Kidnapped

I had some free time and played a really long session of solo D&D 5th edition using The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox. I have not played this campaign with Valgrim the fighter in a few weeks. I was not certain what direction to go next. Valgrim had successfully delivered the wine. But Bertan Zerfal's wine business was still threatened. I did not want to do a bunch of delivery missions.

There is an option in these solo rules to generate complex random encounters using what is called the Element Interaction Table. So I decided to do this interpret the results and watched Valgrim take off on an exciting adventure that I would not have thought of on my own.

I also made used the Random Dungeon generation rules to generate a full (albeit small) dungeon. It proved function but I find these random dungeon generators never generate anything like you would make on your own or would find in a published adventure.

Kidnapped

Now that he has a considerable fortune in his pouch, Valgrim decides it is time for some gambling.

Does Valgrim win at dice? (possible). Maybe.

Valgrim finds a dice game at his Inn and spends several hours building on his 100 gold coins. Then he loses all of his earnings in a few tosses. He realizes he has spent the entire afternoon at the dice tables so he gets up and goes to his room to sleep.

On the Story Element Interaction tables which are more complex random encounters. I roll a Creature/Situation/Situation/Situation. The creature is a giant eagle, bleed, manhandle, and glare.

Valgrim is awakened early the next morning by pounding on his bed-chamber door. He removes the chair he propped under the door latch and the door flies open. The assistant he met yesterday at Zerfal’s shop falls into the room.

“Come quick! Come Quick!, they mean to kill him!”

Valgrim tells the man to calm down and he starts to get dressed. While he is dressing the assistant tells him that two men broke into the shop and are trying to force Master Zerfal into a cart. Valgrim responds, “Look, what is your name?” “Master my name is Tuncer, but you must come quickly!”
Valgrim nods, “There is no watch I guess”. Tuncer shakes his head. Valgrim leaves the room and runs down and out onto the street. He takes off for the shop leaving Tuncer well behind.

Does Valgrim arrive before the thugs make off with Master Zerfal? (Possible). Yes.

Valgrim arrives too late, but there is a trail of blood leading out into the street and a set of wagon tracks headed out of town. Valgrim looks about for a horse and sees none around. He jogs after the cart.

Can Valgrim catch up to the cart? (Likely). Yes.

Shortly after passing the outskirts of town Valgrim spots the cart. There is one man at the reins whipping a single draft horse. Another man is struggling to tie up Bertan Zerfal with a rope. A giant eagle is perched on the sideboard of the cart. Valgrim quickly realizes he is outpacing the cart so he slows down slightly to conserve his strength. The eagle lets out a cry alerting the two men on the cart. They begin gesturing and shouting but Valgrim cannot hear them clearly. The man with the reins shouts a command at the eagle and it leaps into the air flying directly toward Valgrim.

Valgrim stops scrambles to load and aim his crossbow. But the eagle swoops down before he is ready raking him with its claws and digging into his shoulder with its beak. Then it leaps back into the air. Bleeding profusely, Valgrim still manages to get off a shot and the bolt rips through one of the eagles’ wings. The eagle struggles to maintain flight. Valgrim tries to load another bolt but he drops it into the sand. The eagle swoops back at Valgrim forcing him to drop prone in the sand.

Does the Giant eagle press on the attack? (Possible). Maybe.

The eagle comes about to attack again but a distant whistle summons the eagle and it climbs up into the sky and vanishes into the distance. Valgrim gets to his knees and sees that the cart is no longer in sight. But the tracks are still clear, leading across the desert. Valgrim is unable to find anything with which to bandage his wounds so he just keeps pushing on across the desert.

Are the thugs taking Master Zerfal to a town? (Unlikely). Definite No. Are the thugs taking him to a secret hideout? (Likely). Maybe.

Eventually, Valgrim follows the tracks to a trail leading into an oasis. The tracks become hard to follow and then he loses them entirely. The oasis is small with only four clay-brick buildings and a number of tents scattered about the area. It is midday and few people are outside. Those people who are about glare at him and watch him carefully. Valgrim walks up to a water trough outside one building and washes off most of the blood. He then heads inside. It appears to be a small trading post that also functions as a tavern. There is only one man in the room. A large, fat man leaning against the bar, he watches Valgrim closely.

“Well, met sir. Is this your Inn?”. The man nods sullenly. Valgrim asks for a healer or some bandages. The man says, “We have nothing like that here.” He then asks for a bottle of spirits. “We have nothing like that here.” Valgrim glares back at the man and then heads back out into the sunlight. He finds that a small crowd of six men has gathered standing by a well across the street. Not liking the look of things Valgrim moves quickly back out into the desert.

Do the locals follow Valgrim? (Unlikely). Maybe.

Two of the men follow Valgrim long enough to make sure he is clearly leaving the oasis. Valgrim waits until the men turn back and then he doubles back and approaches the oasis with stealth (average roll). Finding a good vantage from which to observe the oasis. Valgrim settles down and waits.

Does Valgrim spot any clues? (Possible). No.

Valgrim observes the oasis for the rest of the afternoon until evening but he does not spot anything interesting. That evening Valgrim sneaks back into the oasis and eases up next to an open window to the tavern.

Does Valgrim overhear anything interesting? (Likely). Maybe.

He hears two men discussing their fortunes in House Zimri but nothing that would lead to Bertan Zerfal. Valgrim moves through the Oasis and checks out the next largest building that looks like a residence.

Is there anyone in this residence? (Highly Likely). Definite Yes.

There are many lights on in the house and Valgrim spots a guard standing on a balcony on the second floor. Valgrim cannot see a way to approach unseen so he moves off and keeps his eyes on the house from a nearby hill. During the night a few men come and enter the house but no one leaves. Valgrim stays up watching the house for the entire night. Early, in the morning a familiar cart and horse approach the house. A large basket is brought out of the house by two men and is placed into the cart. Finally, Valgrim spots two familiar men come out of the house and get up on the cart. One man whistles and a giant eagle swoops down from the building roof and lands on the cart. The man chucks the reins and the cart trundles off out of the oasis. Valgrim follows the cart on foot easily pacing it as the men move slowly over the desert.

Where is the cart going, (1-2) Secret Dungeon, (3-4) Opotal, (5) Delreaata, (6)Yorque. Rolled Secret Dungeon. The number of rooms is 6, maze.

After a few hours, the cart turns into a narrow box canyon, and then it stops. Valgrim observes from a distance being careful to remain hidden. The man who controls the eagle gets down from the cart and approaches a stone wall. He kneels and then a passageway opens up in the rock. The man then comes over and helps his companion lower the basket off of the cart. They set the basket on the ground and take off the lid. A limp body is tipped out on the ground. The two men argue briefly and then one man drags the limp body into the passageway. While the other man heads back to the cart and walks over to feed the eagle. Valgrim waits for a few moments to see if anything will happen. But nothing changes. Eventually, he moves stealthily up to be within crossbow range. The man and the eagle do not notice him. Valgrim takes careful aim and then shoots without warning. The bolt rips through the chest of the man who chokes then crashes to the ground. The Giant eagle lets out a loud screech and launches itself into the air.

Does the Giant Eagle stick around and attack? (Likely). Maybe.

Valgrim does not wait around to see if the Giant Eagle is going to swoop down and attack. He dashes across the open space and dives through the entrance into the open passage. Then he slides down a down foot ramp of stone and piles to a halt in an enormous stone chamber. The ceiling is held up by crooked stone pillars. Valgrim hears a moan in the darkness. Unfortunately, he has no lamp or torch in his possession. The light from the doorway allows him to make out a trail of drag marks moving across the floor. Lying at the end of it is Master Bertan Zerfal. Valgrim swiftly makes it to the merchant's side. He appears to have been stabbed. Valgrim gets out his waterskin and wets his hand, splashing some water on the merchant's face. Bertan’s eyes open up and gaze upon Valgrim.

“It’s a trap!”

Valgrim leaps to his feet. He sees the other bandit race out from behind a pillar and dashes up the ramp.

Can Valgrim get up the ramp before the bandit closes the stone doorway? (Possible). No.

Just as Valgrim reaches the ramp, he sees a stone block slowly descending cutting off the sunlight. He crashes into the block just as it slides shut. It is deathly quiet in the chamber and in complete darkness. Valgrim slides down the ramp and crawls across the floor until he comes to Bertan’s body again.

“I think we may be in trouble, Master Zerfal”.

Bertan Zerfal tells Valgrim that the man with the Giant Eagle whose name is Osrit spent last night trying to convince him to sign over his business to Zimri. The convincing involved a lot of beating. Valgrim tells Bertan that he just killed Osrit a few moments ago. Bertan says “Good!”.

Valgrim rescues Bertan Zerfal

Once they realized Bertan could not be coerced into signing away his business they lost interest. He overheard them talking about getting rid of him in the desert. But then there was some excitement. Osrit came to him and said, “We may have a use for you yet merchant”. They knocked him out. He woke up to the shock of a knife being stuck in his stomach.

Can Valgrim find something to burn? (Likely). Maybe.

Valgrim searches around in the darkness and comes across something. Touching it he realizes it is the leg bone of a skeleton. He breaks the leg free and takes a spare blanket out of his pack. Wrapping it around the bone he lights it with his flint and steel. It burns with a lot of smoke but does give light in about a twenty-foot radius. Valgrim lifts off the makeshift torch and notes that it gutters and dances.
“Bertan, there is a breeze! There is a way out somewhere in this place.” Bertan does not respond. He has passed out.

Valgrim picks a door and approaches it. He travels down a few corridors but is turned back by a securely locked door. He heads back to the large chamber. Checks on Bertan. The merchant is still breathing. He then picks the remaining door. It opens onto a steep stone stair. Valgrim descends. The air is foul with rot and decay. He turns into a passage and finds a half-dozen corpses. Humans all with their throats cut. Valgrim rips off some of their clothing to use as more fuel for his primitive torch.
Valgrim finds a stair leading still further down.

He descends to a corridor and finds a strange stone door in one wall. The door is circular shaped and has no hinges or handles. The face of the door is carved with a representation of a skeleton wearing a cloak and holding a sickle. Valgrim observes that the sickle can move. He slides it down and hears a click. The stone door rolls back into the wall revealing a chamber beyond. In the chamber are the remains of several men. The men have been eaten leaving only small amounts of flesh and bones. The bones have gnawed marks on them.

On the far wall, there is a lever and a portcullis. Valgrim pulls down the level and the portcullis grinds open. As he enters the chamber he sees a flash of light from his torch to his left. The glint of the eye of a giant snake that is rearing back preparing to strike. Valgrim levels his crossbow and fires pinning the poisonous snake to the wall. He moves through the chamber to an open archway leading into another room. This room is octagonal and empty. Another open archway leads into another room. This room has been damaged. A huge 10-foot wide crevasse has opened up on the floor and divides the chamber in two. Valgrim leaps across with ease. There is a door on the south wall. Valgrim pushes open the door. There is a stair descending even deeper into the earth. A foul smell wafts up from below. Valgrim shakes his head and closes the door firmly. Again he leaps over the crevasse and he retraces his steps up a level to the unexplored passageway.

The passage leads to an open doorway and yet another stairs down. Valgrim turns around and tries the other direction. As he moves along the stone hallway he comes across the remnants of a long-abandoned camp. Perhaps some adventurers were here many years ago. Most importantly he sees a pair of partially burned down torches. He lights one and tosses away his makeshift torch. The new torch allows him to see that the passageway ends in a deep pit. Valgrim can just make out the bottom and a passage entering from one side. It is at least 50 feet deep and Valgrim has no rope. So he reluctantly heads back to the stairs at the other end of the corridor that head down. The stairs descend a short distance and arrive in a square room. There are four doors leading out of the chamber. Some stone debris lay on the floor. A giant rat startled by his torch rushes out to attack Valgrim. It misses and Valgrim kills it quickly with his crossbow.

In the room, there are three more doors. The doors, like other ones in this maze, are made of stone. Valgrim figures out how to slide one open. On the other side is a stair leading down. He tries another stone door. Beyond is a stair leading up. Suddenly, his torch gutters and jumps from a breeze. He smells fresh air. Running up the stair Valgrim comes to a small chamber. One wall is partially collapsed and through an opening, he can see sunlight. Valgrim squeezes through the opening and finds himself in a winding gulley outside.

He follows the gully back to the box canyon. The horse and cart are gone. The corpse of the man he killed is gone. Valgrim hurries over to the closed secret door. Kneeling like he saw the man do earlier that day he examines the ground and sees the stone is carved with figures. Valgrim pushes on one figure and the doorway grinds open. He slides down the ramp and moves across the huge chamber to check on Bertan.

Has Bertan died while Valgrim was wandering through the maze? (Unlikely). Definite No.

He finds Bertan has regained consciousness and is leaning against a pillar. Valgrim rushes to his side.

“I wondered if you were coming back”

“I wondered a little myself. I kept going further and further down. But eventually, I found my way out”. Valgrim tells Bertan about the corpses he found. They agree they are likely victims of the bandits employed by House Zimri. They wait until early evening before Valgrim supports Bertan and the two of them struggle out of the stone chamber. They set out across the desert for the town of  Sandcrest.

The Randomly generated Maze

In Search of More Adventures

Our group playing Swords & Wizardry using Roll20 has decided to press on to new adventures after completing In Search of the Unknown. I want to continue the old school dungeon crawl vibe so I have adapted the Dungeon of the Fire Opal which is itself an adaption of the sample dungeon in the 1st edition Advanced Dungeon & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide.

In this session we had some overland travel and I tried out my spin on the overland encounters suggestion from the Dungeon Crafter youtube channel. I made up 5 charts of random events each with 20 listings. First I rolled a d6 and checked if it was 1 hostile, 2 negative, 3-4 neutral, 5 positive, and 6 friendly. Then I asked my players to roll a d20 and I checked the result. Only the 1 on 1d6 results in a definite fight. Although some of the negative events could lead to a fight. I did this three times per day. At night I used normal wilderness encounter rules. It had mixed results I think. It added some interesting plot hooks. I found I had to adlib a lot to make the results fit the situation.

Session 5: Dungeon of the Fire-Opal

Rounding up the bandits they encountered the Adventurers set out for Larm which is at least four days hard walk. They have three riding horses that they use to lighten their load. On the first day they meet a well-dressed man named Gareth Stanford who tells them he is a scribe bound for Edgerton from Larm. He could not afford the boat fare so he decided to walk and became hopelessly lost. He begs the party to take him with them. They are wary at first and keep him under watch but eventually accept Gareth into the group. Later in the day Gaeleath spots a black dragon flying overhead.

During the night on the second day a pair of goblins set off the tripwire trap they set around their campsite. Raeish is on watch and he kills one of the goblins with an arrow. The other goblin gets away. The next day they meet a wagon loaded with convicts bound in the opposite direction. The wagon is escorted by four men in the livery of Calwell. Their leader, who introduces himself as Sir Drexel, claims that they are headed from Edgerton to Wolford. Once he hears their tale of capturing the bandits he insists on taking the bandits in hand. He tells them they can collect any reward owing to them in the town of Wolford once the story has been checked. Gareth offers to write up a contract and does so on the spot, but Sir Drexel, the leader waves impatiently and the cart continues on its way. Manny decides to keep the letter Gareth wrote and pays him for it.

On the last day before getting to Larm they overtake a fellow traveler, who runs in terror once he spots them. Early on the fourth day they make it back to Larm. Not much as changed. Manny, Gaeleath, Raeish, and Daen head directly to the Borderland Tavern for a good meal. Marta heads to the smithy to pick up the holy symbol he commissioned and then he heads over to the Temple of Law to speak with the abbot. He picks up some more Holy water as well.

Manny and Raeish fill the Tavern owner, Haldo Bramwise, with tales of their adventures in the Stronghold of Quasqueton. Haldo tells them that copies of the maps of the stronghold location have been making the rounds to every adventurer for miles. He does tell Manny that he has a very interesting map that the group might want to purchase. Manny purchases a map of an adventurer who entered the Monastery of the Fire Opal. The map notes a previously undiscovered secret door. After a few hours the Captain of the Militia arrives and asks for their report on the Orc band he asked them to check into. They tell the tales again, this time to the captain. The captain is impressed and picks up their bar bill.

The next day they make plans to take the riverboat down to Edgerton. The large boat arrived in the morning. For the small fortune of 128 gold coins they pay for passage for themselves and their horses all of the way to Edgerton.

Before leaving Larm, Gaeleath and Raeish go to visit the mayor of the village. Haldo had told them that the mayor is also a mage. The mayor, Claus Oland, agrees to identify some of the items they picked up in the stronghold. The magic wand turns out to be fake. He is startled by the Bag of Devouring and suggests that they should destroy it immediately. Raeish manages to convince the mayor that he fully intends to destroy it.

Marta is convinced by Haldo Bramwise to sell the Firefly lantern to the halfling and it goes on display behind the bar at the Borderland Tavern.

Manny checks in on Dankmar the merchant and exchanges some gold to gems. Dankmar tells her that he has been staying in the warehouse at night to protect his goods. Someone broke in a week ago and smashed a number of wine barrels.

The riverboat trip to Edgerton is uneventful. They do make note of the terrain around the moors where the Monastery is supposed to be located. They have heard the stories of the monastery themselves. It existed here for at least 100 years before being destroyed by an army of marauders 30 years ago. Since then it has the reputation of being a hiding place for bandits, monsters, and murderers.

In Edgerton everyone takes a day to do some shopping with the gold they have acquired. Marta and Daen go to an armorsmith and each gets a set of plate mail. Raeish purchases a dagger made of silver. They also purchase a lot of camping equipment, 2 mules and a pony. Raeish manages to find a buyer for the painting he found of Rogahn and Zelligar. While trying to find a buyer some of the stories of their exploits get out and soon people in the streets of Edgerton are pointing out the now-famous adventurers.

After two days in Edgerton they set out on horseback (and pony) for the Fire Opal Monastery. They hope to discover the location of the legendary Fire Opal. A gem said to be as big as a fist. Or possibly shaped like a fist. The stories are unclear.

After two days in the wilderness they come to the Brownwash creek and cross then head into the moors. The fog rolls in and it began to drizzle rain. It is only midday but it is already dark.  They look for shelter and see a small cottage on the other side of a shallow creek. Raeish wades across while the others wait. As he approaches the cottage a voice calls out to him. After a short exchange, Raeish convinces the fisherman Hamish that they mean him no harm. Hamish is a local fisherman. In fact the only local of any sort if you do not count lizardfolk. Hamish strikes a deal with the adventurers to look after their horses, pony, and mules while they investigate the monastery. He also tells them that recently in the last few weeks a Black dragon has taken up residence in the monastery. Hamish takes the heroes in his fishing boat right up to the edge of the island the monastery is built upon. He tells them he will not wait but they should signal him with a lantern when they want to be picked up. He assures them he will look after their animals. But he also says if they do not return in a week he will sell the animals.

The heroes approach the ruins of the monastery and find a single intact building with a stair descending into the ruins. Descending they come across a room where there are signs of battle both very old (broken weapons) and recent (spider carcasses and burnt webs). To the west they find a room with a pool full of freshwater fed by a quickly running stream. They spot a skeleton at the bottom of the pool but do not investigate. An ooze approaches off one of the walls and they beat a hasty retreat.

There is a discussion to head south immediately. Their purchased map shows a secret door to the south. But they decide to explore to the east. They immediately see lots of foot traffic and the signs of the passage of a large beast. Scratches on the walls and floor. They follow these markings to the east passing up many other chambers. Including a hallway filled with unmoving skeletons that do not appear to be human. Some of the chambers they pass have stone tiles carvings on the walls showing the monks of the monastery engaging in martial pursuits.

Entering a large chamber the signs of a large creature lead them to a door. Manny listens at the door and reports that she can hear loud breathing. Manny attempts to climb over the door but falls to the floor. The sound of regular breathing is interrupted and then starts up again. Manny tries again and is successful. She motions for the others to enter and draw out the dragon. Daen misses this message and kicks open the door to the chamber. They are confronted by a room filled up with a Black Dragon at least 20-30 feet long (depending on who you ask). Raeish speaks in Draconic praising the dragon and expressing their honor at meeting it, but Daen has already loaded his crossbow and fires. The dragon which was slumbering rouses itself and lumbers across the room toward them. Raeish, Gaeleath, and Daen are pressed against the wall by the enormous dragon which proceeds to attack with its claws and teeth. Gaeleath is struck with a claw to the chest and is barely hanging on to life. Raeish moves off to check for treasure - specifically looking for a large opal. Marta moves to Gaeleath’s side and prays, healing the elf to full health again. Daen and Gaeleath both hit repeatedly but their blows bounce off the armored hide of the dragon. Realizing the danger, Gaeleath casts Magic Missile striking the Dragon and scorching its hide. The dragon roars in anger and unleashes its dragon breath on Gaeleath. A stream of acid. Gaeleath is burned to a blackened, steaming pile of flesh and bone and collapses to the ground dead.  Daen roars in anger and the sight of his downed comrade and strikes the dragon with two huge blows. The final blow cutting the dragons head off and the neck.

Fight against the Black Dragon

Outside the room, clinging to the wall in the shadows. Manny notices two lizardfolk approach with their pet giant lizard. Likely, attracted by the dragon's roars. The lizardfolk confer amongst each other and then turn and head to a door to the south.

In the dragon's chamber, Raeish finds a backpack, likely from some unfortunate adventurer that has some gold, silver, and a gem in it. Otherwise the dragon appears to have no treasure. After a careful search the heroes leave the room (not before taking a few trophies). In the large chamber outside the lair they spot two demonic creatures fluttering about on bat wings.  Raeish fires an arrow at the creatures who fly away to the north.

The heroes follow quickly after the two creatures and trap them in a chamber. One creature is hacked to pieces but the second flies up to the ceiling out of reach. Their non-magical missile weapons seemingly doing no damage. The demonic creature (who Marta suspects is an imp) pleads with them in halting common to be allowed to flee. In the conversation they learn that the imps were sent by a more powerful demon (their master) to spy on the comings and goings of another, rival demon. But the imps were not able to find the other demon. They knew it was somewhere in the dungeon but they explored everywhere without finding it. During the conversation the imp moves closer to the door and lower from the ceiling. When it makes a move for the door to leave the chamber, Raeish stabs and impales it to the door with his spear.

And at that point, it was quite late so we paused the events.

Session 4: The Treasure Vault

Session four of our In Search of the Unknown adventure resulted in the clearing of Quasqueton and the party made preparations to return to civilization.  I will try to summarize the session report this time because there was a lot of door bashing and searching in this session which is not something I want to write up.

I am the Game Master and I am using Swords & Wizardry rules on Roll20. We did not have any technical issues on this night which was nice.

I have modified the maps a little for my own interpretation of Quasqueton. But not a lot. The biggest modification was making the secret door to the caverns an easily found entrance. So the players actually entered from the cavern level the first time (as detailed in session report 2). The stronghold’s primary inhabitants are Orcs on the cavern level and Kobolds on the dungeon level. The Kobolds had made use of the stronghold’s defenses to keep most creatures out of their level including the orcs. They made regular patrols and still honored their agreement to their master Zelligar (whom they call Zelgar). The orcs, on the other hand, no longer protect the caverns as Rogahn’s last order demanded. They have been leading raids into the countryside which brought adventurers back to the stronghold. In fact, a map has been making the rounds in various borderland taverns showing the location of the stronghold.

The only other inhabitants of the stronghold are the undead and vermin. Over three days the party of five heroes has been foraying into the stronghold. They killed all of the orcs and all but one of the kobolds. As they spent one more day exploring there were only a few undead and vermin left to challenge them. So I added a party of troglodytes to the caverns looking for their missing brethren who were captured by orcs (and killed by the heroes 2 days ago). These troglodytes are on a mission and are not looking for a fight.  A group that is looking for a fight are five bandits who have a copy of the map. They arrived the night before and set up camp. In the morning they plan to set up an ambush and one of the strongholds exits to catch any delvers coming out in a crossfire (we shall see how well that works).

Session 4: The Treasure Vault

The session begins with the five heroes ascending from the caverns again. They had followed a shaft that led back down into the caverns from the dungeon level. Manny Lightfoot (female halfling fighter), Marta the chaste (male human cleric), Gaeleath Olomaer (male elven fighter-mage), Raeish Farstrider (male elven fighter-mage), and Daen Sheildbreacker (male dwarven fighter).

The checked out the trophy room, evil shrine, and Erig’s chambers near the dungeon level entrance. All this was accomplished with only a minor tussle with vermin. Then they moved north and discovered the Room of Pools.

They spent about an hour checking out the fourteen pools but being too cautious to test any of the contents. They did find and use the pool with healing liquid and they manage to pull a key out of the pool of acid. This key later proved important. They found the secret door to the apartments of Marevak. This elf was left in charge of the stronghold when Rogahn and Zelligar left and never returned. He died of a heart attack a few months after they left and that is the reason for the sad state of affairs in the stronghold (Kobolds in charge!). The final failure led to his coming back as an undead skeleton which the heroes quickly killed. Manny set off a gas trap in the desk but managed to grab the contents before they had to vacate the chamber. This trapped drawer in a secret room was one of the major treasures in the stronghold. The contents of the drawer were one of six possibilities and I rolled… a Ring of Protection+1.

From the room of pools, they headed further north and entered the armory which was defended by more skeletons. Marta turned the skeletons that fled to the north. Manny searched under some stored daggers and found… a Ring of Protection+1.  I was a little disappointed that the same treasure would happen to come up in the game within about an hour of playing time. The first was a random event, but the second was placed. I thought about switching it out with another magic ring but I ended up leaving it in. Rings of Protection are really powerful. Especially at higher levels when there is no other way to improve your armor class.

The skeletons were chased into the empty barracks and put down with missile fire from range.  From the barracks, the group headed west and entered Zelligar’s rooms. They had walked right by the rooms two sessions earlier but now they entered. They were disappointed with the lack of loot. Zelligar packed up almost all of his valuables when he left. They did find a magic wand (which is a fake). The annex with the treasure chests turned out to be an illusion. They were so certain it was a trap they dispelled the illusion by firing an arrow at a chest. In the closet, they made two important discoveries. Raeish found a leather sack in the pocket of an old robe. This was a Bag of Devouring that nearly devoured Raeish. The rules for being pulled into the bag are quite detailed but I ended up just doing a strength roll and let the other players help. They managed to get the bag closed. The second item was found by Gaeleath. He found some notes written by Zelligar. One note, dated 30 years earlier, noted that he would be adding a second guardian to the vault in the caverns.

The mention of the vault got everyone’s attention. They headed back to the stairway to the caverns immediately.  The players had already explored just about every cave in the caverns and I did not relish roleplaying their searching for secret doors in every cave, tunnel, and corridor. So I quickly wrote a note up in my Logbook detailing how the brass key from the Room of Pools could be used with the mysterious statue to open the secret door to the vault. The players still had to put the statue and the door together.

Arriving in the caverns they headed north and then west and encountered the troglodyte search party. Four troglodytes stood and the edge of their sight in a dark cavern. The troglodytes made no move to attack. Raeish hailed the creatures in common and the troglodytes responded, but no one could understand their language. Raeish unbuckled and removed his armor and set down his weapons and approached. He tried hand gestures and pantomime. He just could not understand them. He then cast Sleep on the troglodytes and all four hit the cavern floor asleep. Manny walked up and slit their throats. The troglodytes had more important things to do (looking for their tribe members) so they would have stepped aside for the adventurers. But as soon as they found the dead bodies of their friends they would have set up an ambush for the players.

The players actually passed through the secret passage that went past the vault but they did not notice. They ended up in the cavern with the crude, rock statue of a man his arms outstretched to the north-north-east. Almost pointing in that direction. All of the adventurers started searching the area. After about 20 minutes Gaeleath noticed that the arms of the statue were attached and not cut from the same rock. He was able to lever one of the arms off. Underneath he saw a keyhole. The key from the Room of Pools fit. The key was mechanically pulled into the statue until only the head was visible. Then it rotated a full circle. There was a very loud click, more of a thunk noise from the floor beneath their feet. Raeish started pulling up flagstones but nothing was found. They searched the walls again but could not find anything. Gaeleath suggested that possibly the key activated a door somewhere else. Maybe in the direction, the arms were pointing?

The Key to the Vault

They decided to head to the bat cavern via the secret passage they found days ago. In that secret passage, they came upon an open doorway. A hitherto undiscovered secret door. Beyond was a narrow passage that ended in a small cave.

In the cave, three stout wooden chests guarded by two life-sized marble statues of a naked man holding a spear. The statues appeared to be identical. Manny asked everyone to cover her while she moved to the chests. Each was locked. She picked the first lock and found an elaborate statuette of a tiger inland with copper and silver. But the locks on the remaining two chests were too difficult for her. Out came the crowbar and Manny and Daen took turns prying the chests open. Inside they found a huge amount of treasure, eight bags of silver with notes on them noting which kobold or orc tribe would be paid the silver. Two bags of gold and two potions of healing. In retrospect, I should have had them find that the two potions were broken since they had to break open the chests.

With this tremendous reward, Manny declared that she felt they had accomplished their task and it was time to haul this treasure back to civilization where it could be spent. They exited the cavern, finding it was around midnight. Luckily, they knew the way to the campsite they had set up the previous day. They settled down and took watches.

Only the final watch, Just before daybreak, Gaeleath's smelled woodsmoke with his keen Elvish senses. He woke up the others. Manny sneaked off through the woods towards the smell with Gaeleath following at a distance. In a clearing, Manny spotted a campsite with a carefully banked fire. Four men around the fire. They had a generally rough appearance and Manny thought they might be bandits. Then she spotted the fifth man in the trees watching quietly, apparently a guard for the camp.

Heading back Manny told the others what she had found. She proposed a plan where the others would cover her while she walked up to the campsite and discovered the intent of the men. Approaching the site, Manny saw four horses tied off to a fallen tree. She whistled so as not to startle the men and then waved her hand in greeting. The men jumped to their feet. One man barked orders but she could not make out what he said.  The apparent leader approached and asked Manny who she was and where she came from. She made up a story about a halfling village that was overrun by goblins. The man suggested she come and share their breakfast. Just as she approached him the man tried to surprise her with an attack. The fight went quickly, Marta broke a bandits arm with his mace and that bandit surrendered. Another bandit was killed by Daen with one chop of his ax. Then killing caused one bandit to grab a horse and flee. The remaining bandit surrendered once the leader fell badly injured.

The bandit with the broken arm claimed to be an innocent woodsman but dropped the ruse under questioning. This man, who called himself Chelli, claimed that the leader Stroud had a bounty out for his arrest.  The bandit encounter was on a clock. I planned for them to set up an ambush (at whichever exit the players came out) early that morning. But the players exited the caverns at midnight and went to their hidden camp. Then I rolled to see if Gaeleath noticed the camp in the morning and he did. The ambush did not go the way the bandits had planned.

Jorgin Taw Uresia Session 2

I had another short session (2 hours) of Jorgin Taw's adventures on Uresia. I am using the Mythic Game Master Emulator Deck. Now that I have used it for a handful of sessions I have some thoughts. Number one I really like the deck aspect. There is no flipping through a book or pdf consulting charts. I just have to remember a few things (which are printed on a stand-alone card) and then just draw cards. It is very smooth and easy to learn. Like any GM-emulator the toughest part is interpreting the results. I have taken the rules to heart and I go with the first explanation that pops into my head to keep things moving. I do not use the emulator for every step of social interaction. There are some things that I think I can assume are going to happen.

I have also been using Solo Adventurer's toolbox for a separate solo campaign. One of the real differences I find is with encounters. When a random encounter was suggested I was first tempted to go to a random monster chart. But instead, I used the emulator and used the description to guide what was encountered. Which could have been really bad. But all of the encounters ended up being fairly balanced for a 1st level Wizard on his own.

This was almost the second and final session for Jorgin Taw but a very unlikely occurrence happened that saved him.

Session 2: The Harpy and the Medusa.

Jorgin returns to Master Wizard Olbrich dressed for travel. He has never left Shadow River in his entire life so he is excited and a little nervous. Olbrich gives him a pouch to deliver to a sage that lives alone in a nearby badlands. Olbrich tells him to return with a scroll in trade for what is in the pouch. He warns Jorgin not to look in the pouch. Then he gives him a mirror and says you will need this. When Jorgin questions Olbrich the wizard says "Because the sage is a medusa."

Expected Scene, Jorgin heads to the Hollow Hills to find Cotovatre the sage (medusa). Altered. Does Jorgin have an encounter as he wanders through the Hollow Hills? (Likely). Yes. Is the encounter hostile (50/50). Yes, Exceptional. The description is frighteningly graceful.

As he wanders through the Hollow Hills, Jorgin begins to hear a melodic song. He is entranced (failed Wisdom check) and wanders off of the path toward the sound of the music. The music is the charm of a harpy that is 90 feet away and residing in a cave. It will take Jorgin 3 turns to reach the Harpy. After a dozen seconds, Jorgin shakes his head and breaks out of the charm. The melody is still beautiful but now he can fight its lure. He realizes what has happened. The sound is coming from a large cave mouth in the side of a hill 60 feet away.

Jorgin casts Expeditious Retreat and dashes off at an incredible speed into the Hollow Hills. He hears a scream of frustration behind him that is not melodic or alluring.

Does Jorgin have any more encounters on his way to Cotovatre’s lair? (50/50). No.

Jorgin continues to follow a trail that looks like it is traveled upon with some regularity. Eventually, he comes to a ruined shrine atop a hill. There is a small enclosed area, a platform, and eight stone pillars. All around are stone statues of travelers, peasants, and even knights. Clearly the work of a medusa.

The Shrine of the Sage

Taking out the mirror, Jorgin looks into it, points it at the doorway to the shrine and politely says, “Hello, Mistress Cotovatre?”

A hissing voice responds, “Welcomes, Jorgin Taw apprentice of Olbrich. Please, come in, come in.” Jorgin politely declines and tells Cotovatre that he has come to pick up a scroll that Olbrich requested.

“I knowsss, I knowsss. Please step in to pick up the scroll.”

Jorgin decides that he is going to have to enter. He carefully enters with the mirror pointing slightly at the floor, his eyes glued to the mirror. Inside the small shrine is surprisingly decorated like a rich ladies sitting room. At least of what he can see of it. He sees settees, chairs, and end tables. Rugs cover the stone floor. He can just see the lower half of a woman approaching wearing a fine white and gold dress. He does not dare to point the mirror upward.

“A mirror! Put that horrible thing away!” The woman backs quickly away. Jorgin steps forward, still holding the mirror and places the pouch on an end table.

Jorgin Taw prepares to enter the shrine using the Mirror

“Ahhh, I will just place this here, milady.”

Jorgin then steps back toward the doorway and points the mirror downward at his feet. He hears motion coming toward him and then backing away. The sound of the pouch opening.

“Perfect. Just what I need. You may go, scared little man.”

Jorgin haltingly asks for the scroll and Cotovatre tells him to step forward and take it from her hand. Jorgin steps forwards and sees a slim, pale woman’s hand holding the scroll. Carefully he reaches forward to get the scroll. As he grabs the scroll the hand lashes out, knocking the mirror to the ground and smashing it.

Does the Medusa attack Jorgin? (Very Unlikely). Yes.

One of the medusa’s snakes hissing and lashes out at Jorgin but misses. The medusa's hand catches Jorgin’s chin and she tries to force him to look up but Jorgin manages to grab her hand and force it away. Jorgin casts Expeditious Retreat again and makes to dash out of the sage’s lair. As he runs away he feels the bite of a snake on his calf. He makes it thirty feet from the doorway before succumbing to the poison and collapsing to the ground unconscious.

Does anyone come along while Jorgin is unconscious? (Very Unlikely). Yes. Is it Tirza Stentz? (50/50) Yes, Exceptional.

Tirza Stentz followed Jorgin to the sage’s lair and is a short distance away. She makes it to Jorgin’s side and gives him a potion of healing within a dozen seconds of his fall (during that time Jorgin passes 2 death saves). Jorgin is completely healed (7 hp).

Jorgin comes out of unconsciousness and sees Tirza Stentz kneeling over him with a flask in her hand.

Has Tirza Stentz taken the scroll? (Likely) Yes, Random Event. Close a thread, Praise, Riches.

Tirza looks down at Jorgin and than holds out her hand to help him up.

“Congratulations, you passed the test.” Jorgin just looks at her blankly. Tirza explains that Olbrich puts all of his apprentices through a test before accepting them as Journeymen wizards. He comes up with a test that he believes will test the apprentice’s weakest skills.

“And you passed.”

“But I would be dead if not for you?”

“No, I am sure you would have made it. I just helped you along. Now let’s get back to town before it gets dark. These hills may not look it but they actually get dangerous after dark.”

Jorgin gets to his feet and hobbles after Tirza, he calf still swollen and sore. He has no further encounters as he returns to the town with Tirza. On the way, he talks to Tirza asking if any of the statues back at the sages' shrine are former apprentices of Olbrich. She tells him that most of the statues have been there for a long time. Long before Olbrich came to Shadow River.

Returning to Olbrich's residence they enter and the old mage looks up expectantly.

Jorgin reaches into his pouch for the scroll. Which is gone. He dumps out the pouch on the floor and looks through the contents. "But it was here!"

"Well it is not here now, is it," says Olbrich, pointedly looking at Tirza and holding out his hand to her.

Tirza laughs and hands the scroll over to Olbrich. "Here you go. I took it for safekeeping."

Jorgin glares angrily at Tirza. "You took that while I was dying!"

"Sure I did. Remember you would have died if not for me."

Olbrich waves his hand at the pair. "Jorgin, no more lessons today. But tomorrow we shall look at a new spell for you to learn." He pauses then says, "Journeyman."

END SCENE.

Delivering the Goods

I have not run a session with Valgrim for several weeks. Mainly, because I was unsure where to take him next. He still had a contract to fulfill but he needed a plan. It took a while but I finally came up with a plan that I thought might work. If this was a non-solo game the GM will have packed up and left while the players came up with their plans.

Again this is D&D 5e set on Aedenne using the Solo Adventurer's Toolbox.

Wanderings of Valgrim - Session 4

After a few days of rest, Valgrim has fully recovered. He has also had Tekin find him a leather jerkin and a crossbow. He spends the time planning how to best House Zimri and get the wine delivered to Sandcrest as he had promised.

Can Valgrim find a local map-maker? (Likely). Definite yes. Is there another route to Sandcrest? (Likely). Maybe. Is the other route dangerous? (Very Likely). Definite yes. Natural dangers? (Possible). No.

Valgrim asks Tekin if there is a local map-maker. Tekin ponders and tells him there is one in the marketplace. Valgrim and Tekin go to the map-maker and buy a map of the land around Opotal. Looking at the map Valgrim can immediately see another trail that heads to Sandcrest in a looping longer route to the south. He points to the trail and tells Tekin, “That is the route we shall take”. Tekin puts up his hands and objects. The longer route is not used because nomadic raiders of the Dastani tribe claim that area. “Not me, brother. I will not take that route,” Tekin says. Valgrim considers him for a moment then an idea comes to him. “No. You will take the usual route with a decoy wagon full of water and I will take the southern route with the wine!” Tekin, objects that he will not risk his life for some barrels of water. Valgrim assures him that he only needs to travel a few miles until he is out of sight of the town. Then he can wait and return after a few hours. There will be no danger.

“And what about you? And my employer's wine? What do I tell Master Zerfal?” Valgrim tells Tekin not to worry because he is certain his plan is going to work.

The next morning they load up two wagons taking some effort to conceal what they are doing. They leave early in the morning. As they follow each other through the town, Tekin turns his wagon toward the north gate and Valgrim turns his wagon toward the west gate.

Are they ambushed in town by Zimri bandits? (unlikely). Maybe. Is it Valgrim who encounters trouble? No.

Everything appears to go smoothly for Valgrim. He passes out of the gate and heads off into the desert following a seldom-used path.

Is there an encounter? Number of rolls 2. Yes. Is Valgrim beset by Zimri thugs? (Possible). Maybe.

A few hours out of Opotal, Valgrim spots four riders on his trail and about a half hour behind him. He surmises that Tekin must have been stopped and searched and the bandits discovered his ruse. He urges the horse pulling the cart along and looks for a good spot to defend from an ambush. Valgrim spots a rise with the foundation of an old stone building atop it. Deciding this would be an excellent position with which to defend himself he pulls the wagon to a stop, ties off the horse, and positions himself behind the wall with his crossbow ready.

The bandits see that he is waiting for them and they slow their horses and approach carefully. Suddenly, arrows fly at the bandits from the desert. Two of them are struck but stay on their horses. They turn and beat a hasty retreat for Opotal. Two men clad in sand-covered robes rise up out of the desert holding short bows. The approach Valgrim’s position and wave. Valgrim motions with his crossbow and yells, “I thank you for your help with those dishonorable thieves, but I must warn you that being chased has made me nervous and this crossbow has a light trigger!”

Rolled on the Situations Table and I got “disarm”. Not sure how to interpret that. So I rolled again this time asking, Will the raiders attack? (unlikely). No.

The two men pause. Then one of them tells Valgrim that they only wish to share equally. They will share a safe passage if he shares his goods. Valgrim levels the crossbow directly at the men and tells them he cannot let that happen.

The two speak amongst themselves for a minute then they shoulder their weapons and disappear into the desert. Valgrim waits for a few minutes and then quickly gets moving again, looking about nervously. Valgrim does not encounter any more problems on his trek to Sandcrest. He pulls up to Bertan Zerfal’s shop in Sandcrest and finds the gate is locked. After some banging on the door. A man appears and sees Valgrim and the cart and starts shouting excitedly for Master Bertan. Finally, Bertan Zerfal appears. He is surprised that Valgrim is here. It has been several days and he assumed that Valgrim had been killed by bandits. He had been awaiting word on whether he had lost another load of wine. “Come, come inside. Tell me all about it. It has been 4 days. I am sure you have had some adventures.”

Valgrim tells Bertan about the events of the past few days. Upon learning of the involvement of House Zimri, Bertan smacks his fist on the table, “Of course, Sala Zimri! I should have guessed!” He is amazed when he hears of Valgrim’s escape from the warehouse. Moving over to a desk, Bertan counts out the agreed-upon amount of gold, pauses, and then adds 10 more gold. “You certainly earned this my friend.” Valgrim accepts a pouch of 100 gold coins.

“Tell, me. Can I convince you to make more runs of wine?” Valgrim shakes his head, “I am not a cart driver”. But I will protect your business and put an end to these bandits for the right amount of gold”.
Valgrim says goodbye to Bertan and agrees to meet him in two days. He heads over to the Greasy Spadger Inn and waves hello to Savanna the owner. It is fairly busy so he waits to speak with her. Once Savanna comes over to speak to Valgrim he asks if Nisa is still in town.

Has Nisa waited in Sandcrest for Valgrim to return? (Possible). No. Did she leave voluntarily? (Likely). Yes.

Savanna tells Valgrim that Nisa cleared out of the Inn on the same day that Valgrim left 4 days ago. A little disappointed, Valgrim thinks about it for a while and then orders a meal.

In Search of the Unknown Session 3

I just finished Game Mastering another successful session of Swords & Wizardry. We did have some technical difficulties but it was not with Roll20. It was a problem with 2 of the player's setups. So only two players had voice and sound. The other two relied on chat. One player could not even see the map. Surprisingly it still went relatively well. The players had to deal with the intentional annoying mapping that comes with the adventure. A lot of long corridors that go nowhere. Clearly designed to frustrate mapping. It does not have that effect when you are using a map in Roll20. I had thought about using a more sensible redrawn map but I wanted to use the high-resolution maps I purchased.

Session 3: 10 May 2020

Players: Marta the Cautious (cleric), Manny Lightfoot (Halfling Thief), Raeish Farstrider (Elven Fighter/Magic-User), Gaeleath Olomaer (Elven Fighter/Magic-User), Daen Shieldbreaker (Dwarven Fighter/NPC).

The action begins in the prison cell area of the Stronghold. They are all preparing to leave but Raeish held back intrigued by the blue crystals. He decides to break off a piece. When nothing happens he pockets it. For the next hour, they wander through a maze of corridors. Daen remarks that they were not designed by a dwarf, they were designed by an idiot. They do not find anything interesting so they open a door near where they started and find an exercise room. There is nothing interesting about it.

The adventurers head to the west and find another room with a glowing, blue crystal. This one is emitting light. Raeish steps forward and touches it and is instantly vaporized. While the remaining heroes look about the floor for any ashes - Raeish materializes in the prison cell. Thankfully they had left the cell door open. As Raeish heads back toward his friends he comes across a patrol of three kobolds. Raeish leaps into a dash and the Kobolds howl in frustration and follow him. The heroes he left behind hear the sounds of angry Kobolds coming toward them and prepare for a fight.

Raeish leads the kobolds right into an ambush set up by his friends. Gaeleath kills one with an arrow shot from his bow. The remaining two kobolds see that they are outnumbered and they turn and run. Daen comments that one of the kobolds looks like the little bugger they captured the previous day.

The chase is on. Marta and Daen soon fall behind and stop running. Gaeleath kills one on the run with another shot from his bow. But the last kobold drops its weapons and gets away. Probably the same kobold that escaped the day before.

The adventurers listen at a pair of ornate double doors and hear a faint buzzing sound. Opening the doors they find a library. The buzzing noise is coming from some peculiar lanterns filled with fireflies. In a search of the library, Gaeleath finds two cleric scrolls he gives to Marta. Daen dismantles one of the firefly lanterns from the wall bracket and gives it to Marta. Frustrated by the mainly empty library, Manny topples a bookshelf to the ground to check the wall behind it but she finds nothing.

The Firefly Lantern

After a long walk, the adventurers come to a smithy and find two unfortunate, dead adventurers. As Gaeleath checks a corpse for loot the bodies animate as zombies. Marta turns the zombies with the will of his god but since they have no route past the adventurers they press back into a corner of the room. Raeish fires a flaming arrow at a zombie and misses. Daen chops one down with his ax and Raeish destroys the other one with his spear. In a room next to the smithy the adventurers find a dark hole on the floor. Raeish is intrigued and volunteers to descend by rope. He goes down 40 feet to a cave. Raeish scouts around a little and waves back up the tunnel for everyone to come down. While he waits, Raeish notices orc tracks on the ground. Everyone descends.

Once everyone is ready to go Daen walks off to the north and falls right into a 10-foot deep pit trap injuring himself gravely. While Gaeleath tosses the Dwarf a rope, three orcs appear in another tunnel on the opposite side of the deep pit. The pit blocks them from attacking so they shout angrily and then runoff. Marta takes the time to cast Cure Light Wounds on a grateful Daen. Manny easily makes it around the pit by climbing along the wall. She ties off a rope for everyone and they follow gingerly edging around the pit.

Heading west they find a crude statue of a human male. They head north and find a door. Manny listens at the door and she reports that she can hear orcs whispering and telling each other to stay quiet. The adventurers prepare for a fight and Daen flings open the door. They charge into a battle with five orcs.

Manny hits one with her sling. Daen kills one with his ax. Gaeleath stabs and kills one with his sword. Marta hits one but does not kill it. Raeish kills one with his spear. As the orcs begin to retreat Raeish screams angrily at the orcs challenging them. Daen and Gaeleath kill the last two orcs before they can flee.

Five on five against the Orcs

The group finds they are in the large cavern that they entered the day before. They know it is a short distance to the entrance to the caves. Checking the entrance they note that it is about noon outside. Despite the bright sunshine they decide to leave the caves to rest. Raeish makes the comment that Orcs are nocturnal. They set up camp in a grove of trees and post watches as everyone tries to rest and sleep. Nothing disturbs them.

That evening as the sun starts to go down, they enter the caves again. Raeish spends some time experimenting with the two crystal shards he has. But he cannot figure them out. The group enters the caves again and climbs past the pit trap. They come across the corpses of the goblins they killed 2 days ago. Raeish kicks a corpse to make certain it is dead. Heading south Gaeleath cautiously enters a cave filled with purple, glowing moss and some large fungi. He sees a skeleton on the ground covered in moss. He also notices that one of the large fungi moves. As Marta enters the cave, his lantern light causes a shrieker to let out a loud shriek. Marta, Daen, and Gaeleath are all injured by the piercing noise. Marta notices two fungi moving away from his light so he advances. Once the light hits the fungi they shriek again. Once Marta moves back the fungi settle and don’t move. Gaeleath is able to pry a gold ring off of the skeleton’s hand by breaking off its finger.

The adventurers move north and discover an amphitheater cave with nothing interesting in it. They head south and find some uninteresting caves. Then they find a large, glowing mica formation. It glows a golden light. When Raeish breaks off a piece it the glow slowly fades. Unable to puzzle out the rock they move on. Further south they find a well-preserved crate of iron spikes and take some. They descend to a small cave with a heap of rags in the corner. As everyone turns to leave, Manny flips over a moldy cloak and is attacked by a giant tick. Yelling she attacks followed by Gaeleath and Daen who return to help. The tick is hacked to pieces in seconds.

Heading back past the glowing mica, Daen stops to break off a big piece. But it also fades after a few minutes. They walk for a while through empty cavern halls before being confronted by a tunnel blocked with thick spider webs. Raeish wants to burn the webs but the others convince him to move on and avoid spiders. Heading east they find a cavern that is blackened by fire in some areas. Puzzled they look about but only find empty crates. Heading north they find the iron door they passed 2 days earlier. It is still open from when they last passed this way so they do not need to use the command word.