The party wisely abandons the Tomb of the Lost Lich in favor of hunting down kobolds that have been raiding merchants in between Kömür and Ankar.
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 4 cleric
- Boots Stavish, level 1 half-elf
- Litera Hildetrude, a level 1 Halfling NPC hireling
- Alard Lacey, a charmed NPC man-at-arms
Here's a quick summary of their hex-crawl exploration of the land of Jo'Ril as generated by HEXROLL.
DM 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.
After resting overnight at the Wight and Crying Queen Inn, the party reunited with Boots Stavish to explore the lands around the inn.
Day 1
Hex 02: an ancient ruined tower, the remains of an old wagon long covered in vegetation.
DM Note - Random Encounter: 5 Bandits. The bandits are surprised, the party is not.
Close to noon, they spot a small trail of campfire smoke over the grassy ridge. They advance carefully and spot five bandits around a small camp, relaxing and cataloging their stolen booty - mostly mundane supplies and sundries. The party overlooks the bandits on a steep bluff. The party attacks and the bandits are soon dispatched. One attempts to flee but is felled by Gordon's sling stone.
The bandits carried a box filled with three items jewelry. One worth 300 gp, one worth 800 gp, and one worth 1100 gp. There is no way to identify the original owner of the jewelry so the party takes it. They return to the inn with the supplies and sundries, which they donate to the innkeeper.
Day 2
Hex 01: five humans skewered on pikes, a pit grave dug nearby waiting to receive its grisly occupants. A sign declares, "Beware, the fate of those who steal from Ankar."
Hex 30: Hilly grasslands with scattered boulders and rocky outcroppings. On one hill is a circle of standing stones with one large stone slab. They investigate. A pit in the center of the circle recently contained a bonfire. A rune is drawn on the large slab. They've seen this before, in hex 76 outside Kömür. Arrn remembers their purpose - they are gateway circles, used for teleporting. A magic user may build a bonfire inside the circle, draw the rune of the destination portal on a piece of parchment, then throw themselves into the fire. They will be teleported to the destination circle. Having one rune is useless. Now they have two and may teleport between hex 30 and 76.
Waverly spots kobold tracks leading to the northeast (Waverly rolled a 1 on her hunting skill).
Hex 31: The land is covered in warm mist and fog. Geysers of hot mineral water erupt at random. The region is covered in small iridescent mineral lakes. A ruined fortress crumbled atop a large hill. The kobold tracks lead to the fortress. The party finds an excavated tunnel dug under the wall at the base of the fortress.
The Lair of the Corrupted Blades
1. 4 Kobolds. The entrance is decorated with dozens of rusty blades, worn and etched with acidic geyser water. The party sees a waist-high wall of stacked stones. Kobold archers loose arrows from cover. Wumpus, Gordon, Boots, and Andrew Price all rush forward to storm the wall. Arrn barely has a moment to warn them when everyone, save Gordon, falls into a concealed pit. Arrn buries his face in his palm, "Have you all never fought kobolds before?" The kobolds are quickly dispatched.
2. 4 chests, all trapped. Wumpus opens each of the four chests. Each chest is trapped to emit a strong acidic ooze if touched. Three of the traps fail to activate, Wumpus makes his save vs. petrification to avoid the fourth. Inside the trap they find: 420gp.
3. 10 Kobolds. The kobolds are excavating the walls with picks. A cavern is walled up to the east. The kobolds spot the party, drop their picks, and draw daggers. Three kobolds are killed while the other seven flee to the south. The party pursue the fleeing kobolds, killing three.
4. 10 Kobolds, 5 Kobold Bodyguards, 1 Kobold Chieftain. The four kobolds join five more digging in this large chamber. The party splits into a north flank and a south flank and a pitched battle is joined. A few moments later, five more kobolds join them from the west. A moment after that, a kobold chieftain protected by five kobold bodyguards join the southern flank. Arrn ends the battle with a sleep spell.
5. 4 Kobolds. As Alard Lacey moves into the north passage to dispatch the sleeping kobold, he gains the attention of four kobold guards and battle is joined. Waverly, Boots, Andrew Price, and Wumpus join Alard and quickly kill all four kobolds.
With the battle over, they have time to search the bodies and loot the chambers they passed.
They find 50 gp and mundane sundries.
A crate in a side chamber was opened without triggering the trapped ceiling to collapse. The crate was empty.
6. Trapped Chest. Wumpus, with Gordon standing nearby, opened the chest, triggering a trap and releasing a cloud of poisonous gas. They fall to the floor and suffer spasming seizures for 50 minutes.
7. 3 Kobolds. While Wumpus and Gordon were out of commission, guarded by Andrew Price and Litera, the rest of the party investigate a suspicious bag sitting in the middle of the room. While doing so, they notice three more kobolds manning a makeshift barricade constructed from stacked crates. They kobolds are quickly dispatched.
8. Trapped Satchel. Alard opens the satchel but fails to trigger its trap. He removes:
- 230 gp
- 1 gem worth 100 gp in total
- a Potion
- a Ring
9. Green Slime, 1 Stirge, and 4 Kobolds. Waverly scouts ahead. The chamber to the west emits a horrible stench. The walls are covered in gelatinous green putrescence.
While standing guard in the western corridor, she spots a small bat-winged creature land on the wall of the southern passage.
DM Note- Random encounter. Waverly is not surprised but the stirge is.
Waverly quietly retreats, not wanting to disturb the stirge.
She reunites with the party who are resting and exploring the large chamber. Gordon and Wumpus are revived from their seizures. They hear three kobolds approaching from the west.
DM Note- Another random encounter.
The kobolds charge but are soon routed. The party chases the fleeing kobold down the southern passage to the west.
10. Barrel. There's a barrel in this chamber. Nobody wants to touch it.
To be continued!
Commentary: Kobolds may go down quick but when there's a lot of them some of them are going to roll lucky and do some damage! This dungeon, as generated by HEXROLL originally had only 10 kobolds in it. I beefed it up by making it a kobold lair, rolling randomly to determine how many kobolds were in the lair, and adding some traps and barricades. The running combat that triggered the big fight in the main chamber put a lot of strain on Foundry.
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