This post is about Session 04 of my Classic Dungeons and
Dragons Campaign. This session was played on All Saints Day November 1st,
2014. We are playing with the Moldvay Basic Dungeons and Dragons book with some
minor house rules. If you wish to read about sessions 1 through 3 you can find them at this site.
I am running the Keep on the Borderlands (B2) with new
stories added to the sandbox for the players to explore or ignore as they wish.
The Cast of Characters were as follows. Levels of the
characters are as of the beginning of the session:
Player Characters:
Wyngate, Gerald: He’s a strong, tough, charismatic level
2 fighting man who wears heavy plate mail armor and sports a shield and sword.
He arrogantly refers to himself as a golden god. He’s quite pragmatic when it
comes to life, death, and adventuring. He travels with his twin sister. He owns
a kobold pet named Dead Mike who he often stuffs unceremoniously into his backpack. (Player: Chris)
Wyngate, Lady: She’s a level 1 fighter and Gerald’s twin
sister. She lives life with boldness and never misses an opportunity to brag
about herself or her brother Gerald. Her charisma makes it easy for her to find
retainers and people willing to listen to tales of her adventures. (Player:
Renee)
Rita: She’s an elf from a level 1 magical forest. She can
speak the language of many of the creatures the party fights (Hobgoblin, Gnoll,
Orc) but she doesn’t trust the creatures. She has no problem killing if it
keeps her safe. She seems to begrudge the humans in the party bossing her
around. So watch out! (Player: Leybel)
John Henry: He’s a level 2 thief from Loftwick. He’s
looking for easy money and fights primarily with a bow and arrow to keep out of
danger. He loves playing cards for high stakes even though no one in the Keep
plays for high stakes He took on a kobold pup in session 2 whom he named
Virgil. He is putting Virgil through Cross Training and P90x to assure that he
grows up strong. (Player: Bryant)
Kate: She’s a level 1 cleric of Norebo, the god of
gambling. She seems to be John Henry’s woman (begrudgingly) and tags along with
his gambling expeditions since it pleases her god. She has no fear and wades
into battle with her mace and heavy armor (if the money is right). She has a
soft spot for John Henry’s kobold pup Virgil whom she bought a sharp tuxedo
for. (Player: Heather)
Heime Stein: He’s a level 2 Magic-User from Ekbir. He’s
whip-smart but will blurt out a rude comment now and again. He’s also a
silver-smith and is known around the Keep as the best at his trade around.
(Player: Carl)
Theo Greyjoy: He’s a level 2 cleric of Xerbo, the god of
the sea. He is a grandmaster fisherman and misses his home by the ocean. He’s
quick to judgment and to insult others. He has a soft spot for the ladies which
gets him into trouble. He has a kobold pup named Kanye whom he's quite mean to. (Player: Robert)
Tar-Tar: He’s a level 1 Halfling from the nearby shire.
He was named their Champion and given instructions by their Sheriff to travel
to the Keep and find out what might be done to stop the attacks from orcs and
bandits on their wagon trains. It's unclear if he takes this quest seriously or sees it as an excuse to be a murder-hobo like the rest of the party. He comes off as friendly and eager for
adventure. (Player: SB)
Retainers (NPCs):
Raggle: Level 1 thief retainer for Gerald Wyngate. He’s a
guard at the Keep but the Captain of the Watch has little use for him because
he is an old senile man and a drunk. He has a generally positive and respectful
attitude towards the party (while sober). Gerald has designated him as the
torch-bearer.
Roddy: Level 1 Fighter retainer for Gerald Wyngate. He is
a pretty loyal young black haired man who used to adventure with an elf woman
named Toxic. She abandoned him, Travis, and Mike once she was poisoned by the
lizard men. Roddy still speaks of her in hushed tones and seems scared of Rita.
He fights well with a sword, bow, and medium armor.
 |
| Jeremy Jamm the Fighter retainer, ready for battle! |
Session Log:
Revenge of the Halfling!
Tar-Tar the Halfling came traveling up the mountainside
towards the Keep at sundown on Flocktime the 22nd. The low summer
evening was hot and muggy. The guards stopped Tar-Tar at the drawbridge which
was pulled up for the evening. The guards had been doing so most nights due to
the higher amounts of danger around the countryside as of late. It’s possible
the party had been rousing up the local orcs and such into anger with their
exploits in the Caves of Chaos.
Tar-Tar told the guards his name and his business at the
Keep. He was from the nearby Halfling shire and he was there to help destroy
the Caves of Chaos and the surrounding forces of darkness. The guards liked the
answer and let him in.
Upon entering the Keep Tar-Tar made his way to the
tavern: the Frolicking Fox. Here our heroes were at rest and play.
Gerald Wyngate, Rita, Heime, the Theo were relaxing at a
table with their beer and food. John Henry was playing a very low-stakes game
of cards with some of the guards, including Jeremy Jamm who was losing copper
pieces hand over fist. ("I don't like to brag but I've lost more copper pieces than anyone in town!")
Lady Wyngate was regaling the tavern with tales of the party’s last expedition into the Caves of Chaos. Her story left out the fact that Lady Wyngate didn’t accompany the party on their last trek into the caves…
Lady Wyngate was regaling the tavern with tales of the party’s last expedition into the Caves of Chaos. Her story left out the fact that Lady Wyngate didn’t accompany the party on their last trek into the caves…
Tar-Tar grabbed a beer and joined the crowd that was
gathering to listen to Lady Wyngate’s tale.
“So there we were: surrounded on all sides by Gnolls and
an Ogre coming at us angrily. The great beast was prepared to smash us to bits
and then pick his teeth with our bones! I tell you my friends it is amazing we
made it out alive…”
Tar-Tar talked up Lady Wyngate after she took a break
from weaving her partial falsehoods to whet her pallet with booze. He told her
about his past few weeks of sneaking along the road and felling orcs by
himself. She wondered aloud if he was also telling tall tales but it didn’t
fret her enough to turn down the Halfling’s offer to join the party on their
next expedition into the Caves of Chaos.
During the days since their last trek the party had heard
a great many rumors about odd goings on around the Borderlands. They discussed
these rumors at length that night before bed. Some of the rumors were as
follows:
-There is a great fish many leagues long that will grant
you wishes. He lives near the Shrine of Geshtai in the river.
-There is something hidden in the tapestry depicting
sailing ships that the party brought back from the Caves of Chaos recently.
This rumor was told to Rita by Mop-head the Privy Boy of the Guildhouse. The
smelly privy boy seemed to have taken a shine to Rita and follows her around
like a lost puppy.
-The bandit leader rides a mechanical horse made of
steel. He’s wanted dead or alive.
-There is a dragon in an icy cave in the forest to the
northeast of the Keep. He has a HUGE pile of gold.
-A crazy guard ran off into the woods years ago because
he didn’t get along with the Castellan. Word is he has a pet lion!
-The Castellan is rich and his chamber is full of
expensive items.
-A huge firefly flew over the Keep a year ago. It burned
like fire and landed deep in the forest to the northeast.
-There are some Dwarves running around in the forest near
the keep looking for something...or someone!
-There is a lake in the swamp that is home to beautiful
mermaids. This rumor was told to Theo who believes every word of it. He spent
the evening elaborating on why it would be a great idea to go to the swamp and
look for the beautiful mermaids. The party tried to talk him out of it.
-The leader of the bandits will only talk to you if you
bring him flowers.
-Gnolls love rotten fish.
Robbing the guildhouse!
 |
| Robbing the guild house for fun and profit! |
The letter hidden in the tapestry was a ship’s log from a
Captain Rory Barbarosa of Port Joli in the Baron of the Sea Princes. The
Captain’s log weaved a tale of his time spent at sea and discovering the Isle
of Dread. The Captain heard rumors from the natives of the Isle of Dread that
there was a Lost City and great treasure hidden there in the center if the
island. He decided not to take his crew deep into the isle since he was the
only professional adventurer. His letter did, however, contain a map of the
coastline of the Isle of Dread which Theo was given for safe-keeping. The
letter was months or even years old.
Theo had heard of this Barbarosa and believed that he had
drunk himself to death in Port Joli at a tavern called The Cut. Other rumors
from around Port Joli were that Barbarosa was murdered for refusing to give his
knowledge of a lost treasure to the Port Joli Admiralty.
The party discussed traveling to the Isle of Dread but
realized that just reaching Port Joli, a city on the mainland, would take many
weeks or months. After getting there they would need a ship to get to the Isle
of Dread. Plans were made and some of the party members were of the mind that
their expeditions into the Caves of Chaos were going to be done to acquire seed
money for their sailing ship to the Isle of Dread someday.
We’ll see.
Finishing off the last of the Hobgoblins!
 |
| Staring at his mace he didn't notice the party coming... |
The Caves of Chaos are three days of travel along the
road and into the wilderness and the party traversed the distance without any
incident or run-ins with monsters or NPCs. Upon arriving at the Caves they
pulled their donkey cart into their clubhouse at Cave A Room 6 that they had
fashioned with a strong oak door and level 2 lock for which John Henry held the
key. The donkey’s leavings from his last stay in the room gave their clubhouse
an earthy smell.
The party prepared themselves and climbed the hill
towards Cave F. This cave was locked with a huge heavy wooden door. Tar-Tar
investigated it and was able to find a secret mechanism that opened a small hand
sized hole in the door. Through this Gerald was able to reach in the door and
move a metal bar blocking the door out of the way. The party had succeeded in
the Quest of the Big Wooden Door.
Upon entering Cave F they saw bloody graffiti all over
the walls depicting scenes of torture and dismemberment. They realized they
were in the cave of the Hobgoblins for the first time since Session 1. They
came to a four way intersection and took a right. A chamber (Number 26) was on
their left which held 6 hobgoblins who were busy failing at their task to guard the entrance at the Big Wooden Door.
They appeared shocked to see the party. Their eyes
widened when they realized how large the party of humans and demi-humans
actually were (11 in total!). A handful of party members could speak the phlegmy
nonsense of the hobgoblin language. The hobgoblins were suited in medium armor
and holding axes.
“Don’t attack, pitiful humans," the whined, "we would hate to have to
hurt you!”
Rita spoke up first asking the hobs where their leader
was located. They revealed that he was deeper into the caves in the direction
they were traveling. They also revealed that they were petrified of their
leader because he wielded the Blooddrinker Blade. They spoke of the evil blade in awed and jealous tones.
The party tried their hand at diplomacy a bit more but
ran out of tries after threatening and demanding about 5 times in a row. (DM to DM Note: I am using Courtney Campbell's outstanding "On the Non-Player Character" supplement for diplomacy.) The
hobs attacked!
The battle was fast and fierce with Gerald taking a minor
axe wound to the arm. But it was Roddy who took a much deeper wound.
***RETAINER DEATH 03***
 |
| Roddy! No! |
The party was spurred on by righteous vengeance for their
longest running gag, um, I mean retainer. Three hobgoblins died to various
missiles and cutlery from our righteous heroes! The remaining hobs begged for
surrender. The party promptly killed two of those surrendering wretches and put
the third on a leash to lead the party to the hobgoblin leader. (The dead hobs
had about 36 gold between all of them. Score.)
Trouping down the hall they all came to a door. The party
asked the hobgoblin if the hob king was on the other side of the door and he
said yes. Gerald used the hobgoblin’s face to open the door. His face quickly
caught a crossbow bolt from 2 hobs in a chamber on the other side of the door.
The fight was on…again!
This fight went more quickly than the first with no
serious injuries to the party. The chamber, however, had no exits except the
one the party had entered. Our intelligent heroes realized there must be
a hidden door. Searches commenced!
Most in the party looked for secret doors and some
counted the large array of weaponry and armor in this armory room. (1 suit of
man sized pate mail, 1 suit of dwarf sized plate mail armor, 3 suits of man
sized chain mail armor, 2 suits of elf-sized chain mail armor, 7 suits of man
sized leather armor, 11 shields, 6 daggers, 1 battle axe, 4 maces, 3 swords, 2
short bows, 1 longbow, 13 crossbows, 11 score of arrows, 9 score of bolts, 51
spears, 19 pole arms, 42 helmets of various sizes).
Kate put on a suit of plate mail armor once she found a
set with broad enough shoulders. Tar-Tar the halfling traded in his short-bow for the
longbow because he has a great sense of humor. Gerald scratched his chin and
made plans to get the whole armory back to town for sale once the coast was
clear.
The coast was not clear now according to John Henry who
heard boot steps from behind the western wall. All surmised a secret door must
be beyond it, despite all of them failing to have found it in their extensive
search. The party tried to move into a defensible position but the wall swung
open quite quickly. Behind it was a hallway with 9 angry hobgoblins poised to
strike. With them was the hobgoblin king. He was a large chunky green skinned
thing wielding a red sword that looked to be made of muscles and tendons
dripping with blood. Egads! The Blooddrinker Blade!
The battle roared! Until Heime cast a sleep spell
successfully on 7 of the hobgoblins. The battle snored!
 |
| Rita at work. |
But the proud Hob King was taken down with a final arrow
from old man Raggle. He hooted and hollered his pleasure at downing the king. “I
showed you whippersnappers how it’s done!”
The Hob King was quite proud of his silver and gem
studded belt (valued at 1,000 GP) and the party was quite happy to loot it off
his bleeding corpse. They also took the Blood Drinker Blade, which was given to
Gerald Wyngate. He felt strange holding it but knew he would have to use it in battle before its magic would become clear.
Going deeper into the caves the party found the Hob King’s chambers, and that of his lieutenants, where they found another 70 GP. Evidence that the Hob King had some hobgoblin females (as did his tribe) was found in the chamber but these females (and children) were not seen. One assumes they fled at the sound of battle.
Going deeper into the caves the party found the Hob King’s chambers, and that of his lieutenants, where they found another 70 GP. Evidence that the Hob King had some hobgoblin females (as did his tribe) was found in the chamber but these females (and children) were not seen. One assumes they fled at the sound of battle.
The party also came to a staircase going down deeper into
the caves but decided that discretion was the better part of valor. With many
in the party injured and one retainer dead, the party exited the blood-painted
hobgoblin cave and traveled back to the Keep.
Making a beer run!
 |
| "Do helmets help my AC in Basic?" "No." "Why are you selling them?" |
The party, meanwhile, enjoyed some drinks at the
Frolicking Fox tavern and considered the possibility of pursuing other
adventures rather than returning to the Caves of Chaos. At this point they were
aware of the Shrine of Geshtai and a magic talking fish said to be near there
and a dragon hidden deep in the forest which was sure to have a hoard of coins
and jewelry piled high as their heads. The Isle of Dread also sang its siren
song with promises of treasure on the open seas.
A bard also entered the tavern and sang songs of Castle
Greyhawk re-opening. A poisonous gas had hung over it since Iuz had escaped the
dark and deep dungeon but it had recently blown away. This massive place
was built by the Mad Archmage Zagyg some hundreds of years ago when he was in
charge of the City of Greyhawk. Is he still alive?
The bard also had some very vague stories about a ruined
city of treasures hidden in the nearby Crystalmist Mountains.
Gerald showed great leadership by leaving the decision up
to John Henry. The thief shuffled a deck of cards and considered his options.
He thought out loud and seemed about to advise the party to go kill the dragon
and loot its hoard… but then he decided on the “sure thing” to return to the
Caves of Chaos.
The party set out the next day with mule-cart in tow to
carry back all the loot they were sure to pile up.
Meeting the Flintstones!
At the end of their first of three days of travel back to
the Caves they were approached by a group of 10 cavemen. The wild men carried
big clubs and were clothed with animal skins. Perhaps they were from the
mountains? The party didn’t have time to ask them since, after a very general
threat from Theo that the cavemen keep their distance; the dumb slope-heads ran
off into the wilderness in fear of our intrepid heroes. The party shrugged and
went back to sleep.
Attacked by the Rat Pack!
 |
| ProTip: the Rat Pack can be distracted by cheese. And dames. |
The party prepared for battle with the large pack of rats
but Theo had an idea and tossed some kobold cheese down the stairs they had
just climbed. Apparently rats love kobold rat cheese and they scurried down the
stairs to eat.
The party hoofed it down the unexplored hallway and came
to a large chamber. This chamber was decorated with blood graffiti of gruesome
murder scenes and filled with tables carved with much the same. It seemed to be
a very macabre dining area for the now departed hobgoblins. The party set about
searching the room for secret doors and secret treasure. The Hob King (RIP)
had nice taste in silverware as the party realized the set of pewter dishes at
the head table was worth about 50 gold pieces. They bagged it up for sale back
at the keep.
John Henry came across a chest that was filled with 2,000
electrum pieces. While the party was counting it they heard the rat pack
scurrying back up the stairs towards them. The party prepared for a ratty
battle by pushing a table in front of the chamber’s doorway. The rats reached
the tossed over table and turned around to scurry back down the stairs. One
assumes they were looking for a tasty treat that was easier to get to.
The party departed the chamber and climbed back down the
stairs carefully, eyes peeled for rats about. As they reached the intersection
at the base of the stairs, on their way out of Cave F, a zombie Roddy lurched
out from the darkness to the left passageway and took a swing at John Henry.
The thief dodged the attack and tumbled to the back of the party for safety.
 |
| Never leave a man behind. Because he'll eat you. |
Can’t bear an owlbear!
Once outside the party pondered their options and decided
to explore Cave G since it was the last cave they had yet to explore that was
low on the hillside.
They approached Cave G and their nostrils were stung with
an assaulting odor. It smelled like dead creatures decaying, and a diaper filled with Indian food. The floor of the cave was covered with dead leaves and
old branches. John Henry spotted an electrum piece among the carpet of leaves
and pocketed it. Then another electrum piece… then another. Different party
members grabbed these up since John Henry got a bad feeling about the place and
hid in the arms of his muscly lady friend.
They followed the naturally formed rough-hewn cavern to
the left for about 2 turns and came to a dead end. Inside the dead end cave was
a sleeping Owlbear. The creature was huge like a black bear but covered with
filthy brown feathers and sporting a heinous beak.
Theo had taken the lead at this point and was the first
to spot the beast. They were lucky that it hadn’t awoken from their lantern
light. Theo told everyone to get ready for battle as he lit a bottle of
Alchemist’s Fire that he had bought from the general store back at the Keep. He
tossed it at the filthy beast and it shot up with flames… for just a few
seconds. It appeared more angry than injured.
Gerald Wyngate, Kate the Strong, and Lady Wyngate ran up
on angry Owlbear with melee weapons drawn. They all attacked the owlbear
leaving severe wounds and feathers flying but the beast was still alive and angry. Many in the rest
of the party shot the owlbear up with missile weapons injuring it further. It
was staggered but was able to attack with a claw/claw/bite attack.
***PLAYER CHARACTER DEATH 02***
 |
| Claw claw bite of doom. |
Jeremy Jamm (Lady Wyngate’s retainer) saw his lady die
gruesomely and his bravery failed him. He cowardly ran down the hall to escape
from where the party entered.
**RETAINER DEATH 04***
Screams were heard down the hallway where Jam fled.
Tar-Tar peered down the hallway and saw the cowardly fighting man get jammed as
he ran smack into a strange cube shaped ooze and his armor and flesh melted like
he had jumped into a pool of acid. Tar-Tar and Rita shot the ooze full of
arrows and it melted and died with Jam’s bones splaying about.
The rest of the party finished the owlbear off quickly
with no further injury. Even so, all were shocked and stunned that their
hip-hop hype lady was dead and gone at the beak of a vicious owlbear. Gerald
wanted nothing more than to flee the odious cave but the rest of the party
quickly looted the owlbear’s nest. Inside the nest they found a scroll tube
with a scroll of Protection from Undead. This was given to Heime.
A tragic return!
The party fled the Caves of Chaos as soon as possible and
carted Lady Wyngate’s corpse back to the Keep on their donkey cart with their
loot. They arrived at the Keep three days later with no random encounters.
The Curate of the Chapel helped Gerald give Lady Wyngate
a proper funeral service.
The party sold their loot for a solid return and mourned
their losses by drowning in booze at the Frolicking Fox.
That evening John Henry got a case of the sticky fingers and
investigated the high end private apartments. Casing the place he saw that there
were 7 private apartments but only 3 currently had residents.
The Jeweler lived in one there but his door had two
guards posted. The Priest also lived in the private apartments but John Henry
decided not to mess with his place since the Priest seemed a bit psycho from
his dealings with him a few weeks back.
John Henry decided on the apartment that was rented out
to an unknown party (perhaps a craftsman’s guild member). He was able to unlock
the door without being noticed by the guards and pocketed some gold from a
small chest. He did so without being caught and returned to his room at the
inn.
The rest of the party prepared themselves for their next
adventure. Would it be back to the deadly Caves of Chaos or perhaps to some new
and mysterious dungeon?
Only time will tell…
