Pits & Perils Session 4: Murder at Crossing Church

We had Session 4 of our Pits & Perils Round Robin on Wednesday night (Sep 23, 2015), with me running the game as referee (my first session as ref in our round robin). +Tim Shorts posted an excellent summary, so no sense in being redundant.

I wanted to run a short mystery adventure. Mysteries can be tricky to run, particular when the focus of the rule set is combat and spells. I ran The Melford Murder several years ago, a Dragonsfoot adventure module written by Stuart Marshall that I used in a Castles & Crusades campaign. Not we have blast playing it, I also gained some valuable experience in running a mystery adventure. Playing The Esoterrorists, a GUMSHOE-based game, was also a huge help.

It is actually easier to run a mystery adventure with a simple non-mystery rule set, like Pits & Perils, than it is with a more complex game, like D&D 5e. The characters have few abilities to provide an unwanted shortcut, so the players are forced to strategize and discover solutions.

I will post more once we have finished with this part of our round robin. I can't really say much about how I am doing it without tipping my hand about the mystery itself.

D&D 5e: My Ambivalence

Having played D&D 5e both as a player and dungeon master, I have developed an ambivalent opinion of the game. On the one hand, of the 5 major editions of D&D/AD&D, I believe 5e is the best designed and presented official version of D&D. While it is not a simple game, much of the game has been streamlined and the complexity that remains is both well-designed and, for players, digestible in small bites. This being said, I found it not fun.

I did not enjoy dungeon mastering D&D 5e. There were a number of factors involved:

• I personally did not enjoy the extra time it took with the rules out of game to plan encounters, etc. That's just me. I would rather have spent my time on more creative aspects of the DMing. I am sure that with time, this aspect of the DM experience would have changed for the better.
• Dungeon combat became both more complicated and less interesting with 5e. I quickly noticed that there was a blandness to encounters as every PC was able to take some sort of action almost every turn. Often, it didn't seem to matter what specific type of attack was used by the PCs. Each option seemed to have about the same chance of success/failure and did about the same amount of damage, whether melee, missile or spell attack. Lots of options every round for players but the effects of those options felt very generic from the DM perspective.

As a player, I simply did not enjoy playing it. As Mike Mearls and Rodney Thompson note in a presentation to International Game Developers Association, player feedback during playtesting indicated that players wanted fewer options and less complexity during combat but they wanted more complexity in the game outside of combat encounters (see the video below at about the 50 minute mark). The result is that D&D 5e offers streamlined combat (compared to 3e and 4e), but it offers the players plenty of character build options with every class at every level. I am not much into out-of-game character building, so this does not appeal to me. However, I can see where D&D 5e matches the sweet spot for lots of gamers.

Playing D&D 5e in the Majestic Wilderlands

My blog posts have been less frequent, as I have had to focus on real life stuff. My gaming has been a bit inconsistent as well, although I am playing a human fighter, Aevin Steelhand, in +Rob Conley's (Bat in the Attic) Majestic Wilderlands setting. In our current campaign, we are using D&D 5e. I have also been playing Ben Monday, a history teacher turned supernatural sleuth, in +Tim Shorts' (Gothridge Manor) Wednesday night game, using The Esoterrorists as our rule set.

+Douglas Cole (Gaming Ballistic) has an excellent blog post, Majestic Wilderlands--Do You Hear People Sing?, summarizing our last session. Rob has some interesting posts about his use of feudalism in his setting. As a player, you have to know your station and who you are talking to. It is one my favorite aspects of playing in Rob's setting. Here are links to Rob's posts:

• Of Overlords, Kings, and Barons, Building a Feudal Setting Part I
• Of Overlords, Kings, and Barons, Building a Feudal Setting Part II
• Of Overlords, Kings, and Barons, Building a Feudal Setting Part III
• Of Overlords, Kings, and Barons, Building a Feudal Setting Part IV

Montporte Dungeon Campaign Session 45 Notes

Peter D (Dungeon Fantastic) had a nice summary of this session in his blog post, 5e D&D - Montporte Megadungeon - 1/19 Summary of Play.

Cast of Characters
Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the Second Circle (Half Orc, Hunter): Tim (Gothridge Manor)
Breena Honey-Badger Warrick (Gnome, Barbarian): Joshua (Tales of the Rambling Bumblers)
Dante Rathburn (Human, Warlock): Chris (The Clash of Spear on Shield)
Luven Lightfinger (Human, Rogue): Rob (Bat in the Attic)
Nosphryc Azurecoat (Human, Fighter): Douglas (Gaming Ballistic) [Played this session by Peter D (Dungeon Fantastic)]
Duncan Kern (Gnome, Rogue): Dan
Marcus Aurelius (Magic sword): NPC
Benn (Human): NPC
Lucky (One eyed, three legged blink dog): NPC
13 Rescued Gnomes (Abel; Dilrod; Dwemmon; Ernst; Evinrude; Fern; Fernando; Gemflower; Happenstance; Homer; Priscilla; Rosepetal; Zelma Lynn): NPCs
Abakarkabasharaba (5 Githzerai): NPCs

Map A (1 square = 5 feet)

The Session
The last session ended with the brave adventurers taking a long rest in Room 1 (Map A above). They heard a scream in the distance in the middle of the rest but it was otherwise uneventful. The player characters were at least 28 miles below the world's surface, although the distance was only an estimate as their exact location was a mystery (thanks to a teleport in Session 37).

After the long rest, the party moved north to Area 2 (Map A above). Here they found two eviscerated hobgoblins, with a trail of blood and guts leading east up the steps (Area 3 on Map A). The party had a brief conversation as to whether they should follow the trail of blood east (Area 3), explore Area 5, or head west down the stairs (Area 4).

They opted to head west and down, using the stairs in Area 4. They wanted to to complete their quest and deliver the rescued gnomes back to their homeland (which they believed was west).

The party descended west down the stairs. This proved to be another long descent. After descending 7 vertical miles (and heading west 7 horizontal miles). The party met five humanoids, who spoke strangely, but were not unfriendly. They turned out to be 5 githzerai (3 monks and 2 zerth), who went by the name of Abakarkabasharaba. They asked about Allindrihl, the elf mushroom farmer living on Level 2 of the Montporte Dungeon, and the player characters let them know where he lived. In turn, the githzerai let the adventurers know that they were on the right path to the gnomes' homeland. At the bottom of the stairs, the adventurers were told they would find Benn and he would be of help to them. The player characters and the githzerai each said their farewells and moved on.

The party descended another 7 vertical miles and found that when they reached the bottom of the steps, they were also entering a large cave. The party noticed that they had entered a mushroom forest of some kind. They followed a path that led them to Benn (a 7' tall human), Benn's blink dogs, and two small sturdy cottages with a larger house in the distance. Benn was friendly rustic type who complained about trolls and hobgoblins. Some of the gnomes knew him, which convinced the wary adventurers that he could be trusted.

Map B--Benn's House

He invited them to stay in his two cottages and brought a pork & mushroom dinner to them, prepared by his wife (who, according to Benn, was in the big house).

The two cottages each had a very sturdy door, lots of garlic, and an ample supply of wooden stakes. He warned them not to invite anyone into the cottages and then bid them a good night.

The party had another uneventful long rest and were furnished with a tasty breakfast. Benn told them that they would need to pass through a mushroom forest, inhabited by stone giants, to get to the gnomes' home to the west. They should stay on the path, only fight if attacked, stay away from the sticky black cave moss, and the green slime. The stone giants would let them pass so long as the party followed these rules. As a dubious bonus, the party (Duncan, actually) acquired a one-eyed three-legged blink dog, named Lucky, from Benn.

Map C--The Mushroom Forest (1 hex = 1 mile)

The party then set out into the dark, subterranean forest. They traveled quite a distance from Benn's house (Area 6 on Map C above) to Area 7, where they encountered several giant glowing (red) boars. Some of the boars moved towards the party in a slow aggressive manor. The rest of the boars stayed back, nervously watching the encounter unfold.

Map D--The Boar War (1 hex = 5 feet)

Eventually, a few of the boars moved close enough to the party to charge. Luven darted south and led a group of boars on a long chase south and west. The rest of the party closed ranks as a few more boars that moved towards them.

The boars chasing Luven were, for the most part, unable to get close enough to attack. One boar managed a fire breath attack that did considerable damage to Luven. This also betrayed something of the boars' true nature (they were giant fire boars). Luven had 5 giant fire boars chasing him while another 2 boars eventually attacked the main body of the party. A remaining giant fire boar fled slowly to the north.

Luven led the boars chasing him into a patch of black dungeon moss, where 3 of them became mired. The remaining 2 fled north. In the meantime, the rest of the party dispatched the 2 other giant fire boars, although the player characters were wounded in the process. The 2 dead giant fire boars immediately cooked themselves and each had an apple appear in its mouth.

The party hustled quickly to the west as the 3 giant fire boars trapped in the moss slowly extricated themselves. The 3 other giant fire boars continued to move north out of sight.

The party moved to Area 8, where they found their westward path intersecting a path from the north. Here the party opted to take a long rest and we ended the session.

The Dungeon So Far

Level 1 (1 square = 5 feet)

Level 2 (1 square = 5 feet)

Level 3 (1 square = 5 feet)

Mystery Level A (1 square = 5 feet)

Mystery Level B (1 square = 5 feet)

21 Miles Down A (1 square = 5 feet)

21 Miles Down B (1 square = 5 feet)

28 Miles Down (1 square = 5 feet)

42 Miles Down (1 hex = 1 mile)

Systems Matter: Exploration, Encounters and Intent in the Megadungeon

Dungeon Explorer

I am a firm believer that the "3 E's"--Exploration, Encounters, and Extraction--do a pretty good job of capturing the essence of megadungeon play. There are plenty of rule sets that will support 3 E megadungeon play: The various editions of D&D (and its clones), GURPS, Tunnels & Trolls, and Savage Worlds are just a few of the many rule sets that will do more than an adequate job supporting dungeon play.

This being said, rule sets are not interchangeable (this, as my college physics textbook says, "is intuitively obvious to the casual observer"). Some rule sets better support tactical choices in combat while other rule sets support quick play and exploration.

Of the three, extraction seems like the least affected by the rule set used. This leaves exploration and encounters. Of these two, encounters are directly impacted by the rule set used while exploration is indirectly impacted.

Gibson Explorer

Let's assume that a dungeon-based gaming session is going to last 4 hours. Those 4 hours are going to be made up of two primary activities: Exploration and encounters. Exploration is typically a systemless activity. Player characters move through a dungeon and, regardless of system, can cover about the same amount of distance on a map per hour of session time. I am sure that there are some exceptions to this, but, in general, the speed of exploration is more a function of GM and players than it is a function of rule set and system.

This is not the case with encounters. Assuming that most encounters result in combat, then the speed in which a rule set decides an encounter determines how much time is spent on the encounter. Simple, abstract rule sets, like Swords & Wizardry, have short real time encounters. More complex tactical rule sets, like GURPS and Pathfinder, have much longer encounter resolution times. On the positive side, these rule sets offer players and GMs plenty of tactical options (I am true fan of GURPS in this regard). The down side of this tactical richness is the time it takes to resolve the encounter.

What this means for the 4 hour gaming session is that, with a more complex rule set, more time is spent on encounters. By default, less time is spent on exploration. Reducing the number of encounters is the only clear way to mitigate the impact of a tactically complex rule set.

This is where intent comes in. If the GM and players have a common intent within the dungeon campaign, then it becomes much easier to be select a rule set and, more importantly, be content with the strengths and limitations of that rule set after many sessions of play. If the intent is to maximize tactical choices for players in a dungeon setting, then GURPS is the way to go in my book. If the intent is to maximize the amount of geography covered so that it is feasible to explore a really really big dungeon, then a simpler rule set like Swords & Wizardry Core would be my choice. In each case, GM and players have to be content with what they have and also what they give up. After all, it is entirely possible to revisit the same dungeon with a different intent and rule set.

I have been thinking about rule sets and intentionality from time to time, just because I think about things like this. More recently, I have been thinking about this since we have switched to D&D 5e. It is a slick, well-designed system...I like it a lot. However, it is slower than Blood & Treasure, our previous rule set, when it comes to encounter resolution. In turn, this has taken time away from exploration. And, D&D 5e doesn't have a lot of tactical crunch in combat, thus leaving our tactical crunch guys yearning for more. There is a lot of out-of-combat decisions that the players must make--which was one of the goals of D&D 5e (perhaps the subject of a future post).

As for me, my intent in creating the Montporte Dungeon was to focus on exploration, by creating a huge dungeon that would be too big to completely explore. And this dungeon would also have lots of connections to the Deep Dark...more connections to what lies below than to the surface world.

Attunement: Montporte Dungeon Campaign House Rule

Some Other House Rules

Here is the house rule we will use for magic item attunement in the current Montporte Dungeon campaign.

Overview
When magic items are created, the creator of the item melds the elements contained in the item to the energies coursing through the universe. This involves magical skill and the force of will by the creator. Generally, magic items are attuned to the creator, unless the creator specifically creates a magic item otherwise. When someone other than the creator seeks to use the magic item, the prospective user must first be attuned to item through a short simple ritual that also involves the force of personality (Charisma).

Provisions of House Rule
All magic items require attunement. The two general exceptions are alchemy items (potions, powders, oils, etc) and scrolls. Many gnome devices, clockwork or otherwise, do not require attunement (e.g. finder's lens). Some other items may be created with instant attunement, but these items are rare.

There is no limit to the number of items to which a character can be attuned.

Some items, particularly intelligent items, may have the power to unattune other items in the character's possession. Once such an item is unattuned by another item, the character can no longer attune to it.

Some items may only be attuned by a particular class or race. Or there may be limitations placed on its use when a particular class is using it.

Attunement to one item can be done during one short or one long rest. A few items may be created with the feature that it instantly attunes on contact or some other specific predetermined condition, as noted above.

Most items require a die roll for attunement. The Difficulty Class for low power common items is 10 (easy). Characters add their Charisma modifier, plus their proficiency bonus, to the die roll. If the die roll succeeds, the character is attuned to the item. If the die roll fails, then the attunement fails...and, more importantly, the character can never attune to that item (short of a wish spell or divine intervention).

Characters may opt to attempt an "instant attunement" as a free action. The die roll is done at disadvantage. If the item is otherwise unattuned, then the DC is 12, with a critical failure on a roll of 1. If the item is attuned to another living (or undead) creature, then the DC is 15, with a critical failure on a roll of 1 or 2.

Limitations on Magic Item Use
We will follow the AD&D 1e rules regarding limitations on number of items used at any one time: 2 rings, 1 set of armor, 1 magic cloak, 1 pair of boots, 1 pair of gloves, etc. This is not part of the attunement rule per se, but it is related to it as it applies to magic item use (thanks to Peter D for the reminder on this set of AD&D 1e guidelines).

Implementation of House Rule
We will assume that the player characters have successfully attuned to all of the items that they currently possess.

We won't worry about the current bags of holding and portable holes for now. I don't want to waste precious game session time on figuring this out. We will just hand wave it for now.

I can think of two items, the Chalice of Doluth and the Lens of Melnar, that we need to identify an owner for attunement. Attunement will be automatic, once the owner is selected for each item.

Montporte Dungeon Campaign Session 44 Notes

Douglas Cole (Gaming Ballistic) has an excellent summary of this session in Montporte 44 - Attunement and Grimlocks.

The Cast of Characters
Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the Second Circle (Half Orc, Hunter): Tim (Gothridge Manor)
Breena Honey-Badger Warrick (Gnome, Barbarian): Joshua (Tales of the Rambling Bumblers)
Dante Rathburn (Human, Warlock): Chris (The Clash of Spear on Shield)
Luven Lightfinger (Human, Rogue): Rob (Bat in the Attic)
Nosphryc Azurecoat (Human, Fighter): Douglas (Gaming Ballistic)
13 Rescued Gnomes (Abel; Dilrod; Dwemmon; Ernst; Evinrude; Fern; Fernando; Gemflower; Happenstance; Homer; Priscilla; Rosepetal; Zelma Lynn)

Map A (1 square = 5 feet)

The Session
At the end of the last session, the brave adventurers were counting the contents of the piles of gold and silver bars they had obtained after defeating two of four hobgoblins and two trolls. Two of the hobgoblins had managed to teleport away, but the party still came away with a lot of gold and silver [solidifying the reputation of hobgoblins as the ATM machines of the Montporte Dungeon].

The party decided to further explore this level, which was at least 28 miles below the earth's surface. They were not sure of this as there was a teleport involved in Session 37. Since teleporting, the party is not actually sure of where they are or how to return to the known area of the Montporte Dungeon and the earth's surface.

Starting in Area 1 (Map A above) the party moved south and into Room 2. Here they found a shallow pool of very clear water. Using the Lens of Melnar, they determined that the water was not magical, but the stone forming the pool basin was enchanted. The stone had the ability to purify water, so the party used the opportunity to fill up on drinking water.

The party continued to move south into Room 3 (Map A above). This room had 6 rusty eye bolts built into the walls, about 3 feet above the floor. There were three bolts on the west wall and three bolts on the east wall. While investigating the bolts and looking for secret doors, the party noticed that the floor was quite worn underneath each eye bolt. They finally determined that this room was used as a stable for mounts and pack animals of some kind.

The party then moved back north to Area 1 (Map A above) then west to Room 4. This room was thick with dust and cobwebs, but there was a clearly identifiable foot path through it from Area 1 to Room 5, with the appearance of a lesser amount of traffic towards Area 13.

The party moved through Room 5 to Room 6 then south into Room 7. They could still see evidence of considerable foot traffic heading into all the corridors and rooms they encountered. The party moved into Room 8, where they were attacked by eleven grimlocks. The grimlocks had a well-conceived, but poorly executed, ambush waiting for the party. Grimlocks have lots of stealth but little smarts.

As melee ensued in Room 8, with the grimlocks being overmatched (despite their numerical superiority), a second wave of ten grimlocks swarmed towards the rear of the party from Area 9 through Room 7 (Map A above). The party was surrounded but this worked to their advantage, as it allowed all the party members to unleash their attacks on a larger number of foe. Had the grimlocks individually been tougher, the brave adventurers would have been in real trouble. Instead, the two front battle just sped up the process of dispatching grimlocks.

At the end of the battle, the remaining four grimlocks tried to flee, triggering some attacks of opportunity. Two more grimlocks went down, but two fled the scene. Luven was able to track down the final two in Area 10 (Map A above), with Nosphryc coming along behind him.

Besides a lot of small sacks of nasty meat, the grimlocks had a pink diamond (worth 5,000 gold pieces) and a mind flayer stuff doll of unknown use. The party couldn't figure out if it was a toy, a religious item, or something else.

The party continued into Room 11 (Map A above), which turned out to be a long irregular room with a vaulted ceiling. They guessed that this was the actual lair of the grimlocks, based on the amount of fecal matter along the east wall.

The party moved through Room 12, back into Room 8. Here they decided they would spend a long rest, with a pile of grimlock bodies serving as a partial barrier in the narrow corridor heading east out of the room. The long rest was uneventful, except for the distant scream heard during the second watch. The party had determined that, once the long rest was completed, they would explore Area 13, which appeared to be the only unexplored area on this level.

This is where the session ended.

The Dungeon So Far

Level 1 (1 square = 5 feet)

Level 2 (1 square = 5 feet)

Level 3 (1 square = 5 feet)

Mystery Level A (1 square = 5 feet)

Mystery Level B (1 square = 5 feet)

21 Miles Below A (1 square = 5 feet)

21 Miles Below B (1 square = 5 feet)

28 Miles Below (1 square = 5 feet)

D&D 5e Attunement: But Wait, There's More!

So Peter D (Dungeon Fantastic) had a thoughtful post on attunement. I read it and then reconsidered my thinking on attunement in my own Montporte Dungeon campaign, which we switched to D&D 5e five sessions ago. I read Peter D's post and thought, "Hmmm. Maybe I shouldn't ditch this rule" (see my earlier post about attunement).

So here is what I am thinking...and mind you, this could change by time we play on Monday night (or it could change by time I am writing the post)

Provisions of House Rule
All magic items require attunement. The two general exceptions are alchemy items (potions, powders, oils, bubble bath, body lotion, etc) and scrolls. Many gnome devices, clockwork or otherwise, do not require attunement. The finder's lens (purchased by the player characters in Session 9, it is actually an alchemy item) does not require attunement, nor does the transportation vehicle control amulet (found in Session 41, attunement is instant and automatic). However, the Chalice of Doluth (creates healing potions) does require attunement.

There is no limit to the number of items to which a character can be attuned.

Some items, particularly intelligent items, may have the power to unattune (detune?) other items in the character's possession (cue evil DM laugh). This would suck, but it makes it interesting for the DM. This is what matters to me.

Some items may only be attuned by a particular class or race. Or there may be limitations placed on its use when a particular class is using it.

Attunement to one item can be done during one short or one long rest. A few items may be created with the feature that it instantly attunes on contact or another condition.

Most items require a dice roll for attunement. The Difficulty Class for low power common items is 10 (easy). Characters add their Charisma modifier, plus their proficiency bonus, to the die roll. If the die roll succeeds, the character is attuned to the item. If the die roll fails, then the attunement fails...and, more importantly, the character can never attune to that item (short of a wish spell, divine intervention or DM whim).

Limitations on Magic Item Use
We will follow the AD&D 1e rules regarding limitations on number of items used at any one time: 2 rings, 1 set of armor, 1 magic cloak, 1 pair of boots, 1 pair of gloves, etc. This is not part of the attunement rule per se, but it is related to it as it applies to magic item use (thanks to Peter D for the reminder on this set of AD&D 1e guidelines).

Implementation of House Rule
We will assume that the player characters have successfully attuned to all of the items that they currently possess.

We won't worry about the current bags of holding and portable holes for now. I don't want to waste precious game session time on figuring this out. We will just hand wave it for now.

I can think of two items, the Chalice of Doluth and the Lens of Melnar, that we need to identify an owner for attunement.

D&D 5e Attunement After Further Review: Nevermind

After spending some time reading more about attunement in D&D 5e, I decided that I like it in the abstract but not in practice, at least not for our current campaign in Montporte. I already feel like we are challenged to make progress during our sessions, which generally last about 3 to 3 1/2 hours (with about 2 1/2 hours of gaming). I don't want to slow us up any more.

I also would want to completely rewrite the attunement rules so that they would be to my liking and, after taking a few stabs at it, I realized that it would take more work and thought than I currently want to invest.

So the house rule for Montporte on attunement is that we will skip it, at least for now.

D&D 5e: The First Battle of Attunement

So we I have DMed four sessions of D&D 5e, using a my Montporte Dungeon...previously we had been using AD&D 1e and then Blood & Treasure. Additionally, +Rob Conley DMed The Mines of Phandelver for our gaming group. So we have some time with D&D 5e under our belt.

One of the rules we hadn't used--and it is a significant one--is Attunement. Attunement is buried in the Dungeon Master's Guide at the beginning of the magic item section on pages 136 and 138. Basically, most of the more powerful magic items and many of the lesser ones can only be used by characters who have "attuned" themselves to the item during a short rest. Characters can be attuned to a maximum of three magic items at a time.

So I decided to roll out the rule, with mixed reviews from the players. Some liked the idea. Others not so much. Honestly, I am ambivalent about it myself, but I wanted to see how it would play out in actual game play. So we tried it. I am still not sure, although I have done more reading and more research on it.

Here are two very thoughtful blog posts from a couple of the guys in our Monday gaming group:

• Taking 5e Attunement to the Wood Shed by +Tim Shorts (Gothridge Manor) 
• Attunement in D&D 5e by +Douglas Cole (Gaming Ballistic)

Montporte Dungeon Campaign Session 43 Notes

Douglas Cole (Gaming Ballistic) has a nice summary with more combat detail in his post, Montporte Session 43. Chris C. (The Clash of Spear on Shield) has captured the best/worst of our group play in his post, Adventure Sound Bites.

The Cast of Characters
Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the Second Circle (Half Orc, Hunter): Tim (Gothridge Manor)
Breena Honey-Badger Warrick (Gnome, Barbarian): Joshua (Tales of the Rambling Bumblers)
Dante Rathburn (Human, Warlock): Chris (The Clash of Spear on Shield)
Luven Lightfinger (Human, Rogue): Rob (Bat in the Attic)
Nosphryc Azurecoat (Human, Fighter): Douglas (Gaming Ballistic)
13 Rescued Gnomes (Abel; Dilrod; Dwemmon; Ernst; Evinrude; Fern; Fernando; Gemflower; Happenstance; Homer; Priscilla; Rosepetal; Zelma Lynn)

Map A (1 square = 5 feet)

The Session
The previous session had ended with the party having defeated a vampire spawn and her accompany guard of wights and zombies in Room 1 (Map A above). The brave adventurers were still on their way downward into the earth, seeking to deliver some deep living gnomes back to their homes. The gnomes had been rescued from captivity in Session 29 and Session 36.

The party continued south, with Luven moving quietly in the lead through a series of secret doors. They passed through an empty Room 2 (Map A) into Room 3. They found a small plain shrine in Room 3, with a simple black stone altar against the west wall and a heavy stone table against the east wall. The party did a lot of checking and determined, through careful examination, that the area had was a fake shrine. It was simply staged to look like an area of devotion. They broke the altar.

The party discovered a secret door behind the table on the east wall. The party moved into Room 4 (Map A above) and found a unadorned stone sarcophagus. Luven rushed to push the lid off, in a quick move for treasure. There was nothing in the sarcophagus except for a bucket's worth of topsoil which gave off a faint whiff of undead. The party did various things to the soil to de-undead it--which involved holy water and urine.

They examined the sarcophagus more carefully, looking for false compartments and secret doors. They did see that the lid of the sarcophagus had the name "Sebastian Baynard Finster" engraved on the lid. The party decided that Sebastian Baynard Finster is the SBF mentioned in two letters they found during the last session, both written by a Brother Kepler (here and here).

Finding nothing further, the party left the crypt area and moved west to Area 6 on  Map A [the DM realizing after the fact that Map A has no Area 5...oops]. The party was into to continue downward by using the descending stairs at Area 7. However, Luven (with his magically enhanced hearing) heard the sound of voices coming from the north of Area 6 (from Area 8). He moved stealthily north to Area 8, noted that they were coming from the east. He moved east and, looking north, saw a few hobgoblins and boreal trolls in Room 9 (Map A).

He quietly moved back to the party, waiting for him in Area 6. His hand motions conveyed to the party that there was something up that way, but each party member drew their own conclusion. The party moved back north and this time did not escape the notice of the hobgoblins.

Now in Montporte, hobgoblins are trash talking fey of the Winter Court who have some limited teleporting ability as well as being tougher in combat. Despite being mean-spirited slavers, hobgoblins prefer to leave the fighting to their hired muscle.

Melee ensued with two of the hobgoblins teleporting next to Luven. The party moved in to help, but not before Luven got knocked about. The party and the hobgoblins fought a confused swirling battle around the corridor intersection at Area 8. Two more hobgoblins teleported into the hallway between Area 8 and Room 10, adding to the confusion. In the meantime, the trolls in Room 9 made their way down the corridor and began to press the attack from the east.

The party was able to dispatch the first two hobgoblins and, when turning to the north to take on the second two, the second wave of hobgoblins teleported away to parts unknown.

This left the trolls, who knocked Luven around some more. Fortunately for the party, the 10' wide corridor limited the trolls. The second troll couldn't get to the party to attack. The party could focus their combined melee and magic attack on one troll at a time, which reduced the impact of the troll's regeneration.

The first troll was knocked down, but began regenerating. Lots of oil was applied to the prone troll while most of the party engaged the second troll that had moved up, standing and fighting over the top of his fallen comrade.

Lots of damage was dealt to the second troll and, in a final two for one deal, magical flame ignited the oil. This killed the prone troll outright and did just enough damage to the second troll to count as the final death blow.

The party discovered that there were 5 large sacks in the Room 9, where the hobgoblins and boreal trolls recently been hanging out. The sacks contained 5 unconscious, but very alive, gnomes. The party now had 13 rescued gnomes.

The party took a short rest and this is where the session ended.

The Dungeon So Far

Level 1 (1 square = 5 feet)

Level 2 (1 square = 5 feet)

Level 3 (1 square = 5 feet)

Mystery Level A (1 square = 5 feet)

Mystery Level B (1 square = 5 feet)

21 Miles Below A (1 square = 5 feet)

21 Miles Below B (1 square = 5 feet)

28 Miles Below (1 square = 5 feet)

Montporte Dungeon Campaign Session 41 Notes

Cast of Characters
Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the Second Circle (Half Orc, Hunter): Tim (Gothridge Manor)
Breena Honey-Badger Warrick (Gnome, Barbarian): Joshua (Tales of the Rambling Bumblers)
Dante Rathburn (Human, Warlock): Chris (The Clash of Spear on Shield)
Duncan Kern (Gnome, Wizard/Thief): Dan
Luven Lightfinger (Human, Thief): Rob (Bat in the Attic)
Nosphryc Azurecoat (Human, Fighter): Douglas (Gaming Ballistic)
Larramore “Little Larry” (Kobold, Marksman): NPC
Marcus Aurelius (Magic Sword): NPC
Daria (Human, Rebel Leader): NPC
Dwemmon (Gnome): NPC
7 Rescued Gnomes

The Prelude
Nosphryc Azurecoat was surrounded by the seasoned warriors of his family at the start of the solemn ritual in the chapel of the family castle. The family's cleric pronounced the admonitions and blessings, as the men and women in armed splendor looked on.

When the final affirmation of the congregation is spoken, Nosphryc would be teleported to a destination chosen by the family's gods where he would hopefully prove his worth as a brave and true hero, fit to rule his people. Of course, the hope was that Nosphryc would bring back a few wagon loads of booty as well.

Map A (1 square = 5 feet)

The Session
The brave adventurers had taken a short rest in Room 1 (Map A above) at the end of Session 40. The group was a bit startled, but less surprised than you would think, by the human warrior who suddenly materialized in their midst. Without missing a beat, the party incorporated Nosphryic Azurecoat into their group.

With the addition of Nosphryic (this session) and Breena (last session), the party decided to think through their marching order. Once this was determined, Adzeer announced that he had a little task to complete. Without explanation he led the group back to the chasm (Area 2 on Map A). Daria and her followers, along with the party's cave goats had been left on the other side of the chasm (Area 3 on Map A) back in Session 39.

Adzeer crossed the chasm by rope to the east side of the chasm. He brought Little Larry, the party's kobold archer, along with him. Adzeer commended Little Larry to supporting Daria in establishing a homeland for her people. Leaving Little Larry behind, Adzeer attempted to cross the chasm again by rope. However, he slipped off the rope and, as he fell into the canyon, began to swing pendulum style by the safety rope towards the west wall of the chasm, 50' below the opening of the tunnel where the adventurers were waiting.

Duncan had prepared a levitate spell, which was cast in a nick of time. Adzeer gently floated up from the chasm below and the party reeled him with the safety rope.

The party returned to Room 1 (Map A above) and then into Room 4, which was empty. They moved into Room 4. Room 4 was not empty. The room was a dwarven tabernacle, containing a number of large pink spiders and one larger blue spider with a metallic body (bell spiders).

As the spiders moved towards the open door, Dante cast a fireball and Luven slammed the door shut. The fireball took out 7 of 8 pink spiders, leaving two badly burned spiders alive (one pink and one blue). The party prepared to engage the remaining spiders and entered the room. A deafening gong sound came from the singed blue spider, injuring most of the party and stunning a few. Despite this setback, the party quickly dispatched the final two spiders.

Before the party had a chance to catch their breath, pink spiders began pouring out of Area 6 (unexplored at this point) and towards the exposed and vulnerable gnomes at the back of the party (the gnomes were being escorted back to their subterranean home).

Breena responded quickly with a well-aimed hand axe tossed through the gnomes and into the abdomen of a rushing spider. Nosphryic unfortunately took out one of the gnomes in his attempt to take out a spider. Oops.

Duncan cast a web spell and managed to entangle the bulk of the spider threat. Adzeer then used his Ring of Spider Communication to talk with the spiders. Spiders, at least the pink spiders in the web, didn't have much to say except "Please let us go" and "Don't hurt us."

The party chose to ignore the pleas and reduced the webbed spiders at a distance. Two of the spiders managed to break free and escape into Area 6. In the meantime, Luven moved through Room 5 and opened the southern door, giving him ready access into Area 6. He found 1 blue spider and 5 pink spiders in the corridor. Luven did a devastating sneak attack on the blue spider, leaving it alive but seriously wounded. Luven then backed into Room 5.

The blue spider created a deafening gong sound, wounding most of the party and stunning a few. At this point, Duncan decided to drop the web spell, which allowed Nosphryc, Breena and Adzeer to engage the pink spiders at close quarters. With Luven to the west and the rest of the party to the east, the spiders were put to death in short order.

The party searched the area and found nothing but spider droppings. No webs. No remains of previous treasure laden meals. No goodies. Happily, they did discover, thanks to a bit of natural history on Nosphryc's part, that the metallic exoskeletons on the blue spiders were actually coated with excreted silver. They used the permanent flames in the dwarven tabernacle to melt the silver into easy-to-carry blobs.

Using the Lens of Melnar and the finder's lens, Duncan discovered a secret door that led into Room 7. This room was filled with battered dwarven skeletons, the rusted remnants of armor, and some miscellaneous items long decayed past the point of recognition. The party did find a bit of gold and silver at the west end of the room. Everything in the room appeared to be quite ancient.

The party moved into Area 8, with had spider droppings, humanoid bones of various sizes and types, and a not-too-decomposed body of a goblin. The party searched the body and discovered some gold, some silver, two vials, and a gem-laden amulet.* Using the Lens of Melar, the party discovered that the amulet was used to control some sort of transportation device or vehicle. Knowing that goblins use brightly colored magical wagons on their travels as the universe's peddlers, the party concluded the device controlled a goblin wagon. This is where the session ended.

* Originally, before the session, I had decided this would be a metal object about the size of a brick. In post game review, I have made it an amulet.

The Dungeon So Far

Level 1 (1 square = 5 feet)

Level 2 (1 square = 5 feet)

Level 3 (1 square = 5 feet)

Mystery Level A (1 square = 5 feet)

Mystery Level B (1 square = 5 feet)

21 Miles Down A (1 square = 5 feet)

21 Miles Down B (1 square = 5 feet)