Dwarf OSE+ Dark Citadel Session #19 (6 MARCH 2024)
Well this got left in limbo after some illness swept through my house. This is the only problem with running bi-weekly on a game is that if you miss a session or two it creates a large gap in play time which can be devastating to a campaign. But anyway we got back on that horse and picked up right where we left off. Missing a player which we chalked up to recovering from injuries and left Gremmin at the Elf-Raiders camp with several of the Elfin Warriors following Tanila Glynra a minor Elf Noble seeking the Mighty Spear of Ogrul the Slayer. For assistance they have promised the Two-Handed Sword of Dorrgan which seems to have magical properties against Elfinkind. They fear this Lagomorph in battle.
There is some banter back and forth about goals and responsibilities then prolly about 15 - 20 minutes of planning the assault with their two Retainers Snorri & Fordrael to breach the door and be the bulwark against he Lagomorphs for the Elfin group. They divide and plan to come in from two directions. I think I have spoken my opinions about "Cunning Plans" of #ttrpg players before but this is a prime example. They fail to surprise the guards, I allowed a +1 bonus as they were attempting to be very very quiet in their chain and plate armors but the Retainers could not breach the northern door for a simultaneous assault. As they enter I have the Lagomorph; I need a better name than this but cannot think of what the rabbit folk in drolleries were called, guards have their big bunny ears standing erect like an alert dog but exaggerated. This causes some chuckles and "Yeah it is kind of hard to sneak up on a rabbit" from a few players. They begin attacking and the melee is joined as the Lagomorph guards shout for assistance the heavy padded feet of more coming is heard clearly. The assistance from the northern door is delayed by 3 failed attempts to open the stuck door. This is comical and worrisome as the PCs were terrified of fighting these Evil Bunnymen alone. But eventually they are aided by the Elfin allies and their retainers as more Lagomorph join the fray. The Brotherhood of Expendable Strangers form a semi-circle in front of the Western Door while the Retainers form a bulwark with Elfin archers behind them and then the Lagomorphs start cutting down the retainers and cleaving into the Elfin allies. Its a massacre !
Sensing why the Elfin Raiders were hesitant to engage the Lagomorphs in this section of dungeon was because of their prowess, t he average Armor Class of the Elfin Warriors and their average to below average hit points. I usually do not give too many special abilities to NPC or Critter but with the Evil Bunnymen I am using as replacement for Gnolls I allowed them to Cleave with their Two-Handed Swords and this was particularly brutal in this encounter, well for the Elfin Allies at least. A Retainer is left unconscious on the floor at 0 Hit Points which is like hitting the lottery in my game and the other outright slain with heavy hits then the cleave takes out another pair of Elf in a single round. This battle turns in a bit of a slug fest with the Tanila Glynra and a single Elf Warrior falling back after erecting a Wall of Fire with her Wand of Walls to put a barrier between them and Dorrgan and a few Lagomorphs. This leaves the Brotherhood in a final battle with the Evil Bunnymen. Geoff Runeaxe refers to this slaughter of Elfinkind as the Butcher's Price for the victory over these malicious humanoids.
The Brotherhood was counting on the Elf leader's ability to cast Sleep to neutralize allot of Lagomorphs. A bit of gamer meta but as the Hit Die of opponents increases the devastating effect of Sleep diminishes greatly. The addition of Loremaster as a Dwarf version to replace a Mage class from Carcass Crawler was a compromise I made since the PCs lacked large crowd control methods for an all Dwarf group. But, I had hoped they would reach out to NPCs or Retainers with generous offers to fill these gaps however they are simply too greedy for this option. Half Shares and as little as they can manage for Daily pay to Retainers or Followers has resulted in a serious inability to attract NPC to their cause. I think this is an inadvertent Roleplay of the covetous nature of Dwarf depicted in folklore but I always knew this themed campaign would be a sort of Hard Mode and as the PCs approach the status of Dwarf-Hero I will add modifiers to their attempts to recruit but since everyone used CHA as a dump stat ... You reap what you Sow. But anyway back to the recap.
They find a half dozen painted boiled eggs amongst the creatures possessions as well as claiming the Great Blade from Dorrgan which is a Mighty Zeihander of a sword with mythic runes along its blade of a Hobgoblin origin. It is but a +1 Two-Handed Sword/+2 versus Elf but in the hands of a leader type it hit with +3 damage counting it's STR and could cleave. Dorrgan nearly killed a 5th level Elf NPC in a single hit ! There is some confusion and amusement in the painted eggs found and Dorrgan carried a rocky one but as these seem to have no actual value are left after the Cleric tries to taste one after cracking it open. They search the lair of the Evil Bunnymen and find partially eaten parts of Elf and other humanoids. Driftwood is piled nearby for firewood and an arrows lit allows viewing of the underground river. They find a corridor that leads to that area viewable from the arrow slit. They opt to return to the Elfin camp with the fallen.
Upon returning to the scene of the battle however they find a grey ooze is consuming the bodies of the fallen. Momentarily mortified that they have to fight an Ooze, which they can easily avoid but they opt to fire upon it with missile weapons and kite it into the other chamber and are successful in this endeavor. AS they are picking up the bodies and I do inquire if they pick the pockets of the fallen Elf but they do not and I roll a Wandering Monster and it is the Elf returning to the scene of the battle and are momentarily enraged they party of checking the bodies but discover it is not looting but checking for signs of life. I roll a 4 for Reaction Roll and they are sour on the losses incurred at this battle and not feeling very sociable with the Brotherhood. They retire and I am forced to make another roll to save the alliance as Naman inquires of Tanila to allow their Loremasters to copy her spells from her spellbook which the Elf refuses to her allies of a single day and considers it a rude request considering the losses incurred just the previous day. The Elf-Raiders do not accompany the Brotherhood on their further searching of the level nor do they share any more information.
Returning to the beachy area adjacent to the Evil Bunnymen lair they find a collapsed room and give it a cursory search but do not dig or remove any rubble to reveal the section of the room slipping into the Dark River. Returning to the battle room they are beset by a Wandering Monster roll of a Dozen Orcs from behind them ! The Orcs re partially drenched from crossing or swimming down the river and are dealt with in a few rounds by the Brotherhood. All of the Armor Class of the Dwarf present this session are 1 or 0. wounds have been very light to non existent for this session for the primary characters. They explore the feast hall beyond and then a guard room to the south which has a commanding view of the Dark River and can be barred from inside. Returning to the Feast Hall they find an adjacent kitchen and a scroll which Geoff is unable to decipher.
After determining they have searched the entire level they pick up their wounded from the Elf camp and attempt to leave only to discover their boat has been stolen in the two days they have been in this section of dungeon. I am curious on how this is surprising as they left he boat moored in plain view of arrow slits across the river from which they have received arrow and bolt fire from previously. They return to the Elf camp and entreat them to lead them back to DragonSpire Hold on the surface and a reaction roll is made which is an 11. The Elf-Raiders agree and inform the Brotherhood they intend to return to this section of Dungeon via the surface entrance in the future. The Dwarf Brotherhood members grumble a bit about Elf in THEIR Dungeon but it will be a source of Elfin NPC to be recruited for further exploration when the delve further into the depths.
I am unsure if the PCs plan to engage the Orc across the River or delve deeper with hopes of acquiring greater riches and leave the Orc for the Elf-Raiders to deal with. I will ask between sessions and they are training time to deal with anyway so the return will not be immediate. I made some general rolls for the Hexcrawl return but nothing came up so it was a quick end of the session. They Brotherhood is now a Solid 2 to 4 level range with about half being multi-class. They are aware that DeathFist Orcs are in the next session of Dungeon which are stronger tougher Orc ! Also, that denotes greater challenge so greater reward as well.
Game Well, Game OFten Y'all
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