OSR

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

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

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

Short session: 1 1/2 hours

Player Characters (PCs):

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

Level 2

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

Closing Comments:

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

Gunderholfen – Unsavory Characters – Session 7

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

I would like this game to be bi-monthly at least – this is the kind of rpg campaign that needs the players to be invested in and remember things, but y’know, between my weekly frosthaven session with my brother-in-law, work, family life and, well, everything else, my ttrpgs ambitions often get the shorter straw…

Short session, 2 hours, with two thirds in town (Longfelt) with players trying to find – and obtain membership, of disreputable organisations.

Player Characters (PCs):

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

Longfelt

  • Upon hearing of the existence of an Assassins’ guild, J Lebeau is determined to become a member.
  • After a stroll in a bad neighbordood in town, trying his best to be both intimidating and inquisitive, he finally hears from some locals that he should go to the Gasping Playhouse.
  • Here he talks to the owner, an half-elf named Rufina. She quickly guesses that he’s more interested in the real-life applications of the arts of assassination than in theatre.
  • She can introduce him to some friends be he has to prove that he’s got potential first. As he’s a dogman, the arts of impersonation isn’t that relevant but is he good at hiding and acrobatics? He shows, in front of a live audience, that he’s very good at it.
  • J Lebeau is introduced to the Assassins’ Guild, somewhere beneath the city.
  • ______________________
  • Upon hearing of the existence of a Thieves’ guild, Aracyne is determined to become a member.
  • Aracyne goes talk to some shady merchant and asks him to whom he should talk if he has some not-quite-honest merchandises he would like to procure. He’s told that everybody knows (in this part of town) to go to the Ashen Bandit tavern for such dealings.
  • At the Ashen Bandit, Aracyne meets with Belita of the Thieves’s guild. He will be put to the test if he wants to join. How about he goes outside of Lady Keritsa’ Parlour, wait for some foolish fop to come out and come back with something of his?
  • Aracyne finds an easy target, cuts his purse without being seen and goes back to Belita. He gives her the purse and (after a small hesitation) its content .
  • Aracyne joins the Thieves’ Guild.
  • Meanwhile. Hédralynn wishes to find an artisan specialised in security/defensive installation, the kind that uses decapitation apparatus, boltshooters, poisonous gases, etc.
  • She spends some money on spreading the word and soon enough is introduced to a dwarf named Oshida. She wants to hire him and do some work inside Gunderholfen.
  • He assures Hédralynn that he’s an expert in this kind of work but, of course, his expertise don’t come cheap.
  • After a bit of negotiations, helped by the fact that (as a dwarf) he’s interested in Gunderholfen, he asks for 300 gp (100 now) for him and his team to make one very lethal room inside the dungeon at a tbd location.
  • Hédralynn takes most of the party’s collective gold and pays the fore payment.

Gunderholfen

  • Travel through Ganfal swamp went well.
  • PCs talk to their hobgoblin allies, give some suplies. Agree to block other adventuring parties from getting in. Chief Nerulf a bit suspicious of letting a dwarf team in but agrees if they split the spoils (of dead adventurers) 50/50.
  • The PCs then go explore below.
  • They kill some stirges from the nesr at the entrance of Level 2.
  • Past the Wind Corridor (remove their shoes) and flooded cave (walk on water spell), they get to a natural cave room with puffball mushrooms (the unmoving kind, charged with mana) that they’ve seen before. They linger in this room this time, Hédralynn to recharge her mana staff.
  • 4 giant ant workers intrude (random encounter) in but the adventurers react quickly. Alfred wound one ant with his sword. Aracyne aims his bow for an unarmored spot and kills an ant with an arrow right between its mandibles. Forca just smash another with his 2-hands hammer. Hedralynn hurls two fireballs, one normal at the wounded ant and one supercharged to calcinate the remaining unhurt ant.
  • With the ants all dead, the PCs go further south. They get into the room with glowing crystals all over. Hédralynn again takes some of the mana to replenish her staff whilts her companions take some crystals with picks.
  • Now in unexplored territory, south-west, in a room full of mold, they get ambushed by 5 land lampreys. Two latch on Forca to suck his blood, the others miss their targets. Forca burns one to death with his torch. J Lebeau decapitates the other with his hand axe, its head still hanging from Forca’s thigh. Both Aracyne and Hédralynn manage to shoot another one with their bows. Alfred slay the last one with a sword slash. Forca removes the land lamprey’s head lacthed to him a bit messily with a dagger.
  • Further west, they get into a large room with its walls covered with pale moss. A whitish, oval rock stands out in the middle of the room. There’s 9 buttons on it. J Lebeau press them all to no visible effect. Forca and J Lebeau smash the stone to pieces, nothing happens.

Closing Comments;

  • As is my habbit, I did a preamble to our session, laying out a few things about the campaign, information about the home base/town this time around, mostly, and mentionned the guilds (the openly visible ones: fighters’, mages’ and the hidden thieves’ and assassins’, classical stuff). Both Olivier (made him think of Skyrim) and Isaac jumped on the idea of being part of secretive organisations and acted accordingly. In a different campaign I could have made a bigger deal of getting in, making it more difficult to find, with several steps, etc.
  • Marjorie/Hédralynn is trying hard to make it difficult for the competing adventuring parties (I made clear that competition would be a key component of the campaign, more on this another post). Her efforts should amount to something certainly but of course, it can’t be foolproof. I’ll let the dice decide in large part what happens to other parties.
  • I have some critiques of dragonbane (I’ll lay them out if I ever get around to do a proper review of the system) but combat isn’t one of them. It’s fast, fun and full of interesting options. PCs hit about 70% of the time, which is about right IMO, can topple an adversary, aim for a weak spot, try to evade a dangerous attack, etc. PCs are capable without being overpowered, it’s great.
  • Dungeon exploration was rather short this time so no going back to town, we’ll start where we left next session.

Gunderholfen- Breaking the Blockade – Session 6

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

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

Full group of players. 2 hours session.

Player Characters (PCs):

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

Level 1C, hobgoblin territory

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

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

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

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

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

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

Getting Back to Town

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

Closing Comments:

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

Gunderholfen – Bug Squashing – Session 5

David Skelector Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR, Play reports, RPG

I’ve mentionned last session that I thought that the boys relied a bit too much on their aunt when we play together so here’s a session with only the group’s two younger players, my sons, just to remind them how to be more active in the decision-making process.

short session, 1hr

Player Characters (PCs):

  • Aracyne (Isaac), Elf Hunter, Guild Leader
  • Forka (changed his name), (Edmond), Dogman Knight
  • Alfred (Me), Hobgoblin Fighter

Last time we ended up with the party having explored a good chunk of Level 2 and standind beside another flooded area. Three adventurers (I’ll be playing Alfred the Hobgoblin to help them a little) will continue to explore while the two others are resting or something.

Level 2

  • They can see another passage beyond the water but don’t have an easy mean to get across without getting wet. Whilst they think about it, two Walking Puffballs come on sight from the other side ot the water but Aracyne quickly dispatch them with two arrows.
  • They decide to backtrack a little and explore more to the south.
  • They get to the passage where they’ve fought a rats swarm, a Fire-Beetle is busy devouring a fireballed-crispy rat. The insect monster is kind of blocking their way so the PCs decide to attack it. Forka miss with his big hammer but Alfred plunges his dagger in a weak spot and kills the Fire-Beetle. Forka remoces its hard chitin carapace and takes it with him, not without some difficulty.
  • They get past the glowing mushroom area and take the south-east passage. They’re in a small room with crystals on the walls reflecting purple light. There’s a sense of calm in the place but the adventurers are worried that they’ll fall asleep if they linger. Aracyne takes one crystal and they move on.
  • They go further south in a large rooms with boulders here and there. Once they take a few steps in they’re suddenly ambushed by three Vilstraks.
That’s a Vilstrak in case you don’t know what it is. I didn’t.
  • These bipedal insectoids are not very strong but they’re well-armored. Forka misses his first swing and bend his hammer on the hard rock floor. He’ll have to fight with a weird-angled weapon from now on. Alfred slays one foe with a well-placed dagger hit. Aracyne dodges on attack. Three more Vilstraks get out from behind the boulders and several others within the next rounds. Fortunately, Forka, despite his damaged weapon (or because of it we’re joking), is very efficent and smash one foe after the other. Alfred hits more often than not and kill his share of opponents. Aracyne has to focus more on dodging as he’s already wounded from earlier. The last two foes try to flee but are quickly cut down.
  • « Hey boss » Alfred says, « we bleedin’ all over the place, might be a good idea t’make a strategic retreat? » Aracyne takes notice of their many wounds and gives the order to start their way back to safety.
  • They get to the grand hallway’s door without incidents but they can hear the humming of the stirges behind the door. They open the door, shoots down a few flying stirges and then dash to the stairway and upstairs into Hobgoblin territory.
  • The PCs made some dealings with the Hobgoblins. Aracyne paid a 10 gp fee to stay one more day in the territory (plus a room to rest). Forka paid a weaponsmith to unbend his hammer. They also learned that the hobgoblins don’t have food stocks for very long and are worried about that. The fact that they’re cut off from the outside (by the goblins) and don’t have easy food sources inside the dungeons is problematic.

Closing comments:

  • Fun session. There was one dangerous fight against the Vilstraks. Armor in Dragonbane substract damage, something that I’ve always preferred to the usual making you harder to hit. Combat is very fun in Dragonbane, I’m happy with it.
  • Edmond was very happy of his character’s martial prowess with his 2-h hammer. He kept hitting his target despite having a disadvantage with his damaged weapon.
  • Having more than one weapon become a lot more important in a system when damaging one’s is possible.
  • Isaac has thought of a clever plan to help the hobgoblins go through the goblin barricade. That’ll be interesting to see!

Gunderholfen – Stirges & Rats- Session 4

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

Short session ( 2 hrs). Isaac is mapping as usual. Edmond has decided that he’s taking notes, so he writes furiously in his little notebook. Olivier is mostly waiting for fights to happen. And Marjorie works hard to solve non-combat challenges.

Player Characters (PCs):

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

We start in hobgoblin territory (level1C). The adventurers had permission from chief Nerulf to rest before going to Level 2 and that’s what they do.

Hobgoblins accompany them until they reach the stairs that goes down. They tell them that the grand hallway that they’ll soon get into is infested with stirges. They also tell them that the passage after that has some sort of powerful magical wind activated when walked through.

Level 2

  • Down at Level 2, inside the grand hallway, the light of their torch doesn’t reach the ceiling above. The PCs eye suspiciously the dark corners but don’t see any stirges so they advance tentatively and inspect the double doors at the end of the hallway. There’s an inscription, it’s in old dwarvish and Hédralynn only manage to comprehend the general sense of the words – something about welcoming, politeness and cleanliness she thinks. Acting on that, she remove her boots and tell her companions to do the same but as they do they begin to hear a humming sound coming from the north-east corner. The stirges are coming!
  • The PCs hurry up and push the heavy doors together, quickly get in and close them behind them. They can see a stone visage carved that looks like a dwarf with puffed-up cheeks on the opposite door. Nothing happens, they get to the other side, opens the door and put back their boots on.
  • A bit further they see a stone mouth carved on the wall with its tongue sticking out. They mess with it for a while and discover a small coin-sized depression on the tongue. After losing a few gold pieces to it, they discover that it changes copper coin into silver and change a bit more than a hundred coins that way.
  • Thence, in the next room with a small crevice splitting it in the middle, two walking puffballs run towards them. Malique throws his cloak on top of one to cover it as Hédralynn shoots it with an arrow. It deflates with a hissing sound and stay still. Alfred tries the same manoeuver with his cloak but misses, Lebeau shoots it anyway, kills it, releasing a cloud of spores. Aracyne hurries to cover it but inhales some spores and feels sick.
  • After that, they get to a natural cavern filled with murky water. Hédralynn levitates and ties a rope with a grappling hook on the ceiling and then levitate some more to get herself to the other side. Aracyne get to the other with the rope but Alfred falls halfway and splashes into the shallow pool, disturbing four giant toads nearby. The toads miss their attacks and two get kill in no time. The others, wounded, dive back inside the murky water.
  • Now all across, the PCs continue their way in what is now a series of unworked natural passages. They see an old campfire, there’s graffitis on the walls.
  • Next, they get into a room with faintly glowing mushrooms and they try their best not to walk on them.
  • Thence, they get into a passage with three small tunnels on the side. There’s fur and droppings on the floor. Big rats get out of the tunnels and jump on Aracyne who gets many painful scratches. More rats are coming from the tunnels but the Mage let go of three fireballs, one for each tunnel, ending the threat instantly. Aracyne’s other companions help him get rid of his rat problem.
  • TBC…

Closing Comments

  • Edmond’s character has almost all the group’s torches on him, if he had get wet as Alfred did, their expedition would have suddenly getting much more complicated…
  • Walking Puffballs is my first nod to Delicious in Dungeon, more annoying than dangerous (on this level).

Gunderholfen – Never trust an Elf – Session 3

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

There’s three minor factions on Level 1 of Gunderholfen: the kobolds, the goblins and the hobgoblins, all hostile to each other. The hobgoblins are closer to Level 2 but are stuck inside the dungeon as they don’t have access to any exit (in my version, as written their area has its own entrance). My own explanation for the presence of these three groups is that the goblins were serving the hobgoblins mostly as cannon fodder for exploring the lower level until they had enough, revolted and claimed a part of Level 1 for themselves, The kobolds simply invaded in the ensuing chaos. Of course my players didn’t know any of this but learned of it in this session.

For this campaign we’re using Free League’s Dragonbane as the rpg system and we’re spicing up the whole thing with a Ryoko Kui’s Delicious in Dungeon flavor so to speak.

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

Player Characters (PCs):

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

The adventurers buy a few more goods in town.

It was decided that Alfred the hobgoblin would be Lebeau’s hireling, paid by him, and not a full member of the guild for the moment.

Aracyne pays some gold pieces to Cedric the Sage to learn of the history of Gunderholfen in broad strokes.

Ganfal Swamp:

The PCs leave town, cross through farmlands and reach the Ganfal Swamp. This time, two-third of the way in they have a fight against giant poisonous toads. Alfred is wounded and poisoned but survives. The PCs make camp to rest a moment.

While they lunch they ask their new hobgoblin companion, what he knows of Gunderholfen (about time) and they learn a few useful things.

  • He was outside the dungeon with a hunting party, came back after a few days and he and his companions were surprised to find kobolds at the main entrance. They tried to force their way in but were outnumbered. He was the only survivor and was thrown in prison.
  • When he left the hobgoblins controlled almost all of Level 1, so something happened to change that.
  • Negruf is the hobgoblin chief.
  • The hobgoblins were in the process of exploring Level 2, cautiously, using goblin patrols. Level 2 is made of natural caves and there’s some monstrous critters roaming around.
  • There’s two entrances to Level 1 (not quite true), the Snake Door and another tree shrouded gully entrance on the northern side of the hill.

(Unbeknownst to him, things changed a lot since he left hunting)

North Side Entrance (Level 1B)

  • The party goes around the hill and reach the entrance that their new hobgoblin companion told them about.
  • There’s five goblins guarding the entrance and they tell the PCs that this is goblin territory now. Alfred tells them to stop messing around but they’re serious, they no longer take order from any damn hobgoblins.
  • Seeing that Aflred can’t make them enter, Hédralynn comes forth and show the goblins the dead kobold chief’s headdress and tells them that they (the PCs) could be useful to the goblins. One of the goblin go fetch their chief.
  • Chief Yurt arrives with his bodyguards. Hédralynn makes it known that they wish to get to Level 2. After some discussion between them it’s agreed that the adventurers could pass this one time through goblin territory in exchange for 30 gp now and more gifts on their way out.
  • 10 goblins (including the chief) escort the PCs to the eastern end of goblin territory. Behind a reinforced door, beyond a long, dark passage with columns and corpses (both goblins and hobgoblins) littering the floor, is where the hobgoblins are now confined.
  • As Chief Yurt says farewell to the party, Hédralynn executes her plan, she lobs two fireballs at once, one at Yurt and another to the goblin in charge of this guard post! The latter dies instantly but Yurt survives just to be finished by an arrow from Aracyne. The surviving goblins, still outnumbering the PCs 8 to 5 yells angrily and try to take advantage of their superior number. One lucky goblin pierces Malique’s boot with his spear and cuts his big toe off (injury). But three more fireballs from the mage definitely turns the fight to the adventurers’ advantage, not too soon though as more goblins are coming in.
  • Malique snatches Yurt’s body from the floor, Alfred takes back the gift of gold and then they all flee through the passage to the east. The last two in the passage, Lebeau and Alfred, are hit by stones from goblin slingers and almost don’t make it but they see the hobgoblin guards and Alfred yells at them to open fast and they do.
  • After a discussion with the hobgoblin guards, helped a lot by the fact that they are accompanied by Alfred, the PCs are escorted to chief Negruf. They tell him of their objective of going down a Level and explore. They give him the corpse of Yurt, whom the hobgoblins sees as a traitorous rebel, and the gold. They tell him of how they saved Alfred from the kobolds too.
  • Negruf is pleased and allows them safe passage and also let them have a room to rest.

Closing Comments:

  • Olivier’s love of hirelings and Marjorie’s usual craftiness led in this session to their party shortcutting a big chunk of Level 1 and they’ll be able to go to Level 2 next session. They also have a potential alliance with the hobgoblins already in the going but they’re now enemies of the goblins.
  • Eventually they’ll have to figure a way out of the dungeon but all in due time…
  • How Negruf should see the adventurers? They can help him with his goblin problem so I think he clearly has something to gain out of it for the moment.

Gunderholfen – Against the Kobolds – Session 2

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

First session of what should be the main dish ot this new campaign: the Gunderholfen megadungeon. It’s mostly vanilla fantasy (less so the deeper you go!), but after years of kinda atypical D&D I think it will still feel refreshing. We’ll see how it goes.

For this campaign we’re using Free League’s Dragonbane as the rpg system and we’re spicing up the whole thing with a Ryoko Kui’s Delicious in Dungeon flavor so to speak.

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

Player Characters (PCs):

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

We start in Longfelt. The PCs hear that the mutants that they had saved are slowly getting back to normal at the town’s sanatorium. Hédralynn sells a scroll of diminution to a gnome magic-user and buys some goods in exchange. The characters leave town, walk through farmlands until they reach the Ganfal Swamp. They have several hours of walking on a treacherous path but they manage to reach the ancient dwarf hold without incidents (no encounters rolled).

Snake Door Entrance (Level 1A)

  • There’s a lot of small, clawed footprints and piles of damaged bones around the entrance. The interior is dimly lit with flickering light.
  • Three kobolds stand guard and threatens the adventurers with their spears. One is slain quickly and the two others flee inside, side-stepping one area on their way.
  • The PCs ran after the fleeing kobolds but took care of not stepping on the suspicious area themselves. Aracyne broke his bow trying to shoot down a kobold. Malique managed to catch one and slew him with his warhammer. The other suffered from the same fate soon after.
  • This wasn’t discreet at all however and now the PCs could hear kobolds coming from the east and from the north at the same time. Aracyne borrowed Hédralynn’s bow and killed an incoming kobold as Malique got in melee against two others. Malique is very efficient with his warhammer but also got stabbed by a spear but nothing serious.
  • Meanwhile Lebeau was facing two other kobolds that tried to bait him into a trap but weren’t subtle enough. One even fell headlong into the hidden pit when he tripped on his own feet in the course of the fight.
  • After taking care of the last kobold together, the adventurers inspect a half-rotten blue curtain and find a passage behind.
  • They get into the chief’s hall. A fearsome kobold, as fearsome as a kobold can be, is flanked by three large weasels and there’s also 5 kobold guards.
  • A big fight ensues. Hédralynn starts to lob fireballs (dragonbane’s fireballs are single target 2d6 dmg, or more if boosted) with abandon. Aracyne finishes a giant weasel with a well-placed arrow. Malique does his best to block spear thrusts at the front. The adventurers prevail but Malique sports many wounds now. Hédralynn does her best to heal him with her magic.
  • Lebeau finds a door behind a wall hanging, this leads to the chief’s modest treasure of copper pieces.
  • Another door in the chief’s hall leads to a larger room that smells of charred flesh. A kobold shaman starts to casts a spell at them as his guards charge the adventurers. Lebeau has a hard time fighting as the shaman unleash a swarm of insects at him. Fortunately the shaman isn’t long for this world as he gets a fireball and an arrow from the elves PCs. One kobold surrenders after his colleagues die and gives some information on the lair’s layout, where the jails are after being asked.
  • Backtracking a little, the adventurers go the kobolds’ jails but a portcullis is blocking their way. The two dogmen manage to force it open. There’s a brief fight thereafter against two kobold guards.
  • There’s two prisoners still alive, the daughter of Clement the tailor and one severely wounded hobgoblin. For some reason Lebeau is convinced that the latter will be a fine addition to the party and asks Hédralynn to spend her last bit of magic on healing him. Lebeau offers a full treasure-part to the hobgoblin if he joins the guild but it will be up to the Aracyne the guild leader to make such a contract or not.
  • The adventurers leave Gundeholfen, go across the Ganfal Swamp safely and get back to town.

Closing Comments:

  • Dragonbane characters start as capable adventurers but they don’t really ever have access to game-changing spells or abilities, unless they find magic items that is. I’m not sure how it wil impact the game later on to be honest.
  • I’ve shortened the walk to the dungeon through the Ganfal Swamp but nonetheless I have to remember that crossing the swamp should be seen very much as an irritating and serious logistic issue to solve before long i.e having a base nearer.
  • They’ve gone through a big chunk of the Kobolds lair and killed 2/3 of them but it wasn’t that easy either. Malique got almost injured despite being the most heavily armored until Olivier reminded Edmond that he could try to block one Kobold’s fatal spear attack with his shield and he succeed in doing so.
  • As we’re not playing a gold>>xp game I’m cutting dramatically on the amount of treasure they find. In fact, most creatures won’t have anything of value. Sorry, but not sorry!
  • The first kobolds that have fled should have alerted 2-3 more kobolds immediately in the next room instead of going farther on the lair. My first mistake of the dungeon happened really quick! I have to look at a few adjacent rooms whenever they advance into a new one just to be sure. I’ll prepare an enemy roster per area next time and won’t be caught off-guard…

The Hole in the Oak – Trogs & Mutants – Session 1

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

The start of a new thing for us. This time we’ll have a megadungeon called Gunderholfen as our campaign tentpole. You’ll learn about it soon enough. But not now, in our first session the players have chosen instead to go into the Magical Forest to explore The Hole in the Oak.

TTRPG system used: Free League’s Dragonbane instead of OSE

Aside: Yes, once again I’ll be running adventures within a system not intended for them. This is the way I’ve been doing things for a while now, a bit more complicated as I have to adapt quite a few things, but there’s an intent behind this… Huh, yes, there’s an intent I’m telling you!

Furthermore, I’ll be borrowing some concepts from Ryoko Kui’s Delicious in Dungeon.

Player Characters (PCs):

  • Aracyne (Isaac), Elf Hunter, Guild Leader
  • Malique, (Edmond), Dogman Knight
  • Hédralynn (Marjorie), Elf Mage
  • Jean Lebeau (Olivier), Dogman Fighter

We start in Longfelt. The party meets with the town’s high constable Vandemaut who wants them to go check on the dwarven ruins of Gunderhlofen, see if there’s monsters inside or just humanoids. « Oh, I almost forgot », he said, « there’s the daugther of Clement the taylor missing, probably held captive into the ruins. There’s a reward if you manage to save her ». The adventurers buy a few goods and leave town.

They don’t go to Gunderholfen though, they go explore a place that Aracyne had found earlier while roaming the Magical Forest.

The Hole in the Oak. Dungeon Type: Natural (Pertubed).

  • The PCs enter a passage at the base of an ancient oak. They see hoof-prints and boot-prints on the ground. NOLLY’S KINGDOM is carved on a root.
  • They manage to slip through the roots and go left at a junction. A purple-robed man appears from thin air and delivers a semi-coherent message before disappearing.
  • They get into a circular room with a rug in the middle. There’s a rune under the rug.
  • Thence, the PCs open a door west and find two scrolls and numerous jars with tiny dead persons floating in them. They take the scrolls.
  • Going north, they are blocked by a locked door and then open another one into a room that has a pit filled with grimy water and a suspicious pile of gold on the other side. They don’t fall for it and go elsewhere.
  • Going on they hear the subtle sound of a door opening behind them, the one that they found was locked. Three foul-smelling troglodytes are coming at them! The two dogmen have a hard time because of their sensitive sense of smell. The adventurers prevail but Malique is wounded.
  • In the big adjacent room through the now open door, the PCs find a secret door and a chest full of silver pieces.
  • Thence, the PCs go north, they hear the sound of running water. They turn a corner and stumble upon several naked corpses on the ground. A beast lore check tells Hédralynn that they’re most likely ghouls and the PCs retreat silently.
  • Backtracking a little, the adventurers find another access to the underground river and even take the time for some fishing with the fishing canes readily available. They catch several fishes that will come in handy later on.
  • A bit further, they get into a large room with some statue and with several doors and passages going in every direction.
  • In the nearest passage they find a dead dwarf with a coil of nasty black vine around his neck. They see the same black vines hanging from the ceiling a bit further.
  • They try another way. Listening at a door they hear loud snoring. They open the door and see an ogre, terribly malformed and sleeping on a large chair. A makeshift jail hold 4 prisoners, barely human mutants. The adventurers want to free them and Hédralynn opens the jail’s door with a spell. The Ogre doesn’t wake up luckily but the mutants eye the adventurers with a look of hunger. They receive fresh raw fish that they devour instantly Gollum-like.
  • Fed mutants in tow, the PCs go explore a strange metallic room nearby. There’s a huge metal ball on one side and 6 levers on the wall. That doesn’t hold the interest of the adventurers and they go further south along another passage.
  • To their left is a huge widening natural cave but they go right, near the entrance in fact, into a small room with all sort of root faces. The faces speak in unison and offer knowledge in exchange of payment. Cordélia give some silver pieces and learn of the « treachery of the gnomes ». Another go and this time it’s « the fruits of the underworld are magical but can twist the mind of the weak-willed ».
  • Going further they enter a spiralling passage. They also see hoof-prints going in. They find bright-colored hats and cloaks hanging from roots and Jean takes one of each. But seeing that there was 12 hats the PCs get a little anxious to encounter their hoof-footed owners and decide to call it a day.
  • They exit the dungeon and escort the mutants back in town to see if someone could help them with magic or something.

Closing Comments:

  • I’d only skimmed through the adventure prior to running it but it has a very user-friendly layout and it went smoothly enough.
  • The players had more positive comments about the new system than about the adventure itself. in particular they liked how xp gains is attached to the use of skills in Dragonbane.
  • So we have a party of two elves and two dogmen, that’s a bit weird haha! The Dogman kin is not even a thing in Dragonbane but it replaces the Wolfman as a throwback to Kobolds (that are bipedal dogs) in Delicious in Dungeons.
  • The Mage’s magic trick Open/Close isn’t supposed to work on locked doors so I could have retconned the Mutants and Ogre situation but I’ve let it go this time.

The Bishop of Ximes (Gont: Nest of Spies) -Session 16

David Skelector Château des Fausseflammes, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, jeux de rôles, OSR, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG

Our second session of the campaign outside of the Château. This one was a bit laborious in the going as the three boys were out of their zone of comfort in how to approach a somewhat subtle objective. It also led to an absolutely major change of the campaign further on, one that I’ve hinted was possible but I thought was unlikely to happen.

The action this time is set into the city of Ximes, in Averoigne, with a backstory as it turned out heavily inspired by The Holiness of Azédarac by Clark Ashton Smith and, as is my fancy with this campaign I’ve used material from Gabor Lux to help me flesh out the setting a little more.

Echoes from Fomalhaut # 2, by Gabor Lux. https://emdt.bigcartel.com/products

Set in Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne

TTRPG System used: Worlds without Number, by Kevin Crawford

Adventurers – Player Characters (PCs)

  • Noah (Isaac), crafts stuff, has a repeating crossbow and a magic sword called Scrupulous, Expert lvl 6
  • Cordélia Lenoir (Marjorie), using the dark arts for Good (probably), Necromancer lvl 5
  • Monmon (Edmond), has a powerful antique spear, Warrior lvl 6
  • Paul Nareff (Olivier), friend and sponsor of the numerous Jean clan, Warrior lvl 6

Rumors:

  • There’s an extensive network of tunnels below the city of Ximes. Smugglers who makes the run on the Ysoulde river use the tunnels to hide their stuff.
  • Bishop Azédarac is often seen with merchant Jehan Mauvaissoir, a shady individual whom, like the bishop, nobody seems to have known a few years ago.

One important piece of information was obtained in downtime has Cordélia has finished deciphering the notes of the late Rogat Demazien. The latter had some kind of a deal with the « Holy Man »: find a way to create and control gargoyles in exchange for the recipe of a powerful time-travel potion. Could this saintly man be Bishop Azédarac? Certainly all the rumors they heard about him made it sound likely.

Could be useful as for now the adventurers have to work for the Bénédictins monks and the Church in finding incriminating evidence against the infamous bishop to pay off their debt.

Arriving in Ximes

  • Cordélia sends her homonculus at the cathedral to spy on Azédarac’s entourage. She finds a mark in the person of a young nobleman, one Boudevoy, who’s to become a churchman and is now a protégé of the bishop.
  • The adventurers manage to join a game of cards with Boudevoy at the Gamesman’s Court, Cordélia uses her natural charm on naive Boudevoy and convince him to show her (and her friends) where he works, at the cathedral.
  • Inside the cathedral, with the information gathered by the homonculus and with Boudevoy as a laissé-passez of sort, the party manage to find a door leading to the undercity.
  • They get into a large room lit by two braziers, armed men block their way, They get their weapons out and the fight is on! Even if the thugs prove no match for the battle-hardened veterans they still fight to the last one.
  • Thence, the PCs get into another large room and choose to follow the more visibly well-trodden path on their right, ignoring many others.
  • After a few turns this leads them to a locked, reinforced door. Noah starts to try some of his false keys but someone from the other side of the door says that whoever is there better leave very soon.
  • The adventurers retreat no further that in the corridor behind the angle and goad the threatmongers into coming to them. The door opens, furtive footsteps, almost inaudible. Noah advances, crossbow in hands but gets jumped upon by three assassins and almost die. Fortunately his companions rush to help him and manage to prevail.
  • Cordélia, Paul and Monmon then disguise themselves with the assassins’ clothing (bloodsoaked as they are) while Noah will wait back with most of their equipment.
  • They open the door into a large, dimly-lit room with other likewise clothed people and try their best to be inconspicuous. They get to the other side after uttering a quick explanation and get through another locked door.
  • Thence, they get lost for some time in a network of confusing corridors before finding a secret passage. They go North and open a door into a large plush hallway with a dozen thugs playing cards or sipping beverage. There’s a heavy curtain on the northern wall, the adventurers want to check it out but are stopped « did the Boss asked for you? » to which Cordélia replies that indeed they are here to make their report on the intruders situation. The PCs are eyed suspiciously but are brought forward nonetheless (and pretty much trapped).
  • Behind the curtain is a small room with arrow slits on each side, a set of bars blocks another area with and a vague human shape can be seen behind a veil: « Do you think you can fool me? Men, bring the other one » And here comes Noah, with his wrists tied together.
  • « Certainly not » replies Cordélia, thinking fast. And acting on her strong suspicion that it was Azédarac himself behind the veil: « We’ve been sent by the church but we’d much rather make a deal with you, something that could benefit us all and allow my special, frowned-upon talents to flourish… »
  • And so, after a bit more discussion between the adventurers and Azédarac (because indeed it was him), they reached some kind of understanding. Through his powers he would endeavor to get himself and his new allies into another epoch entirely no less…

Closing Comments:

  • There was many ways to approach the (ultimately discarded) mission. The most likely I thought would have seen the party explore a good chunk of the undercity, with possibly many sessions to do so. It did not happen like this at all and I was a bit disappointed quite frankly. I wanted encounters with hanging snagworths and slimecones and dubious characters but instead my players managed, part by inspiration and part randomly, to get the shortest route possible to the hidden domain of Azédarac.
  • Of course Azédarac doesn’t feature in Gont: nest of spies, I’ve switched him over with the assassin leader Grave-Wight. Likewise, the cathedral took the place of keldor’s manor.
  • I still feel a bit of an impostor when I cut open an adventure or setting, discard unwanted stuff, add some other, switch characters and so on and sew it back together to run at my table but at the same time I think it’s the next best thing if I don’t take the time to create my own.
  • It’s the end of this Castle Xyntillan run, big hanging threads and all, just like that.
  • It’s the beginning of something else if we choose so, I’m not quite sure myself. Do we hear the call of Khosura?

Château des Faussesflammes (Castle Xyntillan) – Session 15

David Skelector Château des Fausseflammes, Fantasy, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG

Okay last segment of our sessions at the cabin and we’ll be up to date.

The boys want to find Count Giscard. Not to put a stake through his heart like they did with his wife the Countess, no, they wish to make peace with him as they think he’s a cool dude or something. I mean, is he a cool dude? Maybe! One thing I did told them, to reinforce the point that the Château isn’t a static place, is that they shouldn’t expect the Count to be found in his Entrance Halls’s room, not after what happened to his wife quite recently.

2 hours session

Castle Xyntillan, by Gabor Lux. https://emdt.bigcartel.com/products, compatible with Swords & Wizardry

Set in Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne

TTRPG System used: Worlds without Number, by Kevin Crawford

Adventurers – Player Characters (PCs)

  • Noah (Isaac), crafts stuff, has a repeating crossbow and a magic sword called Scrupulous, Expert lvl 5>>6
  • Pierrot (Isaac), caravan hand, dealmaker extraordinaire, Warrior lvl 2
  • Monmon (Edmond), has a powerful antique spear, Warrior lvl 5>>6
  • Paul Nareff (Olivier), friend and sponsor of the numerous Jean clan, Warrior lvl 5>>6
  • Paul-Jean Paul (Olivier), apprentice alchemist, don’t confuse him with Jean-Paul Jean, Warrior lvl 5
  • Constant Jean (Olivier), vigorous member of the Jean clan, heavily armored, Warrior lvl 4

Retainers:

  • Raymond (Isaac), Man-at-Arms, gruff, vassal of the Comte de la Frenaie, Morale 7
  • Raoulet the Pimp (Marjorie), undead pimp with a semblance of life, Morale 12
  • Valentin (Isaac), shoemaker, Morale 7
  • Gaston (Edmond), poacher, not very bright, Morale 6
  • Hyacinthe (Edmond), caravan hand, very calm and attentive, Morale 9

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, RIP)
  • 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 thrown in the lake)
  • Stuffed Jean-Paul,  killed by stuffed animals, stuffed himself, bursted into flames (RIP)
  • Georges, militia man, killed by an axe blow from a rival adventurer. (corpse in castle)

Previous Infractions in the Château:

Eliminated Tristano Malévol the Love-Lost. Eliminated Merlerik the Ancient. Eliminated Aranéa Malévol. Eliminated Runcius the Dark Man of the Woods. Eliminated Countess Maltricia Malévol. Eliminated Agénor Malévol. Eliminated Béatrice Malévol. (+1)

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 Stole the Oil of Cleansings: 1 Stole the Crown of the Lost: 1 Burglarized Count Giscard’s room (+1) Put holy water in Count Giscard’s « wine » (+1) Total: 12 1/2

Vanquished Aranéa Malévol’s retributory patrol -5

Vanquished Béatrice Malévol’s retributory patrol -4

Played ball with the werepups -1

Current Infractions rating: 2 1/2

Rumors:

  • skipped the rumors

We start in Ximes. Luc Le Chaudronnier’s Alchemy Lab: one more dose of Oil of Revelation. Paul buys a cask of wine with the idea to give it to Count Giscard to compensate for having burglarized his liquor cabinet earlier. (of course Olivier is making a wrong assumption here but nice try!)

Grand Entrance:

  • The PCs wish to go to the catacombs and they enter at the Grand Entrance. The two statues do their usual thing but nothing special happens.
  • There’s a boar in the vestibule! Large and fierce but already sporting many wounds. The adventurers attack the beast from all side and Noah stab it with Runcius’ poisoned poniard and the beast trashes around for a short time and finally dies.
  • Thence they go through the Entrance Halls and get into the Throne Room. They use the secret elevator and descend into the Lake Grotto area.
  • They make a detour to the wine cellar and they discover that the secret passage to the Indoorness doesn’t seem to be there anymore. Instead, there’s a bas-relief depicting a woman: the Enchantress of Sylaire who seems in the process of making a deal with Runcius Malévol. A bit disappointed the adventurers get back to their original plan of trying to find the Count’s hiding place.
  • They go north and turn right near the chapel of the three saints. There’s a lone ghoul into the adjacent corridor, it reacts quickly when it hears the PCs and lashes at the first in line, Monmon, but misses all of its attacks. Monmon quickly disposes of it with his antique spear.
  • Thence they open a door nearby and interrupt eight ghouls that were bickering over scraps. Noah immediately kills one with his repeating crossbow. Paul then swing his big Guts blade (whirlwind attack) and kill four others. Monmon skewers another with his spear. The remaining two ghouls don’t believe very much in bravery and try to scamper away but are quickly cut down for their effort.
  • There’s an interesting frescoe in this otherwise broken down room that served as a tomb. Very ancient, it depicts a scene with knights – the central figure, a mighty knight, holds a banner with a bleeding heart and in his other hand he holds a scepter. (Like the scepter they found and sold? Yes pretty much like it…)
  • Further into this new section (sill in the Lake Grotto area), another tomb, this time an animated shovel digs a grave filling another in the process. They don’t inspect further and leave.
  • Thence, another tomb, there’s what look like a gisant but made of wax. The PCs don’t like the look of it one bit and leave.
  • Next, they open another door and come face to face with Guy the Jocular, Malévols’ own court jester. The PCs ask him if he knows of Count Giscard’s whereabouts and he says: « why, yes, he’s right here » and he points to Hyacinthe (random) with his wand (of polymorph) and the latter transforms and takes the appearance of the vampire Count! « But where’s the Count, for REAL? » « Ha! Can’t one have a little joke? Err hmm, he’s very near in truth but I wouldn’t disturb him if I were you! HA HA HA hihi haha héhé! » spitting some maggots as he laughs.
  • The party leaves the jester behind with a somewhat perplexed Hyacinthe/Fake Count Giscard in tow.
  • They open another doo nearby, another tomb/room but this time there’s dozens of bats on the ceiling and gargoyles in the corners. There’s also a thick stone slab in the middle of the room. The PCs close the door and use their ever-useful Oil of revelation to a see a probable future. In the vision, the adventurers get in a messy fight against the gargoyles and bats and flee the room when the stone slab begins to slide sideway, they flee further in the Castle and hear the howling of wolves sent after them… The vision ends, they know who’s under the slab!
  • Paul puts a note on his cask of wine, opens the door and leave the cask inside. They don’t have to wait too long before the room’s inhabitant rise up from his tomb: « What’s all the ruckus? What’s that, wine? What do I care for wine? » Louder: « Bring me proper sustenance next time or I’ll take care of it myself! »
  • The PCs leave the area before the Count decide to act on his words right now. They want to explore one last area before calling it a day and they settle on the southern part of the Entrance Halls.
  • They get back to the ground floor via the elevator. Soon after ther encounter a woman in a lavender dress and heavy make-up and dragging a heavy bag. The PCs have seen her portrait before, she’s Lydia Malévol. She bows when she sees Fake Count Giscard, « My lord », and eyes voraciously his strange companions.
  • Nearer their goal, the adventurers open a door and find a crowd of 24 undead noble men, mostly insulting each other and each boasting of their superior qualities as a would-be suitor for Lydia Malévol. The 24 undead noble men bow to Fake Count Giscard, « My lord », and eye suspiciously his strange companions.
  • Thence, the PCs get into a weird room with floating furnitures and a giant ectoplasmic head of an old man being slowly absorbed and distilled into an alembic. They discover that they can use the ectoplasm to make complex potions.
  • The adventurers leave the Château.

Closing Comments:

  • Great session with two major discoveries: Giscard’s secret underground repose place and the Knight’s Door which I’m pretty sure they’ll get back to very soon if they get ahold of the scepter again
  • Their plan to get into the Count’s good will has failed but it hadn’t devolved into a hostile situation either.
  • lots of encounters again, mostly non-hostile and one hostile (Lydia) averted with quick thinking and the earlier opportune transformation of Hyacinthe into Fake Count Giscard. Fun stuff.
  • XP: Participation: 1 Treasures: 0 Secrets: 2
  • Treasures: none
  • Fatalities: none
  • New Infractions: Have disturbed Count Giscard in his no-longer secret tomb (-1)