Montporte Dungeon Campaign 2.0 Session 6 Notes (Montporte 52)

Cast of Characters
Alaric: Human Cleric (PC-Main Character)
Allidore: Kobold (NPC)
Alicia: Human Footman (NPC Henchwoman)
Bildar: Kobold (NPC)
Carlos: Human Footman (NPC Henchman)
Diana: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchwoman)
Enzore: Kobold (NPC)
Fishdore: Koblold (NPC)
Huthul: Orc (NPC)
Jim Bob: Ogre (NPC)
Lord Jim: Human Fighter (PC-Sidekick)
Magnus: Human Magic-User (PC-Sidekick)
Maydor: Orc (NPC)
Merv: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchman)
Ooga: Arbold (NPC)
Septimus: Human Fighter (PC-Main Character)
Zug: Orc (NPC)

The Session
This session began where the last session left off, with the adventurers using three small boats to explore a newly discovered lake at the south end of Level 1 of the Montporte Dungeon. The adventurers had returned to the landing that was serving as their home base. They decided to journey out again, following the north shore and moving east.

They found an area that looked like a small landing. The cave wall had been smoothed and there was a small circular indention, but no amount of pushing and prodding produced any results. About then, the three giant frogs from the last session reappeared (each frog looked like it weighed 60 pounds). The frogs surfaced about 20 feet from the boats.

As the frogs stared at the adventurers, three of the adventurers--Alaric, Carlos and Diana--felt pressure welling up inside their skulls. Alaric and Carlos were able to fend off whatever was causing the pressure, but Diana was not. She slumped over in her boat, blood dripping from her eyes, nose and ears. She was dead. At the same moment, the heads of each of the three frogs exploded, spreading gore over the surface of the water. At the same time, their bodies vanished.

With the three frogs gone, the adventurers pressed on to the east. They found the eastern end of the subterranean lake. In the southeastern portion of the lake, they found a landing and brought their boats to shore. As they did so, three frogs appeared. The three giant frogs kept their distance and did not make eye contact. Instead, they began doing intricate acrobatics, both above and below the surface of the lake.

The adventurers dragged their boats onto the landing. Once ashore, the adventurers found that there were two tunnels leading away from the landing, one north and one south. As the adventurers moved away from the lake, the frogs came ashore. The frogs kept their distance and continued their tumbling antics.

The party moved north and found the northern tunnel to be a dead end. The frogs moved into the southern tunnel. The party drew their weapons, moving into the southern tunnel, which also proved to be a dead end. The party could see and feel an unsettling shift of the dimensions of the tunnel as the frogs hopped, skipped and cartwheeled towards the blank wall at the end of the tunnel. The frogs jumped into the dead end wall and disappeared. The tunnel subtly shifted back to a normal appearance.

The party moved west and explored further. They discovered the lake was continued west for quite a ways. At this point, the adventures decided to go back to their launch point and continue with their original two-fold mission of finding trading partners for the town of Montporte and searching for an ancient dwarven city rumored to be somewhere underneath the Montporte Dungeon.

The adventurers moved north on the first level away from the subterranean lake. They met up with Cassius, Montporte's former caretaker and current resident ghost. Despite his addled memory, Cassius did report that a small group of surly pig-faced men were guests at Montporte. They were accompanied by a very large clumsy guy. They had moved in the direction of the spiral staircase to the second level.

The adventurers moved in the same direction, descending the 100 feet to level 2. The party moved through several rooms into a huge room with a set of 2 metal rails running down the middle, north to south. This room was occupied by four thuragians (crab folk). The thuragians did not respond favorable and a nasty melee ensued. Thuragians are tough customers but the overwhelming number of adventurers made for a short fight.

In the very next room, the adventurers found a party of 3 orcs, accompanied by an ogre. Wary, but surprisingly not aggressive, the orcs agreed to join the adventurers on their quest for profit. It turned out that Maydor, Huthul, and Zug were deserters. They wanted gold and fresh meat, not a way to the fourth level. The adventurers knew that this was the main goal of the other orcs they had encountered (Session 47). Jim Bob, the ogre, was along for the violence and vittles.

This is where our session ended.

Scroll of the Dead
Horace NPC Footman, Session 48
Pulvarti PC Magic-User, Session 49
Alicia, NPC Footman, Session 50
Diana, NPC Torchbearer, Session 52

Haiku 10: Orc

orcs rain destruction
cockroaches from world's dark past...
evil comes to all

Who Can Tell The Difference? Goblin, Kobolds, and Orcs

Illustration Source (butterfrog)

Goblins, kobolds, and orcs. Over the years, I have created my own spin on these guys and have found it particularly useful in dungeon settings. I have found that players have been able to differentiate these races in play, so that goblins are not just weaker orcs and kobolds weaker goblins (from a player perspective).

• Goblins: Goblins are the economic driving force in the upper reaches of world below. They are a combination of organized crime mob and used car salesmen. They move goods and services between the surface world and the world below via trading partners and caravans. Whatever you may need, they "know a guy." They will fight if they have to, but they prefer to wheel and deal and hire gnolls and other tough guys as their muscle. Player characters find they have to come to some sort of "arrangement" with goblins in order to remain in the dungeon, but there are benefits, such as the ability to buy provisions and information (for a price, of course). I have swiped some good gobliny stuff from James Mishler's Monstrous Menaces #2.

• Kobolds: As the weakest of these three groups, kobolds have been forced to develop some badass attitude and serious survival skills. Kobolds rely on stealth, missile weapons, traps, ambushes, and tactical sophistication to protect themselves. Woe to any player character who is careless in scouting or unprepared to use missile weapons. Player characters have learned to fear the kobold. Kobolds do not surrender and they have no mercy on opponents surrendering to them.

• Orcs: Orcs are my biker gangs and the bullies of the upper levels of the dungeon and wilderness areas. They love to beat up goblins for their lunch money whenever they can. There are just as prone to fight one another and inter-tribal warfare among orcs is a common occurrence. Orcs are very religious and differences in religious opinions often start and fuel their tribal conflicts. As they are not very bright, these religious battles are more about ignorance of their own religion as opposed to actual doctrinal differences. Orcs are simple-minded bullies and, as a general rule, they will charge into battle against any foe or prey that appears weaker than themselves. Like many bullies, orcs will typically flee or surrender, once it is apparent that they are losing. They are excessively cruel to their own captives, however, so it is a rare orc that will surrender to an orc from another tribe.

How do you differentiate between various humanoid races when you are gaming?