Post by waysoftheearth on Jun 6, 2009 22:07:30 GMT -6
I recently ran an OD&D/homebrew game for a group of experienced players -- aged 30 to 50ish. Partly, it was to play-test the dungeon I was building for Chgowiz's one page dungeon competition, but mostly it was simply for the joy of playing the game.
The best news is that everyone enjoyed it so much that they want a follow up session
For those that are interested, here's how it all unfolded...
PC generation was done the authentic way. 3d6 per ability, in order, no exceptions, no re-rolls. Each player rolled two PCs, then picked one to play. We ended up with:
1. Hussan (man, fighter, 17 strength),
2. Aoesmythe (elf, fighter/magic-user at once),
3. Jean Paul (man, fighter, 17 charisma) and his entourage of valet, porter, dogs, animal handler and 4 footmen,
4. Lethaniel (elf, thief),
5. Everflame (man, cleric).
PC hit dice were 2d6, adjusted for class and constitution.
Magic-users (even 1st level) were allowed multiple spells per day.
Equipment was chosen by a number of "picks" from the equipment lists rather than counting out silver, with expensive items (i.e., plate armour) being vetoed by me.
Pretty soon it was into the city sewers to hunt for access to a rumoured deeper dungeon level, and its treasures. Access was obtained by jimmying a maintenance doorway with a crowbar. The party soon came upon the City work-crew's roster room, a stilted building overlooking the tunnels. Access was obtained by climbing a narrow stair. The Elven warlock used his jump spell to pounce up the stairs in a single hop and surprise the 3 city guards who were playing cards within. Seeing that the odds were not in his favour, he used the initiative to scamper down the stairs and throw a hold portal upon the door, just in time to trap the frustrated men within.
The party hoofed it into the sewerage system beyond before the magic gave way. It wasn't long before they left the maintained area behind and entered much older, darker parts of the sewers. Lethaniel confidently scouted ahead, aided by his acute elvish vision. However, he was being none too careful, and abruptly snagged his foot on a cunning tripwire which caused a brace of precariously balanced stonework to topple in on him from either side of the corridor. But, his elvish reflexes were sharp, and he managed to tumble out of harm's way. The collapse had caused a great ruckus, however, and while the rest of the party negotiated the now partially blocked passage, Lethaniel found himself targeted by arrows flying out of the darkness ahead. When one of the missiles struck him solidly in the back, he thought better of his valourous position, and scrambled back to the party for cover.
Everflame and Hussan, equipped with their shields and burning torches, charged ahead, deflecting a number of missiles as they bustled into a dark opening that housed a knot of partially collapsed buildings from whence the arrows were flying. Hussan was struck once himself before the two brave fighters booted down a flimsy door and obtained access to one of the dilapidated structures. Meanwhile Aeosmythe and Lethaniel returned bow-fire from the perimeter without much success. Jean Paul and his entourage went with caution and stayed well back.
Once inside the shanties, Everflame and Hussan hewed about them mightily, scattered a plethora of vile Goblin-kind, most of whom escaped out windows or cracks in the walls -- but not before one of the creatures struck a lucky blow against poor Hussan, who was now perilously wounded. Three of the creatures were slain in the struggle, and a further two were shot down by Lethaniel and Aoesmythe as they tried to flee. Once the noise had subsided, Jean Paul arrived, and his entourage of militia-men gleefully looted the corpses of a few dirty coins. Meanwhile Everflame applied his limited healing skills to Hussan's wounds. Unfortunately, it then came to light that he had only ever observed the healing being applied once -- and that on a horse. Needless to say, his ministrations had limited effect.
That being done, the party pressed further into the catacombs, harried by occasional goblin arrows being fired out of the inky darkness. Now they came across a foul stream of sewerage and refuse that flowed from the city above. Everflame returned to the goblin shanty to retrieve woodwork enough to bridge the stream, but in his absence a wandering Ogre stumbled across the party. Fortunately, the keen-witted party was not in the least surprised by this occurrence, but the monster was! Aeosmythe struck the monster with an expertly woven magic missile incarnation, and Jean Paul hurled a dagger with great precision. Confronted with such resistance the monster turned and fled -- which was well, for at least one of Jean Paul's hirelings had soiled his hose.
Everflame returned with an awkward load of shelving, which was unceremoniously dumped across the sewerage stream to form a crude bridge. The elves both crossed lightly, and then advanced into a dark, narrow tunnel as the rest of the party crossed behind them.
Lethaniel found himself sneaking ahead into a web riddled cave littered with old corpses -- and more disturbingly, a bountiful clutch of watermelon-sized, pale eggs that nestled amid the ropes of sticky silk. He used a torch to shrivel some of the webs away, and pushed on. Ahead, in the gloom, he spied some glimmer of a precious metal. Treasure perhaps?
Soon the rest of the party gathered in the webby chamber and decided to investigate one of the eggs, while Jean Paul's entourage were still in the narrow tunnel behind them.
Everflame unceremoniously broke open an egg with his mace, and the whole party leaned close to investigate the embryo contained within. None of them recognised the gooey creature that Everflame pried out. But while they were thus engaged, Jean Paul noticed at the last possible moment that the darkness above them had come alive, and a mass of arachnid legs, pincers and stingers was descending upon them. The party wisely fled deeper into the cave -- the hirelings, now separated from the heroes, were engulfed and died screaming. Jean Paul was the last man out, and had to physically wrestle one of the foul horrors in order to escape.
Deeper in the web riddled cave, Lethaniel found a door to open, and the whole party entered in haste before Aeosmythe threw down another hold portal -- only just in time. With disaster seemingly averted, the party found themselves in an ancient gem-cutter's workshop, and proceeded to loot the profits of the long-gone artisan's labours. They secured a good supply of loose coin and uncut gem-stones before figuring a way to clamber up into the ceiling space and crawl back out to the sewerage causeway.
From there the party deemed it wise to retreat to the surface with their loot, and attempted to retrace their steps (circumventing the spider lair). However, a giant slug was found to be feeding on the Goblin corpses they had left behind and was blocking the retreat, so rather than face the beast in their weakened state, they were forced to find another way.
Everflame just barely avoided stepping into a patch of strange mold, which Aeosmythe then curiously disturbed with an arrow, causing it to burst into a violently growing cloud of spores. Aeosmythe fell back, coughing and spluttering, and successfully saved versus poison. The party were forced to change direction once more, but at last found their way back to the tunnel by which they had entered the dungeon.
Here they found that the City Guards had managed to open the held door, and called down reinforcements. But Jean Paul worked his amazing personal charms, and was able to gain the leading officer's confidence, and thus our intrepid adventurers all escaped the sewers alive...
After the loot had been divided and XP awarded, there was talk of putting together another expedition, with more hirelings. But it turned out that two Jean Paul's hirelings had fled and escaped, and already spread horrible stories about the tunnels below... the party will have to offer up some serious coin to get anyone to follow them below again.
The best news is that everyone enjoyed it so much that they want a follow up session
For those that are interested, here's how it all unfolded...
PC generation was done the authentic way. 3d6 per ability, in order, no exceptions, no re-rolls. Each player rolled two PCs, then picked one to play. We ended up with:
1. Hussan (man, fighter, 17 strength),
2. Aoesmythe (elf, fighter/magic-user at once),
3. Jean Paul (man, fighter, 17 charisma) and his entourage of valet, porter, dogs, animal handler and 4 footmen,
4. Lethaniel (elf, thief),
5. Everflame (man, cleric).
PC hit dice were 2d6, adjusted for class and constitution.
Magic-users (even 1st level) were allowed multiple spells per day.
Equipment was chosen by a number of "picks" from the equipment lists rather than counting out silver, with expensive items (i.e., plate armour) being vetoed by me.
Pretty soon it was into the city sewers to hunt for access to a rumoured deeper dungeon level, and its treasures. Access was obtained by jimmying a maintenance doorway with a crowbar. The party soon came upon the City work-crew's roster room, a stilted building overlooking the tunnels. Access was obtained by climbing a narrow stair. The Elven warlock used his jump spell to pounce up the stairs in a single hop and surprise the 3 city guards who were playing cards within. Seeing that the odds were not in his favour, he used the initiative to scamper down the stairs and throw a hold portal upon the door, just in time to trap the frustrated men within.
The party hoofed it into the sewerage system beyond before the magic gave way. It wasn't long before they left the maintained area behind and entered much older, darker parts of the sewers. Lethaniel confidently scouted ahead, aided by his acute elvish vision. However, he was being none too careful, and abruptly snagged his foot on a cunning tripwire which caused a brace of precariously balanced stonework to topple in on him from either side of the corridor. But, his elvish reflexes were sharp, and he managed to tumble out of harm's way. The collapse had caused a great ruckus, however, and while the rest of the party negotiated the now partially blocked passage, Lethaniel found himself targeted by arrows flying out of the darkness ahead. When one of the missiles struck him solidly in the back, he thought better of his valourous position, and scrambled back to the party for cover.
Everflame and Hussan, equipped with their shields and burning torches, charged ahead, deflecting a number of missiles as they bustled into a dark opening that housed a knot of partially collapsed buildings from whence the arrows were flying. Hussan was struck once himself before the two brave fighters booted down a flimsy door and obtained access to one of the dilapidated structures. Meanwhile Aeosmythe and Lethaniel returned bow-fire from the perimeter without much success. Jean Paul and his entourage went with caution and stayed well back.
Once inside the shanties, Everflame and Hussan hewed about them mightily, scattered a plethora of vile Goblin-kind, most of whom escaped out windows or cracks in the walls -- but not before one of the creatures struck a lucky blow against poor Hussan, who was now perilously wounded. Three of the creatures were slain in the struggle, and a further two were shot down by Lethaniel and Aoesmythe as they tried to flee. Once the noise had subsided, Jean Paul arrived, and his entourage of militia-men gleefully looted the corpses of a few dirty coins. Meanwhile Everflame applied his limited healing skills to Hussan's wounds. Unfortunately, it then came to light that he had only ever observed the healing being applied once -- and that on a horse. Needless to say, his ministrations had limited effect.
That being done, the party pressed further into the catacombs, harried by occasional goblin arrows being fired out of the inky darkness. Now they came across a foul stream of sewerage and refuse that flowed from the city above. Everflame returned to the goblin shanty to retrieve woodwork enough to bridge the stream, but in his absence a wandering Ogre stumbled across the party. Fortunately, the keen-witted party was not in the least surprised by this occurrence, but the monster was! Aeosmythe struck the monster with an expertly woven magic missile incarnation, and Jean Paul hurled a dagger with great precision. Confronted with such resistance the monster turned and fled -- which was well, for at least one of Jean Paul's hirelings had soiled his hose.
Everflame returned with an awkward load of shelving, which was unceremoniously dumped across the sewerage stream to form a crude bridge. The elves both crossed lightly, and then advanced into a dark, narrow tunnel as the rest of the party crossed behind them.
Lethaniel found himself sneaking ahead into a web riddled cave littered with old corpses -- and more disturbingly, a bountiful clutch of watermelon-sized, pale eggs that nestled amid the ropes of sticky silk. He used a torch to shrivel some of the webs away, and pushed on. Ahead, in the gloom, he spied some glimmer of a precious metal. Treasure perhaps?
Soon the rest of the party gathered in the webby chamber and decided to investigate one of the eggs, while Jean Paul's entourage were still in the narrow tunnel behind them.
Everflame unceremoniously broke open an egg with his mace, and the whole party leaned close to investigate the embryo contained within. None of them recognised the gooey creature that Everflame pried out. But while they were thus engaged, Jean Paul noticed at the last possible moment that the darkness above them had come alive, and a mass of arachnid legs, pincers and stingers was descending upon them. The party wisely fled deeper into the cave -- the hirelings, now separated from the heroes, were engulfed and died screaming. Jean Paul was the last man out, and had to physically wrestle one of the foul horrors in order to escape.
Deeper in the web riddled cave, Lethaniel found a door to open, and the whole party entered in haste before Aeosmythe threw down another hold portal -- only just in time. With disaster seemingly averted, the party found themselves in an ancient gem-cutter's workshop, and proceeded to loot the profits of the long-gone artisan's labours. They secured a good supply of loose coin and uncut gem-stones before figuring a way to clamber up into the ceiling space and crawl back out to the sewerage causeway.
From there the party deemed it wise to retreat to the surface with their loot, and attempted to retrace their steps (circumventing the spider lair). However, a giant slug was found to be feeding on the Goblin corpses they had left behind and was blocking the retreat, so rather than face the beast in their weakened state, they were forced to find another way.
Everflame just barely avoided stepping into a patch of strange mold, which Aeosmythe then curiously disturbed with an arrow, causing it to burst into a violently growing cloud of spores. Aeosmythe fell back, coughing and spluttering, and successfully saved versus poison. The party were forced to change direction once more, but at last found their way back to the tunnel by which they had entered the dungeon.
Here they found that the City Guards had managed to open the held door, and called down reinforcements. But Jean Paul worked his amazing personal charms, and was able to gain the leading officer's confidence, and thus our intrepid adventurers all escaped the sewers alive...
After the loot had been divided and XP awarded, there was talk of putting together another expedition, with more hirelings. But it turned out that two Jean Paul's hirelings had fled and escaped, and already spread horrible stories about the tunnels below... the party will have to offer up some serious coin to get anyone to follow them below again.