Gunderholfen

Dragonbane/Gunderholfen campaign- DM comments

David Skelector Dragonbane, Dungeons and Dragons, Gunderholfen, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR

(I started this post some time ago, around our 20th session maybe, about time I finish it.)

I’m putting on writing some ideas I have and how I see the dungeon & the campaign so far, from my point of view as the dungeon master.

The game started with 4 players but I’ve decided after a few sessions to keep it for my sons and I only. Makes it easier to play as often as we please and also gives them the opportunity to be in charge.

Using Dragonbane for an OSR Megadungeon

I’m really glad that my Dragonbane walkthrough posts have generated THOUSANDS HUNDREDS of clicks on my blog. Err, yes… Anyway. Dragonbane is totally a viable option to run one of the gazillion of d&d adventures out there. Conversion is not much harder than using a closer-to-original-d&d retro-clone Not only that, but you can also run DB in what I shall call d&d’s purest form: the megadungeon.

That said, Magic is imo the weakest part of the DB system and that’s not insignificant. I’ll get my hand on the brand-new Book of Magic soon enough and see if it resolves the matter.

Also worth saying is that I’ve houseruled many things, from a faster initiative method (still using cards), to the experience points management and how to gain heroic abilities and so on. I’m fairly satisfied with how it works now but it took me a while to figure it out.

So is it worth it? I think so but your mileage may vary.

Some quick thoughts on Gunderholfen

As far as published megadungeons go, Gunderholfen is the most generic, vanilla megadungeon I own – for its upper levels at least and it takes a while to get weirder. But y’know, sometimes solid generic fantasy is all you need.

I would have liked for the very beginning of the dungeon to have a little more polish. The dungeon’s main entrances are mostly handwaved (how do the entrances look from the exterior, how about the surrounding area? Give me a nice handout please!) and I’m not a big fan of the first Level either, whereas the players have to contend with kobolds, goblins and hobgoblins, most likely in this order. It feels, I dunno, too clustered? Not organic enough? Let the players ponder the mystery of the place a little before they get into hack & slash territory I’d say.

I could find some other minor quibbles here and there, I’m good at finding minor quibbles (ask my wife about it), but really that’s about the end of my complaining on Gunderholfen. One big advantage of being not too thematically-wild (idiosyncratic) is that it makes it easier to make it my own and adapt to some themes I had in mind. The maps are excellent. Interactivity is good. The homebase town (Longfelt) is well-done, with provided random tables for detailed encounters, great stuff. Everything is useful for play.

And the Middle and Lower Levels… We’re getting there now, with a first foray in Level 5 a few sessions ago. It’ll be fun.

The Ever-Expanding Swamp, the Dungeon as a Festering Wound

An idea I had, not right at the start but early on, was to add a physical, tangible threat of having an active (mega) dungeon on the region. The swamp that surrounds the dungeon is EXPANDING, it’s like some kind of magic-osmosis phenomenon. Fast enough so that farmers can see their lands being swallowed by the day. Poor farmer Herménégilde that the PCs have got to know, buying food from him on their way to the dungeon at a ridiculously low price, is worried for his future and has a personal interest to wish good luck to the adventurers.

Leave it be and the entire barony will be one big swamp. And a dangerous, monsters-infested one at that.

I’ve linked this to a provided mission in the book of retrieving the Scepter of Harvest, a powerful relic stolen from the town’s main temple, from the dungeon as (in my version) it has the power to stop or even reverse the process.

This is now a central theme to the campaign; adventurers, as chaotic in nature as they often are, are fighting the good fight on behalf of civilization. The dungeon then, is the manifestation of a hole in the fabric of reality, threatening to expand, spreading chaos (but also magic) in its wake.

(Side note: active dungeons awakening other « sleeping » dungeons could be a great concept to include in one’s game).

NPCs adventuring parties as another pressure device

Another of my BIG IDEAS that I’d wanted to explore with this campaign was trying to integrate adventuring NPCs parties in a way that that felt believable (not just dungeon dressing). Rumors in town often gravitate on what this or the other adventuring party is doing/faring. I’ve also established where each party likes to spend time in town (between adventures) so they can be found (or spied upon) more easily.

Of course, the whole thing gives me more prep to do, I roll a bunch of dice for each delves the NPCs do in order to determine how well they’re doing. And if they do well that tends to put pressure on the players – who understandably wish to be the main explorers of the dungeon and the ones to find the aforementionned Scepter of Harvest.

To date, my sons scoff at the Green Imps’ misfortunes and general lack of progess, are glad to have the Protectors as friends and allies and are really angry at the newcomers, the Ravens, ruthless veterans that progress very fast. All very entertaining for me.

In this manner, retrieving the Scepter and the rivalry with the NPC adventurers offer two big incentives to be efficient in exploring the dungeon. Treasure is good, it can be spent on useful things, on less useful things (carousing) to remove conditions from the characters, it can even offer a safeguard to resurrect a character if you have enough of it, but it’s not the main incentive for exploration in this campaign.

The Gates of Power – Death in its many forms (session 32)

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

My friend Chris visited us and I’ve introduced him to our Gunderholfen campaign and he created a character for the occasion to become a temporary member of their adventuring guild. My son chose to explore the Gates of Power or what I call myself the City of the Smiths, a counterpart to Nharzed, the City of the Masons, two of several broken remnants of the underground dwarven kingdom.

The Gates of Power is basically the big, main dungeon (section 2 of 3) of the Path of Glory adventure module from Dragonbane, now only a small part of the megadungeon. They dipped their toes into it some sessions ago but now we’ll see a good chunk of it.

3 hours session

Player Characters (PCs) – The Battle Brothers:

  • Aracyne, Elf Hunter, fearless Guild Leader, (Isaac)
  • Jedri, Ratman Thief, he rather enjoys his rat-shape curse (Isaac)
  • Bumwild, Gnome Mage, want to become a summoner (Isaac)
  • Forka, Dogman Knight, fierce warrior (Edmond)
  • Timbo, Human Arcanist, wields both crossbow and lightning (Edmond)
  • Magnus, Dogman Thief, cautious dungeon explorer (Chris)

What the other adventuring guilds are doing at the moment:

  • Green Imps: adventuring in Uzul’s Manor
  • The Protectors: adventuring in Prickly’s End forest, except Delevan (convalesent)
  • Widowmakers: adventuring in Gunderholfen
  • The Musers: leisure in Longfelt
  • The Ravens: depravity in Longfelt

This session’s main goal: explore a big chunk of the City of the Smiths

En route

  • Right before entering Ganfal swamp, the Battle Brothers encounter the returning Musers. They look exhausted and wary, even if they try their best to hide it. The two guilds talk about their progress so far in Gunderholfen, both clearly hiding many things. They say goodbye to each other, those going in and those going out.

Level 4 (Gates of Power)

  • They go through Level 1 swiftly and reach the dwarven elevator, going down directly to Level 4.
  • As before, they have to fight skeleton warriors when they enter the Gates. The adventurers take care to keep close to the wall so the skeleton crossbowmen can’t shoot them. Using a few bottles of holy water, they dispatch the skeletons and go do the same with the crossbowmen to the south.
  • They then come back to the entrance, examine a bit the dwarven statues each side but don’t find much and Magnus do some reconnaissance upstairs but can’t go very far as there’s more skeletons blocking the way.
  • They all go up. More holy water, some lightning bolts from Timbo and they shatter the ranks of skeleton warriors, with only a few remaining. But all this fighting attracts the attention of something else, something horrible: a Death Dog. A huge two-headed, undead hound. Forka, Jedri and Torch are frontline against the monster but can’t flank it because of the remaining skeletons. They manage to hurt it with several good blows and evade its claw attacks but then the Death Dog let go of a poison breath attack and Forka, who’s right in the middle of it, inhales a lethal dose. He still fights, and he and his companions defeat the monster soon after, but he’s not feeling good. At all.
  • The PCs decide to go see if the hobgoblins, not very far at the Forge, have some antidote. The fastest among them, Jedri and Magnus, don’t wait for the others and rush to go there as fast they can. The others follow behind. But it’s all futile, the hobgoblins don’t have any antidote (5-6 on d6). Poor Forka dies in agony. The Battle Brothers ask the hobgoblins if they can leave their friend’s body temporarily to them and they accept. And so, they go back to exploring…
  • Back where they fought the Death Dog and skeletons, they go south in a narrow corridor and explore a series of rooms along another, long corridor.
  • One room as a charred (dwarven) skeleton and traces of fire on a wall. Another as more (unmoving, dwarven) skeletons on the floor with obvious signs that they fought and killed each other.
  • Next, there’s a peaceful room with sea motifs on the walls, some kind of ambassador room.
  • They get into a library and a ghost librarian appear when the PCs start messing around with the books. They dispatch the ghost quickly and take some books with them, some tome of spells among their findings.
  • Thence, they go north on a long, narrow corridor. They open a door halfway into a vast banquet room but decide not to explore it and go further north. They disturbed something from the banquet room though and they a hear chilling (nazgul-like) scream.
  • A signal to which skeletons seem to be attracted, many get out of the northern door. The fight in the narrow corridor is a slog but the adventurers try their best to use a side corridor to their advantage.
  • Just when they think they’ve finished they hear loud iron boots coming from the south and soon they see a frightening figure appearing in the torchligh: a Death Knight. The adventurers brace themselves for another fight. The Death Knight can’t swipe with his 2-handed sword in the narrow space but he’s obviously a formidable opponent. Aracyne switches places with Jedri as the latter is the best suited to fight him. He’s quickly put on the defensive, trying to evade all incoming attacks. This leave time for Timbo, and then Bumwild, to cast offensive spells at the undead commander. Jedri is becoming exhausted though (no more willpower) but fortunately the Death Knight, severely wounded by now, decides to retreat but one last fireball from Bumwild leads to his demise. His corpse and armor disappear, leaving behind only is evil-looking sword.
  • The adventurers can feel that the sense of oppression they felt earlier is greatly relieved with the end of the Death Knight.

Closing Comments:

  • Turns out lethal poison is indeed lethal (if you miss your save). Second character to die in this campaign and Forka is a major component of the team as the best frontline fighter they have. Edmond was understandably distressed of his main character’s death and we rolled in advance his resurrection roll (75% of success) and succeed. Recovery is d4 weeks though and he rolled 4, starting when the ritual will happen, that’s a lot of in-game time.
  • Unfortunately Chris’ character was not very useful most of the time, as a light-armored, sneaky type put in undead territory. He’s not the kind to complain but I would have liked to offer him a better experience.
  • This session was also a kind of test for me. The Gates of Power, this Dragonbane dungeon, isn’t bad but it’s not excellent either. I find in particular that the rooms are too light in interactivity, there’s just not enough things for the players to mess around.

Gunderholfen – Through Claws & Teeth (session 30)

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

The battle with the Ravens having resulted in a bloody stalemate, the Battle Brothers and Protectors try to regain some strength in the middle of barely-explored Level 5. It quickly becomes clear that they need to get out of the dungeon and get proper resting in town. But the way out is a bit complicated, the hobgoblins at the Forge hate the Protectors and won’t let them pass without a massive bribe, if they even accept. Another way is through Balor’s Rent and then into the Dark Forest…

2 hours session

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 rather enjoys his rat-shape curse (Isaac)
  • Grimoire, Goblin Mage, frail but smart (Isaac)
  • Forka, Dogman Knight, fierce warrior (Edmond)
  • Torch, Goblin Knight, not expendable anymore (Edmond)

What the other adventuring guilds are doing at the moment:

  • Green Imps: Longfelt, adventuring in Uzul’s manor
  • The Protectors: adventuring in Gunderholfen, except Delevan (convalesent)
  • Widowmakers: Longfelt, recruiting
  • The Musers: adventuring in Gunderholfen
  • The Ravens: adventuring in Gunderholfen

This session’s main goal: Get back in town

Level 5 East

  • The adventurers fought off swarms of giant rats on two occasions but finally managed to get some rest.
  • They proceed to get to the long, main corridor and go east. Nothing stops them and they reach the exit in the canyon.
  • Grimoire casts Flight on everyone, allowing them to fly but only very, very slowly as casting the spell to so many people is quite taxing.
  • Their slow ascent soon attracts a pair of griffons, they’re under attack! Fortunately, their flying ability, however slow it is, protects them from the griffons’ favorite tactic of seizing a prey and letting it drop from high height. Still, it’s a ferocious fight but once the adventurers manage to kill one of the beast, the other flies away, disappearing into the canyon’s mist.
  • They reach ground level.
  • They get across some hills and soon enter forested terrain. Aracyne is a great guide but even he can’t evade attention from some of the forest’s denizens, a pack of worgs has picked up their trail. The adventurers prepare for a fight.
  • It’s chaotic. The Worgs do their best to separate the adventurers from each other, charging there, grabbing and pulling someone by the leg there. But the adventurers see the risks and help each other effciently. Forka, Bayard, Jedri and Torch do their best to get in the way of the Worgs and attack them when they can. Aracyne and Adalbert shoot arrows after arrows at the beasts and Grimoire spends his last bit of mana with some devastating fireballs. The few surviving Worgs have seen enough and get away to lick their wounds. Efram gives some healing to the group and then march on.
  • They manage to get through the forest without further incidents. They have a few miles to do in Ganfal Swamp and after that they get into farmlands.
  • They meet a merchants’ caravan, buy & sell some stuff and then reach the town of Longfelt.

Closing Comments:

  • Nothing extraordinary for this 30th session. Simple get-back-to-town session, so no exploration this time. Getting out alive was all that counted.
  • There’s much worse than griffons in Balor’s Rent but the dice gods smiled upon the adventurers.
  • The Protectors got out of this whole thing (the Ravens business) with two members with majors injuries (Bayard severely burned, disfigured and Bodil with a smashed jaw, also disfigured). Going along the Battle Brothers doesn’t seem to bring them much good…

Gunderholfen – Guilds Showdown! (session 29)

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

The Battle Brothers have lost the trail of the Ravens but have discovered an entrance to Level 5 via Balor’s Rent, a monster-infested canyon.

3 hours session

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 rather enjoys his rat-shape curse (Isaac)
  • Grimoire, Goblin Mage, frail but smart (Isaac)
  • Forka, Dogman Knight, fierce warrior (Edmond)
  • Torch, Goblin Knight, not expendable anymore (Edmond)

What the other adventuring guilds are doing at the moment:

  • Green Imps: Longfelt, adventuring in Uzul’s manor
  • The Protectors: adventuring in Gunderholfen, except Delevan (convalesent)
  • Widowmakers: Longfelt, recruiting
  • The Musers: adventuring in Gunderholfen
  • The Ravens: adventuring in Gunderholfen

This session’s main goal: Explore a big chunk of Level 5

Level 5 East

  • The Battle Brothers and Protectors leave the Trolls Cave and enter Gundeholfen via the newly-discovered entrance on the cliffside.
  • The large corridor goes well beyond the light that enters from outside. There’s piles of rubbles nearby and, in one of them, Forka fishes out a skeleton in damaged armor wearing a nice, intact great helm. Forka takes it.
  • They reach a large room with a basin in the middle. There’s two Bugbears, wounded and they accept to talk. They say their lair was attacked by other adventurers and most of their clan was exterminated. « Led by a crazy dwarf? » says Aracyne. Yes, they were. The Ravens, the Ravens are on Level 5 too, somehow! The Bugbears are happy to give directions to enemies of the Ravens.
  • A bit further, 6 harpies are feasting on a dead Bugbear and are angry to be interrupted. A fight ensues but the harpies are quickly overmatch and killed except one that fled.
  • Thence, they reach an entrance to a large round vertical shaft, one that goes up and down (mostly down), with several visible passages linking with it. They don’t have much time to wonder at the sight. two greater Gargoyles attack them. There’s a tense fight as the Gargoyles try to grab targets to throw them on the emptiness and claw and headbutt them when they parry their attempts. This time the fight isn’t going great and Aracyne orders everyone to back off. Fortunately, the Gargoyles let them go when they’re far enough from the shaft.
  • Taking a side corridor, they reach another one with several small rooms on each side, an armoury among them. They quickly search those, not finding much and continue on their way to the Bugbears territory.
  • They reach a 5-way intersection. Forka’s nose come in handy again, they go north-north-east and find another corridor. Aracyne hear voices from close by, the Ravens are just over there. The group quickly convenes and set on a plan: Aracyne will sneak upon a sentry, followed closely by Forka and Bayard flying behind so they don’t make noise, followed by everybody else from further away.
  • The attack plan quickly derails when they turn the corner and see a barricade made of rubbles and spears, with an halfling and a large bastard-sword man very much not surprised by the would-be attackers.
  • Aracyne let go of a special lighning arrow but the halfling dodges the shot targeting her and yells for her other companions to join the fight. Forka and Bayard, flying over the barricade, start to attack the sentries. Grimoire casts flight on Jedri too. A woman in plate casts Dispel on Bayard and he crashes down on the spears and rubbles. The halfling thief seizes the opportunity to put the oil-soaked barricade on fire and Bayard is being immolated and soon falls unconscious. That’s a hard blow for the allies but they soon manage to overwhelm the big Ravens warrior and his halfling companion has to retreat behind. The dwarf Ranfurly, the leader of the Ravens, jumps into melee against Jedri and Forka, with the woman in plate next to him and their party’s mage lobbing Fire Birds from behind.
  • Forka falls to Ranfurly’s blows despite Torch’s best efforts to block incoming attacks. But then well-placed arrows (crits) from Aracyne and Adalbert and a Backstab from Bodil gets Ranfurly on his back, severely wounded. Right after though, the woman in plate smashes Bodil’s face with a mace blow (crit) and he’s down. Jedri is also downed when, after dodging several of them, he’s hit with a Fire Bird from the Raven’s mage.
  • At that point, the woman in plate, Eloisa her name is, asks to parley and the battered allies accept. How about each takes their wounded, heal them before they die, and call it a day? Aracyne hesitates for a moment, victory is so near, if everything goes well… Aracyne accepts Eloisa’s deal and each side, eyeing each other, cautiously proceed to pick up their wounded.
  • The Battle Brothers and Protectors retreat to a nearby room and Efram, who still has mana left, casts Heal Wound on Bayard, Bodil, Forka and Jedri. Everybody is on their feet now but still overall in bad shape so they decide to try to rest somewhere. Their best bet is an armoury they saw earlier, there’s no door to the room (few rooms have doors in the vicinity) but they can use weapons and armors’ racks to barricade the place, which they do. The noise do attract Giant Rats though but they manage to fend them off. They set off to rest but it’s interrupted by the Giant Rats coming for more. Jedri the ratman tries to convince them to go get the Ravens instead but the sneaky rats attack him (bad persuade roll) and almost devour him before his companions save him and kill a bunch of rats.
  • It’s Forka’s turn to guard and he hears and smells Harpies approaching but they’re just here to eat the dead rats.
  • The adventurers finish their rest. The Protectors are not very keen on continuing, with Bayard still badly burned and Bodil having his jaw all messed up. The allies, having reached a stalemate against the formidable Ravens, will try to get out of the dungeon together.

Closing Comments:

  • A lot of fighting this session.
  • Fortuitous encounter with bugbears led to learning where the Ravens have established a base.
  • Great fight against the Ravens, the allies had the numerical advantage but the barricade did a lot to prevent them from using it. I wasn’t sure at all if it wouldn’t end in a TPK for the players, if not in the fight, in the aftermath in unkown territory with depleted hit points and mana.
  • Great move to barricade the armoury to allow resting, it wasn’t foolproof but it was good enough.

The Gates of Power – The Dwarven Realm (session 28)

David Skelector Dragonbane, Dungeons and Dragons, Gunderholfen, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, Ruins of chult campaign

We’re playing through an area that I’ve grafted to the dungeon. It’s basically the big, main dungeon (section 2 of 3) of the Path of Glory adventure module from Dragonbane, now only a small part of the megadungeon. I’d wished to see how this dungeon would go but as it is, my boys only explored a small part and beelined the exit. Which is a good thing for their present objective of trying to find the hated Ravens.

3 hours session

Player Characters (PCs) – The Battle Brothers:

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

What the other adventuring guilds are doing at the moment:

  • Green Imps: job in Longfelt, dealing with an infestation in the Crystal House Inn’s basement
  • The Protectors: adventuring in Gunderholfen, except Delevan (convalesent)
  • Widowmakers: Longfelt, recruiting
  • The Musers: adventuring in Gunderholfen
  • The Ravens: adventuring in Gunderholfen

This session’s main goal: Find out where the Ravens have gone in Gundeholfen

Level 4 (Gates of Power)

  • The Battle Brothers, along with their allies the Protectors, have gone down the dwarven elevator from Level 1 all the way to Level 4. They’ve found another part of the ruined dwarven realm.
  • The gates are smashed open, have been for centuries. Before them is a large dusty room with a lot of footprints and traces of recent fight(s).
  • The adventurers enter the room, there’s murderholes on the walls, ten skeletons (of dwarves) in old chainmails and with rusted weapons start to enter the room from two corridors at the back of the room. A big fight ensues as crossbow bolts are shot at the adventurers whilts they go through the skeleton warriors. Forka makes good use of his custom-made 2-h hammer and Bayard is frontline on the on other side, smashing enemies with his magic mace. Torch does his best to block bolts with his oversized shield. The group’s archers can’t do much to help though.The fight goes well with only a few wounds and some fatigue (willpower) paid for the win.
  • The hidden crossbowmen are still active though and the adventurers leave the room on their right to try to reach them, going through a narrow corridor. There’s another dozen skeletons and it takes a while to defeat them because of the cramped area but they manage to do it.
  • There’s a locked door, Aracynes lockpicks it open. There’s a small armory and they can see that the place was used to rest by a previous group despite the locked door apparently. The drawing of a raven on the wall leaves no doubt, the Ravens were here. Further inspection reveals a secret sliding door. Opening it reveals a stairway going down.
  • The adventurers go down the stairs and at the bottom are met with angry hobgoblins sentries. Aracyne talks to them and soon find out that they’re part of the clan that he befriended on Level 1C and now moved there after the brutal invasion of the adventuring guilds on their previous territory. They now control the ancient dwarven Forge, along with ogres, It took about a month but they’ve been found out again. The Ravens inflicted heavy casualties as they passed through them they say. The hobgoblins hate the Protectors so it takes a lot of diplomacy from the Battle Brothers to get safe passage for their two guilds but they manage to obtain it from Nerulf, their leader.
  • Reaching the old abandonned Mines, and after some exploration and a fight against Giant Wasps, the adventurers are surprised to feel a breeze of air and then, further ahead, daylight! The tunnel they’re in cuts abruptly and leads to a giant, disquieting open-air canyon. They’ve found an exit to Balor’s Rent…
  • They’re eyes adjusting to the light, they can see another entrance on the cliffside but with no easy way to reach it. Except that Grimoire has learned recently the Flight spell and casts it on Forka so he can scout ahead.
  • Forka reaches the entrance, there’s a large and long corridor leading into the darkness. He also spots some kind of long-necked monster further ahead on the cliffside. He gets back to his companion.
  • Grimoire doesn’t have enough mana left to cast Flight on everyone and after some discussion they decide to go down a stepladder nearby.
  • The mist is heavy, visibility is very limited down there, but they soon reach a ledge and there’s a path going along the cliffside. Following the path they reach the entrance of a cave with three Cave Trolls almost immediately coming out after them.
  • It’s a hard-fought battle, with cave bats joining the fight on the Trolls’ side, but the adventurers emerge victorious. Some are badly wounded though, and most have depleted willpower. It’s time to rest. Efram casts Clean to remove the awful Troll stench and they get in the back of the cave, roll over a boulder and get some well-deserved resting time.

Closing Comments:

  • The skeletons fights were only attritional. The Cave Trolls were more dangerous but nothing that 9 adventurers together couldn’t handle it seems. The Troll Cave was also excised from Path of Glory. I’ll say that the module is worthwhile, it can certainly be plundered to good effect if nothing else.
  • Another entrance to the dungeon found, two in fact. But it’s not clear yet how going through Balor’s Rent is feasible.
  • The Flight spell is a game-changer, we’ll see it used quite often in the future, no doubt.

Gunderholfen – In pursuit of the Ravens (session 27)

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

The Battle Brother have convinced the Protectors to join them in their new delve in Gunderholfen for the explicit purpose of teaching the Ravens a lesson. But those are not simply waiting at the dungeon’s entrance.

3 hours session

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 rather enjoys his rat-shape curse (Isaac)
  • Grimoire, Goblin Mage, frail but smart (Isaac)
  • Forka, Dogman Knight, fierce warrior (Edmond)
  • Torch, Goblin Knight, not expendable anymore (Edmond)

What the other adventuring guilds are doing at the moment:

  • Green Imps: seek job in Longfelt, need quick cash
  • The Protectors: adventuring in Gunderholfen, except Delevan (convalesent)
  • Black Axes: Widowmakers: Longfelt, new leader>> gnome Havelock, new guild name
  • The Musers: adventuring in Gunderholfen
  • The Ravens: adventuring in Gunderholfen

This session’s main goal: Give the Ravens a taste of their own medicine

Gunderholfen, entrance 1A

  • Travel through the swamp went smoothly. The two allied guilds arrive at the main « kobolds » entrance. They spot the banner of the Ravens and Forka, with his acute sense of smell, thinks that it’s been 2 to 3 days since they were there. Aracyne orders the banner to be burned, a raven flies away.
  • The adventurers go through Level 1, the gnome merchant is away, his shop is closed. They reach the rope bridge and Torch, who’s first, has a plank breaks under him and he almost fell! The bridge has been sabotaged!
  • They reach Level 2, they remove their shoes to get through the corridor of wind-blowing and Torch walks on caltrops and hurts (lightly) his foot. They sweep away the caltrops and soon reach the room split by small chasm, Forka is attacked by a cave scorpion but his armor protects him. Jedri stabs the creature with his sword and kills it.
  • They get through the inundated room, one way ot the other, and get into the room with a campfire and goblins graffitis. There’s a drawing of a raven added to the wall, that Aracyne quickly deface. The scent trail isn’t really better than before, still 2-3 days old.
  • The allies go further on Level 2, they’re spotted by a Giant Ant worker but that doesn’t lead to a fight. The dogman loses the scent trail though, seems like the Ravens did not go past the graffitis room.
  • Befuddled, the allies go back to Level ‘s entrance, trying to lure the Ravens out of hiding somehow. They attract something else, a Basilisk from the swamp, it thumps the ground when it sees them. The adventurers attack the beast from each sides. Bayard is almost turned to stone but Torch reacts quickly and protects him with his shield. The Basilisk’s snake head bites Torch but the goblin is resistant to poison (becomes exhausted instead of worse). Forka delivers the final blow to the monster.
  • They get back inside and kill a lone ghoul skulking in the « goblins » section.
  • They go to the « hobgoblins » section and soon reach the vertical shaft. There’s a spent torch on the ground. It must be where the Ravens went… They decide to send Forka and Adalbert down the dangling chains to inspect the bottom of the shaft. The perilous operation (Forka gets disheartened in the process), descending about 300 feet along the chains, is successful. Forka picks up the scent of the Ravens (still not fresh though)! There’s also a dwarven-made elevator at the ready and they use it to get all together at the bottom.
  • They seem to be in another part of the dwarven city. There’s a big, lighted room ahead. And a lot of bones on the floor…

Closing comments:

  • Not a lot happening on this session, some easy fights (they were on Level 1-2 after all), a bigger one against a dangerous Basilisk that went well. A lot of head scratching as they tried to figure out what the Ravens were up to. Quite fun for me.
  • My sons, Isaac in particular, really hate the Ravens, what with their bullying and the traps they left behind them and their FAST progress. Sure to lead to high drama some day.
  • I’ve said it before, but a good nose and good ears, are quite a must in a large dungeon.
  • The (this) vertical shaft isn’t in the module. From the beginning I had decided to replace an alternate entrance to the dungeon in order to graft another dungeon to Gunderholfen. The whole, together, is linking Level 1 to Level 5 ultimately.
  • I have a timeline at the ready (where the Ravens are at each time) and 2 days is a big head start. Rushing things in order to catch up with the Ravens would be risky in an unexplored area though. We’ll see how it goes next session.

Slug House – End of Investigation (session 26)

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

Lot happening in the adventuring guilds’ world. The city council wants them organized under a single entity. Also, the Green Imps have been forced to give tribute to the stronger Ravens, angering the Battle Brothers and Protectors when they learned about it. The Black Axes have apparently lost their leader but are now back in town after being away for a while, with rumors of them having been lost in Ganfal swamp. Speaking of Ganfal swamp, it’s expanding through farmlands at an alarming rate, day after day, with only the retrieval of the Scepter of Harvest from Gunderholfen having the power to stop it, it is said. For the moment though, the Battle Brothers are still investigating a wizard’s manor in town.

4 hours session

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/491255/slug-house

Player Characters (PCs) – The Battle Brothers:

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

What the other adventuring guilds are doing at the moment:

  • Green Imps: back in Longfeft, complain that they’ve been preyed upon by the Ravens
  • The Protectors: leisure in Longfelt, Delevan convalescent
  • Black Axes: back in Longfeft, Kegan the Black is dead (left behind?)
  • The Musers: adventuring in Gunderholfen
  • The Ravens: adventuring in Gunderholfen

Longfelt

  • The Battle Brothers start the day at the Hare & Hound inn. They take time to listen to rumors and hear about the plight of the Green Imps whom have forced to give tribute to the Ravens. They talk to innkeeper and ex-adventurer Maeve and they learn a few things about the Ravens and their leader, the dwarf Runfurly the Depraved. They go talk to the Protectors and ask for their support for teaching a good lesson to the predatory guild as soon as they can.
  • Having done that, the PCs start their adventuring day and access Uzul’s manor the same way they did previously, through the window on the eastern side.
  • They see that the corpse of the Giant Slug is no longer there and there’s a fresh trail of mucus on the floor leading through the door and then north. They follow it.
  • They get into a library. There’s tiny floating motes of light in the room, some hovering above a wrting desk, others around… the Giant Slug. The creature is alive apparently but is visibly afraid of the adventurers. It exits the room as soon as it can. A floating mote starts to follow Grimoire.
  • The PCs follows the Giant Slug. It goes at the end of a long corridor and up a set of stairs. Into another long corridor with another staiway at the end that goes down. And again… These two corridors are connected by magical stairs!
  • The PCs stop following the Giant Slug in its perpetual circuit and explore a side door on the newly-discovered corridor. They’re in a large, dusty room and with the view through the windows they can see that they’re on the west side of the manor. With that revealed, they backtrack and resume exploring the eastern side of the 1st floor.
  • They get into a room in great disorder with a strange array of furnitures and scraps made into a « fortress ». They hear small creatures scampering away to another room.The PCs search the « fortress » and find two teared papers, notes from Uzul Balashi no doubt, in the same vein than the previous one, of him whining that his wife badgers him on his mistreatement of the staff and his reckless experiments on himself.:

« Thou shall drink one too many potions my dear » she said « and find thyself crawling around like an overgrown earthworm. »

  • In the next room they find homoncubolds hiding under the bed. They reassure the frightened creatures and barter for another note from Uzul. They find more clues of the wizard’s demise on the bedside table. They also find a secret door behind a cupbpard.
  • It leads to the manor’s tower and into an Herb room, wherein Torch gets a strange sensation but is fine due to his natural goblin resistances.
  • Going up the stairs they get into a wizard’s laboratory, with a complete set of alchemy and many potions. They don’t touch anything.
  • Going up again, reaching the top, they get into Uzul’ Sanctum and find his spellbook on a pedestal. They take it and this activates the Wood Statue from the room’s corner. The Wood Statue is very resistant to Forka’s hammer blows and Aracyne’s arrows doesn’t do much either, but Jedri’s sword slashes and more so, Grimoire’s fireballs do good damage and with some work, they defeat the dangerous guardian (forgot to activate the Splinters final detonation as per DB monster ability, oops).
  • With the wizard’s spellbook in hand and acting with all the clues they got, they go downstairs and manage to find the Giant Slug again, still on its circuit. They show it the spellbook, it seems to recognize the thing but doesn’t seem to be willing or lucid enough to get a clearer reaction than that.
  • The adventurers leave the Giant Slug, the unfortunate wizard Uzul Balashi most likely, behind and start to explore the western side of the floor.
  • They soon get into the presence of some manor’s ex-staff, now ugly, all lizard-like and having the most horrible stench to them.
  • They’re having a lot of fun rummaging through their ex-employer haversack, they’re clearly intoxicated and in very good mood. They’ll trade Uzul’s journal in exchange for the best tacos in town, from Biffro’s Bistro.
  • The adevnturers proceed to get out of the manor and buy some tacos from Biffro. On their way back they get pestered by the inivisible imp but mostly ignore hi and try to evade his tricks. They give the tacos and get the journal. One final search nearby reveals a secret door and a treasure chest in a small room. The chest has a decent amount of coins.
  • Satisfied with their gains and the clues they found, the PCs decide to leave the manor for good. They take an appointment with Merrick the High Constable and present him their evidences. Uzul Balashi foolishly experimented on himself and was turned into a Giant Slug. He probably killed his wife but no proof was found about that. Their investigation is concluded. Merrick would have liked a bit more but he’s okay with their work and he upholds is part of the bargain, giving them a nice knight’s great helm.

Closing Comments:

  • That’s the end of Slug House for this campaign. They explored about 2/3 of the mansion (82 keyed entries), missing several secrets and treasures.
  • At the same time they did accomplish their objective and taking more time outside of Gunderholfen was out of the question for them.
  • For me this adventure module was near-perfect, I would barely have any quibbles to hold against it and that doesn’t happen often at all. I’ve checked another published adventure by the same author: the heretic’s grave, and it’s also very good. An author well worth to keep an eye on for sure.

Gunderholfen – He died a hero’s death (session 22)

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

Lightning struck a transfo nearby early in our session and we finished it at candlelight. Not bad for the vibe!

2 hrs session

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 rather enjoys his rat-shape curse (Isaac)
  • Grimoire, Goblin Mage, frail but smart (Isaac)
  • Forka, Dogman Knight, fierce warrior (Edmond)
  • Torch, Goblin Knight, not expendable anymore (Edmond)

What the other adventuring guilds are doing at the moment:

  • Green Imps: training in Longfelt
  • The Protectors: Resting in Longfelt, resurrection of Delevan succeed (convalescent)
  • Black Axes: somewhere in Ganfal swamp, lost?
  • The Musers: adventuring, left Longfelt but kept quiet on their objective
  • The Ravens: newly-arrived in town, reputation for being brutal veterans

This session’s main goal: Search the Great Cave, the lair of the defeated orcs

Level 4A

  • After a rest at their Level 4 outpost, the Battle Brothers are ready to pay a visit to the orcs and see if those have accepted their (harsh) terms. They get to the Great Cave without any problems and announce their presence to the orcs. The orcs still have guards in place but the PCs can see that half of them look like barely-trained teenagers.
  • The orc sub-chief arrives to meet them and anoiunces that the tribe accept the terms, paying a tribute of 100 gp immediately. He then proceeds, dejectedly, to show the adventurers around starting with the western part. The PCs look briefly at the food storing area and move on. They arrive at a living area where there’s some training of youngsters going on, not nearly a show of strength. Then they enter a larger living area where’s there some wounded warriors and some female tending to them. The next area has more female orcs and many kids, some crying, all very much terrified by the (bloodthirsty) adventurers.
  • They’re in a loop circuit that joins back the Great Cave from the North-East and have seeminlgy visited it all but then Aracyne asks to see where the dead chief lived. The sub-chied reluctantly brings them back to a living area with an open dormitory and points the chief’s place. There’s a rudimentary chest there and Aracyne opens it and takes the remaining gold (46gp) of the tribe. The orcs are now destitute.
  • As his leader is busy stealing from the orcs, Jedri searches the area a bit more and finds a paler spot on the western wall and, pressing it, opens a secret door!
  • It leads to a brick corridor, the air is stale, there’s no sound of anything but they can see a strange statue at the limit of their vision. The PCs coerces the sub-chief into going first. Approaching, they see that this is representation of the Bat-Toad god Tsathoggua. It has topaz for eyes.
Idol of Tsathoggua by The Lone Animator
  • Just as they decide to ignore the temptation of the precious stones, the statue suddenly animates and sucker punches the orc sub-chief with a powerful backhanded slap, sending him sprawling several meters away.
  • The statue then stomps the ground mightily, sending several of the PCs to the ground as well. Jedri didn’t fell though and he attacks with his two weapons, his sword not doing any damage but his morningstar connecting with a good hit. Forka hasn’t time to attack before the statue slams its head into his face, wounding and dazing him. The dogman knight is disheartened but still manages to attack right after with a mighty blow of his 2-h hammer that does suitably impressive damage. Grimoire then does his part with a very successful (crit) Mental Strike that slams the statue onto the back wall, pieces of it flying all over the place. It still stands though but Jedri the ratman finishes the job with another well-placed morningstar blow.
  • Aracyne picks up the topaz from the broken statue. He then sends back the wounded orc sub-chiefs but asks for another orc to accompany them and the orcs reluctantly sends another.
  • They continue their exploration of the secret area, going west and north, with a slope further north. The new orc, the first in line, suddenly stop and makes an odd gurgling sound. He’s got a spear through his throat, from a trap, and he’s very dead. Congratulating themselves for having put cannon fodder in front of them, the PCs get back to grab another orc for the task, much to the dismay of his fellow tribesmen. « Don’t be sad, he died a hero’s death » says Aracyne to the wide-eyed orcs.
  • The adventurers resume exploration and get past the « heroic » dead orc still on his spear and get into a room with a large stone sarcophagus flanked by two (smaller) statues of Tsathogga. Forka immediately smashes one statue with his large hammer, and the other. They then order the orc to open the sarcophagus but he only manages to move the slab a few inches. Forka helps him and the two together succeed in movind the slab aside. There’s a human skeleton inside, wearing a black chainmail visible through his tattered robes and holding a scepter (of Tsathogga) made of copper and ivory. The adventurers orders the orc to take everything, which he does (with some efforts to take off the chainmail from the corpse). They also take the 4 emeralds that served as the statues’ eyes. Nothing bad happens.
  • Having finished over there, the PCs go south until they reach an impasse. Close inspection reveals another secret door, it leads very close to the stairs going up to Level 3. Aracyne ponders the irony of having a way to attack the orcs so much easier and so near all this time…
  • They get back to the orcs for one final speech by Aracyne: « thank you for your cooperation, thank you for the gold, much appreciated, sad for the dead guy *snickers*, necessary sacrifice and all that… See you soon. Yes… Rest assured, we’ll come back! » *silence (except for crying babies) and horrified stares*
  • Leaving the Great Cave behind, the party still in good shape, Aracyne decides that now’s the time to eliminate another annoying threat in the vicinity: the Giant Cave Lizards nearby. They walk in their lair and sure enough, there’s three of the beasts, one with visible wounds on it. Grimoire is first to do violence, he hurls 3 fireballs at the wounded lizard, wounding him further. Jedri finishes it. Aracyne shoots another with his bow. Forka hits this one too. They’re tough cookies though, they don’t go down easy. One try to bite Forka but don’t get through his armor. The other one charges Jedri but the latter evades and then achieves a killing blow. Two good arrows from Aracyne soften the surviving one. It’s killed soon after. The adventurers search through the bones and excrements afterward and get a surprisingly good haul (gold chalice and gold pieces) for their troubles.
  • The Battle Brothers decide that they should go back to Longfelt. They talk briefly with two ogres fetching water on Level 3, telling them a bit of their recent successes . They make a quick stop at the gnomes’ shop on Level 1 and buy a few consumables, and then leave the dungeon.
  • Trip through Ganfal swamp goes well even if the place seems more menacing by the day.
  • They buy some food to farmers near town.
  • Back in longfelt they go enquire to the Protectors, Bayard’s guild, and find out that Delevan has survived the ritual of resurrection. They also learn that there’s a new adventuring guild in town, the Ravens. Not rookies at all. Experienced and a ruthless bunch if the rumors are true.
  • They sell the Tsathogga scepter to Calmund, a rich collector in town, for 40gp.
  • Forka asks around for maybe the eighth time if there was any magic helm to be bought in town (to go with his excellent new magic chainmail). There was none. But there was a possibility of doing a mission in town, in a wizard’s tower, where something went awry, and gain such an item in the process…

Closing Comments:

  • Very profitable session for the BBs this time, reaping the benefits of having defeated the orcs.
  • Yes, turns out this a game with orc babies, and orcs with emotions. But also, orcs that would have been ruthlesse themselves if the situation have been the other way around. I found my son’s speech to the orcs funny as hell.
  • Level 4A is the more thorouhly explored level of the dungeon to date.
  • The new adventuring guild in town means trouble, I made it obvious, and Edmond wants to fight them as soon they meet them in the dungeon.

Gunderholfen – Counter-Attack! (session 21)

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

Another short session, much like the last one, with some planning at the beginning and then one big fight happening.

1h30

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)
  • Grimoire, Goblin Mage, frail but smart (Isaac)
  • Forka, Dogman Knight, fierce warrior (Edmond)
  • Torch, Goblin Knight, not expendable anymore (Edmond)

This session’s main goal: Invade the Dark Creepers’ village

What the other adventuring guilds are doing at the moment:

  • Green Imps: training in Longfelt
  • The Protectors: adventuring in Gunderholfen, joined the Battle Brothers at Level 4’s outpost
  • Black Axes: adventuring, try to find a lost tower in Ganfal swamp
  • The Musers: adventuring, left Longfelt but kept quiet on their objective

Level 4a

  • The Battle Brothers and the Protectors take a meal and talk together at their shared outpost. They evaluate the benefits and risks of adventuring jointly (1) and decide not to do it this time.
  • Aracyne examines his maps and hesitates on what his guild should do next, finally leaning on fighting the Dark Creepers. But before they’re ready to depart MAYHEM suddenly erupts on the outpost: the Orcs (around two dozens) are attacking!
  • Making short work of the main doors with a makeshift battering ram, the Orcs get inside! The adventurers, the two guilds together, with no way to escape, will have to fight for their lives.
  • The adventurers are outnumbered but at least won’t be outflanked in the corridors and they quickly get in position to fend off the attackers. Forka and Bayard, both heavily armored, will be frontline. Torch will be behind Bayard and will attack with his spear, Grimoire will cast spells from between the legs of Forka or something like that.
  • Orc archers (and one crossbowman) shoot at their enemies to start the fight, Forka is wounded by a well-aimed (crit) arrow. Grimoire does a Mental Strike on the crossbow-wielder, hurting and making him fly backward several meters away to crash into his fellow Orcs.
  • But then warriors with falchions or spears swarm inside and get into melee. One orc goes down almost immediately after getting hit by a spear thrust from Torch and a mace blow from Bayard.
  • A moment later, Aracyne, with fellow hunter Adalbert and Delevan the mage, attack from a side-corridor, with 10′ open pit-trap, half-filled with refuses, between them and the Orcs. Letting go of arrows and fireballs, the trio inflicts much pain (two more kills in this second round) on their opponents.
  • But things on the main corridor gets a little hairy as Forka is severely wounded by two consecutive blows. The Dogman manages to kill the Orc in front of him and then he retreats behind the fighting line while Jedri quickly takes his place. Efram, the other Protectors’ mage, begins to heal Forka. (Both Jedri and Efram were put in reserve but were quickly put to good use)
  • Grimoire hurls two fireballs and kills one Orc. Jedri Taunts an Orc into attacking him and then swiftly kills him with his two-weapons attack. Just as things start looking good on this side, the Orc Chieftain jumps over the pit-trap and badly hurt Aracyne (who failed to evade) with a big swing of his bardiche. The two Orcs following him are a bit short on their jumps though and sink thigh-deep into the pit-trap’s refuses and will lose some time getting out. The Orc Chieftain is on the receiving end of several arrows and fireballs but is still in fighting shape.
  • Orc archers support their leader from the entrance and one arrow grievously wounds Delevan the mage and he’s down.
  • Jedri and Bayard kill two more Orcs and Forka, fully healed now from Efram’s efforts, charges between them, killing another one. The few remaining Orcs on this side have had enough (failed morale check) and flee!
  • The Orc Chieftain swings his bardiche… at the proned mage on the ground and finishes him! The killer doesn’t enjoy this success very long though and Adalbert, the mage’s companion, slays him with another arrow. Following this the Orc archers turn tail also and the Orcs that just got out of the pit-trap surrender as they’re now surrounded.
  • This is Victory!
  • The Protectors gather around their fallen comrade and will leave the dungeon soon to bring him back in town and pay for resurrection.
  • Aracyne deals with the two Orc prisoners and tell them his conditions for peace to convey to the surviving sub-chief back at their lair: a tribute of gold and also, free passage inside their territory.

Closing comments:

  • The (randomized) arrival of the Protectors was really fortuitous to save the PCs from the Orcs’ counter-attack I must say. And the NPCs were the ones to pay the price!
  • After the recent events, I had created a quick random table for how the Orcs would be reacting to the PCs multi-sessions aggression. The roll resulted in a counter-attack (instead of leaving the area or being defensive), a further roll told me when it would occur, a good process I think. That’s nothing extraordinary, I know, but I’m still learning how do to this properly.
  • (1) Adventuring with more than 6 characters (6 being the arbitrary number from the Wizardry crpg that I’m taking for my own use) doubles the dice of random encounters, with two 6 rolled meaning a dangerous special encounter. This is due to a larger group being less discreet but also, somewhat abstractly, to the disturbance created by too many adventurers together in the dungeon and it (or its master) reacting to this in some way.

Gunderholfen – Repelled by the orcs, again (session 20)

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

Short session with one big fight taking a big chunk of it. Very dangerous situation that they got themselves into and the PCs had to flee again.

1h30

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)
  • Grimoire, Goblin Mage, frail but smart (Isaac)
  • Forka, Dogman Knight, fierce warrior (Edmond)
  • Torch, Goblin Knight, not expendable anymore (Edmond)

This session’s main goal: finish the orcs

What the other adventuring guilds are doing at the moment:

  • Green Imps: training in Longfelt
  • The Protectors: adventuring, left Longfelt for Gunderholfen
  • Black Axes: adventuring, try to find a tower in Ganfal swamp
  • The Musers: adventuring, left Longfelt but kept quiet on their objective

Gunderholfen – Level 4A – Great Altar Cave

  • The Battle Brothers have just killed the 10 orc archers that were guarding the entrance of the Great Altar Cave but now they hear many more orcs coming from around the corner to the north west. Two orcs with heavy crossbows come first, one shooting at Forka but the crossbow bolt bounces off his armor, and the other misses Torch. Two other crossbowmen run across the nearby rope-bridge in order to have a good shooting angle.
  • Aracyne makes a risky leap to the eastern cliff and manages to climb up to get atop the promontory. He quickly takes his bow and kill one crossbowman with two arrows (twin shot). The other plunges to his death after Grimoire attacks him with a Mental Strike (telekinetic push).
  • But more orcs move to attack the outnumbered adventurers, five brandishing falchions and five with spears attacking from behind, all wearing chainmail. Forka attacked one with his two-hands hammer, killing him with a massive blow but then the spearmen jab him several times and wound him badly. Jedri jumps into action with sword and light flail and kill an orc with two well-aimed blows.
  • Fearing for his life, Forka shove the falchion-wielding orc in front of him, sending him crashing into the back rank, and he gets out of his near-encirclement. Torch takes care to guard Forka’s flank and stab an orc with his spear, hurting him lightly. Jedri manages to dodge several attacks coming his way.
  • Aracyne does an headshot (crit) to an orc spearman, killing him instantly. A crossbowman aims at the goblin mage and hits him, inflicting a severe wound (1 hp remaining!), the other aims at Aracyne but the elf manages to dodge the incoming bolt. Forka kills another falchion-wielder. Grimoire avenges himself with another Mental Strike, pushing the two crossbowmen off the promontory to their deaths.
  • The adventurers have now the upper hand as they manage to kill several other orcs but they can hear yet more orcs coming from the same direction and only Aracyne is unscathed among them. Torch is okayish but Grimoire and Forka are both severely wounded, Jedri only lightly but is exhausted (no more willpower pts, can’t fuel his heroic abilities anymore). Grimoire does a Levitate on Torch to bring him on his side of the cave, at the entrance beyond the cliff. Forka and Jedri jump over there. A bigger group of orcs is now in sight with its bardiche-armed chieftain in the middle. Several orcs throw spears at the retreating adventurers but none hit their targets.
  • The Battle Brothers run to the west to go directly at their outpost. The orcs have no way to follow quickly and press their advantage.
  • En route, Jedri is attacked by a Giant Cave Lizard coming from the south but he slays it efficiently with his two weapons.
  • They reach their outpost and barricade themselves so they can rest safely. Not long after, they can hear some orcs looking for them close by, probably checking. the stairs to Level 3. The orcs still doesn’t seem to know that the PCs have taken over the Ogres’ den (and aren’t eager to inspect the place as they had been enemies).
  • Five hours later they hear a knock on the door, its Bayard’s guild, the Protectors! Aracyne asks if the allied guild would be so kind as to offer healing and Bayard answers that it wouldn’t be free: how about 80 gp, the amount that Aracyne once asked to the at the moment hard-pressed Protectors? No deal. But still, the allies are glad to see each other.

Closing Comments:

  • The PCs had decimated the orc archers with ease the previous session but now it was a very, very close fight, with character death looming just a step away. Aracyne and Grimoire were very efficient with arrows and telekinetic pushes respectively but the three melee fighters were in a perilous situation. Good armor and good evade ability have its limits when against 3:1 numerical superiority with a back rank able to reach.
  • The orcs have once again repelled the adventurers but it’s clearly a pyrrhic victory for them, having lost 21 warriors between the two sessions and 6 more if we count the first assault. They still have a decent fighting force but they’ve been weakened for sure, probably enough to warrant a change on how they defend their territory.

Next session