We’re now at book 3, Laios’s guild is exploring 4th level, the Flooded Level, and get to an entrance for the 5th near the end of the book. We get another beautiful example of monster ecology on how food chain dynamics can affect a dungeon. Read on and you’ll see what I mean.
The book start strong as we see Corpse Retrievers in action. Corpse Retrievers specialize in finding dead adventurers, revive them with magic and charge them accordingly. Their work is obviously useful to adventurers but as their source of income depends on their eventual deaths, they’ll keep surviving tips for themselves…
The main monsters of the Flooded Level are the Bladefishes, Krakens, Tritons, Kelpies, Moray Eels, Mermaids, Slimes, Tentacles and Undines
One can counter a Mermaid’s song if they sing very loudly (and lousily?) themselves, that’s creepy and that’ll make them flee
A lot of Bladefishes means too few middle of food chain monsters, which means too many top of food chain monsters, which means at this Level: Krakens
Krakens are colossal and have giant 3′ long Parasites inside their flesh, don’t eat Giant Parasites, they have their own parasites and you’ll get gastro-intestinal troubles
We learn that giving back life to a corpse (resurrection if you will) work only inside the dungeon as it’s a feature of the magic curse of the Golden Kingdom: souls are chained to their bodies even in death, so in essence you just have to heal a body so it can function as the soul never departed
Undines are water spirits, they’re spheres of water that shoots deadly water jets. They’re made of magic, a magic-user can drink them (once they’re defeated) to get back depleted magic.
One way to the Fifth Level (it’s implied that there’s others) is going down through a non-flooded tower that barely jut out of the water
It’s infested with tentacles (Japanese love their tentacles, don’t they). Tentacles can strangle somebody and are poisonous. At least one variety hides inside traps mechanisms, good news is that it hinders the trap. Bad news it that an unsuspecting adventurer that tries to disarm a trap can get caught by the tentacle…
Giant Frogs are immune to the tentacles and live among them, a good example of monster commensalism
Les joueurs approchent de leur but: s’emparer du bateau-volant. Un dernier danger les menace, mais ils n’ont pas fait tout ce chemin pour échouer avant la fin!
Personnages Joueurs (PJs)
(Marjorie) Kalohan, (level 11) High Elf Wizard (evoker), Inheritor, doit trouver un sort inconnu jusque là avant de pouvoir obtenir son héritage
(Isaac) Anfi, (level 11) Locathah Fighter (eldritch knight), Outlander, venu sur la terre ferme en passant par la Caverne-Tunnel, là pour découvrir ce nouvel environnement + Salamandre Géante
(Olivier) Léon, (level 9) Human Monk (way of shadow), Outlander, revenu à la vie grâce à Zotzilaha, maintenant libre de faire ce qu’il veut
(Edmond) Vingt, (level 8) Myconid Druid (circle of spores), Acolyte, envoyé de Zuggtmoy, la Déesse du fongique + Fourmi Zombifiée
(Félix) Flyzus, (level 11), 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) PaxDouble-Poches, (level 9), 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 10), Half-Orc Barbarian (berserker), Mercenary Veteran; capturé par des pterafolks, seul survivant de sa bande de mercenaires, délivré par Flyzus au sommet du Firefinger
Spores à la Rescousse
Les PJs effectuent une marche forcée au crépuscule pour mettre de la distance entre eux et le volcan. La magicienne fait un sort de Leomund’s Tiny Hut pour leur procurer un repos sans risques. À leur réveil les aventuriers constatent qu’il y une femme juste à côté, la matelot Moza a été laissé là par des Firenewts et elle est sur le point d’exploser! Vingt intervient juste à temps, fait un Remove Curse et voilà un membre d’équipage de plus!
Décollage?
En route vers le site de l’écrasement, marchant la jungle dense, le ranger trouve des signes de violence: les mercenaires qui leur ont fait face la veille ont trouvé leur fin. En inspectant de plus proche Flyzus constate qu’ils ont certainement été tués par des Homme-Scorpions (1). Leon couvre à nouveau le groupe de ses ombres.
Quelques heures après ils trouvent un débris de bateau-volant et peu de temps après l’objet de leur convoitise est devant eux!
Ne reste plus qu’à le faire décoller… Des réparations sommaires sont effectuées. Kalohan et Pax font le guet pendant que les rescapés de l’équipage enseignent des rudiments de navigation aux aventuriers puisque sans eux ils ne seraient pas assez nombreux pour manœuvrer le bateau-volant. Mais voilà que les deux guetteurs ont repérés des agresseurs, sans surprise des Hommes-Scorpions. L’équipage active la procédure de décollage en urgence alors que de plus en plus de monstres approchent. (2)
Les Hommes-Scorpions sont tous munis de chaînes avec crochets (3) et s’en servent pour se hisser sur le pont. Seul Pax, Kalohan et la Salamandre d’Anfi le défendent. Pax se poste en hauteur et tire des flèches. La Salamandre réussit à pousser un Homme-Scorpion par-dessus la rambarde. Kalohan fait un Cone of Cold et en blesse 2 autres gravement que Pax achèvera par la suite. D’autres se hissent pourtant mais les défenseurs font un vaillant effort et le bateau-volant s’envole!
Décolllage! (4)
Port Castigliar
Le Bateau-volant se rend à Port Castigliar, la populace est ébahie!
Les aventuriers prennent des nouvelles locales et moins locales (Port Nyanzaru).
Font une petite tournée pour amoindrir quelques tensions (5).
Réussissent à convaincre le figure de proue magique de l’Indomptable (échouée sur la plage) d’être placée sur le bateau-volant. Félix est promu Capitaine mais doit se montrer digne de son poste.
Leon reste quelques semaines en compagnie de Maître Nuage Immanent pour apprendre une nouvelle technique de moine.
Ils vont chercher le tas de brique « hanté » pour pouvoir enfin s’en servir. Le monstre de briques est vaincu d’une monumentale « Frappe d’Air » de Leon qui y met tout ses ki pour une attaque grandiose de coup critique de 124 de dommage (voilà c’est répertorié 😉 ). Parmi toutes les briques ils réussissent à en trouver une ayant une rune magique qui activait le processus de défense et la désactive.
Kalohan commence le processus qui mettra en place un Teleportation Circle dans le bateau-volant
Ils décident qu’ils devront se mêler de la politique de Port Nyanzaru, puisque les événements troublants qui s’y produisent risquent d’avoir un impact sur leur repaire de Port Castigliar.
Notes du DM:
les joueurs savaient déjà que les jungles autour en sont infesté
ils ont besoin de 20 succès collectivement sur des jets d’intelligence
à la Mortal Kombat: « come over here! »
10000xp pour ce succès flamboyant
le village est en expansion rapide avec un afflux de nouveaux arrivants
Les joueurs font face à un dilemme moral: les rescapés de l’équipage (les PNJs) s’inquiètent d’abandonner leurs camarades aux mains des cultistes du volcan mais les forces de l’Efreeti Zar-Ignax semblent encore considérables malgré les pertes. Ils ont le Coeur de Feu qui alimente en puissance le bateau-volant. Ils savent la position de celui-ci grâce au témoignage des rescapés. Par contre, il est douteux qu’il puisse le manœuvrer efficacement, ou même du tout, avec seulement le pilote, un matelot et des non-initiés. Doivent-ils risquer une autre confrontation pour sauver d’autres prisonniers? Comme toujours la décision revient aux joueurs.
Personnages Joueurs (PJs)
(Marjorie) Kalohan, (level 10>>11) High Elf Wizard (evoker), Inheritor, doit trouver un sort inconnu jusque là avant de pouvoir obtenir son héritage
(Isaac) Anfi, (level 10>>11) Locathah Fighter (eldritch knight), Outlander, venu sur la terre ferme en passant par la Caverne-Tunnel, là pour découvrir ce nouvel environnement + Salamandre Géante
(Olivier) Léon, (level 8>>9) Human Monk (way of shadow), Outlander, revenu à la vie grâce à Zotzilaha, maintenant libre de faire ce qu’il veut
(Edmond) Vingt, (level 7>>8) Myconid Druid (circle of spores), Acolyte, envoyé de Zuggtmoy, la Déesse du fongique + Fourmi Zombifiée
(Félix) Flyzus, (level 10>>11), 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) PaxDouble-Poches, (level 8>>9), 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 10), Half-Orc Barbarian (berserker), Mercenary Veteran; capturé par des pterafolks, seul survivant de sa bande de mercenaires, délivré par Flyzus au sommet du Firefinger
Délibérations et libérations
Avec un Wall of Stone derrière eux les PJs remontent à l’étage du haut. Ils délibèrent entre eux sur la marche à suivre et ils décident que la magicienne intervienne pour sauver 2 autres prisonniers à l’aide de Dimension Doors. Elle délivre ainsi les matelots Matran et Tarsi. Ceci fait, ils se dirigent lentement vers la sortie mais à ce moment Pax entend des murmures plus avant. Il s’avance pour voir de quoi il en retourne et il tombe sur un groupe de Wererats. Pax tourne les talons, une dague file par-dessus son épaule, il rejoint ses compagons et ses poursuivant s’arrêtent net en tournant le coin. Les PJs constatent que les Wererats portent l’emblême du Flaming Fist. Les Wererats prennent la fuite.
Nemesis
Les PJs sortent à l’air libre sans avoir rencontrés d’autres ennemis en route. Cependant, devant eux se tient maintenant une troupe d’une quinzaine de mercenaires du Flaming Fist. À l’arrière, dans le cockpit d’un scorpion mécanique se trouve le gnome magicien Brittletoe. À l’avant, Gilgam le Béni foudroi Kalohan du regard: « Toi! Je t’ai retrouvé! ». (1)
Les PJs tentent d’amadouer les mercenaires, leur disant qu’ils ont le loisir de pénétrer dans le temple volcanique à leur guise. Les deux chefs mercenaires sont peu réceptifs, Gilgam exige en premier lieu le retour de son amulette volée avant toute chose. Kalohan le met au défi de tenter le coup. Gilgam ordonne à ses hommes de tirer une vollée de flèches, Leon active à nouveau son Cube de Force pour protéger le groupe contre les projectiles. (2)
La magicienne veut faire le maximum d’impact avec un Wall of Fire au beau milieu des mercenaires mais son effort est frustré (3) par un Counterspell du gnome abjureur. Elle-même fait un Counterspell pour annuler une Lightning Bolt de ce dernier.
Les PJs entendent ce qui est certainement le son d’un Wall of Stone s’effondrer!
Le Myconid appelé Vingt fait apparaître un Stinking Cloud à même le cockpit du scorpion (4), forçant le gnome à l’ouvrir s’il veut respirer! Flyzus voit l’occasion, il sort de la protection du Cube fait un Hunter’s Mark et tire deux flèches dévastatrices de son Hatebow, blessant sérieusement le magicien ennemi! Anfi lance un Melf’s Acid Arrow sur le gnome mais le sort est bloqué par un Globe of Invulnerability. Flyzus parvient à éviter plusieurs projectiles qui le visait.
Pendant ce temps Rufb fonce, tout en rage et en frénésie, et fait parler sa hache à 2 mains contre Gilgam. Celui-ci est touché mortellement et disparait, sa présence était une illusion! Rufb cependant est vite entouré par des mercenaires mais se moque des coups reçus. Anfi vient en renfort, accompagné de sa salamandre. Pax tire Brittletoe à son tour et le champignon tentaculaire de Vingt étrangle et enlève le peu de vie qui restait au gnome. Brittletoe est mort!
Le Volcan Gronde
La victoire n’est cependant pas encore acquise, Flyzus est cette fois atteint de plusieurs flèches et des mercenaires foncent vers lui pour tenter de l’achever, il s’effondre par terre mais est vite guérit par le druide myconide (5).
Plus inquiétant encore, tous sentent une légère secousse, le volcan est mécontent… Quelques secondes après des géants de feu et un prêtre Pterafolk sortent du temple, juste derrière les PJs! Un géant charge mais son coup d’épée est bloqué par le Cube de Force.
Au même moment Gilgam apparaît soudainement alors qu’il se saisit de la magicienne dans l’intention ferme de s’emparer de son amulette volée. Mais c’est sans compter sur les compagnons de Kalohan, Flyzus attaque de ses 2 épées malgré la magicienne qui sert de bouclier et le taillade cruellement. Rufb surgit en arrière de Gilgam et un brutal coup d’hache achève ses idées de revanches. Gilgam est mort.
Leurs deux chefs morts, les mercenaires ont le moral très ébranlé. Les PJs tentent de les rallier à leur cause mais ne sont pas assez convaincants. Les PJs n’auront pas d’aide de ce côté. Kalohan, par dépit peut-être, ou pour être certaine qu’ils ne leur causent plus d’ennuis, balance un Wall of Fire parmi eux, blessant sévèrement une demie douzaine d’entre eux.
Flyzus, malgré ses blessures, attaque un géant de feu et le blesse. Il attire l’attention du prêtre Pterafolk qui invoque un sort calamiteux, un Finger of Death (6), heureusement Kalohan réussit un Counterspell et le sauve d’une mort certaine. Les aventuriers réussissent à abattre le dangereux prêtre alors qu’il prenait les airs. Ils s’éloignent le plus vite possible du temple, toujours protégés par Leon et son cube, avant que d’autres créatures ne s’en déversent.
Notes du DM:
rappelons que Kalohan a volé l’amulette de Gilgam le Béni il y a 25 sessions…
Leon est immobilisé par l’utilisation du Cube de Force mais son rôle est absolument essentiel à la survie du groupe et ses différentes utilisations au cours du combat les sauvent de bien des attaques
et Marjorie elle-même est très frustrée!
une version d’Apparatus of Kwalish
par des spores guérisseurs, rien de mal ne peut lui arriver n’est-ce pas?
contre un sort de ce niveau le succès était loin d’être assuré
C’est le retour de Chris et Félix! Et comme ils doivent parcourir des centaines de kilomètres, traversant les terres sauvages du Parc, avec la pause rituelle à L’Étape, affrontant certainement moult dangers en chemin eh bien, ça doit être pour la peine! Ou dans notre cas, pour mériter environ 10 heures de D&D en la journée du samedi…
Personnages Joueurs (PJs)
(Marjorie) Kalohan, (level 10) High Elf Wizard (evoker), Inheritor, doit trouver un sort inconnu jusque là avant de pouvoir obtenir son héritage
(Isaac) Anfi, (level 10) Locathah Fighter (eldritch knight), Outlander, venu sur la terre ferme en passant par la Caverne-Tunnel, là pour découvrir ce nouvel environnement + Salamandre Géante
(Olivier) Léon, (level 8) Human Monk (way of shadow), Outlander, revenu à la vie grâce à Zotzilaha, maintenant libre de faire ce qu’il veut
(Edmond) Vingt, (level 7) Myconid Druid (circle of spores), Acolyte, envoyé de Zuggtmoy, la Déesse du fongique + Fourmi Zombifiée
(Félix) Flyzus, (level 10), 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) PaxDouble-Poches, (level 8), 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 10), Half-Orc Barbarian (berserker), Mercenary Veteran; capturé par des pterafolks, seul survivant de sa bande de mercenaires, délivré par Flyzus au sommet du Firefinger
Ombres et Fumée
Le groupe en attente devant l’escalier qui descend au niveau suivant, la magicienne fait du repérage avec un Arcane Eye. Par l’entremise de l’œil magique invisible elle peut voir: un système de corridors qui s’entrecroisent, plusieurs troupes de défenseurs (firenewts, pterafolks, magma oozes), une grande salle de forge opérée par un efreeti (1) et plusieurs portes ou double-portes qui bloquent la vue. Surtout, dans une zone du complexe il y a plusieurs cellules et la majorité des prisonniers (pas tous) semblent être des membres de l’équipage du bateau-volant convoité par les aventuriers. Sachant cela, les PJs décident d’un plan d’action pour s’y rendre.
Une premier accroc se produit alors qu’un jet de flamme surgit d’un mur blessant Rufb et Anfi, Pax esquive entièrement. Leon enveloppe le groupe de ses ombres (pass without trace), leur permettant d’éviter une patrouille ennemie (2), puis Pax fait un sort de Silence pour qu’ils puissent attaquer discrètement un groupe qu’ils ne peuvent éviter. Ils éliminent ainsi rapidement une magma ooze et 4 firenewts, non sans avoir subis des brûlures, Flyzus surtout qui a attaqué à répétition la magma ooze de ses épées courtes, s’est exposé un peu trop à ses flammes.
Tâchez de ne pas exploser
Les PJs sont maintenant devant plusieurs cellules. Pax crochète avec succès une serrure, l’elfe prisonnière s’appelle Colianthe et révèle qu’elle était une simple (riche) passagère à bord du bateau-volant. Dans une autre cellule se trouve le pilote genasi Rajar, un premier membre d’équipage trouvé. Dans la suivante par contre une autre femme matelot semble fiévreuse et confuse et une étrange lueur rouge se dégage de sa poitrine. Se souvenant de la combustion spontanée d’une victime dans la session précédente, les PJs évitent de la libérer.
Coeur de Feu
Des bruits de pas lourds provenant de plus loin dans le complexe interrompent la libération de prisonniers. Vingt envoi des spores spéciaux qui lui permettent de détecter les effets magiques environnant. Ce faisant il voit qu’un pan de mur à proximité était en fait une illusion. Le groupe inspecte le secteur et découvrent une vaste salle gardée par 4 Sons of Kossuth, des géants de feu. Kalohan fait un sort de Major Image imitant le seigneur Efreeti qui ordonne aux géants de se rendre immédiatement à l’entrée et ils obéissent.
La voie est libre mais la chaleur qui y règne est intense. Cependant Leon a la solution, son cube of force actionné à charge maximale les protègera. Se déplaçant tassés comme des sardines ils trouvent plusieurs éléments intéressants: un carillon d’argent de bonne valeur (800gp), des bas-reliefs expliquant l’assujettissement des firenewts et pterafolks envers l’Efreeti Zar-Ignax, avec un second Efreeti (le forgeron) plus en retrait. Mais plus important encore les PJs trouvent un objet étrange, massif et sphérique que le pilote Rajar identifie comme étant la source d’énergie du bateau-volant: le Coeur de Feu! Belle trouvaille dont il s’empare mais à ce moment une flamme s’élève au centre de la salle et en surgit Zar-Ignax lui-même (3). Les PJs intimidés battent en retraite alors qu’une boule de feu s’écrase contre le cube de force.
Mur de Pierre
Les aventuriers voient qu’entre eux et la sortie de l’étage se tiennent les géants de feu (4) qu’ils avaient fourvoyés auparavant avec l’illusion.
image:paizo
Leon s’élance à l’attaque, alternant tempêtes de coups et lancers de fioles (soporifiques et d’acide). La magicienne fait un Cone of Cold atteignant 3 des 4 géants. Pax tire une flèche, blessant da cible. Anfi envoi un Melf’s Acid Arrow sur le même. Flyzus, Rufb vont bravement en corps-à-corps et achève le géant. Flyzus est cependant atteint par deux terribles coups (dont un Crit) et s’effondre au sol. Heureusement Vingt le soigne aussitôt et l’elfe pop-tart/reprend le combat. Kalohan amollit davantage les adversaires d’un Ice Storm. Pax en achève un autre d’une flèche bien placée. Leon en achève un autre d’une fiole d’acide au visage. Kalohan place un Wall of Stone derrière pour ralentir d’autres poursuivants et ses compagons tuent le dernier géant qui leur bloquait l’accès.
Notes du DM:
pas celui rencontré lors de la session précédente, un autre, il semble qu’il fabrique des automates
les joueurs tentent d’éviter de se faire repérer cette fois
et 4 fire elementals
dans mon esprit les géants de feu sont davantage des manifestations physiques de la volonté du dieu-volcan que des géants qui vivent en communauté, ont des femmes, etc
In Book 2 we see Laios’ guild going through the Golden Kingdom’s third level (the Crypt being the 1st and the Forest Top the 2nd) and reaching the 4th near the end. The 3rd level is more of a classical dungeon setting as we’re now inside the upper part of the castle and what we see is a lot of bricks: corridors, great halls, and at one point, a vast atrium surrounded by balconies.
The main denizens of the level are undead (skeletons, ghouls and ghosts) and golems (only 3 remains but there were more before) and a few more surprises too. We learn that the presence of the golems is the main reason why there’s not much monsters invading from below. I’m guessing that the golems don’t attack the undead.
Sounds are amplified a lot, echoing along the stone corridors and one attentive listener can identify what’s nearby.
There’s a few fountains with running water but not much food to be collected from monsters on this level for obvious reasons.
There’s places that serves as a kind of disreputable taverns where one can meet adventurers and criminals in hiding.
In the book we see Orcs raiding the area but they usually stay on the lower levels. They’ve been forced out of their village by a rampaging Red Dragon. Orcs weren’t part of the Golden Kingdom, but they were the first to explore the lower levels as they were fleeing the surface after being attacked by Elves and Humans.
Orc toddlers are extra cute, of course they are.
There’s a thing that’s called a Treasure Insect that looks like a coin or a gem or even a pearl necklace (the centipede version).
There’s Living Paintings, if you get near one you get sucked in into a phantasmal world, sort of an extension of the scene that was depicted on the painting where you can get hurt, and probably die too. You’ll need external help to get out, you can’t bring back anything that you found inside but it can be an invaluable source of information/lore as you can see past events and talk to people long lost.
Mimics are very much like giant hermit crabs, they go from small to bigger containers as they grow in size. We learn (here’s a pretty potent example of applied monster ecology) that Treasure Insects are parasites of Mimics: they lay their eggs inside a Mimic so that their larvae feed on it, they can then count on greedy adventurers to open the chest later on and free the new generation!
The 3rd level is in fact many floors high, at the bottom you reach the 4th, the flooded level. It seems like the whole base of the castle is underwater.
I’ve been quite fascinated by the concept of megadungeons for the last two years or so. I’m actually running a campaign inside Castle Xyntillan where I can see for myself how it’s done, we’re seven sessions in and it’s been a blast! I’ve listened attentively (twice!) to Mazirian’s Garden podcast episodes of Into the Megadungeon, on how to run a megadungeon for 100 + sessions (!), trying to absorb everything I hear.
Another media that hooked me to megadungeons is the Delicious in Dungeon (Danjon Meshi), a D&D inspired manga by Ryoko Kui. That’s what I want to talk about today.
the french translation I’m reading with my kids
I don’t quite know how popular it is but it must be doing good enough as Netflix is launching a series starting soon, on January. So, you see, I’m actually doing a hype job, would you believe it! But you know what, I think it deserves the attention as I’m sure it offers a thing or two that even the most jaded, old-school gray-bearded dungeon master can borrow from…
In short:
a vast, unique megadungeon: a cursed kingdom that as been magically transported underground a 1000+ years ago, castle, village, fields, inhabitants and even sunlight
Monster ecology cranked to 11; reproducing habits, anatomy and of course, how to cook them
Related: Monsters as Puzzles, even weak monsters seem to be dangerous in this world, to fight them efficiently you must KNOW them, their tactics and weak spots
The logistic of food in dungeon-crawling way beyond simply bringing rations; have you eaten a balanced diet the last few days because if not, you won’t be at your best (and will probably die)!
a well-thought-out dungeon-centered economy: adventuring guilds, the town’s prosperity linked with the dungeon delves, etc.
Now here’s what I’ll do on my blog, I won’t talk much about the storyline I think, but I will highlight the stuff we learn about the Golden Kingdom, the dungeon lore if you will, from book to book. More specifically what we would need to know to run it as a ttrpg or, as usual, what’s worth stealing from.
Book 1
In order of the book:
The dungeon was discovered when a wall inside the village’s crypt (which seems surprisingly extensive) shattered. Beyond the wall, the inspecting villagers found a man that presented himself as the king of the Golden Kingdom that disappeared more than a millenium ago. He mentions a Mad Sorcerer that took control of the Golden Kingdom and he (the king) offers all his wealth to whom could defeat him and then his body turns to dust. (Don’t worry, it’s not simply a « wizard did this » dungeon…).
Adventurers work in guilds, with each members having signed contracts. 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 resign and leave the guild if they wish so.
The 1st level of the dungeon is the Crypt. There’s no undead over there as one might have thought, it’s not a dangerous place per se as technically it’s not part of the Golden Kingdom but just happens to be the fortuitous entrance to the dungeon. But weak monsters do seep in, in this book we see: the Ambulatory Mushrooms (that come in many varieties, the Japanese know their mushrooms 😀 ), Scorpions (foot-long) that hides in cracks of the walls and Slimes (watch the ceiling).
beware the fearsome Ambulatory Mushroom!
The Crypt isn’t gloomy at all, it’s bursting with activity and noise. Merchants have put their wares among the alcoves of the dead and do their sales over sarcophagi. A bit sacrilegous but hey, there’s money to be made! Many adventuring guilds prepare for their expeditions or rest after they’ve returned from one. There’s a room with a fountain that is called Rookies’ Plaza where beginners gather.
We learn indirectly (there’s a hint of something else I’ll talk about when I get there), when the dwarf Senshi joins the party, that the dungeon has been open for a few years, certainly less than ten.
From the Crypt one can go down to the 2nd level, the Forest. The underground Castle’s numerous towers stand among incredibly tall trees.
A vast network of suspended bridges have been built, criss crossing the entire level, linking trees and towers together. That’s one way to descend to the lower levels, progressively by the bridges, it’s truly a vertical level.
The monsters are already a lot more dangerous (we see another adventuring party being tpked), there’s Sylvan Goblins, a variety of Carnivorous Plants, Basilisks and also, Imperial Bats (human-sized). Tree cavities and towers’ interiors provide ample hiding places for both adventurers and monsters.
There’s at least one shortcut that is indoor leading to the 3rd level (thus evading the scary Imperial Bats) that can be accessed in one of the larger tower but one need to find several secret doors and evade a series of traps.
Inside the towers (and castle) one can also encounter Living Armors. And by the way Living Armors are edible, of course they are! Or at least, the hive-minded molluscs that live inside the plates are…
That’s it for book 1, there’s 12 to date, stay tuned!
It’s been quite some time since we’ve played anything and as our next few weekends are all pretty much booked already I’ve decided to do a thursday night session within our ongoing haunted castle campaign.
Cordélia Lenoir (Marjorie), using the dark arts for Good (probably), Necromancer lvl 3
Noah (Isaac), crafts stuff, Expert lvl 3
Monmon (Edmond), has a powerful antique spear, Warrior lvl 3
Paul Nareff (Olivier), friend and sponsor of the numerous Jean clan, Warrior lvl 3
Paul-Jean Paul (Olivier), don’t confuse him with Jean-Paul Jean, Warrior lvl 1
Constant Jean (Olivier), vigorous member of the Jean clan, Warrior lvl 1
Retainers:
Stuffed Jean-Paul (Marjorie), killed by stuffed animals, now stuffed himself, Morale 12
Phoebus (Marjorie), ex-monk, paranoid, Morale 8
Pierrot (Isaac), caravan hand, begs for more money, Morale 8
Crypt
Zachary, Elementalist, electrocuted in front of the Anteroom (corpse in castle)
Pierre-Jean Pierre, ex-monk, clawed to death by a dark monk (RIP)
Edgar, daytaler, throat slashed by a dark monk (corpse in castle)
Charles, daytaler, skewered by a drunken skeleton (corpse in castle)
Hercule, caravan hand, seized off the raft by the Lake Monster (MIA)
Pierre Laroche du Rocher, mason, pierced by the Huntsman’s arrows (corpse seized by Charon)
Alphonse, crusader, savaged by Count Giscard’s Children of the Night. (corpse in castle)
Jacques, daytaler, got hit in the face by an Empty Armor’s halberd (corpse in castle)
Previous Infractions:
Eliminated Tristano Malévol the Love-Lost. Eliminated Merlerik the Ancient. (0)
Smoked the Ruined Quarters: 1/2 Angered a werewolf washwoman: 1/2 Stole the Reliquary of Bygone Kings: 1 Failed to convince Jean-Honoré the butler of their lies: 1/2 Stole a treasure chest full of gold from the Lake Grotto treasury: 1/2 Interrupted Runcius Malévol’s pagan ritual: 1 Slightly annoyed Count Giscard Malévol while he drank « wine »: 1 Stole the Scepter of the Merovings: 1 Defaced living portraits with holy water:1
Infractions rating: 7
Rumors:
Vyônes is filled with Count de la Frênaie’ spies… if you look to your left, that women is one of them.
Blérot the Woodsman swore to avenge his murdered love, but disappeared in the castle without a trace.
We start in Vyônes. Noah has crafted a bigass Pavise shield with spikes and all for Constant Jean who has finished his martial training. The Troubadour de l’Automne hasn’t found anyone worthwhile for them for the moment. Retainer Eudes is leaving this time around as he was summoned home by his father, the Count de la Frênaie. The group leaves for Périgon. At the monastery Cordélia learns from the abbot that retainer Bruno is linked Renfield-style with a vampiress from the Château des Fausseflammes. Not only that but the poor soul also suffers from lycanthropy! They might be able to treat him, the abbot says, but he requires a suitable donation (250gp) which Cordélia agrees to pay. Cordélia hires young Phoebus who’s not suited to ascetic monk life. Noah hires Pierrot who almost immediately begs to have a salary advance along with his hiring fee. Noah agrees to it.
Gatehouse
The fortune seekers enters through the gatehouse, under the watchful eyes of the ravens.
They know where they want to go, they go directly to the Entrance Passage. The double doors are open.
The side door that leads into the Servants’ Wing has been repaired and as they wondered upon this fact a volley of arrows is let loose on them from the murder holes! Fortunately Paul Nareff has time to shout « Watch out! » (he has the very useful Alert focus). Those with shields (Constant’s newly-crafted shield come in handy) make good use of them (Screen ally manoeuver) and the worst of the volley is evaded with only a few arrows hitting flesh.
In a hurry to get out of this lethal situation Monmon once again breaks open the side door. It falls off directly on top of the previous broken door.
They all get in and start to attack the archers, skeleton archers in fact. An arrow from Cordélia doesn’t do much. Monmon smashes one to bits with his spear with a swooping motion. Paul Nareff kills another with his short sword. The others follow suit and only one skeletons remains at the end of the round (this side of the passage), it tries to rake the face of Pierrot with one skeletal hand but fails and is quickly dispatched thereafter.
The adventurers go on. They quickly go through already-explored territory inside the Servants’ Wing and get to the set of stairs near the dark monks’ chapel. They go up.
They’re now in the Gothic Wing. They see a bust inside a nook directly in front. Monmon goes see the bust, it depicts Médard « the mighty » Malévol, and failing to resist a geas and he exclaims loudly « DEUS VULT » and charges into the large openFeasting Hallnearby.
A bit beffudled his companions try to keep pace with him and en route they encounter Jean-Honoré the Butler who says the feast will be ready soon. They almost trample him as his platter of glasse is sent flying and crashes on the floor. He protests and cries. They ignore his pleas and continue after their single-minded companion.
But Monmon is stopped abruptly, seems to float middair for a second before everyone understand that he’s stuck in a huge spider web!
There’s some weird shadow tricks going on around them and they hear a feminine voice: « well, well, what have we got here, a choice morsel, yessss… ». They also hear the clank clank of metal boots coming from the north behind closed doors.
Monmon tries to get out of the web but to no avail, he’s stuck even worst. Cordélia shoots an arrow at something moving on the ceiling but only hit a bit of tapestry or so it seems.
Paul-Jean swings his longsword at the web and manages to cut it enough (very difficult, he rolled very high) to free Monmon from his predicament.
They all run further west and get into the Lesser Library. They don’t linger but passing by, Monmon snatches away a massive book that was held under an ominous grim reaper statue.
They turn on a corridor, open a door and get into a records room where hunchback, disfigured scribes are writing, each chained to its own desk. The scribes take a quick glance at the adventurers and then continue with their work. The PCs look at the sheets of paper and most are about them! Some about events that occured, some are outright lies (or are they?) and others don’t make much sense.
And then Monmon decides to look at the book that he found earlier. A Reaper appear before him. It swings at him with a scythe but misses. Paul intervenes but now a second Reaper appears in front of Paul! Monmon wound his with his antique spear. Paul has his +1 dagger and gets a hit too but his wounded in return (he resists a paralysis effect). Cordélia does a Smite the Dead that finish the two Reapers but another appears before her. She tries something very risky, a Command the Dead on the Reaper, if the Reaper resist (1/2) she has no other spell and she’s pretty much dead. The Reaper fails to resist and is under Cordélia’s control!
Monmon sense the compulsion of his personal crusade mounting again and leave the room shouting a mighty « DEUS VULT! » again. He gets into a fight soon after against a pair of Fallen Knights in rusted plate armors. His spear punch a big hole into one’s armor but he gets hit himself by an axe blow. His companions yet again come to help him but Paul Nareff sees a beautiful woman (her arachnid lower half notwithstanding) lurking at the corner of the corridor that tries to entice him to come to her (charm person) but he resists and Stuffed Jean-Paul, oblivious to her charming influence, shoots an arrow at her and hit her shoulder. She gets away.
Meanwhile, the others has joined the melee against the zombie Fallen Knights. Another hit from Monmon and a crossbow bolt from Noah downs one opponent and Paul Nareff cut his head off to make sure (execution attack). The other is soon overwhelmed by their combined attacks.
Inside the room of the Fallen Knights they find their second (!) fancy dentelle underwear on a chair (that’s a random curio thing on a d100). Paul Nareff put the underwear on one of the aforementionned scribe’s head who seems suddenly happy (for some undisclosed reason), to the point of stopping writing entirely.
They enter a disquieting séance room and quickly get out.
They enter a small room with two doors. There’s also a small chest on the floor. Inside are 6 tiny (6 inches tall) lead soldiers/hoplites that come to life when Monmon opens it (another random curio). They dont talk but seem to swear allegiance to him, banging their spears on their shield and all that (Edmond is absolutely DELIGHTED!).
They get into a Knight Hall, a large room with columns that support a high ceiling. There’s a mezzanine and music can be heard coming from above. There’s a foyer with a huge sword hanging above ¨like Guts’ sword¨ asks Olivier ¨Yes, like Guts’ sword¨. It falls down treacherously when Monmon approaches but he sidestep it. Paul Nareff takes it with glee. Monmon wants to send one of his little soldiers up a ladder on the mezzanine. The soldiers make a series of rock paper scissors matches and the final loser is sent. He bravely climbs the ladder and get above. The music is interrupted, there’s some scratching noises, a squeal and then a big (normal) rat fall down on the ground at the feet of the PCs, a tiny spear jutting from its side. The little soldier reappear, victorious! Monmon is very proud! Cordélia go up and find a well-crafted harp. How come there was music, they don’t know…
They go nearby and get into a Bust Gallery. There’s five busts on pedestals. Paul Nareff smashes the one depicting Aranéa Malévol, the very same that tried to charm him (and did the web that captured Monmon presumably). He resists a curse. Monmon steal the gems that served as eyes on Claudette Malévol’s. Blood come out when he does but nothing else happens. There’s a short sword jutting out from Eustache’s bust, Noah takes it. Paul again, smashes Aristide and Maximillien busts, resisting another curse with the latter (he’s been lucky with that!).
Noah’s new sword, Scrupulous, vibrates when he gets near a secret sliding door and thus find a empty room with another door.
The door leads to a secret lab. Inside a basket full of decapitated heads Cordélia find an Amulet of Wolfkin. There’s a small glass domes with buzzing sparks, Monmon gets electrocuted when he opens it (he has not much hp left now). There’s jars filled with an opalescent liquid, one as an homonculus floating in it. Cordélia wants to free it and he gesticulates not to do it. She takes the jar with her.
They decide to call it a day and get out. The path on their map is pretty straightforward to the nearest exit: the Grand Entrance. They don’t encounter anything on their way out, not even the butler, but when they open the heavy double doors into the sunlight, they’re suprised to find three of their former henchmen lying on the ground.
The two statues at the Grand Entrance do their usual thing, one laughs, the other snaps its fingers and at that very moment the dead henchmen get up. Disquieting but not much danger as Paul Nareff cleaves one in two and severely wound the two others with one big swing of his Guts sword (whirlwind assault focus). They finish the two wounded zombies and leave the corpses there.
They leave the castle. Cordélia hides Stuffed Jean-Paul and the Reaper inside a local cemetary. She goes to the city of Ximes to consult with Luc Le Chaudronnier about the homonculus.
Session wrap up
4 hours session, a lot accomplished again with the players choosing to explore a new area with a process a bit less random than usual but that was complicated when Monmon got his geas from Médard’s bust. I don’t play his condition as hard as I could but it will still be very problematic on the coming sessions.
The Entrance Passage’s murder holes ambush could have gone a lot worse but a combination of relevant abilities they possess and some luck made it not too bad with only light injuries.
Speaking of this, it’s quite obvious that World Without Numbers give characters stronger abilities than other OSR systems but except for the Healer there’s nothing too egregious that I don’t approve
We’ve played a bit more with WWN combat manoeuvers this session (screen ally, execution, etc) and it was great. There’s still some other useful ones to try for another time.
Having a Reaper under Cordélia’s control is strong, very strong in fact with no time limits, but it’s also quite fun and of course Marjorie is absolutely thrilled of having succeeded this impressive feat
XP: Participation: 1 Treasure: 2 Secrets: 1
Treasures: 2 saphirs 550gp, magic sword Scrupulous, Amulet of Wolfkin, beautiful harp
Fatalities:
Quote: Marjorie: » I hate this fucking game, nothing ever works! It SUCKS! » 2 minutes later after taking control of a Reaper: « Yes, yes, YES! I LOVE IT!
New Infractions: Bullied Jean-Honoré the Butler (1/2) Smashed the busts in the Bust Gallery (1)
I’ve commented on Talaraska’sblog (check it out, it has great content!) that I’m not a big fan of hags in D&D. I’ve suggested that he takes an interesting unique monster that he’d created as a main villain instead of his pick of a green hag. I’m sorry, I know, I can be annoying that way.
But why the hate on hags?
It’s got to do with thematics… huh, I think? Part of it is their « just another monster » treatment, just like there’s medusas in the monster manual instead of you know, the Medusa and her sisters Euryale and Shteno, the three gorgons of greek mythology. But also, and more annoying to me, is… what the heck is a hag?!
The Merriam-Webster dictionnary’s definition:
1: an ugly, slatternly, or evil-looking old woman
archaic 2:
a: a female demon
b: an evil or frightening spirit : hobgoblin
3: Witch
Now, in D&D hags are definitely ugly, have witch-related powers but are certainly not mortal, human-like witches, they’re creatures. If you take the 5e lore (the pain!) their origins lie in the Fey Wyld, a different plane of existence. So if we go with this, a hag is not exactly an « evil spirit » but not that far either. Of course, saying that a creature exists because it comes from somewhereelse is the absolute laziest approach possible to lore in my not so humble opinion but hey, to each its own I guess.
Here’s a matter of personal taste but I myself prefer something more in the vein of « Fantasy Ecology » or Gygaxian Naturalism » if you like.
So in an effort of not being entirely negative I’ve searched far and wide (not) for an example of a hag that I actually do like and I’ve come up with the one in the Darkest Dungeon videogame (the original one, I’m always late to the party).
Here’s her bio from the game as explained by the Narrator/Ancestor:
I had collected many rare and elusive volumes on ancient herbal properties and was set to enjoy several weeks immersed in comfortable study. My work was interrupted, however, by a singularly striking young woman who insisted on repeated calls to the house.
Her knowledge of horticulturalism and its role in various arcane practices impressed me greatly. My licentious impulse gave way to a genuine professional respect, and together, we began to plant, harvest, and brew. As time wore on, her wild policy of self-experimentation grew intolerable.
She quaffed all manner of strange fungi, herbs, and concoctions, intent on gaining some insight into the horror we both knew to be growing beneath us. The change in her was appalling, and no longer able to stomach it, I sent her to live in the weald, where her wildness would be welcomed.
(Ah, the Ancestor, what a colossal jerk)
I think her backstory is great. Okay to be honest I’m sold on her mainly because I find her fight actions immensely funny. Here’s how it goes, as a Boss she has four:
Into the Pot! sends one member of the party into her cauldron to be boiled. That’s her main threat.
(pro tip: it’s not worth it to lose actions on the cauldron but be prepared to heal the boiled character when he gets out of it at 0 hp)
Meat Tenderizer, which she does with an actual meat hammer, a simple damage attack on everybody.
Season to Perfection (my favorite), where she throws seasoning at the party which debuffs and also (of course) causes stress. Because, y’know, receiving salt&pepper on you so you’ll taste better while you fight can be a bit alarming.
Taste the Stew, where she tastes the content of her cauldron, that is, one of your guys being turned into a stew before your very eyes… It heals the Hag a little and causes more stress to your team for good measure.
After six sessions in the campaign we’ve reached a critical landmark as the Infractions Rating is high enough now (6 as stated in the book) to warrant a Malévol Intervention against the adventurers.
That means they‘ll try to fend them off actively. That’ll be most interesting. Officially, also as stated in the book, it means as a first step to launch a combination of 1d3+1 encounters against the adventurers. That could be pretty brutal and things will then surely escalate…
But wait, who’s they? Who are the « influential family members » the books talk about in this instance? They’re not specifically named. Of course we can infer who they are from their description (and their stats in some instance) in the Rogues’ Gallery and ultimately, as always, it’s up to the dungeon master to decide which one of the Malévols are the leaders. But that whole process highlight a gap in Castle Xyntillan’s design (in an otherwise great product), as central as they are to the module the Malévol family members aren’t well fleshed out and furthermore, we know next to nothing of their relations to each other. I’ve seen the author argue it was a deliberate choice to keep it simple, and I can see the argument for it. But… Well, I’ve cut my teeth (bad pun) on Vampire: the masquerade/dark ages when I was a teenager and was writing characters relationships charts all the time! The difficulty is that there’s 50+ Malévols but it seems obvious to me that not every one of them should be treated equally.
With that in mind I aim to share my own classification of the Malévols next week but for the moment I’ve gone on a bit of a tangent…
Malévols, Rumps and Ambers oh my!
(Gabor Lux, feel free to write to me if I get anything wrong)
Castle Xyntillan was originally written as to be a revamped Tegel Manor. The project was sidelined and many years later, and much playtesting (and characters deaths), it became its own thing. I would describe it as a generous serving of Tegel Manor, accompanied by a portion of Castle Amber and spiced up with folklore tales.
Both Tegel Manor and Castle Amber are funhouse modules and each feature an extensive family of crazy people at its heart. Tegel Manor has the Rump family, 13 generations of them (with only 3 members alive, in bright red below).
We see CX’s roots in Tegel Manor’s map (as a chassis), use of family « living portraits » (no its not from Harry Potter, haha) and its terse room descriptions. There’s also a similar thing going on with the few living relatives amongst a mostly dead/undead family if we squint a little. I have to mention an interesting twist in TM as the evil Rumps want the lone « good » (he’s not a paragon of virtue by any means) Rump dead in order to complete their ritual!
With Castle Amber we have the d’Ambervile family (shortened to Amber). The Ambers are definitely cursed folks but (most) aren’t undead per se. They’re all very blasé and each have their own brand of wicked hobby to pass time (i.e sponsor of bareknuckle matches!). Also, of particular interest here is its treatment of the Amber family members as random encounters. We can readily see that CX has taken quite a few elements from this ole module too (i.e the indoor forest).
Aside: CX borrows a character (Madeline) from CA which itself had borrowed it from Poe’s The Fall of House Usher.
Aside 2: CA borrows Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne characters and, contrary to the stories, lump them in the same time period, something that I myself will definitely do!
An easy take then is to see Castle Xyntillan as a mix of its two predecessors with of course new inputs from its author’s own ideas. The same goes with its own brand of cursed family; the Malévols are mostly undead and portrait-linked like in TM, but also I think in a way more along CA’s whimsical fantasy. Where CX diverges from the two is with its inclusion of folklore material (i.e The Beast as in the beauty and the beast).
Streets & Spores 