Session 001 Play Report
May 20, 2017 0:18:56 GMT -5
Admin Pete, The Semi-Retired Gamer, and 4 more like this
Post by bravewolf on May 20, 2017 0:18:56 GMT -5
Campaign: Arduous Adventures in the Kingdom of Arduin
Rule Sets: AD&D 1e - PHB, DMG, MMI&2; Arduin Trilogy & Vol. IV for additional classes, races, special abilities, & gear.
Setting: Kingdom of Arduin & Stonehell Megadungeon
The Crew:
Skip: Connor McGill, a dual-class human F1/M-U 2 by way of Earth (another campaign) plus his Irish wolfhound Dog; porter hireling Sylvie; and henchman human F1 Günther.
Adam: Grarl, trollborn F1 with demoniac ancestry. Comes from a city well north of Arduin.
Tim: Wayne, a human C1. Exceedingly good with animals.
Session 1 Recap
Skip has a couple of 1st-level AD&D-Arduin PCs, but really wanted to sic his Lamentations of the Flame Princess PC on Arduin, so I worked McGill in. It went something like this:
McGill had just finished directing the erection of defenses surrounding the Infinite Tower (from Better than Any Man), wherein he had taken up residence. After heading to his chambers for a rest, McGill was woken by moderate shaking of his bed and somebody calling his name. Günther and Sylvie informed McGill that the Tower was under attack. They headed down the spiral stairs to assess the attackers as their edifice vibrated and boomed.
Outside were about 150 Swedish soldiers and two heavy cannon. Brief parley revealed that the Swedish army was expunging all sorcerous phenomena from Bavaria & the Infinite Tower was its current objective. McGill asked for time to consider terms of surrender; the Swedes granted McGill an hour.
McGill’s retinue set about packing for a hasty retreat. McGill and Sylvie started down the spiral staircase with the crew’s chest of valuables, with Günther and Dog following behind. The Tower groaned and shuddered all the while. The trip downstairs was taking longer than it should, even with a heavy load. In fact, the quartet felt as though they were trudging upstairs, not down.
Grarl and Wayne had traveled, each separately and for their own reasons, to the Kings Rest Inn. The three-star roadhouse is a little east of the town of Pavane in the Kingdom of Arduin. While supping and gossiping in the common dining room, the youthful adventurers took note of one Aeline’s tales. They listened closely, for Aeline was a noted explorer-turned dungeon broker; her advice on locating abandoned holes and ruins was seldom less than lucrative for the enterprising adventurer.
Most of her talk this evening focused on the nearby ruin of Stonehell, a long-derelict prison that its very inmates hewed from the mountains some 200 years ago. What was more, Stonehell is naught but 2 hours’ walk from the Inn. Grarl and Wayne paid Aeline a fair sum of gold sovereigns to take them to the place. Aeline agreed and they set out the next morning.
On the way to Stonehell, Aeline remarked on a stone duck north of their road. “That marker there IDs a path up to where local children go play,” said Aeline. “Sometimes they bring back weird stuff.” Grarl and Wayne were nonplussed and simply continued onward.
Stonehell is in a box canyon guarded by a curtain wall dubbed, “The Gates of Hell.” Aeline chose a breach in the wall and led fighter and cleric through to the meadow canyon floor beyond. The explorer limped along, pointing out the cliff side dens of wolf, mountain lion, and Coal, the black bear “totem” of many explorers. At last, Aeline brought the duo to the prison entrance. Within, the group encountered a masonry spiral stair that led downward into Stonehell’s bowels.
“So, what’s down there?” Wayne asked.
“Yeah, is there anything good down there?” Grarl rumbled.
Aeline nodded, “Sure, capable groups bring out a fair amount of treasure all the time…” The guide was interrupted by grunting and muffled conversation coming from the stairwell. Moments later, McGill and company walked upstairs into view carrying their war chest.
“Case in point!” Aeline exclaimed.
McGill and company introduced themselves to Wayne, Grarl, and Aeline, asked what they were doing. Wayne and Grarl explained that they were considering an exploration of the old prison Stonehell. Noticing the wooden chest that McGill’s team had with them, the Arduinian natives asked what McGill had seen in Stonehell. McGill explained that they hadn't been in Stonehell, but a tower in Bavaria. He offered to join his crew with Grarl and Wayne to explore the ruins, on condition that Grarl and Wayne showed them to town so that McGill could deposit his valuables and outfit the group. They agreed that it was a good plan.
Before heading to Pavane, Wayne decided to test his animal magnetism on Coal, the black bear residing near Stonehell. The pair hit it off well enough that the party was able to scour Coal’s den for loot. Their return was a paltry 64 coppers, a weatherproof cloak, and wool mittens.
I should point out that while Arduinian is a flowery language like French, the underlying grammatical structure is nearly identical to our Irish language. Hence, McGill’s speech was comprehensible to the Arduinians, if a bit earthy and rustic-sounding. The poor Germans traveling with McGill are at a complete loss, on the other hand.
All geared up, the new adventuring party headed to Stonehell the next morning. McGill had Sylvie the porter stay in Pavane to mind the party’s lodgings. They arrived at the entrance without incident, unless Wayne’s brief visit with Coal counts.
The party descended the spiral stairs into Stonehell, Grarl leading, followed by Wayne, McGill with a lighted torch, and Günther holding the rear. The stair terminated in an empty chamber possessed of five visible exits: two passages to the north, two to the south, and airon-banded door in the eastern wall. The PCs opted for the door because, “It’s a door.” Hulking Grarl tried the door and found it stuck fast. Wayne said, “Has anybody tried knocking?” He promptly rapped on the door with his jo stick, making quite a din in the process. No answer. Grarl pushed Wayne back and gave the door another go. With much grinding protest, the door came free, swinging open to reveal eight armed orcs in a room beyond.
The orcs had the drop on the mostly neophyte adventurers. The two lead orcs had spears at the ready and hurled them at Grarl. The first flew directly overhead, alerting Grarl’s mates to the fact that something was rotten in Stonehell. The second struck Grarl. Shaking off the shock of such an early fracas, McGill shouted, “Fire in the hole!” and lobbed a lit flask of oil at the orcs. The flask hit and burst at the creature’s feet, setting him alight.
Grarl slammed the door shut as the two spear-chuckers howled in agony. The sounds of hurried footsteps reverberated behind the closed door. The sudden, flaming death of their confreres routed the goblinoids.
Wayne cast cure light wounds on Grarl. “Thanks, man,” Grarl rumbled.
“Well, that’s it for me today!” Wayne exclaimed.
Emboldened, the party reopened the door and proceeded cautiously to the next room. It appeared to be a kitchen from the copious crockery and tableware on the floor. It also had a sink with a pump. Aside from the door through which the PCs entered, the rank kitchen had only one visible exit: a door in the northern wall.
Grarl searched the burnt orcish corpses, netting 17 electrum coins and two hand axes. The others searched the kitchen, to no great end.
Grarl chose to peek out the northern door. Beyond it lay a dilapidated dining hall. The broken furnishings therein harbored the remaining six orcs. The PCs wasted no time. McGill hurled another firebomb (ineffective), Wayne loosed a sling bullet, and Grarl tossed an axe at their foes. One Orc was hit but not down. An orcish spear nailed poor Grarl again as two orcs dashed westward.
Grarl the Spear-Hater closed the door most of the way while McGill and Wayne attempted to parley with the orcs. Günther watched the group’s back. Negotiations faltered due to the alacrity with which both parties had taken to violence. McGill’s proclamation of, “I am a mighty wizard and will smite you with fire” only solicited churlish riposte from the orcs: “Do you know who else is a magic-user? My mom! And you talk funny, wizard!”
Meanwhile, the two orcs who had run off had circled round to the door that the party initially opened and set themselves against Günther. A stalwart veteran of at least one undead encounter back on Earth, the German mercenary was nonplussed by his porcine-visaged foes and held them back, calling to his mates for aid.
McGill held the northern door shut and Wayne and Grarl charged the rearguard assailants. Günther scored a blow on one orc. The sight of two more battle-ready men broke the orcs’ nerves and they bolted back from whence they came. Günther shouted, “Mach’ schnell, Boss! We’re busting out of here” as Grarl and Wayne battered the fleeing goblinoids. The pair continued their flight into Stonehell’s foyer and beyond to the north, one with one of Grarl’s axes in his back. The adventurers decided to retreat to Pavane for further outfitting, recognizing that their strongest fighter, Grarl, could use better armor.
Rule Sets: AD&D 1e - PHB, DMG, MMI&2; Arduin Trilogy & Vol. IV for additional classes, races, special abilities, & gear.
Setting: Kingdom of Arduin & Stonehell Megadungeon
The Crew:
Skip: Connor McGill, a dual-class human F1/M-U 2 by way of Earth (another campaign) plus his Irish wolfhound Dog; porter hireling Sylvie; and henchman human F1 Günther.
Adam: Grarl, trollborn F1 with demoniac ancestry. Comes from a city well north of Arduin.
Tim: Wayne, a human C1. Exceedingly good with animals.
Session 1 Recap
Skip has a couple of 1st-level AD&D-Arduin PCs, but really wanted to sic his Lamentations of the Flame Princess PC on Arduin, so I worked McGill in. It went something like this:
McGill had just finished directing the erection of defenses surrounding the Infinite Tower (from Better than Any Man), wherein he had taken up residence. After heading to his chambers for a rest, McGill was woken by moderate shaking of his bed and somebody calling his name. Günther and Sylvie informed McGill that the Tower was under attack. They headed down the spiral stairs to assess the attackers as their edifice vibrated and boomed.
Outside were about 150 Swedish soldiers and two heavy cannon. Brief parley revealed that the Swedish army was expunging all sorcerous phenomena from Bavaria & the Infinite Tower was its current objective. McGill asked for time to consider terms of surrender; the Swedes granted McGill an hour.
McGill’s retinue set about packing for a hasty retreat. McGill and Sylvie started down the spiral staircase with the crew’s chest of valuables, with Günther and Dog following behind. The Tower groaned and shuddered all the while. The trip downstairs was taking longer than it should, even with a heavy load. In fact, the quartet felt as though they were trudging upstairs, not down.
Grarl and Wayne had traveled, each separately and for their own reasons, to the Kings Rest Inn. The three-star roadhouse is a little east of the town of Pavane in the Kingdom of Arduin. While supping and gossiping in the common dining room, the youthful adventurers took note of one Aeline’s tales. They listened closely, for Aeline was a noted explorer-turned dungeon broker; her advice on locating abandoned holes and ruins was seldom less than lucrative for the enterprising adventurer.
Most of her talk this evening focused on the nearby ruin of Stonehell, a long-derelict prison that its very inmates hewed from the mountains some 200 years ago. What was more, Stonehell is naught but 2 hours’ walk from the Inn. Grarl and Wayne paid Aeline a fair sum of gold sovereigns to take them to the place. Aeline agreed and they set out the next morning.
On the way to Stonehell, Aeline remarked on a stone duck north of their road. “That marker there IDs a path up to where local children go play,” said Aeline. “Sometimes they bring back weird stuff.” Grarl and Wayne were nonplussed and simply continued onward.
Stonehell is in a box canyon guarded by a curtain wall dubbed, “The Gates of Hell.” Aeline chose a breach in the wall and led fighter and cleric through to the meadow canyon floor beyond. The explorer limped along, pointing out the cliff side dens of wolf, mountain lion, and Coal, the black bear “totem” of many explorers. At last, Aeline brought the duo to the prison entrance. Within, the group encountered a masonry spiral stair that led downward into Stonehell’s bowels.
“So, what’s down there?” Wayne asked.
“Yeah, is there anything good down there?” Grarl rumbled.
Aeline nodded, “Sure, capable groups bring out a fair amount of treasure all the time…” The guide was interrupted by grunting and muffled conversation coming from the stairwell. Moments later, McGill and company walked upstairs into view carrying their war chest.
“Case in point!” Aeline exclaimed.
McGill and company introduced themselves to Wayne, Grarl, and Aeline, asked what they were doing. Wayne and Grarl explained that they were considering an exploration of the old prison Stonehell. Noticing the wooden chest that McGill’s team had with them, the Arduinian natives asked what McGill had seen in Stonehell. McGill explained that they hadn't been in Stonehell, but a tower in Bavaria. He offered to join his crew with Grarl and Wayne to explore the ruins, on condition that Grarl and Wayne showed them to town so that McGill could deposit his valuables and outfit the group. They agreed that it was a good plan.
Before heading to Pavane, Wayne decided to test his animal magnetism on Coal, the black bear residing near Stonehell. The pair hit it off well enough that the party was able to scour Coal’s den for loot. Their return was a paltry 64 coppers, a weatherproof cloak, and wool mittens.
I should point out that while Arduinian is a flowery language like French, the underlying grammatical structure is nearly identical to our Irish language. Hence, McGill’s speech was comprehensible to the Arduinians, if a bit earthy and rustic-sounding. The poor Germans traveling with McGill are at a complete loss, on the other hand.
All geared up, the new adventuring party headed to Stonehell the next morning. McGill had Sylvie the porter stay in Pavane to mind the party’s lodgings. They arrived at the entrance without incident, unless Wayne’s brief visit with Coal counts.
The party descended the spiral stairs into Stonehell, Grarl leading, followed by Wayne, McGill with a lighted torch, and Günther holding the rear. The stair terminated in an empty chamber possessed of five visible exits: two passages to the north, two to the south, and airon-banded door in the eastern wall. The PCs opted for the door because, “It’s a door.” Hulking Grarl tried the door and found it stuck fast. Wayne said, “Has anybody tried knocking?” He promptly rapped on the door with his jo stick, making quite a din in the process. No answer. Grarl pushed Wayne back and gave the door another go. With much grinding protest, the door came free, swinging open to reveal eight armed orcs in a room beyond.
The orcs had the drop on the mostly neophyte adventurers. The two lead orcs had spears at the ready and hurled them at Grarl. The first flew directly overhead, alerting Grarl’s mates to the fact that something was rotten in Stonehell. The second struck Grarl. Shaking off the shock of such an early fracas, McGill shouted, “Fire in the hole!” and lobbed a lit flask of oil at the orcs. The flask hit and burst at the creature’s feet, setting him alight.
Grarl slammed the door shut as the two spear-chuckers howled in agony. The sounds of hurried footsteps reverberated behind the closed door. The sudden, flaming death of their confreres routed the goblinoids.
Wayne cast cure light wounds on Grarl. “Thanks, man,” Grarl rumbled.
“Well, that’s it for me today!” Wayne exclaimed.
Emboldened, the party reopened the door and proceeded cautiously to the next room. It appeared to be a kitchen from the copious crockery and tableware on the floor. It also had a sink with a pump. Aside from the door through which the PCs entered, the rank kitchen had only one visible exit: a door in the northern wall.
Grarl searched the burnt orcish corpses, netting 17 electrum coins and two hand axes. The others searched the kitchen, to no great end.
Grarl chose to peek out the northern door. Beyond it lay a dilapidated dining hall. The broken furnishings therein harbored the remaining six orcs. The PCs wasted no time. McGill hurled another firebomb (ineffective), Wayne loosed a sling bullet, and Grarl tossed an axe at their foes. One Orc was hit but not down. An orcish spear nailed poor Grarl again as two orcs dashed westward.
Grarl the Spear-Hater closed the door most of the way while McGill and Wayne attempted to parley with the orcs. Günther watched the group’s back. Negotiations faltered due to the alacrity with which both parties had taken to violence. McGill’s proclamation of, “I am a mighty wizard and will smite you with fire” only solicited churlish riposte from the orcs: “Do you know who else is a magic-user? My mom! And you talk funny, wizard!”
Meanwhile, the two orcs who had run off had circled round to the door that the party initially opened and set themselves against Günther. A stalwart veteran of at least one undead encounter back on Earth, the German mercenary was nonplussed by his porcine-visaged foes and held them back, calling to his mates for aid.
McGill held the northern door shut and Wayne and Grarl charged the rearguard assailants. Günther scored a blow on one orc. The sight of two more battle-ready men broke the orcs’ nerves and they bolted back from whence they came. Günther shouted, “Mach’ schnell, Boss! We’re busting out of here” as Grarl and Wayne battered the fleeing goblinoids. The pair continued their flight into Stonehell’s foyer and beyond to the north, one with one of Grarl’s axes in his back. The adventurers decided to retreat to Pavane for further outfitting, recognizing that their strongest fighter, Grarl, could use better armor.