Stone-Hell on the Borderlands Session #20 (12 FEB 2024)

             Well, I debated about continuing to make these recaps as I've made some changes to my gaming table, my associations and methods. I can be fickle and crass at times but at the end of the day we do these things to have an enjoyable time with friends and sometimes mere acquaintances from the aethereal world of the internet. Sometimes that does not mesh well with our mellow, so to speak. SO I decided not to play with a couple players and one I was actually DM'ing so I nuked the Discord as well as the ROll20 campaign. Then almost immediately regretted it which is a rarity to for myself. I own my decisions, no pallid half hearted mulling over it. SO, I reconstituted the SHotB behind a gatekept wall of preferred associations. I regained a PC who had decided not to adventure with one of the folks I opted to disassociate and unfortunately stopped playing with one that had nothing to do with any of it but better safe than sorry, shrug. 

    Picking up in Kendall Keep at Ye' Olde Tavern Stonus is found drinking to excess by his old adventuring pal Daagun the Tomb Robbing Halfling. Along with his retainer Braxx a failed Dwarf Merchant who has recently lost his fortune and is destitute following the vulgar and rude Stonus into whatever fortune or misfortunes he may find, besides he pays well and he just spent ALL of his coin from their last foray meager as it was. Cinnamon comforts the old grumpy Dwarf and offers him her special Spiced Bark Tea to sober up. The aspiring Druidess has taken up more responsibilities at her father's tavern and is introducing more natural soothing drink and foods to the menus including her Spiced Bark Tea, Breads and Rose Wine. The front of Ye' Olde Tavern has become a veritable garden of exotic roses and herbs leaving a heavy but very pleasant scent in the plaza.

    With Stonus, Daagun & Braxx as well as a pair of War Dogs, Biscuits & Gravy, and an old rough mule they travel towards Stone-Hell. NOTE: Duo'ing a #Megadungeon is Rough but with proper usage of Retainers and Animals is not a hard as one may think. Utilizing the DWARF RACIAL FTR OPTION Toiling Dirge they make good time, encounter no Wandering Monsters ( 5s & 6s rolled ) camp and head to into Stone-Hell Valley. They head directly tot he Hell's Antechamber via the long winding stair down at the rear of the Valley and discover some minor cleaning has occurred at the bottom of the stairs and set up a bucket in front of the door tot he nasty kitchen previously explored then head North.

    Stopping at a crude sign saying "Da' Dragon" pointing West they inspect from the hall left and right then proceed to a closed door to inspect it closely. Noting Rat damage to the bottom of hte door but hearing nothing in side they kick it open revealing linen wrapped humanoid bodies hanging from hooks with some stacked on the far wall. These are being eaten at by several Giant Rats; there are 10 in the room, so they opt to clam shut the door and flank it hoping to catch rats singly as they emerge. They wait a few rounds then listen but only hear faint squeaking and the tearing of dead flesh so they head North then West cautiously.

    An old trap room full of carved faces with open mouths, checking his map from pervious exploration it is noted to be a room with a Dart Trap so they go around the pressure plates and enter a previously unexplored section of Dungeon. Ten Foot tall carved stone faces with exaggerated large eyes adorn the rooms walls in all directions. The room is inspected from the entry hall, then entered cautiously and Detect Large Stone Traps as well as Detect Construction Tricks are used by the various demi-humans. They go past the room making notes on their maps.

    Entering a long hall I make note of the marching order as they are reordering their line up and Stonus begins tapping ahead with the capped end of his Spear. I allow a Listen At Doors check to be rolled and inform players I'll be asking for these, Randomly. [I started doing this for pole tapping as you may not notice the hollow thud of a dungeon floor over a Pit Trap whose lids are not always thin enough.] Stonus falls into a pit and I have him roll he falling damage which is maximum, a 6. The group takes 5 rounds to cross the 18' ledges on the wall sides and then pulls the fallen Dwarf on the other side. Heading further South but hoping to loop back over to the main entry to the level they find scattered pebbles in the hall and a cracked ceiling as well as a door which is bowed out into the hall. This causes so much concern and inspection but finally they pry it open to reveal a store room where items have been piled in random piles of old gear. Taking the time to search through this 'junk' Stonus finds a potion vial and drinks it healing himself of some of the damage from the pit. Most of the items in the piles are old adventuring gear but in a ruined condition and broken. They head southwards still ...

  Entering a chamber they see more damaged ceiling and rubble scattered upon the floor, shining the lantern above they startle several Giant Centipedes who retreat into cracks in  the ceiling. They rush through the room to the East and go into a corridor with a cavernous room to the north, hall to the east ending in a door and large locked stone double doors to the South of a religious nature. There is some discussion on routes of advance but Stonus and Braxx enter the cavernous room which has dripping water and luminous moss which i abundant giving the cave the equivalent of candle light. Daagun picks the locks to the Double Door and eyes a long hall with eight crypt doors and a wooden door at the far end. They opt to investigate the caves first and relock the Double Doors.

    Exploring the cavern system they find a whistling well which they avoid but note that cool air, though foul as the air on this level, come up here. The caverns do indeed link back up to the cave that leads to the hall with the "Da' Dragon" sign. Following a passage to the west they find a larger cavern with a deep pool at the far end. The room reeks and is filled with filth and bones. Stonus spends time scanning the floor and sees signs of a some coins amongst the filth and bangs upon the side wall with his Sword. This goes on for a round and Daagun falls back further from he entry which is suddenly disturbed by a large lizard attacking Stonus from above trying to bite his head off. AS it tries to lift him into the air unsuccessfully due to his weight and armor they being attacking the creature, A seven and a half foot long Giant Gecko Lizard. This battle is back and forth with Stonus taking more damage than his has in ages and nearly dying before driving the creature down from the walls and allowing the War Dogs to tear at it with their Spear and Broad Sword Attacks finally killing it but leaving Stonus grievously wounded and the War Dogs but scratched. They search the room and find a paltry sum of copper coins but a heavy gold circlet is discovered. Inspecting the pool they find it drops straight down to a 10' depth and has no shallow end, they leave and return tot he crypt door and begin cracking up crypts.

    Each Crypt has a few Zombies and  these are some protracted combats for folks to be missing AC 8. I allow whomever opening the door to roll random occupants and the rolls random treasure, they roll well on the treasure once and are rewarded with 400 PP. They then decide to flee back to Kendall Keep with their loot as this is their largest score in Stone-Hell even with giving the Retainer a Full share of Treasure ( and coincidently a +1 to Loyalty slightly offsetting Stonus' 7 CHA). A minor encounter is rolled but the pair of Wolves are wary of attacking superior numbers. Engaging the Gate Guards there is some joking about not being able to call them Coddiwimplers anymore and Rufus gives a knowing grin which hides something a the party, he also appears slightly injured but makes no comment as to how or why. They pay the Road Tax from the Copper they claimed from the Gecko, maybe a refund from tehri insurance ? Negotiating with the Trader they discover the Circlet was worth 1100 GP and get 550 GP in payment for it, they retire to the Travelers Inn as Stonus must take time to Train to level up to 4th and the others seek out Gear and Supplies to be purchased with their heavy purses filled with Platinum Pieces.

    I only had two players and they managed to get 13 rooms explored and we quit a full half hour early for the night. The combat was tense and they were short on any type of healing so I am considering adopting the Dragonslayer Bind Wounds rules. I ran something similar a long awhile back where Bandages and Health Kits were expendable items costing coin to restock but think I gave too much leeway in the the healing. d3 + 1/2 level of target rounded down. Maybe a simple d3 Healing as long as you have X uses left in your Healing Kit, more stuff to track and money to spend to maintain. I dunno, maybe. I figure more folks will join this group out of the pool I have gathered if not I am fine running two PCs and several Retainers.

    I will be adding another game to recap soon too, an homage to Lenord Lakofka's Lendore Isles which I am calling the Lenord Isles or Isle of Lenord. The secret of Bone Hill becoming a mish mash of competition modules which should be an interesting homebrew megadungeon in its own right. We shall see though.