Here’s one of the most fascinating thing I’ve ever watched. Seriously. The top-notch production value and absolutely great soundtrack of this documentary makes it a unique experience. I don’t know much about speleology or spelunking but there’s something so strange, so visceral to these underground environments…
The Entrance at the top of Unterberg Mountain:
Sites translation:
Ursprungcanyon = Origin Canyon
Hochsammler = High Collector
Sammler = Collector
Lange Gerade = Long Straight
Sechs Schächte = Six Shafts
Auenland = Shire
The Sleeping Emperor’s legend:
I would be remiss not to mention that (like so many caves) there’s a legend attached to Riesending, of course! The Sleeping Emperor, sometimes Charlemagne, others Barbarossa. with their retinue of dwarves (Untersberger Mandln). When the Emperor will finally awakens, this will signal the end of the world as he’ll lead his army for one final great battle (presumably for the good guys but this is debatable imho).
Takeaways:
An arduous trek to reach the entrance and then days or even weeks of underground exploration, or logistical concerns cranked to 11
Semi-permanent bivouacs placed at safe (relatively) spots that need to be replenished regularly
The hugeness of the place would translate into a mix of point-crawling and proper dungeon-crawling into the megadungeon
The Underground Lake! (1:00:45)
The Really-Uncomfortable-You-Cross-it-Riding-Bridge! (58:25)
I have a in mind a series of posts I would do on real-world places that are inspiring in some way or the other for D&D.
The Catacombes of Paris make for an easy choice to include. I’ve visited them once myself, only the small part open to public mind you, and it was fascinating! If only I could go around the corner past the cordon I said to myself repeatedly on the visit. Of course on the whole of the catacombes are much bigger than the tourists part (1,7km), with around 300 km of tunnels the sheer size of the place is hard to fathom.
Here’s two interesting related articles for your edification:
(excerpt from the above link) « Colorful graffiti lined the ancient limestone walls, giving the place an odd, almost medieval funhouse vibe. But as we descended deeper, the graffiti gradually disappeared, swallowed by darkness and silence. »
(excerpt from the above link) « The general public’s “discovery” of the underground network led the city of Paris to officially interdict all access by non-authorized persons. That decree dates back to 1955, but the “underground police” have an understanding with seasoned cataphiles. Their main targets are so-called tourists, who by their lack of knowledge expose themselves to risk of injuries or worse, and degrade their surroundings, often leaving loads of litter in their wake. »
Takeaways:
What if the primary goal of a mission is mainly to map a confusing maze? Not kill monsters (even if there are), not even treasure-hunting, just mapping?
XP for mapping! An amount for each squares? More for important discoveries.
Accurate maps should be rare and greatly coveted by would-be explorers and their patrons.
Underground mapping is actually really hard. There’s the fact that you don’t have any point of reference to evaluate distances. Worst still is the possibility of tunnels criss-crossing and some going beneath others.
In most tunnels you’re lucky if the ceiling is 6′ high, forget about the 10′ D&D norm! Often you’d have to walk all hunched-like and sometimes you have to crawl… And beware the flash floods.
Graffitis should feature prominently in well-traveled areas.
There’s also something interesting to do with the concept of legality or lack therof of catacomb-going or dungeon-crawling where the dungeon is right beneath the city. The more accessible sections being patrolled by cops/guards could mean trouble for illegal exploration… Bribes or legal permits could be part of the game.
Been a while since I’ve done « A note on » post, but it’s been slow on the ttrpgaming front over here those last few weeks so I’ll put out this little filler.
Troglodytes in Heroes 3
I’ve been playing the venerable computer game Heroes 3 with my sons for the last few weeks and we’re having great fun. My youngest is fond of the Dungeon faction, mainly for their strongest unit, the dragons unsurprisingly. Their weakest unit, the troglodyte, is MY favorite though. I love their design!
They don’t have eyes!or the « improved » stronger version
Contrast it with the current D&D version:
Not bad but it looks like some kind of ugly lizardman, nothing special here.
The one thing that differientate troglodytes from other monsters in D&D is their horrible stench. It’s okay, I have nothing against it but I think I can offer alternative features that are more interesting.
Now, troglodytes, as befit the name should be a mostly subterranean species. Making do without eyes could actually make a lot of sense (pun intended).
damn, the stuff we can find on the internet
New features for D&D
Anyway, yeah, I think eyeless troglodytes should have echolocation like dolphins or bats for that matter. The adventurers would hear the eery screams of the troglodytes coming for them, wouldn’t it be scary/cool? That could be a fluff thing or it could also means mechanically that Trologodytes are simply immune to anything that need eyesight to be affected (i.e illusions, or blindness obviously) AND would be vulnerable to silence effects (would be effectively « blinded »).
Now, a more audacious feature I would give troglodytes is darkvision camouflage. As in modern D&D something like three quarters of people have darkvision for some reason, what about the one species that would have evolved to mess with this sense? Be it low body temperature à la Predator, or some special skin pattern, the Troglodytes are basically invisible to darkvision users.
You hear the screams of those awful troglodytes adventurer? Hope you didn’t only banked on your darkvision and brought ye ole torch!
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).
I think that video games have now too prominent an influence over tabletop rgs, often to the point of denaturing the latter. But if we stay clear of what works for crpgs but should absolutely not be imported to ttrpgs, we can absolutely borrow some great ideas from one to the other.
Now the game I’m gonna talk about I can’t say it’s a great game, I would not even recommend it except for a very specific kind of gamers, those who like punishing turn-based tactical games, like say Darkest Dungeon or Battle Brothers.
Dungeon Rats by Iron Tower Studio is kind of an annex to the more complex Age of Decadence game, both set in the same ancient Rome-like world. If the latter offers a full immersive rpg experience, the first only focus on tactical combat with some (very well-made) crafting on the side.
The premise is quite interesting to me: we’ve been sent to a special kind of prison, a deep and nearly depleted mine, we’ve arrived at Rock Bottom… As we’re the fighting type we’ll be spared the back-breaking work and have a few missions until we’ll be facing a hard choice: live our the rest of our miserable, short life in the oppressive darkness or… try to escape.
Now, as we’re in the aptly-named Rock Bottom, to see the light of day and gain our freedom we have to go up!
But in order to do so we first have to go through gang territory:
And that’s where I said to myself that this game would be highly interesting as a ttrpg conversion. DR is a pretty limited game, mostly linear, from one fight to another without a lot of choices. Converted into a proper tabletop dungeon and with faction play with the above-mentionned gangs? And with the fascinating crafting/alchemy system (i.e. you can make liquid fire, or craft The Claw, a spear made with a scorpion pincer). There’s a lot of potential there methinks.
There’s more to fight than fellow prisoners though. From giant ants, scorpions, carnivorous plants, giant spiky worms to… demonic metal-skinned beings! Hmm, yeah, there’s a weird turn into sci-fi in the later part of the game, that’s a matter of taste I guess if one would keep the abrupt theming change or not.
Just for fun, the levels/sub-levels are thusly arrayed in DR, note that the whole thing is more horizontal than vertical (maybe 4 Levels, 5 counting the Fort):
Rock Bottom, where the latest prisoners are dumped
Deep Caves, below Rock Bottom, full of critters and lava but somewhat less depleted in ressources
Old Town, neutral ground, I would imagine, of the upper level
The River, fast underground river, access to precious fresh water, controlled by the Dredgers
Crystal Caves, eerily-glowing minerals
The Mines, labyrinthine, controlled by the Molerats
The Forge, soot-blackened, controlled by the heavily-armored Praetors
Ancient Factory, sub-level, sci-fi, robots
Old Cellblock, « proper » prison, home of the Emperor, ex-gladiator, inhumanly enhanced
Fort, above the dungeon, sunlight at last! but we’re not out of danger yet, a century of legionnaires is between us and freedom
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Session impromptue de D&D 5E alors que ce qui était prévue était plutôt la session annuelle de Vampire: Dark Ages (qui avait déjà été remise à plus tard ce printemps) mais deux des joueurs ont laissé tombé à la dernière minute. Le problème c’est que tous mes efforts de préparations des dernières semaines ont été mis au placard et en remplacement je me retrouve à faire une session d’une campagne quasi-abandonnée! Mais au minimum je pouvais me rabattre sur ma préparation antérieure (principalement celle-ci).
Personnages Joueurs (PJs)
(Marjorie) Kalohan, (level 11) High Elf Wizard (evoker), Inheritor, doit trouver un sort inconnu jusque là avant de pouvoir obtenir son héritage
(Isaac) Anfi, (level 11>>12) Locathah Fighter (eldritch knight), Outlander, venu sur la terre ferme en passant par la Caverne-Tunnel, là pour découvrir ce nouvel environnement + Salamandre Géante
(Olivier) Léon, (level 9) Human Monk (way of shadow), Outlander, revenu à la vie grâce à Zotzilaha, maintenant libre de faire ce qu’il veut
(Edmond) Vingt, (level 8>>9) Myconid Druid (circle of spores), Acolyte, envoyé de Zuggtmoy, la Déesse du fongique + Fourmi Zombifiée
(Chris) PaxDouble-Poches, (level 10), Halfling Rogue (arcane trickster), Criminal, fuyant un passé criminel, a vu de ses yeux les trésors merveilleux qu’a rapporté le ranger Flyzus de sa dernìère expédition et s’est immiscé dans le groupe depuis
(Chris) Rufb (level 10), Half-Orc Barbarian (berserker), Mercenary Veteran; capturé par des pterafolks, seul survivant de sa bande de mercenaires, délivré par Flyzus au sommet du Firefinger
(Jason) Shin, (level 10) Tabaxi Fighter (arcane archer), Outlander, veut devenir le plus grand chasseur de tout les temps + Vorn, Shield Guardian
Intro: Coup d’État à Port Nyanzaru
De retour de leur dernier périple dans les jungles de Chult, les aventuriers ont pris connaissance des bouleversements politiques dans la ville principale de la péninsule, Port Nyanzaru. En effet, un membre du conseil de gouvernement, Ifan Talro’a, s’est emparé du pouvoir avec l’appui de mercenaires étrangers et d’un mystérieux chef criminel (Jobal).
Les aventuriers étant à peu près en guerre ouverte contre ces mêmes mercenaires, il ne leur sied pas du tout de les voir placer leur marionnette en tête de la ville…
Entrée et Retrouvailles
Avec un bateau-volant sous la main, faire le trajet jusqu’à Port Nyanzaru depuis leur repaire ne leur a jamais été aussi facile et rapide. Le capitaine Flyzus les dépose à une distance raisonnable de la ville pour ne pas trop afficher leur arrivée. Ensuite, profitant de leur réputation bien méritée de sauveurs, ils se dirigent vers le quartier des pêcheurs (Tiriki’s Anchorage) où les locaux favorisent leur entrée discrète.
Art: Mehmet Ozen
Pax et Léon surveillent les patrouilles des mercenaires, puis à l’aide d’un contact, le groupe s’infiltre à l’intérieur des murs de la ville par un tunnel de contrebandiers. Après quelques essais infructueux, Pax réussit à entrer en contact avec des membres de la Main Mauve, des teinturiers/gang de rue à la solde de Jessamine, une membre du conseil abolit et opposante du nouveau gouverneur. Dans le repaire de cette dernière, ou est aussi présent le magicien Wakanga, les PJs en apprennent beaucoup sur la situation. Après quelques hésitations, les aventuriers décident de s’en prendre à la partie cachée, mystérieuse, de leur ennemi en tentant de sortir Jobal de l’équation. Ce dernier à sa base principale quelque part dans les tunnels sous les antiques ziggurats de la Vieille Ville.
Un bâteau de pêche dépose les PJs près de la Vieille Ville, une illusion programmée de Wakanga les aide à passer inaperçu. Kalohan utilise un sort de True Seeing et trouve une entrée secrète dans un endroit nommée le Gauntlet où des spectacles sanguinaires ont lieu couramment. Les aventuriers s’y engouffrent…
Sous la Ville
Après une première salle bourrée de pièges et une deuxième pleine d’ennemis morts-vivants, les aventuriers s’enfoncent plus avant et affrontents d’autres morts-vivants, cette fois juchés sur un système de passerelle surplombant du bétail en contrebas. Un usage judicieux du sort Shatter de la magicienne accomplit une bonne partie du travail en précipitant les ennemis dans le troupeau, un piétinement s’ensuit….
Plus loin, une grande salle contient de nombreuses cages avec toutes sortes de bestioles à l’intérieur, le tout gardé par des cultistes (des guerriers et une mage). Les PJs ont un plan redoutable: laisser s’échapper des monstres tandis qu’ils s’occupent des gardes les plus proches. Kalohan brise la cage d’un wyvern, la bête s’empresse de terrasser la mage cultiste tout près et prise au dépourvu.
image: Rhadov
Une deuxième cage d’ouverte, cette fois par Pax, voit des Ettercaps cavaler vers la liberté après avoir empêtrés dans leurs toiles leurs geôliers .
Une fois les cultistes éliminés il y a un moment tendu alors que le wyvern semble hésité à les attaquer aussi mais finalement la bête part dans la diretion opposée (au hasard). La suivant à une certaine distance, les aventuriers voient le wyvern confronté à des adversaire morts-vivants et être submergé sous le nombre. Des flèches explosives de shin ont tôt fait de faire le ménage après la mort du wyvern.
TBC
Notes du DM:
Marjorie penchait davantage pour organiser une guérilla contre le nouveau pouvoir mais le manque d’enthousiasme des autres joueurs pour cette idée a fait tourner vers une implication plus directe des PJs (baston!).
Pour faire vite, j’ai « emprunté » la section Blood Pens du donjon Doomvault (Tales of the Yawning Portal) et l’ai présenté presque tel quel pour une fois.
Les joueurs ont bien apprécié d’avoir des monstres dans leur équipe en quelque sorte.
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.
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?
Streets & Spores 