Dedata Desideria - The Land of Jo'Ril, Chapter 9

My Old School Essential hex-crawl using randomly generated setting created by HEXROLL continues.

The Party:

• Arrn, level 3 magic user
• Wumpus, level 3 dwarf
• Waverly, level 3 ranger
• Andrew Price, level 3 cleric
• Gordon Binghampton, level 3 cleric
• Calvin Baily, level 2 thief

The party reunites with Arn the magic user, now a master of invisibility, and leave the city of Sigatona (hex 43) with three new companions:

• The female elves: Aicfrida and Vilana of Qona - on their way north to Komur to purchase horses.
• The female dwarf: Dedata Desideria - recruiter for the cult known as the Black Saints, known for abducting humanoids, mostly elves, for nefarious alchemical experiments.

The party heads northwest along the Devil's Eye Meadows. They see a cave bear in the distance and wisely let it go in peace. Note - random encounter, hundreds of yards away, neutral reaction roll.

That night, as they camped (hex 78), the fungus goblins emerged from the Earth, mysteriously, and tended to the needs of their queen, Calvin Baily the thief. The fungus goblins are quickly becoming a favorite of the players. Meanwhile Dedata did her best to sell the cult to Waverly the ranger.

Soon after the party went to sleep, Wumpus the dwarf and one of the men-at-arms, while walking a patrol around the camp, were ambushed by two ogres. Wumpus and the man-at-arms held the line against the ogres while they called for help. The party came awake and formed two defensive lines and a rear line of archers but the precautions were unneccessary as the ogres were each put to sleep, in turn, by Arn and dispatched by one of his man-at-arms.

The next day was uneventful and they spent the night at the Crying Wight Inn (hex 72). There Arrn cast a charm spell on Dedata the cult recruiter. Dedata, now Arrn's best friend, shared all of the cult's secrets that she knew - the cult was using elf blood as an ingredient to create a potion to create the perfect warrior - the pinnacle of humanity. They were also kidnapping humanoids and using them as test subjects in their experiments.

The next day they continued their travel to Kömür. They stopped to investigate a stone circle - site of a recent bonfire (hex 76). Footprints around the bonfire matched those of the fungus goblins. Why were they dancing around a bonfire? How did they get here? Waverly the Ranger also discovered tendrils of a massive underground mycelium - no doubt how they're able to appear from the earth at night and disappear at dawn and travel across Jo'Ril. But the bonfire remains a mystery.

They arrived at Kömür (hex 75). I gave each player a moment to have their own scene and do their own thing.

Arrn secretly took his "friend" Dedata with him on an excursion to the Tomb of the Serpent Kings where he introduced her to the lich Xiximanter. She did not return.

Waverly delivered the mysterious box to Drudo Cadhoiarn, per the instructions of the herbalist Flaminio of Koru in Sigatona. Drudo was an asshole and tried to take the box without acknowledging the receipt, meaning Waverly would not be paid. When Waverly took the box, Drudo threatened Waverly with force. The two fought and Waverly drew first blood. Drudo acquiesced and finally provided Waverly with the small keyfob like wooden token. Waverly gave Drudo his box - containing the hallucinogen dried lotus root, Stygian, the best - and took the token which, when combined with the token given her by Flaminio, could be taken to Flaminio's agents in Kömür and exchanged for payment.

Meanwhile Calvin Baily was teaching her fungus goblins how to pick pockets in a crowd when she noticed several of them admiring the waning crescent moon with awe.

The next morning, Andrew Price, Cleric, witnessed a wealthy merchant beating a house-servant behind a house. Andrew Price intervened, the merchant took offense and attacked the cleric with a shovel. Andrew Price quickly put the beat down on the homeowner. Note - this was a random encounter from the Cities sourcebook.

The party had no plans for staying in Kömür. They loaded up the wagon and prepared their entourage for another journey. They were heading to the northeast to search for the secret lair of the Black Saints, a place called the Shrine of the Feared Order (located somewhere in hex 26). They were joined by the elves Aicfrida and Vilana who wished to rescue their kidnapped elven kin. Note - Waverly's player bought the elves some new equipment, including bows.


As they crossed the hilly grasslands of the Devil's Eye Meadows, they were ambushed by a group of fourteen kobolds. The party, with help of their elven friends, soon killed eight of the kobolds and sent the others fleeing. Calvin eliminated two with her bow as they fled over the hill.

They crossed into the northwest corner of the Wizards of Alvania desert in the afternoon. There they saw a massive dome made of what appeared to be smooth marble. There were no entrances and its purpose was a mystery. The dome was surrounded by the ruins of a city, abandoned hundreds of years ago during the Mage Wars that created the desert.

Fearing being observed by the cult, the party sought shelter in an abandoned inn. There they found stairs leading underground, the lack of dust a clear indication of recent and repeated use - this was an entrance into a dungeon!

Leaving their wagon, horses, and camel, along the rest of their entourage, in the abandoned inn, they descended.

They heard a woman chanting and dancing nearby. They rushed around the corner and found an oracle or seer wearing black costume performing an ecstatic dance. Fearing dark magic, Wumpus and Waverly kill the dancer - only for a secret door to open behind them, revealing several masked cultists clad in black who rushed out of their hiding place to attack!

To be continued!

Nelsonanon Bagbradley, purveyor of fine potions, tinctures, and tonics

 

What follows is the full interaction, conducted via email, between myself and the player of Andrew Price, cleric, regarding the purchase and consumption of vitality tonic.

The next day, as you explore the metropolis of Sigatona, you hear someone trying to get your attention.

"Holy father, I say, honored clergyman! Might I have your attention!"

It's a man in a fine long coat and a fancy hat with long brightly colored plumage. He sports fashionable facial hair and a shiny gold earring. 

"My esteemed follower of the holy Gods of Law, my name is Nelsonanon Bagbradley, an explorer and merchant at your service, a purveyor of fine potions, tinctures, and tonics."

"I could not help but notice that you suffered a certain, shall we say, paucity of vigor in your otherwise admirable and sublime personnage. Why, I fear for your health, good sir! These are trying times, what with plagues and poxes and all manner of ailments running rampant through the streets, carried to our fine shores by mongrels and vagabonds from foreign lands."

"Sir, as a humble servant of the Great Hierarchy I entreat you to take precautions to protect yourself. We need your good works, this city NEEDS your counsel and guidance, your wisdom and teachings! I beg of you, righteous father, to consider your own health as you navigate these troublesome streets filled with bursting pustules and dangerous miasma!"

"Allow me to offer you a small service as a patron of the most divine Hierarchy." He reaches into his voluminous coat and produces a small phial, "Allow me, an unworthy supplicant, to provide to you this small gift so that you might stave off the unclean airs that befoul this wanton hive of sin and provide your grace and succor to those MOST in need."

He puts the phial in your hand, clasping your hand with both of his and curling your fingers over the phial. 

"Most consecrated curate of Order, this free gift to you, a trifle that I offer as oblation, is a Tonic of Vitality. This one small tonic will bulwark you against the evils of this land. It is a formula derived from that created by the great alchemist Aleria herself! For it is from her that I learned this formula. It is my great honor that I might create this concoction so that I might share it with you, so that you might continue your virtuous crusade."

"Go well, reverend. And remember my  name, Nelsonanon Bagbradley, when you say your prayers. Should you ever need my services, simply ask for me at the local herbalist or seek me out at the city market whereupon I conduct my trade. I shall be honored by your grace. Good day, sir!"

With a flourish he continues on his way, leaving you with the small potion, ornately labeled "Vitality".

You look around, you notice two or three empty bottles on the ground and spot a washer-woman finishing off the small vial. She looked tired, exhausted, frail. Upon finishing the small phial, she looks pleasantly surprised, she smiles, she seems refreshed, she looks energized, full of vim as she continues on with her day.

Andrew Price, Cleric: I will approach the washer woman and ask her about the vial, its contents and effects. Also what she knows about Nelsonanon.

She's never seen him before. He gave her this free concoction. She is chronically exhausted but it perked her right up. She feels great!

A nearby fisherman says "You got that from Nelsonanon? Oh, they're a fine tonic all right. You feel better, hale even, but only for a day. He gives you the first one for free, but every tonic after that costs you, and they're not cheap either - 10 gold pieces per tonic!"

Another man, a well-to-do merchant shopping for fish, says, "Worth every penny if you ask me. I mean, if you can afford it. I purchase them all the time, not for everyday use, mind you, but when I know I'll need a little extra energy to get me through the day. He sells them down at the market. I heard he was a student of the great Apothecary Aleria herself!"

The fishmonger sneers, "Pshaw! Who can afford it!"

The wealthy merchant merely chuckles at the fishmonger, smiles, and gives you a wink as if to say "Oh, some of us can."

Andrew Price consulted with the other members of the party - should he try the tonic? They advised against it. He ultimately drank it. I asked the player to roll 3d6 - that was their new temporary CON for the day. A potion will only last for seven days before spoiling. Andrew later tracked down the charlatan and purchased seven tonics for later use. 

Sigatona - The Land of Jo'Ril hexcrawl for Old School Essentials, Chapter 8

The Party:

• Arrn, level 3 magic user
• Wumpus, level 3 dwarf
• Waverly, level 3 ranger
• Andrew Price, level 3 cleric
• Gordon Binghampton, level 3 cleric
• Calvin Baily, level 2 thief

The PCs have reached the metropolis of Sigatona to level up and spend money. After a day of rest, head out to explore the city.

1. The city is divided into districts. It takes 10 minutes to travel from district to district. Asking around for district highlights will get you a list of shops in that district. You can spend an hour to find that shop. Shops generated in HEXROLL each have a proprietor. Many shops have a list of specific items that can be purchased at a discount. Many shop proprietors have QUESTS! After a while, the players started to get overwhelmed with quest options. I told them "you don't have to take the quest, there's just a reward here if you find their missing sword or kidnapped nephew in a dungeon."
2. Every hour spent in the city, I would roll 1d6 for a random encounter. On a 1, (or 1-2 depending on time of day and circumstances), I would roll up a random encounter from my old Cities sourcebook by Midkemia Press from 1980.
3. The cleric with a CON of 5 was approached by a charlatan selling tonics of vitality. He gave the cleric a free sample. The cleric tried it and re-rolled 3d6 for his CON for one day (he got 12). If he wanted more, he'd have to pay 10gp per vial. He also learned of a powerful alchemist who lived in a secret tower in the desert who made a permanent version.
4. The other cleric - who worships the literal "god of divine right of rulership, arbiter of succession, and patron of nobility" - made a huge donation (4000gp) to the temple in the hopes of strengthening the power of the politically weak archon (mayor) over the more powerful Merchant Guild (who are really in charge). This audacious display got the attention of the merchant guild who paid the party a visit to convey a message of "don't do that again, or else". Introduced a neat political villain. Fun!
5. Did some great role-playing back at the inn when one of the PCs was randomly asking about a cult they were investigating. As it happened, HEXROLL said the busboy at the inn was allied with the cult and one of the patrons of the inn was a member of the cult. So the busboy put the PC in contact with the cult member who then tried to recruit them! The PCs are going along with it for now hoping to get more information about this cult - what they're doing? where's their headquarters? who's their leader? Introduced a future villain - the leader of the cult who is also a former companion to the alchemist they are looking for.
6. No fighting tonight, just a lot of role-playing, exploring, and NPC interactions. Next week, they head north to a) deliver a box, b) search for evil cult hideout, c) search for hidden alchemist tower.

The gist is this - procedurally generated random results are coming together quite nicely with input and actions from the players to create an interesting, layers, and interconnected world via prompts, connections, and straight-up serendipity and happenstance.

I'm super impressed!

The Tower of the Arcane - the Land of Jo'Ril Hexcrawl for Old School Essentials, Chapter 7

The Party:

• Arrn, level 3 magic user
• Wumpus, level 3 dwarf
• Waverly, level 3 ranger
• Andrew Price, level 3 cleric
• Gordon Binghampton, level 3 cleric
• Calvin Baily, level 2 thief

The party is headed to the Tower Arcane in the Wizards of Alvania Desert (hex 22) to sell some petrified snake men to the wizard Bernhaus of Barin, a collector of rare statuary. 

They see a deep ravine ahead and a rickety rope bridge. They say "Nope" and change direction, avoiding the troll encounter I had prepared. They camp out at an oasis and encounter two curious giant geckos. I rolled a neutral reaction for the geckos. They gain the gecko's trust by feeding them and otherwise leaving them alone.

They arrive at the wizards tower, the caretaker said, "You're here early. Go ahead and step into the magic circle, everything is prepared for you." They thought "Huh, weird" but comply and teleported into the subterranean dungeon. Apparently they were mistaken for an applicant for an apprentice and now must go through the wizard test usually meant for a group of young apprentice applicants. With no other options than to complete the test, they randomly choose the correct path to lead directly to the exit with the least amount of monsters or traps. All they fought were some skeletons and some giant rats and some illusory guards.  

Dungeon defeated by avoiding most of the dungeon! 

They sold their statues and requested to skip my planned wizard intrigue adventure (which I haven't written yet), leave the wizard school, and power-walk to the nearest town (Sigatona, hex 43) to trade in their loot, allowing them to level up. (One of the players will be absent next week so he wanted to get back to town and level up ASAP). I said sure. 

Level 3!

The Orc Ambush - The Land of Jo'Ril hex-crawl for Old School Essentials, Chapter 6

The Party:

• Arrn, level 3 magic user
• Wumpus, level 3 dwarf
• Waverly, level 3 ranger
• Andrew Price, level 3 cleric
• Gordon Binghampton, level 3 cleric
• Calvin Baily, level 2 thief

Having finished Tomb of the Serpent Kings, we started started my hexcrawl across the Land of Jo'Ril. We're playing on Foundry. I created a random hexcrawl location using HEXROLL. 

I used the nolabels map for the Foundry map. I created a single token to represent the party. 

At first I gave the token a visibility of one hex (6 miles), but honestly that was TOO limiting. It didn't engender the kind of awe and wonder in the world that would encourage exploration. So I just made the entire map visible. 

However, when running last night, the players wanted to take notes of what they found in each hex, and it was difficult to indicate the hexes on the map. So today I just decided to give them the full label map with all the hex numbers and region names. 

The region names will help sell the world. They're very evocative. It doesn't give away any secrets. Its info the characters would know. 

I also felt like "what if they head off the map?" so I used Hexroll to create additional maps and just plugged them around "Jo'Ril". 

So far, it's going great! They left the city of KÖMÜR and are headed to the Tower of the Arcane. Traveling through hex 73-72-71-70-69-05. 

Hex 73 = hilly grassland steppe, ancient standing stones, no encounter.

Hex 72 = the Crying Wight Inn, they stayed the night, talked with some patrons, got some rumors and info about the surrounding hexes, had a pleasant evening.

They learned from a sullen elf in the Crying Wight Inn that a cult called the Black Saints were taking human captives into an abandoned dungeon called the Shrine of the Feared Order as their base, located somewhere 12 miles to the north-northwest (hex 26). The players took great interest in this info for later use.

Hex 71 = great big rifts in the ground from a recent earthquake (the same earthquake the exposed the Tomb of the Serpent Kings, so I'm tying elements together), eerie sounds can be heard in its depths. Up ahead they saw a pillar of smoke - the aftermath of a battle. The ranger scouted ahead and saw 14 orcs pillaging a caravan of five wagons. The party charged, the magic-user put 7 to sleep and charmed an 8th while the other party members (cleric, thief, dwarf, ranger) dispatched the rest. 

I use the "shield was splintered" house rule and the cleric had to sacrifice a shield to turn a killing blow into a miss. 

That's where we ended, next week, they'll loot the orcs (164 copper pieces, finally they can retire!) and continue to the Tower of the Arcane. I have something special planned so I can't wait!

The thief player is not happy with her character. Her stats are very mediocre.

So while they were in the Crying Wight Inn, the Ranger's player said, "any of those halflings look like they could become a good level 1 adventurer?" hinting that the thief player may want to replace her character. I looked and said, "why Yes! there IS one! She's got pretty good stats!" DEX 18, CON 16, CHA 16, (mumble mumble)"

"What was that?" asked the thief player.

"Uh, I said (mumbling) INT 3, WIS 4."

"Hard pass!" said the thief player.

The other players and I tried to convince her that INT and WIS were dump stats for a halfling, but she, as a player, is a very intelligent person and is proud of her intelligence. She did NOT want to play a stupid character. It is antithetical to her personality. And we can't blame her.

 

Tomb of the Serpent Kings, Chapter 5

Week five of Tombs of the Serpent Kings. I have five out of six players present this week. The players correctly figured there were only two rooms left. The magic user filled the people who missed last week in on everything that happened. He's also brought a "friend", a rude and abusive NPC, a lout named "Julian", who seems to be the magic user's best friend! 

I played Julian as a total misogynist asshole and everyone hated him. The magic-user said "Before we start, Julian and I have to go take care of something." The magic-user's player and I break out into a private chat room. The magic-user took Julian upstairs to the quarters of Xiximanter the Lich. The magic-user apologized for his previous rudeness and informs Xiximanter he has brought a gift. The magic-user then presented Julian for the purpose for which he was charmed. Xiximanter accepted and gave the magic-user the choice of one of his many potions: Diminution, Flying, Control Undead, Levitation, Heroism, Control Animal, Giant Strength, Speed, Fire Resistance, Healing, Poison, and Longevity. The wizard was intrigued and chose Longevity. He also noted the pile of stuff against the wall in Xixmanter's store room.

Their transaction concluded, the magic-user left, highly creeped out and a little afraid for his life. It was a good time.  

He rejoined the party and they finally opened and looted the throne room. They found the secret passage to Xiximanter's store room, but the magic-user remembered that it opens behind the pile of stuff. I described the door as a thin sheet of plaster made to look like a wall. So they worked out a plan - the thief would use a knife to cut a small hole in the thin secret door, reach in, and steal stuff off the pile without alerting Xiximanter. The thief rolled 96 for move silently. She cut the door and the plaster shattered into a million brittle shards. Xiximanter was surprised! She grabbed one random thing from the pile - a jar of seeds from an extinct plant - and took off! 

The party ran away and regrouped in the domed room with the last unopened door - a vault door that needed a key. 

The thief tried to open it but broke her picks when she rolls a 94. It was not her night! She remembered hearing something small and metal hanging around the basilisk's neck, so they deduced it had the key. 

The magic user worked out an amazing plan! They took some of the tables and wooden boards lying around and fashioned a large moveable 10' wide siege shield. They affixed every hand mirror they owned, plus the silver ones they just got in the throne room, to its front. They pushed it into the basilisk room. They attacked through small openings in the shield. Meanwhile the thief snuck up from behind to try to steal the key. 

The basilisk was tethered to a 20' long chain so they kept to the edge of that distance. The basilisk attacked the shield, tearing off the mirrors, while they stabbed at the basilisk for nickel-and-dime damage. 

The basilisk almost turned itself to stone attacking the mirrors. It failed one save but made every other.

The thief failed to pick pockets on the basilisk - another 90+ roll - and opted to just snatch the key and run away. She survived the basilisk's glare as the rest of the group withdrew with their shield and remaining mirrors.

It was a genius idea!

They returned to the vault and get a lot of treasure! 

Everyone hauled their loot back to town and the everyone is now level 2! 

After that we started our hexcrawl. They're headed to the Tower Arcane - a wizard school six hexes away - to sell the snake-man statues for a bigger profit to a collector. 

They spent the first night in an inn, heard some rumors about a cult in a nearby dungeon. The next day they encountered a group of 14 orcs! They chose to engage. The wizard put 8 of them to sleep with a sleep spell. The remaining orcs put up a good fight - the cleric had to splinter his shield to avoid a fatal blow! It was starting to look grim, then they made some good rolls and took out some orcs and turned the tide of battle - winning the day!

That's where we ended. Next week - the beginning of the Tower of the Arcane!

Tomb of the Serpent Kings, Chapter 4

Week 4 of Tomb of the Serpent Kings. 

Only three players showed up this week - a wizard, a cleric, and a ranger. The missing three player characters get what we call "the Brain Jellies" or "Crypt Cough", a kind of catatonic coma where they can mindlessly walk around with their companions. However, in this case, it was decided to leave them safe with fungus goblins. 

The three remaining PCs spent time and searched the goblin caves and found treasure! They found the stairway leading to the surface.

They figured out the rotating drum door and climbed the stairs, carefully avoiding looking in the direction of the basilisk room they already knew was there, to the lair of the lich, opened the door, met the lich - who was remarkably cordial and accommodating. The cleric produced his holy symbol and tried to turn the lich (ha ha ha!). The lich acted all afraid, then became serious, stepped forward menacingly, and crushed the holy symbol. There was a moment of "ohshitohshitohshit!" The lich turned to the others, "Did you bring this one to me? Excellent, I will feast well! You will be rewarded for your gift!" The PCs said no, which triggered the lich's suspicions. He tried to invite them in for tea but the PCs refused, slammed the door closed, and wisely ran away. 

They went to the room with the ever burning sacrifice pit and saw treasure beneath the flames. They tied a rope around the cleric and lowered him down. The cleric failed his saving throw and started to pass out so they hauled him back up. They repeated and this time he made it. More treasure!

They went up the stairs to the other side of the basilisk room, found the stone eggs, almost stepped on a trapped block in the swinging blade trap corridor, but a lucky saving throw saved the cleric. They decided to avoid the entire corridor and go all the way back around, through the slave room, and up the stairs on the other side. 

They pretty quickly figured out the rotating statue. MORE treasure! I read it wrong and thought it said 2d100x10 gp (x10 for OSE) which would have given them 7300 gp! They got super excited. But I caught my error, 2d100+10 gp (x10 for OSE), so they got 840 gp instead. Still, not bad. 

They found the succubus and were immediately suspicious. She ain't no botanist with amnesia! For one thing, the cobwebs at the entrance indicated no one had entered this room for years. For another thing, did she just say "Yes, I speak your human language!" Okay, uh-uh, bye. 

I was SO disappointed! They had her true name in their notes from two weeks ago, but no one remembered that! I told them later and they were all "DUH!"

Oh, they also took the two life-like snake-men statues. MORE TREASURE! Except, Arrn the Wizard knows a wizard who lives in a tower two days away who collects these and would pay 10 TIMES the value! QUEST!

Let's see, from there the three PCs beat feet out of the dungeon via the newly found stairway exit, leaving the three PCs behind, returned to town with their loot! They split the treasure three ways so they leveled up! 

They felt a little bad cutting the other three out of the treasure, but I told them if the remaining three clear out the remaining two rooms next week and split it three ways, they will catch up. 

The remainder of the night was spent buying a small house in town, hiring mercenaries and staff for a caravan, buying a wagon and horses, and preparing for the actual hexcrawl which should start next week!

Tomb of the Serpent Kings, Chapter 3

Week three of Tomb of the Serpent Kings. The characters carefully maneuvered the ledge of the chasm, easily bypassed the trap on the door, and fought a jelly skelly. 

Due to my description, they concluded Jelly Skelly was covered in similar black ooze from the crypt - I was trying to walk a fine line between linking them thematically as failed mummies without linking them mechanically. So they used oil and burning to try to destroy the jelly skelly like they would a black ooze. 

I feel like I should have just rolled with it and rewarded their deduction skills - but I kept it as indestructible jelly skelly. I kept trying to hint that they could use the benches to safely move it around but they didn't pick up on that. 

The jelly skelly killed one PC. They lured it out onto the ledge and used a rope to trip it while using a 10' pole to shove it over. Good job! Defeated! 

The OSE conversion notes do not specify an XP value for the jelly skelly. How much do you figure? A regular skeleton is 10 XP. What should an unkillable skeleton be worth??

Jeff's character made his saving throw and spotted the magic manacles moving towards him like he was magnetic. Trevor devised a plan to catch the manacles using a borrowed staff.

After that they found the goblin warren, and Erica's character, the only one who could communicate with them (because Chaotic) became their queen. 

We'll pick up from there next week. Only one PC death this week - they're getting better!

Tomb of the Serpent Kings, Chapter 2

Second week of Tomb of the Serpent Kings. This time with six players!

Last week they lost 3 characters. This week they lost 7 more! 

They came back to the dungeon with fresh recruits, lost the cleric with the lightning bolt trap (-1 PC), took heavy losses from the black pudding (-3 PCs) but defeated it, retreated from the dungeon, returned with fresh recruits, and lost some more against the living statue guardian (-3 PCs).  

They retreated again and will return next week with more new recruits. But some players are starting to grumble - "what are we doing wrong?" they say, "is it supposed to be this tough?" "I can't think of a way we could have defeated that thing - 2d6 damage per hit? There's no way!" 

Players are still in it, still enthused, still ready to give OSR a try, but cracks are starting to show. Losing half your party in one room, retreating, then losing half again in the next room can be demoralizing.

I tried to give them some gentle direction - maybe you could have used your rope to drag the statue guardian to the ledge and push it into the abyss - maybe you didn't have to fight the black pudding - I specifically gave you an out, you could have just walked away, but the desire for XP was too great. Even after they activated it, they could have just ran away, but they got cocky - we have a plan, we can defeat it with fire - not if you lose initiative and it kills the guy holding the flash of oil you won't.

And for those who cheered Jeff on from last week, he's still alive. He nearly died from the lightning bolt, but kept fighting! He's still in it!

Tomb of the Serpent Kings, Chapter 1

Played Tomb of the Serpent Kings using Old-School Essentials and the OSE conversion notes by Axian Spice. Although my players and me are all long-time RPG players going back to the early 80s, we've spent so many years playing 4th-5th edition that our old-school muscles had atrophied.

Especially Jeff, who is an adventurous "what's the worst that can happen?" style of player. He lost three characters in the first 30 minutes of the game! One in the very first room. Another to a trapped door. And a third to a skeleton in their first fight. 

Once they realized the dungeon was a dangerous scary place that was not playing with kid gloves, they adjusted their play style. They became more hesitant and wary, started asking questions and using ropes and ten-foot poles, assuming things were trapped, etc.

The last character to die last night was Trevor's Ranger. They had discovered a room with a basilisk. 

Trevor had the idea of using a hand mirror to reflect the basilisk's gaze back upon it. He held a lantern in one hand and a mirror in the other, shut his eyes tight, and walked bravely into the room.

The basilisk approached him slowly, sniffing, checking Trevor our. Trevor bravely stood still, his body shaking with anxiety. The basilisk examined the mirror in the outstretched hand, made its saving throw vs. petrification and bit Trevor's character's head off!

The rest of the party's survivors retreated down the corridor as fast as they could, closing the doors behind them. They got the hell out of that dungeon, but will return next week!