Summary
Returning once more below the Boyar's Manor the party reaches level 3 of the dungeon, has a rather scary fight and an anti-climactic death.
Party Members
- Verasha - Level 2 Druid
- Pipam - Level 2 Illusionist
- von Plarf - Level 1 Elf
- Zoltan - Level 2 Dwarf
- "Rusty" the Talasum - Level 1 Fighter
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
While back in Greytown to sell off some loot, the party managed to figure out that the gloves they got from the sarcophagus of Saint Ulther were, indeed, magical and and allowed the wearer to swim with amazing speed and climb improbable surfaces with ease - clearly the source of some the feats the saint was known for back when he was alive.
However the group had no use for them, and looked to get them converted to cash. Frantishek, the resident wizard in Greytown offered them 100 gold coins for the gloves, but the group were not impressed and so passed. Instead they actually found out that the church was not only aware of their re-discovery of Saint Ulther's remains but also had a counter-offer - 80 gold up front, but also a 50% discount on clerical services from now on if the party were willing to bring them the saint's remains so that they and the gloves may be properly stored and displayed in the church. The party agreed and headed back to their basecamp and delved into the dungeon itself.
However the group had no use for them, and looked to get them converted to cash. Frantishek, the resident wizard in Greytown offered them 100 gold coins for the gloves, but the group were not impressed and so passed. Instead they actually found out that the church was not only aware of their re-discovery of Saint Ulther's remains but also had a counter-offer - 80 gold up front, but also a 50% discount on clerical services from now on if the party were willing to bring them the saint's remains so that they and the gloves may be properly stored and displayed in the church. The party agreed and headed back to their basecamp and delved into the dungeon itself.
Before they continued to delve deeper, they stopped by the Big Boss of the talasumi that lived on level 1, and gifted him with the pair of braziers from the tomb of Maximillian the Girthy and as thanks for their general attitude and helping clear out the undead from the level, as well as the rats, they were informed that the Bigger Boss has granted them permission to freely walk around in their territory on the first two levels of the dungeon. They were not exactly allies yet, but definitely friendly.
Continuing down the stairs the group stopped by to introduce themselves to the rest of the talasmi on the second floor, including a big rust-colored one with an even bigger axe who apparently was part of the Bigger Boss's retinue, a strange small talasum living alone in a closed off room and having a bit of an attitude problem, as well as running into the talasumi's sort-of-successful attempts of rounding up and keeping contained the population of fire beetles found in the dungeon.
They did not get a chance to meet the Bigger Boss personally, since he was apparently busy with other things, so the party kept exploring, and after finding a secret door due to telltale bit of dried blood, they found the staircase heading down to level 3, but also in the room they found numerous talasumi all violently nailed to the pillars in the room via some kind of bony spikes. Since talasumi, as far as the party could tell (and Rusty confirming by pricking his finger), did not really bleed that meant that at least whatever killed these ones had taken a few hits in return. A pair of large orange-haired talasumi warned the party off from not messing with this stuff, but otherwise left them to their own devices.
Deciding to take a different way, the party went into the caverns instead and followed the staircases to level 3 from there, slowly exploring the various alcoves full of the remains of the dead (and pilfering any grave goods worth the bother) as well as fighting off zombies, swarms of rats and such. They also kept feeling a strange breeze blowing through the caverns - a curious thing considering they were quite deep underground. They found a door leading back into the actual catacombs proper, and in the process of pilfering that as well (and again, fighting more zombies and avoiding a big swarm of fire beetles, apparently attracted by the Sunfire flasks the party had utilized) the group found the bottom end of the stairs leading back to the room with the pillars.
They also, less fortunately, found a trio of ghouls hiding in some of the burial alcoves, jumping the party and catching most of them by surprise. A vicious fight ensued in which Zoltan, Pipam along with some of the party's dogs all took some serious hits in (with the dogs and the dwarf all succumbing to the paralyzing touch of the ghouls) before the group managed to dispatch them.
Deciding that it was time to go, the party quickly gathered whatever loot they could, and found in the last alcove they hadn't checked, a small coffer. Pipam, wounded from the fight, with adrenaline pumping through his veins, simply swung the coffer open, with a poisoned dart shooting right at him, the foul trap quickly killing him on the spot. The rest of the group knew this was then definitely the time to go. They grabbed the paralyzed dogs and dwarf, as well as the remains of Pipam, and rushed back up to their camp - significantly richer than before, but at the cost of a party member.
Deciding to take a different way, the party went into the caverns instead and followed the staircases to level 3 from there, slowly exploring the various alcoves full of the remains of the dead (and pilfering any grave goods worth the bother) as well as fighting off zombies, swarms of rats and such. They also kept feeling a strange breeze blowing through the caverns - a curious thing considering they were quite deep underground. They found a door leading back into the actual catacombs proper, and in the process of pilfering that as well (and again, fighting more zombies and avoiding a big swarm of fire beetles, apparently attracted by the Sunfire flasks the party had utilized) the group found the bottom end of the stairs leading back to the room with the pillars.
They also, less fortunately, found a trio of ghouls hiding in some of the burial alcoves, jumping the party and catching most of them by surprise. A vicious fight ensued in which Zoltan, Pipam along with some of the party's dogs all took some serious hits in (with the dogs and the dwarf all succumbing to the paralyzing touch of the ghouls) before the group managed to dispatch them.
Deciding that it was time to go, the party quickly gathered whatever loot they could, and found in the last alcove they hadn't checked, a small coffer. Pipam, wounded from the fight, with adrenaline pumping through his veins, simply swung the coffer open, with a poisoned dart shooting right at him, the foul trap quickly killing him on the spot. The rest of the group knew this was then definitely the time to go. They grabbed the paralyzed dogs and dwarf, as well as the remains of Pipam, and rushed back up to their camp - significantly richer than before, but at the cost of a party member.
GM Observations
So this was a very straightforward dungeon crawl focused session. The party have now effectively neutralized the first two floors of the dungeon, having cleared out everything that could potentially be a source of danger either through violence or diplomacy (and seed cakes)!
This feeds into their further goals of eventually reconstructing the manor above the dungeon and claiming it for themselves. I had made a ruling that the top 5 floors of the dungeon had to be secured and essentially neutralized as sources of threats, with the lower floors being shut off in some way to stop things coming up from below and causing problems.
That is step one (and the hardest one really). Step two would then be getting some 20 to 25k worth of coinage in order to hire builders, bribe the Greytown council into letting them do this, and other general expenses in order to actually reconstruct the manor. With the last few good hauls the party has had, they have about a quarter or so of the money already on hand, so that's definitely achievable as a long-term goal. Plus, as a referee, it means I don't have to try and keep much of the area outside the dungeon constantly moving and stocked with stuff to do, because the party is so focused on it (hell they made a base camp on top of it simply to save themselves the 2 hour trip to and from Greytown).
As for the session itself - the fight with the ghouls really showed off how terrifying they can be, despite being rather whimpy monsters in terms of HP. One ghoul is usually not much of a threat to a party, but three of them? That is nine attacks and any that hit have a good chance of removing a party member from the encounter.
Pipam's death was very much sudden and, honestly, rather flat. It very much underscored the bathos of OSR play - of people's lives ending not in some big gesture (though that can happen), but in sudden and shocking moments of brutality. See also the fate of Esho the Necromancer in my OD&D campaign from earlier this year.
This feeds into their further goals of eventually reconstructing the manor above the dungeon and claiming it for themselves. I had made a ruling that the top 5 floors of the dungeon had to be secured and essentially neutralized as sources of threats, with the lower floors being shut off in some way to stop things coming up from below and causing problems.
That is step one (and the hardest one really). Step two would then be getting some 20 to 25k worth of coinage in order to hire builders, bribe the Greytown council into letting them do this, and other general expenses in order to actually reconstruct the manor. With the last few good hauls the party has had, they have about a quarter or so of the money already on hand, so that's definitely achievable as a long-term goal. Plus, as a referee, it means I don't have to try and keep much of the area outside the dungeon constantly moving and stocked with stuff to do, because the party is so focused on it (hell they made a base camp on top of it simply to save themselves the 2 hour trip to and from Greytown).
As for the session itself - the fight with the ghouls really showed off how terrifying they can be, despite being rather whimpy monsters in terms of HP. One ghoul is usually not much of a threat to a party, but three of them? That is nine attacks and any that hit have a good chance of removing a party member from the encounter.
Pipam's death was very much sudden and, honestly, rather flat. It very much underscored the bathos of OSR play - of people's lives ending not in some big gesture (though that can happen), but in sudden and shocking moments of brutality. See also the fate of Esho the Necromancer in my OD&D campaign from earlier this year.
The trap, as I had to detail it (the original Dyson's Delve does not provide any information beyond it simply being a poisoned dart) only does damage, rather than instant death..but for a level 2 illusionist who had already taken some pretty nasty hits in the fight that preceded the trap, it might as well have been just a save vs death. The Death and Dismemberment roll did not help either (it is even debatable on whether it counts, since this was a trap, and not combat).
But, this is how these types of games go. The party had managed to avoid another trap earlier in the game, but sometimes if Death wants to get her grubby hands on you, there is only so much you can do.
No comments:
Post a Comment