Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance in the dungeons beneath the Howling Tower ...
the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles atop the Greyhame Mountain itself ...
and the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...
22 March's roster:
July (half-Elf 1)
Kord (half-orc fighter 4/cleric 4)
Ham (cleric 4)
Thaddeus (fighter 1)
Blackleaf (Elf 3)
Koko (woman-ape 3)
Little Bob (travelling man 5)
"LET IT BE KNOWN ... THE WORSHIP OF KORD IS HEREBY OUTLAWED ON PAIN OF DEATH ..." read the placards that are nailed up throughout town this week.
"AND MOREOVER, LET IT BE KNOWN THAT BABY-FACE, LEAD, AND THEIR ASSOCIATES ARE HEREBY NAMED WOLVES AND MAY BE HUNTED TO THE DEATH THROUGHOUT THIS REALM.
"~MORHOLT, LORD OF OAKRIDGE CASTLE AND THE VILLAGES BRAKERIDGE AND KALLIA"
Last session, the party entered into Oakridge Castle by stealth and while one half rescued the Lady Sonora (whom Morholt had been holding hostage with the intent to force her to marry him using a love potion), the other half slew a number of his men-at-arms in their sleep. Unfortunately, one half of the party started off with a less successful gambit, attempting to gain entrance at the gate by claiming to be clerics of the god Kord, and thus announcing themselves as probably the perpetrators ...
Fortunately for everyone, the news that Sonora was rescued spread quickly through town. The villagers hate Morholt and love Sonora as they remember her late husband, the legitimate lord of the area whose power was usurped by Morholt after a suspicious hunting accident; so given the news that their lady was freed, the villagers sent word around to get Kord, Blackleaf, and the others out of town before Morholt's men-at-arms could come hunt them down.
So, out of town but nearby, the characters considered overthrowing Morholt once and for all and restoring Sonora to her ladyship ... but Blackleaf preferred to wait until they had a fuller party. And, moreover, the young half-Elf adventuress July showed up, newly arrived and ready to go adventuring, and it seemed more prudent to show her the adventuring ropes in a dungeon, rather than start off with a castle raid.
Thus, the party elected to return to the Howling Tower, there to explore and see what they might learn about the Star Things, while Kord expressed a desire to collect the body of Gram from the secret shadow-shrine.
Three days to the Tower ... wilderness attrition resulted in lost daggers and a lost shield, so I presume they were minor animal encounters. The Tower stands atop a ridge running down from the southwest spur of the Greyhame Mountain, just above the treeline so that it stands like a lone nail above the valleys on either side. In front of it stand two pyres filled with the bodies of goblins.
Kord remembered the secret tunnel entrance down to the crypts of the first dungeon level and led the party to it, and everyone elected to use it. About half way down is a wider space in which are sometimes insectile horrors; this time, the party found a number of large egg sacs which they decided to destroy before passing on down to the dungeon.
In the dungeon crypts, the party emerged about twenty feet from the secret shadow shrine. Given how close they were, that meant that Kord wanted to go in and get Gram's body, left their from another session. So the half-orc went in without any light (light inside creates animated shadows); meanwhile, Blackleaf heard a goblin voice stage-whisper "Oh, shit!" from the darkness just to the north, and heard two pair of goblin-feet padding quickly away through the dungeon.
The party gave chase, and with a lit lantern managed to shoot the two goblins down before they got far so that they could not warn their comrades elsewhere.
From this point, the party explored a number of tombs in the largely unmapped western portion of the dungeons. They fought a number of pallid, hungry undead humanoids which were easily turned by Kord and Ham with prayers to their god; and also a number of tentacled insectile horrors, some of which managed to paralyze Ham, Little Bob, and one of the dogs for a number of turns before the horrors themselves were killed.
In one tomb, the party discovered a sarcophagus that was cold to the touch. Koko the ape drank a potion that she felt made her invincible, and found within a colony of brown mold that was so cold that her breath came out as a mist and her fingers cramped up. In the midst of the colony was laid a sword ... ignoring the damage she was taking, Koko took out the sword ... at the party's behest, she laid it in the middle of the room, covered it with oil, and set it on fire. The mold on the sword immediately doubled in size and the room got noticeably colder! Koko was badly injured by the extreme cold, and so she wrapped the sword up with rags and then she and the party abandoned the room to the mold ...
Exploring further, the party found a couple means of ingress to a separate dungeon level to the west, one through a secret door, the other through a goblin barricade. These goblins Blackleaf magically slept, and the party took them prisoner. Then, using "truth potions" (the party's label for them ... sure they're labeled as such, but I don't remember ever handing such out ... I ruled that the potion got the goblin drunk and then he blurted out a kind of truth), the party learned from one of the goblins that there is a secret door with treasure behind it in the main goblin barracks on the first dungeon level.
Using this info, the party traced their steps back to the main goblin room on their map. Barging in, they found a number of goblins and wolves; Koko used her ring of control animal to force the wolves to attack the goblins, and meanwhile the party lit into the poor goblins with a vengeance. Once the room was secure, they did indeed find a secret door on the south wall, behind which was hidden a violent shrine to a goblin deity and vengeance against the Elves--on three decapitated Elf heads on the altar shone three circlets of silver and gold.
Collecting their loot, the party then made their way back to the surface. They avoided the stairs (a party of goblins was waiting there, ready to ambush them, but Blackleaf checked ahead without light and saw them) and left by the tunnel instead.
All in all, a simple session, but a good one. A good introduction for July and her player, I hope!
------
Remembrance for the Fallen:
Gram, Dorcas, Frida, and Johann Haybaler (normal hirelings), Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (boarhounds), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghost hound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)
and for those Enchanted away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)
Friday, March 30, 2018
Friday, March 23, 2018
Travelling in the Wilderness: 20 Wilderness Traps
There's no text to quote concerning this topic that I know off the top of my head.
I'm chewing on another means of running wilderness exploration than the venerable hexcrawl. Not like there couldn't be tricks and traps in a hex or in a traditional hexcrawl, but I've been thinking of "dungeonizing" the wilderness, if I can. We'll see what happens.
But I'm stumbling. The utter freedom of the wilderness is too much, and populating any area in my map is like, "Is this a grove of trees? A boulder field? A ridgeline? A cliff-face? An area with knucker-holes? etc. etc." So I'm paralyzed by possibility, and I wanted to try to focus myself with a table of discreet ideas. Ideas for traps at the moment. So here goes.
------
20 Wilderness Traps (these are a little "conservative" in scope, but they're just the beginning of what could be out there ...)
1) Tree fall -- 1 in 6 chance that a dead tree falls on 1-3 randomly selected characters. They may save v. paralysis (or using DEX) or take 4-24 damage
2) Poison ivy -- or other rash-causing plant; characters moving through the area are automatically affected by an itching rash that incurs a penalty of -1 on "to hit", damage, and saving rolls because of discomfort for 2-7 days. Characters looking out for the plants are only affected on a 2 in 6 chance.
3) Stonefish -- or other venomous animal, e.g. vipers or scorpions; characters moving through the area have a 2 in 6 chance of being stung. Those stung must make a save v. death/poison (or CON) or die in 1-3 days.
4) Rock fall -- like a tree fall, except it happens where boulder are and causes 5-30 damage. Sorry for the overlap
5) Glue-resin -- characters moving through the area have a 3 in 6 chance of contacting glue-like resin and being thus bound to the resin-tree. The resin binds quickly, but may be loosed by liberal application of alcohol ... otherwise, the character remains bound to the resin for 1-3 days and wandering monster checks ensue ... (strength based options to remove them are of course optional)
6) Strangle-bracken -- the bracken in the area reacts to movement through it by tightening; characters moving through the area must make a save v. paralysis or be stuck. One day without movement is required before the bracken "relaxes" enough to allow a character to struggle back out the way they entered (or to the nearest clearing).
7) Loose scree -- characters in leather or lighter armor may move nimbly enough not to fall, but those in metal armor (scale, mail, splint, banded, or plate) who move over scree have a 2 in 6 chance of falling 20 to 120 feet (1-6 damage per 10 feet fallen).
8) Razorgrass -- characters moving through the area without any armor take 1-6 damage per mile traveled. Those in armor are allowed a save against paralysis, +0 for leather, +1 for mail, +3 for plate armor, those who fail take damage as if unarmored, those who succeed take no damage.
9) Sandflies (diseased) -- the biting insects in the area carry a disease. Unless some means of repellent is used, characters passing through must save v. poison or contract a disease. If no other specific disease is used, it will cause -1 CON and 1-6 fewer hit points until cured.
10) Tick-nest -- the foliage in this area is thick with ticks. Characters who pass through have a 2 in 6 chance of getting bitten by ticks, which causes -1 CON and 1-4 fewer hit points until dealt with. Furthermore, 1 in 20 ticks are diseased and the character must save v. poison or contract a disease that will be fatal in 1-6 weeks.
11) Geyserhole -- entering the superheated water causes 4-32 damage, but who would do that? More importantly, there is a 1 in 6 chance that the geyser "goes off" and causes 2-16 damage to all those nearby.
12) Sleep-river -- like the stream in Mirkwood, the water of this river causes a magical sleep to all who touch it
13) Black-water -- worse than the stream in Mirkwood, the water of this river is rife with negative energy; all who touch it are drained of one life-energy level per round of contact with the water. Those who are reduced to 0 levels are killed and rise as hostile wraiths in 1-4 rounds thereafter. Such wraiths must remain within 1 mile of the body whence they sprang, so if borne downriver, downriver the wraith must go ...
14) Labyrinth-root -- a particularly pernicious kind of tree with excessive root-systems that magicall compel people who come across them to trace them like a labyrinth, save v. spell to resist; the labyrinth will take 1-3 days to complete, incurring wandering monster checks as usual (though non-flyers might also become caught in the magical labyrinth?)
15) Drawstone -- a kind of super-powerful magnetic rock formation; metal-armored characters that pass too close (1 chance in 6 when passing through its area) cannot move farther away; those who fail a save v. paralysis must move closer. Shedding armor takes enough time to allow a wandering monster check
16) Corpseflower -- flowers that smell like rotting flesh and always draw the attention of monsters that would eat such. Passing through the area incurs an extra wandering monster check; coming into contact with the flowers (3 in 6 chance unless explicitly avoiding them) continues to draw one extra monster check per day for 1-4 days
17) Hotspring slime -- it's a green or grey slime, but bigger; OR a brown mold colony that makes the hot spring just a spring, but touching the mold causes the normal 4-32 cold damage
18) Social insect colony -- stepping into an underground wasp colony is a nightmare of mine, and the characters just did it! Save v. poison or take 3-18 damage from the stinging insects, save at +1 in leather armor, +2 in mail, or +4 in plate. There are 1-3 swarms; they might pursue for a bit if the reaction roll is particularly bad, but only do 1-6 damage after that first round
19) Yellow mold (always a favorite) -- it's a wild yellow mold colony; 50% chance that the characters nearest it save v. death or die in 6 rounds as they choke to death on the spores. Outdoors, these colonies could get huge
20) Wormrose -- wildflowers with a magical worm that dwells within them; 3 in 6 chance that a character comes into contact with one if wormrose is in the area, and such a character must save v. breath weapon or fall into a coma for 1-4 days and be a hassle for their party to haul around unconscious ... it's difficult to harvest wormrose, but many magic-users, sages, etc. will pay a good price for intact flowers with the worms inside if they can be brought back safely ...
I'm chewing on another means of running wilderness exploration than the venerable hexcrawl. Not like there couldn't be tricks and traps in a hex or in a traditional hexcrawl, but I've been thinking of "dungeonizing" the wilderness, if I can. We'll see what happens.
But I'm stumbling. The utter freedom of the wilderness is too much, and populating any area in my map is like, "Is this a grove of trees? A boulder field? A ridgeline? A cliff-face? An area with knucker-holes? etc. etc." So I'm paralyzed by possibility, and I wanted to try to focus myself with a table of discreet ideas. Ideas for traps at the moment. So here goes.
------
20 Wilderness Traps (these are a little "conservative" in scope, but they're just the beginning of what could be out there ...)
1) Tree fall -- 1 in 6 chance that a dead tree falls on 1-3 randomly selected characters. They may save v. paralysis (or using DEX) or take 4-24 damage
2) Poison ivy -- or other rash-causing plant; characters moving through the area are automatically affected by an itching rash that incurs a penalty of -1 on "to hit", damage, and saving rolls because of discomfort for 2-7 days. Characters looking out for the plants are only affected on a 2 in 6 chance.
3) Stonefish -- or other venomous animal, e.g. vipers or scorpions; characters moving through the area have a 2 in 6 chance of being stung. Those stung must make a save v. death/poison (or CON) or die in 1-3 days.
4) Rock fall -- like a tree fall, except it happens where boulder are and causes 5-30 damage. Sorry for the overlap
5) Glue-resin -- characters moving through the area have a 3 in 6 chance of contacting glue-like resin and being thus bound to the resin-tree. The resin binds quickly, but may be loosed by liberal application of alcohol ... otherwise, the character remains bound to the resin for 1-3 days and wandering monster checks ensue ... (strength based options to remove them are of course optional)
6) Strangle-bracken -- the bracken in the area reacts to movement through it by tightening; characters moving through the area must make a save v. paralysis or be stuck. One day without movement is required before the bracken "relaxes" enough to allow a character to struggle back out the way they entered (or to the nearest clearing).
7) Loose scree -- characters in leather or lighter armor may move nimbly enough not to fall, but those in metal armor (scale, mail, splint, banded, or plate) who move over scree have a 2 in 6 chance of falling 20 to 120 feet (1-6 damage per 10 feet fallen).
8) Razorgrass -- characters moving through the area without any armor take 1-6 damage per mile traveled. Those in armor are allowed a save against paralysis, +0 for leather, +1 for mail, +3 for plate armor, those who fail take damage as if unarmored, those who succeed take no damage.
9) Sandflies (diseased) -- the biting insects in the area carry a disease. Unless some means of repellent is used, characters passing through must save v. poison or contract a disease. If no other specific disease is used, it will cause -1 CON and 1-6 fewer hit points until cured.
10) Tick-nest -- the foliage in this area is thick with ticks. Characters who pass through have a 2 in 6 chance of getting bitten by ticks, which causes -1 CON and 1-4 fewer hit points until dealt with. Furthermore, 1 in 20 ticks are diseased and the character must save v. poison or contract a disease that will be fatal in 1-6 weeks.
11) Geyserhole -- entering the superheated water causes 4-32 damage, but who would do that? More importantly, there is a 1 in 6 chance that the geyser "goes off" and causes 2-16 damage to all those nearby.
12) Sleep-river -- like the stream in Mirkwood, the water of this river causes a magical sleep to all who touch it
13) Black-water -- worse than the stream in Mirkwood, the water of this river is rife with negative energy; all who touch it are drained of one life-energy level per round of contact with the water. Those who are reduced to 0 levels are killed and rise as hostile wraiths in 1-4 rounds thereafter. Such wraiths must remain within 1 mile of the body whence they sprang, so if borne downriver, downriver the wraith must go ...
14) Labyrinth-root -- a particularly pernicious kind of tree with excessive root-systems that magicall compel people who come across them to trace them like a labyrinth, save v. spell to resist; the labyrinth will take 1-3 days to complete, incurring wandering monster checks as usual (though non-flyers might also become caught in the magical labyrinth?)
15) Drawstone -- a kind of super-powerful magnetic rock formation; metal-armored characters that pass too close (1 chance in 6 when passing through its area) cannot move farther away; those who fail a save v. paralysis must move closer. Shedding armor takes enough time to allow a wandering monster check
16) Corpseflower -- flowers that smell like rotting flesh and always draw the attention of monsters that would eat such. Passing through the area incurs an extra wandering monster check; coming into contact with the flowers (3 in 6 chance unless explicitly avoiding them) continues to draw one extra monster check per day for 1-4 days
17) Hotspring slime -- it's a green or grey slime, but bigger; OR a brown mold colony that makes the hot spring just a spring, but touching the mold causes the normal 4-32 cold damage
18) Social insect colony -- stepping into an underground wasp colony is a nightmare of mine, and the characters just did it! Save v. poison or take 3-18 damage from the stinging insects, save at +1 in leather armor, +2 in mail, or +4 in plate. There are 1-3 swarms; they might pursue for a bit if the reaction roll is particularly bad, but only do 1-6 damage after that first round
19) Yellow mold (always a favorite) -- it's a wild yellow mold colony; 50% chance that the characters nearest it save v. death or die in 6 rounds as they choke to death on the spores. Outdoors, these colonies could get huge
20) Wormrose -- wildflowers with a magical worm that dwells within them; 3 in 6 chance that a character comes into contact with one if wormrose is in the area, and such a character must save v. breath weapon or fall into a coma for 1-4 days and be a hassle for their party to haul around unconscious ... it's difficult to harvest wormrose, but many magic-users, sages, etc. will pay a good price for intact flowers with the worms inside if they can be brought back safely ...
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 24
Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance in the dungeons beneath the Howling Tower ...
the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles atop the Greyhame Mountain itself ...
and the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...
15 March's roster:
Kord (half-orc fighter 3/cleric 4 ... he mislabeled levels before, I probably did too)
Ham (cleric 4)
Thaddeus (newly minted fighter 1)
Baby Face (thief 5)
Valor Justice (Elf 1)
Blackleaf (Elf 3)
Koko (woman-ape 2)
Lead (cleric 4)
Aria (Elf 1)
Little Bob (travelling-man 5, I think)
and all their hirelings and dogs
This is the week during which Morholt will force the lady Sonora to marry him, using a love potion possibly provided to him by the Elves.
But first, the characters had other business.
First, Blackleaf tested out a bunch of magic items gained from the hoard of Ulfior, undead thing, and discovered among other things a medallion of ESP and a ring of animal control along with a couple other minor things (some potions she sipped, none poisonous, including one seeming to be of strength, of invincibility, etc.). Discovering these things, Blackleaf then sought out Aldir (whom she is hoping to use to marry and thus to gain an immortal soul) while everyone else was preparing. She used her newfound medallion to read his thoughts concerning her (suspicion--is she here to tempt me with an illicit relationship again?) and then offered him a silver torc to dedicate to his god Adonai as a kind of peace-offering. He accepted it reluctantly.
Meanwhile, the party has a number of other magic items they needed to identify and which were less simple to figure out. So they sought out Axxl the Mask, semi-local sage, and for the price of 2000 gold, got him to agree to identify up to a dozen magic items over the course of the month. They gave him: 1) a scroll, 2) a scroll, 3) a helm, 4) a wand, 5) a sword, 6) a scroll, 7) a handaxe, 8) a flamberge-sword, 9) a scroll. I've been taking notes for the last twenty-three sessions, but fuck me if I remember what is what, especially when their notes don't tell them where they acquired the thing. Oh well, that's what I signed up for as referee. Four weeks from now I'll have to have identified all these things for them.
Okay, but really, Morholt is going to force Sonora to marry him. I roll ... 4 days before the deed is done. The party begins to plan ...
Send the eagle Kaaraak to reconnoiter Oakridge Castle to figure out where the lady is? Aria the Elf won't allow it (she is of Natural alignment, and playing it hardcore).
Finally, Baby Face uses his sending bone to send a message to Sonora: "We want to save you; where are you?"
The message returned is, "I don't know if I can trust you. I'm trapped in the northwest tower of the keep."
Meanwhile, Baby Face also approaches his Thieves' Guild contact Jaybird Jenny and gets a message sent to the "bandits" in the woods (who are actually the freed men-at-arms who were loyal to the former lord and who were imprisoned by Morholt before being freed by the player-characters ... and are now living as bandits). The message details the party's desire to free Sonora, will they help? "Tell us when and where to meet you and we will kill Morholt and his men," the bandits answer back.
"Meet us tomorrow night below the castle gate," the party sends the message back. Thirteen bandits show up, ready for trouble.
And so they attack the castle ...
The plan ultimately decided was to split the party. Half the party (the Extraction Team) including Koko, Blackleaf, Kord, Aria, Baby Face, and Valor Justice would have Koko the ape climb the northeast face of the keep with ropes, everyone would climb up, and they would go in an free Sonora.
Meanwhile, the Distraction Team--everyone else, including the bandits--would approach the front gates and create a distraction. Actually, the Extraction Team was supposed to wait until the distraction took place.
Anyway, the Distraction Team marched up to the castle gates. The guards hailed the large party of armed people approaching at night. "Who are you?"
"Clerics of the god Kord, come to bless the upcoming wedding!" Lead called back.
"We didn't invite you!" the guard leader calls back. "What the hell is going on?"
"If you refuse us, the god Kord's wrath will fall upon you!" Lead answered.
"I'm calling the guard captain," the guard returned.
The Distraction Team here abandoned their plan and retreated (at some point I reminded them of the secret entrance to the castle dungeons they've been through before ... was it here?). They decide to go around the castle and enter the secret door into the dungeons.
------
The Extraction Team waited in vain for a signal and finally decided to act on their own. Koko the ape climbed the keep face without a rope and noted six guards on the fighting-floor of the keep's roof. (The guards rolled a 6 on a d6 on their "notice check", the worst they could possibly roll; they're gossiping among themselves). Blackleaf then cast sleep and all six guards fell asleep. The Extraction Team then climbed up with the help of ropes thrown down by Koko. The guards were standing near a trapdoor down into the keep ...
------
The Distraction Team entered into the dungeons. The bottom level was unguarded; they immediately found a stair upward that led to a closed and locked door. With brute strength, they forced open the lock (they were there to make a distraction, after all).
Inside were six guards gambling at a table. The party charged forward and murdered all the guards before any alarum could be raised.
Continuing out into the corridors of the castle itself, the party turned south and ultimately broke into another room. There, they found five men sleeping in their beds and murdered them all mercilessly as they slept.
------
In the keep, the Extraction Team made a beeline to the west toward the door, behind which were heard two feminine voices. Baby Face failed to pick the locked lock, but then called on the unseen servant bound in his ring to open the door, and it miraculously could. Opening the door quietly, they surprised two women--one middle-aged but still beautiful, the other young, dark-haired, and very similar in face to Morholt--who were talking quietly to each other.
The party rushed in and held their mouths, telling the two women that they were there to rescue them. This worked, strangely, and the women trusted them. The older one identified herself as Sonora, the younger as Moria, daughter of Morholt, imprisoned by her father in the tower until she could be given away to the Elves of the Dwimmerholt. Once freed, the women quickly grabbed some valuables, and then agreed to be led out to the roof and carried down the wall ...
------
The Distraction Team continued a little deeper. They moved on to the next room and found another barracks with another five sleeping men whom they quickly killed. They then considered mercenary goals--what is there to loot? Between the two rooms, they had seen twelve footlockers altogether, and now split their attention opening all these lockers. In these they found a number of fine cloaks, suits of plate armor, and a number of other pieces of jewelry.
At the end of this time looting, Lead received a sending from Baby Face telling him to "Get out!" Consolidating everything, the Distraction Team then went out and back to the basement and then out through the secret door. I didn't roll any wandering inhabitants, alas.
------
Back in town, some of the party set out with the "bandits" and Sonora and Moria to their hideout in the woods north of town while others decided to remain in town and possibly spread rumors of the god Kord's wrath having befallen Morholt and his men. Rumormongering was done, much quickened by an excess of liquor as several of the characters caroused. Valor Justice and Thaddeus both saved, but Blackleaf failed her save and ran into a minor misunderstanding with the law--she happened to be in the way when the mercenaries in the "Citadel" (the only watchtower in town) were mustered out to go to the castle for an emergency, and they shook her down for 50 gp ...
------
Remembrance for the Fallen:
Gram, Dorcas, Frida, and Johann Haybaler (normal hirelings), Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (boarhounds), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghosthound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)
and for those Enchanted away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance in the dungeons beneath the Howling Tower ...
the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles atop the Greyhame Mountain itself ...
and the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...
15 March's roster:
Kord (half-orc fighter 3/cleric 4 ... he mislabeled levels before, I probably did too)
Ham (cleric 4)
Thaddeus (newly minted fighter 1)
Baby Face (thief 5)
Valor Justice (Elf 1)
Blackleaf (Elf 3)
Koko (woman-ape 2)
Lead (cleric 4)
Aria (Elf 1)
Little Bob (travelling-man 5, I think)
and all their hirelings and dogs
This is the week during which Morholt will force the lady Sonora to marry him, using a love potion possibly provided to him by the Elves.
But first, the characters had other business.
First, Blackleaf tested out a bunch of magic items gained from the hoard of Ulfior, undead thing, and discovered among other things a medallion of ESP and a ring of animal control along with a couple other minor things (some potions she sipped, none poisonous, including one seeming to be of strength, of invincibility, etc.). Discovering these things, Blackleaf then sought out Aldir (whom she is hoping to use to marry and thus to gain an immortal soul) while everyone else was preparing. She used her newfound medallion to read his thoughts concerning her (suspicion--is she here to tempt me with an illicit relationship again?) and then offered him a silver torc to dedicate to his god Adonai as a kind of peace-offering. He accepted it reluctantly.
Meanwhile, the party has a number of other magic items they needed to identify and which were less simple to figure out. So they sought out Axxl the Mask, semi-local sage, and for the price of 2000 gold, got him to agree to identify up to a dozen magic items over the course of the month. They gave him: 1) a scroll, 2) a scroll, 3) a helm, 4) a wand, 5) a sword, 6) a scroll, 7) a handaxe, 8) a flamberge-sword, 9) a scroll. I've been taking notes for the last twenty-three sessions, but fuck me if I remember what is what, especially when their notes don't tell them where they acquired the thing. Oh well, that's what I signed up for as referee. Four weeks from now I'll have to have identified all these things for them.
Okay, but really, Morholt is going to force Sonora to marry him. I roll ... 4 days before the deed is done. The party begins to plan ...
Send the eagle Kaaraak to reconnoiter Oakridge Castle to figure out where the lady is? Aria the Elf won't allow it (she is of Natural alignment, and playing it hardcore).
Finally, Baby Face uses his sending bone to send a message to Sonora: "We want to save you; where are you?"
The message returned is, "I don't know if I can trust you. I'm trapped in the northwest tower of the keep."
Meanwhile, Baby Face also approaches his Thieves' Guild contact Jaybird Jenny and gets a message sent to the "bandits" in the woods (who are actually the freed men-at-arms who were loyal to the former lord and who were imprisoned by Morholt before being freed by the player-characters ... and are now living as bandits). The message details the party's desire to free Sonora, will they help? "Tell us when and where to meet you and we will kill Morholt and his men," the bandits answer back.
"Meet us tomorrow night below the castle gate," the party sends the message back. Thirteen bandits show up, ready for trouble.
And so they attack the castle ...
The plan ultimately decided was to split the party. Half the party (the Extraction Team) including Koko, Blackleaf, Kord, Aria, Baby Face, and Valor Justice would have Koko the ape climb the northeast face of the keep with ropes, everyone would climb up, and they would go in an free Sonora.
Meanwhile, the Distraction Team--everyone else, including the bandits--would approach the front gates and create a distraction. Actually, the Extraction Team was supposed to wait until the distraction took place.
Anyway, the Distraction Team marched up to the castle gates. The guards hailed the large party of armed people approaching at night. "Who are you?"
"Clerics of the god Kord, come to bless the upcoming wedding!" Lead called back.
"We didn't invite you!" the guard leader calls back. "What the hell is going on?"
"If you refuse us, the god Kord's wrath will fall upon you!" Lead answered.
"I'm calling the guard captain," the guard returned.
The Distraction Team here abandoned their plan and retreated (at some point I reminded them of the secret entrance to the castle dungeons they've been through before ... was it here?). They decide to go around the castle and enter the secret door into the dungeons.
------
The Extraction Team waited in vain for a signal and finally decided to act on their own. Koko the ape climbed the keep face without a rope and noted six guards on the fighting-floor of the keep's roof. (The guards rolled a 6 on a d6 on their "notice check", the worst they could possibly roll; they're gossiping among themselves). Blackleaf then cast sleep and all six guards fell asleep. The Extraction Team then climbed up with the help of ropes thrown down by Koko. The guards were standing near a trapdoor down into the keep ...
------
The Distraction Team entered into the dungeons. The bottom level was unguarded; they immediately found a stair upward that led to a closed and locked door. With brute strength, they forced open the lock (they were there to make a distraction, after all).
Inside were six guards gambling at a table. The party charged forward and murdered all the guards before any alarum could be raised.
Continuing out into the corridors of the castle itself, the party turned south and ultimately broke into another room. There, they found five men sleeping in their beds and murdered them all mercilessly as they slept.
------
In the keep, the Extraction Team made a beeline to the west toward the door, behind which were heard two feminine voices. Baby Face failed to pick the locked lock, but then called on the unseen servant bound in his ring to open the door, and it miraculously could. Opening the door quietly, they surprised two women--one middle-aged but still beautiful, the other young, dark-haired, and very similar in face to Morholt--who were talking quietly to each other.
The party rushed in and held their mouths, telling the two women that they were there to rescue them. This worked, strangely, and the women trusted them. The older one identified herself as Sonora, the younger as Moria, daughter of Morholt, imprisoned by her father in the tower until she could be given away to the Elves of the Dwimmerholt. Once freed, the women quickly grabbed some valuables, and then agreed to be led out to the roof and carried down the wall ...
------
The Distraction Team continued a little deeper. They moved on to the next room and found another barracks with another five sleeping men whom they quickly killed. They then considered mercenary goals--what is there to loot? Between the two rooms, they had seen twelve footlockers altogether, and now split their attention opening all these lockers. In these they found a number of fine cloaks, suits of plate armor, and a number of other pieces of jewelry.
At the end of this time looting, Lead received a sending from Baby Face telling him to "Get out!" Consolidating everything, the Distraction Team then went out and back to the basement and then out through the secret door. I didn't roll any wandering inhabitants, alas.
------
Back in town, some of the party set out with the "bandits" and Sonora and Moria to their hideout in the woods north of town while others decided to remain in town and possibly spread rumors of the god Kord's wrath having befallen Morholt and his men. Rumormongering was done, much quickened by an excess of liquor as several of the characters caroused. Valor Justice and Thaddeus both saved, but Blackleaf failed her save and ran into a minor misunderstanding with the law--she happened to be in the way when the mercenaries in the "Citadel" (the only watchtower in town) were mustered out to go to the castle for an emergency, and they shook her down for 50 gp ...
------
Remembrance for the Fallen:
Gram, Dorcas, Frida, and Johann Haybaler (normal hirelings), Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (boarhounds), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghosthound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)
and for those Enchanted away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Travelling in the Wilderness: Becoming Lost
(new rule idea in the middle of this post)
"If a party is lost, the DM may choose the direction the party moves in, or use a random die roll. The DM must keep track of the party's actual position, as well as the direction the party believes it is moving. For example, the DM determines that a party ... has become lost. ... the party wishes to travel north; however, the DM has secretly determined that the party will head northeast. If after travelling in this direction for 6 miles, should the group decided to turn northwest, they will actually turn north." ("Travelling in the Wilderness", Dungeons and Dragons Expert Rules, p.X56)
A diagram using hexes follows.
I have never used this rule.
I did invoke a "becoming lost" rule once, in my Jungles of Chult game, which in 5e is of course a skill check (a Survival [Wisdom] check, DC 10 for waterways or DC 15 for jungles). Failure indicates that when the party moves into the "next" hex, roll a d6 to randomly determine which neighboring hex they actually enter. "... While the party is lost, players can't pinpoint the group's location on their map of Chult. The next time a navigator succeeds on a Wisdom (Survival) check made to navigate, reveal the party's actual location to the players." ("Chapter 2: The Land of Chult", Tomb of Annihilation, p.38)
Actually, I didn't use that rule by-the-text either, because I allowed a player character to make a second roll to get on track after the navigators (River Mist and Flask of Wine) got themselves turned around with a failed roll.
Where I have used rules like it is when playing Outdoor Survival (the hex map of which, as I understand it, was the basis for much D&D exploration back in the genesis-days). In that game it makes sense. As a board game, each player has perfect information about the board and the state of his "character" and position on the board, and even everyone else's character and position. The only way to simulate "lostness" in such a case is to force a player to move in a random direction as indicated by a die roll. (Every turn you roll a die to determine how lost you are; a good roll allows you to choose a direction, a bad roll forces you to move in a die-rolled direction)
But D&D is emphatically not a game of perfect information. A player has the information on his character sheet and on whatever map he may have drawn, and beyond that relies on the referee's description of his character's location and surroundings. D&D is a game of discovery, of epistemology one might say ... a game in which players map a space according to the referee's descriptions which may or may not conform to the referee's map of the "actual" space, and where such accuracy or deviation can have serious consequences for the state of the characters and the game.
So D&D doesn't need to simulate "lostness" in the way that Outdoor Survival does. The players already don't know the map, and don't know where they're going. And I don't much like the idea of running "getting lost" at the table by travelling in a random direction--to go back to the B/X quote at the top, to keep track of where the characters are on my map and also where they think they are on my map, and to adjust their movements accordingly seems like a hassle. I won't lie, I already have trouble keeping track of where the party is on a hex map just for myself when I'm supposed to be notating it in pencil ... sometimes I forget to mark a day's travel, or when they're not moving at the speed of one hex per day I forget how far through the hex they've moved this turn ... (maybe I'll post about hex maps in the future).
------
Long story short, I have a thought for another way to simulate becoming lost that would mitigate the hassle of the map and confusion on the referee's (my) part:
Becoming Lost
When moving from hex to hex (or from area to area, maybe), treat navigation as an "open door" type check. The party rolls a die (be it a straight 1-2 on a d6 or rolling a d20 plus Survival [Wisdom] against some DC, or whatever) and if they succeed, they may proceed into the next area. If they fail the roll, their day's travel is suspended as they try to find a passable way into the next area but their way is blocked by impassable brambles, a raging river, a sheer cliff, or their own incompetence at wilderness travel. They do not advance or move anywhere else.
On the next day, they may either try again with another roll, or must try to circumvent the barrier through magic or by traveling another direction (depending on whether you, the referee, treat the roll as final or as re-rollable).
In most situations, the party is able to backtrack the way they've come without having to roll anything, especially in the cast that they've mapped their way there. But in especially thick wilderness (a jungle, say), the party might have to make a roll to make their way into another hex or area even if that is the same hex or area from whence they've just come. I'd probably still allow a bonus to backtrack, especially with a map ...
------
This method of getting lost would cut out an element of the game that I feel is intellectually interesting, but which often bogs down at the table: the mode of play in which it is up to the players to ensure that their map is correct, to interrogate the fictive space that the referee is describing to be certain that they have grasped the "truth" of their representation of it.
Theoretically, the rules for getting lost in B/X D&D actually appeal to me, in the way that the sliding corridors, one-way doors, and secret teleporters that Gygax seems so fond of in dungeons are theoretically appealing. What fun it would be, I think to myself reading such rules, to be in a dungeon where I was suddenly deposited somewhere from which I don't know how to get to the exit. I would have to map myself back to a familiar space on my map!
The problem with this type of play is that most of the time I'm stuck with two or three hours for the game at most, and I've got to resolve things by the end (for my pick-up games ... same-people campaigns are a bit different, and you can put things on hold until next session). Jeff Rients' Triple Secret Random Dungeon Fate Chart of Very Probable Doom (scroll to the bottom) can help with resolving what happens when characters are stuck or lost in the dungeon (or wilderness--need a new table!) at the end of a session; but what happens when characters are split up in the middle of play? Do you split time between them? Cut one side out and have them roll to get out while you stay with the other group?
I know there must be good ways for referees to deal with these things effectively and without bogging play down, but I am not at the moment privy to them. Perhaps someone out there has procedures that make this part of the game as easy as the rest is--and I would be glad to learn from them!--but as of now, I haven't played in anyone else's hexcrawl, and only one other referee's "squarecrawl", so I'm just muddling things out for myself.
"If a party is lost, the DM may choose the direction the party moves in, or use a random die roll. The DM must keep track of the party's actual position, as well as the direction the party believes it is moving. For example, the DM determines that a party ... has become lost. ... the party wishes to travel north; however, the DM has secretly determined that the party will head northeast. If after travelling in this direction for 6 miles, should the group decided to turn northwest, they will actually turn north." ("Travelling in the Wilderness", Dungeons and Dragons Expert Rules, p.X56)
A diagram using hexes follows.
I have never used this rule.
I did invoke a "becoming lost" rule once, in my Jungles of Chult game, which in 5e is of course a skill check (a Survival [Wisdom] check, DC 10 for waterways or DC 15 for jungles). Failure indicates that when the party moves into the "next" hex, roll a d6 to randomly determine which neighboring hex they actually enter. "... While the party is lost, players can't pinpoint the group's location on their map of Chult. The next time a navigator succeeds on a Wisdom (Survival) check made to navigate, reveal the party's actual location to the players." ("Chapter 2: The Land of Chult", Tomb of Annihilation, p.38)
Actually, I didn't use that rule by-the-text either, because I allowed a player character to make a second roll to get on track after the navigators (River Mist and Flask of Wine) got themselves turned around with a failed roll.
Where I have used rules like it is when playing Outdoor Survival (the hex map of which, as I understand it, was the basis for much D&D exploration back in the genesis-days). In that game it makes sense. As a board game, each player has perfect information about the board and the state of his "character" and position on the board, and even everyone else's character and position. The only way to simulate "lostness" in such a case is to force a player to move in a random direction as indicated by a die roll. (Every turn you roll a die to determine how lost you are; a good roll allows you to choose a direction, a bad roll forces you to move in a die-rolled direction)
/pic66394.jpg) |
| image from Boardgamegeek |
But D&D is emphatically not a game of perfect information. A player has the information on his character sheet and on whatever map he may have drawn, and beyond that relies on the referee's description of his character's location and surroundings. D&D is a game of discovery, of epistemology one might say ... a game in which players map a space according to the referee's descriptions which may or may not conform to the referee's map of the "actual" space, and where such accuracy or deviation can have serious consequences for the state of the characters and the game.
So D&D doesn't need to simulate "lostness" in the way that Outdoor Survival does. The players already don't know the map, and don't know where they're going. And I don't much like the idea of running "getting lost" at the table by travelling in a random direction--to go back to the B/X quote at the top, to keep track of where the characters are on my map and also where they think they are on my map, and to adjust their movements accordingly seems like a hassle. I won't lie, I already have trouble keeping track of where the party is on a hex map just for myself when I'm supposed to be notating it in pencil ... sometimes I forget to mark a day's travel, or when they're not moving at the speed of one hex per day I forget how far through the hex they've moved this turn ... (maybe I'll post about hex maps in the future).
------
Long story short, I have a thought for another way to simulate becoming lost that would mitigate the hassle of the map and confusion on the referee's (my) part:
Becoming Lost
When moving from hex to hex (or from area to area, maybe), treat navigation as an "open door" type check. The party rolls a die (be it a straight 1-2 on a d6 or rolling a d20 plus Survival [Wisdom] against some DC, or whatever) and if they succeed, they may proceed into the next area. If they fail the roll, their day's travel is suspended as they try to find a passable way into the next area but their way is blocked by impassable brambles, a raging river, a sheer cliff, or their own incompetence at wilderness travel. They do not advance or move anywhere else.
On the next day, they may either try again with another roll, or must try to circumvent the barrier through magic or by traveling another direction (depending on whether you, the referee, treat the roll as final or as re-rollable).
In most situations, the party is able to backtrack the way they've come without having to roll anything, especially in the cast that they've mapped their way there. But in especially thick wilderness (a jungle, say), the party might have to make a roll to make their way into another hex or area even if that is the same hex or area from whence they've just come. I'd probably still allow a bonus to backtrack, especially with a map ...
------
This method of getting lost would cut out an element of the game that I feel is intellectually interesting, but which often bogs down at the table: the mode of play in which it is up to the players to ensure that their map is correct, to interrogate the fictive space that the referee is describing to be certain that they have grasped the "truth" of their representation of it.
Theoretically, the rules for getting lost in B/X D&D actually appeal to me, in the way that the sliding corridors, one-way doors, and secret teleporters that Gygax seems so fond of in dungeons are theoretically appealing. What fun it would be, I think to myself reading such rules, to be in a dungeon where I was suddenly deposited somewhere from which I don't know how to get to the exit. I would have to map myself back to a familiar space on my map!
The problem with this type of play is that most of the time I'm stuck with two or three hours for the game at most, and I've got to resolve things by the end (for my pick-up games ... same-people campaigns are a bit different, and you can put things on hold until next session). Jeff Rients' Triple Secret Random Dungeon Fate Chart of Very Probable Doom (scroll to the bottom) can help with resolving what happens when characters are stuck or lost in the dungeon (or wilderness--need a new table!) at the end of a session; but what happens when characters are split up in the middle of play? Do you split time between them? Cut one side out and have them roll to get out while you stay with the other group?
I know there must be good ways for referees to deal with these things effectively and without bogging play down, but I am not at the moment privy to them. Perhaps someone out there has procedures that make this part of the game as easy as the rest is--and I would be glad to learn from them!--but as of now, I haven't played in anyone else's hexcrawl, and only one other referee's "squarecrawl", so I'm just muddling things out for myself.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
When an Elf gains a Soul ...
As I've mentioned before, Elves in my game do not have souls in the same way that humans do; Elves are immortal so long as their bodies live--and they do not age or experience time--but when their bodies are slain by violence, accident, or disease, they die permanently. (Actually, they can still be raised from the dead with magic, but that just restores them to bodily life)
So what would it mean for an Elf to attain the kind of soul that a human has? Such an event is attested in old tales, chief among them the tale of Undine, though arguably the Tale of Beren and Luthien in which the Elf-woman Luthien Tinuviel is granted the Doom of death to join her human love Beren in death also entails an Elf attaining a soul. There is also the song of the Cup of Lethe and the White Sword, which involves a half-Elfin maid giving up her Elfin nature to join human society (yeah, yeah, shameless on my part, I wrote that epic).
In my current Greyhame game, the Elfin character Blackleaf is engaged in a quest to attain a soul for herself, in which she generally ineffectually attempts to win the true love of local blacksmith Aldir. The lore is that an Elf would gain a soul if married to a Good human, because of the union of flesh and all that which marriage entails; and so Blackleaf, after having a drunken fling with Aldir, encouraged the paladin Aethelwulf to convert Aldir to Goodness. But alas for Blackleaf, when Aldir listened to Aethelwulf, he was so impressed with the tenets of Goodness that he abandoned his illicit relationship with the Elf-woman and devoted himself entirely to the Good cult and its tenets of sinless living! Now Blackleaf hangs around and tries to impress him, but he generally turns his nose up at her because of poor reactions rolls.
Still, perhaps Blackleaf could someday win back Aldir's affections and attain a soul through marriage to him. Or through some other means, like a wish spell, or some other miracle.
------
So what would happen then?
My current inclination would be to adapt the rules for dual-classing from 1e AD&D. An Elf, e.g. Blackleaf, who attained an immortal soul would forever turn their back on the "class" of Elf. No more could she advance as a kind of fighter/magic-user, and no more would she be able to cast spells and fight while wearing armor. Instead, an Elf with a soul would have to choose a new class--fighter, thief, magic-user, or cleric (or paladin, ranger, or illusionist), and advance as such for the rest of her days. (Assassin and Druid would be denied as class options here, because an Elf with a soul must be Good, as the soul that was attained was through the union in flesh to a Good human ... I suppose a soul gained another way, i.e. through wish might align differently).
Per dual-classing, the Elf would start over at first level of experience in her new class, though retaining her hit points as already accrued, and taking the better saves and THAC0 between the new class and her current class. Otherwise, she must act within the abilities of her new class, or forfeit any experience gained during the session/expedition, i.e. an Elf that dual-classes to magic-user that nevertheless takes to wearing armor during an adventure would receive no experience at the end of that adventure.
As class options, fighter and magic-user would both be immediately available for the former-Elf to dual class into, as those are the classes most similar to an Elf's proclivities anyway. As a fighter, she would not be able to cast spells until attaining a level in fighter equal to her level in the Elf class; as a magic-user, she would not be able to wear any armor or wield any weapons other than a dagger, but could still cast all of the spells known to her from her levels as an Elf.
The other classes would be available, but would require a human sponsor who could train the Elf-cum-human in the particulars of her new-chosen class. Honestly, this shouldn't be much of a roadblock to selection; either the character should know another PC of the chosen class who can sponsor them, or it involves the introduction of a new NPC who can do the same. At the most, this might involve a session's worth of gaming/role playing to find an NPC who could sponsor the Elf in their chosen class.
So that's my initial thoughts on what it means for an Elf to gain a soul in my game. I can already see that I need to relax the alignment thing I mentioned above--just because an Elf married a Good human and received a soul doesn't mean that she doesn't immediately use that soul to turn to Evil. The whole point of a soul is to be able to choose!
Still, this will be my basis as things continue. Perhaps Blackleaf will be successful in her machinations with Aldir. Ultimately, I expect she'll find a means to attain a soul one way or the other, regardless, and we'll move forward from there!
So what would it mean for an Elf to attain the kind of soul that a human has? Such an event is attested in old tales, chief among them the tale of Undine, though arguably the Tale of Beren and Luthien in which the Elf-woman Luthien Tinuviel is granted the Doom of death to join her human love Beren in death also entails an Elf attaining a soul. There is also the song of the Cup of Lethe and the White Sword, which involves a half-Elfin maid giving up her Elfin nature to join human society (yeah, yeah, shameless on my part, I wrote that epic).
.jpg) |
| Alas for Undine, she is actually rejected by Huldbrand and so is doomed to return to the waters as mere seafoam ... |
In my current Greyhame game, the Elfin character Blackleaf is engaged in a quest to attain a soul for herself, in which she generally ineffectually attempts to win the true love of local blacksmith Aldir. The lore is that an Elf would gain a soul if married to a Good human, because of the union of flesh and all that which marriage entails; and so Blackleaf, after having a drunken fling with Aldir, encouraged the paladin Aethelwulf to convert Aldir to Goodness. But alas for Blackleaf, when Aldir listened to Aethelwulf, he was so impressed with the tenets of Goodness that he abandoned his illicit relationship with the Elf-woman and devoted himself entirely to the Good cult and its tenets of sinless living! Now Blackleaf hangs around and tries to impress him, but he generally turns his nose up at her because of poor reactions rolls.
Still, perhaps Blackleaf could someday win back Aldir's affections and attain a soul through marriage to him. Or through some other means, like a wish spell, or some other miracle.
------
So what would happen then?
My current inclination would be to adapt the rules for dual-classing from 1e AD&D. An Elf, e.g. Blackleaf, who attained an immortal soul would forever turn their back on the "class" of Elf. No more could she advance as a kind of fighter/magic-user, and no more would she be able to cast spells and fight while wearing armor. Instead, an Elf with a soul would have to choose a new class--fighter, thief, magic-user, or cleric (or paladin, ranger, or illusionist), and advance as such for the rest of her days. (Assassin and Druid would be denied as class options here, because an Elf with a soul must be Good, as the soul that was attained was through the union in flesh to a Good human ... I suppose a soul gained another way, i.e. through wish might align differently).
Per dual-classing, the Elf would start over at first level of experience in her new class, though retaining her hit points as already accrued, and taking the better saves and THAC0 between the new class and her current class. Otherwise, she must act within the abilities of her new class, or forfeit any experience gained during the session/expedition, i.e. an Elf that dual-classes to magic-user that nevertheless takes to wearing armor during an adventure would receive no experience at the end of that adventure.
As class options, fighter and magic-user would both be immediately available for the former-Elf to dual class into, as those are the classes most similar to an Elf's proclivities anyway. As a fighter, she would not be able to cast spells until attaining a level in fighter equal to her level in the Elf class; as a magic-user, she would not be able to wear any armor or wield any weapons other than a dagger, but could still cast all of the spells known to her from her levels as an Elf.
The other classes would be available, but would require a human sponsor who could train the Elf-cum-human in the particulars of her new-chosen class. Honestly, this shouldn't be much of a roadblock to selection; either the character should know another PC of the chosen class who can sponsor them, or it involves the introduction of a new NPC who can do the same. At the most, this might involve a session's worth of gaming/role playing to find an NPC who could sponsor the Elf in their chosen class.
So that's my initial thoughts on what it means for an Elf to gain a soul in my game. I can already see that I need to relax the alignment thing I mentioned above--just because an Elf married a Good human and received a soul doesn't mean that she doesn't immediately use that soul to turn to Evil. The whole point of a soul is to be able to choose!
Still, this will be my basis as things continue. Perhaps Blackleaf will be successful in her machinations with Aldir. Ultimately, I expect she'll find a means to attain a soul one way or the other, regardless, and we'll move forward from there!
Monday, March 19, 2018
Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 23
Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower ...
the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
...
Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...
while the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...
8 March's roster:
Kord (half-orc fighter/cleric)
with Gram and Thaddeus (normal men) and Boar One and Boar Two (boar hounds)
Ham (cleric)
Blackleaf (Elf)
with Clara (normal woman) and three mules led by Karl Hoffson (teamster)
Koko (woman-ape)
Aethelwulf (paladin)
Little Bob (traveling man)
with Rolf Rolfson (normal man) and four dogs including Panzer and Marlo
I should have written this earlier, but alas, I did not. And so I don't recall anything done in town ... Other than that Morholt, local lord and usurper, is rumored to finally have gotten his hands on a love potion--possibly from the Elves with whom he has recently come into contact through Amrohir the Elf--and so Morholt intends to use said potion to force Sonora, widow of the late legitimate lord, to marry him and thus to legitimize his rule. This wedding is planned for the following week (i.e. session 24), it's the talk of the town, and it will occur unless the characters do something to stop it.
But hearing this and that they have a week yet to think on it, the characters preferred to return to the dungeon first, thinking that the singing and the coming of the Stars seems a rather more pressing issue. Looking back to the last session, Aethelwulf, Kord, and Little Bob regaled the others with their experience with the star pool on the second dungeon level beneath the Howling Tower, and with the strange Cthulu-ish monster that seemed to dwell within the pool.
The characters had earlier heard from Jaer the Windlord that the singing of the Stars has to do with something that the Goblin King and Lord of Werewolves are up to, and that the Stars are seeking someone or something; and remembering that, the characters wondered if the thing in the star pool might be a child of the Stars and the thing that they're looking for. So naturally they decided that they needed to pull it out of the pool--to kill it and/or free it?--and that to do so they would need a team of mules and hundreds of feet of rope. This was all duly purchased, and a teamster (Karl Hoffson) was hired, and the party set out seeking the Howling Tower.
On the way out to the tower, a vicious summer storm blew up, and over the course of night two and day three, the party lost through attrition a multitude of daggers, two weeks of rations, a javelin, a spear, and a shield.
Then, as the storm continued above, the party arrived before the Howling Tower, which stands like a dark spike from the center of the ridge just above the treeline. Kord suggested that perhaps the party should go through the tunnels through which he has crawled out from and down to the first dungeon level before, but the party looked at their mules and decided against that course.
Entering the tower, they made for the stairs, meaning going immediately north through what was once Begor's room--and in that room, they ran into a number of wolves. My notes have "asleep" over a column of hit points, so I assume that Blackleaf cast sleep over the three boxed wolf-hp-totals. Meanwhile, six other wolves engaged the party in a melee ... the wolves managed to injure Aethelwulf fairly significantly, but otherwise all but one were slain. Some were indeed werewolves--they were not injured by normal weapons, but had to be killed with magical weapons.
One of the wolves did escape, however! Probably off to warn its compatriots--and so the party gave chase through the winding corridors beyond, and were then quickly met by a unit of mixed wolves and goblins coming up through the corridor against them. Another melee ensued. My notes are spotty, but I remember that the goblins were pressed forward as "cannon fodder" by the wolves--and some of them were clearly werewolves, standing on hindlegs and having paw-like hands. But after several goblins were dispatched, their morale broke and they pressed back through the wolves, and several were cut down by wolves snapping at them as they ran! Then the wolves pressed in and the melee continued ... but the wolves and werewolves were just not up to the party's mettle.
Before long, the regular wolves were all cut down, and the werewolves fled. They moved faster than the party, but the party was able to track them to the end of the corridor and discover that they had fled through a secret door previously undiscovered by the door to the room with the down-stair. This secret door opened onto a ten by ten chamber without any other exit--and without any werewolves or goblins--the only contents of which was a soot outline of an arch on one of the walls. The party wondered over this for a while, but ultimately had to press on to the stairs down ...
The stair was unguarded, the goblins already having fled. As the party dithered in the corridor uncertain what exactly they wanted to do, Kord declared that he was going to go mess with the shadows in the secret shrine to try to get a piece of a shadow for Axxl the Mask, a sage who has offered thousands of gold for anyone who can bring him such a thing.
So despite that being not their goal, the party followed Kord to the secret shrine with the shadows that appear when light is brought over the threshold. They passed through some narrow corridors to the secret door, and then Kord threw open the door. A number of shadows appeared, thrown by the light of the torch, and they proceeded to attack the party. The characters had a number of magic weapons, which seemed to be the only means to affect the incorporeal things, but they were unable to prevail; after a few rounds of combat, having killed only one shadow and it dissipating entirely without leaving any kind of piece to be gathered up, the party doused their light, hoping thus to extinguish the shadows.
Alas! The shadows continued to exist, and now were effectively invisible in the darkness. Their attacks were more potent, and they managed to kill Gram and to bring down Aethelwulf; but Kord healed the paladin of his hurts, and the party managed to backtrack through the secret door, and the shadows did not follow across the threshold ...
At this point, the party didn't feel that they had enough time to deal with the star-thing, and so they turned instead to exploring tombs in the far west of the first dungeon level. The first few tombs they investigated contained mere bones, then animated bones (easily destroyed), and a pittance of treasure.
But then they opened a door onto a room with a basin that seemed to be filled with water (with gems at the bottom), and which also contained a number of funerary cremation urns that seemed worth something. The party did not exactly fall for the fact that the pool was a grey ooze, but the ooze did manage to reach out and attack Aethelwulf. This was almost the paladin's end! He was knocked unconscious by its acidic attacks as it clung to him, but the party managed to kill the ooze while Kord dropped another healing spell on him--otherwise he would have been a dead-dead paladin.
The party then pressed on, through a further door, and discovered a huge sarcophagus labeled with the name Ulfior and legendry of the knight Ulfior attempting to woo the Elf-princess Feanora. In the south of the room stood a number of silver canopic jars and another door. The characters wisely avoided the the tomb, but as they investigated the jars ("How much are these worth?") the sarcophagus was thrown open and an embalmed, animated corpse emerged, while a strange mist arose out of one of the jars.
The characters rolled saves against fear and Blackleaf, Koko, Ham, and Little Bob were all paralyzed with fear at the sight of the horrible undead thing. But fortunately for them, Kord raised his holy symbol and uttered a prayer to his god, Kord, and rolled a 12 on his turning check (on 2d6, the best that could be rolled), and so managed to hold back the horror. But I ruled that he had to continue to utter a litany of prayers against it to keep it turned, and so he was otherwise out of the fight.
Meanwhile, the other characters who were not afeared focused on the mist. Aethelwulf called on his own god, Adonai, and with a strong prayer managed to turn it as well--and with the bonus to hit entailed by its "cowering" (how does a mist cower? whatever), they quickly dispatched the mist with their magical weapons. They then all turned their attention on the embalmed undead and beat it down with superior numbers and good luck that I rolled poorly on my attacks.
It was time for us to wrap up, but I gave the DM cue that there was a hoard of treasure nearby--"Are you sure you want to leave immediately?" They checked behind the door, and behold! there was a great hoard of treasure with a handful of magic items, thousands of coin, and probably a dozen pieces of jewelry. One of the best hauls yet borne forth from the dungeon!
But our time really was ending. The party loaded their mules down with this treasure and headed back to town, and Kord caroused and spilled the beans on all this in his drunkenness.
------
Remembrance for the Fallen:
Gram, Dorcas, Frida, and Johann Haybaler (normal hirelings), Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (dogs), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghosthound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)
And for those Enchanted away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower ...
the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
...
Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...
while the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...
8 March's roster:
Kord (half-orc fighter/cleric)
with Gram and Thaddeus (normal men) and Boar One and Boar Two (boar hounds)
Ham (cleric)
Blackleaf (Elf)
with Clara (normal woman) and three mules led by Karl Hoffson (teamster)
Koko (woman-ape)
Aethelwulf (paladin)
Little Bob (traveling man)
with Rolf Rolfson (normal man) and four dogs including Panzer and Marlo
I should have written this earlier, but alas, I did not. And so I don't recall anything done in town ... Other than that Morholt, local lord and usurper, is rumored to finally have gotten his hands on a love potion--possibly from the Elves with whom he has recently come into contact through Amrohir the Elf--and so Morholt intends to use said potion to force Sonora, widow of the late legitimate lord, to marry him and thus to legitimize his rule. This wedding is planned for the following week (i.e. session 24), it's the talk of the town, and it will occur unless the characters do something to stop it.
But hearing this and that they have a week yet to think on it, the characters preferred to return to the dungeon first, thinking that the singing and the coming of the Stars seems a rather more pressing issue. Looking back to the last session, Aethelwulf, Kord, and Little Bob regaled the others with their experience with the star pool on the second dungeon level beneath the Howling Tower, and with the strange Cthulu-ish monster that seemed to dwell within the pool.
The characters had earlier heard from Jaer the Windlord that the singing of the Stars has to do with something that the Goblin King and Lord of Werewolves are up to, and that the Stars are seeking someone or something; and remembering that, the characters wondered if the thing in the star pool might be a child of the Stars and the thing that they're looking for. So naturally they decided that they needed to pull it out of the pool--to kill it and/or free it?--and that to do so they would need a team of mules and hundreds of feet of rope. This was all duly purchased, and a teamster (Karl Hoffson) was hired, and the party set out seeking the Howling Tower.
On the way out to the tower, a vicious summer storm blew up, and over the course of night two and day three, the party lost through attrition a multitude of daggers, two weeks of rations, a javelin, a spear, and a shield.
Then, as the storm continued above, the party arrived before the Howling Tower, which stands like a dark spike from the center of the ridge just above the treeline. Kord suggested that perhaps the party should go through the tunnels through which he has crawled out from and down to the first dungeon level before, but the party looked at their mules and decided against that course.
Entering the tower, they made for the stairs, meaning going immediately north through what was once Begor's room--and in that room, they ran into a number of wolves. My notes have "asleep" over a column of hit points, so I assume that Blackleaf cast sleep over the three boxed wolf-hp-totals. Meanwhile, six other wolves engaged the party in a melee ... the wolves managed to injure Aethelwulf fairly significantly, but otherwise all but one were slain. Some were indeed werewolves--they were not injured by normal weapons, but had to be killed with magical weapons.
One of the wolves did escape, however! Probably off to warn its compatriots--and so the party gave chase through the winding corridors beyond, and were then quickly met by a unit of mixed wolves and goblins coming up through the corridor against them. Another melee ensued. My notes are spotty, but I remember that the goblins were pressed forward as "cannon fodder" by the wolves--and some of them were clearly werewolves, standing on hindlegs and having paw-like hands. But after several goblins were dispatched, their morale broke and they pressed back through the wolves, and several were cut down by wolves snapping at them as they ran! Then the wolves pressed in and the melee continued ... but the wolves and werewolves were just not up to the party's mettle.
Before long, the regular wolves were all cut down, and the werewolves fled. They moved faster than the party, but the party was able to track them to the end of the corridor and discover that they had fled through a secret door previously undiscovered by the door to the room with the down-stair. This secret door opened onto a ten by ten chamber without any other exit--and without any werewolves or goblins--the only contents of which was a soot outline of an arch on one of the walls. The party wondered over this for a while, but ultimately had to press on to the stairs down ...
The stair was unguarded, the goblins already having fled. As the party dithered in the corridor uncertain what exactly they wanted to do, Kord declared that he was going to go mess with the shadows in the secret shrine to try to get a piece of a shadow for Axxl the Mask, a sage who has offered thousands of gold for anyone who can bring him such a thing.
So despite that being not their goal, the party followed Kord to the secret shrine with the shadows that appear when light is brought over the threshold. They passed through some narrow corridors to the secret door, and then Kord threw open the door. A number of shadows appeared, thrown by the light of the torch, and they proceeded to attack the party. The characters had a number of magic weapons, which seemed to be the only means to affect the incorporeal things, but they were unable to prevail; after a few rounds of combat, having killed only one shadow and it dissipating entirely without leaving any kind of piece to be gathered up, the party doused their light, hoping thus to extinguish the shadows.
Alas! The shadows continued to exist, and now were effectively invisible in the darkness. Their attacks were more potent, and they managed to kill Gram and to bring down Aethelwulf; but Kord healed the paladin of his hurts, and the party managed to backtrack through the secret door, and the shadows did not follow across the threshold ...
At this point, the party didn't feel that they had enough time to deal with the star-thing, and so they turned instead to exploring tombs in the far west of the first dungeon level. The first few tombs they investigated contained mere bones, then animated bones (easily destroyed), and a pittance of treasure.
But then they opened a door onto a room with a basin that seemed to be filled with water (with gems at the bottom), and which also contained a number of funerary cremation urns that seemed worth something. The party did not exactly fall for the fact that the pool was a grey ooze, but the ooze did manage to reach out and attack Aethelwulf. This was almost the paladin's end! He was knocked unconscious by its acidic attacks as it clung to him, but the party managed to kill the ooze while Kord dropped another healing spell on him--otherwise he would have been a dead-dead paladin.
The party then pressed on, through a further door, and discovered a huge sarcophagus labeled with the name Ulfior and legendry of the knight Ulfior attempting to woo the Elf-princess Feanora. In the south of the room stood a number of silver canopic jars and another door. The characters wisely avoided the the tomb, but as they investigated the jars ("How much are these worth?") the sarcophagus was thrown open and an embalmed, animated corpse emerged, while a strange mist arose out of one of the jars.
 |
| A sarcophagus like this one, 14th C. tomb of Sir Richard Stapledon in Exeter Cathedral |
The characters rolled saves against fear and Blackleaf, Koko, Ham, and Little Bob were all paralyzed with fear at the sight of the horrible undead thing. But fortunately for them, Kord raised his holy symbol and uttered a prayer to his god, Kord, and rolled a 12 on his turning check (on 2d6, the best that could be rolled), and so managed to hold back the horror. But I ruled that he had to continue to utter a litany of prayers against it to keep it turned, and so he was otherwise out of the fight.
Meanwhile, the other characters who were not afeared focused on the mist. Aethelwulf called on his own god, Adonai, and with a strong prayer managed to turn it as well--and with the bonus to hit entailed by its "cowering" (how does a mist cower? whatever), they quickly dispatched the mist with their magical weapons. They then all turned their attention on the embalmed undead and beat it down with superior numbers and good luck that I rolled poorly on my attacks.
It was time for us to wrap up, but I gave the DM cue that there was a hoard of treasure nearby--"Are you sure you want to leave immediately?" They checked behind the door, and behold! there was a great hoard of treasure with a handful of magic items, thousands of coin, and probably a dozen pieces of jewelry. One of the best hauls yet borne forth from the dungeon!
But our time really was ending. The party loaded their mules down with this treasure and headed back to town, and Kord caroused and spilled the beans on all this in his drunkenness.
------
Remembrance for the Fallen:
Gram, Dorcas, Frida, and Johann Haybaler (normal hirelings), Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (dogs), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghosthound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)
And for those Enchanted away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)
Friday, March 16, 2018
the Memory of the Elves
Over at Pits Perilous is a post about "Age and the Elven Character ...", and at Echoes from the Geekcave, a tangentially related post about the Staff of Withering, a magic item that causes accelerated ageing in mortals, but to which Elves and dwarves are less susceptible.
These got me thinking a little about Elf-characters in my game, and what answer I might give to a player if they were suddenly to remember that their character is presumably an ancient being that has existed in the world since the first glimmering of starlight, from the age before the Rainbow Bridge was set against Heaven to join the realms of the gods with those of men below ...
The short answer, to be honest, is that I generally assume that all new characters are foreigners to the particular part of the world I've established as my setting. Like Barker's "Empire of the Petal Throne", new characters are all "fresh off the boat" in a new world--even if the Elves (and dwarves, to a lesser extent) do have long and ancient memories, they're memories concerning some other place in the world. What good will a full knowledge of the history of the Ethiopian kings and queens do you when delving in dungeons in England, really?
Moreover, Elves and men are fundamentally, metaphysically different, a thing which is easy to forget when your character is just some numbers and a list of equipment and spells on a sheet of paper before you. I do emphasize the difference during play--Elves do not have mortal souls in my game, and they do not age, and as such Elves may not be of Good, Lawul, or Evil alignment. But the differences extend beyond that--why do demihumans have level restrictions while humans do not? The old explanation I've always had for that was that Elves (and other demihumans) do not live in the present as well as humans do. Given so much time with which to live, they do not feel the pressing need to always be learning and remembering things--while the humans are all running around gaining experience and leveling up as fast they can, the Elves are dawdling, meditating by the river, learning the names of the trees of the forest and watching them season by season ...
Which is to say, if the Elves are doing such things (and always partying in the perpetual summer of their youth to boot), then their long memories are going to be filled with the songs of the winds, and the names of the trees of the forest, and how the generations of foxes in the woods have developed a new mouse-hunting culture, and all kinds of supremely local but generally useless things. Now, assuming that a first level Elf is one of these forest children who has decided that a life of adventuring would be fine for a while, their entry into human culture is going to be one without any memory of the histories of men. So Thidrek Silverhelm was prince here two hundred years ago?--so what? I was following the otters in the rivers two hundred years ago, and I learned some of the poetry of their folk, and when the best times to fish for trout are versus when to fish for perch. Etc.
On the other hand ... so your Elf character has a long memory and wants to know the kinds of things he or she recalls? One could take the opportunity as referee to respond with an infodump (and to gleefully bore the player to tears until they get back to dungeoneering, if you want!): So there were seventeen princes in the area in the past couple centuries. The first was Born Ironfist, and he ruled the area with his strength until he was overthrown by his treacherous captain of the guard, Baric the Bald. Then Baric had to fight long wars against the other lords who had been subject to Born to maintain his rule, etc. etc. It would be fair to point out that with such a vast memory, it's difficult to remember any particular thing; but that maybe with enough time meditating, the character could remember something relevant to whatever thing in memory he was seeking ...
Going into this, I thought I might ultimately write down some kind of random table of historical facts an Elf (or dwarf, to a lesser extent), might know, but I think I have a better idea for a gameable idea.
------
Elfin Memory
This is a class ability to be added to the other special rules to be used when playing an Elf-class character. (or a Free Goblin character in my game, as goblins and Elves come of the same stock)
Because of their immortal lifespans (barring death by accident, violence, or disease), Elves have deep memories of lore and past things--but very few such memories are retained or called up at any moment by the conscious mind. If an Elf character wishes to remember something in particular--an item of legend, the lyrics of an ancient lay, the proper names and means of address of all the trees of the forest, or any of the myriad details of history--he may go into a kind of meditative trance and "sift" through his memories.
Each day spent doing so allows a cumulative 5% chance of remembering something relevant to the object of thought that the referee may relate, i.e. at the end of three days meditating there is a 15% chance that the Elf has recalled something relevant. It may not be anything obviously or immediately useful--the particulars of the memory are up to the referee to decide.
This is not without a risk, of course. At the end of the trance, the Elf character must make a saving throw against death, and for each day after the first spent "sifting" through memories in this manner the save is made with a cumulative -1 penalty. Success indicates that the Elf returns without any trouble, but a failure means that the Elf has been overcome with nostalgia for the starlit forests of Elfland and/or has touched however briefly the absurdity of eternal thinking existence without a soul. The character must return to Elfland (wherever that may be--could even just be a nearby forest if you're a kind referee) as soon as possible or begin to waste away (losing one level per month, maybe), and must remain in Elfland from 1-6 months to throw off the mental fugue. After that they're free to return to adventure in the mortal world again.
(the player could run another character for the duration, or play could move to Elfland and whatever weird adventures are to be had there, if everyone is amenable ... and time could flow strangely for mortals there as well if one wanted to get crazy and change the mortal world while all are away!)
Dwarven Memory
The same as Elfin Memory, except for a couple of items:
1) Dwarves will only have memories from 0-500 years back (1d6-1 x 100)--as dwarves are not immortal, just extremely long-lived by mortal standards.
2) Dwarves receive a +5% bonus to any attempt to remember details about architecture, caves, stoneworking, crafted items, etc.--the kinds of things dwarves should stereotypically know anyway.
3) Dwarf saving throws nicely model the fact that dwarves are already more in line with human society anyway, and so "sifting" through their memories will be less likely to drive them back to their halls of stone (because of their good saves) than an Elf of the same level.
These got me thinking a little about Elf-characters in my game, and what answer I might give to a player if they were suddenly to remember that their character is presumably an ancient being that has existed in the world since the first glimmering of starlight, from the age before the Rainbow Bridge was set against Heaven to join the realms of the gods with those of men below ...
 |
| "I was there, Gandalf ... I was there three thousand years ago ..." |
The short answer, to be honest, is that I generally assume that all new characters are foreigners to the particular part of the world I've established as my setting. Like Barker's "Empire of the Petal Throne", new characters are all "fresh off the boat" in a new world--even if the Elves (and dwarves, to a lesser extent) do have long and ancient memories, they're memories concerning some other place in the world. What good will a full knowledge of the history of the Ethiopian kings and queens do you when delving in dungeons in England, really?
Moreover, Elves and men are fundamentally, metaphysically different, a thing which is easy to forget when your character is just some numbers and a list of equipment and spells on a sheet of paper before you. I do emphasize the difference during play--Elves do not have mortal souls in my game, and they do not age, and as such Elves may not be of Good, Lawul, or Evil alignment. But the differences extend beyond that--why do demihumans have level restrictions while humans do not? The old explanation I've always had for that was that Elves (and other demihumans) do not live in the present as well as humans do. Given so much time with which to live, they do not feel the pressing need to always be learning and remembering things--while the humans are all running around gaining experience and leveling up as fast they can, the Elves are dawdling, meditating by the river, learning the names of the trees of the forest and watching them season by season ...
Which is to say, if the Elves are doing such things (and always partying in the perpetual summer of their youth to boot), then their long memories are going to be filled with the songs of the winds, and the names of the trees of the forest, and how the generations of foxes in the woods have developed a new mouse-hunting culture, and all kinds of supremely local but generally useless things. Now, assuming that a first level Elf is one of these forest children who has decided that a life of adventuring would be fine for a while, their entry into human culture is going to be one without any memory of the histories of men. So Thidrek Silverhelm was prince here two hundred years ago?--so what? I was following the otters in the rivers two hundred years ago, and I learned some of the poetry of their folk, and when the best times to fish for trout are versus when to fish for perch. Etc.
On the other hand ... so your Elf character has a long memory and wants to know the kinds of things he or she recalls? One could take the opportunity as referee to respond with an infodump (and to gleefully bore the player to tears until they get back to dungeoneering, if you want!): So there were seventeen princes in the area in the past couple centuries. The first was Born Ironfist, and he ruled the area with his strength until he was overthrown by his treacherous captain of the guard, Baric the Bald. Then Baric had to fight long wars against the other lords who had been subject to Born to maintain his rule, etc. etc. It would be fair to point out that with such a vast memory, it's difficult to remember any particular thing; but that maybe with enough time meditating, the character could remember something relevant to whatever thing in memory he was seeking ...
Going into this, I thought I might ultimately write down some kind of random table of historical facts an Elf (or dwarf, to a lesser extent), might know, but I think I have a better idea for a gameable idea.
------
Elfin Memory
This is a class ability to be added to the other special rules to be used when playing an Elf-class character. (or a Free Goblin character in my game, as goblins and Elves come of the same stock)
Because of their immortal lifespans (barring death by accident, violence, or disease), Elves have deep memories of lore and past things--but very few such memories are retained or called up at any moment by the conscious mind. If an Elf character wishes to remember something in particular--an item of legend, the lyrics of an ancient lay, the proper names and means of address of all the trees of the forest, or any of the myriad details of history--he may go into a kind of meditative trance and "sift" through his memories.
Each day spent doing so allows a cumulative 5% chance of remembering something relevant to the object of thought that the referee may relate, i.e. at the end of three days meditating there is a 15% chance that the Elf has recalled something relevant. It may not be anything obviously or immediately useful--the particulars of the memory are up to the referee to decide.
This is not without a risk, of course. At the end of the trance, the Elf character must make a saving throw against death, and for each day after the first spent "sifting" through memories in this manner the save is made with a cumulative -1 penalty. Success indicates that the Elf returns without any trouble, but a failure means that the Elf has been overcome with nostalgia for the starlit forests of Elfland and/or has touched however briefly the absurdity of eternal thinking existence without a soul. The character must return to Elfland (wherever that may be--could even just be a nearby forest if you're a kind referee) as soon as possible or begin to waste away (losing one level per month, maybe), and must remain in Elfland from 1-6 months to throw off the mental fugue. After that they're free to return to adventure in the mortal world again.
(the player could run another character for the duration, or play could move to Elfland and whatever weird adventures are to be had there, if everyone is amenable ... and time could flow strangely for mortals there as well if one wanted to get crazy and change the mortal world while all are away!)
Dwarven Memory
The same as Elfin Memory, except for a couple of items:
1) Dwarves will only have memories from 0-500 years back (1d6-1 x 100)--as dwarves are not immortal, just extremely long-lived by mortal standards.
2) Dwarves receive a +5% bonus to any attempt to remember details about architecture, caves, stoneworking, crafted items, etc.--the kinds of things dwarves should stereotypically know anyway.
3) Dwarf saving throws nicely model the fact that dwarves are already more in line with human society anyway, and so "sifting" through their memories will be less likely to drive them back to their halls of stone (because of their good saves) than an Elf of the same level.
Monday, March 12, 2018
Amrohir's Tale -- the Goblin King and the missing Elf-princess
In my last post about the 22nd Greyhame Game, I mentioned the Elf Amrohir who was a guest of the usurper Morholt, and who was on a quest to seek out the missing Elf-princess Amaltheia. The party was invited to an audience in the castle by Morholt, who then allowed Amrohir to state his case with the hope that the characters might aid in seeking out Amaltheia.
It was poorly a considered move from Morholt and Amrohir, as the characters listened to them and then immediately decided that they distrusted the usurper and the Elf, and if they were to seek out Amaltheia, that they would be on her side. Nevertheless, their attention was not on the Elf-woman yet--they're rather more concerned with the fact that the stars are singing and that the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves are stirring up the trouble with the stars ...
Still, I wanted to provide more details about the situation than I did during play (I'm pretty terrible at the NPC infodump at the table, I'm afraid). So here is the tale, as told by Amrohir:
------
"Some time ago--many, many years ago, as mortals count them, in fact--the Goblin King and his servants and allies were destroyed by the Elves in a battle in the forested depths of the Dwimmerholt. The wolves and werewolves were slain or driven away, the spiders were slaughtered, and those goblins who were not killed were captured and enslaved once more--mostly sent to toil in the mines and deep places, hard labor that would break their spirits and their bodies.
"It was thought that the Goblin King had been slain--his entourage was certainly destroyed, and the body of a goblin in his panoply was one of those recovered from the field. We Elves, naturally, crucified the body and carried it before us as a sign to others what would come of rebellion, and we broke the enchantments in the armor and displayed it before our armies as we returned to the courts of the forest in triumph.
"Of the Goblin King's bodyguard, only his shieldbearer had survived, a pathetic creature that called itself Mirk. He was such a crooked and pathetic thing that it seemed even the bearing of a shield must be difficult, and yet he was cunning with the twisted magic of the goblins, and knew something of lore and of poetry. And it was because of his quick wit and wry humor that Danur, Captain of the Elfin bowmen, took Mirk for himself to be a slave in his own household, rather than one of those sent to eternal toil in the mines.
"This decision was to be the cause of much evil, as I'm sure you have guessed.
"In Danur's household, Mirk quickly became a favorite and was made the chief slave. He always carried out his tasks intelligently, and though he had a tongue that was quick with criticism for his fellows, he was equally obsequious before his master. He was given much freedom as the years wore on--and ultimately used this freedom for evil. In secret, he read the books of power in Danur's possession, and cut his own runes on wands to develop his powers. And Danur wielded for himself a Ring into which had been bound the ancient spirit Calirath, and Mirk seduced her with promises of freedom. And lastly, working only on the nights of the new moon was all was most in darkness, Mirk forged for himself a Spear, and poured into it all the poison of his malice and his long simmering hatred.
"And when the Spear was finished at last, Mirk was ready. He caught and betrayed Danur while they were out hunting, and Calirath did nothing to save her master, but allowed the goblin slave to drive the Spear into Danur's heart. Then she bore up Mirk and returned with him to their dead master's household, and while all slept, Mirk stole the Name and the Shadow of Danohir, son of Danur.
"Then, wearing the face of Danohir, Mirk took his final revenge. That same night, he visited the Elf-princess Amaltheia, who was betrothed to marry Danohir, and Mirk seduced her, and left her with a goblin child growing in her womb. And after that, he, with the help of Calirath, and leading many freed goblin slaves, made an escape through the darks of the Dwimmerholt, out to Anduril Rock, there to renew the old alliance with the wolves.
"So it was that Goblin King has returned, and calls himself Danohir the Mirk, and he dwells in the Howling Tower with his misbegotten servants--no longer slaves of the Elves, they are his slaves now, and who knows what evil they are stirring up in their dungeons.
"But as for Amaltheia, she did not know the truth of her rape until the child was born nine months hence; she had thought only that her betrothed had come to her that night, and been murdered the next day, and much was her confusion when the child was born to her with a goblin's crooked features. She was much amazed, and much grieved too--into a swoon she fell, and when she awoke again, a terror had entered her that the child would be destroyed, and she as well, and so she got up in the night from her bed of labor, and taking the child in secret, she and it were spirited away by the night winds.
"I fear that some enchantment has affected her mind, or that some lingering spell of the Goblin King has poisoned her spirit. She must be found, and returned to her people! And so I, and many others of the Elfin courts of the Dwimmerholt, have gone forth seeking high and low and looking into the secret places of the world to find her. Myself, I have come to seek into the Glimmervaults--for though others think it is too well-known among Elves, and too near the evils of the Goblin King, I think perhaps she has strayed there in her terror, and dwells now in the deeps somewhere, lonely and afraid.
"I hope that you all may aid me in discovering her, thus to return Amaltheia to her people and to her own wits. And do not think that you will go unrewarded for it! We Elves can be a very generous people for those who prove themselves our Friends."
--such is the story that Amrohir told to Morholt, and later to the characters as they listened, and the details of it have spread around town as well--
It was poorly a considered move from Morholt and Amrohir, as the characters listened to them and then immediately decided that they distrusted the usurper and the Elf, and if they were to seek out Amaltheia, that they would be on her side. Nevertheless, their attention was not on the Elf-woman yet--they're rather more concerned with the fact that the stars are singing and that the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves are stirring up the trouble with the stars ...
Still, I wanted to provide more details about the situation than I did during play (I'm pretty terrible at the NPC infodump at the table, I'm afraid). So here is the tale, as told by Amrohir:
------
"Some time ago--many, many years ago, as mortals count them, in fact--the Goblin King and his servants and allies were destroyed by the Elves in a battle in the forested depths of the Dwimmerholt. The wolves and werewolves were slain or driven away, the spiders were slaughtered, and those goblins who were not killed were captured and enslaved once more--mostly sent to toil in the mines and deep places, hard labor that would break their spirits and their bodies.
"It was thought that the Goblin King had been slain--his entourage was certainly destroyed, and the body of a goblin in his panoply was one of those recovered from the field. We Elves, naturally, crucified the body and carried it before us as a sign to others what would come of rebellion, and we broke the enchantments in the armor and displayed it before our armies as we returned to the courts of the forest in triumph.
"Of the Goblin King's bodyguard, only his shieldbearer had survived, a pathetic creature that called itself Mirk. He was such a crooked and pathetic thing that it seemed even the bearing of a shield must be difficult, and yet he was cunning with the twisted magic of the goblins, and knew something of lore and of poetry. And it was because of his quick wit and wry humor that Danur, Captain of the Elfin bowmen, took Mirk for himself to be a slave in his own household, rather than one of those sent to eternal toil in the mines.
"This decision was to be the cause of much evil, as I'm sure you have guessed.
"In Danur's household, Mirk quickly became a favorite and was made the chief slave. He always carried out his tasks intelligently, and though he had a tongue that was quick with criticism for his fellows, he was equally obsequious before his master. He was given much freedom as the years wore on--and ultimately used this freedom for evil. In secret, he read the books of power in Danur's possession, and cut his own runes on wands to develop his powers. And Danur wielded for himself a Ring into which had been bound the ancient spirit Calirath, and Mirk seduced her with promises of freedom. And lastly, working only on the nights of the new moon was all was most in darkness, Mirk forged for himself a Spear, and poured into it all the poison of his malice and his long simmering hatred.
"And when the Spear was finished at last, Mirk was ready. He caught and betrayed Danur while they were out hunting, and Calirath did nothing to save her master, but allowed the goblin slave to drive the Spear into Danur's heart. Then she bore up Mirk and returned with him to their dead master's household, and while all slept, Mirk stole the Name and the Shadow of Danohir, son of Danur.
"Then, wearing the face of Danohir, Mirk took his final revenge. That same night, he visited the Elf-princess Amaltheia, who was betrothed to marry Danohir, and Mirk seduced her, and left her with a goblin child growing in her womb. And after that, he, with the help of Calirath, and leading many freed goblin slaves, made an escape through the darks of the Dwimmerholt, out to Anduril Rock, there to renew the old alliance with the wolves.
"So it was that Goblin King has returned, and calls himself Danohir the Mirk, and he dwells in the Howling Tower with his misbegotten servants--no longer slaves of the Elves, they are his slaves now, and who knows what evil they are stirring up in their dungeons.
"But as for Amaltheia, she did not know the truth of her rape until the child was born nine months hence; she had thought only that her betrothed had come to her that night, and been murdered the next day, and much was her confusion when the child was born to her with a goblin's crooked features. She was much amazed, and much grieved too--into a swoon she fell, and when she awoke again, a terror had entered her that the child would be destroyed, and she as well, and so she got up in the night from her bed of labor, and taking the child in secret, she and it were spirited away by the night winds.
"I fear that some enchantment has affected her mind, or that some lingering spell of the Goblin King has poisoned her spirit. She must be found, and returned to her people! And so I, and many others of the Elfin courts of the Dwimmerholt, have gone forth seeking high and low and looking into the secret places of the world to find her. Myself, I have come to seek into the Glimmervaults--for though others think it is too well-known among Elves, and too near the evils of the Goblin King, I think perhaps she has strayed there in her terror, and dwells now in the deeps somewhere, lonely and afraid.
"I hope that you all may aid me in discovering her, thus to return Amaltheia to her people and to her own wits. And do not think that you will go unrewarded for it! We Elves can be a very generous people for those who prove themselves our Friends."
--such is the story that Amrohir told to Morholt, and later to the characters as they listened, and the details of it have spread around town as well--
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 22
Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower ...
and the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
...
and Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower ...
and the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
...
and Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...
while the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...
26 February's roster:
Aethelwulf (paladin 3)
Lead (cleric 4)
Baby Face (thief 5)
Valor Justice (Elf 1, first return since first session, played as Baby Face's retaine)
Blackleaf (Elf 3)
Koko (woman-ape 2)
Kord (half-orc fighter 3/cleric 3)
Ham (cleric 4)
Little Bob (traveling-man)
and all their army of hirelings and dogs ...
First things first, town stuff:
Axxl the Mask, one of two local sages, identified the black-bladed magic sword won from the wyvern hoard last session--it's name is Drinker, and it was made in imitation of the Black Swords, but is not actually such a weapon (those weapons were forged of old with demons bound inside; Drinker just looks like them). Drinker is a sword of life draining, and so will be able to drain life energy levels when Aethelwulf wishes ... as a paladin he feels slightly uneasy with the sword, but is not barred from wielding it.
Meanwhile, Morholt's son, Morrow, returns injured from a hunting trip, having been mauled by an animal in the woods. He was brought into Oakridge Castle badly savaged; Morholt, the local usurper of lordly power, sought around town for help and both Aethelfwulf and Kord were willing to offer magical healing for Morrow. Aethelwulf received a silver ring from Morholt as a token of his appreciation.
Furthermore, Morholt asked Aethelwulf to gather the party for an audience in the castle. When everyone was gathered, Morholt declared that though the adventurers' presence and meddling in town an in the dungeon was generally aggravating to him, "Perhaps now we can come to some sort of agreement of mutual benefit." He then called in and introduced another character--one Amrohir, an Elf of the Dwimmerholt. Indeed, the Elf that the party had run into last time on their way out to the Greyhame mountain, and who had sneered at them!
This Elf Amrohir now launched into a tale: he told the group that he was in search of the Elf-princess Amaltheia, who some while ago had been ensorceled and seduced by the Goblin King and left with child, and who had thence fled from the Courts of the Dwimmerholt fearing that her mother and the other Elves would have her half-goblin child exposed to die. Other Elves are out seeking her throughout the land, but Amrohir believes that she has fled into the Glimmervaults, and he thought he would enlist the aid of adventurers in discovering her. "And of course her fears are ridiculous--you must find her and bring her back, and assure her that all will be well."
Well, the party didn't trust Amrohir at all; once they had left the audience, Baby-Face used his sending bone to attempt to send a message to Amaltheia that they were on her side and wanted to help. Alas, the spirit-sending was not able to find her, and returned without delivering its message.
The party, however, had goals other than seeking and saving Amaltheia. They were rather more disturbed by the news received from Jaer the Windlord that the stars are singing because star-things are coming, looking for something or someone, summoned because the Goblin King and Lord of Werewolves are meddling in deep magic. The arrival of the star-things will be very bad, and so our protagonists hoped to find and stop whatever evil the goblins and werewolves are up to.
So to the Howling Tower they went. Arriving at the top of the ridge where the tower rises like a spike above the treeline, they observed the pyres out in front of the tower; and, approaching the doors, they observed three wolves who observed them back and then ran to the door, stood up, opened it with hands, and then disappeared into the tower.
Somewhat worried, the party pressed on nonetheless. And worried for good reason as they soon learned--passing through the rooms on the first level of the tower, the party came up against a large party of wolves (about 14 altogether--and as they ultimately learned, not all were mere wolves ...).
Blackleaf put three of the normal wolves to sleep, and then battle was enjoined. The party was poorly organized, though, and several of the wolves who seemed to have extra cunning in their yellow eyes set about waking their sleeping comrades while the party struck other wolves at random. All the wolves were ultimately slain, even a half a dozen who received multiple wounds from normal arrows and weapons without taking any hurt, but which were ultimately killed with silver-tipped arrows and swords; the party, meanwhile, lost the hireling Dorcas, and no others. Aethelwulf managed to skin five of the wolves, and then the party continued deeper into the dungeon.
We were short on time, but ultimately the party discovered the stairs down to the second dungeon level in the northern section of the first dungeon level; pushing down they explored in a few directions, gathered several broken pieces of marble sculpture that they thought they could resell, and then found themselves in a strange room with a pool in its center. From the pool the singing of the stars came through very clearly; but moreover, the pool seemed to open out to the stars, and didn't seem to have any bottom.
A magically lighted stone thrown into the pool passed through the water and then seemed to sink away into infinity. Then Lead jumped in, caution thrown completely out, and dragged Baby-Face into the pool with him. They splashed briefly and then began to sink, and it didn't quite seem that they were sinking through water. Fortunately the party had rope, and using it was able to drag out the hapless Baby-Face and Lead.
And then something turned within and approached. Something impossible to describe, something Lovecraftian and squamous and tentacled, and it looked at and into Lead, reached out and through the pool in an attempt to grasp at Lead. Fortunately, it rolled poorly.
Faced with such an empyrean horror, the party had no desire to look upon it any more and they fled.
They fled all the way out of the dungeon and back to town. With so little treasure, their shares of experience were pitiful. Finally, nobody wanted to carouse except Kord, who made his save.
------
Remembrance for the Fallen:
Dorcas, Frida, and Johann Haybaler (normal hirelings), Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (dogs), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghosthound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)
and for those Enchanted Away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)
(I don't know what's going on with the format of this post)
Sunday, March 4, 2018
A2 Secret of the Slavers' Stockade: After-action Review
"Module A2: Secret of the Slavers' Stockade" is part of the A-series of modules, later compiled into the super adventure "A1-4: Scourge of the Slave Lords." The A-series modules were originally a set of tournament modules for GenCon XIII which were later expanded by TSR into full dungeon modules with a little more meat and a little less linearity.
A while back I cajoled a friend of mine to run the A-series for our group so that I could experience them as a player before I run them myself ... our group usually plays 5e (it's the Jungles of Chult group, and we also crawl in this referee-friends homebrew dungeon with a different set of characters), so we don't do the A-series games often, but we did finally do the first half of A2 last night (A1 we did last year some time ...).
In A2, the characters, having dealt with the temple and "undercity slave pits" detailed in "A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity", move on to deal with the slavers' fortress-stockade in the hills above the city of Highport. The first half of the module A2 deals with the fortress itself, while the second half deals with the dungeons beneath (they were originally separate parts of the first round of the tournament at GenCon XIII).
------
So last night we tackled the upper stockade, which is basically a fortress full of hobgoblins. The walls are manned by regular posts of guards, there's a full roster of hobgoblins in the barracks (which number we learned about partway into our foray), and it generally seems like a tough nut to crack for players trying to infiltrate their way in. We were given a couple goals: 1) free the slaves (for a pittance per freed slave or a major boon for all of them freed), 2) a bounty for each hobgoblin killed, and 3) a serious bounty for proof that the slaver leadership was dealt with.
Given those goals and looking up at the blank face of the walls ... we were paralyzed by a lack of information. We searched the dry moat around the fortress for secret entrances to no avail (and magically slept some guard dogs along the way), and ultimately decided to climb our way up into the gatehouse with a thief with a rope.
We managed to distract guards on the walls with an illusion of apes attacking the walls (supported by another attack of real apes elsewhere on the walls) and make our way to the nearest door ... and heard voices behind it. Still wanting to be sneaky, we went around to the other side of the gatehouse, and there ambushed a couple of door guards and a "squelcher", a goblin thing that left behind oily black footprints (turns out it was a "boggle"). We killed them under a silence spell; then dithered long enough that more guards showed up and we had to fight them, and then they went to ring a gong.
This almost alerted the entire fortress, except my Elf character knows the hobgoblin tongue, and she called out that it was all a false alarm, and our referee was generous with the reactions that he rolled.
Ultimately, we managed to capture a few hobgoblins, and another character of mine, a thief/magic-user, charmed one of them with a spell. This was our breakthrough; we talked the fellow into taking us to the leadership so that we could talk through a business deal, and he went for it. While he led his one friend along seeking the leaders, the rest of the party followed behind under cover of invisibility 10'.'
Finally, we found ourselves in a courtyard with a fountain; a number of clearly badass NPCs showed up wondering who we were. A brief parlay ensued (actually, they offered to join my main character's chaotic cult with an absurdly high reactions roll ... but the rest of the party wanted to kill, and so they fireballed the bad guys while my guy's tears of failure and loss turned into steam from the fireball in front of him). And with that show of force and murdering of the leadership, we impressed the hobgoblins into surrendering the slaves to us and possibly hiring themselves out as mercenaries for my cult.
Whenever we play again, we'll be tackling the dungeon ...
------
Long story short, we didn't actually interact with very much of the module. We interacted with maybe half a dozen of 39 or so keyed locations on the map for the stockade. So from a player side I can't speak to the wealth or dearth of good material ...
What I can say is that I seem to recall reading somewhere (can't find it now) that A2's stockade was a notoriously difficult module to tackle for players, given that it's a fortress full of alert guards, and without much information where to aim a decapitation strike or to seek for treasure. It seemed to live up to that trouble in our play-through--sure, we had a generous DM who allowed our pathetic attempts to call off the alarm work, but if we hadn't done that, we'd have faced the entire garrison of hobgoblins, and even the -2 AC of our pregen ranger might not have saved her skin. Plus, one of my characters has a ring of invisibility, which is about the most useful thing ever for sneaking and all.
On the flipside, though, we dealt with the leadership easily once we got them out into the open where we could fireball them from surprise (hold person knocked another badass NPC out too). So the session was also a reminder that player chutzpah is probably more important a thing than any character's attribute scores ...
But the REAL thing I wanted to comment on was ease of use at the table--because it was clearly NOT easy to use at all, and made it clear to me that I'll have to do a lot of prep work with this module before I actually run it. Our game ran for maybe five hours, but the amount of material we covered could probably have been done in three. Our poor referee had to keep flipping back and forth through the book, digging through the room descriptions for key information.
The map of the stockade is split with two different color-codes. Half is shaded blue, the other half left white; we originally thought that must mean that a space is open to the air or not, but in retrospect I suspect it actually delineates tournament areas from module areas. In A1, at least, the module declares which areas are which; but A2 has no such delineation, letting the referee muddle through on his own (unless I'm blind and it does say it somewhere in the description).
Beyond that, it seemed like several rooms involved his checking the map several times for orientation, and checking the description to make sure he had everything prepped in his head. And still sometimes he had to go back ... e.g. the module is "supposed" to open with the characters climbing a rope up the wall left behind by an escaped slave; but our referee, reading that a rope hung below a guard post, assumed that each guard post must have a rope hanging from it. Only later did he redact it (fortunately without us having climbed any yet), when he finally read the relevant information that it was the escaped slave's rope.
All in all, it was a fun adventure--infiltrating a fortress was definitely a test of our wits! And it seems like the information within was solid, just not well-presented. Perhaps with a little more preparation (or editing), this module could be run smoothly and would provide a great challenge for characters who think they can solve every problem ...
A while back I cajoled a friend of mine to run the A-series for our group so that I could experience them as a player before I run them myself ... our group usually plays 5e (it's the Jungles of Chult group, and we also crawl in this referee-friends homebrew dungeon with a different set of characters), so we don't do the A-series games often, but we did finally do the first half of A2 last night (A1 we did last year some time ...).
In A2, the characters, having dealt with the temple and "undercity slave pits" detailed in "A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity", move on to deal with the slavers' fortress-stockade in the hills above the city of Highport. The first half of the module A2 deals with the fortress itself, while the second half deals with the dungeons beneath (they were originally separate parts of the first round of the tournament at GenCon XIII).
------
So last night we tackled the upper stockade, which is basically a fortress full of hobgoblins. The walls are manned by regular posts of guards, there's a full roster of hobgoblins in the barracks (which number we learned about partway into our foray), and it generally seems like a tough nut to crack for players trying to infiltrate their way in. We were given a couple goals: 1) free the slaves (for a pittance per freed slave or a major boon for all of them freed), 2) a bounty for each hobgoblin killed, and 3) a serious bounty for proof that the slaver leadership was dealt with.
Given those goals and looking up at the blank face of the walls ... we were paralyzed by a lack of information. We searched the dry moat around the fortress for secret entrances to no avail (and magically slept some guard dogs along the way), and ultimately decided to climb our way up into the gatehouse with a thief with a rope.
We managed to distract guards on the walls with an illusion of apes attacking the walls (supported by another attack of real apes elsewhere on the walls) and make our way to the nearest door ... and heard voices behind it. Still wanting to be sneaky, we went around to the other side of the gatehouse, and there ambushed a couple of door guards and a "squelcher", a goblin thing that left behind oily black footprints (turns out it was a "boggle"). We killed them under a silence spell; then dithered long enough that more guards showed up and we had to fight them, and then they went to ring a gong.
This almost alerted the entire fortress, except my Elf character knows the hobgoblin tongue, and she called out that it was all a false alarm, and our referee was generous with the reactions that he rolled.
Ultimately, we managed to capture a few hobgoblins, and another character of mine, a thief/magic-user, charmed one of them with a spell. This was our breakthrough; we talked the fellow into taking us to the leadership so that we could talk through a business deal, and he went for it. While he led his one friend along seeking the leaders, the rest of the party followed behind under cover of invisibility 10'.'
Finally, we found ourselves in a courtyard with a fountain; a number of clearly badass NPCs showed up wondering who we were. A brief parlay ensued (actually, they offered to join my main character's chaotic cult with an absurdly high reactions roll ... but the rest of the party wanted to kill, and so they fireballed the bad guys while my guy's tears of failure and loss turned into steam from the fireball in front of him). And with that show of force and murdering of the leadership, we impressed the hobgoblins into surrendering the slaves to us and possibly hiring themselves out as mercenaries for my cult.
Whenever we play again, we'll be tackling the dungeon ...
------
Long story short, we didn't actually interact with very much of the module. We interacted with maybe half a dozen of 39 or so keyed locations on the map for the stockade. So from a player side I can't speak to the wealth or dearth of good material ...
What I can say is that I seem to recall reading somewhere (can't find it now) that A2's stockade was a notoriously difficult module to tackle for players, given that it's a fortress full of alert guards, and without much information where to aim a decapitation strike or to seek for treasure. It seemed to live up to that trouble in our play-through--sure, we had a generous DM who allowed our pathetic attempts to call off the alarm work, but if we hadn't done that, we'd have faced the entire garrison of hobgoblins, and even the -2 AC of our pregen ranger might not have saved her skin. Plus, one of my characters has a ring of invisibility, which is about the most useful thing ever for sneaking and all.
On the flipside, though, we dealt with the leadership easily once we got them out into the open where we could fireball them from surprise (hold person knocked another badass NPC out too). So the session was also a reminder that player chutzpah is probably more important a thing than any character's attribute scores ...
But the REAL thing I wanted to comment on was ease of use at the table--because it was clearly NOT easy to use at all, and made it clear to me that I'll have to do a lot of prep work with this module before I actually run it. Our game ran for maybe five hours, but the amount of material we covered could probably have been done in three. Our poor referee had to keep flipping back and forth through the book, digging through the room descriptions for key information.
The map of the stockade is split with two different color-codes. Half is shaded blue, the other half left white; we originally thought that must mean that a space is open to the air or not, but in retrospect I suspect it actually delineates tournament areas from module areas. In A1, at least, the module declares which areas are which; but A2 has no such delineation, letting the referee muddle through on his own (unless I'm blind and it does say it somewhere in the description).
Beyond that, it seemed like several rooms involved his checking the map several times for orientation, and checking the description to make sure he had everything prepped in his head. And still sometimes he had to go back ... e.g. the module is "supposed" to open with the characters climbing a rope up the wall left behind by an escaped slave; but our referee, reading that a rope hung below a guard post, assumed that each guard post must have a rope hanging from it. Only later did he redact it (fortunately without us having climbed any yet), when he finally read the relevant information that it was the escaped slave's rope.
All in all, it was a fun adventure--infiltrating a fortress was definitely a test of our wits! And it seems like the information within was solid, just not well-presented. Perhaps with a little more preparation (or editing), this module could be run smoothly and would provide a great challenge for characters who think they can solve every problem ...
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