Will also be posted on the RPGGeek Session Reports forum
http://www.rpggeek.com/thread/667645/fu ... -madness-3.
A new group gathered for the next adventure in our series. That meant we had one player from the prior session missing, and three new players. I decided a week had passed and the characters, now realizing that the curse was not indeed lifted, were returning to try to finish the job.
They didn't.
The three returning players had level 1 characters and I allowed them to bring along a level 0 sidekick. The three new players each rolled up a funnel of three level 0 characters. So, in total, a motley crew of 15, a dog, hen, mule and cart set out into the swamp. They were:
Dorah the Level 1 Warrior and her companion
Norah the Wainwright.
Antonia the Level 1 Warrior and her companion
Odina the elf.
Thad the soldier,
Carry Granite the dwarven miner and
Romper the jester.
Dumb Anton,
Deaf Anatoli and
Blind Burbala, farming brothers and their friend the halfling gypsy.
Mango Lassi the alchemist,
Zippy the cobbler and
Skinner the trapper.
and
Sunjo the Level 1 Cleric of Ildavir with his companion
Dodin the dwarven miner.
Crocodiles Redux
In the first adventure two crocodiles had swum off with meals and one had been driven off. I decided that the two who feasted on characters before would surely be here and waiting again.
Arriving at the log bridges the familiar member of the parties proclaimed
"Here is where we lost the first of our companions" The response was much milling and uncertainty. Finally, Dumb Anton took his hen, scurried up to the end of the log and placed the bird upon it, backing quickly away. They all waited and watched.
I took this as my first opportunity to ask for a luck check. The result was an 8. I decided this was enough to say that there was an ominous ripple in the water, but nothing happened (if the result had been 10 or more I would have had a croc show itself and on 15 or more one would have eaten the hen and left).
Dumb Anton and Deaf Anatoli concocted a plan where Anton would snatch the chicken and dash across the log while Anatoli would chase after and skewer any crocodile that showed itself. They set the plan in motion, but Anton was slowed grabbing the struggling bird and didn't get clear of the far end of the bridge. The crocodiles did show themselves and the whole group lunged into action. Unfortunately, Anatoli's skill with the pitchfork was not great enough to stop the large crocodile which bit off a large chunk of Anton's leg - the first casualty of the day. Others attempted to dash past Anatoli who was fierce in battle on the log bridge, dropping into the water but always, luckily on the side away from the crocodile. Thad spent his time using his spear to help pull people back out of the water while Antonia lured a second crocodile up onto land where the group overwhelmed it. The crocodile in the water was driven off. The group had survived with one casualty.
Norah and Thad quickly went after the fallen crocodile's gullet with hand-axe and spear tip. Thad was the lucky one, pulling out a jeweled gold armband worth more than any of them had made in their lifetimes. Sunjo offered blessings and healing of Ildavir and Mango Lassi availed himself, proclaiming the greatness of the goddess of nature and healing his wounds. Meanwhile Deaf Anatoli did as best he could to tend to his brother's remains and named the hen Anton after his memory.
Into the Keep
I decided the tame crocodiles in the tower were now gone, as were the frogs. The cultists however had returned and eight were hidden behind drapes and skins on the scaffolding, ready to repel intruders.
The group left behind mule and wagon and proceeded across the log bridges through the swamp. Upon reaching the keep they scouted carefully ahead, watching murder holes above at the gate and then dividing into two groups to cross the courtyard, spooked by the eerie silence. All was calm until they reached the base of the scaffold. Then one of them decided to walk over to it and shake it as hard as he possibly could to see if it was stable. This prompted a cry of surprise from one of the cultists hidden and balanced above and the battle was engaged.
The scaffold was on three levels so some characters started climbing immediately while others stepped back with ranged weapons. The cultists were each carrying a pair of javelins which they used as short spears in melee. Fortunately for the group they got initiative on the cultists.
The battle was fairly quick with a few highlights. Antonia and Dorah both proved deadly with their warrior skills and Dorah tapped her higher hit points, taking strikes from the opponents. Dodin used his mining knowledge to carefully identify a weak point on the scaffold, however friendly characters outnumbered cultists on the scaffold before he struck it. Deaf Anatoli put his prize radish to good use, hurling it at a cultist who was struck in the forehead and fell to his death with a quite surprised look on his face. Sunjo proved deadly accurate with the sling, picking off the cultist leader who flared all their curses by invoking the name of SKOULOS. Romper on the other hand, quickly discovered that the cultists were carrying silver and spent the entire battle looting falling bodies, while Thad held shield high protecting his companion and unaware of his activities. Mango Lassi was the only one to fall in battle, pierced through by a cultist in melee.
You come to Ildavir! Ildavir does not come to you.
As the battle completed, Dorah led the way to climb the scaffold toward the blue mist boiling down from above. Sunjo stood upon the ground below and called out that any who needed healing could come and worship Ildavir. Dorah called down that she was already halfway up the scaffold and for him to come up. He responded that she needed to come to Ildavir, and not the other way around. After some arguing the rest of the group decided to ignore them and climbed up as well. Dorah went on, unhealed.
Exploring the Cave.
At the top of the scaffold the group entered the cave and Dorah carefully prodded the censer with 10' pole. They then lit a torch and lantern and spread out trying various strategies from putting a bag, and then a radish in the censer, to mining the wall, to digging through the rubble. I had all roll for success on their actions as some were more promising than others. The rolls suggested some success and some good ideas that were less than fruitful. The backpack was found in short order and Sunjo nominated to open the scroll within. He did so, and upon finding a written note, read it aloud to the group.
The group noticed that the shadows in the cave seemed unusual and perhaps more numerous than they expected, but with the multiple lights it was hard to pin down. While the rubble on one wall of the cave was cleared Dorah decided to pour the contents of the half consumed wineskin on the blue flames and smoldering radish in the censer. I called for another luck roll and she rolled poorly. The wine in the skin was quite alcholic and burst up on a flash of flames. Slightly more scarred, she stepped back, but at least the censer was now out.
Sunjo now offered once again that he could heal any who would come to Ildavir. Dorah relented and went over to obtain his blessing. Sunjo intoned a brief prayer, but to no avail.
"You are not devoting yourself well enough!" he ordered
"You must prostrate yourself before Ildavir!" Desperate for the healing Dorah agreed to lie prostrate in prayer to Ildavir and was indeed healed, although as Sunjo pointed out
"If you were not so anal, it would have been better." (Dorah is Lawful, while Ildavir and Sunjo are Neutral).
Looking around cautiously, the group now descended the stairs beyond the cleared stones.
It's a Trap!
Dorah walked in front, prodding the ground with her ten foot pole, but the trap was obvious. A ten foot pit filled with spikes, gore and rotted rags. After a bit of time spent fishing out rags and bones with a spear the group decided that it was best to just get across. Carry had the notion of grabbing a plank from the scaffold in front of the cave and several ran back to do so. Soon there was a plank laid across the pit and the decision had to be made of who to send down. Finally "Blind" Burbala was chosen as scout and she walked across. As she started to step onto the floor beyond it dropped away, but she was able to keep her balance and stay on the small ledge between the two pits as the stone lid snapped back shut.
The group went back for another plank and laid it across the next section of floor, then after much careful scouting determined that there were no more pits to be found further down the corridor. However, they were stymied that the corridor suddenly ended around the distant corner.
The group decided to explore the trap and using the pole and several rocks managed to force the door half open and jamb it in that position. Then, as the only halfling in the group Burbala was tied to a rope and the group slowly lowered her down the shaft. She was to shout the code word in the event of trouble, in which case they would all keep hold of the 50' rope and run down the corridor, yanking her quickly up again. The code word was
"HELP!!!"
Burbala lowered to the end of the rope, with torch in hand, about 35' down the shaft (due to length tied about her, and held up above. As she got to the end she saw a thick goo or slime coating the tubelike shaft's walls. Peering at it a moment, she saw that it was moving towards her. It seemed to avoid the torch when she swung it, but was still getting closer. The code word was called and up she went.
At this point the line between discretion and bravery started to get blurred. Some individuals decided to test once again for hidden portals at the end of the corridor, others immediately headed back up the steps, still others decided to try lowering someone into the spiked pit trap in search of treasure. A couple thought that closing the opened trap was appropriate and proceed to try knocking out the rocks they had recently set. It was a few moments later that the group realized the slime was climbing towards them.
Everyone scrambled to get to the other side of the first pit trap while Anatoli swung a torch at the slime and someone else tried to knock out the last few rocks. While I'd allowed everyone to safely walk across the planks, I ruled an agility check to dash across them (setting a DC of 5).
Poor Thad
Poor Thad, who has been helping Romper search for secret doors, tripped going over the first plank and fell past the slime. The ooze attempted to strike him but missed doing damage. He skipped off it's surface, taking some stamina damage and was last seen and heard screaming as he hurtled into the dark. His remaining adventure will have to wait for another report.
(I had set the stats of the jelly as the same as a Primordial Ooze from DCC, which worked well, particularly the 'always loses initiative' bit).
The Shadows of Death: Losses Come from the Route
Meanwhile, the group discovered that even with the portal shut, the ooze could slowly creep through, and it was forming a psuedopod to swing at the nearest character. They all quickly ran up the stairs and headed towards the exit of the cave, frantically discussing that perhaps there is a back door somewhere. Surely there must be another way in!
It was at this point that they were attacked by the shades, one for each member of the group. I gave each shade very simples stats: Att. +0, d6 dmg, AC 10, HP 2+Sta Bonus of character they reflected. The party all beat the shades on initiative and a very interesting thing happened. Some of them stood and fought, and four of them quickly scrambled down the scaffold. Sunjo made one attempt to turn the creatures, which failed, and then he and his henchmen ran as well. I made climbing down an agility check DC 5 with it taking two rounds to get to the bottom. Remarkably only Sunjo missed, and I let him make a reflex check to land half-way down. Still the fall knocked him out. I let Dodin administer first aid and gave him a luck save (misreading the bleed out rules a bit in my haste), which he made.
The characters that stayed and fought were quickly overwhelmed with shades 2 to 1. But, seeing that they were now in the rear ranks of any flight, and some overwhelmed with a sense of duty and honor, they stayed and fought. Zippy, the cobbler was laid low by Skinner, the craven trapper's shade. Deaf Anatoli was ended by a radish headed shade. Odina the elf fought bravely, but finally succumbed to her own shadow. Carry, the mighty dwarven miner, with incredible stats and five hit points took three hits from the foul beasts before he was felled. Soon it was down to the two level 1 warriors, Dorah and Antonia along with Norah the wainwright and Senju and Dodin slinging up into the cave mouth from the scaffold below. At this point the shades had been cut in half, but six still remained.
Norah fell next, and then Dorah, with three shades remaining. Attempting to save her companion (I'd missed the one hour later rule on bleeding out), Antonia used a Mighty Deed attempt to lever Dorah off the edge and down to Senju, while also striking her opponent. The result on the Mighty Deed die was 2, but I let her burn a luck point to succeed. I made Dorah roll additional falling damage only to see if she had broken bones, but no sixes came up. Again, having not read bleeding out carefully I gave her an immediate luck save, which she made, without requiring any explicit healing beyond first aid. Antonia was now facing three shades with her chainmail, spear, shield and 4 hp left, the 11 extra she got at first level clearly paying off now.
Senju wanted to help out by slinging into the melee. I ruled that on a miss if the 50% chance to hit someone else was rolled then there was a 1/3 chance of hitting each of the other three combatants in the melee rather than automatically hitting his ally. Of course, he did miss, and he did hit Antonia. Down to two hit points. Dodin was more reliable, striking a shade, and leaving only two left. With bated breath the group watched the last two shades attack. If Antonia fell in the cave mouth it wasn't clear who would rescue her, if anyone... But, they both missed.
Antonia steeled her nerves and attempted a combination attack as a mighty deed to attempt to spread her damage to the two remaining shades. A success, with an 18+3+2 on her attack and 8+3+2 damage. She felled the last two shades.
Epilogue
Eager to get away from this slaughter, the group quickly collected the valuables from their fallen companions and fled back to town. This journey had been perhaps more informative, but less rewarding than the last expedition. And the curse remains...
Rules/Playtest Notes
In no particular order:
* We rolled randomly for what spells the cleric was granted by his goddess. I'm not sure if that is the intent, but it seems to work fine.
* Harly sets DCs too high. I generally cut them about in half, and that works well.
* A DC of 5 for a typical task (like running across a 12" plank) in stressful situations worked beautifully. In a large group most will succeed, but one or two are likely to fail...
* Upping the DC to 10 for harder tasks like this was all it took. I haven't used a DC higher than 10 yet and everything has felt balanced and appropriate.
* We completely forgot about the -5 penalty for certain ability checks in chainmail, but that penalty seems a bit too steep to me, particularly for Warriors, and when using low DCs. If you have a 5 DC then it means that wearing chainmail doubles your chance of failure at everyday tasks. If not changed officially, I'll probably house rule this in some form (maybe cut in half, maybe allow strength modifier to offset it, maybe both).
* I completely ignored the -4 penalty for missile weapons into a melee and made it 50% chance you hit a different combatant in that melee, rolled randomly for all combatants. I think this is fine and gave characters something to do. With another -4 the odds of hitting your friend would actually exceed that of hitting your opponent in many situations, which I think is too penalizing.
* I allowed luck on a Mighty Deeds of Arms roll. I'm not sure whether I should have. The problem is that this roll does three things at once, increasing hit chance, damage and Deeds all at once (although it isn't totally clear whether the Deeds are intended to be instead of the damage bonus). At the same time, this seems like exactly the sort of thing that should be "luckable".
* I misplayed the Bleeding Out rules. I like them as written, except I don't think I'll do the permanent ability damage for being saved within a few rounds by magical healing (lay-on hands, herbs or potion).
* I've already decided I'll ignore non-proficient weapon penalties in play. For characters with class levels I'll just not let them take an attack bonus in a non-proficient weapon. But I like improvisation and penalties discourage it.
* Calling on Divine Aid needs risk/reward clarity. Is it something that a cleric may do once in a session, once in level, once in a lifetime? As written, and given the bonuses outlined it feels like a once in a session power, but it is hard to see how you'd ever likely get a meaningful success with it as you'll probably already be at net -3 or worse on spell checks. At the same time, there doesn't seem to be any particularly bad penalty for attempting it if you've reached the point of giving up on your spells working.
* Experience as I've been rewarding it is pretty low for this adventure, primarily because they found so little treasure, and the most valuable single piece they did find was lost along with Thad. I'm definitely implementing a "full adventure at level 0 with a funnel gets you to level 1" rule. I'm not extending that benefit to henchmen who came along with a higher level character though.
* I need to reward luck at the end of every session.
* The party could have benefited from buying a bit more equipment before setting out.
* I still forgot the Bongo the dog in most combats/situations. At least this time the other piece of livestock was well accounted for. I may need to make this an XP award thing that the player actively engages and reminds the group of what any animals are doing.
* Completely independently, and without knowledge of the prior, I again had a Halfling Gypsy attempt to use a hex doll to curse an opponent this session. I've been letting these attempts have a modest game impact (like opponent gets a -1 on next roll) on high rolls (I suppose to contradict my prior statements, this I have set closer to DC 18).
* In light of my hopes for the session, I may have added too many early obstacles to allow the characters to get in an complete the adventure. OTOH, it is still a great story.
* I've gotten lots of good feedback on how the adventure went. Our schedules were busy this week, but I think the group will maintain.