Montporte Dungeon Campaign 2.0 Session 8 Notes (Montporte 54)

Cast of Characters
Alaric: Human Cleric (PC-Main Character)
Alicia: Human Footman (NPC Henchwoman)
Carlos: Human Footman (NPC Henchman)
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)
Septimus: Human Fighter (PC-Main Character)
Ummerokhan: Uyoga (NPC)
Zug: Orc (NPC)

The Session
The brave adventurers, having their first dungeon-based trade agreement in hand (negotiated in the previous session), were heading back to the town of Montporte to load up on weapons to sell to the Community.

They made their way from the second level, back to the first, and were heading toward the dungeon entrance when they encountered a group of large spiders. There were two bright red spiders and three dull gray spiders. The gray spiders were larger and more aggressive than the red spiders. The gray spiders moved towards the party, along the walls of the room, while the red spiders held their ground in the middle.

The party, sensing that they were the prey in this encounter, put their best fighters out front and closed the gap. The gray spiders turned out to be poisonous, with the poison causing paralysis on a failed saving throw. The red spiders were not poisonous, but they provided the party with a special surprise. When the party killed one of the red spiders, a half dozen smaller black spiders emerged from the slain spider and swarmed over the party. This created a fair amount of anxiety for the party members fighting the second red spider. It, too, spewed out a half dozen smaller black spiders out of its broken corpse.

A few party members suffered paralysis and Maydor the orc was killed, but eventually the party overcame the spiders. The group had just experienced their first encounter with cardinal spiders, nomadic predators feared by dwarfs and orcs alike.

Our session started later that usual. We ended here for the night.

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
Maydor, NPC, Orc, Session 54

Montporte Dungeon Campaign 2.0 Session 7 Notes (Montporte 53)

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)
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)
Ummerokhan: Uyoga (NPC)
Zug: Orc (NPC)

The Session
After adding 3 orcs and an ogre to their party at the end of Session 6 (Montporte 52), the adventurers and their large party continued to move carefully through level 2. Only a short distance from where the party killed the 4 thuragians in the last session, the party encountered 2 short, stocky hideous robed and hooded humanoids. This would be the party's first encountered with the 'oxkarrotous. The 'oxkarrotous had a string of humans, kobolds, and gnomes in tow, all chained together.

Alaric and Septimus decided that these two 'oxkarrotous were up to no good and, when the chained prisoners, cried out for help, the party attacked. The 'oxkarrotous were tough customers and were able to keep the main body of the party at bay. Unfortunately for the 'oxkarrotous, the room had multiple doors. The 3 orcs and the ogre looped around and attacked the the 'oxkarrotous on the flank through a side door. This turned the tide of the battle. The 'oxkarrotous finally went down. The adventurers suffered many wounds, but no one was killed out of the party.

The adventurers freed those who were chained and learned that the thuragians, the crab people encountered in the previous session, had settled nearby on level 2. From this base, they ventured forth and captured humanoids from nearby areas of the dungeon. The humanoid captives were sold to the 'oxkarrotous to be used as sacrifices in their demonic rituals.

As the party began to move on from this area, they encountered a group of mixed humanoids, led by a kobold named Larramore. Larramore turned out to be Little Larry, the faithful companion to Septimus' uncle, Adzeer Mattai. Little Larry's party was searching for the captives that had been freed by the adventurers.

Little Larry was now the troop commander for "the Community," a collective of idealistic property-sharing individuals living in the former gnome farming areas of levels 2 and 4. Daria was their leader. The Community's trade coordinator, Darius Pincushion (a gnome), negotiated a trade deal with Septimus and Alaric. The adventurers would bring a variety of weapons from Montporte to the Community and sell them at a profit. In return, the Community would sell the adventurers mushroom cubes that could be sold at a profit in Montporte.

Before departing, Ummerokhan, an Uyoga (mushroom person), joined the adventurers to serve as a guide who knew the path to the Community. The adventurers' 3 kobolds and the arbold left the adventurers to join Little Larry and the Community.

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

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

Montporte Dungeon Campaign 2.0 Session 5 Notes (Montporte 51)

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)
Lord Jim: Human Fighter (PC-Sidekick)
Magnus: Human Magic-User (PC-Sidekick)
Merv: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchman)
Ooga: Arbold (NPC)
Septimus: Human Fighter (PC-Main Character)

The Session
This session started at the northern end of the elementalists' monastery on Level 1, where the last session ended. The adventurers had defeated a squad of kobolds, confiscated their boats, and decided to spend the night in the room. They secured the single door with spikes and set a watch schedule.

At the end of the third watch, there was yelling and pounding on the other side of the spiked door. The yelling was in kobold and the tone was frantic and commanding. "That's Andimore, one of Degmar's true believers," whispered Enzore, one of the party's kobold captives. "He's not going to be happy with what you have done. I am sure he is wondering why our squad didn't complete our tasks."

The intensity of the pounding on the door increased, turning to smashing. The party arrayed themselves into their fighting formation, as two arbolds crashed through the door, followed by three kobolds, including the sword wielding fanatic, Andimore.

The battle was fierce but short. The arbolds went down, along with Andimore. The two remaining kobolds, Fishdore and Bildar, dropped their spears and surrendered. The adventurers now had 4 kobolds and 1 arbold as prisoners.

The captives agreed to thrown in their lot with the adventurers, stating that following the deluded Degmar proved to be pointless and dangerous. With the captives becoming comrades, at least for the moment, the party decided to head south to the opposite end of the first level of the Montporte Dungeon. They dragged their three small boats along with them.

Along the way, the party encountered two dwarves, Aldo and Nova. The dwarves were guarding an entrance to their mining area on the first level of the dungeon. The dwarves cast a wary eye at the kobolds and arbold. The conversation was not tense, but the dwarves were not in a chatty mood. The adventurers did promise to come back and have a conversation about trade.

The adventurers moved south into unexplored territory. Here they discovered what proved to be a subterranean lake. As bodies of water go, it seemed small, but it proved to be the largest body of water so far discovered in Montporte Dungeon.

Not everyone in the party could fit into the boats, so the party split, with a larger group taking the boats and the remainder securing the landing area. As soon as the boats left the shore, the adventurers in the boats could see three very large frogs swimming around and under the boats. Each frog looked to weigh about 60 pounds.

The party explored a bit of the cave wall along the edge of the lake east of the landing. In the meantime, the three frogs drew closer and eventually surfaced next to the boats. A loaf of bread appeared the paws of each frog and they tossed the loaves into the boats.

Shaken, the adventurers paddled the boats back to the landing and then ripped the bread into little pieces, searching for poison or a trap or some other life-threatening item. All they discovered was that the bread was still warm and smelled mighty yummy.

With the destruction of the bread complete, we ended the session.

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

Montporte Dungeon Campaign 2.0 Session 4 Notes (Montporte 50)

Cast of Characters
Alaric: Human Cleric (PC-Main Character)
Allidore: Kobold (NPC)
Alicia: Human Footman (NPC Henchwoman)
Carlos: Human Footman (NPC Henchman)
Diana: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchwoman)
Enzore: Kobold (NPC)
Lord Jim: Human Fighter (PC-Sidekick)
Magnus: Human Magic-User (PC-Sidekick)
Merv: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchman)
Ooga: Arbold (NPC)
Septimus: Human Fighter (PC-Main Character)

The Session
At the conclusion of the previous session, the adventurers were moving north on the first level of the Montporte Dungeon into unexplored territory. The adventurers suspected that this area was teeming with kobolds.

As the adventuring party continued their exploration, they began to find signs that confirmed the presence of kobolds--clever traps on doors, small footprints in the dust, and the sound of light footsteps beyond torch range.

Eventually, the party reached the northern end of the first level of the Elementalists' Monastery. Here they found a small group of heavily armed kobolds, accompanied by two arbolds. A nasty little melee battle ensued that resulted in the death of Alicia, party henchwoman and footman. Despite their tragic loss, the adventurers killed the kobolds and one of the arbolds. The remaining arbold, named "Ooga," surrendered.

The party then moved into the next room containing four more kobolds. The party killed two of the kobolds and the other two surrendered. There names were Allidore and Enzore. There also three small boats in the room. Two of the boats were very small and the third boat, a little larger, had a heavy crossbow mounted on the bow.

One of the kobolds had written orders from Degmar, the leader of the kobolds in the region. Degmar is known to be both charismatic and unstable. He had brought the kobolds to Montporte to search for some sort of legendary magic item or location (read Little Larry's story for more info). Some of the kobolds proved to be as fanatical as Degmar. Others followed out of a sense of kobold honor. And others went along, quietly grumbling and hoping for better leadership to come along. The two kobolds captured by the party fell into the third group and were happy to be out from under Degmar's scaly thumb.

Degmar's written orders described a three pronged movement of kobolds, moving from north to south. The easternmost group would move to secure the kobolds' left (east) flank from dwarves and orcs. The party realized that they had met and defeated this group in their second session (Montporte Session 48).

A second group, the most heavily armed, would sweep south and west through the ant caves on the first level of the dungeon. They would push back the ants, hold the right (west) flank and also serve as a diversion.

The third group would move south quickly with three boats, dragged by arbolds. The boats would be put into the lake at the south end of the first level. This was the western access to the lake. The east access had been tried but proved to be too hazardous for exploration, due to orcs and hazards in the water. The adventurers had unwittingly destroyed Degmar's operations by destroying two out of three groups of kobolds.

Having convinced the arbold and kobolds to become members of their party, the adventurers decided to secure the room and get a good night's rest. The session ended here.

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

Montporte Dungeon Campaign 2.0 Session 3 Notes (Montporte 49)

Cast of Characters
Alaric: Human Cleric (PC-Main Character)
Alicia: Human Footman (NPC Henchwoman)
Carlos: Human Footman (NPC Henchman)
Diana: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchwoman)
Magnus: Human Magic-User (PC-Sidekick)
Merv: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchman)
Pulvarti: Human Magic-User (PC-Sidekick)
Septimus: Human Fighter (PC-Main Character)

The Session
This session started in the town of Montporte, with the party healing up, getting supplies and searching for a replacement for the late footman, Horace. Carlos was added to the group and the adventurers headed back to the dungeon, this time with a plan to explore some new territory on the first level.

Once inside the dungeon, the adventurers moved north and entered a dining hall of the Elementalist Monastery. The Elementalist Monastery forms the core of the upper of levels of the Montporte Dungeon. In the dining hall, they found several strange large lizard creature (flying cubic lizard). The lizards had no legs and possessed cube-shaped bodies, with a neck and head at one end and a tail at the other. Along each side of the lizard's cubic body was a human face. The lizards moved by floating from one place to another.

The lizards turned out to be hungry and aggressive. While the lizards were not particularly fearsome, they had the ability to float over the defensive line of fighters and footman. One of them did just that, attacking and killing the vulnerable magic-user, Pulvarti. The rest of the party was able to defeat the lizards but the victory offered no hope for the fallen mage.

Despite mourning the loss of their friend, the party pressed on to the north, discovering some new territory. This included finding a room with a pool. In the pool were several moderately sized sharks circling towards the bottom of the pool. At the bottom of the pool, the adventurers could clearly see a trap door. Not having a means to descend and explore the door, the party moved on.

The party also discovered a room with a large sandbox area, similar to a pool of water, but containing soil and rocks. The soil and rocks began to vibrate a move about a bit as they entered the room. The adventurers knew there was a similar area just south, only it contained a pool of water that rippled. Occasionally, the pool unleashed some water elementals. There was a locked steel door on the western side of the room. Magnus was unable to pick the lock. Fearing an unwelcome appearance by some earth elementals, the party exited the room.

After a bit more exploration, the session ended for the evening.

Scroll of the Dead
Horace NPC Footman, Session 48
Pulvarti PC Magic-User, Session 49

Montporte Dungeon Campaign 2.0 Session 2 Notes (Montporte 48)

Cast of Characters
Alaric: Human Cleric (PC-Main Character)
Alicia: Human Footman (NPC Henchwoman)
Diana: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchwoman)
Horace: Human Footman (NPC Henchman)
Magnus: Human Magic-User (PC-Sidekick)
Merv: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchman)
Pulvarti: Human Magic-User (PC-Sidekick)
Septimus: Human Fighter (PC-Main Character)

The Session
The second session of the Montporte Dungeon Campaign 2.0 (Montporte Session 48) picked up where the last session left off. The adventurers left the safety and comfort of the town of Montporte and returned to the dungeon.

The adventurers checked out the area just inside the entrance, looking for signs of orcs. While they did not see any living orcs, the adventurers notices that the orc bodies left from the previous sessions had been moved into a side room. Here they were organized and laid to rest. They found other evidence of recent orc activity, such as a partially eaten dwarf and a few mostly eaten kobolds.

The party continued east. At this point, a sporadic sprinkle of arrows came at them from two different directions. The adventurers did a tactical retreat and then secured one door while Septimus shot arrows north, into the dark. He heard a kobold scream and then the sound of a body hit the floor...a clear sign that his shot in the dark was not in vain.

The party advanced north, following a trail of blood from a second kobold. After much winding around and searching, the party stumbled on a larger group of kobolds. Two of the kobolds were mounted on giant spotted spiky spiders.

The kobolds were easy pickings, but the spiders proved tougher. One of the spiders bit Horace and died from the poison damage. When the last of the kobolds were killed, the two spiders retreated to the east, leaving a trail of spider blood and goo behind.

The adventurers gathered up the weapons, a smattering of gold, a few semiprecious gems, and a vial of magical foot fungus cure. At this point, the party thought it best to leave the dungeon, heal up, and then return.

The Scroll of the Dead
Horace NPC - Session 48

What Worked
Giving the kobolds a knowledge of the dungeon, a mind for small unit tactics, and a desire to keep their enemies out of melee range worked well. This is where restricting PCs to humans only put the party at a (fun) disadvantage, despite their clear superiority to the kobolds. Torches and lanterns make for great arrow targets. The tactical movement and darkvision of the kobolds turned a run-of-the-mill melee into a sprawling challenge for the players.

I am really digging Bloody Basic, our rule set. Simple yet robust, with its comprehensive d20 mechanics.

Montporte Dungeon Campaign 2.0 Session 1 Notes (Montporte Session 47)

Cast of Characters
Alaric: Human Cleric (PC-Main Character)
Alicia: Human Footman (NPC Henchwoman)
Diana: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchwoman)
Horace: Human Footman (NPC Henchman)
Magnus: Human Magic-User (PC-Sidekick)
Merv: Human Torchbearer (NPC Henchman)
Pulvarti: Human Magic-User (PC-Sidekick)
Septimus: Human Fighter (PC-Main Character)

The Session
The session started in the town of Montporte. The town's business and political leaders, led by Rindolph (Count's Steward/Mayor) and Gunderson (Master Guildmaster), had a two-fold mission for Alaric and Septimus:

1. Find potential trade partners for the town of Montporte who are living in the Montporte dungeon.
2. Search for a an abandoned dwarven city, rumored to be somewhere beneath the Montporte dungeon.

The party was armed with a bit of gold, a few healing potions, and some dungeon maps recently purchased by town leaders.

About a year had elapsed between the first Montporte Dungeon Campaign and this session, which is the start of the second Montporte Dungeon Campaign. At the beginning of the first campaign, a band of orcs had moved some stones and found an opening into the Montporte Dungeon. For centuries, the dungeon had remained unknown in the remote mountain wilderness north of the isolated town of Montporte.

With the dungeon's discovery, dwarves had reinhabited ancient mines, orcs continued to explore and homestead, and humans began poking around for treasure and knowledge. Montporte's town mothers and fathers wanted to cash in on this newly uncovered subterranean world. Alaric and Septimus were asked to lead the charge.

After getting a bit of information, some supplies and a team of henchman, the party descended into the first level of Montporte. Their careful scouting discovered an orc archer, slouched and asleep behind an arrow slit in the first room. Septimus quietly ended his slumber and his life with a well-placed arrow.

The party moved east through a doorway and met a few more orcs. Melee ensued and soon orcs were pouring into the room from several doorways. The party was surprised at how organized and tactically sound the orcs were. The party would have been hard pressed, were it not for a well timed sleep spell that stopped almost a dozen orcs in their tracks. The party kept one orc alive, tied him up, and dispatched the rest.

The captive orc revealed the following information after a bit of questioning:

• The orcs were in the dungeon, searching for a tunnel that would lead them deep underneath their current lair, located about 15 miles to the northeast. 
• Underneath their lair were a nest of antmen. They wanted to find a tunnel that would lead them underneath the antmen so that they could attack the antmen from above and below.
• The orcs believed that there was a hidden tunnel on Montporte's fourth level that would connect to their lair from below.
• The orcs are led by a powerful mage who is neither orc nor human.

The party decided to let their captive live. The explored the surrounding area and found the orcs' food (nasty), beds, and cooking area.

Deciding not to push their luck, the party returned to the town of Montporte. There they discovered, much to their delight, that a live orc was worth a bounty of 50 gold pieces.

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)

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 42 Notes

Douglas Cole (Gaming Ballistic) has a detailed post on Montporte Session 42.

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)
Nosphryc Azurecoat (Human, Fighter): Douglas (Gaming Ballistic)
8 Rescued Gnomes (Abel; Dilrod; Dwemmon; Ernst; Gemflower; Happenstance; Rosepetal; Zelma Lynn)

Map A (1 square = 5 feet)

The Session
The brave adventurers continued where they left off in Session 41. They are seeking to return 8 rescued gnomes to their home deep below ground. This has led to the party trying to find a way down the Montporte dungeon proper. They are currently exploring a small level at the end of a staircase that has descended 21 miles.

The party started off this session in Room 1 (Map A above) and explored Rooms 2-4, which turned out to be dwarven dining and kitchen facilities. They knew that they needed to continue heading west, which they did. This led to the discovery of a set of stairs heading down (Area 5 on Map A).

The party walked down the steps, descending 5 vertical miles, when they came upon a freshly killed half elf. He had left a trail of blood behind him, heading down the steps. He had been mauled and eviscerated, which made his ascent up the steps nothing short of a miracle. He also had the signature bite mark of a vampire on his neck, and he also at the insignia of the Hunters of Adzeer on his tunic. The party searched his body and found a letter, among other things.

The letter, from a certain Brother Kepler, spoke of a mysterious "SBF," who had a lair underground near the town of Montporte. The letter hinted at SBF being a vampire, who was powerful enough to have a lich doing his bidding. The letter gave further information as to SBF's background and what might be done to kill him. SBF had, according to the letter, created and hidden multiple crypts for himself. SBF couldn't be destroyed until each of these crypts was destroyed.

There was a fair amount of debate among party members about descending further and running into a vampire and a lich, but, in the end, the party continued down the steps.

Map B (1 square = 5 feet)

The party descended vertically another 2 miles and arrived in Room 6 (Map B above). There was a lot of blood on the floor. There was also the body of a wight, with charred wound on its chest, likely from electrical damage. There were also two dead zombies in the room. The trail of blood led to the southwest corner of the room, where the party found a secret door (but did not open it).

There was also a small plaque on the south wall, written in goblin, which said: Arlonian Syndicate Waystation 452. The group was able to figure out that this had something to do with groups of goblins have exclusive trading rights to certain areas.

The did a quick check of Area 7 (Map B above), just to make sure they knew the area. They then decided to take a long rest in Room 6. They did hear some faint scratchy and shuffling from the secret door in the southeast corner of the room, but it was an otherwise uneventful resting period.

After the rest, the party entered the secret door and followed the narrow corridor. They did not enter Room 8, choosing to, instead, set themselves up in the 10' wide corridor. Facing them was a wight and about a half dozen zombies. After about 3 rounds of combat, the party had almost eliminated the undead threat. Just then, they heard a female voice from beyond their range of sight shouting, "Get them and kill them!"

Another wight and more zombies appeared, plus a female who looked suspiciously like a vampire. A well-placed fireball managed to catch most of the undead. Most were left standing, but were quite damaged. Using spells and arms, the party made surprisingly quick work of the remaining undead, killing the suspected vampire as she attempted to flee through a secret door to the south.

The party discovered that the female was a vampire spawn, not a true vampire. They also discovered a dead human in armor against one wall. He had a wooden stake shoved through his visor. He also had short note in a scroll case.

This note was also from Brother Kepler. It spoke of SBF and the location of several of SBF's crypts. According to the note, these locations are:

• A crypt is located 7 miles below a dwarven mining site, hidden near an abandoned trader way station. 
• A crypt is located just below groundin a giant ant colony.
• A crypt is located in the ruins of a dwarven city.
• A crypt is located far underground with the Bloody Spear orc tribe. 
• A crypt is located far below ground, in a foul cave, and is protected by a powerful demon.

This is where the session ended for the night.

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)

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)