turns east at the next intersection. Peeking east around the intersection she spies a half-dozen goblins and hobgoblins approaching from a room 30ft down the corridor. She steps out into the corridor to launch a Magic Missile at one of the hobgoblins but fails to bring it down. Having already been alerted, the gang of goblins are not surprised, and before Delast can escape* they have run her down, forcing her into a fighting retreat back up the corridor. Alas the goblin numbers are too great and she is cleaved in half by a great blow from one of the hobgoblins.
* In retrospect this may have been a bad GM call. Even though Delast had already acted (cast a spell) on the round that the hobgoblins charged her they had to cover 30ft and she should probably have had a chance to turn and run. Given that she was the same speed the resulting battle would have occurred at the barricade and she might possibly have survived with the help of the other party members.
Though alerted by the sound of battle Zarjaz and Barack arrive too late to save Delast and instead flee back over the barricade to make a stand against the oncoming goblins. After both sides refuse calls to surrender a lengthy stand-off occurs with much name calling, lewd behaviour and unlikely use of "Climb Sheer Surfaces" and "Hide in Shadows". The goblins unsuccessfully set their pet fire beetles against the barricade and the party appropriately enough use burning oil to set them on fire. Eventually the goblins withdraw having taking significant casualties from Finbar's bow.
Once the way is clear the party cross the barricade and head east. They manage to capture one of the remaining goblins and he is persuaded to lead them to the stairs up and back to the 1st level. Back on the surface Finbar allows the goblin its promised freedom much to the disgust of the others.
The party returns to Ethanfeld.
The game session ended here.
Characters:
- Zarjaz the Zazzy - Magic-User 1 - Male
- Shanks Mcspindlewort - Thief 1 - Male
- Finbar son of Finwe - Elf 1 - Male
- Delast Elfenprincess - Elf 1 - Female
- Barack Kihnos - Cleric 1 - Male
The injured patch themselves up whilst Zarjaz conducts a fruitless search of the crypt. About half an hour into this downtime the party hear a muffled crashing from elsewhere in the catacombs. This is followed by a strong draught that blows dust and debris into the crypt. Going to investigate they discover that the stone archway leading to the stairs back up to the 2nd level has completely collapsed blocking their return to the surface.
Having no alternative the party press on with Finbar and Shanks taking the lead. They head north from the sunken crypt for about 50ft before the corridor ends in a T-junction. Three ghouls lie in wait and rush the party hissing and spitting. The fight is closely fought and at one point Shanks and Barack are paralysed, Delast is incapacitated and Finbar is apparently dead. Two ghouls are still standing and intend to invite Zarjaz as the final guest to their luncheon party. It seems all is lost until Finbar rises from the grave* to slay one of the remaining ghouls and even the odds. With Finbar defending frantically, Zarjaz feeds healing potions to Delast and Barack. Between them they deal with the last ghoul and relieve it of a small pouch containing 4 gems.
* His player forgot I was allowing a character to sacrifice their shield to ignore 1d6 hp of damage, and I decided to grasp at this straw to avoid a TPK.
Still sorely injured and reduced to a single healing potion, the party withdraws to the sunken crypt to lick their wounds. With their lantern trimmed low and a fire made from odds and ends of rags and wood that they scrape together the party camps up for 2 days. The elves take it in turns to stand watch but the time passes peacefully.
Healed nearly to full strength by their rest, the party break camp and return to the T-junction at which they were ambushed. They head west for 50ft past more burials before the corridor turns north. After a further 20ft they find a side-corridor that heads a short distant west before leading onto an ascending stairway. They climb this with much relief.
The stairs lead up into a large aisled hall running west to east. The columns are 'decorated' with the bodies of long dead goblins impaled on them by 8 inch long bone-like spikes. The party suspect a trap* and Shanks is sent forward to investigate. He discerns nothing dangerous and for the moment the cause of the goblins' fate remains a mystery. After a thorough but fruitless search the party leaves by a corridor that heads north from the north-west corner of the hall.
* Mainly due to the GM misunderstanding and cocking up the room description.
After 10ft the corridor turns east for a further 50ft before turning back south for another 30ft where it is joined by a corridor heading east. Beyond this T-junction the corridor continues south for a further 10ft before ending at a door. Shanks overhears conversation from the eastern corridor which allows the party to surprise (with a Sleep spell) a small group of goblins who are standing guard behind an improvised barricade blocking the way east. One of the goblins is unaffected by the enchantment and escapes, shouting alarm, and pursued by Delast. Barack and Zarjaz follow Delast over the barricade but only far enough to loot the goblins.
Left behind on the western side of the barricade Shanks and Finbar are surprised when the southern door opens and a grizzled old goblin flanks them throwing a flask of flaming oil. He causes little damage and is quickly beheaded by Finbar. A brief search of his room reveals nothing interesting.
Meanwhile Delast has chased the goblin east through a small guardroom and then along a corridor south for 40ft before finally bringing it down with an arrow as it turns east at the next intersection. Peeking east around the intersection she spies a half-dozen goblins and hobgoblins approaching from a room 30ft down the corridor. She steps out into the corridor to launch a Magic Missile at one of the hobgoblins but fails to bring it down. Having already been alerted, the gang of goblins are not surprised, and before Delast can escape* they have run her down, forcing her into a fighting retreat back up the corridor. Alas the goblin numbers are too great and she is cleaved in half by a great blow from one of the hobgoblins.
* In retrospect this may have been a bad GM call. Even though Delast had already acted (cast a spell) on the round that the hobgoblins charged her they had to cover 30ft and she should probably have had a chance to turn and run. Given that she was the same speed the resulting battle would have occurred at the barricade and she might possibly have survived with the help of the other party members.
Though alerted by the sound of battle Zarjaz and Barack arrive too late to save Delast and instead flee back over the barricade to make a stand against the oncoming goblins. After both sides refuse calls to surrender a lengthy stand-off occurs with much name calling, lewd behaviour and unlikely use of "Climb Sheer Surfaces" and "Hide in Shadows". The goblins unsuccessfully set their pet fire beetles against the barricade and the party appropriately enough use burning oil to set them on fire. Eventually the goblins withdraw having taking significant casualties from Finbar's bow.
Once the way is clear the party cross the barricade and head east. They manage to capture one of the remaining goblins and he is persuaded to lead them to the stairs up and back to the 1st level. Back on the surface Finbar allows the goblin its promised freedom much to the disgust of the others.
The party returns to Ethanfeld.
The game session ended here.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Old School D&D - Session 3 - 30th January 2013
WARNING! Contains spoilers for Dyson's Delve.
There was no game last week because I was away on business, but that just let me catch up with documenting the previous two sessions. This week we had a full house.
Characters:
- Zarjaz the Zazzy - Magic-User 1 - Male
- Shanks Mcspindlewort - Thief 1 - Male
- Finbar son of Finwe - Elf 1 - Male
- Delast Elfenprincess - Elf 1 - Female
- Barack Kihnos - Cleric 1 - Male
Searching the corpse that had so recently been strangling Shanks, Zarjaz retrieves an ornate dagger that had been stabbed through its chest. The dagger is inscribed with the name "Kmeleneb" and he detects that it is enchanted. Zarjaz takes possession of the dagger for the moment but this is not without controversy. Delast Elfenprincess tries to claim it as "The Dagger of Methanwe", an elven artifact, whereas Shanks (unexpectedly supported by Finbar) wants it because he is "the dagger guy" and the most likely to use it.
The party proceed to investigate the door in the south-west and find it to be a stone slab sealed around with wax. Shanks starts to chip the wax away whilst the rest of the party kibitz and/or mill around uselessly. 2 more skeletal soldiers march into the room from the north corridor and are swiftly despatched. During the fight Zarjaz throws the ornate dagger and Shanks uses the opportunity to appropriate it. Whilst Shanks returns to working on the door Finbar and Delast follow the corridor north into a chapel containing a dried up font and a door leading north back into the east-west corridor.
Eventually the wax sealed door is opened to reveal another small crypt containing a more ornate sarcophagus. Once more Shanks levers it open, after all what are the odds on something bad happening this time? As it happens he's correct and nothing ill befalls the party. The occupant is merely skeletal remains with nothing of interest ... To Barack's disgust Shanks takes some finger-bones to try and sell as holy-relics when they return to Ethanfeld.
After having been in the labyrinth for about 4 hours the party leaves and returns to their camp-site to rest. Delast hunts and catches a brace or rabbits. Finbar looks for herbs and comes back with flowers in his hair and nettle stings on his arms (rolls 1 on a d20). During the evening Zarjaz casts his Sleep spell on Shanks to steal back the ornate dagger, the rest of the party looks on in disbelief. Otherwise the night passes uneventfully and Shanks and Barack recover somewhat from their injuries. In the morning Barack casts the auguries to see whether it is he or Shanks who should benefit from Thor's blessing (Cure Light Wounds spell) and strangely enough it is himself.
The party reenter the cave and follow the rock cut staircase spiralling down to the second level. The staircase opens out into a small cave containing a ransacked nest surrounded by mangled corpses. Following a tunnel west they reach a fork offering north-west and south-west choices. Choosing the latter they enter a largish cave containing another rat's nest, this one occupied. There is a discussion about throwing lamp oil over the nest and setting it on fire. Delast decides this is a waste of oil and instead shoots a flaming arrow into the nest. As this smoulders and the nest begins to catch the occupants erupt out and swarm over the party. In the ensuing combat Finbar is rendered unconscious and Barack gets a rat attached to his unmentionables causing him to scream like a girl. Zarjaz ends this farce with a Sleep spell. The party carry Finbar out of the cave and back to camp. There they make the decision to pack up and return to Ethanfeld to heal up properly and resupply.
After an uneventful journey the party arrives back in Ethanfeld where they take rooms at a good inn. Over the next five days the injured heal, Finbar and Delast trade spells and Shanks fails to pass off any of the finger-bones as "Holy Relics of Saint Odin". The only other event of note is that Zarjaz is "persuaded" to give up the ornate dagger (Delast casts Sleep on him) which is donated to the temple of Thor in exchange for six Healing potions. Zarjaz is somewhat "put out" by this but mollified when the elves trade spells with him. During this period of downtime the party discuss their doubts about finding Dyson Logos alive after all this time.
Rested and resupplied the party return east to their previous campsite. They find that during the intervening period the goblins have erected a crude sign outside the cave saying "Kep Out! Goblinz only". Finbar takes the sign with the intention of slapping goblins with it - apparently this passes as irony amongst elvish circles*.
* In our post-apocalyptic campaign Finbar's player had a character called Clint who owned a "STOP" road-sign. This was a favoured weapon until it was "stolen" by a giant mutant plant that the party nicknamed "Audrey". Forever after he would bemoan the loss of his sign, usually whilst mowing his foes to death with automatic weapon fire, or on one occasion beating an enemy to death with his own helmet.
After camping up for the night the party returns to the fork in the tunnel on the second level and chooses the north-west tunnel. After about 15ft this opens into another cave with the tunnel continuing north-west. As they pass through this cave a pale humanoid in ancient finery detaches itself from a shadowy alcove and strikes out at Finbar with clawed fingernails. Despite this cinematic entrance and some resulting party apprehension the ghoul is quickly dispatched and looted of its finery (purse, gold signet ring, massive decorative key on a heavy gold chain and pair of silver bracelets). The party is unharmed.
Continuing north-west the party reach a T-junction with a tunnel leading off to the south. Just beyond this another rock cut staircase descends further into the labyrinth. The southern tunnel leads into a large low-ceilinged cave scattered with the bones of rats, goblins, humans and others. Shanks and Zarjaz (?) crawl around amongst this detritus but find nothing of note. They surmise that the ghoul lived here.
After some debate the party follows the stairs down to the third level with Shanks taking point. The stairs end in a stone archway and an alert Shanks is fortunate to avoid injury as a massive rock falls from the arch. A slightly less fortunate Zarjaz is hit by a smaller rock that bounces of his pointed hat; leading to general hilarity. Beyond the archway is a small cave from which a tunnel leads north into a bigger cave. The floor of this second cave is littered with (still juicy) broken bodies. At the north end of this cave a carved stone archway leads into a wide, worked stone staircase that leads further down. A tunnel leads south-east.
As the party enter the cave the five bodies start to rise from their repose with a chorus of moans. Barack raises his holy symbol and turns 2 of the zombies who shuffle off down the stairs. Finbar and Delast charge the remainder with Shanks in his usual support role. The zombies are defeated at the expense of some minor injuries. There proves to be nothing worth looting on the bodies.
The party follows the tunnel south-east for about 50ft before it opens out into a huge cavern. The walls are carved with many burial alcoves, the gnawed, crushed and shattered contents of which lie strewn across the cavern floor. Three more recent broken human bodies lie shredded on the floor. The party cautiously make their way around this U-shaped cavern heading west, then south before turning back east on themselves. Shanks and Zarjaz sift through the remains but only recover a single silver piece.
Eventually after about an hour of investigation the party passes east out of the cavern and through a stone archway into a short section of worked stone corridor that ends in a stone slab door. This is forced open and leads into a wide stone corridor heading north. More burial alcoves are built into the corridor's walls. The party follow the corridor with Shanks and Zarjaz continuing to take the time to search the ancient remains.
About 40ft up the corridor there is a side corridor leading east down a shallow flight of steps. 3 zombies lurch out of this corridor but are turned back by Barack. Finbar and Delast follow them down the steps into an ornately decorated sunken crypt. Once backed into the crypt the zombies turn to attack. As the party rushes to engage them they are surprised as 4 foul robber flies drop from above. The battle is fierce and closely fought but with the help of the invaluable Sleep spell the party are ultimately victorious.
The game session ended here.
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Old School D&D - Session 2 - 16th January 2013
WARNING! Contains spoilers for Dyson's Delve.
Characters:
The story continues ...
Tired and wounded the party returns to Ethanfeld to rest, heal and resupply. With their ill-gotten gains they buy tents and other camping equipment, rations, bandages, lanterns for all, copious quantities of lamp oil and 2 mules to help them carry everything. In addition Finbar properly arms himself with a sabre, shield and longbow.
One day later the party heads back into the Dragonbone Peaks. They are joined by a new companion, Barack Kihnos, an initiate in the Cult of Thor. From his player we learn that in order to progress in the cult Barack must personally kill a (currently unspecified) number of goblins and return with their left ears as evidence. Arriving back in the vicinity of the cave the party set up a semi-permanent camp, choosing the shelter of a nearby scrub covered knoll in the hopes that it won't be disturbed by the local goblins.
The following morning they make their way up to the cave and are surprised by 2 goblin lookouts who shoot arrows ineffectively at them. With a holy oath Barack charges the goblin's position with Finbar in close pursuit. The goblins are quickly defeated and with evident satisfaction Barack takes his first trophy.
Barack and Finbar take the lead as the party re-enters the cave and this time decides to take right-hand tunnels. In the first new cave that they enter they disturb 3 ornery giant ferrets picking over the remains of another rat's nest. In the ensuing fight Barack is badly injured and uses up his Cure Light Wounds spell. His suggestion that the party rests up so that he might regain his spell was met with jeers from the Magic-User and Elves.
Continuing east from the large cave and turning south the party discovers a rock cut staircase descending further into the labyrinth. They choose to ignore this for the moment. By backtracking and following a narrow tunnel north-east they find themselves back at the point where the tunnels break into the worked stone east-west corridor. They head west along this corridor back into the goblin chambers where they find that the bodies of the slain have been removed. With some effort the door in the north-west corner of the first goblin chamber is forced open to reveal an ascending spiral staircase. Shanks climbs this for about 30 ft where it terminates in a trapdoor. After another struggle he opens this to reveal an entrance from the tower ruins that the party had missed during their original search.
Returning to the corridor the party head east for about 20 ft until it turns north to open into a large room. At the angle of the corridor there is a door in the south wall that has been barred from the outside and marked with a crudely painted skull. As they are considering opening this door Shanks hears the faint sounds of conversation approaching from the north. Forewarned they ambush 2 more goblins and their trained giant ferret coming up another staircase from the lower level. Zarjaz (or Finbar?) uses his Sleep spell and the goblins are unceremoniously dispatched.
In the south wall of the south-east corner of this room is another barred door also marked with a skull. After first checking it for traps, Shanks opens this door to reveal a long neglected corridor decorated with dusty webs. Shanks creeps down the corridor with a lantern, Barack and Finbar follow not so carefully behind whilst Zarjaz and Delast stay by the door. The corridor opens into a crypt decorated with a mosaic of the life of Saint Ulther and containing an ornate sarcophagus. The corridor continues south out of this chamber and into darkness. Despite the protestations of Barack, Shanks proceeds to check the sarcophagus for traps before starting to pry off its heavy lid. However before the sarcophagus is half-way open the party are alerted by the approaching sound of hollow footsteps.
A phalanx of 9 animated skeletons armed with spears, shields and scraps of ancient armour marches into the crypt from the south arranging themselves in battle formation. Shanks retreats towards the door whilst Finbar and Barack move to intercept. With outstretched holy-symbol Barack tries and fails to turn the undead; apparently Thor looks unkindly on tomb robbers. Finbar and Barack trade blows with the skeletons whilst slowly withdrawing up the corridor. Shanks and Delast provide support from the back line with thrown dagger, Magic Missile and bow. Ultimately the skeletons are defeated and the only injury sustained to the party is one of Shanks' fumbled daggers buried in Barack's back.
After taking a break to rest, bind wounds and argue, the party returns to the crypt. Shanks completes ransacking the sarcophagus; beheading its occupant for "safety reasons" and picking apart its wrappings in a search for loose change. The only treasure recovered is a silver holy-symbol. Investigating the corridor from which the skeletons had come the party finds two more doors: a closed door to the west and an open door to the south. The southern door leads into a chamber filled with mostly empty burial alcoves that the party presume had contained the skeletons.
The western door leads into another tomb with a corridor heading back north and an alcove containing a door in the south-west. This tomb contains another sarcophagus. In a demonstration that experience is not always a great teacher, Shanks soon checks it for traps and starts to lever it open*. Barely has the seal been broken than one rotted hand bursts out grabbing Shanks by the throat whilst the other sweeps the lid off. Struggling for breath and clawing at the creature's grip with one hand, Shanks manages to smash his lantern over the corpse. Clambering out of its sarcophagus with a roar the now alight corpse throws Shanks against the wall like a rag doll (reducing him to 0 HP, but a roll on the critical table leaves him still able to act but with flesh wounds; -2 to-hit). Barack attempts to turn the undead, failing once again, but Zarjaz (or possibly Shanks) successfully throws more oil on the blaze. Finbar and Barack stand toe-to-toe with the creature but it doesn't finally go down until hit by one of Shanks' thrown daggers.
The game session ended here.
* As a GM I appreciated this "honest" playing of a 1st Level Character. How often have I seen the opening of a coffin treated as an elaborate set-piece where the occupant is barely given the opportunity to moan once before it has been dowsed in holy-water, acid, flaming-oil beheaded and dismembered?
Characters:
- Zarjaz the Zazzy - Magic-User 1 - Male
- Shanks Mcspindlewort - Thief 1 - Male
- Finbar son of Finwe - Elf 1 - Male
- Delast Elfenprincess* - Elf 1 - Female
- Barack Kihnos - Cleric 1 - Male
The story continues ...
Tired and wounded the party returns to Ethanfeld to rest, heal and resupply. With their ill-gotten gains they buy tents and other camping equipment, rations, bandages, lanterns for all, copious quantities of lamp oil and 2 mules to help them carry everything. In addition Finbar properly arms himself with a sabre, shield and longbow.
One day later the party heads back into the Dragonbone Peaks. They are joined by a new companion, Barack Kihnos, an initiate in the Cult of Thor. From his player we learn that in order to progress in the cult Barack must personally kill a (currently unspecified) number of goblins and return with their left ears as evidence. Arriving back in the vicinity of the cave the party set up a semi-permanent camp, choosing the shelter of a nearby scrub covered knoll in the hopes that it won't be disturbed by the local goblins.
The following morning they make their way up to the cave and are surprised by 2 goblin lookouts who shoot arrows ineffectively at them. With a holy oath Barack charges the goblin's position with Finbar in close pursuit. The goblins are quickly defeated and with evident satisfaction Barack takes his first trophy.
Barack and Finbar take the lead as the party re-enters the cave and this time decides to take right-hand tunnels. In the first new cave that they enter they disturb 3 ornery giant ferrets picking over the remains of another rat's nest. In the ensuing fight Barack is badly injured and uses up his Cure Light Wounds spell. His suggestion that the party rests up so that he might regain his spell was met with jeers from the Magic-User and Elves.
Continuing east from the large cave and turning south the party discovers a rock cut staircase descending further into the labyrinth. They choose to ignore this for the moment. By backtracking and following a narrow tunnel north-east they find themselves back at the point where the tunnels break into the worked stone east-west corridor. They head west along this corridor back into the goblin chambers where they find that the bodies of the slain have been removed. With some effort the door in the north-west corner of the first goblin chamber is forced open to reveal an ascending spiral staircase. Shanks climbs this for about 30 ft where it terminates in a trapdoor. After another struggle he opens this to reveal an entrance from the tower ruins that the party had missed during their original search.
Returning to the corridor the party head east for about 20 ft until it turns north to open into a large room. At the angle of the corridor there is a door in the south wall that has been barred from the outside and marked with a crudely painted skull. As they are considering opening this door Shanks hears the faint sounds of conversation approaching from the north. Forewarned they ambush 2 more goblins and their trained giant ferret coming up another staircase from the lower level. Zarjaz (or Finbar?) uses his Sleep spell and the goblins are unceremoniously dispatched.
In the south wall of the south-east corner of this room is another barred door also marked with a skull. After first checking it for traps, Shanks opens this door to reveal a long neglected corridor decorated with dusty webs. Shanks creeps down the corridor with a lantern, Barack and Finbar follow not so carefully behind whilst Zarjaz and Delast stay by the door. The corridor opens into a crypt decorated with a mosaic of the life of Saint Ulther and containing an ornate sarcophagus. The corridor continues south out of this chamber and into darkness. Despite the protestations of Barack, Shanks proceeds to check the sarcophagus for traps before starting to pry off its heavy lid. However before the sarcophagus is half-way open the party are alerted by the approaching sound of hollow footsteps.
A phalanx of 9 animated skeletons armed with spears, shields and scraps of ancient armour marches into the crypt from the south arranging themselves in battle formation. Shanks retreats towards the door whilst Finbar and Barack move to intercept. With outstretched holy-symbol Barack tries and fails to turn the undead; apparently Thor looks unkindly on tomb robbers. Finbar and Barack trade blows with the skeletons whilst slowly withdrawing up the corridor. Shanks and Delast provide support from the back line with thrown dagger, Magic Missile and bow. Ultimately the skeletons are defeated and the only injury sustained to the party is one of Shanks' fumbled daggers buried in Barack's back.
After taking a break to rest, bind wounds and argue, the party returns to the crypt. Shanks completes ransacking the sarcophagus; beheading its occupant for "safety reasons" and picking apart its wrappings in a search for loose change. The only treasure recovered is a silver holy-symbol. Investigating the corridor from which the skeletons had come the party finds two more doors: a closed door to the west and an open door to the south. The southern door leads into a chamber filled with mostly empty burial alcoves that the party presume had contained the skeletons.
The western door leads into another tomb with a corridor heading back north and an alcove containing a door in the south-west. This tomb contains another sarcophagus. In a demonstration that experience is not always a great teacher, Shanks soon checks it for traps and starts to lever it open*. Barely has the seal been broken than one rotted hand bursts out grabbing Shanks by the throat whilst the other sweeps the lid off. Struggling for breath and clawing at the creature's grip with one hand, Shanks manages to smash his lantern over the corpse. Clambering out of its sarcophagus with a roar the now alight corpse throws Shanks against the wall like a rag doll (reducing him to 0 HP, but a roll on the critical table leaves him still able to act but with flesh wounds; -2 to-hit). Barack attempts to turn the undead, failing once again, but Zarjaz (or possibly Shanks) successfully throws more oil on the blaze. Finbar and Barack stand toe-to-toe with the creature but it doesn't finally go down until hit by one of Shanks' thrown daggers.
The game session ended here.
* As a GM I appreciated this "honest" playing of a 1st Level Character. How often have I seen the opening of a coffin treated as an elaborate set-piece where the occupant is barely given the opportunity to moan once before it has been dowsed in holy-water, acid, flaming-oil beheaded and dismembered?
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Old School D&D - Session 1 - 9th January 2013
WARNING! Contains spoilers for Dyson's Delve.
Characters:
In the settlement of Ethanfeld on the north-east shores of the Smoking Bay and gateway to adventure in the Dragonbone Peaks.
Zarjaz and Shanks are in the local tavern (where else) taking a sabbatical from a commission to recover Dyson Logos, the missing eldest son of Caedwine Logos, Duke of Muncaester. When last heard of Dyson was on an expedition with some of his cronies to discover the whereabouts of the Crypt of Saint Ulther; rumoured to lie beneath a ruined tower somewhere in the Dragonbone Peaks. From their players we learn that Zarjaz and Shanks are not the most reputable of fellows and have only taken this commission to avoid a public hanging for an incident involving a Sleep spell in a Muncaester bordello. Their original companions having learnt of this reputation late in the day have recently abandoned them in Ethanfeld and Zarjaz and Shanks are either too cowardly or too smart to proceed into the Dragonbone Peaks alone.
Delast and Finbar are in Ethanfeld apparently searching for "lost elven artifacts" but at the moment seem to be down on their luck. Finbar in particular has only the clothes he stands up in and a chainmail shirt (he later obtains a big stick to use as a temporary weapon). The story behind this misfortune is unclear but may have involved a halfling thief. Another theory offered up by the players is that it involved Shanks Mcspindlewort wearing a pair of hairy slippers.
The two parties became acquainted in the usual manner (with sarcasm, jibes, GM rail-roading, etc.) and voted to join forces instead of fighting each other, though it was a close run thing. In what I suspect will become a running joke, Zarjaz and Shanks deliberately "mistook" the elves for a married couple with Delast being the male and Finbar the female. There were long negotiation about how any loot would be divided between party members. These concluded that the elves will get any elven artifacts but may or may not be entitled to anything else; the elves understood that they will get a 50% share of anything else, Zarjaz and Shanks did not have the same understanding.
The next morning, with the help of directions from the locals, the party set out on a riverside trail leading into the Dragonbone Peaks. They are all on foot except for Zarjaz who is riding his donkey "Kong" (groans from the audience); who is according to Shanks, "the brains of the operation." At about midday they come across the remains of a farmer's cart recently despoiled. The party speculated that the culprits were orcs, but if this is the case then they had unusually large feet. They consider following them off the trail but Kong refuses. By dusk the party has reached the foothills and located the tower ruin. They are disappointed to find that the standing ruins barely reach shoulder height and are heavily overgrown. After poking around ineffectively for an hour they camp down for the night.
The next morning the party split into two groups to scout the area. After a couple of hours, Shanks locates a trail leading into a gulley and ultimately a cave mouth in the hillside about 10 yards beneath the summit. With Zarjaz carrying a lantern behind them Finbar and Delast tale the lead down a cave passage that soon opens out into a large uneven floored limestone cave. Further passageways lead north, east and south.
Deciding to explore by always turning left the party follows the north passageway into a smaller cave. This contains a large nest of twigs, leaves, moss, small bones, and shredded paper. Finbar pokes it several times with his stick and a dozen giant rats erupt from within and swarm over the party. There are several rounds of sword swinging during which half the rats are slain at the expense of Delast being seriously mauled and some minor scratches to the rest of the party. Zarjaz decides enough is enough and uses his Sleep spell to deal with the remainder. A small purse of coins is recovered from the nest.
At Zarjaz and Delast's request the party agree to camp up, tend to their wounds and relearn spells. Rather than going back above ground they decide to hold up in the nest cave. They post watches and during the night two goblins pass through the large cave and are dealt with - I forget by whom. Finbar takes one of their short swords to replace his stick, likewise Shanks takes their knives to supplement his throwing daggers.
In the morning the party resume their exploration heading east from the large cave and following a twisting passage north-east further into the hill. Ignoring several side passages they reach a point where the rough cut passage breaks into a worked stone east-west corridor, presumably part of the tower's cellars. Turning left they follow the corridor to a closed door from behind which they discern firelight and the chit-chat of goblins.
Finbar bursts through the door with Delast (now using her bow) and Shanks (with throwing daggers) close behind. The room beyond is roughly square with exits in the north-west and south-west corners. They surprise 2 goblins sat around a fire-pit and one is killed before it even manages to stand. The second runs for the south-west exit. Delast wings it with an arrow before it disappears out of sight shouting an alarm. Shanks pursues the wounded goblin out of the room down a corridor and into a guard room containing 4 alerted goblins. He throws a dagger to finish off the injured one before scurrying back down the corridor with the others in pursuit. In the corridor Finbar intercepts and holds off Shank's pursuers with Delast providing missile support. The fight is ended by Zarjaz with a Sleep spell.
Having looted the goblins the party makes its way into the guard room in time to be surprised by a door in the west wall being thrown open by a large hobgoblin. With a battle-cry it charges into the room swinging its battleaxe at Shanks. He dodges deftly away and Finbar steps into the fray. Blows are traded and wounds taken on both sides before Finbar delivers the killing blow. He takes the battleaxe as a trophy pronouncing it to be a "lost elven artifact".
After resting for a few minutes the party head through the western door. They follow a corridor into a chamber that by goblin standards is lavishly decorated with a ruined four poster bed, table and chair. A search reveals a lock-box which Shanks manages to open (just before Delast discovers the key). Within are 500 sp in coins, gems and cheap jewellery.
The game session ended here.
Characters:
- Zarjaz the Zazzy - Magic-User 1 - Male
- Shanks Mcspindlewort - Thief 1 - Male
- Finbar son of Finwe - Elf 1 - Male
- Delast Elfenprincess - Elf 1 - Female
In the settlement of Ethanfeld on the north-east shores of the Smoking Bay and gateway to adventure in the Dragonbone Peaks.
Zarjaz and Shanks are in the local tavern (where else) taking a sabbatical from a commission to recover Dyson Logos, the missing eldest son of Caedwine Logos, Duke of Muncaester. When last heard of Dyson was on an expedition with some of his cronies to discover the whereabouts of the Crypt of Saint Ulther; rumoured to lie beneath a ruined tower somewhere in the Dragonbone Peaks. From their players we learn that Zarjaz and Shanks are not the most reputable of fellows and have only taken this commission to avoid a public hanging for an incident involving a Sleep spell in a Muncaester bordello. Their original companions having learnt of this reputation late in the day have recently abandoned them in Ethanfeld and Zarjaz and Shanks are either too cowardly or too smart to proceed into the Dragonbone Peaks alone.
Delast and Finbar are in Ethanfeld apparently searching for "lost elven artifacts" but at the moment seem to be down on their luck. Finbar in particular has only the clothes he stands up in and a chainmail shirt (he later obtains a big stick to use as a temporary weapon). The story behind this misfortune is unclear but may have involved a halfling thief. Another theory offered up by the players is that it involved Shanks Mcspindlewort wearing a pair of hairy slippers.
The two parties became acquainted in the usual manner (with sarcasm, jibes, GM rail-roading, etc.) and voted to join forces instead of fighting each other, though it was a close run thing. In what I suspect will become a running joke, Zarjaz and Shanks deliberately "mistook" the elves for a married couple with Delast being the male and Finbar the female. There were long negotiation about how any loot would be divided between party members. These concluded that the elves will get any elven artifacts but may or may not be entitled to anything else; the elves understood that they will get a 50% share of anything else, Zarjaz and Shanks did not have the same understanding.
The next morning, with the help of directions from the locals, the party set out on a riverside trail leading into the Dragonbone Peaks. They are all on foot except for Zarjaz who is riding his donkey "Kong" (groans from the audience); who is according to Shanks, "the brains of the operation." At about midday they come across the remains of a farmer's cart recently despoiled. The party speculated that the culprits were orcs, but if this is the case then they had unusually large feet. They consider following them off the trail but Kong refuses. By dusk the party has reached the foothills and located the tower ruin. They are disappointed to find that the standing ruins barely reach shoulder height and are heavily overgrown. After poking around ineffectively for an hour they camp down for the night.
The next morning the party split into two groups to scout the area. After a couple of hours, Shanks locates a trail leading into a gulley and ultimately a cave mouth in the hillside about 10 yards beneath the summit. With Zarjaz carrying a lantern behind them Finbar and Delast tale the lead down a cave passage that soon opens out into a large uneven floored limestone cave. Further passageways lead north, east and south.
Deciding to explore by always turning left the party follows the north passageway into a smaller cave. This contains a large nest of twigs, leaves, moss, small bones, and shredded paper. Finbar pokes it several times with his stick and a dozen giant rats erupt from within and swarm over the party. There are several rounds of sword swinging during which half the rats are slain at the expense of Delast being seriously mauled and some minor scratches to the rest of the party. Zarjaz decides enough is enough and uses his Sleep spell to deal with the remainder. A small purse of coins is recovered from the nest.
At Zarjaz and Delast's request the party agree to camp up, tend to their wounds and relearn spells. Rather than going back above ground they decide to hold up in the nest cave. They post watches and during the night two goblins pass through the large cave and are dealt with - I forget by whom. Finbar takes one of their short swords to replace his stick, likewise Shanks takes their knives to supplement his throwing daggers.
In the morning the party resume their exploration heading east from the large cave and following a twisting passage north-east further into the hill. Ignoring several side passages they reach a point where the rough cut passage breaks into a worked stone east-west corridor, presumably part of the tower's cellars. Turning left they follow the corridor to a closed door from behind which they discern firelight and the chit-chat of goblins.
Finbar bursts through the door with Delast (now using her bow) and Shanks (with throwing daggers) close behind. The room beyond is roughly square with exits in the north-west and south-west corners. They surprise 2 goblins sat around a fire-pit and one is killed before it even manages to stand. The second runs for the south-west exit. Delast wings it with an arrow before it disappears out of sight shouting an alarm. Shanks pursues the wounded goblin out of the room down a corridor and into a guard room containing 4 alerted goblins. He throws a dagger to finish off the injured one before scurrying back down the corridor with the others in pursuit. In the corridor Finbar intercepts and holds off Shank's pursuers with Delast providing missile support. The fight is ended by Zarjaz with a Sleep spell.
Having looted the goblins the party makes its way into the guard room in time to be surprised by a door in the west wall being thrown open by a large hobgoblin. With a battle-cry it charges into the room swinging its battleaxe at Shanks. He dodges deftly away and Finbar steps into the fray. Blows are traded and wounds taken on both sides before Finbar delivers the killing blow. He takes the battleaxe as a trophy pronouncing it to be a "lost elven artifact".
After resting for a few minutes the party head through the western door. They follow a corridor into a chamber that by goblin standards is lavishly decorated with a ruined four poster bed, table and chair. A search reveals a lock-box which Shanks manages to open (just before Delast discovers the key). Within are 500 sp in coins, gems and cheap jewellery.
The game session ended here.
New year, new game
We were supposed to start the year with a continuation of our Mongoose RuneQuest II game. But the GM had a lousy day at work, or more precisely a lousy day sitting for hours in his car on the Motorway. So rather than playing a boardgame I stepped in to GM at short notice.
This suited me as I'd spent the Christmas vacation reading OSR blogs and rekindling my enthusiasm for old school D&D. After considering Castles & Crusades (which I already have, though something about the Siege Engine sticks in my craw) and checking out eBay for a copy of the RulesCyclopedia (the only item I truly regret disposing of during a massive purge 10 years ago - WotC please reprint this) I had ordered hard-copies of Labyrinth Lord to supplement my PDFs.
After carefully interrogating me to ensure I wasn't intending to inflict 3rd Edition on them (I don't think any of us have ever looked at 4th) my players seemed equally enthusiastic. We had soon created a Magic User (Zarjaz the Zazzy), Thief (Shanks Mcspindlewort) and two Elves (Finbar son of Finwe and Delast Elfenprincess*). After a much longer delay they were equipped and even named.
* A mocking reference to a fellow male gamer (not part of our current group) with a seemingly unbroken history of playing high charisma, high comeliness female characters. Though it has to be said that he isn't the only player in my experience with this reputation. Anyway, when last heard of his current character's appellation was "The Last Elven Princess". Ironically of course the player playing this new CHA 15 female character is male ;-)
Initial house rules:
If this game proves to "have legs" these will no doubt expand into my own D&D Mine.
- Character generation using 4d6 choose the best 3 in order
- 2 for 1 attribute exchange for primary requisites as described in the LL rules, but at the time didn't notice the restrictions such as not dropping CHA - perhaps these weren't present in Mentzer?
- Maximum HP at 1st Level
- AC by Character Class
- Weapon damage by Character Class
- Ascending ACs - instead of explaining how THAC0 works at least once every session
- Warhammer style critical hits when 0 HP reached
A report of our first session will follow ...
Saturday, 5 January 2013
2012 my gaming year in retrospective
Except when I'm away on business our group of 6 players (The League of Ordinary Gentlemen*) gathers around my dining room table every Wednesday evening for about 3 hours. This year's sessions have been starting in a peculiarly civilized fashion as my fiancee has taken to practising on her Grand Piano just before we begin - are we perhaps the only gaming group with such a live music prelude?
* This was going to be the title of my blog but is already being used seems by an American political blog - not linked since I can't be bothered to check they aren't a bunch of nutters.
The year started with a continuation of my Savage Worlds* post-apocalyptic campaign, otherwise known as the "post-apocalyptic nonsense". Though initially I'd intended this to be a gritty, Mad Max influenced campaign, a lack of prep time and the dearth of off-the-shelf material had transformed it into Darwin's World without beneficial mutations (except for selected NPCs). We've used some scenarios from the Exodus RPG, worked our way through Against the Wastelords and New World Order and are now on The Last God. These are published for Darwin's World d20 and are pretty good except for some inconsistencies in the scenario timelines that are difficult to reconcile. In addition The Last God, which is quite a complex sandbox adventure, has some some significant plot holes. Ultimately one of these plot holes, and my improvisational failings as a GM caused this game to stall by the beginning of autumn. It's my hope that we will return to this game, but it might need a rewind or reboot.
* Savage Worlds has been our go-to game for several years but we're rather burnt out on it now. Personally I'm no longer enamoured by its fundamental mechanics and find that "acing" in particular leads to a style of play where either the GM or players are perpetually firefighting the results of extreme dice rolls.
After a few weeks of boardgames and a couple of interesting sessions of a post-war Berlin horror game, our other principal GM kicked off a Mongoose RuneQuest II / Legend Glorantha game that kept us entertained for the last quarter of the year. I've enjoyed this, but several of the characters have ended up feeling rather similar and lifeless which I think might be a weakness of the system when in the hands of frequently tired and not particularly talented "role" players such as ourselves. We've also struggled a bit with determining which combat rolls are "opposed" and with a certain sameness in combat maneuvers: choose location head, bypass armour, maximise damage ;-)
At the end of our last session of the year we decided that in 2013 we will be continuing with the RQ as our principal campaign and that someone else will fill in with some Flaming Carrot inspired superheroes using an as yet undecided system. In theory I'll be taking a break.
Friday, 4 January 2013
Why is this blog called "Geeks in the Cellar"?
Initially I played Dungeons & Dragons with school friends but thanks to an advert in a relatively early White Dwarf I found a Roleplaying club held on Sundays at a local scout hut in Gatley, Stockport. They were a friendly if dysfunctional bunch of reprobates some of whom still sit around my gaming table 25 years later.
I always assumed that the Gatley club had been running for some while but my best friend, who was there at the time (though he is several years older than me and we wouldn't become friends until much later) was "in" with those who organized it and upon reading a draft of this blog-post commented that the posting of that advert was almost simultaneous with the club starting. I guess it is still possible that I saw it in a back issue.
As I recall I didn't play a lot of "Red Box" D&D there. Instead I was introduced to WFRP, Palladium, RuneQuest, Judge Dredd, lots of Warhammer Battle ... and presumably AD&D 1st Edition but I don't have any specific memory of the latter. There was also some running around with water pistols, including a "drive by shooting" outside a local shop. I don't think I did any GMing there; at 11 I was almost certainly the youngest and somewhat in awe of my elders, even though many of them can't have been more than 16.
After maybe a year the whole club was kicked out of the scout hut. Apocraphally this was because someone smeared the walls of the toilet with shit. It's not entirely certain that this ever happened, I think it highly unlikely.
My best friend offered the opinion that the event was a concoction to expel the club. After all this time I guess it doesn't matter.
We were temporarily re-homed in the clean and spacious hall of a school in Cheadle. I seem to remember playing a lot of first edition Warhammer 40K there. However we can't have been there more than 6 months before we were moved on again. This time the reason was apparently financial; the club's president had dipped into the kitty to help make his mortgage payments. Again I was just a kid at the time and it's possible the situation was more complicated. Even if true I imagine he meant it to be a short term "loan" and always intended to pay the money back next month. Whatever the full story, the end result was that we had to leave the school and I don't recall seeing him around again.
So when I'm about 14 the club found itself based on the second floor above a rather seedy second hand gaming store in Back Picadilly, Manchester, where we could play both Saturdays and Sundays. Here alas the lease holder gave us free rein to decorate as we pleased and as you might expect from a group of mostly young male geeks this resulted in an already dark room being painted black with a rather amateur attempt rendition of a star-scape implemented with sponge and paintbrush. I remember this venue as always being filthy and I'm told it stank of grease and unwashed gamers; it wasn't being used by anyone else so the impetus to keep it clean was largely absent, in fact it got so bad that on one occasion I brought the vacuum cleaner from home. Not unexpectedly the toilet was especially a hive of scum and villainy. I also remember competition between the separate gaming groups to order the largest round of toasted teacakes at the local McDonald's; 20+ were not unheard of. We were here when the first edition of WEG's d6 Star Wars RPG was released, which I recall being very reluctant to play at first, possibly because of the high regard with which I held the then untainted films. However after the first session I went and bought both the rules and Sourcebook and for a couple of years it was a favoured game.
At about this time my family moved to Stockport and into a large Edwardian property in a very poor state of repair that would take over a decade to rectify. It was however blessed with great size including a very large bedroom for me and extensive cellars. It was also much closer to most of my gaming group. Starting with the occasional midweek or Saturday evening we began to game here frequently. Ultimately with the permission of my parents and after a whirlwind clean and paint of the largest cellar my group decided that we'd had enough of Back Piccadilly and relocated our Sunday game too.
Over the following years until I left for University our group grew into its own small club of up to 4 groups and 20+ gamers scattered over 3 cellar rooms. Most of these gamers joined us from Back Piccadilly as rumours spread of a more convivial environment in what for many was a more convenient location. At this time I was taking more of the GMing duties running 2nd Edition AD&D, Call of Cthulhu, DC Heroes and Star Wars 2nd Edition.
My memory is vague but I think as University approached numbers were already falling as various groups splintered off and started playing elsewhere. At the end I was GMing D&D from the RulesCyclopedia for a group of two or three and probably playing in at least one game too. Our club must have closed in September 1992 with its members either heading like me to University (a minority), drifting into real life or returning to the progenitor club in Manchester, which as I recall was now using a pub function room. The cellar would continue to see gaming action on and off over the next five years when I was on vacation from University but the heyday of Geeks in the Cellar seemed to be over ...
I always assumed that the Gatley club had been running for some while but my best friend, who was there at the time (though he is several years older than me and we wouldn't become friends until much later) was "in" with those who organized it and upon reading a draft of this blog-post commented that the posting of that advert was almost simultaneous with the club starting. I guess it is still possible that I saw it in a back issue.
As I recall I didn't play a lot of "Red Box" D&D there. Instead I was introduced to WFRP, Palladium, RuneQuest, Judge Dredd, lots of Warhammer Battle ... and presumably AD&D 1st Edition but I don't have any specific memory of the latter. There was also some running around with water pistols, including a "drive by shooting" outside a local shop. I don't think I did any GMing there; at 11 I was almost certainly the youngest and somewhat in awe of my elders, even though many of them can't have been more than 16.
After maybe a year the whole club was kicked out of the scout hut. Apocraphally this was because someone smeared the walls of the toilet with shit. It's not entirely certain that this ever happened, I think it highly unlikely.
My best friend offered the opinion that the event was a concoction to expel the club. After all this time I guess it doesn't matter.
We were temporarily re-homed in the clean and spacious hall of a school in Cheadle. I seem to remember playing a lot of first edition Warhammer 40K there. However we can't have been there more than 6 months before we were moved on again. This time the reason was apparently financial; the club's president had dipped into the kitty to help make his mortgage payments. Again I was just a kid at the time and it's possible the situation was more complicated. Even if true I imagine he meant it to be a short term "loan" and always intended to pay the money back next month. Whatever the full story, the end result was that we had to leave the school and I don't recall seeing him around again.
So when I'm about 14 the club found itself based on the second floor above a rather seedy second hand gaming store in Back Picadilly, Manchester, where we could play both Saturdays and Sundays. Here alas the lease holder gave us free rein to decorate as we pleased and as you might expect from a group of mostly young male geeks this resulted in an already dark room being painted black with a rather amateur attempt rendition of a star-scape implemented with sponge and paintbrush. I remember this venue as always being filthy and I'm told it stank of grease and unwashed gamers; it wasn't being used by anyone else so the impetus to keep it clean was largely absent, in fact it got so bad that on one occasion I brought the vacuum cleaner from home. Not unexpectedly the toilet was especially a hive of scum and villainy. I also remember competition between the separate gaming groups to order the largest round of toasted teacakes at the local McDonald's; 20+ were not unheard of. We were here when the first edition of WEG's d6 Star Wars RPG was released, which I recall being very reluctant to play at first, possibly because of the high regard with which I held the then untainted films. However after the first session I went and bought both the rules and Sourcebook and for a couple of years it was a favoured game.
At about this time my family moved to Stockport and into a large Edwardian property in a very poor state of repair that would take over a decade to rectify. It was however blessed with great size including a very large bedroom for me and extensive cellars. It was also much closer to most of my gaming group. Starting with the occasional midweek or Saturday evening we began to game here frequently. Ultimately with the permission of my parents and after a whirlwind clean and paint of the largest cellar my group decided that we'd had enough of Back Piccadilly and relocated our Sunday game too.
Over the following years until I left for University our group grew into its own small club of up to 4 groups and 20+ gamers scattered over 3 cellar rooms. Most of these gamers joined us from Back Piccadilly as rumours spread of a more convivial environment in what for many was a more convenient location. At this time I was taking more of the GMing duties running 2nd Edition AD&D, Call of Cthulhu, DC Heroes and Star Wars 2nd Edition.
My memory is vague but I think as University approached numbers were already falling as various groups splintered off and started playing elsewhere. At the end I was GMing D&D from the RulesCyclopedia for a group of two or three and probably playing in at least one game too. Our club must have closed in September 1992 with its members either heading like me to University (a minority), drifting into real life or returning to the progenitor club in Manchester, which as I recall was now using a pub function room. The cellar would continue to see gaming action on and off over the next five years when I was on vacation from University but the heyday of Geeks in the Cellar seemed to be over ...
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