Riesending Cave, the Real Undermountain

David Skelector Fantasy, megadungeon, musings, Roleplaying Game, RPG, world-building

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)
  • The Sleeping Emperor!

Frosthaven – The Invasion of the Docks (71)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

Yet another new companion in our party after the retirement of the Pyroclast. We welcome Pearce DeWalt, a sentient metal being of large size and a drill for an arm. We’ve seen weirder than that, no worries.

Characters

  • Thousand Teeth the Trapper (David) lvl 5, brings innumerable lethal or helpful contraptions
  • Britney the Bannerspear (Mathieu) lvl 9, a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Pearce DeWalt the Metal Mosaic (Guillaume) lvl 3, the pressure is rising!

This scenario happens inside of the Frosthaven outpost. There’s something going on on the docks, mermen and crabfolks Abael and Lurkers are fighting each other and a desperate dockmaster seems to be caught in the middle. It’s an Escort the NPC and a Timer scenario.

« Have you paid your customs duties, there’s a 25% tariff going on. Hey, no pets allowed on the docks! »
We blitz one Abael and his Piranha Pig pet. Piranha Pig! The silliest mix of two animals one could imagine. They’re great!
« Hey stop sniffing our butts. Ouch! Stop that, that hurts! »
Better go away and… Wtf is happening?! Lurkers are fighting Abael all over the place!
Just passing by, don’t mind me… Here’s a mast and rope, you know what that means, right?
Pearce DeWalt crashes on the other side with great fracas and gets near the poor frightened dockmaster.
Meanwhile the open seafood buffet is quite messy.
« Go ahead, don’t worry, we’re right behind you. » Trapper: « Oh, a treasure chest, see you later! »
Finally, the dockmaster has reached the safe zone in one piece.

Closing Comments:

  • Impressive scenario but a bit cumbersome to manage all the fighting going on.
  • Nice to see new enemies and aren’t the Piranha Pigs the most charming?
  • We finished the scenario in 6-7 rounds. We were kind of too efficient this time I would say as we could have lingered a bit more for loot & xp & fun.
  • Retirement of our lvl 9 bulwark, the Banner Spear. Very useful and versatile character. That’ll be a big change on our team for sure.

Frosthaven – Automaton Uprising (59)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

Following our success in the previous scenario we managed to get in front of the Orphan and were forced to make a tough decision: try to eliminate him and his fellow Unfettered or try to convince him to make peace with the outpost of Frosthaven. This time (unlike with the poor Algox) we chose diplomacy and much to our surprise, managed to be convincing as of our good intentions. Might be that he doesn’t know many adventurers ha!

Characters

  • Thousand Teeth the Trapper (David) lvl 4, brings innumerable lethal or helpful contraptions
  • Britney the Bannerspear (Mathieu) lvl 8, a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Solkan Innis the Pyroclast (Guillaume) lvl 3, the Floor is Lava

Of course it won’t be that simple. The Unfettered, contrary to what we could think, are not hive-minded and many choose to attack us and our new-found ally.

Thus, this is an Escort the NPC scenario featuring Infinitely Spawning adversaries to boot.

Things start badly as Robotic Boltshooters do heavy damage to all of us.
This one is cornered and soon won’t be troubling us anymore.
The Orphan does what he has to do but we have to protect him against incoming hostiles.
On his way to the second objective while we fend off a bunch of Ruined Machines and Flaming Bladespinners.
Britney: « We’ve gained enough time, now we retreat before we’re overwhelmed! »
Burning patches from the Pyroclast and traps from the Trapper should soften our foes while they try to get over this chokehold.
And now, onward to the last objective. We’re seeing hostile Steel Automatons in the distance…
The Pyroclast finishes off yet another Boltshooter and then hurries up to join us.
The Pyroclast blocks one way in but one machine manages to jump over.
But a barricade of traps and a tanking Bannerspear efficiently ensures the survival of our new ally.
A special item to collect, some looting and we’re done!
This is Victory!

Closing comments:

  • An Escort the NPC scenario featuring Infinitely Spawning adversaries could have been very annoying but I thought it was a nice and fun scenario.
  • It must be said that our team composition was uniquely well-suited for this one I think. It could have been a LOT harder on other circumstances.
  • Crowd-control from Trapper and Pyroclast was quite useful. Movement-allowance from the Bannerspear was also crucial, saving us several turns of discomfort.
  • We all played very well to our characters’ strengths I will say.

Frosthaven – The Orphan’s Halls (51)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

Penultimate scenario of the Unfettered thread and the difficulty is ramping up!

Characters

  • Thousand Teeth the Trapper (David) lvl 4, brings innumerable lethal or helpful contraptions
  • Britney the Bannerspear (Mathieu) lvl 8, a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Solkan Innis the Pyroclast (Guillaume) lvl 3, the Floor is Lava

Onward in the rusty halls of the Orphan, this is a Capture the Objective scenario with many, many foes. But we’ve been provided with powerful machines-killing/EMP bombs to help us.

Automatons and Ancient Artilleries, should we use our bombs right there? Nah…
3 turns later… we’re still at the entrance are we not?
I finally open the door and… Oh shit!
That’s a lot of foes… The lil’ Trapper is leading the way, and runs farther (emboldened by Britney, +3 move), invisible.
And positions himself for…
KaBOOOM!!!
Two more bombs from his companions and the great Hall is almost quiet!
But not for long, Automatons and Ruined Machines keep appearing. There’s no defeating their number. Quick open that door!
We have to collapse the door behind us asap! Beware, more of them!
I still got one bomb, gnak gnak!
Ahh, that’s better!
The Pyroclast engulfs the door in fire and molten rock, that’ll do the job!

Closing comments:

  • We’ve wasted way too much time on the first room but once we were out things worked out surpringly well for us. Math was confident that we could and should cleaned it out and we mostly did in the end (his Bannerspear doing most of the job), but it drained a lot out of us to the point that I think it almost compromised our mission.
  • I gotta say, I’m quite satisfied with myself with how I did some nice combination of initiative-weaving and pulling, all while being invisible, so that I’ve managed to maximize the effect of my first bomb (it was decided that I was the one bringing two).
  • I feel like it could have been stun bombs instead of insta-kill ones and it could still have been a feasible (if harder) scenario.

Frosthaven – Overrun Barricade (43)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

We’ll soon reach the conclusion of the Unfettered thread. We know that these robotic beings are led by one of their kind who calls himself the Orphan. Is it the lack of good parenting that turned the Unfettered into murderous machines? Maybe we’ll know!

Characters

  • Thousand Teeth the Trapper (David) lvl 4, brings innumerable lethal or helpful contraptions
  • Britney the Bannerspear (Mathieu) lvl 8, a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Solkan Innis the Pyroclast (Guillaume) lvl 3, the Floor is Lava

An escape scenario this time, we must all reach the opposite end of the map in order to win. There’s many foes but we have been granted a special powerful attack that we each can unleash once per rest. A kind of EMP beam or something, given to us by the npc from the last scenario.

Of course there’s big piles of walking junk between us and our goal.
We slowly grind our way forward.
What’s behind that door?
A barricade. And behind? Again those damned machines.
The exit is just over here! The Pyroclast gets a bit excited and lava erupts from the floor!
A scene of utter destruction…
The inexorable flow of our triumphing will…

Closing comments:

  • Steel Automatons are tough customers but the scenario’s added boon more than compensated for their numbers.
  • The bigger worry was to reach the exit tiles whitout being overwhelmed by the infinetely spawning Ruined Machines. We had to time well our special attacks and then move quickly. It went well in the end.

Frosthaven – Scrap Pit (35)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

Happy New Year everybody! I’m back at work and that means I’m back at blogging too. Still quiet on the ttrpg front but I’m behind on my frosthaven play reports. Here’s one from a session we’ve played a month ago.

We’re back on Unfettered territory with a new companion in our party, the Pyroclast. This time it’s a Protect the NPC scenario, only two rooms – pretty straightforward.

Characters

  • Thousand Teeth the Trapper (David) lvl 3, brings innumerable lethal or helpful contraptions
  • Britney the Bannerspear (Mathieu) lvl 8, a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Solkan Innis the Pyroclast (Guillaume) lvl 3, the Floor is Lava
We’re accompanying this little fellow and need to protect him while he rummages through discarded scrap metal & stuff.
Junkyards can be dangerous places.
Follow safety rules at all times. Here’s an emergency kit from the Trapper just in case.
Living Bones and Ruined Machines make for unfriendly company.
Get out of the way will you! How much iron is selling right now pray tell?
The Pyroclast is losing patience, lava erupts from the ground!
But our little friend still hasn’t found what he seeks.
Found it! Just in time ’cause all this messing around was attracting dangerous Spitting Drakes...

Closing Comments:

  • Protect NPCs missions can be annoying but that was an easy one, no sweat here.
  • The Trapper is pretty vulnerable to flying enemies, it has one card that negates flying but it’s pretty awkward to use.
  • With that, we open up some more scenarios that lead to the conclusion of the Unfettered thread.

Dungeon Design: Catacombes de Paris

David Skelector Fantasy, jeux de rôles, Roleplaying Game

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:

https://venturetheplanet.com/an-adventure-into-the-un-official-paris-catacombs-a-mecca-for-urban-exploration/

(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. »

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/strange-maps-paris-catacombs

(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.

In this series so far:

A note on Troglodytes

David Skelector Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, Monsters, Roleplaying Game, RPG

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!

Frosthaven – The Face of Torment (68)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

We played this session four weeks ago, my laptop died and huh – me being me, it took this long before I defaulted to another computer…

This is the final scenario of the Aether Outpost personal quest.

The first one was Strong Foundation, the second: Elemental Cores, the third: Core Attunement.

Characters

  • Thousand Teeth the Trapper (David) lvl 2, brings innumerable lethal or helpful contraptions
  • Britney the Bannerspear (Mathieu) lvl 7, a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Boson the Blinkblade (Guillaume) lvl 7, Master of the 4th dimension

As befit a final challenge we’re now in a boss fight, against the Face of Torment.

Mr Face is accompanied by 2 regular, blue-collar Chaos Demons and we know that Fire Demons and Sun Demons will join them soon enough. No time to lose.
Mr Face is clearly a in-your-face type. Boson and Britney start to work on him.
The Trapper making sure that we won’t have foes at our back.
Boson stabbing Mr Face in the face like 20 times.
Britney efficiently pushes Mr Face in TWO traps behind him.
The Blinkblade is now in a worrying position, surrounded as he is
But Mr Face takes more damage and faceplants never to get up again.
One last treasure grab and we’re done!

Closing comments:

  • Our second Boss of the campaign and like the first one it took only a few rounds to kill it. The meta seems to go toward tense, quick battle in which unleashing potent damage is more important than safety for the characters.
  • We were quick enough but otherwise having to deal with the incoming Fire and Sun demons would have been painful.
  • Retirement of the Blinkblade, our strongest character to date I think.

Frosthaven – Core Attunement (67)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Play reports

We’re advancing once more the Blink Blade’s agenda with the third scenario out of four of his personal quest.

The first one was Strong Foundation, the second: Elemental Cores. This series has been very challenging to date and the trend did not change this time.

Characters

  • Thousand Teeth the Trapper (David) lvl 2, brings innumerable lethal or helpful contraptions
  • Britney the Bannerspear (Mathieu) lvl 7, a great leader, might be related to Bruce
  • Boson the Blinkblade (Guillaume) lvl 7, Master of the 4th dimension

It’s a timer scenario, we start in the middle and must protect the four pillars for 12 rounds as more and more enemies (demons) appear from both sides of the map to threaten us.

Four Chaos Demons are already there. Eager to fight us.
Thousand Teeth: « Give me time, I’ll put some traps around… »
our foes are closing in.
Boson quickly gets in melee on the left. Britney calls reinforcement.
Two Chaos Demons jump on the Banner Spear, will she be overwhelmed?
And more demons start to emerge from the corners.
Meanwhile the Trapper has been very busy.
The foes won’t relent.
But at least the pillars are still in good shape.
A litlle reshuffling of traps confuse the enemies.
Is the Trapper overdoing it a little? A Chaos Demon is stunned after having step on a trap and is the target of the archer.
This Earth demon hurls a huge boulder on the pillar and nearly topples it!
Fortunately, time is up, the Core as been attuned. Our job is done!

Closing comments:

  • Close call, we couldn’t have held on much longer I think.
  • The scenario item was on the bottom of the deck unfortunately. That’s annoying, I think we have earned it!
  • This scenario was the first to really made my Trapper shine with his ability to create a massive maze of traps. The monsters AI, as in the rules, make them never willingly step on a trap unless they have no other path. This can be exploited to make them wander around and around…
  • A few ranged attacks got through (and one 2x damage) but not that many.
  • One last scenario (next one) for the Blink Blade for his retirement. Always thrilling to see another character in play.