We started this week en media res in the Shrine of the Feared Order. We are playing Old School Essentials, which is another way of saying Basic D&D circa 1981.
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
- Villana of Qona, level 3 elf (NPC)
- Aicfrida of Qona, level 3 elf (NPC)
The party found the entrance to the Shrine of the Feared Order, headquarters of the Black Saints faction.
Here's what they knew:
- The Black Saints faction are kidnapping humanoids.
- They are draining the elves of their blood for use in rituals.
- They are using humans as test subjects in their alchemical experiments.
- Their goal is to create super-soldiers using alchemy and magic.
- They are led by Alviva Nadalberga, former associate of the mysterious and reclusive Aleria the Alchemist. They apparently parted ways after a disagreement.
Here's a quick summary of their exploration of the dungeon followed by some comments about the dungeon so far and about random dungeons generated by HEXROLL.
After descending the stairs, the find the body of a dead human chained to a wall. They hear chanting around the corner to the left and rush to face it.
A. 1 Medium, they won initiative, quickly defeated.
B. 3 Acolytes, well armored foes with an AC 17. Defeated two, third failed morale and fled. PCs did not give chase. The body of the medium carried a key with a distinctive symbol on it. One of the acolytes likewise carried a key with a different distinctive symbol on it. The door to the west was locked, the keyhole bore a distinctive sigil. None of the keys opened the door and the thief was unable to pick the lock.
C. A search for secret doors yielded a hidden room. A crate in the corner was treated with great paranoia. It had a 2-in-6 chance of containing treasure. It was empty. A lot of paranoia and caution over an empty box. The words "TERRIFYING GOBLIN" are written on the ceiling.
D. Pulled rope lever, again after much paranoid caution (well deserved). Lever had no immediately noticable effect.
E. A wandering monster was indicated. d2, 1= Acolyte, 2=Medium. A single acolyte descends the stairs but is swifty defeated.
F. A suspicious chest in the center of the room. Poking it with a 10-foot pole set off the poison gas trap. There's a 2-in-6 chance of containing treasure. It was empty. Turning a crank lever in the corner again had no obvious effect.
G. Following the trail of fresh blood on the floor, they track down the escaped acolyte from "B" and quickly kill him with archery.
They were becoming tired so they retreated to room "B" for a short rest and light new torches.
H. The door is stuck but the dwarf gives it a good heave and forces it open. They find a well-stocked torture chamber with work benches covered in alchemical equipment, a large metal chair like a throne arranged for observation of the torture. They find another key bearing a distinctive symbol hanging on a peg on the wall. A nearby wall plaque reads "BLESSED TRAITOR"
The dwarf is fascinated by a floor tile in the southeast corner with different coloration from the rest. They push the heavy chair onto the flag stones, it depresses but with no obvious effect. They are beginning to suspect these levers and switches open doors elsewhere in the dungeon. Another crate with another 2-in-6 chance of treasure. This time they fine 340 g.p.!
They find a secret door concealed behind a tapesty. A plaque on the door bears the word "TRAITOR". The word is off-center on the right of the plaque, leaving a large space to the left. After an INTERMINABLE amount of time trying to figure this out, the dwarf asks the ranger, "How do you say 'BLESSED TRAITOR' in Chaotic?" The door opened, revealing some kind of hidden panic room.
I. 4 Mediums are painting eldritch writing on the walls. The mediums win initiative and successfully cast charm on two of the characters. The un-charmed characters rush in and quickly defeat the mediums who successfully cast their spells, ending the charms. The spells are broken and on round 2, the rest of the party quickly defeat the remaining two mediums.
J. They find a secret door and an acolyte hiding within. He is quickly defeated. A key bearing a distinctive symbol is hanging on a peg on the wall.
The party took a short rest.
K. 3 mediums performing some kind of ritual. The PCs win initiative and rush in, killing two mediums and interrupting the Magic Missile spell of the third. The medium is quickly defeated.
By this time, the dwarf and the thief are figuring out how to fight with synergy. The dwarf is intentionally setting up backstab opportunities for the thief which really enhances the fun for both players.
The party took the lanterns that belonged to the mediums.
L. They find a locked door bearing a distinctive symbol - one that matches none of their keys. The thief rolls 01 and finally succeeds in picking a lock! Wthin they find a normal crocodile, a human woman (commoner) in a large cage, and a large wicker basket.
This was hilarious as it got a bewildered, "Wait, WHAT?" from the players. Plus, the crocodile token was labeled "Normal Crocodile" which just made them laugh harder.
They quickly defeat the crocodile and free the woman. They use a ten-foot pole to push over the wicker basket but its empty.
This elicited a minor complaint from the Ranger's player - "Why are all these boxes and containers empty? What's the point? Why are they in the dungeon?"
To which I replied, "Not every box has treasure or something useful inside. Sometimes a crate is just set dressing. You have no way of knowing which is a trapped treasure and which is just a crate. Not EVERYTHING in the dungeon should generate paranoia. While a certain amount of paranoia in a dungeon is healthy and will help you survive, at a certain point, excessive paranoia will slow you down and waste your resources. Plus, if every box was trapped, it wouldn't be a surprise."
He said, "Good point."
The party took a short rest.
The door to the west was barred from the other side, so they doubled back the way they came.
M. At the end of the hall was a water fountain. Was it magical? Poisoned? No. It was just a water fountain. They players thought it was neat, "Hey, even cultists need drinking water, right?"
N. The door was stuck shut but a good heave from the dwarf forced it open. The dwarf's player was becoming proud of his ability to force open stuck doors.
Inside was a burning ceremonial brazier, a nearby bundle of firewood for the brazier, a dead human commoner chained to a wall, and a pile of gear nearby. The human had been subjected to some kind of alchemical mutation, then tortured and left to die as a way to test the efficacy of whatever had been done to him.
The pile of gear contained 20 gp, a short bow, a sword, and a leather hat. It was at this point I introduced the players to the "trade equipment" feature of OSR Items module in Foundry. We spent the next 20 minutes re-arranging equipment before we called it a night.
Thoughts on HEXROLL's random dungeons
This dungeon was generated by HEXROLL and its pretty random. At least its got a theme - cultists, torture chambers, laboratories, libraries, etc. Its filled with acolytes and medium, plus a handful of monsters. It also ties the cult to the Black Saints faction created for the setting.
But here's the thing. They layout of the dungeon, being random, does not bear up to logical scrutiny. One cannot make inferences based on the placement of a room. The doors into each room are described in immaculate detail: West side - rectangular wooden door (Barricaded). South side - arched marble door (Stuck). Etc. But whether a door is wooden or marble, arched or round, stuck or barricaded or locked or open, is all completely random!
I did my best to make some changes and apply some logic when I created the dungeon for Foundry. Instead of keys being hidden on the bodies of random dead people in a hallway, I placed them in the inventories of cultists or hanging on pegs on walls. I made small changes to both fit the story that we're creating and so things make some small amount of logical sense.
I warned the players that the dungeon won't make much logical sense, but because of my changes it will make SOME sense.
One of the players asked me, "How much sense will it make?"
I said, "25-50 percent."
When the players are done with this dungeon, I'll post the entire dungeon as generated by HEXROLl for comparison.
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