The Broken Lands - The Undertemple of Arkon

As part of our current online campaign, The Broken Lands, I used an adventure called, "The Undertemple of Arkon" from The Dragon Horde Zine #1.

This isn't a review, but just some random thoughts about the adventure. There will be some spoilers below.

• I would consider this generally to be a fairly vanilla adventure, but was a serviceable piece that fit my need.
• Some room entries were pretty sparse.
• There were one or two good "specials".
• The idea of a huge magical panther being worshipped as a god fit well with the vibe I am going for in the campaign.
• The magic items were boring, but I usually replace most of them anyway.
• Some of the wandering monsters don't necessarily make sense. However, coming up with the rationale for them is part of the fun. Note that, for this campaign, I am reskinning the usual humanoid monsters (goblins, orcs, bugbears, etc) using descriptions which I feel are a bit more sword & sorcery (degenerate pygmy-race, large slavering beast-men, etc)
• I felt the map was pretty good. It had variety in room shapes and sizes, loops of various sizes, and dead-ends (in which the party had an uncanny knack for getting trapped). However, I needed to do a better job of utilizing the loops. Also, there is an "old-school mapper" in the group. Using his map they were able to make educated guesses as to locations of secret rooms.

The Broken Lands - Wandering Monsters

Last session, the party made a short foray back into the Undertemple of Akron. They went in with clear plans to continue exploring past the point they had previously explored in an effort to find, and hopefully kill, the god.

After the last session, I took some time to re-stock a good portion of the dungeon, and redeployed those temple Acolytes that remained. I like that this makes the dungeon feel like a dynamic place.

Shortly, after entering the dungeon the party abandoned their plans to instead investigate signs of changes to the dungeon in areas they've already explored. Near disaster, followed on the heels of that decision - in the form of wandering monsters!

I will be the first to admit that I do a lousy job of tracking resources such as torches, etc. That leaves wandering monsters as the primary provider of tension to making decisions that take in-game time.

"Do we search the whole room for secret doors, just part, or not at all?" The only reason to choose not to search the whole room is the number of wandering monster checks. The threat of wandering monsters means the party will usually look at their map, to figure out likely spots for a secret door and only search there.

To be sure the wandering monsters provides the necessary tension to those decisions, I do not make Reaction Rolls for wandering monsters. They always attack. There always has to be the threat that the wandering monster will consume resources (hit points, spells, etc).

However, I do use morale checks for them as morale provides tactical decision making - the party can take actions that trigger morale checks.

So following the wandering monster check coming up with a "1", the party was trapped in a dead-end room by three large, hairy ape-things with jaundiced, watery-eyes, and slavering tusks, armed with long, heavy spears. A fierce battle ensued and before the three creatures were killed (having passed both morale checks), two of the PCs lay dead on the floor.

Going into the next session the party is deciding if they ask Lassering Thay, the High Priest of Hades, to raise the PCs from the dead (insert evil laugh here).

Posts about The Broken Lands - Hooks vs Play Reports

Nothing creative or insightful, but I find it interesting that the posts with the hooks for The Broken Lands consistently get about twice as many views as the play reports.

The Broken Lands - Current Map

With the party pursuing the first step in their quest to retrieve The Illhiedrin Book, there won't be any additional adventure hooks for a while.

Below is the most recent version of the map for The Broken Lands. It is abstract in terms of scale and does not represent exact locations. Instead it is more about being a visual record of their adventures and exploits and serving as a visual tool to aid in decision making and a reminder of possible unfinished business or adventure hooks.

Additions to the map are made as the party shows interest in various adventure hooks. Before the very first session I roughly knew the locations for the adventure hooks I threw out at that time (Tower of Birds, Monastery of the Iron God and The Tower of Zenopus). For new hooks, I know generally where the adventure will be but don't land on it until the party actually goes there. The party hasn't been to The Hive or Vulture Hill yet, but I placed them on the map from the rumours provided.

I also follow the guideline that the area closer to the Cliffs of Leng are for lower level adventures and the further south one goes the harder the adventures get. Also, more traditional adventures are generally on the east side of the Tartarus Road while more "gonzo" adventures are generally to the west - don't know why, that's just how I'm doing it for now.

The Broken Lands Session 5

Taking it up a notch - to kill a god.

The Party:

• Comtruise the Auditor (Cleric 2)
• Elu the Elf (Elf 1 - Protection from Evil)
• Steefe the Invisible (Halfling 2)
• Jakar (Fighter 2)
• Plus retainers:
• Konill the Medium (Magic-user 1 - Light)
• Dyban the Veteran (Fighter 1)
• Fallin the Veteran (Fighter 1)
• Tallus the Acolyte (Cleric 1)

The Adventure (aka there will be spoilers below; aaka if you’re one of my players don’t snoop through this adventure):
A few backstory bits from The Illhiedrin Book. Alcastra the Fairspoken sent the party to Lassering Thay, the High Priest of Hades in the City of Jekarra. In return for his aid he requested to party to kill the god Akron. For this part I am using The Undertemple of Arkon from The Dragon Horde Zine #1 from New Big Dragon Games with a few changes (including me mispronouncing the name the first time so I just went with it).

What Happened:

• After accepting Alcastra’s Geas, upfront gold, and various magic-items, the party meets with Lassering Thay, High Priest of Hades in the City of Jekarra. He tells them he can provide aid for their quest but first he wants them to enter an ancient shrine carved into the base of the Cliffs of Leng and kill the god Akron.
• Thinking that killing a god would be pretty damn cool but possibly out of their league, the party proceeds down the Tartarus Road and follows Lassering Thay’s directions to the shrine.
• Entering the shrine, the party susses out a stair-slide trap before it causes them any issues.
• In a huge chamber, they find two deep pits - in the larger one they find three emaciated, naked, and unconscious neanderthals and in the smaller one a black panther. Fearful that the panther may jump out, they decide to proceed down one of the many passageways exiting the chamber.
• Next they find an expansive chamber with a large circular symbol painted on the floor filled with arcane markings. Being very careful not to cross into the circle, the party continues to explore the room when three small creatures of a degenerate, swarthy-skinned pygmy race carrying spears come up behind them. The party was careful not to appear threatening (and a very good reaction roll), and the wandering pygmies left them alone.
• Continuing to explore, they came across a number of rooms containing skeletons. Through the Cleric’s turning ability and combat, all of the skeletons encountered were overcome. This allowed the party to find a number of secret doors. The first lead to a small room with a bronze flask full of liquid on top of a short pedestal. Promising Tallus the retainer that he could keep the obviously magical potion in the flask (and a very good reaction roll), he took a sip and died in writhing pain.
• In another secret chamber, the party is spooked by panther shaped shadows lurking on the walls despite there being no objects that would cast such things. Suddenly, a shadow panther jumped off of the wall and attacked! However, the creature was quickly defeated. After the combat the party found a chest full of treasure.
• Thinking the panther they had found in the pit earlier may be the god they were sent to kill, the party developed a plan using the poison they had found and some of their foodstuffs. Returning to the large chamber near the entrance to the undertemple, the party poisoned the great cat. Using lots of rope (and benefiting from a lot of negative wandering monster rolls) they trussed up the panther and hauled it out of the pit and back to the temple of Hades in Jekarra.
• Lassering Thay told the party they were various forms of imbeciles for thinking they could poison a god.

The Tally:
Tallus the Acolyte dead
A poisoned panther
~ 20 skeletons
3,200 gp
A poison potion (used)

What Worked Well/What Didn’t Work Well:
I was happy with this adventure so far.
I’m still knocking the rust off my DM-ing chops. Especially around combat - keeping it interesting and dynamic. I am finding that the online platform and not being able to see everyone is hindering this a bit.

I love this painting

I saw this on Dyson's blog the other day.

Subsequent Adventure Hooks for The Broken Lands Session 5

Having accepted the sorceress Alcastra's Geas:

Presenting the letter you received from the sorceress you are able to obtain an audience with Lassering Thay, the High Priest at the Temple of Hades:

   “Alcastra was correct when she wrote that she feared there was little I could do for you. The location of Elegrain’s tower was a well kept secret while he was alive, and those servitors with him prior to his death never revealed its location. The only person who could possibly tell you is Elegrain himself. While I am not able to tell you where the tower is located, I may be able to help you in this matter in other ways…”

He will give you a map to the Tomb of Elegrain and a clerical scroll with a version of Speak with Dead. However, before he gives you these items he wants either:

A. “Carved into the Cliffs of Leng is an entrance to an ancient shrine. I would like you to enter the shrine and kill the god Akron. Bring me proof of the god’s death and I will give you the map and scroll” or

B. “In the Broken Lands is a narrow entrance to a box canyon. In that canyon is a ruined abbey. In the darkness below that abbey is a pool where the dread Black Lotus blooms. I will give you a silver knife to harvest the Black Lotus blossoms. Bring me three blossoms and I will give you the map and scroll. However, do not touch the blossoms for their touch is death.”

The Broken Lands - Players

There might be room for one or two additional players in our online B/X game - The Broken Lands.

I'm finding the current four players is a good number for an online game, however, it might be nice to have a one or two more to draw on.

It is a very low tech game - we just use Google Hangouts. Every once in a while I might share my screen showing either Google Canvas or a picture. Usually, I just hold something up in front of the camera. Sometimes I point the camera at my dice.

We've been playing at 6:30pm MT on Monday evenings, usually for a couple hours.

If you are interested email me at ode2blackdougal [at] g m a i l [dot] com.

Note that this isn't a sure thing - just something we're considering.

Also a warning, I'm still knocking some of the rust off my DMing and online gaming is making that process take longer. The game is choppy in a few places largely due to me.

Adventure Hooks for The Broken Lands Session 5

Available Adventure Hooks:

1. Continue exploring the cellars under the ruined wizard tower. What the hell are those guys with the cages on their heads? Can you get into the wizard’s tower? There are still a few unexplored passageways to the south.
2. You have met the powerful sorceress Alcastra the Fairspoken: “It has come to my attention that the wizard, Elegrain, who died many years ago possessed a book, the contents of which are beyond your comprehension. The fate of his book is unknown. Given that knowledge of the contents of such a tome would be difficult to keep secret, I assume that it remains hidden in his tower, the exact location of which remains a mystery. I offer 2,000 gp for the delivery of the book. For those willing to accept a Geas to bring this book to me I offer half of the reward upfront as well as the following aid: a weapon of the ancients (a laser pistol: +1 to-hit, 1d12 damage on a 12 the target has to save vs Death Ray or die, range 60-ft, 4 charges), the Wand of Thieves (detect traps and secret doors, 6 charges), a holy scroll (Detect Evil and Resist Fire), an elixir of giant strength (for one round after imbibing you are wracked with horrific pain during which you can’t do anything. After that it acts as a typical potion), and finally a mystical scroll (Annorax’s Black Noxious Cloud - new spell - like cloudkill but has range 60-ft). I have but two suggestions to offer to begin your search. First, the Temple of Hades is where Elegrain’s funeral rites were performed. I have dealt with the High Priest in the past. A letter of introduction from me should enable you to receive an audience and gain whatever information he may possess about the location of the tower. Second, trust no one.”
3. Heralds of the Immortal Omnithrox have made it known throughout the city that the ruler of the Ruby Throne desires adventurers to explore and clear the cellars of a ruined fort in the Broken Lands. This fort once protected the lower reaches of the Tartarus Road but was destroyed during some forgotten battle many generations ago.
4. You have acquired a treasure map. It shows a hidden valley to the east of an ancient stupa on the Tartarus Road. In the hidden valley lies a forgotten ruin. Rumour says this ruin was a stronghold of an ancient vulture cult, but is now inhabited by a degenerate, dark-skinned pygmy race. Who knows what ancient mysteries and treasures await discovery?
5. You’ve overheard a group of adventurers planning a foray into the Broken Lands. They were trying to be circumspect in their talking, however, it sounded like they were going to investigate the Hive. The Hive is west of the Dragon’s Teeth which can be seen from the Tartarus Road.

Other News/Rumours/Things to Think About:

• What were those creepy dudes with the cages on their heads?
• A group of about a dozen silent, red-robed monks passed through the Black Gate and down the Tartarus Road a few days ago.
• What exactly is the Blood Egg?

Draft Adventure - Crypt of Llatai

Draft - Crypt of Llatai

I have stolen ideas from a few places for this short adventure.

• Original name, concept and introduction from Scott Driver's World of Thool play-by-post Tunnels  & Trolls game;
• Most of the map and a few ideas in the adventure from Dyson Logos; and
• I'm sure a few other things I'm forgetting right now.

It is still draft. I still want to add the Rival Adventuring Party, but that might not happen until I have a chance to run it. Also, it is unplaytested.

Let me know any thoughts, play reports, typos caught, formatting issues, problems with the link, etc. It's the first time I've done this. It was fun.

The Broken Lands Session 4

To kill a spider.

The Party:
Comtruise the Auditor (Cleric 1)
Elu (Elf 1 - Protection from Evil)
Steefe (Halfling 1)
Jakar (Fighter 1)
Plus retainers:
Father Mug (Cleric 2)
Konill the Medium (Magic-user 1 - Light)
Dyban the Veteran (Fighter 1)
Rufus the Black (NM)
Gangagor the Portly Porter (NM)

The Adventure (aka there will be spoilers below; aaka if you’re one of my players don't read these):

• Continuation of a slightly modified Tower of Zenopus.
• The Vault of the Whisperer (from Black Pudding #2) as a sub-level accessed at the end of the passage going north in the north-west part of the map. Note I excised the rat tunnels.

What Happened:

• With the larger roster of characters, the party sets off through Jekarra on their way back to the cellars and catacombs below the ruined wizard tower. On the way they encounter a merchant whose slaves are rolling barrels full of torch oil. One of the barrels got away from a slave but they were able to get it back under control before any disaster but not before earning a beating.
• With all haste, the party makes a beeline for the room with the Giant Spider. However, being a bit loose of tongue in their tactical planning and taking a bit too much liberty in their expectations of their porters’ duties Gangagor the Portly Porter fails a morale check and flees. Steefe the halfling grabs the Portly Porter's arm but then gets pulled down the hallway like water skiing behind a boat.
• Having developed their plan of attack, the party kicks open the door. Elu the Elf then abandons the plan and goes running into the room. However, the timely use of Konill’s Light spell on the Spider’s many eyes and missile attacks leads to quick victory! Searching the room they find a dagger.
• Having dealt with the spider, the party decides to investigate the passageway to the north seeing it leads to the “monster with many teeth” mentioned by Grith the Sorcerer.
• They come to a large locked stone door on which is scrawled “It whispers within”. Next to the door is a barrel. Removing the lid, the party is attacked by a Barrel Snail! Deploying many flasks of oil reduces the barrel and the creature within to a burnt heap. They find a key in the burnt wreckage.
• Passing the locked door, they find a room with two statues and a door on the opposite wall. Thoroughly searching the statues and lots of trial and error allows the party to find a secret door on the west wall.
• Proceeding down the secret passageway, the party finds a small shrine with a faded mural of a sad girl. Messing with the painting eventually leads to Father Mug being strangled to death by a pair of invisible hands.
• At the end of the secret passage, the party discovers that the dead-end wall sounds hollow. Breaking through the wall they release a poison gas which (rolling on the Death & Dismemberment table) leads to Elu being knocked unconscious for a while. In the wreckage of the wall they find a strange sword. On the other side of the newly created hole in the wall the party sees a wrecked room that makes them decide this place is just too creepy.
• Retreating back to the room with the two statues, the party decides to check out one more room (famous last words). Opening the door on the north wall, the party is attacked by five humanoids with weird cages on their heads. Deciding “one more room” was stupid, the party quickly flees the Vault of the Whisperer.

The Tally:

• Father Mug and his cure light wounds spell
• Killed a Giant Spider
• Found a weird magic sword dripping with acidic ooze and a magic dagger.

What Worked Well/What Didn’t Work Well:

• First use of a random encounter in the city. I used Matt Finch’s City Encounters and ad libbed a bit. I really thought the party would try to steal a barrel of oil.
• Given how the players were talking I did NOT expect them to head to the Vault of the Whisperer so I was caught a bit unprepared.
• The use of more retainers paid off in terms of survivability.
• The Vault of the Whisperer really creeped the players out.
• The party has asked for me to refresh some of the adventure hooks for next time.
• That’s two sessions with very little treasure.

Adventure Hooks for The Broken Lands Session #4

Available Adventure Hooks:

1. Continue exploring the cellars under the ruined wizard tower.
• Grith the Sorcerer mentioned a locked door and a monster with many teeth to the northwest. If he would pay for a tooth surely other wizards would as well.
• What is beyond the Giant Spider?
• Can you get into the wizard’s tower?
• There are still a few unexplored passageways.
2. Emmiss Sladentail has again left word that his patron, the powerful sorceress Alcastra the Fairspoken, is interested in hiring your party to recover an item from the Broken Lands. Emmiss can be found at the Scarlet Moon Inn.
3. Gallagorgon the Man-Bull, ancient and mighty progeny of the Immortal Omnithrox, desires that there be brought unto him an intact Penanggalan, a ghoul-maid of beauteous aspect and unspeakable thirsts. Those who bring the Man-Bull his prize will be granted an incredible boon -- a full day and night, dawn to next dawn, of unthinkable debauchery within his Pleasure Ziggurat. It is said that a Penanggalan, as well as other unwholesome things, haunt the Crypt of Llatai, though it goes without saying that such details are the sole concern of the boon-seeker. The Man-Bull cares not.
4. A young bravo has been asking about you, and isn’t afraid to spend a few coins to track you down. His name is Hriseit. He is affiliated with one of the Maze’s street gangs, the Knife Twisters, an ambitious young band of alleybashers and freelance thieves. The Knives are looking to expand their ranks, and will pay hard gold for talented bravos and wizardlings. The gang is led by the self-styled King Korvul.

Other News/Rumours/Things to Think About:

• A mortally wounded retainer of an adventuring party called the Company Phangasmic, was found at the foot of the Tartarus Road. He was babbling about the Company being slaughtered by a group of bandits wearing gold armour. with his final breath, the retainer told one of the guards of the Black Towers that the Company was waylaid while on their way to investigate the Hive which is to the west of the Dragon’s Teeth in the Broken Lands.
• An adventuring party was overheard at the Drunken Cockatrice bragging about overcoming a number of grey goblins and claiming vast treasures at the Monastery of the Iron God. They were drunken braggarts so the claims of seeing a massive tentacled brain in a container of glass should not be believed.
• What exactly is the Blood Egg?

The Broken Lands Session 3

Return to the cellars and crypts below a ruined wizard tower along the Road of Tombs.

The Party:

• Vanuatu the Vegan (Magic-User 2 - now with Sleep and Charm Person)
• Elu (Elf 1)
• Steefe (Halfling 1)
• Plus an NPC retainer - Father Mug (Cleric 2 - from Black Pudding #1)
• Comtruise the Auditor (Cleric 1) is added for the second trip (replacement PC)
• For the second trip into the dungeon, the party hired a decrepit porter with a pronounced limp named Ire. The party deemed him perfect for the job as his limp made him the slowest.

The Adventure (aka there will be spoilers below):
Continuation of a slightly modified Tower of Zenopus.

What Happened:

• Consulting the map, the party decides to continue exploring to the northwest, beyond the partially collapsed room where they found treasure in the sarcophagi.
• Soon they encounter 2 Fire Beetles with vicious bites. One takes Elu down to 1 hp before they are dispatched. Unfortunately, Father Mug is bitten while trying to cast Cure Light Wounds ruining his spell.
• Reorganizing their marching order to protect Elu, the party decides to push on.
• Upon entering a new room, a giant spider drops from the ceiling. Rushing to slam the door shut between them and the poisonous monster, the party loses initiative. Vanuatu (who as a level 2 Magic-user with a good Con bonus now has the highest hit point total), is now in the front and goes down to the poisonous bite of the monster.
• Retracing their steps back to the entrance, the party encounters 7 scrawny, knee high humanoids whose features combine those of an old man and a rat in the partially collapsed room (taken from the most recent Nightwick Abbey release through Evan’s Patreon - I’m using these to replace the goblins in the adventure). A favourable reaction roll had the little creatures back away carefully and allow the party to pass unmolested.
• The party returns to town to heal and add another PC.
• Going through Vanuatu’s personal effects, Elu finds the large gem (the Blood Egg) and now it is his precious.
• Returning to the dungeon, the party develops a plan to deal with the giant spider. After stalking up on torches and flasks of oil, the party studies the map and decides to approach from a different direction and try to burn it out. Unfortunately, using their rough map they didn’t realize that the distance to the room with the spider was much greater than anticipated and that another room was in between.
• Entering this unexpected room, the party encounters over a dozen of the small wrinkled rat men encountered earlier. The party flees lighting a pool of oil  behind them to discourage pursuit.
• The party then encounters Grith the Sorcerer and his bodyguard in a workroom. Parleying, Girth invites them to share any knowledge about the dungeon that they acquire. Also, he offers them a reward if they are able to bring him a large tooth from a monster located somewhere to the northwest telling them, “they will know which monster when they see it.”
• Deciding not to mess with the Sorcerer, they take their leave and continue exploring until they encounter a giant snake in what is obviously the lower level of a tower. Quickly evading a fight with another poisonous monster, the party decides to try to tackle the tower from the surface level.
• Unable to breakdown the front door, they throw a rope and hook to the roof. Elu climbs up and, through a narrow window, spies Grith the Sorcerer returned to his tower. Continuing to the roof, Elu finds a trapdoor providing access to the top floor. However, opening it produces a terribly audible squeal from the rusty hinges that alerts Grith to possible intruders. Fleeing back down the rope, Elu narrowly avoids a conical blast from a wand wielded by Grith from a second storey window as the sorcerer screams at them for being thieves. The party then flees back to Jekarra.

The Tally:

• Vanuatu the Vegan, who just became a level 2 Magic-user, is dead (3rd PC death).
• Killed 2 fire beetles and took their red-glowing glands.

What Worked Well/What Didn’t Work Well:

• While this session was not as successful from a character longevity or monetary perspective as the previous sessions, this one was a lot of fun. To me it had more of the sword & sorcery, picaresque feel. It would have been nice if Vanuatu made his saving throw vs poison.
• I love reaction rolls! A good roll with Grith the Sorcerer leads to an interesting roleplaying encounter and possible adventure hooks. And then another roll leads to a narrow escape for the party.
• I know that some people find mapping a pain. However, they make the game much more fun as an aid in decision making.
• I’ve talked to the players about hiring more retainers.

Adventure Hooks for The Broken Lands Session #3

Sent by email to the players prior to Session #3...
Available Adventure Hooks:

1. Continue exploring the cellars under the ruined wizard tower.
2. You’ve been hearing rumours of a strange event near the bottom of the Tartarus Road. About two months ago, lightning filled the skies over a monastery dedicated to the Iron God. Rumours say all the buildings of the temple were destroyed in one night by hundreds of bolts of lightning. Some say that the Iron God destroyed his own monks as a punishment for their greed; they claim that the heretical monks had been accumulating great treasures in the underground catacombs beneath the temple instead of maintaining the spartan life required by their God. So far, no one has dared to explore the catacombs, so the monks’ ill-gotten treasures must still be there, ripe for the taking. 
3. Emmiss Sladentail has again left word that his patron, the powerful sorceress Alcastra the Fairspoken, is interested in hiring your party to recover an item from the Broken Lands. Emmiss can be found at the Scarlet Moon Inn.
4. Gallagorgon the Man-Bull, ancient and mighty progeny of the Immortal Omnithrox, desires that there be brought unto him an intact Penanggalan, a ghoul-maid of beauteous aspect and unspeakable thirsts. Those who bring the Man-Bull his prize will be granted an incredible boon -- a full day and night, dawn to next dawn, of unthinkable debauchery within his Pleasure Ziggurat. It is said that a Penanggalan, as well as other unwholesome things, haunt the Crypt of Llatai, though it goes without saying that such details are the sole concern of the boon-seeker. The Man-Bull cares not.
5. A young bravo has been asking about you, and isn’t afraid to spend a few coins to track you down. His name is Hriseit. He is affiliated with one of Jekarra’s gangs...

Other News/Rumours:

• Life in Jekarra is always hard - especially for those that make the Maze their home. Unfortunately, a street corner preacher who has been at the same spot in the Maze everyday for years has recently vanished.
• An adventuring party, the Doombringers, was slaughtered by a group of bandits wearing gold armour out to the west of the Dragon’s Teeth.
• One of the Troll-Seers (you know, the ones that tell the future by reading their own intestines that they spill on the table…) ran out of the chapterhouse of The Seers, Soothsayers, Fortune Tellers, and Wainwrights Guild (SSFTW #432)  screaming about some impending doom about to befall the city and fell over dead in the middle of the street. Its guts were all over the place.

============

The Party decided to return to the cellars and crypts under the ruined wizard tower (Option #1)

The Broken Lands Session 2

The greedy adventures saw opportunity in raiding the cellars and crypts below a ruined wizard tower along the Road of Tombs.

The Party:

• Vanuatu the Vegan (Magic-User 1)
• Elu (Elf 1)
• Steefe (Halfling 1)
• Barak (Fighter 1) - I think I may have this name wrong
• Plus a retainer - Father Mug (Cleric 2 - from Black Pudding #1)

The Adventure (aka there will be spoilers below):

The Tower of Zenopus from Holmes Basic. I am: 1) making some cosmetic changes; 2) adding a sublevel accessed by the hallway going north in the top-left corner of the map; and 3) Since this is no longer located on a body of water, the sea caverns will be changed.

What Happened:

• Before adventuring, Van decides that there is no way he would be willing to sell the huge gem, the Blood Egg, that they pillaged on their last adventure. They then hire Father Mug as a retainer.
• Descending the stairs into the cellars below, the party heads south at an intersection - using the always turn left mode. They enter a chamber and quickly overcome 4 skeletons.
• They proceed through an empty room and enter a gloomy room with piles of rocks and rubbish. They defeat 3 giant rats and then find a silver dagger and a bag containing 50 ep.
• Cautiously exploring a hallway going north they are surprised by two ghouls that attack them from the rear (a wandering monster). Father Mug failed his turn attempt, but the ghouls are defeated thanks to the halfling’s low AC and the elf’s immunity to ghoul paralysis.
• Proceeding into the next room, the party finds two more ghouls gnawing on bones from smashed coffins. Again, Father Mug fails his turn attempt but the ghouls are defeated with abundant missile attacks.
• The party next explores a huge room where the northern wall has collapsed scattering stone sarcophagi into the room. Ransacking the sarcophagi, the party first deals with poison gas, an animated skeleton, and then an animated sword. They find a magic sword, a golden coronet, and jewelry.
• Deciding that this was a good haul they decided to head back to Jekarra.
• Taking the magic sword to a sage they learn that it is Bittercut - a sword forged from the tears from a forgotten goddess.

The Tally:

• Killed/overcame 4 skeletons, 3 giant rats, 4 ghouls, and an animated sword.
• Valuable jewelry
• Bittercut the magic sword (yoiked from Black Pudding #1)
• Vanuatu the Vegan advances to 2nd level!

What Worked Well/What Didn’t Work Well:

• The old school practice of map keeping is working well - one of the players is keeping a rough map. During this session it helped them modestly by planning the quickest escape route (thus limiting wandering monster checks) once they decided to head back to the city. However, in session 3 it became quite valuable for decision making.
• Wandering monsters are working well - I just used the tables on page B53. They provided uncertainty and tension. The fact that they resulted in ghouls just before a keyed room with ghouls was just a nice coincidence.
• I replaced the magic +1 sword with something that has a bit more mystery/backstory/interest (but in the hands of PC's not much of a mechanical impact. Go get Black Pudding if you haven't already!)
• I made a mistake on the conversion of types of coin to gp for experience point calculations. For some reason I couldn't find the table on page B47 at the time. We rectified it by the end, but I told the players not to revised their XP reward (I over awarded them).
• I am using reaction rolls to determine who and how many retainers can be hired at any time. However, I think that the players aren't aware of my mental process when we roll so I may have to walk them though it. This really impacts session #3.

Isle of Dread Point Crawl

I took 10 minutes the other day and traced out the map of the Isle of Dread and quickly drew out how it might look as a point crawl. I'm not too sure how this would work, but I'm finding it to be an interesting thought exercise.

Adventure Hooks for Broken Lands Session #2

Sent by email to the players prior to Session #2...

Available Adventure Hooks:

1. Either Elu or Vanuatu may attempt to take the Oath of Vengeance and seek to exterminate the vicious Bird-Men who so cruelly butchered your friends Buz and Twig.
2. You’ve been hearing rumours of a strange event near the bottom of the Tartarus Road. About two months ago, lightning filled the skies over a monastery dedicated to the Iron God. Rumours say all the buildings of the temple were destroyed in one night by hundreds of bolts of lightning. Some say that the Iron God destroyed his own monks as a punishment for their greed; they claim that the heretical monks had been accumulating great treasures in the underground catacombs beneath the temple instead of maintaining the spartan life required by their God. So far, no one has dared to explore the catacombs, so the monks’ ill-gotten treasures must still be there, ripe for the taking.
3. Long ago a wizard built a tower atop some barrows overlooking the Road of Tombs. Rumour has it the wizard made extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower in search of ancient treasures. Fifty years ago the tower was engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their master had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower. The supernatural conflagration destroyed the tower, but rumours persist of magical treasures still hidden in the cellars.
4. Word has gotten back to you that a man named Emmiss Sladentail is looking for you with a job offer on behalf of his benefactor who is supposedly a powerful wizard. Emmiss has left word that he can be found at the Scarlet Moon Inn.
5. Gallagorgon the Man-Bull, ancient and mighty progeny of the Immortal Omnithrox, desires that there be brought unto him an intact Penanggalan, a ghoul-maid of beauteous aspect and unspeakable thirsts. Those who bring the Man-Bull his prize will be granted an incredible boon -- a full day and night, dawn to next dawn, of unthinkable debauchery within his Pleasure Ziggurat. It is said that a Penanggalan, as well as other unwholesome things, haunt the Crypt of Llatai, though it goes without saying that such details are the sole concern of the boon-seeker. The Man-Bull cares not.

Other News/Rumours:

• An adventuring party, the Doombringers, was slaughtered by a group of bandits wearing gold armour out to the west of the Dragon’s Teeth.
• One of the Troll-Seers (you know, the ones that tell the future by reading their own intestines that they spill on the table…) ran out of the chapterhouse of The Seers, Soothsayers, Fortune Tellers, and Wainwrights Guild (SSFTW #432)  screaming about some impending doom about to befall the city and fell over dead in the middle of the street. Its guts were all over the place.

========

Bonus old-school cred points to those that can tell me in which adventure Emmiss Sladentail can be found.

(without googling it)

The Broken Lands Session 1

We had our first session of the online Broken Lands game a while ago. Picking from the list of Adventure Hooks that had been provided the party set off for the Tower of Birds.

The Party:
Vanuatu the Vegan (Magic-User 1)
Twig (Thief 1)
Elu (Elf 1)
Buzz (Dwarf 1)
Plus two porters to carry torches and caged chickens in and hopefully treasure out.

The Adventure (aka there will be light spoilers below):
Tower of Birds by Gabor Lux in Fight On! #2
I made a few minor changes - statuary was changed to being statues of Pazuzu and I added Spectral Ravens to location #9 and toned down the laser damage (however, the party never made it to this room).
I also mis-read the map and swapped locations #7 and #8.

What Happened:
The party was dogged in driving towards the top of the tower driving a squawking and flapping chicken in front of them up the stairs (in most dungeons this would have resulted in MANY wandering monster checks).

In the final encounter Twig, the thief, sprinted for the huge gem while the other party members battled the Bird Monsters. He was able to grab it and throw it to Vanuatu the Magic-user (who was back at the stairs) before being slaughtered by the Bird Monsters (he had the magic sword and pegasus helmet). Buzz the Dwarf was also killed. Elu the Elf and Vanuatu (scooping up the gem) made a hasty tactical retreat and hauled ass after the fleeing porters (leaving behind the chickens).

The Tally:
Killed 2 Bird Monsters
The Blood Egg
A sword with a golden pommel
A small statuette of Pazuzu
A small sack with 34 gp
The pegasus helmet and a magic sword remained behind with the fallen.

2,035 XP for the two surviving party members.

What Worked Well/What Didn’t Work Well:
I tried to set up two cameras on my end - one for my face and my viewing (my laptop) and one to show the table, combat maps, drawings, etc. (my phone). However, my lack of technical know-how prevented me effectively setting this up. We defaulted to me just swinging my laptop around to show what I wanted. Also, instead of using the table map I just sketched a lot on scrap paper and held them up to the camera.

Prior to setting out, one of the players asked about a library to do some research about the Tower. I was unhappy with how I handled it.

B/X Sages and Libraries

In a recent online game one of the players asked about a library to do some research regarding an adventure hook. I gave a quick answer to keep the game moving, but was unhappy about how I handled it.

Afterwards, I was thinking about how to handle this circumstance. Going forward, I think I will handle it in one of two ways: 1) The simplest way - there are no accessible libraries. They all belong to sages who obsessively guard access; or 2) If there is a library it provides the same service as a sage but the players have to do the work without the benefit of the expertise and knowledge of a sage to help them.

Using the very brief blurb about sages on page X21 as a starting point, below are some quick (un-play tested) rules I came up with for Sages and Libraries.

The Scope of Work
Ask the question(s) you want answered. The number of words in the question(s) will determine how much it will cost and how long it will take to answer. For each word, there will be a base cost of 100gp and 1 day. Each additional question will add +1 to the word count (in effect putting an “and” in the question). The number of words is a quick and dirty estimate for the level of detail in the question and answer. If using a library instead of a sage, the time is doubled but costs are halved.

• For example, asking a sage, “Where is the blade of the sword of Akekemmon? How can it be fixed?” is 14 words plus 1 for the additional question is 15. These questions will have a base cost of 1,500 gp and take 15 days to get an answer. The same questions at a library will cost 750 gp but take 30 days.

Or you can hire a sage on retainer for 2,000 gp per month. 

And the Answer Is…

Roll 2d6:
2 - Incorrect answer (insert evil laugh).
3-5 - Question answered but at twice the cost and time.
6-8 - Question answered at base cost and time.
9-11 - Question answered. Cost and time are 75% of base.
12 - Answer plus another related fact. Cost and time halved.

If you have the sage on retainer the roll is still made for time required. The DM can determine if the cost varies based on the die roll (additional materials required, sage travel expenses, etc.)

Possible Modifiers:
Sage specialty or library facilities: Up to +2/-2
Difficulty/Obscurity of Question: Up to +2/-2

Note: I have the sneaking suspicion that I have read something resembling this in the past. My apologies for not being able to properly attribute this to whomever it was that provided the inspiration.

The Octozoid

A combination new BX monster and Stupid Art post! Not so hot in the grammar department, but oh well.

The Broken Lands

With our Nightmoor Abbey game going on hiatus, I decided to try running an online BX game for the same crew. I didn't want to run Nightmoor Abbey as for some strange personal reasons I want to play it at the table. Therefore, I sent the following to the players...

Goal: A picaresque, episodic, beer-n-pretzels game

• Using Google Hangouts
• Designed to let me use a bunch of classic and OSR modules
• There will always be 2-4 adventure hooks available to choose from (initial 3 below)
• A few house rules
• Dice rolls are honour system. I will try to roll the DM dice on the camera.

Characters:

• 3d6 in order
• Any class/race for BX or Labyrinth Lord is usable (just run it by me first so I know the source)

The Broken Lands

Welcome to Jekarra the Wicked, the city of thieves, the city of adventure. Throughout the known world, no city is half so notorious. Blackened by fire, soiled by pestilence, and scarred by war, its sandy collection of spiderwebbed tenements and rat-ridden bazaars have birthed some of the worst rogues and villains to ever stalk the storied thrones of the south.

But the City of Thieves, is also a city of chance and adventure, where fortunes are won in a night and lost before dawn. Where gems glint and flare in the lamplight, the might of magic knows no bounds, and a warrior's quick blade and shirt of mail are his best defense. The City of Jekarra sits atop the Cliffs of Leng. The huge 1,000-foot cliff face is pocked with caves, balconies and passageways - some made by the residents of Jekarra over the centuries for uses both mundane and illicit and some predate the founding of the city by millenia.

Cutting across the face of the Cliffs of Leng, the Tartarus Road descends from the city to the Broken Lands below. What caused the terrible landscape of the Broken Lands none know. It is a blasted and forsaken land full of pits, ruins, and dungeons. Wandering this inhospitable land are fearsome monsters, religious fanatics, savage raiders, and worse. However, it is also rumoured to contain treasures beyond measure.

So loosen your sword, keep a hand on your coin pouch, and take these first steps out of the tavern, and through the shadowy, torch-lit streets. A black mist is roiling beyond the precipice of the Leng, and adventure beckons below…

Initial Adventure Hooks:

1. Gerod, the Silver Man, sold you a map for 1 sp. He swore it will lead you to the Tower of Birds in the Broken Lands which contains the Blood Egg, a fantastic red gem.
2. You’ve been hearing rumours of a strange event near the bottom of the Tartarus Road. About two months ago, lightning filled the skies over a monastery dedicated to the Iron God. Rumours say all the buildings of the temple were destroyed in one night by hundreds of bolts of lightning. Some say that the Iron God destroyed his own monks as a punishment for their greed; they claim that the heretical monks had been accumulating great treasures in the underground catacombs beneath the temple instead of maintaining the spartan life required by their God. So far, no one has dared to explore the catacombs, so the monks’ ill-gotten treasures must still be there, ripe for the taking.
3. Long ago a wizard built a tower atop some barrows just south of the Red Massif overlooking the Road of Tombs. Rumour has it the wizard made extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower in search of ancient treasures. Fifty years ago the tower was engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their master had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower. The supernatural conflagration destroyed the tower, but tales persist of magical treasures still hidden in the cellars.

Many will likely recognize the hooks.

Stupid Art - Orcs

Nightmoor Abbey - Session 2 postponed

Due to recommended social distancing we decided to shelve this past week's Nightmoor Abbey game. Unfortunately, it will likely be on hiatus for a while.

Nightmoor Abbey - Session 1

How do you do this again?

We sat down for the first session of Nightmoor Abbey a few evenings ago. The first while was taken up with character generation which took a good while, as I knew it would. It has been quite some time since any of us had played 1E AD&D. Once characters were created we had a party made of:

• Miroslav - Human Cleric of Law
• Kazimir - Human Cleric of Law, brother of Miroslav
• Thane - Human pagan Ranger
• Thessia - Human Druid, sister of Thane
• Sir Saptac - Human Paladin
• Zi-bert - Frogling Fighter/Thief

What happened

• After collecting a handful of rumours, the party approached the ruined walled abbey from the north (the direction of approach from the village of Nightmoor). Laying between them and the crumbling walls was an old graveyard with tombstones and a small mausoleum overgrown with vines, weeds and other growth.
• Carefully investigating the mausoleum they found a sealed stone sarcophagus. Careful to leave the sarcophagus alone they discovered a narrow well in the back of the mausoleum that descended into darkness.
• Zi-bert used the vines covering the walls surrounding the abbey to climb up and reconnoissance the area inside. The walls made a large rectangle with ruined towers at the four corners and a gate house occupied the center of the eastern wall. The thorny vines left his webbed hands raw and inflamed.
• Seeing nothing too worrying, Zi-bert returned to the party and the group circled around to the east where the gatehouse and a crumbled section of wall provided two avenues through which to enter the abbey grounds proper.
• In the abbey grounds were the large stone cathedral, another well, and the old remains of a wooden stable. The cathedral was obviously once a large structure but much of it had fallen into ruin but had bits of surprising restoration. Dropping a lit torch down the well, it fell approximately 30-40 feet and landed with a hiss in water. However, they thought that the well shaft might open up before reaching the water.
• Next checking out the old stable, Thane the Ranger caught the sent of a bear den. They were careful not to disturb anything that might be laired within.
• Circling to the south of the cathedral, they found the main entrance - two large iron bound doors that appeared to be more recent additions.
• As the party prepared to open the doors a wandering monster check indicated that the black bear in the old stable was approaching. Thinking fast, Thane the Ranger was able to scare the bear off.
• Entering the cathedral, the party found themselves in the nave and choir. Graffiti covered the walls and one written message caught the party's attention - "Beware of spiders". On the desecrated altar was a severed half rotten goat head and two spent black candles. Laying on the floor in front of the altar was a severed hand. The Cleric brothers tried a simple ritual to reconsecrate the altar. Investigating the altar further the thief found a hidden compartment and discovered that it was likely trapped. He was then able to safely trigger the scythe trap that likely left the five-fingered memento laying on the floor. Inside the hidden compartment was a small sack of gold coins.
• Investigating a few more rooms, the party took notice of a graffiti

  

  Graffiti Symbol

   symbol and the party was attacked by 3 giant rats which were quickly killed.
• The party then found an archway leading to stairs descending down to the first level of the dungeon. Me not being afraid of cliche, the message "Abandon all hope" was scrawled above arch. This is where we called it a night.

The tally

• Killed 3 giant rats
• Scared off 1 black bear
• A small sack of 50 gp.

What worked / what didn't work

• I'm pretty happy with how the first session went. We were rusty and unfamiliar with some of the intricacies of 1E AD&D since we haven't played it in so long. This caused pacing to be a bit slower than I would prefer but it will pick up as we get more familiar with the rules.
• I used a reaction roll to see what the Black Bear did when Thane tried to scare it off. I love reaction rolls. However, and I am likely going to say this a lot, I prefer the simplicity of the Reaction rules in B/X to 1E or 2E AD&D. That being said, it worked well, rewarded Thane's player for some quick thinking, and likely saved the party from a tough fight. 
• We only had the one combat. I envision the first few combats taking a while as we walk through the procedures and my interpretation of how the rules will be applied. For the combat against the giant rats we walked through:
• Closing to Strike - DMG pg 66
• Initiative Ties - DMG pg 63
• Who Attacks Whom - DMG pg 70
• Missile Discharge - DMG pg 63 - specifically firing missiles into melee
• We did Surprise wrong which I will have to correct next session.

Nightmoor Abbey Level 1 Saturday Night Specials

Using the Megadungeon - Random Area Name Generator, the area names from the Diablo games, and game reports from In Places Deep as inspiration below are the names of the "Specials" on level 1 of my Nightmoor Abbey Dungeon.

Level 1 has 108 rooms and I used the B/X dungeon stocking method. Therefore, I knew I had to come up with ~18 "Specials". My stocking spreadsheet only required 16.

• Hidden Shrine of St. Gax
• Thrones of Deviltry
• The Red Chapel
• The Hall of Forbidden Tapestries
• The Map Room
• The Tombs of Silence
• The Lady's Lounge
• The Lost Lounge of Black Magic
• Cells of the Damned
• The Butcher's Abattoir
• The Chamber of the Black Pyramid
• The Golden Skull
• The Demon Hole
• Cave of the Brass Face
• Chaotic Chamber of Purple Eyes
• The Chambers of Bone

Nightmoor Abbey Wandering Monster Table Level 1

I'm about to begin a new megadungeon campaign with K-slacker and some guys he's been playing with for a while. I'm calling it Nightmoor Abbey and it is heavily based on Evan's Nightwick  Abbey from In Places Deep. I'm also leaning heavily on Diablo and Spellbook Games' Journey through Malebolge (which, I believe, is a completed and expanded version of Judges Guild's Inferno). Another thing I am looking at is pulling in some of Warhammer Fantasy's Doomstones and/or Enemy Within for when they leave the Abbey.

The dungeon map is derived from the geomorphs at Dave's Mapper and stocked largely using spreadsheets with random number generators and the Semi-Random Megadungeon "Saturday Night Special" Using Existing Resources from Planet Algol.

One of the trickiest and funnest parts of doing this has been developing the history (as mentioned above I am largely stealing this) and developing ways to pass this history on to the players through play. For this I've been leaning on a post from the Angry GM and the processes and presentations in Dwimmermount.

Oh, and we're using 1E AD&D (with a few minor house rules - no elves as PCs, the addition of the frogling race, adding a usable Bard class, and simplifying the alignments down to the B/X three). I threw out the idea of using B/X, but some of the players were pretty adamant in their preference for race + class. Anyway, I've had a bit of a hankering to see how much of the 1E AD&D combat procedures I can actually use. I know the players are going to dislike the random determination of targets hit in combat.

Below is the wandering monster table for Level 1 of demon-haunted dungeon below Nightmoor Abbey.

March 9th should be B/X Appreciation Day

Just sayin'...