Montporte Dungeon Campaign Session 14 Notes

The Cast
Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the First Circle (Half Orc, 3 Lvl Hunter): Tim (Gothridge Manor)
Duncan Kern (Gnome, 3 Lvl Wizard/Thief): Dan
Dante Rathburn (Human, 3 Lvl Warlock): Chris (The Clash of Spear on Shield)
Luven Lightfinger (Human, 3 Lvl Thief): Rob (Bat in the Attic)
Larramore “Little Larry” (Kobold, 2 Lvl Marksman): NPC
Ansarkhan ("Mushroom Man", 2 Lvl Fighter): NPC
Diana (Human, Torch Bearer, Goat Driver): NPC
Innerkhan ("Mini-Mushroom Man"): NPC
5 cave goats

Map A (1 square = 5 feet)

The Session
The session started with the intrepid adventurers in Room 1 (Map A above). They had been teleported into this area during the last session, leaving them clueless as to their location.

As the party was about to leave Room 1, Luven heard a small voice whisper, "Ansarkhan?" (Luven has a magic earring that improves his hearing). Luven traced the voice to a 4' tall mushroom in the room, where there was a row of cultivated mushrooms.

"Yes," Luven responded, as he approached the row of mushrooms. He was surprised when one of the mushrooms opened a pair of eyes. He spoke in broken Common tongue to Luven, and then in Elvish to Ansarkhan (the 7' mushroom man fighter in the party, an NPC). Ansarkhan recognized him as Immerkhan, a fellow mushroom man and friend of Allindrihl, the mushroom farmer elf. Allindrihl lives on the second level of the dungeon (the party had a long talk with him in Session 10).

Innerkhan, speaking Common, then explained to the party that he was spying for Allindrihl. Allindrihl had sent Innerkhan to hide in the mushroom farms of the "Breeders" as a spy. Innerkhan hid in a mushroom farm on the second level of the dungeon, near Allindrihl's lair. From there he could pick up important tidbits of information about the Breeders. Things were going well until he was boxed up and transported to his current location, as part of a colonization effort. Much like the adventurers, he had no idea as to his own location.

He also let the party know that (a) there had been some attack nearby and the leader of the Breeder colony, Temmrick, had gone off to investigate and (b) there was a lot of concern amongst the Breeders about a rebellion. Having told his story, Innerkhan asked to join the party.

While this was happening, Luven wandered away to the south, followed by Duncan. The party eventually caught up. They found Room 2, with a spiral staircase leading down. Luven told the party that there is always more treasure down below, so the party decided to descend. After a 100' vertical descent, they found themselves in Room 3 (Map B below).

Map B (1 square = 5 feet)

From Room 3, the party moved east into Room 4, which contained some bunks, made out of pressed mushroom fiber, and about a dozen gray cloaks and two black ones. Room 5 also contained bunks and, unlike Room 4, they were occupied. There were six humans in the room, three sleeping and three that were sitting around a small table. The humans were completely caught by surprise and, more importantly, had no arms or armor. The party tied them up and questioned them.

The humans said that they (a) Served Elias the One; (b) Were only "acolytes," not "novices;" (c) Did not have magic rings, unlike the novices; (d) Manufactured "gaunts" [simple weapon-wielding humans]; (e) Ate "meats" [herd-like humans]; and (f) Were assuming that the adventurers were acting on behalf of the rebellion. Hearing that these "acolytes" ate other human beings were reason enough for the party to kill them, which they did. In searching the bodies, Duncan found a small vial that was warm to the touch. He was able to determine that contained Chi, the life energy, and that it was incredibly powerful. The party carefully stored it in the chest of holding.

The party also learned that the gaunts respond to simple instructions by anyone, at least initially. However, once they are commanded by someone wearing a novice ring, they will only listening to those wearing novice rings.

Room 6 (Map B above) contained tables and benches, also made out of pressed mushroom fiber. The room was not occupied but there were platters that had bits of stringy meat on them.

The party moved west and then north to Area 7 (Map B above). It was a huge room, illuminated by harsh magic lighting from globes near the ceiling. There were heavy strips of golden metal running in parallel across the floor [like rails]. The party had seen the same type of thing during Session 12. There were also two gaunts, armed with halberds in the western half of the room (Area 8). They did not respond or even appear to notice the presence of the party.

Adzeer decided the party needed to huddle up. The group was lost and wandering around. They should talk about a plan of action. Before they could really get into a conversation, two acolytes peeked around the corner from Room 10. The party waved them over and they warily approached.

The acolytes, wearing gray robes, wanted to know why the party didn't have robes on. The party tried to convince the acolytes that they represented the acolytes' leader, Elias the One. The acolytes were not convinced and ran back to the west. The party quickly cut them down before the acolytes could turn the corner into Room 10 (Map B above).

Figure 1: Metal cask, only much bigger than this.

Having moved to the west to chase down the acolytes, the party then moved into Room 10 themselves. They were startled by what they found. Room 10 was a large room with a 30' x 40' hole in the floor. Coming up through the middle of the floor was a shiny metal round thing, like a cask or barrel, only much bigger (see Figure 1). It had a metal walkway out to the top of it, with some gadget thingies at the end of the walkway. There was also a metal ladder that led from the metal walkway down into the hole.

Like the big room they were leaving, Room 10 was harshly illuminated by light sources close to the ceiling. In the stark glare, the party could see a novice, some acolytes and a couple of gaunts, all staring in their direction with alarm.

Here is where the session ended.

The Dungeon So Far
Scale: 1 square = 5 feet

Level 1

Level 2 West

Level 2 East

Mystery Level

Another Mystery Level

Monday Moodsetter 25

RPG Rorschach: What is the first gaming thought that pops into your head?

And Then There Are My Other Lives...

I have busy this summer, way too busy. Work has been really hectic, which is not good (except in the sense that I have a job, for which I am thankful). Lots of gaming and music, both good, have been on the docket.

Here is me at work, being quoted in the local paper: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/886575_S--June-Smith-Center--Excentia-merge-organizations.html

Here is me, at work on the bass, funkifizing on Saturday night (the sound quality is not good, but you get the idea): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YQ5L63AHVs (by the way, what you can't see in the video are the four Amish guys that walked into the bar in the middle of the song...such is life in my part of Pennsylvania).

And it is almost Monday...time to grab the virtual dice and game.

Montporte Dungeon Campaign Session 13 Notes

Cast of Characters

Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the First Circle (Half Orc, 3 Lvl Hunter): Tim (Gothridge Manor)
Duncan Kern (Gnome, 2 Lvl Wizard/Thief): Dan
Dante Rathburn (Human, 3 Lvl Warlock): Chris (The Clash of Spear on Shield)
Luven Lightfinger (Human, 2 Lvl Thief): Rob (Bat in the Attic)
Larramore “Little Larry” (Kobold, 2 Lvl Marksman): NPC
Ansarkhan ("Mushroom Man", 2 Lvl Fighter): NPC
Diana (Human, Torch Bearer, Goat Driver): NPC
3 cave goats

Map A (1 square = 5 feet)

The Session
Session 13 began where Session 12 left off, with the brave adventurers on Level 2 of the Montporte Dungeon.They were confronted with a number of choices in Room 1 (Map 1 above), 4 unexplored doors plus a spiral stairway leading up.

The matter was put on hold as Luven heard footsteps coming through the northern door on the east wall. He started to open the door and had some help from the other side of the door. Coming into the room were three of the armored guys (they had met one in Session 12). Behind them was a figure in a black cloak and hood, similar to the ones they had seen in Session 7 and Session 12. In this case, however, the figure was much smaller and obviously feminine [I used a token with a woman's face on it in Roll20...which was an immediate giveaway].

Melee ensued with Luven hitting the cloaked figure with one of his special magical throwing knives (Knives of Melvin Spellpudding). Dante took down one of the armored guys in the front row and then melee ensued. Before the battle had progressed very far, there was a flash and a puff of smoke and the hooded woman vanished, leaving a pile of cloak behind.

The party took a bit of damage during the battle, but with the woman vanishing and armored guy sleeping, the odds were in their favor. The party were able to defeat the two remaining foes rather handily.

A quick search of the bodies turned up nothing but standard weapons. A careful search of the abandoned cloak and clothing was more fruitful...a ring and two scrolls. The ring turned out to be similar to the previous two that were found on the slain cloaked guys. It had an evil aura and it gives the ability create a burning hands effect inside the body of a victim touched by the ring wearer.

One of the scrolls turned out to be a delivery confirmation, a receipt for delivered alchemy powders. The second scroll was a set of patrol orders, given to the cloaked woman (who is called Alleena in the scroll). The scroll provided a lot of useful background information for the player characters. It also indicated that the alchemy powders had been delivered to a newly colonized area of the dungeon. The path to this colony was just south of "the Room with Five Doors." The patrol orders also mentioned a spider that was being used to guard the stairs leading up from "the Room with Five Doors."

The brave adventurers looked around them and decided they were in the Room with Five Doors. The first order of business was to kill the spider above them in the stairwell. With flaming oil, an ray of enfeeblement, and some good old stabbing and jabbing, they managed to kill the really nasty spider without harm to themselves. They searched the web and found the encased body of the naked slaves, who they now knew were called "meat" (as mentioned in the patrol orders).

The party was undecided as to which way to go so part of the party went west into Area 4 (Map A above) while another part of the group went south into Room 3. Area 4 didn't look promising so they continued to go south. Rooms 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 all contained rows of mushrooms in a thin layer of soil. They were big mushrooms, some over 4' tall.

They came to a steel door and prepared their weapons. The patrol orders indicated that there was a room (with potential treasure) that was part of "the path." It would contain two gaunts (7' tall guys with halberds) and one novice named Prog (the guys with the cloaks, hoods, and evil rings).

The party burst into Room 9. In it was one novice, two gaunts, and two cave goats. Duncan hit them with a color spray, knocking the gaunts unconscious and blinding Prog. Prog and his companions were quickly overcome and the party set to opening the chests they found in the room. There was plenty of gold and silver, as well a number of healing potions and healing draughts. There was also some black cloth and bags of stringy dried meat. Intriguingly, there was also a glowing green circle on the floor with a brighter glowing spot in the center.

The party threw the three bodies of their most recent victims into the circle and each disappeared. Luven rigged one of the chests with vial of gas (removed from the chest when he found and removed a trap). He threw the chest into the circle and it disappeared. Luven then decided to relieve himself into the circle [what is a GM supposed to do in a case like this?]. Luven disappeared from the room, apparently following the three bodies and the chest of recently released poison gas.

Dante fastened a rope around himself, gave one end to Adzeer, and jumped into the green circle. He found himself being sucked into another space or room but being held back by the rope, which ended up causing him considerable injury. At this point, the party all entered the green circle and disappeared (Diana brought along the two additional cave goats)...

Map B (1 square = 5 feet)

...and reappeared in Room 10 (Map B above). The rest of the party found that Luven had suffered a bit of damage from the released gas, but was otherwise okay.

The party moved into Room 11 (Map B above). There were four meats in the room, chained together and tending a few rows of smaller mushrooms.To the south, they could see a statue in the corridor. To the east, they see two gaunts, standing still in Room 13. The party kept an eye on the gaunts while Duncan explored Room 12, which was filled with more mushrooms.

The party then used flaming oil to burn the gaunts. The flames killed one gaunt and seriously burned the other, but still it did not move. The party was able to kill the remaining gaunt. Despite being armed with a halberd, it did not fight back.

The group moved into Room 14, which was furnished with a simple table, bed, and three chairs. They appeared to be new and made of pressed mushroom material. There was a black cloak under the bed but nothing else in the room.

The group then moved into Room 15 (Map B above). This small room featured a device on a pedestal. The device had a dial on the side, with the numbers I-V (Roman numerals) arranged around the dial. Dante moved the dial to "I" and the party was able to get a birdseye view of the entrance room of the dungeon. "II" provided a view of a room with a pool. The party had visited this room in Session 8, where Duncan famously dove into the pool and triggered an attack by water elementals.

Moving the dial to the three remaining positions revealed three other rooms, none of which had been visited by the party. View III featured a room with a "pool" of stones. View IV displayed a room with a "pool" of low flames. Room V revealed an empty "pool." These are all displayed in the diagram below.

Crystal Ball-Dial Settings and Views

This is where the session ended for the evening.

The Dungeon So Far
Scale: 1 square = 5 feet

Level 1

Level 2--The Western Part

Level 2--The Eastern Part

"Mystery Level"

My Favorite Works of Fiction

Not much gaming content in this post, just so you know.

I read a lot...a little more than a book a week...and I tend to read non-fiction more than fiction. But I do like a good story. Here is a list of my favorite fiction. I haven't necessarily excluded fantasy and science fiction, but not many of them made the cut. My wife and I read a of books together--what we call our House Book Club--and some of my favorite books were originally one of her selections for us to read (Birdsong, Out Stealing Horses and The Road are good examples of books she picked for our little book club). Every gamer should read The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop by Robert Coover.

Some of my favorite fiction (I marked my Top Ten with an *):

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein*
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak*
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursala Le Guin
Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov*
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salmon Rushdie
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova*
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll*
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fennimore Cooper
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Little Big Man by Thomas Berger
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien*
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco*
The Otori Trilogy by Lian Hearn
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger*
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee *
A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth
The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop by Robert Coover*
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Wonderful Fool by Shusaku Endo

Monday Moodsetter 24

"After the Rains" by Stephen Hickman

RPG Rorschach: What is the first gaming thought that pops into your head?

Get Your Short Stories Submitted! Pulp Mill Press Deadline Is Approaching

The deadline for short story submissions for Pulp Mill Press's first publication, Libram Mysterium, is fast approaching (it is August 30, 2013). We have had some excellent submissions and you, our future readers, are going to love it.

However, we do have some room for a few more good stories. If you have a story almost completed, be sure to finish it up and send it in. If you have something already completed, blow the dust off of it and send it our way. Just follow the handy dandy submission guidelines.