Dungeons and Dragons

Resting/camping in rpgs

David Skelector Delicious in Dungeon, Dragonbane, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, jeux de rôles, musings, Roleplaying Game, RPG

A few years ago, in my D&D 5E campaign in the jungles of Chult, my players fought a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Awesome? Heck no, twas a real snoozefest of a fight. A bit predictable in fact, dinosaurs are pretty bland in D&D, the T-Rex has one bite attack and a tail attack (how does a tail attack makes any sense I wonder) and that’s it – but that’s not really what I want to talk about. One character, Rufb the barbarian, was pretty messed up by the fight, the T-Rex bite attack does hit very hard obviously, and he lost probably more than half his hit points, even with his damage resistance. No worries, one long rest later and he was as fresh as ever – full hps, all his abilities back, etc. And that was with the so-called Gritty option on mind you. He healed, naturally healed – no magic, not even bandages involved, from wounds by a T-Rex bite frikkin overnight…

Now, we know that D&D 5E has definitely a super-heroic style, characters are pretty much like in video games and, yeah, there’s absolutely no sense of verisimilitude.

On the other hand, in many old-school systems for the same long rest all you get is 1 hp (unless you’re a magic-user and much more importantly also get all your spells back!). That’s more realistic for sure, healing takes time, and more in tune with a game of resources management.

But in my opinion also lacking in some way?

I mean, it’s a bit annoying, it goes against what I said about 5E, but I think that the best example of an interesting resting mechanics I can come up with is also found within video games rather than a supposedly more flexible tabletop rpg.

In Darkest Dungeon, in medium and large expeditions you’ll most likely camp along the way. You then spend a bundle of wood and some food to get back some hit points and, more interestingly, also spend from a limited pool to activate camping skills.

Three skills are accessible to every characters, anyone can do an Encourage, a Wound Care or a Pep Talk to help another character.

Every other skills are character-specific. Be it the Anger Management of the Abomination, the Restring Crossbow of the Arbalester, the Zealous Speech of the Crusader, they all are coherent rp-wise and flavorful For example, if the highwayman’s camping skills are about giving fighting bonuses to himself only, the Vestal’s are all about helping others.

A personnal favorite of mine is the Grave Robber’s Gallows Humor which has, for all companions. 75% chance to decrease stress by 20 (that’s good) and 25% chance of increasing it by 10. The Grave Robber herself has an automatic -25 stress. Dark humor is hit or miss, it is well known. A somewhat similar skill is the Jester’s Mockery which decreases stress for everyone at the expense of one companion, the butt of the joke the poor lad.

Now, many of those camping skill gives temporary buffs and that is something that can be portable to ttrpgs if one wishes so. Get your whetstone out of your backpack and sharpen your sword or encourage a low morale henchmen – could be included in any system I think. On the other hand, the examples from Darkest Dungeon mostly work on the premise of the specifi Stress parameter. I guess you must have some resource other than hit points, if not stress then something else in order for it to work. I know that I could borrow some things and implement it into Dragonbane for example because it got a willpower pool and conditions to fiddle with.

Edit: It seems like Tales of the Valiant, a 5E derivative system from Kobold press, has some interesting resting (or resting-adjacent) mechanics involved. Here’s a play report from blogger Blacksteel who uses it to good effect: https://towerofzenopus.blogspot.com/2025/10/valiant-swords-of-greyhawk-session-14.html I still wouldn’t run something similar to 5E but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Edit: Here’s someone who did a real attempt at it as opposed to my halfassed commentary above: A Camping Procedure by Rise Up Comus :https://riseupcomus.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-camping-procedure.html

Gunderholfen – Meeting Bayard the Bold and his guild (session 14)

David Skelector Dragonbane, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Gunderholfen, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG

Battered from their last expedition, the Battle Brothers are back in town to recuperate and do some training afterward – before going back to the dungeon. They bring their new member, another goblin named Grimoire, a friend of Torch that can do magic.

Gunderholfen by G. Hawkins: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/265629/gunderholfen

Player Characters (PCs) – The Battle Brothers:

  • Aracyne, Elf Hunter, fearless Guild Leader, (Isaac)
  • Jedri, Ratman Thief, he likes his rat-shape curse (Isaac)
  • Forka, Dogman Knight, fierce warrior (Edmond)
  • Torch, Goblin Knight, not expendable anymore (Edmond)
  • Grimoire, Goblin Mage, frail but smart (me)

Longfelt

Rumor

-There’s a monstrous rat disguised as a person going by night in the thieves’ quarter – hey (pointing at Jedri) wait a minute, y-y you’re a rat!

  • Hearing of this « disguised monstrous rat » they immediately think of their friend Tlali and they go see her at her house. There’s a nice reunion, she explains that she started the process to get back her human form but there’s powerful magic involved (Sethid’s, the Master of the Dungeon) and it will take a while.
  • They do some training and are living at the Hare & the Hound inn for the moment.
  • They buy some supplies, Forka buys a great helm and then, after 9 days in town, are ready to go dungeon-delving once more.

Gunderholfen

  • Travel through the Ganfal swamp is uneventful.
  • They enter the dungeon and when they approach Level 1C they start to see a trail of dead hobgoblins – all missing their ears. The corpses are fresh – recently killed for sure.
  • Forka pick up the scent of non-hobgoblins and tries to track where it goes – more dead hobgoblins on the other side of the (cut) rope bridge that leads to the exit of Level 1. They spend some time reparing the bridge and continue their tracking down in Level 2 and then it goes south and west in an area the PCs already explored (and had a bad time against both zombies and giant ants).
  • They’re near the giant ants’ nest, the insects are clearly agitated. The PCs quickly cross the area and further south, they hear some voices coming from the room with the aforementionned zombies.
  • The Battles Brothers decide to go back the room with broken crates and wait there for the other guild to come their way (there’s no other path). They soon hear the sounds of a battle between adventurers and giant ants though.
  • It seems like the other guild is retreating in order, with a rearguard fighting in the narrow tunnel. The Battle Brothers see an elf, with short sword and buckler in hand, emerging from the tunnel. The latter is surprised and maybe a bit alarmed but then he asks for their help against the giant ants – they’re coming in great numbers.
  • Aracyne hesitates an instant on what his best for his guild (even contemplating murder!) but then he decides to help the other adventurers IF they accept to give his guild some money… The two elves quickly negociate and settle for 80gp to be given after this fight. The other members of the rival guild come into the room one by one, two mages, a hunter and the last being Bayard the Bold, their leader, brandishing a glowing mace and his plate armor covered in insect juices – an impressive sight! His companion informs him that the Battle Brothers will help the Protectors and already the first giant ants enter the room.
  • The ensuing battle is intense, with the fighters type holding the line, at least at first, against both normal worker giant ants and bigger, meaner soldier giant ants. Another wave of monsters arrives though and some get past the frontline and one mage of the Protectors get nearly bitten in half by a soldier ant. The other mage hurries to keep him alive with healing magic. Forka makes good work of his two-hand hammer, delivering massive blows left and right. Aracyne and his hunter counterpart shoot arrow after arrow on the incoming ants. Grimoire, their new goblin mage, proves to be a good addition and incinerates ants with fireballs. Two dozens dead ants are littering the floor and the two guilds seize the opportunity to move away from there, going east and south, with the Battle Brothers knowing their way around, and soon getting behind a door where the ants horde won’t reach them.
  • Now in safety, the Elf from the Protectors (their treasurer named Bodil) counts 80 gold coins and gives them to Aracyne with Bayard frowning at the sight but not saying anything. The two guild leaders then exchange a few compliments, talk about their recent delves and then Aracyne has this idea, he offers to the Protectors to do a joint expedition into Level 4. Bayard, not one to decline a challenge less his reputation for bravery takes a hit, doesn’t think much and accepts.

Closing comments:

  • I had decided when I started this campaign that I would put some emphasis on adventuring guilds interactions. I have written some random tables, erased them, re-written some more, to help me get a sense of what NPCs guilds would likely achieve as competing explorers (the PCs still having a decent headstart, of course it’s still about them). I’m not quite satisfied with this tool yet but it did indeed lead to this, I think, interesting session.
  • Now, dealing with so many NPCs, adventurers with all their abilities to boot, is certainly cumbersome for me as a the DM. In fact, I’m pretty certain it’s the reason why in most campaigns rival adventurers don’t seem to accomplish anything ever and are reduced to discreet appearances here and there.
  • Isaac’s first instinct was to ambush the Protectors while they were fighting the giant ants. A sound plan strategically speaking. Also quite ruthless. I let him choose his course of action but I’m happy in the end he chose to help (with a price attached) instead of killing.

Gunderholfen – Into the Darkness (session 12)

David Skelector Dragonbane, Dungeons and Dragons, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG

With the kiigoths dead, the entrance to Level 4 is freed. However, the PCs will get to discover that Level 4 is not so easily conquered…

Gunderholfen by G. Hawkins: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/265629/gunderholfen

Player Characters (PCs) – The Battle Brothers:

  • Aracyne, Elf Hunter, Guild Leader, (Isaac)
  • Jedri, Ratman Thief (Isaac)
  • Forka, Dogman Knight (Edmond)
  • Torch, Goblin Torchbearer (Edmond)
  • Ghardeet, hired Hobgoblin Mage/Shaman (me)

Level 4

  • The Battle Brothers (their official guild name now) go down the long slippery stairs to Level 4A.
  • They get into a rectangular room, there’s a stuck door east, with deep ogre voices coming from the other side.
  • The PCs go south down a slope and into a natural passage. They look into a small cavern on their right and find several dead orcs, hard to tell what they died from.
  • They go south and ascend a little now and come in front of a 10′ wide chasm barring their way. They all jump over on the other side without any special precautions.
  • They’re inside a large cavern and further south into a smaller one with no exits and suddenly their torchlight diminish to only the faintest of glow. From the darkness a small, stunted-built humanoid comes at them with a wicked dagger but Jedri the ratman reacts quickly and stab him first, with both his daggers, the Dark Creeper dies and his body releases a dazzling flash of light.
  • Inspecting the room further Forka feels a slight draft of air from the southern part of the cavern and the party soon discover a secret door (that lead to Level 4C).
  • They follow a long, sinuous passage and get into a small cavern where they’re immediately ambushed by 3 other Dark Creepers (their torchlight almost extincted again). One Dark Creeper place himself behind Torch and is going to slit his throat but Forka saves his underling by rushing to his help (Heroic Ability: guardian) and takes the hit instead (mostly blocked by his superior chainmail). Jedri gets stabbed and is hurt. Aracyne kills an opponent with a well-placed arrow but the ensuing burst of light dazzles Ghardeet. Forka kills another with a big blow of his two-hands hammer and Jedri kills the last one.
  • The PCs get a bit further and Aracyne spots two Dark Creepers standing on ledges on each side above the floor. He shoots and kills one. The other jumps and dash towards the PCs but he quickly meets his demise.
  • They then fail to spot a well-concealed trap and Torch falls into a spiked pit trap and is fatally wounded. Only magic can save him but Ghardeet doesn’t see any value in saving the still (for him) expendable goblin. He’s finally convinced with the gift of a wine jug. Torch is saved.
  • Thence, they get to the entrance to a large cavern but before they get in another Dark Creeper jumps on them from somewhere above. Jedri, the fast-footed thief, manage to evade the blade that targeted him and his own hit connects efficiently. A flash of light but everyone cover their eyes in time.
  • Other Dark Creepers come out from somewhere inside the large cavern. Aracyne kills one with a well-placed arrow. Ghardeet kills another with his magically-augmented staff.
  • With no immediate danger the PCs come across a hut furter into the cavern, search it but nothing much of interest.
  • There’s a rope bridge that goes over a large chasm and the PCs get across. On the other side they follow a reddish cobblestone patway that lead to another cavern with several huts. There isn’t anyone there but the adventurers do some good looting in coins, jewelry and semi-precious stones.
  • Further south the adventurers hear a piercing whsitle sound and then fight against 3 more Dark Creepers that they vanquish without much trouble.
  • There’s a guard hut nearby and a large palissade south-east with large double doors. The doors are slowly opening and large throng of Dark Creepers, dozens, emerge from the palissade.
  • The adventurers can’t hope to win against such numerous foes and flee the way they came. They have to be quick, any delay and they’ll get a blade between their shoulders. They manage to get across the rope bridge and they quickly cut it down from their side, this is met with nothing more than threatening whispers from the other side of the chasm.
  • The PCs get all the way back to the entrance of Level 4A.
  • They go north into a corridor and then west. They spot a skeleton (unmoving) inside a small room, adorned in chainmail and his skull crushed.
  • Next room they get assaulted by a monkeyish Screaming Devilkin that took surprisingly many blows to kill, and yes, screaming devilishly loud all the while. Troublesome situation.
  • TBC…

Closing Comments:

  • A series of fight that went really well and then a desperate flight. Things can change fast!
  • There’s a whole village of Dark Creepers and the book specifies that since it’s their home they try to kill the intruders instead of just stealing from them like they would do elsewhere in the dungeon.
  • I’ve changed a bit the effect of darkness, or at least the fluff, the way I describe it – the Dark Creepers aren’t casting the spell Darkness in my version, rather their bodies just absord light (and release it upon dying). I don’t know, not important but I prefer it this way, like it’s something of a quasi-natural biochemical effect. Furthermore I think a 5 or 10′ radius of faint light, a torch reduced to a candle let’s say, with shadowy figures dancing just outside, isn’t that much more reassuring than foes shrouded in darkness I would think.
  • But this time either the Dark Creepers missed their sneaking checks or the PCs succeeded their awareness checks (even with bane), surprise attacks just did not happened in any of the ambushes.
  • Good reaction from the boys to cut the bridge, twas the only way to survive I think.
  • Ended in hostile territory this time and lot happening in next session…

Gunderholfen – Against the Kiigoths (session 11)

David Skelector Dragonbane, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Gunderholfen, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG

There’s officialy 5 parties of adventurers (including the PCs) in our campaign that have been given permits to explore Gunderholfen. Being the first one in place gave the PCs a huge headstart, particularly with their alliance with the hobgoblins. But now comes a dilemna, do they help their allies against other adventurers and be complicit on such a dubious course of actions or do they let them fare for themselves onward to their incoming annihilation?

Gunderholfen by G. Hawkins: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/265629/gunderholfen

Player Characters (PCs):

  • Aracyne, Elf Hunter, Guild Leader, (Isaac)
  • Jedri, Ratman Thief (Isaac)
  • Forka, Dogman Knight (Edmond)
  • Torch, Goblin Torchbearer (Edmond)
  • Ghardeet, hired Hobgoblin Mage/Shaman (me)

Longfelt – Gunderholfen Level 3

  • Leaving Longfelt and all went well with getting across the Ganfal Swamp.
  • In Gunderholfen, they talk to Nerulf who informs them that the Hobgoblins are taking heavy casualties againts adventurers, most recently against a party with 3 magic-users. This party has installed itself in Level 1A for the past few days and is still there. With current rate of losses, Nerulf will remove patrols outside of 1C except the nearest exit in 1B.
  • Unmoved by the hobgoblins plight, the PCs hire Gardheet, the hobgoblin mage (30gp and 10% cut) and go to Level 3, taking the shortcuts they know.
  • Down the ladder in Level 3 they go west where they hear sounds of grunting and growling and open a set of double-doors and come face-to-face against 7 kiigoths.
  • They kill a few quickly but as much as 15 others rush from the 2 adjacent rooms!
  • The PCs take a few steps back to get into the corridor behind them in order not to get immediately surrounded.
  • A long and violent brawl ensues. Kiigoths often keep fighting even when mortally wounded and get more ferocious while doing so. Jedri gets wounded by a club attack but Ghardeet casts stoneskin on him at maximum power and the protected thief is able to stay in the fight and, with one knife in each hand, stab foes left and right. Forka’s chainmail deflects most attacks from the crude weapons but is still getting bruised after getting hit by numerous blows. Aracyne shoots arrows from behind and Torch even manage to burn a couple of kiigoths here and there. With several of his own now dead the bigger, meaner kiigoth leader gets into melee against Forka and has one good hit with his deadly-looking, not-crude-at-all battle-axe but is smashed to pulp by the knight’s 2-h hammer in return. The death of their leader isn’t changing the savage kiigoth’s will to fight unfortunately and the adventurers eventually have to kill them to the last, not without being severely hurt themselves in the process.
  • The fight over, the PCs go to Jedri’s place nearby and Ghardeet heal all their wounds. They then get back to to the big pile of dead kiigoths, but there’s not much else other than the very nice battle-axe (nobody is very proficient with axes though).
  • They then go at the big room south and find big non-locked chests that contain coins, a nice chainmail (taken and wore by Forka) and a big, sturdy dwarven shield (given to the less and less expendable Torch, who’s overjoyed by the gift).
  • Going to the west now, they find a lot of broken, useless stuff and also an intact clay jug of wine. A bit further they also find an okay helmet (to Jedri).
  • They get into a very long and narrow passage going south, there’s also a side-passage going west with a brirge going over fast water. There’s a really bad smell coming from that way though and they decide to go further south instead.
  • They open a door into a room with a statue of a dwarven warrior. They spot a depression on his extended hande but can’t do much with anything and right then, an ooze drops from the ceiling on Forka’s head! Torch burns the ooze a few times with his torch and saves his boss from asphixy. Forka looks at the ceiling fearfully for a while.,
  • Nearby, they see a Sun Face carved into a wall and messing with it, manage to obtain a ruby from its opened mouth. It’s exactly the rigth size for the depression on the statue’s hand and they put it in place. An aura of virile dwarven energy surrounds them and they all feel a bit more competent. Except the elf, virile dwarven energy isn’t for elves obviously.
  • Next room, looking for it, they spot an ooze suspended on the ceiling and they send Torch with his shield up to bait it to drop down, which it does but it somehow slides on the shiels and target Torch’s head and it’s the turn of Forka in coming to the help of his sidekick.
  • The PCs now have found their way to the Level 2 stairs coming from the other way around and connecting their map in the process. They decide to go to the lair of ogres in the central corridor but the door is stuck and that’s enough to dissuade them for the moment.
  • They get back into the long passage west and Jedri, who’s walking a few steps ahead, sees an ogre coming the other way. He’s dragging a kiigoth corpse along.
  • Aracyne tries to cast Augment Weapon on his bow but only gets a nosebleed for his effort. He shoots nonetheless and hurts the ogre. The latter try to bum-rush the elf archer but Forka valiantly gets in front (guardian) and takes the hit instead. He gets slammed hard against the wall but still manages to take a big swing of his hammer at his foe. Jedri then plunges his dagger in the ogre’s chest and gets the kill.
  • Leaving the dead ogre behind but picking up the dead kiigoth, the party goes back to the ogre lair and boldly shouts at the inhabitants that they want to make a deal. Or more of a fait-accompli, since they killed the kiigoths, the enemies of the ogres, they ask that they show them the way to Level 4. The ogres (there seem to be 3 of them) are surprisingly amiable (excellent persuade and reaction roll) to this non-deal and Glorm, their leader escort them to the stairs to Level 4. He also tells the adventurers that there’s an ogre colony in Level 4 (not in good terms with himself) and also an orc colony.

Closing Comments:

  • The players chose to explore and let the hobgoblins fight alone, that’s probably the thing to do. I’ve built an okayish random table to see how goes the protracted fight between the hobgoblins and adventurers and let the dice decide, mostly.
  • Big fight against the kiigoths, close one too. Forgot one major thing on my side though, the squares on the map are 10′ wide, so that was a 20′ wide corridor not a 10′ one like I had in mind. Fighting there wouldn’t do much to prevent encirclement in fact. Bad DM, bad!
  • The ogres of Level 3 were amiable at that moment but will find their dead kin before long. With an arrow protruding from his chest, even an ogre will make the link…
  • They found the entrance to Level 4! The last of the Upper Levels and more complex than what they’ve seen so far, no doubt about that.

Gunderholfen – Stinky Halls of Level 3 (session 9)

David Skelector Dragonbane, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Gunderholfen, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG

Second session at our cabin. The boys nearly got themselves killed the previous session in Level 2 so the logical thing to do is to go deeper, of course!

Gunderholfen by G. Hawkins: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/265629/gunderholfen

Player Characters (PCs):

  • Aracyne (Isaac), Elf Hunter, Guild Leader
  • Forka (Edmond), Dogman Knight
  • Ghardeet (me) Hobgoblin Mage/Shaman
  • Expendable & Nameless Goblin (me)

Having fled from Living Deads and Giant Ants, their wounds magically healed by Ghardeet their hobgoblin honorary mage, the PCs are ready to explore some more. They start by opening the door in the large boulders room and it’s not long before they find a set of stairs that goes down and down…

Level 3

  • With Expendable Nameless Goblin now officially the group’s torchbearer (he tries hard to be useful and is obsequious to Forka, his savior), the PCs exit the stairway into a dwarf-made room with layered stone and bricks and 3 sets of double-doors.
  • Listening to each doors, the PCs finally opt to open the northern ones and enter into a very long hallway that goes well beyond their torchlight.
  • Aracyne listens to the first door at their right and hear some metallic scrapings and they decide to let it be.
  • They go the next and see that it’s staked to make it unopenable.
  • Still further on the hallway, in an open area at their right, they see a sun-face carved on the wall. They interact with it, manage to make it open its mouth but it doesn’t seem to do much else.
  • Everything is quiet at the next door and they open it to reveal a small room with a pedestal in the middle, with drawings of dwarves holding something up. Ghardeet casts sense magic and says there’s some dwarven-affiliated magic at work here but isn’t able to do anything with it.
  • Next room, after opening the door, Forka’ sense of smell is assaulted by overwhelming body odors, rot, excrements and other unpleasantness. A trophy of sort is in the middle of the room, with non-human (pointy teeth, giant bat? feline?) skulls on display and with a crude drawing of large matchstick men smashing smaller figures with their clubs.
  • Listening to the door they can hear several loud snorings coming from nearby.
  • The PCs get out of this smelly den of brutes and continue north, still in the long hallway.
  • Now in a large doorless room, full of large mushrooms, something is moving amongst them but hidden from view. They send in E & N Goblin (thus proving that his expendable status still applies), he wearily moves into the mushrooms and soon let out a surprised yap and flees back to the adventurers, pursued by a Giant Beetle. The beast is obviously heavily-armored so Aracyne aims at a weak spot with one of his newly-acquired magic arrow and inflicts a severe wound. A massive blow from Forka’s 2H hammer is enough to slay the dangerous monster before it could do much (slow iniative). A good search of the floor beneath the mushrooms revealed an impressive hoard of coins as well as dozens of semi-precious and precious stones. Treasure, at last! They also collect several rations worth of edible mushrooms.
  • Thence, the PCs get out of the mushrooms room, continue their way north and, after a 45 degree angle turn, get in front of a large cistern, water dripping in it from the ceiling – and more importantly, before 4 surprised, hairy humanoids that were busy filling many waterskins (more than for their own use for sure).
  • The adventurers quickly fell 2 Kiigoths before they even reacted. Those, despite being mortally wounded, still had the will to fight but one more blow each and they stopped moving. The 2 surviving creatures proved no match for the PCs who won the fight without a scratch.
  • The PCs refilled their own waterskins and then checked the great double-doors across the cistern but couldn’t open them, even with their combined strength – they were blocked from the other side most likely.
  • They then got back to the stairway room and went east from there, past another set of double-doors.
  • They got into a large rectangular room with a basin within filled with murky, smelly water full of algae.
  • They open a door and get into a long hallway with many doors and openings. Aracyne listens to the first door at their right but is immediately assaulted by some kind of psychic attack and is disheartened.
  • Not opening this door, they go further in the hallway and turn right, into a side corridor and then left, which gets them back in the main hallway. (it wasn’t obvious beforehand, proceeding forward with torchlight hides much) They see a small, sooth-covered room in front of them but also, oddly enough, there’s a floating sword (in its sheath), very near them at their left.
  • Forka try to seize the sword but screams in pain as he forcibly pulls back his forearm, acid goo dripping from it. The sword (and its near-invisible Gelatinous Cube holder) then lunges forward but Forka and his companions retreat hastily.
  • Seeing that they run faster than the « sword », the PCs calmed down a little and lured the monster in the side-corridor just enough so they could then have time to get to the unexplored area.
  • They opened a door (didn’t have time to listen) into a narrow corridor and came face to face with two armed rat-persons (rat-headed humanoids, clothed, not too unkempt). Both facing them, obviously ready, one in front with a wicked dagger, one behind with a spear. As the PCs didn’t attack outright, the rat-person with the dagger started talking, said that he was named Jedri and his companion was Tlali and enquired who they (the PCs) were. Aracyne told them they were adventurers, that they came in peace and reassured them enough so that the two rat-persons invited them to their dinner in the adjacent room. There, a cauldron of broth was put above a small fire and the PCs added mushrooms and fish and thus enhanced it considerably, making everybody one step happier.

Closing Comments:

  • Level 2 is now mapped something like 85% but several rooms were barely entered because they seemed to hold danger in them.
  • Related to this, before finding the Mushrooms room hoard, Isaac complained of the lack of treasure (they found nothing significant since the meagre kobolds’ treasure) but, well, it’s a push-your-luck game. There IS treasure, but it often comes with danger.
  • If Level 1 was mainly humanoids and Level 2 mostly populated with critters (with a few surprises here and there), Level 3 is more mixed, having two groups of humanoids within (among other things). Still pretty vanilla stuff, but it gets weirder the deeper you go in Gunderholfen, oh, yes it does.
  • The encounter with the Gelatinous Cube was fun, a beginner’s mistake by 10 yo Edmond for sure, but we have to do them in order to learn… I was lenient, giving them time to react (rolling ini) instead of being surprised, next time though…
  • Jedri and Tlali in the book are supposed to be evil wererats that will try to murder PCs with a devious plan but I’ve changed them into cursed adventurers and potential allies in my game. They know some useful stuff about the dungeon too (not shared yet) and at least one could become an hireling if the players wish so.

Gunderholfen – Mud Spa of the Living Dead (session 8)

David Skelector Dragonbane, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Gunderholfen, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG

We’re back from our first trip of the season at our cabin. Just in time to catch some morels too! Weather was good at first but got rainy afterward – no matter, I had brought something to entertain me and the boys…

Short session: 1 1/2 hours

Player Characters (PCs):

  • Aracyne (Isaac), Elf Hunter, Guild Leader
  • Forka (Edmond), Dogman Knight
  • Ghardeet (me) Hobgoblin Mage/Shaman
  • Expendable & Nameless Goblin (me)

Level 2

  • We start inside the dungeon, in the southern part of Level 2 (which is about 80% natural caverns), in a large cavern lit by a sofly-glowing green moss.
  • Checking his map, Aracyne first leads the group to an unexplored, low-ceilinged area nearby where they find a message scribbled on a wall: « Find the Floating Level. Nym ». Their second reference to the « Floating Level » to date.
  • Otherwise it’s a cul-de-sac and they go back at the large-boulders cavern (where they fought the Vilstraks) and check the door they found earlier, see that it’s locked and decide to go explore another area instead.
  • They go into a long, twisting and ascending passage and get into new territory in the south-west corner of Level 2.
  • There’s a chasm to their right with Giant Ants on the other side, with some bigger ones too but they don’t seem too agressive for the moment (good reaction roll).
  • Further on they get at the entrance of a room covered by mist that reeks of rot and decay and Forka can also smell the presence of some unknown predatory beasts lurking nearby. They don’t enter the room and prefer to go in another area.
  • In a smaller cavern they find broken crates and searching them they find 2 quivers full of arrows. Five of the arrows are rather deadly-looking and Aracyne is happy to take them all.
  • In the next cavern they find an obelisk with writings on it (dwarven?) but unfortunately nobody can translate it in the group.
  • Thence, they get at the entrance of a warm cavern obscured by steam. Mud covers the floor and there’s several bubbling pools that let out jets of steam interminently. And Forka detects a faint odor of rotting flesh. The PCs get inside to investigate and immediately find what is obviously a gravestone.
  • A rotting hand emerges from the mud! Several corpses, dwarf-sized, with dead flesh half-boiled half-rotten, slowly extirpate themselves from the ground – enough to send the PCs running for their lives.
  • They get back to the broken crates area where they decide to make a stand against the incoming Living Dead. Aracyne shoots an arrow and manages to miss. Forka is charged by a Living Dead and almost get his heart torn out, he takes big damage! The PCs are now gueninely worried and start to flee again with Expendable & Nameless Goblin, already scared (a condition in DB), going first and Aracyne taking the back and shooting his bow when he can.
  • They near the chasm but E&N Goblin get assaulted by a Soldier Ant, is severely wounded and trapped under it. 2 Worker Ants are also blocking the way and threaten the adventurers.
  • With the Living Dead coming behind (they’re typical zombie-slow fortunately), the PCs do an all-out attack against the Ants. Ghardeet wound a Worker Ant with his magic-augmented Iron Fist Staff.
it looks like this
  • Aracyne wounds the Soldier Ant with an arrow and Forka finishes it with a big blow of his 2H hammer. Aracyne then kills the wounded Worker Ant, Ghardeet shove the other one down the chasm. E&N Goblin is still stuck under the corpse of the Soldier Ant and pleads for his life, Ghardeet reminds his companions of his E&N status but Forka takes upon himself of saving him and pulls him out of his predicament.
  • Aracyne takes a parting shot at one Living Dead and has aimed well but his target doesn’t seem to care much that he’s supposed to be dead. The PCs then hurry away because several other Giant Ants are coming from the walls and ceiling to cross the chasm. Some go at the Living Dead and some others at the adventurers.
  • The PCs interrupt a moment their flight to throw food at the Giant Ants, some rations and fish they had caught earlier (but not all), and that seems to distract the insects out of their pursuit.
  • They reach once again the big cavern with large boulders and unite their efforts to move one of the boulder to block the way they came (there’s another way to the north-east and a door to the south-west). Ghardeet then heal Forka and reluctantly, after being convinced to, also E&N Goblin.

Closing Comments:

  • My nephew Olivier was supposed to come along with us at the cabin but couldn’t make it unfortunately. I’ve found the solution to still have a decent group of PCs with the addition of the hobgoblin shaman and expendable goblin, putting their prior efforts to the forefront in this manner.
  • I try as much as I can to feed inputs for Forka’ superior sense of smell and telegraph things to the players accordingly. I’m quite amazed in fact at how a great sense of smell could be even better than darkvision in a dungeon environment and more appropriate to nuances in many cases. Quite the revelation to me.
  • They truly got themselves between a rock and a hard place with the Living Dead and Giant Ants. Pushing forward with enemies at your flank wasn’t a sound exploration strategy and I think the boys learned that.
  • I think the Living Dead in Dragonbane are a lot more dangerous than classical D&D zombie meatbags, maybe a bit too much even. They’re not unbeatable either, I think I’ll keep them as is, the players just have to be careful about it.

A RPG campaign that emulates Ryoko Kui’s Delicious in Dungeon

David Skelector Delicious in Dungeon, Dragonbane, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, jeux de rôles, manga, megadungeon, Roleplaying Game, RPG

Here’s some concepts I’m stealing from Delicious in Dungeon for my ongoing megadungeon campaign. It’s not even the food aspect of it, don’t care much about that, but there’s plenty other things that are worth borrowing.

See my highlights of the manga:

(Note that the manga go further than that (14 books) but from book 10 and on it diverges from my main interest/obsession, the dungeon, as the story devolves into a big crisis and final resolution for the last few books.)

In bold is stuff I want forefront in my Gunderholfen campaign.

Dungeons, Demons and Masters

There’s two kind of dungeons in Delicious in Dungeon. Natural dungeons are simply places where magic happens to be strongly concentrated. Unnatural/real dungeons are different and are basically prisons for demons (entities from another world), one demon per dungeon to be more precise. Dungeons of this latter type are huge, sprawling, expanding and sometime changing to fit the need of its Master.

Part demon’s accomplice, part roadblock to its liberty, the Master of the Dungeon is the one who controls the physical object that detains the demon, somewhere in the deeper levels of the dungeon. Probably already powerful, a Master gain extra powers once they take over a Dungeon, like the ability to create monsters, modify the dungeon, and have access to unique spells. This comes at a cost as the demon’s influence slowly erodes the Master’s grasp on reality and leads to madness down the line.

Demons have some limited abilities to interact with interlopers and can try to influence them in some way. Adventurers can also become unwittingly the demon’s liberators if they manage to kill the Master without further precautions.

Aside: a Player Character managing to become a Master most probably become an NPC and a villain for another campaign…

The Deeper you go, the more Magic/Mana there is

Mana is everywhere but there’s a lot more mana inside dungeons than outside. It has two main effects. The first is allowing the presence of monsters as they need ambient mana in order to exist at all, and larger amounts the more powerful they are. Thus, powerful monsters cannot normally venture on the upper levels without seriously comprimising their health. (if you ever needed an explanation for monster placement here you go).

The second effect is on magic-using. Spells are easier to cast and are more efficient inside the dungeon. (and to go further than the manga on this particular point>>) The deeper you go the truer it becomes. This also means that more powerful magic can only be cast on deeper levels (or a special place like a wizard’s tower perhaps) and isn’t purely in proportion to it’s caster’s might/high level. (If you follow my meaning, this implies a system that is probably NOT D&D).

The all-important, well-rounded Magic-User

Magic-users are absolutely essential to a party of adventurers to the point where not having one would be a serious issue. Potions, scrolls and other one-shot items are non-existent, you MUST rely on the magic-user for utility spells (water-walking comes to mind), protection spells, sheer firepower and most of all, healing (resurrection even). It’s a world without clerics where mages can cast fireballs AND heal (but some are better at one or the other). Protecting the party’s magic-user is not to be taken lightly. This implies that magic-users are polyvalent, have large ressources (are not depleted that quickly, have also an additional reserve with their mana-staff) but must manage them as there’s nothing else to fall back to.

Know your Monsters: Dungeon Ecology

Monsters, except the very weakest, should always pose a threat if you don’t know much about them. You have to have knowledge of their abilities, weaknesses, favored tactics, etc. if you wish to reliably be victorious in encounters with monsters. Theoritical knowledge (from a book say) is fine but isn’t always reliable. Hard gained practical knowledge is best of course but isn’t widely shared and often kept to one’s group to have an edge over others.

Adventurers Guilds

Adventurers work in guilds (the same as a party), with each members having signed contracts (with terms that could differ from one another). The guild’s leader owns the party’s equipment in its entirety (weapons and armors included). He’s the one who buys provisions and equipment for everybody each delve. The guild members can leave the guild if they wish so as long their contracts allows it.

Fatigue and Resting

The food aspect of Delicious in Dungeon (i.e eat properly in your dungeon-delving or suffer dire consequences) is interesting but hard to put in place in a ttrpg I think. A more general approach that includes stamina/fatigue that player characters have to take into account is something I wish to put more emphasis on (resting as something more that regaining hit points or abilities) in my campaign.

Conclusion

The fluff about the Dungeon/Master/Demon isn’t that important to be honest, though it fits with the module I’m actually running (Gunderholfen). What I find much more interesting is to play, to adapt (as the dungeon master) with:

  • how magic is applied in this setting, changed by how deep you are in the dungeon
  • player characters doing a rest as something more significant than in classical D&D
  • and also, and this gives me some work to do, how many monsters should be puzzles to solve for the players (they have to learn how to fight them efficiently).

Ooze Master & Golden Beholder – Session 49b

David Skelector D&D 5e, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG

Deuxième partie de la session forte en combats.

Personnages Joueurs (PJs)

  • (Marjorie) Kalohan, (level 11>>12) High Elf Wizard (evoker), Inheritor,  doit trouver un sort inconnu jusque là avant de pouvoir obtenir son héritage
  • (Isaac) Anfi, (level 12) Locathah Fighter (eldritch knight), Outlander, venu sur la terre ferme en passant par la Caverne-Tunnel, là pour découvrir ce nouvel environnement + Salamandre Géante
  • (Edmond) Vingt, (level 9>>10) Myconid Druid (circle of spores), Acolyte, envoyé de Zuggtmoy, la Déesse du fongique + Fourmi Zombifiée
  • (Félix) Flyzus, (level 12), Wood Elf Ranger (hunter), Outlander, n’a plus de famille ni de patrie, là pour l’aventure et se forger une nouvelle vie. Accompagné de son Dire Kakapo juvénile qu’il a sauvé.
  • (Chris) Pax Double-Poches, (level 12), Halfling Rogue (arcane trickster), Criminal, fuyant un passé criminel, a vu de ses yeux les trésors merveilleux qu’a rapporté le ranger Flyzus de sa dernìère expédition et s’est immiscé dans le groupe depuis
  • (Chris) Rufb (level 12), Half-Orc Barbarian (berserker), Mercenary Veteran; capturé par des pterafolks, seul survivant de sa bande de mercenaires, délivré par Flyzus au sommet du Firefinger

Ayant espionné magiquement à distance un des doppelganger de Jobal, les PJs savent où trouver le « vrai ».

Le vrai Jobal – Ooze the Master

Avec le raccourci offert par le Passwall de Rufb, les PJs sont dans la salle du bassin d’où surgit le maître des lieux. La discussion est fort courte et la magicienne entame les hostilités avec un Wall of Fire concentré sur le bassin. Les traits fondus, Jobal n’est maintenant qu’une énorme masse visqueuse qui s’élance au plafond, y reste fixé, tout en faisant pleuvoir sur les aventuriers acide et coups de tentacules… Mais les PJs savent désormais que le feu est un bon moyen de lutter contre cette… chose (the Thing!), et ils y mettent beaucoup d’enthousiasme. La magicienne envoi une Fireball mais se fait frapper violemment en retour (1). Anfi fait de gros dommage avec sa hache enflammée tandis que Flyzus tire avec son Hatebow. Vingt quant à lui peut « soigner à l’envers » le monstre puisque c’est aussi un mort-vivant et ainsi le blesser sérieusement. La concentration de l’assaut, en tenant compte des points faibles, a tôt fait de tuer le Ooze Master Jobal (2).

Dirty Dealings with Dirty Talons

Le grabuge a cependant tôt fait d’attirer des sbire du défunt Jobal, des criminels du groupe d’élite des Dirty Talons, le chef et deux autres malfrats. Constatant la mort de leur employeur, ceux-ci veulent bien ccopérer avec les aventuriers mais seulement s’ils reçoivent une compensation monétaire. Ils offrent quelques informations utiles (3) sur le complexe moyennant une coquette somme et demandent encore plus en échange de précisions mais Kalohan, sans pitié, fait un sort de Blight sur le chef pour l’intimider et l’ordonne qu’il serve de guide vers la salle au trésor. Ce dernier accepte de mauvais grâce mais prend la fuite à la première occasion alors que le groupe tourne dans un corridor et que 2 sentinelles, de ces étranges Hommes à tête de scarabée, s’apprêtent à les attaquer.

Flyzus fait un Hunter’s Mark sur le chef des Dirty Talons alors que ses compagnons disposent rapidement des sentinelles et le groupe s’élancent ensuite à la poursuite des fuyards, Rufb et Flyzus (plus rapides) en tête. Après plusieurs croches, les PJs constatent que les Dirty Talons se dirigent vers la sortie du complexe mais Kalohan profitant d’une ligne de vue directe, à la distance maximale de son sort, fait apparaître un Stonewall qui leur bloque le passage. Les Dirty Talons, coincés, n’ont d’autres choix que se battre, ce sont des adeptes d’art martiaux et assez compétents (un dévie une flèche sneak attack de Pax avec aisance) mais une Lightning Bolt bien placée et la force de frappe supérieure d’Anfi et Flyzus en particulier en viennent à bout.

Les aventuriers ont écopés de plusieurs blessures, en particulier contre Jobal et vont de nouveau se reposer avant de poursuivre. Le repos s’étant effectué à l’extérieur du complexe, les aventuriers reviennent pour trouver l’entrée de nouveau gardée mais rien qui peut les arrêter.

Le Roi Soleil

Déterminés à combattre le Beholder surnommé « Le Roi-Soleil » (4), le gardien d’une des deux pyramides surplombant le complexe où ils se trouvent, les PJs se concertent pour trouver un bon plan d’attaque (5). La magicienne espionne le repaire du Roi-Soleil avec un autre Arcane Eye et une fois qu’elle le voit elle lance un sort de Transmute Rock (to mud) au dessus de lui, l’engloutissant dans une masse de boue et puis, avec le même sort, change cette masse en roche!

Le monstre hurle de colère et ne perd pas de temps à utiliser son rayon désintégrateur pour se sortir de là mais les aventuriers en profitent pour se faufiler dans le puit au plafond (Pax lévite et accroche une corde, les autres grimpent) et entrent dans la pyramide.

Ils sont vite confrontés à des Gazers, de minuscules copies un peu grotesques du Beholder. De simples nuisances pour des aventuriers aguerris mais qui les ralentissent suffisamment pour que leur maître se libère…

S’ensuit un affrontement épique où la capacité anti-magique du monstre va radicalement changer la donne par rapport aux capacité habituelles des PJs. (6) Ceux-ci se rendent comptent que leur assaut frontal est vouer à l’échec (trop de rayons les frappent) et bientôt se divisent en deux groupes pour que l’oeil anti-magique ne puissent les englober tous. Pendant ce temps Rufb d’abord frappé par un ralentissement, sera assaillit par son coéquipier Flyzus qui a succombé à un charme (heureusement que Vingt a pu guérir Rufb). Pax passe à deux doigts de se faire désintégrer et boit en vitesse une potion de soin. Anfi ravive l’espoir du groupe alors qu’il parvient lui à proximité de monstre et inflige de lourds dégâts avec sa hache (action surge bien placé). Rufb se fait pétrifier et est définitivement hors-combat. Kalohan est la cible de l’oeil spectral (lair effect) qui la tracte plus loin. Anfi se fait charmer à son tour. La situation est critique mais heureusement Flyzus, libéré du charme, et avec l’oeil anti-magique tourné vers Pax et Kalohan, utilise les pleins pouvoirs de son Hatebow et DÉFONCE le Roi-Soleil avec des flèches dévastatrices. Le monstre est terrassé! (7)

Ne reste plus qu’à ouvrir les coffres à trésor (8), en plus de l’or et joyaux pour une fortune, ils trouvent un légendaire Well of Many Worlds et une armure magique de résistance au feu.

Closing Comments:

  1. Marjorie prend toujours milles précaution pour éviter d’être la cible mais ne réussit pas toujours!
  2. Ooze Master, le template dans Tales of the Yawning Portal (WoTC), un undead ooze avec quelques habiletés de spellcasting et lui ai rajouté des actions légendaires pour l’occasion…
  3. Brisant certaines suppositions des joueurs, Jobal n’est pas le véritable maître des lieux, en dépit de sa condition surhumaine/inhumaine dans lequel il se trouvait. Le maître est le mystérieux Piyyat, un nom déjà mentionné jadis, alors qu’ils exploraient un autre donjon…
  4. Le temple solaire fait partie de son repaire et aussi, il porte une quantité extravagante d’or sur sa personne.
  5. Les joueurs vont prendre BEAUCOUP de temps, en particulier Marjorie qui n’est pas très diligente concernant les limitations de ses sorts (i.e non tu ne peux pas faire 2 sorts qui exigent la concentration en même temps…)
  6. J’ai changé le Ray of Charm; un seul round au lieu d’une heure (!), mais qui met véritablement la cible (qui a manqué son jet de sauvegarde) sous contrôle du Beholder
  7. J’ai joué le Beholder le plus habilement possible et ce fut un combat extrêmement difficile pour les joueurs mais visiblement très apprécié
  8. Pour une fois laissé au hasard, les joeurs ont eu d’excellents jets sur la table des trésors 😀

Under the Old City – Session 49a

David Skelector D&D 5e, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG

Suite de notre très occasionnelle campagne de D&D 5E. Je suis très content que Félix ait pu se joindre à nous à nouveau. Je réalise qu’il a maintenant 17 ans et qu’il a commencé à jouer dans cette campagne alors qu’il en avait 11!

Longue session +- 12hrs, en 2 parties

Personnages Joueurs (PJs)

  • (Marjorie) Kalohan, (level 11>>12) High Elf Wizard (evoker), Inheritor,  doit trouver un sort inconnu jusque là avant de pouvoir obtenir son héritage
  • (Isaac) Anfi, (level 12) Locathah Fighter (eldritch knight), Outlander, venu sur la terre ferme en passant par la Caverne-Tunnel, là pour découvrir ce nouvel environnement + Salamandre Géante
  • (Edmond) Vingt, (level 9>>10) Myconid Druid (circle of spores), Acolyte, envoyé de Zuggtmoy, la Déesse du fongique + Fourmi Zombifiée
  • (Félix) Flyzus, (level 12), Wood Elf Ranger (hunter), Outlander, n’a plus de famille ni de patrie, là pour l’aventure et se forger une nouvelle vie. Accompagné de son Dire Kakapo juvénile qu’il a sauvé.
  • (Chris) Pax Double-Poches, (level 12), Halfling Rogue (arcane trickster), Criminal, fuyant un passé criminel, a vu de ses yeux les trésors merveilleux qu’a rapporté le ranger Flyzus de sa dernìère expédition et s’est immiscé dans le groupe depuis
  • (Chris) Rufb (level 12), Half-Orc Barbarian (berserker), Mercenary Veteran; capturé par des pterafolks, seul survivant de sa bande de mercenaires, délivré par Flyzus au sommet du Firefinger

Les PJs continuent leurs explorations des sous-sols de la Vieille Ville à Port Nyanzaru avec pour objectif d’éliminer le chef criminel Jobal et le pouvoir soupçonné de l’appuyer dans l’ombre. Avec leurs efforts précédents ils sont maintenant à l’entrée d’une section à l’architecture plus ancienne et devant une lourde porte de bronze.

Personifications Multiples

La magicienne fait un sort de Seeming qui change l’apparence des membres du groupe à sa guise. Flyzus aura l’apparence de Jobal, accompagné de ses « sbires ». Ils ouvrent la porte et tombe face à face avec un Homme à tête de scarabée (1), un de ces étranges cultistes, mais celui-ci les ignore. Ils tournent le coin et voilà qu’ils voient Jobal et son entourage mais lui non plus ne semble pas perturbé outre mesure de voir un double de lui-même devant ses yeux. Les aventuriers décident alors de semer la confusion parmi les ennemis. Kalohan jette un sort de Crown of Madness sur une magicienne ennemie qui semblait elle les suspecter et Pax fait un Tasha’s Hideous Laughter sur un garde du corps. Dans le chaos qui s’ensuit, les Pjs attaquent par surprise et après une échauffourée intense mais courte, ils éliminent leurs adversaires.

Ils constatent que Jobal, une fois mort, prend les traits informes typiques d’un doppelganger…

Un corridor lourdement piégé s’enfonce plus loin dans le complexe mais Pax réussit à trouver une porte secrète.

Temple Solaire

S’y engouffrant, et un corridor plus loin, les Pjs se trouvent maintenant dans une sorte de temple dédié à un culte du soleil où ils doivent affronter 2 cyclopes solaires qui lancent des rayons de flammes par leurs yeux!

Esquivant les rayons, Flyzus, Anfi et Rufb vont en combat rapproché. Les cyclopes sont redoutables avec leurs haches et infligent de lourds dégats mais avec l’appui de ceux en arrière les guerriers ont finalement le dessus. Anfi s’empare de la lourde hache enflammée d’un des cyclopes (2).

Pax inspecte le cadran solaire au milieu de la pièce mais se retrouve soudainement tracté vers le plafond (où se trouve une ouverture). Rien de moins qu’un Beholder se trouve juste en haut! Rufb s’élance au secours du pauvre halfling et parvient à le sortir du rayon tracteur. Cependant Pax ne va pas immédiatement à l’abri puisqu’il veut décocher une flèche au monstre, le blesse, mais est à la cible d’un rayon dévastateur qui le tue presque.

À l’écart du trou au plafond maintenant, la magicienne envoi un Arcane Eye pour espionner le Beholder en haut mais son oeil magique est rapidement dissipé par le pouvoir anti-magique du monstre (3). Qui plus est, à intervalle régulier apparaissent de nul part et près d’eux, des yeux spectraux qui leur lancent des rayons néfastes. (4)

Les aventuriers affichant plusieurs blessures et avec une bonne partie de leurs ressources épuisées par leur combats précédents, décident de ne pas tenter le sort cette fois contre cet adversaire redoutable et rebroussent chemin.

Le Vrai Jobal?

Après un repos à l’extérieur du complexe les PJs reviennent à l’endroit où ils avaient affronter Jobal et voilà qu’ils se tient de nouveau devant eux (seul cette fois): « mais qui êtes vous et que voulez-vous? » Sur quoi, ayant compris essentiellement que ce Jobal-ci n’est pas plus véritable que le précédent, ils demandent à voir le « vrai » Jobal sans pour autant préciser ce qu’ils lui veulent. Sans réponses le faux Jobal part mais sera suivi à son insu d’un Arcane Eye de Kalohan. Celle-ci voit son parcours, il traverse une partie du complexe et se rend à son maître dans une salle étrange avec un bassin contenant un liquide noir et visqueux. Une figure en émerge et une discussion (ne peut entendre) a lieu.

Ensuite, analysant la configuration des lieux, les PJs s’aperçoivent qu’ils peuvent se faire un raccourci en utilisant le capacité de Passwall de la Hache magique de Rufb. Ils aboutissent ainsi directement à salle de bassin.

La figure émerge de la viscosité liquide et prend vaguement le forme de Jobal. Les aventuriers passent aux choses sérieuses…

Notes du DM:

  1. j’ai volontairement remis plusieurs des éléments les plus étranges d’aventures précédentes pour essayer d’indiquer que les joueurs s’approchent rapidement de la SOURCE de toutes ces étrangetés
  2. Anfi est le seul avec assez de force pour pouvoir manier ces haches énormes
  3. Marjorie, qui n’avait jamais affronté de Beholder auparavant, est sidérée d’apprendre ce pouvoir qui limitera beaucoup les siens par la suite…
  4. Un lair effect bien amusant pour le maître de jeu et bien agaçant pour les joueurs!

Gunderholfen- Breaking the Blockade – Session 6

David Skelector Dragonbane, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Gunderholfen, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG

It’s been a while since I ran any ttrpg, the good thing is I had time to figure out how I want to manage an osr mega-dungeon campaign with the not-quite-osr and incomplete system that is dragonbane. More on this another time.

Full group of players. 2 hours session.

Player Characters (PCs):

  • Aracyne (Isaac), Elf Hunter, Guild Leader
  • Forka (Edmond), Dogman Knight
  • Hédralynn (Marjorie), Elf Mage
  • J. Lebeau (Olivier), Dogman Fighter

Level 1C, hobgoblin territory

We start with the PCs safe in hobgoblin territory. As the adventurers wish to get back in town (they’re low in rations and have accomplished their official mission) they have to come up with a plan on how to deal with the goblins who block their only (known) path towards the outside world. The hobgoblins also badly wish to have access to an exit so they’re more than willing to help the PCs and will provide half a dozen warriors for the initial assault (and will join en masse in the next phase if it succeeds).

It all comes down to how to manage to cross the « Corridor of Death » between the two factions.

Aracyne had the idea for them to craft two improvized, over-sized shields so they have cover whilst they advance. Hédralynn and Ghardeet the hobgoblin shaman cast Stone Skin on the warriors who’ll be in front and then they open the portcullis.

The group slowly advance in the unlit first tier of the corridor and it’s not long before the goblin sentinels become aware of their presence, yell at the guards room behind them and start peppering the invaders with projectiles. The large shields come in handy and are opened-up for one split-second as the allies let go of their own volley, wounding two goblins in the process. Hédralynn uses a levitate spell on the nearest makeshift barricade and throws a big chunk of it away. The remnant of the barricade is smashed aside by the two shield-bearers and the group is now midway into the Corridor of Death.

The panicking goblins still have a trick down their sleeve, or so they thought, as they throw a Poison Bomb Hédralynn « catches » it midair with her magic and throws it back at the goblins feet! Choking from their own bio-weapon, abandoned by their fellow goblins who’ve shut the door closed behind them, the poor sentinels are not long for this world.

With the Corridor of Death taken, the chain of events is inevitable. The hobgoblins break the door open (they use a stone statue as a ram) and overwhelm the chiefless goblins who, after a brief attempt at resisting, break and flee wherever they can. Some flee northward and escape the dungeon by the side-entrance, the others are eventually rounded up by the PCs and hobgoblins and forcefully conscripted yet again. A bit later, under the suggestion of Hédralynn, those goblins then spearheaded an attack against the surviving kobolds in the section west of there, resulting in the taking over of the entire Level 1 by the Hobgoblins and their very happy chief, Nerulf. The latter gives something to the PCs, a scrollcase containing a message from one Danfelt that mentions something special way down at Level 7, an entrance to the « Floating Level » if one manages to get past the dangerous gray dwarves…

Getting Back to Town

  • Ganfal Swamp encounter: a group of 7 hobgoblins, not from the dungeon, parlay and persuaded to join their ally Nerulf whom they’ve heard of, instead of attacking the PCs
  • Farmlands encounter: peasants tending their fields
  • Town of Longfelt: the PCs went to High Constable Vandehaut with their report on the state of Gunderholfen and with proofs (body part) of monsters inhabiting the dungeon, received their pay and told to come back next day for next course of action
  • Stayed at the Purple Cloth Inn where they see two women have a fight, each claiming to be an adventurer’s paramour, referring to Bayard, leader of a rival adventuring guild
  • Next day, went to see Vandehaut, now accompanied by High Priestess Evadne and anorther city councilor. It has been decided that Gunderholfen will be officially opened to adventurers. Evadne in particular is hopeful that the Rod of Harvest will be retrieved and brought back at her temple.
  • It is believed that the fact that the Ganfal swamp is now expanding and gobbling up fertile lands north of Longfelt is due to the disappearance of the Rod of Harvest from Longfelt.
  • There’s mention also of payment in exchange of mapping the dungeon (which probably has changed over the last decades since the time of the last frenzy of exploration)
  • Hédralynn tries to convince the three councilors of having the exclusivity over other adventuring guilds but her arguments are turned down

Closing Comments:

  • Fun tactical challenge within the Corridor of Death
  • The fighting after this we just handwaved, the PCs & hobgoblins together were obviously the superior side
  • Hédralynn made good use of the flexibility of the Levitate spell on the goblins’ makeshit barricades
  • Hédralynn’s plan ultimately gave the entire Level 1 to the Hobgoblins which won’t be without consequences in the future.
  • Important Hand Out given by the hobgoblin chief if they ever reach Level 7
  • I chose to put forward the idea of the expansion of the swamp as a kind of looming threat to the civilized world. This also puts an incentive to retrieve a powerful artifact and gives a concrete goal for the players aside from mere dungeon exploration.
  • Marjorie didn’t like the idea of having competing adventuring parties involved but it’s part of the game, the PCs aren’t the only heroes in town. And possible rivalries with other parties can be fun to play, for me at the very least!