This is the first session of the second prequel adventure for our big Exarchate of Alsudhvi campaign. I've been doing a number of these little prequel games as a good way of stress-testing my setting design and introducing my friends and future players to the OSR. Our dramatis personae for the night:
- The Bard -- Randar of Ghinta, Chronicler and Historian, played by Nathaniel
- The Cleric -- Sol of Bal-Bawet, Vicar and Mendicant, played by Daniel
- The Dwarven Fury -- Thalgear the Foul of Beasthold, Dwarven Vindicator and Foe-eater, played by Christian
- The Barbarian - Ganzorig of the Steppe, Plunderer and Skirmisher, played by PJ
- Ganzorig also has a Level 3 Mage Henchman: The Mage - Dzana of Aesta-Suvash, Theurgist and Magical Scholar
As recent inductees into the free company "The Claws of the Lioness," the companions were ordered to meet their employer, Shegar the Bold, at "The Sure-footed Goat", a roadside inn in the small sheep-herding village of Dakhad.
They arrived to find that their employer, Shegar, was nowhere to be found. However, his right hand/girl Friday Naevys the Exile (Elven Ranger) was there waiting for them, and explained that Shegar had been unavoidably detained elsewhere, and that she would be their handler on this particular contract.
As Naevys explains it, the contract is this: A wealthy but reclusive collector has commissioned the Claws of the Lioness to locate and infiltrate a crypt deep in the marshes of the Ettinwood. In this crypt there is what Naevys describes as basically a large Fabergé egg, for which their client is prepared to pay a large sum. The terms are this: Naevys will guide them through the woods to the crypt, and then the companions will go in and retrieve the egg. Naevys will be waiting outside the crypt the next morning with caravan guards and a means to transport the egg (and anything else the companions happen to find) back to town. Simple enough, right?
Randar jokes that hey, maybe it's a dragon egg, and the party will get to hatch it out and raise a dragon as a pet. Naevys was horrified by this suggestion, making a warding gesture, and that is how the companions learned what dragons are and how they work in this world: In Elven eschatology, the return of the Great Dragons would presage the death of magic, the final battle, and the end of the world.
Randar (who knew this even if Nathaniel didn't) apologized for his bad joke, and the players got on with the negotiations. In particular, some of the party were understandably suspicious about this job -- what was this artifact really, and for whom were they retrieving it? What if it was something powerful and their client was going to do something bad with it? Thalgear the Foul in particular didn't trust this elf and wanted some money up front as a token of good faith. This is where the whole deal almost fell apart -- Thalgear's CHA is 5 (that is not his modifier, that is his actual CHA score) and he rolled very poorly on the reaction table. The way this played out at the table was as Thalgear coming across as extremely uncouth, badly groomed, and smelling suspiciously of goblin jerky (of which he has a rather full pack). Randar managed to salvage the situation however, and Naevys offered two Blood Honey Tinctures (Potions of Healing) as an advance on their profits, with the understanding that they would pay her back out of their share of whatever other loot they found in the dungeon.
All of the companions were satisfied with this (once they found out that Potions of Healing in this setting cost 1,000 GP rather than the 50 GP they cost in 5e) and without any further adieu or preparations, set off on their way. With Naevys to guide them, they had no risk of getting lost, and managed not to run into any random encounters on their way to the crypt. When they arrived outside of it, however, they found that someone had beaten them to the punch: there was a warband of Lizardmen already there exploring the ruins. With the element of surprise, the Companions made short work of the Lizardman guards at the entrance before they could run back inside for more help. This first fight was the players' first taste of OSR combat and it went quickly, especially given this particular group of PC's is well-equipped to deal with melee situations. Being surprised, the Lizardmen also did not have the benefit of their huge shields, and this made them significantly to take down and kill.
That done, the companions established a marching order (Randar < Thalgear < Ganzorig < Dzana < Sol < Sol's dog henchman) and headed into the dungeon. Thanks to his knowledge of lore and history, Randar realized that this crypt was in fact a Ssanu (Serpentfolk) temple, one which had been built probably back during the Golden Age, when the Ssanu had began their endless war with the elves in the region. They listened at the first door beyond the entrance and, hearing nothing, kicked it open and barged in -- right into the middle of a melee between a trio of Lizardfolk and four or five Kobolds. Seeing Randar, the Kobolds immediately (on a very positive reaction roll) tried to recruit the companions to their side. After a long out-of-character debate, the companions decided to go along with this -- for now (Randar and Ganzorig saw the utility of having a faction in the dungeon on their side, at least until they learned what was going on; Sol and Thalgear wanted to destroy these servants of chaos while they had the chance). The companions entered melee with the Lizardmen and -- although this was a much stiffer fight -- were able to prevail after two or three rounds.
Some of the companions then start talking with the kobolds (the ones who can speak Kobold) while the others began searching the room for clues, hidden doors, etc. There are two doors -- one to the northeast and one to the southeast -- and it is clear that the southeast door leads to the part of the temple controlled by the kobolds. The kobolds enthusiastically invite the companions to come meet Grevdak, their great chieftain, who (as they assure them) is wealthy, powerful, and well-endowed.
While they are having this conversation, Sol examines the Northeast door and finds it has recently been rather crudely traced with some kind of arcane symbols. As Sol is apparently of the "there's only one way to know" school of exploration, he asks if the door seems locked. It does not. "All right," says Daniel, "can I just push it open?" At this point I walk over to the other players (who are still arguing about what to do about the kobolds) and interrupt them, kindly asking everyone within 10 feet of the door to make a save vs. Blast & Breath, as Sol triggers the warding glyphs on the door and the door explodes.
As it does so (and as the companions are still picking little bits of door out of their face and hands), the corridor on the other side is guarded by three Lizardmen: two pretty similar to the ones the companions have already fought and killed, but the third is a huge black lizardman with a brightly colored crest on his neck and head. The companions at first wrongly assumed that this was the "lizardman sorcerer" (whom the kobolds had told them was leading the Lizardman warband), but he turns out to have been a champion, and he immediately engaged the nearest enemy (Randar) in combat, as the others surged forward, attacking Sol.
This was our third (and final) combat of the evening and it was definitely the hardest. The narrow corridor meant that only two members of the party could engage in melee at any given time with the Lizardmen (none of the companions had weapons long enough to fight from the second rank) meaning that the Lizardmen were better able to bring their superior size to bear. After a few rounds of the Bard and the Cleric taking a pretty good beating, the companions managed to shuffle themselves a bit and draw the Lizardmen back into the vestibule of the temple, where the Barbarian and the Dwarven Fury could go to work.
This combat was also our first instance of player spellcasting in the session (and in the two sessions of the campaign thus far). Sol the Cleric cast Spiritual Weapon (which he never hit with, but which looked very cool and freaked the Lizardmen out) and also Cure Light Wounds (on himself for a whopping 2 HP healed). Dzana cast Shield on herself, increasing her AC as the Lizardmen were getting dangerously close.
Thalgear goes into a fury for the first time in the session. The fury (which the Dwarven Fury can do unlimited times per day) makes you immune to fear, increases all damage dealt by +2, and means you cannot withdraw from combat, make a fighting retreat, etc. (which as I explained to the group are totally valid tactics of OSR play).
However, Thalgear didn't start out this fight engaged in the combat at all. As soon as the door had exploded, the kobolds had run off into their section of the temple, and Thalgear had decided to spend the time searching the rest of the vestibule. Even when the fight started, he decided (since at the time he couldn't engage in melee) not to interrupt his search. So he's on his hands and knees tapping the floor looking for hollow stones... And the Lizardman Champion (who had now pushed into the vestibule) soccer kicked him in the ribs.
Now extremely enraged, Thalgear goes into a fury, hacks the Lizardman champion up real bad (who is then finished off by Sol's dog). The remaining Lizardmen succeed in their morale check with flying colors, though, and keep on fighting for a couple of more rounds. The dog is killed. Several members of the party are well below half HP at this point before Thalgear cuts the head off of one, cleaves, and insta-kills the second (uninjured) Lizardman.
[Also, I forget how insane Cleave is, especially when you have two characters who are both the equivalent of Level 4 fighters for purposes of HD progression. They can each cleave... four times a round, potentially? And Thalgear with his magical axe and his +2 damage from fury was dealing 1d8+5 damage per round. Which is more than enough to take out the average beastman who rolled kinda low on HP.]
At this point, it's quite late, and lots of people had to get up early this morning, so we called it there. We plan to finish the adventure in a few weeks when I return from my travels.
It was a lot of fun, and a very good group. Nathaniel is a natural, PJ is an old hand at this at this point. Daniel is a quiet but very thoughtful player. Christian has a lot of D&D under his belt, but he said this was the best party he'd ever rolled with in terms of people working together. Everyone liked the various OSR-isms of the system and the setting.
Monsters Killed:
- 1 Lizardman Champion
- 9 Lizardmen
