Dwarf OSE+ Dark Citadel Session #3 (31 MAY 2023)

 

Oh Boy, two weeks in a row ...

   Sometimes things are destined to repeat. We had a player unable to attend and had made a small side adventure for the city sewers and asked the players their plans after making it to DragonSpire Hold a Month after their defeat last session. The room cleaned out and a few personal overlooked items returned to the party since they were "kin" and all. Between sessions the new Dwarf Fighter/Thief Gab had been talking to a quad of merchants overheard in the tavern complaining of a lost shipment of merchandise heading for the "Borderlands". Elias Babyngton and Katrina Stout-Rack were very accommodating to the new adventuring party of Dwarf from Dur-Annis.

   From my Discord In-Between Session Tab: There is a bit of rumbling in the Inn as a few merchants complain of a recent uptick in Banditry near the Ruins...
"I lost a shipment of blades heading towards the Borderlands, you know that means that vermin will be better armed! Pole Arms and Swords" grumbling and leaning in to each other "be best we take care of this discreetly, if the Usurper learns we allowed weapons to be claimed by bandits & goblins on his very door step it'll be grim for us"...

The Merchants Moe of Trent, Larrold, Shemp & Curly Joe seem quite worried

"Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk this is bad fellas. We should find expendable strangers and offer some Coin  " he tugs at his curly hair

A bowl haircut Moe strokes at his Chin "I heard from the other guildsman that there been an uptick from there, something got the Bandits a few more in their numbers & got 'im emboldened

[ After the Party decimated the entirety of the Goblin King Kilianx entourage the Bandits under Dramax invaded and took over. The gear and loot laying on the battle field was seized by the Bandits and they set themselves up in the former goblin lair. Of note was the jewelry that bedazzled the goblin king ...]

   Gad approaches the merchants. “Excuse me, Gentlemen. Pardon the intrusion. I heard you talking about the ruins. I am Gad, a dwarf bc of Dur-Annis. My kinsmen and I have only just arrived. As it happens, we intend to go these ruins ourselves.”

Curly Joe begins to speak but his mouth is slapped by Shemp "Well, that is very convenient as we have recently" he gasps as he is bitten by Curley Joe
"As I was saying," begins Curley Joe " We have need of brave adventurers from other places with no relations here in Dragonspire. Plus, you ain't even human which is perfect !"

Sheep nursing the small wound from Curleys bite mutters "If you are agreeable to a few terms we have a Quest for you our dour acquaintance "

Moe stomps on Shemps foot under the table ...

"How about 50 GP to go clear out some bandits. On the down low don't want no riff-raff trying to muscle in on your treasure.... you can keep whatever coins you find but there being a wagon of, well... armaments that need retrieved for some poor militia on the Borderlands struggling to fend of bugaboo & sprites."

 [ Here I offered the party the noble option and the ability to make some coin. Possibly rating this a Small Quest. Gab however, is greedy and pressed for more coin. Reaction Rolls are made, meh 7]

We will be poking around there. We are certainly willing to report back. But clearing out the bandits or retrieving your wagon seems like a…bigger…undertaking. says Gab

Larrold speaks up, "Well, you will be there already as you say an extra 50 GP for bringing back what is rightfully ours would be easy and mayhap is a bit much for a good & noble deed. Perhaps you are simply not up for such a minor challenge. "
Moe & Shemp huddle close together whispering then Moe leaves...
Larrold & Curly Joe raise their eyebrows in unison. Shemp simply shrugs, "Covering our losses if they items are returned to City, improperly"
"Our friends at the Blue Demon" inquires Curly Joe. Shemp nods 
"Most excellant" they clack their mugs together 

[ I have the merchants contact members of the Town Guard in case the players try to sell the looted items instead of returning them. This sems pretty obvious to me but I am pretty sure it flew over the party's heads. The Blue Demon Tavern across the street is the main drinking hole of the Town guard and the Watch. The Party considers naming themselves the Brotherhood of Expendable Strangers]

“As I said, we will be happy to report back. If we find your wagon sitting there, of course we will bring it on back. But, without knowing just how many bandits it’s sitting there with, it’s hard to know how big or small a challenge it might be.” (edited)
I bow solemnly, as if underlining my point.

"If you find our wagons; there be 3 of them, and bring back the majority of the contents then 50 GP and our gratitude. Possible future employment and a good word with the guild of merchants which is priceless." Mutters Moe. "Yeah, priceless so that means its worth allot" blurts out Curly Joe "Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk" Mutters Larrold

I nod appreciatively when they mention the guild of merchants (Gab the Fighter/Thief)

[ Now it is a point to mention that Gab is the player who could not make it this session. So no Thief and not a word is mentioned of the offer as they seek out Bandits nor is a different course of action considered since there are only 3 players this evening. A Dwarf Cleric, A Dwarf Fighter & a Dwarf Fighter/Acolyte as everyone stayed pretty close to the archetypes they had decided upon the first session. I did however add a Potion of Healing to the Fighter, and Scrolls of Cure Light Wounds to the Cleric & Acolyte ]

   The Party; still unnamed as of Session #3, approach the ruins and decide to explore the large towers their predecessors bypassed previously. a Gold coin is found in the stream as they cross and then a camp fire is discovered in the Easter Tower Ruins as well as 12 Arrows in a quiver by the arrow slit. A loud shrill wind whistles through the ruins as they search. They discover booted footprints and narrow smaller goblin foot prints as well. They decide to explore the other large building to the West.

    Approaching the other ruins western side they spot three wagons and hear voices coming from inside the building. They try to be stealthy and succeed in surprising the bandits who never get to reach for the new pole arms leaning against the wall. [ Surprise Round +1 to Hit & Cleave utilized for the Battle-Axe wielded two-handedly by the Dwarf Fighter Axton. 

[ Dwarf cannot use large two-handed weapons but Battle-Axe is medium and thus allows them to have a cleaving weapon which I limit to two-handed weapons for Fighter types, ie Martial and Semi-Martial ]

   They loot and stack weapons orderly in the Wagons but notice the horses are missing. They decide to explore the locked door in the room which is locked from this side with Chain and Lock. They Listen at Doors and hear goblin language, a rowdy bit of noise and shrill yelling. They unlock and enter seeing roughly 16 Goblin Females and 20 Goblins children with one stuck on a ledge 15 feet up the wall. They females grab children and back away from the party and strangely for my bloodthirsty players they do not kill everything in the room opting instead to close and lock the doors when they notice the goblins spitting at the corpses of the Bandits. 

   Scouting around the western side they spy upon the Northern Wall ruins from the shadows of the passageway from the west into the old courtyard a group of orcs parlaying with a pair of goblins. They are unnoticed and decide to flank along he Western approach and try to stealthily approach them, they are all in Plate by the way. They get close as the Orcs are taunting the goblins but are spied half way there. After winning initiative they drop a pair of orcs whom decide it is best to disengage leaving the goblins to their fate. A goblin slain later by a powerful blow [11 damage on a 3 Hit Point opponent] the remaining goblin surrenders and pleads for his life. They interrogate the goblin and he reveals that the Bandits took over and keep the goblin females and children locked up here on the surface. Allowing those who are favorable to the bandits to visit them instead of the harem style set up of the previous goblin chief. A truce has been made with the other goblins & orcs in the dungeon to avoid each other as long as the bandits do not delve into the territories. Goblin says Nilbog the Nimble is the big goblin in charge working with the bandits as an ally and there are about a dozen of them in total. HE adds they took all our treasures and shiny ! They lock him up in the room with all the goblin females and children, before entering he fixes his hair with spit gives his member a few shakes and enters making sure to make the best of the next few hours. The party plans to release them all after securing the dungeon level believing they will exit the area.

   They discover boxes of tabards and signs of traffic in the old armory by the fallen wall where they fought the Orcs and goblins. They make note of the tabards and try to breach the door, it does not budge on the first attempt but surprises the bandit and goblin on th other side so on the second round they breach and block the escape of Nilbog and a Polearm wielding bandit. The battle goes long but the bandit is taken out first round with a sling to the skull but Nilbog gets missed for 3 rounds straight wounding a few party members before being brought down, His piecemeal chain armor of the previous partys chainmail armor rent in combat. 

   Since they do not  they enter the lower level in darkness gaining surprise on the lone bandit guard who is in a torchlit area ahead of them. HE is wounded and pursued brought down with an orcish hand axe to his back. They search but do not explore the closed doors off of the landing. Torchlight up ahead reveals empty rooms and they search the alcove of the broken Dwarf Statue as the previous party had done.

   [ 2 in 6 and again lots of big failures on the dice. Sometimes the dice want to kill you or at least make things harder ]

They rediscover the Hall nd the side passage with mosaics leading to unknown areas but can see the faint glow of torch light from a side passage off of the large main hall. They attempt to be as stealthy as possible, but again everyone is wearing Plate. I allow a roll and some high rolls spoil it but I do allow that the voices they here up ahead are distracted but they Roll 1s. The goblins are ordered to go check it out ! The party hugs up against the wall and waits in ambush, goblins peak their heads around and shout upon seeing Dwarf group "DWARVES !". They win initiative and dispatch the goblins quickly but see the room is held by a half dozen bandits in Leather wielding shiny new polearms and shiny new helms. They square off and engage in combat and it goes well for he party. A single bandit runs off and they are left with 5 bandits whom they start dispatching then the dice turn on them and on one can hit nothing. A few rounds in and the Bandit Leader Dramax shows up in the goblin kings Copper Crown nd bloodstone golden necklace. They notice the Goblin Kinds rings on each of hte regular bandits dead and still fighting as well as the Magical Dwarf Forged Dagger at the hip of Dramax. It is a repeat of last week, convinced they cannot retreat fast enough as they are Dwarf with short legs and refusing hte terms of throw down your coin purse and weapons and you may leave from the bandits they fight until it is but a single bandit and the bandit leader with the other two party members at 0 hit points 

[ I have ruled 0 Hit points is unconscious and any negative is dead in my first session. The Cleric Abinodi perishes in combat with the Bandit Dramax ]

  Two weeks in a row so this sucks. The opportunities to gain access to areas via secret door are overlooked and the dice are being very murderous. I had rolled a Morale failure just prior to the Bandit Leader showing up but they declared attacks before I could describe the actions of the Bandits so, their opponents had no choice but to continue to battle them. I did allow a potion to be drank during combat and then melee as I figure it is hanging from belt or what not but in the future Ill ask where these are stored in case of pit traps and pick pockets. I rule that casting from a scroll requires both hands and no movement just like spell casting which is pretty much Old School Essentials RAW so it is what it is. This group is going to be Fighter Heavy as the Shield Splinter is a very high curve survivability option for anyone with the Fighter Class.

   Rather than everyone reroll I have the Cleric who perished reroll his character and he chooses to go Fighter/Cleric to gain the Shield Splinter ability and I figure I will have; in the following round, him and the Gab show up to have a save the party moment or we all reroll again for this session. The odds would be heavily in their favor and the Bandits loot plus the Goblin loot as well as the stolen merchandise of the in between session raids will be a big boon for the party. Trying to be a little more lenient this campaign as it is a small party but maybe I am just getting soft in my old age. I do add 50 GP to the starting gold again and thinking about it may make it a standard for any race that starts game over the age 75, kind of makes sense to me honestly.

   Once the party makes 2nd level they can start looking at Henchfolk and spending their coin on hirelings to get this reclamation of the Dark Citadel Halls completed. They are debating on a  group name as well as moving into conquered sections of the Dungeon as they advance. We shall see though how this all rolls out. The same location for two large pitched battles has been dubbed 'The Bloody Hall' and I will have it permanently bloodstained from these vicious battles.

#OSR #VintageGaming

Game Well, Game Often Folks