Summary
Another session of my house campaign, with the party making their way to their first dungeon and starting a potential friendship with some of the inhabitants.
Party Members
- Verasha - Level 2 Druid
- Pipam - Level 2 Illusionist
- von Plarf - Level 1 Elf
- Zoltan - Level 2 Dwarf
Followers
Jaro (Verasha's war boar); Jan "the Hard Up" (Torchbearer); Ludwig (Porter); Adam (Man-at-Arms); Walter of Potsdam (Man-at-Arms) and 3 War Hounds
Session Recap
After catching up with friends and family in the Hidden Village, Verasha decided to go see the high priestess of Svine, the God Swine and one of the animal gods that the pagans in the village worshiped. The high priestess informed her that the goddess had just given birth recently to 4 young piglets. Verasha had been very interested in getting another war pig besides Jaro, however the priestess told her the animals needed about a month to get to full size and power (they grow much faster, being the offspring of a sort-of-divine being).
Being out of money and out of anything else to do, the party made their way back through the forest and towards the ruins of the old fortified manor that the local boyar (or lord) had lived. On the way there they walked past a section of the new forest that had sprung up, and despite the cool autumn weather and the orange, red and brown panoply of the usual forest, this new forest was warm and verdant with bright spring greenery. Clearly a region of high Chaotic energy.
Along the way to the manor the group ran into a group of war bears out on patrol. One of the bears recognized Pipam from back in town and the two groups had a nice conversation (helped by Verasha handing out seed cakes to all the bearlings) that yielded some more information.
Medved, the lord of all Bears was apparently not around due to being in one of his other vacationing spots, but the bears heard he should be back at some point before winter. They also warned the party to be careful when exploring the new magical forest, as bands of big, wild and kind of buff elves were reported in the area attacking people. That was also the reason the war bears were out on patrol.
Finally in the boyar's house (or what was left of it) the group descended into the family catacombs, and immediately ran into a pair of squat, furry and very large-eyed talasumi (or goblins). The guards were a bit surprised at having so many people show up, but once it was clear the party were not interested in fighting them, they suggested the group go talk to their boss instead, which they went and did.
The boss, a much larger goblin with rust-colored hair and a big nose, was initially unsure as to what the party's deal is, but agreed to let them explore the rest of the dungeon as long as they, quote, " stayed out of our shit.". He directed them as to where they can find the second entrance into the dungeon and told them to stay out of goblin territory.
Thanking him the group went back outside and through some of the shrubs at the foot of the hill that the boyar's manor was, and found a natural cave entrance. In there they encountered and proceeded to murder both a trio of very big ferrets and also an entire nest of giant rats using liberal application of oil and fire. After skinning some of the ferrets for their furs and pocketing some coins they found in the rats nest the party found rough hewn steps heading deeper below the earth and headed down that way.
Being out of money and out of anything else to do, the party made their way back through the forest and towards the ruins of the old fortified manor that the local boyar (or lord) had lived. On the way there they walked past a section of the new forest that had sprung up, and despite the cool autumn weather and the orange, red and brown panoply of the usual forest, this new forest was warm and verdant with bright spring greenery. Clearly a region of high Chaotic energy.
Along the way to the manor the group ran into a group of war bears out on patrol. One of the bears recognized Pipam from back in town and the two groups had a nice conversation (helped by Verasha handing out seed cakes to all the bearlings) that yielded some more information.
Medved, the lord of all Bears was apparently not around due to being in one of his other vacationing spots, but the bears heard he should be back at some point before winter. They also warned the party to be careful when exploring the new magical forest, as bands of big, wild and kind of buff elves were reported in the area attacking people. That was also the reason the war bears were out on patrol.
Finally in the boyar's house (or what was left of it) the group descended into the family catacombs, and immediately ran into a pair of squat, furry and very large-eyed talasumi (or goblins). The guards were a bit surprised at having so many people show up, but once it was clear the party were not interested in fighting them, they suggested the group go talk to their boss instead, which they went and did.
 |
| Decent approximation of a talasum/Greylands goblin. Just imagine this with a wider face and big, light-reflecting eyes. |
The boss, a much larger goblin with rust-colored hair and a big nose, was initially unsure as to what the party's deal is, but agreed to let them explore the rest of the dungeon as long as they, quote, " stayed out of our shit.". He directed them as to where they can find the second entrance into the dungeon and told them to stay out of goblin territory.
Thanking him the group went back outside and through some of the shrubs at the foot of the hill that the boyar's manor was, and found a natural cave entrance. In there they encountered and proceeded to murder both a trio of very big ferrets and also an entire nest of giant rats using liberal application of oil and fire. After skinning some of the ferrets for their furs and pocketing some coins they found in the rats nest the party found rough hewn steps heading deeper below the earth and headed down that way.
GM Observations
Well with Gen Con finally over we got back to the Greylands and some actual dungeon exploration!
Since this is a house game with only two players (and myself refereeing) I actually can do stuff like let the action stop midway through the dungeon, as there's no risk of a player not showing up or timing not making sense. After two years of running open table games with players rotating it feels very weird to do that, but I think it actually works out.
I still very much have downtime and associated actions with it, however it is now no longer enforced between every session, as it is with my open table games. The party still will not be able to gain any experience for the treasure and enemies they ran into, until they return back to town for at least a week of downtime and rest.
Since I am running the same dungeons (with just minor changes to the overall area) as I did in my first Greylands game, this encounter is something the players actually sort of new about. And unlike the first party that went through it, they did not start a horrible and violent war with the goblins beneath the manor, instead a combination of high reaction rolls and just....not acting like an asshole now means they are on their way of having a potential ally in the dungeon! We'll see how that pans out in the long run, but it would be very interesting for me as a referee to see the same dungeon explored and approached in a different manner, and from there also leading to different changes during downtime.
Another interesting thing is to see how difficult the dungeon actually is. The party is smaller than the original run (and both start at about level 2 under my Greylands house rules), and the first party actually never made it too deep into the dungeon before encountering serious resistance and losses. However they were also a lot more aggressive in their approach, so perhaps this party will go further?
Since this is a house game with only two players (and myself refereeing) I actually can do stuff like let the action stop midway through the dungeon, as there's no risk of a player not showing up or timing not making sense. After two years of running open table games with players rotating it feels very weird to do that, but I think it actually works out.
I still very much have downtime and associated actions with it, however it is now no longer enforced between every session, as it is with my open table games. The party still will not be able to gain any experience for the treasure and enemies they ran into, until they return back to town for at least a week of downtime and rest.
Since I am running the same dungeons (with just minor changes to the overall area) as I did in my first Greylands game, this encounter is something the players actually sort of new about. And unlike the first party that went through it, they did not start a horrible and violent war with the goblins beneath the manor, instead a combination of high reaction rolls and just....not acting like an asshole now means they are on their way of having a potential ally in the dungeon! We'll see how that pans out in the long run, but it would be very interesting for me as a referee to see the same dungeon explored and approached in a different manner, and from there also leading to different changes during downtime.
Another interesting thing is to see how difficult the dungeon actually is. The party is smaller than the original run (and both start at about level 2 under my Greylands house rules), and the first party actually never made it too deep into the dungeon before encountering serious resistance and losses. However they were also a lot more aggressive in their approach, so perhaps this party will go further?
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