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:

• 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.

Season 2 started a month or more after our party's return to Tristrame. We were shooting the breeze in one of the local taverns when one of the locals approached to tell me that a traveler in one of the other inns had tipped him a silver to come and ask us to meet him. Expecting a fight we warily followed the lad to this rendezvous.

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.

The session ended here.

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:

• 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

The story continues ...

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.

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

The story continues ...

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.