There’s many unusual themes in Delicious in Dungeon even if we put aside the culinary one. There’s a strong sense of a biophysical verisimilitude applied to this D&D-like world, something that is definitely against the current zeitgeist both in gaming and in the real world. I personally find this refreshing.
the book start with Laios’s party members being subjected to the Changeling Mushrooms spores and thus all of them are transformed into another race/species
after the initial shock, the character are each able to see the benefits brought by their new body but soon enough what new limitations they now have
this come into effect with much clarity when the party gets into a fight against gargoyles, their usual effectiveness is completely gone
Laios, who’s a fighter type, enjoys the strength of his new dwarven body but finds that all this muscle density is consuming a lot more energy and it takes a real toll on his endurance (Dwarves need to eat more often)
Marcille the Half-Elf magic-user is impressed by her new heightened senses from her halfling body but finds out that she can’t cast strong spells without suffering from magic fatigue, halflings are just not suited for magic
Senshi the Dwarf, now a beautiful elf (always depicted with roses around him, it’s hilarious), doesn’t even try to fight as his weapons are now too heavy for him
As usual it’s more clever in the book than in my snippets but you get the idea I think. They eventually manage to cancel the effect of the changeling spores and get back to their own racial integrity
Laios’ Guild manages to open the magic-locked door and enter into a dwarven-made section full of pipes (steampunk technology). Soon after they get on an elevator and descends (it takes a while) to what should be 7th Level, an ancient, abandonned dwarven city.
Meanwhile, on the 1st Level, with the investigation of the Canaries, we see a first sign that a Dungeon, which is pretty much an actor of its own in this universe, thrives on disturbance. The more people try to meddle with the Dungeon the more it gains power until it can’t be managed anymore and it spills out on the countryside and does great damage.
Walking Mushrooms are pretty much the basic « starting » monster of the dungeon, numerous but almost inoffensive to anyone but the greenest of adventurers. But now we see that they can attain great size and can release spores with a mind-numbing effect.
In the 7th Level, Laios’ guild encounter a Bicorn. Unlike the virtuous-loving Licorn, the Bicorn is attracted to depravity. It also like to eat virtuous husbands.
Short session, about 2 hours of real play as we had some level ups to do before and after. The players didn’t even do a proper delve but instead had two fights back to back in the Castle’s courtyard, the second being pretty intense and they felt like they were not in good enough shape to go on. Infractions level is high so that was bound to happen.
System used: Worlds without Number, by Kevin Crawford
Adventurers – Player Characters (PCs)
Cordélia Lenoir (Marjorie), using the dark arts for Good (probably), Necromancer lvl 3
Bruno the Wolfman (Marjorie), controlled lycanthropy, Warrior/Skinshifter lvl 1
Noah (Isaac), crafts stuff, Expert lvl 3>>4
Monmon (Edmond), has a powerful antique spear, Warrior lvl 4
Paul Nareff (Olivier), friend and sponsor of the numerous Jean clan, Warrior lvl 3>>4
Paul-Jean Paul (Olivier), don’t confuse him with Jean-Paul Jean, Warrior lvl 1>>2
Constant Jean (Olivier), vigorous member of the Jean clan, Warrior lvl 1>>2
Retainers:
Stuffed Jean-Paul (Marjorie), killed by stuffed animals, now stuffed himself, Morale 12
Raymond, Man-at-Arms, gruff, vassal of the Comte de la Frenaie, Morale 7
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 Bullied Jean-Honoré the Butler 1/2 Smashed the busts in the Bust Gallery 1
Infractions rating: 8 1/2
Rumors:
Skipped the rumors, Oops.
We start in Ximes. Luc le Chaudronnier informs Cordélia that the Homonculus found in the castle could be set free from its bottle if it was bound to a magic-user but the link thus created would be both useful and risky. No decision was made for the moment. Back in Périgon, the monks assures Cordélia that Bruno is mostly under control and could go back to adventuring. He has weird chains on him and he’s hairier than before but at least he’s lost his dreaminess.
Also, Eudes was waiting for them and has something important to share. A proposal. The Comte de la Frenaie would help Eudes be the master of Fausseflammes if only some « minor » obstacles would disappear. There’s the part with the proper heir (Claude Malévol) of the Castle being alive. And of course there are next in lines too. And the pesky thing with the specters and vampires and werewolves and… well, all that. If those « minor » obstacles would be solved somehow, Eudes and his father would be generous towards the adventurers.
After purchasing some supplies (and a détour at the cemetary to fetch some minions) the party is ready for another go at the Château.
Gatehouse
They enter through the Gatehouse, under the scrutiny of the ravens as usual. Their plan is to go explore the Occult Maze on the 2nd floor (where Zachary died the first session).
They don’t go far before being interrupted by Gilbert the Fox and his bandits that are on the remparts, some behind bushes, all around them. « La Bourse ou la Vie! », Gilbert shouts.
The PCs want to parlay but refuse to disarm so its iniative rolls. The PCs win the iniative.
Cordélia sends her Reaper towards Gilbert whom responds by ordering his men « kill the witch, now! ». He also runs for his life and disappear inside the castle with one of his man.
Meanwhile the PCs dash towards the nearby barracks to protect themselves from the arrows raining down on them. Two arrows hit Cordélia despite Stuffed Jean-Paul’s best effort to block them with his own body. One arrow hit Paul and another Constant. A lot don’t hit their targets.
4 bandits were arming themselves inside the barracks but Paul swiftly annihilate them with one big swing of his sword Guts (improved by Noah in downtime). The PCs are inside, Monmon blocks the door.
Some bandits try to storm the barracks but with Noah and Cordélia shooting arrows and bolts from the murder holes and Monmon skewering anything that gets near, the bandits chooses to retreat.
Back on the courtyard after a short while, the PCs enter the side door on the NW aisle. They immediately see wet steps on the floor of the corridor and not long after, risen up from a small water puddle, appears Montfort Malévol, well-dressed but with algae and aquatic plants all over him. « What’s all this Grabuge (ruckus) » he shouts angrily ». Thinking quickly Paul says: « Nothing my lord, just bandits, they’ve been taken care of, come I’ll show you! » Montfort is led to 3 dead bandits, murmurs something about someone being glad to have them and start to wander off, pulling 2 dead bandits behind him.
A fine plan by Paul but for the impromptu arrival of Aranéa Malévol, screaming « It’s them, Montfort get them you goof! » Stopped on his tracks, Montfort vomits turpid water that gets inside the bandits mouths. They rise up as zombies!
The PCs win initiative again.
Monmon charged the zombies and kill one. Paul-Jean and Pierrot join him against the 2 surviving zombies.
Cordélia sends her Reaper against Aranéa that was coming fast, running on all four on the surface of the wall. The Reaper manages to hit and paralyze the spider woman. Constant Jean throws a rope with a hook at her and pull slamming her down, Aranéa crashes brutally on the ground before being stabbed repeatedly.
Meanwhile Montfort has disapppeared, only to reappear behind, oozing out of the small pond. Bruno the Wolman manages to hurt him with his claws but his then knocked out from two powerful punches from Montfort. Cordélia uses her power of Unliving Persistence to save him.
Raymond the Man-at-Arms behead Aranéa with a blow from his halberd but she’s not quite dead as her head sprouts new arachnid legs from her severed neck and begins to skitter away. The Horror! Pierrot and Paul-Jean run after the spider-head, stab and burn it with a torch until it stops moving.
The PCs turn their attention to Montfort who’s a formidable opponent. He regenerates even severe wounds and he has a special bite attack, his neck and head elongating somewhat like those of a lake monster. Monmon manages to dodge his attack (veteran’s luck). and pierce him with his spear. Paul Nereff and Noah close on him and wound him with a magic dagger and Scrupulous the short sword.
Finally Montfort has had enough and kind of melt away leaving only a trail of wet footprints on the ground.
Cordélia pick up a pendant from Aranéa’s corpse.
The PCs hesitate but ultimately decide to call it day as Bruno is down and several others are wounded.
Session wrap up
The status of Gilbert the Fox is unknown to the players, all they know is that he fled inside the castle pursued by Cordélia’s Reaper. The Reaper came back soon after.
We had a great Kill it, kill it with fire! moment, always nice. Aranéa Malévol isn’t in the book but I like Spider Ladies too much to not have put her in.
Book 5 has ended with the meeting of 3 adventuring guilds, mostly in a friendly manner. Now, taking a big chunk of book 6 is an EPIC fight with a special monster that takes on the whole gang of adventurers, killing 7 of them, incapacitating another, before getting away. Oh, and by the way the show on netflix starts tomorrow!
We can add harpies to the monster list of the 5th Level (the City). We learn that they’re mostly just like birds, nothing very special there. One funny bit is that harpies don’t hesitate to shit on corpses to discourage other meat eaters and keep it for themselves. Pretty gross.
After the aforementionned epic fight Laios’ guild get down through a set of large stairs to the 6th Level. 6th Level is made of the sum of the aqueducts, sewers and prison cells below the Castle.
6th Level is known to be uncomfortably warm but this time around its really cold, there’s even a snowstorm going on inside!
6th Level is also known for its many psychic monsters.
One is the Shapeshifter. A bit of a misnomer as its main gimmick is making illusory doubles of its preys to create confusion, maybe? It’s like a doppleganger situation but the whole thing is an elaborate illusion? Frankly it’s not really clear what’s the point of the illusions on a tactical level. On a narrative level that’s another thing entirely as the party has to identify who are the clones among them, knowing that the clones are not perfect replicas as the images are taken from each other’s faulty memories or bias perception of their companions. So, I would say, this time the monster doesn’t make much sense but the scene is absolutely great.
It’s pretty much the same pattern with the Nightmare monster. Manifesting in one’s sleep, the monster feeds on its victim’s fears, draining its vital energy slowly. It’s a bit underwhelming to learn that their real physical appearance is a clam-like pest that infests your pillow…
Anyway, great tome, great scenes, a bit less stellar on the monster ecology front. I do like the concept of a dungeon Level with psychic monsters as its main threat though.
There’s a lot of good stuff in book 5. The story definitely takes a darker turn just when we think that Laios has succeedeed in bringing his sister back from the dead. The comedy is still here but it’s obvious there’s some sort of bleaker plot down the line. Very clever in my opinion. And the dryad scene is awesome!
Laios’ guild is still in the 5th Level (the City) and its success in dealing with monsters has incurred the wrath of the master of the Dungeon, the Lunatic Magician. His magic intervention has the effect of shifting the layout of the Level every so often, confusing the adventurers into going in circles.
One fortunate thing though is that the Ghosts of the City are often helpful as contrary to those of the higher Levels they’re not insane. They show up when they wish so and the paths they follow are always safe.
There’s a great scene with the Corpse Retrievers, the same shady group that we’ve seen in a previous book, they use a powerful illusion so that adventuring guild members fight among themselves (they see each other as monsters). If you don’t find corpses you can help a little is what they say!
This other guild leader, Kabru, is like the antithesis of Laios, not that great against monsters but very shrewd and deadly against humanoids. He would probably be an assassin in AD&D.
We can add Sea Serpents to the Flooded Level, another Top of food chain monster.
We see yet another guild, this one with an oriental background. The leader, Toshiro, is a samurai-looking guy. Another member is a powerfully built female Oni warrior.
Meanwhile in 5th Level, with the Red Dragon gone, the local monsters are back. 5th Level is in fact reputed for its abundance of monsters.
A fight against Dryads in a kind of cemetary surrounded by trees and bushes. They’re dangerous but very fragile, looks like any hit would kill them, thus releasing their spores…
… and provoking an INTENSE allergic reaction. That’s where the fun begin, fighting the other dryads whilst you can’t see or breath properly…
Dryads are basically like flowers, ugh well, except that they reproduce by kissing each other… Of course they do.
We see Laios training in regenerative magic. That makes me think: I’ve mentionned that Delicious in Dungeon is D&D inspired but there’s some things that diverge obviously. One is that there don’t seem to be firm adventuring classes except maybe for the mages, I think the default system would be closer to something like GURPS where you invest your character points in whatever you want.
Speaking of diverging with D&D, the magic system is obviously not Vancian. It’s more like a magic/mana gauge that you can deplete.
There’s a fight against a Cocatrix, a bigger, meaner relative of the Basilisk. A bite of the serpent head can turn you into stone. Turning someone back to flesh is possible but not easy. You also have to take care of the body so it doesn’t break (i.e by falling over) before you find a cure.
Ghosts are often shown like they try to tell something but can’t. Some people are sensitive (?) enough to understand and talk to them.
There’s someting called Cleaners, inoffensive and amorphous organisms that repair damage caused to the dungeon.
There’s a lot less monster variety and monster ecology in action in book 4. The reason to this is that Laios’s guild is now at the 5th Level (the City) and will encounter its deadly new resident, the Red Dragon, who (we can safely guess) pretty much chased off everything else (except ghosts). Of course its also the kind of encounter that can take quite a few pages…
(As usual, I’m keeping the spoilers to a minimum)
The book start with a scene with the richly-attired governor of the island (from the village above the dungeon) and a couple of gnome magic-users that serves as his advisors. One thing to note is that the plundering of the dungeon has brought tremendous wealth to the village, probably more within the first few years of its discovery. Now that it doesn’t seem so treasure-filled what’s still of great value (to some people at least) is its secrets. The Biggie being the special magic that binds soul and body. The governor is thus encouraged to continue to pay adventurers (as loot isn’t so prevalent anymore) to get below and kill monsters so that others can do their research with less risk.
The City Level is still mostly in good state. Its 3-4 story high buildings are densely packed, in proper medieval-style, with many covered bridges crossing above the streets.
We already knew that the Red Dragon has displaced an Orc tribe, we now see dead wargs, incinerated by fire breath.
Dragons have only one weak spot, on the neck, just below the jaw. Their scaled skin is otherwise impervious to normal weapons (non-normal include those made in adamantium and mithril).
We see a demonstration of forbidden Ancient Magic. The Elf Marcille, its user, argues that it’s what we make of it that counts. Chilchuck the Halfling counters that it hasn’t been forbidden for nothing, he also says (not to her face) that he hopes that she isn’t a « dark elf », obviously not a racial thing in this context.
We see someone asking hospitality from a gentle-looking ghost of a young girl that agrees.
We learn that wargs are ferocious, that a pack can hunt much larger prey, that they’re very smart but also that they live with orcs of their own volition and not because they are trained by them.
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
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)
Life has been hectic the past few weeks, which is usual for this time of the year, but more so this year as my wife is trying to adapt to a new job whilst still having to tie ends at the one she’s leaving behind. We’ll go at a much-needed trip at our cabin next week one last time before winter but for now, it’s gaming time!
Olivier is with his father this week end so no Team Jean this time. Well, that’s not entirely true as Stuffed Jean-Paul has seemingly disinterred himself and somehow got at the rendez-vous point (I’m sure Olivier will protest vehemently when he’ll hear about that!) and so he’s back as Cordélia’s creepy beads-eyed retainer.
Eudes le Bâtard (Marjorie), Comte de La Frenaie’s young bastard son, Morale 9
Stuffed Jean-Paul (Marjorie), killed by stuffed animals, now stuffed himself, Morale 12
Conrad (Jason), crusader, heavy drinker, Morale 9
Jacques (Isaac), daytaler, grumpy, Morale 7
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 in castle)
Alphonse, crusader, savaged by Count Giscard’s Children of the Night. (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
Infractions rating: 5
Rumors:
My uncle once tried to rob the place with his pal, the miller. He was killed by a cupboard.
Alchemists and practitioners of dark arts have been seen in the company of Azédarac, the Bishop of Ximes!
We start in Vyônes. Noah have crafted himself a fast-loading crossbow. Noah and Loic fail to find a buyer for a regal outfit. Loic hires the Troubadour de l’Automne to help find competent hirelings. He hires ex-crusader Conrad this way. Noah hires one Jacques who seems to have a bad temper. Stuffed Jean-Paul simply show up at the rendez-vous point near Périgon, even if he had been put in a grave the previous week. Bruno is back but Cordélia isn’t interested as she’s been put off by his weird demeanor and his suspicious absence last delve. He begs to be in, without pay if need be, but to no avail. Instead, Cordélia forcefully gets him in the care of the monks at Périgon, hoping that they would find what the hell is wrong with him. Cordélia buys vials of holy water from the monks.
Grand Entrance
Near the Château Cordélia spot someone hiding behind a bush and send Stuffed Jean-Paul after it. The man in hiding start to run away and Cordélia shoots him with her bow. Loic heals him just enough so he can be interrogated. They learn that Gilbert the Fox want to ambush them once they exit. Loic slit the wounded man’s throat ruthlessly.
The adventurers try to interact with the 2 monstrous statues at the grand entrance but fail to have any reaction.
They open the great doors and see that Jean-Honoré the butler is there again in the vestibule. He seems lethargic, with his head down, but still hold a platter with goblets ready to serve. Cordélia sucessfully shoot the platter off his hand, the butler is dismayed at the spill and hurry away through a door to re-fill the drinks.
Nearby in the Entrance Halls the PCs find a Portrait Gallery. They interact with the portraits (Harry Potter-style): Philomène Malévol smiles and invites them upstair; a bureaucrat is annoyed with the interruption; skeletal and richly-attired Aristide Malévol ignores them; a paint his covered over and bleeds when scratched and a voice says « I’ll be vindicated, you can’t prove anything! »; an executioner is sharpening his axe; Marcel the Malnourished begs for food, Cordélia gives him a ration and ask him a few questions after but he’s sleepy after eating and takes a nap.
Cordélia sprinkles holy water on the living paints, except Marcel’s, they cease to be « alive »
A bit further they hear loud singing and much ruckus from a mess hall, they turn left instead in another corridor
They open a door into the Summer Wing, push aside a heavy curtain and get into a vast throne room with much cobwebs. There’s empty armors each standing in front of columns in rows facing each other. The PCs want the team to coordinate to tie up the armors with ropes, and using the curtain also (as they don’t have enough rope) to immobilize them in case they would get hostile. The plan mostly works, 5 armors are tied to columns but then they animate suddenly and Loic didn’t have time to tie his. And the 2 armors under the curtain just slice it open and free themselves. Combat ensues. Jacques takes a halberd hit on the face and dies instantly. Monmon manages to push an armor on the ground with the help of Cordélia, the armor disassemble with the impact, a swarm of (little) spiders get out of it, quickly scattering away. Loic slam his hammer on another’s helm and dislodges it from its shoulders with the same result. They then team up to break apart the last free armor.
They inspect the decorated throne. They find a jeweled scepter in a hidden compartment. They also find a button and when pressed it makes the throne descend into the catacombs.
They go down with the throne into the Lake Grotto area.
Next room Cordélia does a Smite the Dead, annihilating a bunch of undead nuns.
A bit further, now into the Oubliette area, they get inside an impressive statuary, they’re attacked by 3 Stone Reapers (statues with scythes). Monmon uses his magic spear to good effect. He and Conrad got wounded too but are immediately healed by Loic. A tough fight but they prevail. They find a precious necklace, a mundane lantern and sheet of paper with a spell of warding (single use) inscribed on it.
Right next to the statuary are prisoner cells. There’s 3 prisoners, one weirdo is chewing on a dead rat, says that this way the vampires will choose to drain somebody else. Another, Jaubert, gets a promise from the adventurers to kill Mortagu the warden/executioner and bring back the keys. The other one is a gaunt woman that keeps silent.
They leave the captives behind and go in search of the warden. Past a clammy corridor they get into a root cellar. There they see giant beets, almost humanoids in shape, slumbering. Careful to not disturb the beet creatures they go inspect a statue of a woman that seems out of place. They find a secret passage behind and go inside.
They get into a cistern room. There’s a well entrance above them. There’s corpses in the water, zombies that animate when they get near. The PCs hurry away and spike the door behind them.
They get further, evading a trio of cackling witches in a kitchen.
Next room is empty except for an axe and a stump. And dried blood everywhere. Monmon takes the axe, thinking it will piss off the executioner to be weaponless! (there was chance of finding Mortagu here but it didn’t happen)
Next room there’s a weird thing going on as heavily-armored Monmon is attracted in the center where a spiked ball attached on a chain is rotating furiously. He got hit 2 times before he could extricate himself from the magnetic field (but he can take it).
Nearby they find a secret door and get into a large circular room bordered by alcoves. They have time to search a few before alerting the resident rats. A whole horde of rats, hundreds. The PCs flee through the only door and quickly close it behind them.
They leave the angry screeches and scratching and now see that they’ve circled back to the clammy corridor and root cellar. From there they get to a wine cellar. There’s many barrels along the wall and messing with them they find one that is empty, behind is a secret passage.
They enter and once they get out of a man-made tunnel they arrive in a cavern. Oddly, they can see the light of day entering at the other end of the cavern. There’s also a satyr wearing robes. He let them pass with the promise that the adventurers bring him alcohol on their way back.
The PCs enter the Indoorness, a primordial forest unstuck in time and space.
They follow a path and soon get into a clearing where they see a gazebo surrounded by wildflowers. They get inside. (the players are not old-timers, they have no fear of gazebos) The gazebo fly up at vertiginous speed and reach a splendid cloud garden. They get back on the ground after a while, feeling refreshed.
Further on the forest path, they come across another clearing, this time there’s a mill. The miller talks about giant mice, trolls under bridges and a druid who’s master of the forest. They pay good money for a cask of whiskey and leave.
The adventurers were worried at the thought of encountering trolls and decided it was time to turn back and call it a day. They gave the satyr the cask of whiskey which he seized and gulped down without another word. They entered back the catacombs, found their way up to the throne room and managed to get out of the castle yet again… with grumpy fellow Jacques as casualty.
(I had planned to have the players ambushed by bandit Gilbert the Fox and his men as they exited the castle, as it was pretty much telegraphed from last session’s rumors and today’s foreshadowing (the man in hiding) but it was getting late and so it’ll be another time.)
Session wrap up:
5 hours session with a lot accomplished, a lot of exploration done if a bit haphazard. They found the way to the « Indoorness » which frankly I’m quite surprised by. When I read the book the first time I wasn’t sure they would ever find it at all. Interesting…
First time the players get to interact with portraits, even if they’re like everywhere in the castle. That was fun.
No random encounters, not a single one, against the odds, as I’ve rolled like 30 times (with a 1 on d6 needed)!
XP: Participation: 1 Treasure: 2 Secrets: 3
Treasures: Scepter of the Merovings. Jeweled Necklace.
Fatalities: Jacques, got hit in the face by an Empty Armor’s halberd
Quote: Marjorie: « Eeeekkk, spiders! I squash them all! Every single one of them! »
New Infractions: Stole the Scepter of the Merovings, Defaced living portraits with holy water.
Streets & Spores 