https://www.deviantart.com/surande/art/Desert-Tomb-583971576
The party explores an ancient elven tomb that has become a lair for bloodthirsty orcs.
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 4 cleric
- Gordon Binghampton, level 4 cleric
- Fitzhugh Skitter, level 1 thief
- Lefsy of Hawkston, NPC, archaeologist and dealer in rare and exotic antiquities
Here's a quick summary of their hex-crawl exploration of the land of Jo'Ril as generated by HEXROLL.
We began this week with me making a retcon to a minor detail from last week. The Gem of Elderia Wastes was an ELVEN kingdom, not a snake-man kingdom as I previously said. The only reason for this change was because "Elderia" sounded more like an Elven kingsom than a Serpentine kingdom.
After spending the night in the defensive tower Lefsy had constructed for her expeditions (something I mentioned last week but forgot about), Lefsy called the party together for an important mission.
Lefsy had discovered the entrance to an ancient tomb. She believes it has recently become the lair for a warband of orcs. She asked the characters to explore the tomb of pacify it of all threats so that she and her assistants could plunder the tomb of its lost treasures in safety.
Note - Be aware, we are playing full-on tomb plunderers. We are aware of and deplore the real-world issues of colonialism, cultural theft, etc. We are role-playing characters and situations with different cultural mores and norms than our own. This is not an endorsement on our part for such behavior in the real world. The orcs in my setting were created by the serpentines to wage war against the elven kingdoms in the ancient times. They are a created lifeform that knows only war and violence.
The following dungeon is an OSE adaptation of the Shadows of the Bloodfang Orcs for Shadowdark. Apparently, the module has been removed from DrivethruRPG.
The entrance to the tomb was a few miles from the tower. Dozens of orcine footprints led into and away from the entrance, confirming Lefsy's assessment. The party descended the steps.
A. Stairs covered in dust, dirt, and mud from orc footprints.
B. Corridor swept clean, no dirt or footprints. Wumpus tapped floor with pole, heard hollow sound under tiles at intersection. Used hammer to break tiles, revealing pit trap. Avoided trap.
C. Trophy room with statues and a large dragon skull guarded by two boars. Rolled reaction - Boar #1 was cautious but became friendly when Wumpus offered some food. Boar #2 remained nervous and kept its distance. It allowed the party through the room but eventually attacked. They quickly killed the boar.
Note - I use the reaction table from the Rules Cyclopedia.
2-3 Monster attacks
4-6 Monster is aggressive (growls, threatens); roll again in one round with a penalty of -4 to the roll
7-9 Monster is cautious; roll again in one round
10-11 Monster is neutral; roll again in one round with a bonus of +4 to the roll
12 Monster is friendly
I rolled 11 for the first boar and 8 for the second. I rolled again the next round and got 14 for the first boar and 7 for the second boar. Then we got into a conversation and the party moved into the corridor, and I suddenly remembered the other boar wasn't resolved! I rolled again, and got a 5, then boar became threatening, then a 2 - the boar attacked!
D. Interrupted two orc shamans performing a ritual. Interrupting the ritual caused magic to disperse - polymorphing Fitzhugh into a chicken! The shamans cast Hold Person on Wumpus and Waverly. The party clerics, in turn, cast Hold Person on the shamans. The clerics, both lawful, were unwilling to execute the paralyzed opponents. Arrn, who is neutral, said, "Oh for Fuck's Sake!" became visible, and slit the throats of both opponents. Arrn found a pouch of rare herbs and a parchment that spoke of the "Wand of Dreams", a treasure that once belonged to the elven leader of the city of Thul'Gorah.
E. Crossbow Trap. Wumpus and Waverly both failed to set off the crossbow trap concealed in the corner. Fitzhugh set it off, taking 3 damage - killing her. I allowed Andrew Price to immediately cast a healing spell to save her character.
F. Stairs lead down, the sound of battle could be heard below.
G. Two orcs were fighting a humanoid shadow-creature with little success. The shadow killed one orc and injured the other. Andrew Price turned undead and sent the shadow fleeing to the south.
Note - Okay, here's where I screwed up! I assumed the shadow was undead. Only much later, like the final room in the dungeon, did I read that shadows are, in fact, not undead and are therefore immune to turning and holy water. More on that later.
The surviving orc was at first resentful for the assistance, shoving Waverly in anger. Then the orc crossed his arms and bowed his head in gratitude. Waverly pointed towards the upper level, indicating that the orc should retreat. The orc ascended the stairs, cautiously moving past the party, wary of betrayal. The orc was right to be wary for Fitz loosed an arrow at the orc from the top of the stairs but missed while Wumpus attacked the orc, killing him.
H. Another hall of statues. The Shadow returns. The clerics hold off on turning it to allow Waverly - the only character with a magic weapon - a chance to kill it. Afterwards, they spend ten minutes resting.
I. A room tiled entirely in mirrors - floor, ceiling, and walls - creating a strange infinite space. A shadow lurks within the reflections. Andrew Price turns the shadow, forcing it into the corner where Waverly can trap it and kill it. In retrospect, I should have allowed the shadow to become ethereal and escape.
J. An ancient scroll library. A giant spider was building a web/nest in the southwest corner. They rush and kill the spider. They spend thirty minutes searching the scrolls for something useful. They give up, figuring they can have all the time to search it later.
K. A large pit in the center of the floor. Upon looking into the pit, Wumpus sees three carrion crawlers ascending, along with gemstones at the bottom of the pit. Arrn casts sleep on two of the crawlers while Wumpus, Waverly, and Andrew Price dispatch the third. Afterwards, Wumpus lowers Waverly down the pit using a rope to retrieve the gemstones.
L. The door to the south is locked. The new thief, Fitzhugh, steps forward to pick the lock. She has a 15% chance. She rolls 16. I allow her to pick the lock but she breaks her picks doing so. The party agrees it's a fair trade. Wumpus opens the door and is attacked by swinging blade trap!
M. Another locked door - this with a bas relief of an elf, his hand outstretched in stern warning. Fitzhugh unlocks the door. Waverly opens the door and is electrocuted by a Glyph of Warding for 16 damage. She saves vs. Spells for half and takes 8 damage.
N. Another hall of statues inhabited by a shadow which Waverly dispatches with the help of Andrew Price throwing vials of holy water on it. The ceiling is studded with glowing crystals depicting the night sky. Three of the statues hold treasures: a crystal sphere depicting the heavens, a potion of life, and a scroll containing the spell ESP. The potion of life grants +1d4 permanent hit points. They decide to give this potion to Andrew Price.
Note - the room actually had two shadows but I forgot it, so I added to the next room.
O. Burial Chamber. They open the huge double doors and find the mummified king of Thul'Gorah holding a magic wand. Three shadows leap to defend the burial chamber.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Note - I have decided to roll with my mistake and keep these Shadows being undead, and thus vulnerable to turning and holy water. I'll just increase their hit dice and attack bonus for the final fight.
The players complained about the lack of promised orcs in this dungeon. They just happened to take the correct path to ignore the orc section and go straight to the final boss.
No comments:
Post a Comment