Dwarf OSE+ Dark Citadel Session #7 (26JULY 2023)

 

  Another exciting (?) recap of one of my OSE+ Games I run on Roll20, Dwarf Themed no less ! Quite a bit happened between session before this session started honestly and it was mainly logistical. Enjoying the benefits of their new found wealth they began clearing the former Goblin lair which had access to an underground river for habitation, Ergol Bronzefist's Cohort camped above and began clearing rubble and restoring some defenses as well as claiming small sections of the Dungeon below for Dwarf Reclamation. The Brotherhood of Expendable Strangers set up their Bed Chambers in the former guard room complete with arrow slits into a short Hall by the magical Unicorn fountain and very close to the Old Stone Bridge and the Great Hall of this level. A few of Ergol's Cohort and Merchant caravan are recruited by the Brotherhood as well, five laborers to clean up the level and forge a great Cairn to the Dead of the Dark Citadel sponsored by Axios the Dwarf Warrior, Redrum Fighter/Acolyte of Thaneduhr spent the time cleaning and restoring the defiled Chapel. Redrum and Gad invest in a Library for Research purposes in the sum of 1000 GP to be set up in the old repair forge.  Gad recruits two retainers from Ergol's Personal Guard who are named Gor Bronzebolt; a Dwarf Crossbowman, & Kord Loremaster; a Dwarf "Loremaster" for research purposes and library custodian, then They spend time exploring the cleared rooms and searching for Secret Doors or hidden treasures at pretty much the same time that a group of 35 other Dwarf are clearing ruins above as well as claiming a few rooms below in their close vicinity as their Chambers as well. They have had the Boats replaced and Oars and Poles replaced as well.

[All NPC have their own personal motivation & I have made a video on the Retainer options of how Hirelings, Retainers & Henchman work in my games and in my general view of Vintage Gaming. Gor was attempted to be recruited by two separate players with Gad succeeding after Zebullon failed. Gad had offered the bare minimum imo but rolled very well both times while Zeb had offered Below Min consideration which resulted in auto failure. Retainers not offered any share of treasure will always fail as they are Classed individuals & not 0-level Hirelings but specialists. Axios' noble cause and high roll has netted him a +1 to Morale/Loyalty score on his laborers]

   An additional 11 Dwarf come from Dur-Annis with Ergol's Supply caravan. One Dwarf decides to set up a Tavern in the Mess Hall set up in the Ruined Building which is being reclaimed by the Cohort and is adjacent to the stairs leading to one of the Dungeon Sections. Name and Tavern name to be determined but I'm leaning towards Skald as a nod to Cheers with a parody of the cast as Dwarf ....

  There is discussion on what to do with the Mine Deposits which have not been touched by anyone since their discovery. Ergol informs the party he has a proposition and the Dur-Annis council tasked them with reclamation of the Citadel and its environs  they had assumed the mines were played out or worked by the goblins who sacked the Citadel so no agreements had been made. Ergol maintains communication with the Council and had a monthly trade caravan that is in a travel rotation which is where most of the goods purchased by the party came from and not Dragonspire Hold which is but a Half-Day away. Ergol seems to have developed an aversion with dealing with the local human guilds and the Brotherhood does not want to engage in conversion rates of old Dark Citadel Coin to Dragonspire Mint so orders most equipment from Ergol even though it takes much longer to get to their "Stronghold".

 [2 in 6 research rolls for Lore Ability of Spell-Casting Classes as well as the Loremaster & no information is gleaned bout the Magical War Hammer they were rewarded with from a Quest previous session]

  They spend time in the fountain room but it never changes color in a period of an hour so they decide to adventure without its magical waters. Gad decides to bring Gor & leaves Korb to manage the Library.

[15+ on a d20 per turn then a random d100 roll for Potion Effects to see what it does for d6+6 Turn duration as per Potions]

   They opt to search the other level where they had cleared the goblins as well as bandits from and seek out the Gelatinous Cube that prowls the level. It is a random Encounter creature but needs to be eliminated to fully "Conquer" the level so it can be further utilized. Plus, there was a few Locked Doors which Gad can now reattempt to Pick. They head up the Now Guarded passage and no one has seen a Gelatinous Cube attempt to come down the Stairs to this level. They reinspect the Mine on that level as well as 'Big Og's Lair' and discover nothing of note. All of Dead Goblin and fallen Dwarf bodies are missing scooped up by the Gelatinous Cube at the end of that particular session. 

   Locating the Locked Reinforced Door at the end of this Levels Great Hall Gad picks it successfully and  They gain entry to an old Armoury. The search and inspect the weapons and Axios discovers an old Dwarf Skull with a Jasper in it. Everyone collects a Crossbow from the Racks and loads up on Bolts. Gad picks the other locked door as well to have open access to the chamber from either direction. They set off to the Bloody Hall to search for the Cube.

   Their searching reveals nothing of note outside of noticing that the Cube is has cleaned up all the corpses. The Bloody Hall remains blood stained though from their previous battles and this seems to be a permanent feature now. Exiting towards the Great Hall I figure they have made enough noise to attract the Cube and it does indeed surprise them as it is clear and has over the course of a month digested the 3 dozen some bodies left to rot upon this level. A battle begins and the Surprise round [ 4 in 6 chance to surprise, rolled a 3] does not get the Cube any hits upon the lead characters. They engage and it is a back and forth with Gad yelling they need to retreat down the corridor and fire bolts at it but  the Cube grabs on to Axios and draws him into its gooey interior. Axios is severely wounded by the maximum hit "Acidic Glooping" placed upon him and as he likes to swing a two-handed weapon does not have the option to Shatter his Shield. Fortunately for him the Brotherhood manages to slay the beast in the next round, well, Zeb does as he Crits and Hits twice which is enough on top of Redrum's earlier hit.. I'll not do a Round by Round recap of comabt and just toss highlights up as makes sense.

[After attained 2nd level last session I changed the FTR Options to start at 2nd level with Zebulon & Axios taking an additional attack per round on rounds they do not move, after consideration the others switched their initial response wherein they were all doing the same and Gad took the Dwarf War Chanter Option which means he can give a 5 round +1 bonus after singing for a round before combat (This was a Variant Labyrinth Lord Class for Dwarf whose Abilities I made into RACIAL FTR OPTIONS) and Redrum took a purely defensive fighting specialization I copied from LotFP which is +2 to AC and -4 to Hit.]

  They retire to the other section of the Dungeon and inform Ergol they have slain the Cube. I describe Axios as being covered in slime similar to ghostbusters or having been dipped in hand sanitizer. The Cube was a Wandering monster of some note so had to be eliminated to claim this section of dungeon as "Conquered". Grabbing a night of sleep they decide to hit the boats and travel down stream and explore along the river as they have not discovered any Stairs Down yet to another level. They are in luck however and he Magical Unicorn Fountain changes color to silver, again. Potion of Heroism effect for the entire party but I make a single roll for group duration to save on book keeping. The Boats can hold 8 Dwarf, it will require two oarsman and someone on the pole to go upstream, they are informed and the party has in their gaming careers avoided all water-born adventures. Everyone is clad in Plate except for one in Chain. Axios does not bring his Donkey, Zeb does not bring his War Dog & Gad does bring Gor.

  Having spoken to the Fisher Dwarf Duo KastKing Twins Daiwa and Okuma they learn that occasionally bit of Raft float down the River from the North and Drums can be heard from the depths to the south, the Guards assigned by Ergol to watch the river landing confirm this. The Brotherhood climbs aboard and heads downstream and find a side passage 6 feet downstream but out of sight from the guards and the river continues south, exploring the jetty (?) they find a beach and can see paving stones in the distance. They pull ashore and explore finding a gold leaf decorated pair of Bronze Wood doors and a side passage with goblin skeletons, the obvious Tomb doors (There are Dwarf Runes saying its Tomb of King Luzaer). I allow INT Checks at -2 w/two party members making the roll and recognizing it as an early King of the Dark Citadel. As Axios pushes the great doors open figures stir and to the West emerge Dwarf Zombies emerge from the shadows, they are slow and are turned by the Acolyte Redrum. The sounds of Hammers on Anvils can be heard as he successfully repels the undead. One is hit as it turns by bolts and arrows so does not flee but is destroyed by Axios' Dwarf Iron War Axe. They return the destroyed undead to their resting slabs and explore the obviously looted tomb of Luzaer. Nothing of note is found so they return to the Boat and travel south again. Another 60 or so feet they discover another side passage off of the river and a dock !

   Upon tying the Boat off to the dock they see an old raft with poles upon the Dock as well, they determine its of goblin crafting. They note there are two doors leading away from this region and go North to discover a dozen dwarf behind a formerly barricaded door. They are no signs of battle and they seem to have died from starvation or disease their weapons laying beside them. I cant tell if my players are somber or apathetic, meh it is what it is. Another door leads to a chamber whose door had been spiked from the inside and it appears the Dwarf took his own life here. They take a signet ring, steel scroll tube and find a Bronze Wood Shield-Stein. They seek out the other door and find its is mildew and water from the river seeps into this chamber from the river. They decide to search it leading Axios to discover a Long Mithril Key cast into a corner and Green Slime drops upon Gor. This leads to the party losing a Spear to the Slime and them producing Torches to burn the Slime on Gor. I'll not bore you with round by round details but if not for the Magical heroism effect Gor would be a puddle of Green Slime instead he is just armor less and scarred for life. The party excitedly takes the key and heads to the Dock. I have everyone drop a d6 w/1 being a Spot of something in the water.

   Having noticed something in the water the party tries to draw it to the surface so they can fire arrows and bolts at it but instead in its agitated state it simply makes the water murkier stirring up the sand on the bottom. They opt instead to use the raft as a diversion and push off in the boat. The Raft is destroyed by something 'Large' in the water; I ask if anyone fires upon it and get a mainly silence then a No, so  then I roll for Evasion and the Giant Pike does not pursue. There was a moment when I thought the party was going to go straight for the other shore instead of the river which meant taking the boat over the Pike instead of away from it. Voice Chats get Chaotic and its hard to get DIRECT ANSWERS  sometimes from Players. I blame it on the non-committal nature of some players assuming that If I do not commit I can get an action later in Reaction to which  I usually just declare no declaration no action, you watch either passively or in shock. 

   The Brotherhood return to the "Stronghold"; they'll need a name for this place eventually, and head to the Keyhole in the Mosaic across from Thaneduhr Chapel. A loud grinding sound can be heard down the Hall to the North and many a Dwarf head looks in the direction. The secret door discovered by Gad in his searches is opening and they all rush to find a dust covered Treasure room with 6 Chests in it. It is a Small Fortune and Gor as I assume as do man of the Brotherhood. There is allot of confusion as to where they locked chests are opened and next session I may drag play to a crawl to get Direct answers which I will note on one of my note cards rather than have conflicting courses of action. But it is a sizable hall hidden away for ages and found due to the discovery of the lost key.

   Discussion on division of treasure and XP which is more math than I like at 11pm so put it off to after I finish this Recap. Discord is handy for that as well as is the Forum on Roll20. It was a good session and now I have multiple 3rd level Dwarf for the excursion Down River, I note to Players that the river is a descent. Previously found Half-Plate is given to Gor whom is happy with that as he is not usually in melee as a crossbowman. I can see Greed and Secrecy becoming a problem when dealing with NPC and NPC Factions soon and I wonder if Hero and Reclaimer is soon to be replaced with Kin-Slayer as a name associated with the PCs lol. Gad tempts the KastKing Dwarf Duo with tackling the Giant Pike so I'll mull on that in between session. The other players are not interested in Retainers so there is potential conflict there in the long term imo 

#OSR #OSE #VintageGaming #DarkCitadel