Previously, on The Dwarven Halls
After fending off an attack by vampire fungi and a screeching zombie, the four young would-be heroes have cleared the way to enter into a tomb underneath The Black Lobster. They descend into the depths, still not quite sure of how far they can take this adventure.
Content Warning: Mostly just fantasy violence, for now. Some minor drinking and smoking.
More info, attribution for the tools and materials used— including the splash art — can be found in the About & Credits, below.
References to source materials use initialisms: AC = Adventure Creator, AFF = Advanced Fighting Fantasy, BP = Beyond the Pit, CC = Combat Companion, DH = Dwarven Halls, GMAF = Gamemaster's Apprentice: Fantasy, HC = Heroes Companion, MC = Magic Companion, OP = Out of the Pit, PC = Priest's Companion, RP = Return to the Pit. Citations to these will be in {curly brackets} along with a page number or card number. For instance, {AFF27} = page 27 of Advanced Fighting Fantasy.
Some Notes and Adjustments
The first adjustment is that I have decided to bring this into the standard formatting I do most of my playthroughs. This is a minimal change for most readers, and it just helps me to match up this playthrough with the general pace and playstyle I use elsewhere.
Second, I am going to move the system to a "Roll Over" method which is an optional rule for Advanced Fighting Fantasy. The recommended method is to set the standard difficulty to 15. In this way, bonuses add to the roll and penalties subtract [as opposed to adding/subtracting to Skill]. I've been playing around with it and it works pretty well. One thing I like about it is that it allows for some minor tweaking of the Target Number (for instance, easy tasks might just be a 12- while especially tricksy ones might be 18+) and it helps crits to always be Double-6s with critical fails to always be Double-1s.
Third, a bit minor in actual game terms, but I described the trapdoor leading down to a ladder in the last one and that's not precisely right. In that it's wrong. It's actually a sort of spiral staircase down which means the "trap door" is actually of some significant size. It won't impact gameplay at all.
The final one is that Marryck was kind of going to be a "minor-mage/thief" blend but looking at the kind of situations they have faced so far and the general pace, I am rebuilding them — moving one point over and swapping out one special skill — as a more pure thief. Magic will be dropped to 0 which will go, instead, to Luck. Minor-Magic will be swapped out for Trap Knowledge.
And that's it. Let's get to the play portion of the solo play blog, eh?
The Dwarven Halls, Chapter 2 [continued] - Entering the Tomb
Setting the Scene, The Tomb's Start.
This section is "The Tomb" ({DH26}). It is lit by torches which burn with a ghostly blue glow and so there is seemingly no need for light.
The description on {DH26} says that after 30' it ends in a door. This does not match the map so I will stick with the map.
It does describe the time of the stairs as slippery from the same fungal dampness that impacts the room above. I'll set the TN at 10 and give everyone a test. This is more a vibe test for potential comedic timing than actually a consequence. Remember: these are essentially young adults who are deeply nervous. Every little victory moves them one step towards true heroes.
Entering the Tomb
- Tabintha: (Skill) 5 + (2d6) 5 = 10. Pass.
- Leonidas: (Skill) 4 + (2d6) 6 = 10. Pass.
- Jortimer: (Skill) 5 + (2d6) 10 = 15. Pass.
- Marryck: (Skill) 6 + (2d6) 9 = 15. Pass.
- Tholan: (Skill) 6 + (2d6) 10 = 16. Pass.
- Pholex: (Skill) 4 + (2d6) 4 = 8. Fail.
Jortimer wipes some of the slime off the now muck-soaked robe of the cartographer, Pholex, once they get to the bottom of the stairs. Pholex had slipped going down but before true catastrophe could strike, Jortimer had grabbed him and pulled him back to the wall. A piece of rubble kicked free clattered to the floor several meters, below. Pholex and Jortimer had held their collective breath for a second and then tried laughing it off.
Now, at the bottom...
"Would you look at this? This is neat, right?" Marryck has gone slightly ahead of the group and is poking at a torch with an arrow. Instead of a normal torch flame, a ghostly blue light shimmers. They, after a moment, pass the arrow through the flame...
Does the blue ghostly glow burn the arrow? (BAD) >> {GMAF81} No.
...and despite reacting as to a gentle breeze, the flame seemingly does not touch the arrow. They reach forward and touch the flame with their hand...
How about their hand? (Even) >> {GMAF94} No.
...and even thrusting the whole hand feel nothing but a slight dampness like holding their hand into a cool fog.
"Ok, that is wicked awesome."
"We are all going to die," Leonidas says, watching this. Whether he is talking about Marryck's lack of caution or the realization of dealing with magic beyond the lot of them, he does not elaborate.
"Alright," says Tabintha. "Marry, behind me. Then Tholan. Leo, you stick with him. Jort, you and Pholex keep a watch from the rear." She then starts walking forward down a narrow passage that is wide enough for two at once but feels claustrophobic in the odd, blue light.
They shortly come to a fork with the passage-way splitting off left and right. In the distance, they can see a door to the right and a turn into darkness on the left.
"Pholex?," Tabintha asks.
There's no mention of Pholex having a map to this section (despite the whole "I have maps!" thing from the previous Chapter) so I'll just roll a 1d6. Even = Left. Odd = Right. 5. Odd it is. They head to the right.
"Umm," thinks Pholex, coming up in line and peaking around the corner, "I think we should try the door first since it's closest to the stairs if we need a quick retreat."
"Good enough for me," Tabintha says and she starts leading the group that way.
Setting the Scene, The Tomb, Room 1.
In the description {DH26} it says the room is square and full of "rather desiccated" bodies. Smell is dusty rather than rotten. There are also two zombies in here that will attack one round after opening the door. Since AFF doesn't really use Rounds/Turns/etc outside of combat, I'll meet the author half way. I'll roll 3d6. Each dice > 3 (4-6) represents a degree of additional agitation. The group is in rough pairs as far as marching order goes. 0 = everyone is in the room, 1 = all but the final pair, 2 = only the first pair, 3 = attacks immediately before the first pair enters.
- (3d6) >> 3,4,2. That's just 1 level of aggro.
I like the three hinting at a "nearly" amount. Like 1.5 levels. After Tabintha and Marryck enter the room, but before Leonidas and Tholan, the zombies will attack. Tholan will be close but I'll give him -2 to the first round. Leo will almost definitely "just" assist but I'll say he can only add +1 support but will still add additional damage. Jortimer is likely to get involved but he'll need a full round.
Also, let's pull a card to see if there is just the two zombies? (Even) >> {GMAF20} No. There'll be three zombies though the third will be a little less bite-ready and take another round.
There is also storyline about these being poisoned servants to serve the Warlord but I would like a few more details about the room, itself.
- {GMAF31} Belongings - Art Supplies
- {GMAF10} Belongings - Hair Care
I'll say there are old works of art, as desiccated as the dead servants, and various clothes and such. Nothing is of value, and the art is so old and dried and cracked that it is essentially unrecognizable, but it's an insight into the place.
- Did the servants die willingly? (Even) >> {GMAF84} No.
They would be far too old to really tell this fact, but it does show some insight into the value the Warlord put upon those below him.
A Mea Culpa: Two Hirelings
While rereading the first part of the Tomb's description to help set-up some limiters and parameters for the room, I caught {DH25} that you are supposed to hire only one at most. It's a bit too gamey for me. I feel like it would fit into the old "one true path" of a Fighting Fantasy gamebook — with each hireling probably having a different spot where they would enable you to get past a tough moment and one of them being the "correct" hire — but the kind of "you can only hire one" aspect is a bit too anti-player/character-agency for my tastes. I mean, hell, a cartographer like Pholex might be talked into helping for "free" [just a share of the loot, etc].
I won't retcon them back out of it for now. What I'll do is have them finish The Tomb for the pay they have received, and then do some sort of oracle check to see if either of them might want to join along. If the answer is "yes," for either I will reskin them slightly into a full character. One technically already lower level than the very low level characters.
Friends not clients, baby.
The Dead and Undead Servants
Marryck careful examines the door as they swing it open...
The door is not trapped however let's roll to see how confident Marryck is about this...
- (Skill) 5 + (Trap Knowledge) 1 + (2d6) 6 = 12 < 15. A fail by normal standards.
...and is pretty sure there is no trap.
"Are you sure?"
"When am I ever not sure?"
Tabintha steps slightly back but has sword drawn. Just in case. Knowing the kind of things that adventurers do is one thing, actually opening your first proper door in a creepy crypt with glowing blue torches is something else.
Then they wait. The smell of dust. Of time. That's all that exits the door.
Beyond it, they can see more blue light. Tabintha steps forward.
"Shit."
"What is it?," Leonidas calls, a couple of meters back.
"There's bodies all over the floor."
"Recent?"
"Umm...,"
An open roll of sorts, the higher she rolls the more info she can get.
- (Skill) 5 + (World Knowledge) 1 + (2d6) 5 = 11.
Not a whole lot of info...
"...No? If they are, something has, SHIT!"
Ignoring Leonidas's (and now Tholan's) calls for explanation, Tabintha is turning to face two of the bodies that have gotten up and are moving, slowly, towards the door. She glances at Marryck who has a bow out and is readying a shot.
Tholan, catching on, runs into the room but is still working on getting around the door. Leo is also there, trying to help, but likewise is caught up a bit in the crunch.
She's not sure where Jortimer or Pholex might be.
Running the battle as described, above.
Each Zombie is 6/6 and armed with a dagger (which can be looted after the fight, apparently).
- ROUND ONE
- Tabintha (with Leo's half-assist) vs Zombie A: (Skill) 5 + (Sword) 2 + (2d6) 10 + (Assist) 1 = 18 vs 6 + (2d6) 3 = 9. That's a Powerful Blow so double damage. She does (Short Sword + Assist) 6+1 which is 4*2 = 8 Stamina. One shots the zombie.
- Does Marryck have time to get a shot off before the zombie attacks? (Even) >> {GMAF101} No. It'll be pointblank at a -2 penalty for "shooting into combat" though they have Tholan helping (also at a -2 penalty). This means they will each get -1.
- Marryck and Tholan vs Zombie B [aiming at Marryck]: (Skill) 5 + (Bow) 1 + (2d6) 6 - (Penalty) 1 = 11 AND (Skill) 6 + (2d6) 7 - (Penalty) 1 = 12 VS 6 + 8 = 14. Zombie B hits Marryck for (Dagger) 3 = 2 Stamina. Marryck's (Leather Jack) blocks 1 = 0 of the damage.
- ROUND TWO
- Zombie C is joining in as is Jortimer. Tabintha will go to intercept Zombie C while Jortimer will back up Marryck. Pholex will stay out of the room.
- Tabintha (+Leo) vs ZomC = 5 + 2 + (Full Assist) 2 + (2d6) 6 = 15 VS 6 + (2d6) 6 = 12. A normal hit with +1 Damage Roll = (Short Sword + 1) 1+1 = 2 Stamina. 4 Remain.
- Marryck scrabbles back to get the dagger ZomA dropped. Luck Roll = 7 < 11. Able to still get a swing in this turn.
- ZomB changes attack focus to {Marryck | Jortimer | Tholan} >> Jortimer.
- Marryck + Jortimer + Tholan (penalty cleared) VS ZomB. Marryck = 5 + (no Dagger type special skill) 0 + (2d6) 5 + (Outnumber +2) 2 = 12. Jortimer = (Skill) 5 + (Club) 1 + (2d6) 12 [CRIT!] + 2 = 20. Crit = 8. Head wound. +2 DAM and ZomB is -3 Skill next round. Tholan = 6 + (2d6) 6 + 2= 14. ZomB = 6 + (2d6) 11 = 17. ZomB avoids attacks from everyone from Jortimer but takes (Mace +2) 2+2 = 2 Stamina. 4 remain.
- ROUND THREE
- ZomC's target = {Tabintha | Leonidas} >> Leo. He won't be able to assist and will have to be fighting himself.
- Tab + Leo VS ZomC. Tab = 5 + 2 + (2d6) 8 + 1 = 16. Leo = (Skill) 4 + (Staff) 0 + (2d6) 10 + 1 = 15. ZomC = 6 + (2d6) 8 = 14. Leo manages to fend it off and get the hit. Tab does (Short Sword) 4 = 3 Stamina. Leo does (Staff) 6 = 3 Stamina. The siblings kill it! Good old Bakersfields.
- ZomB's Target = {J | M | T} >> Tholan.
- J+M+T vs ZomB. Jortimer = 5 + 1 + (2d6) 8 + 2 = 16. Marryck = 5 + (2d6) 7 + 2 = 14. Tholan = 6 + (2d6) 9 + 2 = 17. ZomB = 6 + (2d6) 4 = 10. All three hit and two score powerful blows. Jortimer does (Club) 4 = 2*2 Stamina. Marryck does (Dagger) 6 = 2 Stamina. Tholan does (Short Sword) 5 = 3 Stamina. It is also destroyed.
Brief note: Jortimer has already magically healed Marryck today so cannot do so again. He can, however, attempt a Heal skill.
- (Skill) 5 + (Healing) 2 + (2d6) 10 = 17 > 15. Success. He heals Marryck back up to full.
"These three also have daggers," Leonidas comments to Tabintha, "I think there were supposed to be more of those..."
They would know zombies right? I'll do this. 9 = Bad. 12 = Even. 15 = Good.
- Leonidas: (Skill) 4 + (World Lore) 1 + (2d6) 2 FUMBLE, that's a no.
- Tabintha: (Skill) 5 + (World Lore) 1 + (2d6) 7 = 13. Even. {GMAF75} Even = Yes. She knows of them.
"...zombies?," Tabintha, fills in her brother's searching for a word. Seeing him look at and trying to figure out how she might know, she continues: "That's what Exolar's Explorations calls them. The walking dead. There are stories of wizards making entire armies of them. You did a good job fighting back there."
"Thanks."
After some thought, she goes around and stabs through the chest of each of the other corpses. Just to be sure.
Jortimer has moved over and is using his mace to "poke" at some of the clothes and tapestries in the room.
"This stuff is old. Like, old old."
"But the bodies," says Pholex, who has slunk into the room now that the fighting is done, "They are not rotted or wasted away. I mean, they are wasted into drier flesh than Tholan's venison jerky, but a long enough time to turn tapestries into piles of dust like that would do the same to a body."
"No," says Tholan, distastefully, "Something has dried them up and turned into them husks in a way where not even the grave would eat them."
A good storyline beat for why these corpses are desiccated and not rotten is the poison they drank to turn them into zombies also killed any sort of germs that could get on them. However, lower level adventurers like this would not know that.
"North, then?," Marryck asks, after looting three of the daggers.
Setting the Scene, The Tomb, Room 4.
Room 4 {DH29}, "The Hall of Records," is a bit of a doozy. Each door has a trap [1d3 Stamina Damage]. Well, the tile inside the door does. It does not specify if the trap is one-and-done or not but it seems likely.
- Are the traps one-and-done? (Good) >> {GMAF61} Yes.
Marryck will get a free chance to spot it. After the first one, I'll say the others are obvious.
Then, inside the room there is a fragile book that can be read just enough to explain the King Otto Axebearer explored the underground and was friends with the dwarves. It does not mention what language this is in, but I might require an open roll to make it out.
There are also some scrolls that no one in the party can use, but maybe can sell.
Old Books and Hot Traps
Marryck checks the door...
- 5 + 1 + (2d6) 11 = 17 > 15.
The door itself isn't trapped, but this time Marryck is *really* sure.
...and smiles. "Definitely no trap on this one." They push it open and glances inside...
Now to check to see if they spot the real trap. Since Tabintha is much more cautious, and right there, I'll give +2 to the spot.
- 5 + 1 + (2d6) 7 + ("Assistive Awareness") 2 = 15 = 15. Just.
Since I am about to check for disarming, which Tabintha cannot help with, let's get it out of the way.
- 5 + 1 + (2d6) 8 = 14 < 15. Just a fail.
...only for Tabintha to pull back Marryck back as Marryck is staring at a tile.
"What?," Tabintha asks.
"What...what?"
"You are looking at that tile like it owes you some coins."
"It just looks...off."
Marryck drops to their knees and pokes slighting at it, says, "Ah," and then a few seconds later says, "AHH!" as fire shoots down from the ceiling.
- (1d3) = 2 Stamina damage.
Tabintha pats Marryck's head and shoulders to help stop anything from burning but it's clear that Marryck has taken some scorching from that. Tabintha pulls Marryck back and stomps down on the trap while raising an arm in the direction the fire came from.
Nothing happens.
"Be careful, everyone."
Entering into the room, the group splits into a slight different trio of pairs. Marryck and Tabintha circle around to the door on the left, tapping the floor and looking for new and different traps. Leonidas and Jortimer head to a large lectern in the center of the room with an equally oversized book upon it.
Tholan and Pholex drift to bookshelves along the walls and start checking those out.
"It's trapped, right?," Tabintha asks, as they get to the door.
Since Marryck already experienced one, +6 to spot the same style of trap in an obvious way.
- 5 + 1 + (2d6) 9 + 6 = 21 > 15 (+6, so +2 bonus to disarm).
"Yep."
Tabintha taps her sword against her leg and and then stops Marryck from fiddling with the trap.
"How sure are you that you can do this without getting burned again?"
Marryck is a bit un-cautious but is still suffering burns from the last one. I'll do a d6.
- {1-2: Not Confident | 3-4: Confident Enough to Try | 5-6: Maybe *too* Confident} >> 2. Not confident.
"Ehh..."
Tabintha looks back they way they came and asks the other to follow her. "I have an idea."
Along the wall, Pholex and Tholan have found a few scrolls that have survived...
- Are P + T the type to try and steal the scrolls for themselves? (Bad) >> {GMAF75} No.
They have a scroll of Forcebolt, a scroll of Ironhand, and a scroll of Darksee. Pretty much only useful to trade or bargain with.
Pholex will keep {F | I | D} >> Ironhand but hand the others over to Leonidas as a kind of "loot split".
...and give a shout to the group, now just comprised of Jortimer and Leonidas. The pair of friends look up from the book and nod. Pholex comes over and hands two scrolls to Leonidas who, upon opening them, realizes he has no idea what they say or mean. Still. He can sense something like a magic in them, even if it is a magic he cannot access.
"Neat, loot," Jortimer says. Though not being gold or jewels, he does not fully register it. Besides, part of the reason he left behind the dwarven mines was because he was exhausted by the search for riches. His dad would have already assessed everything in this room for monetary wealth.
Leonidas is carefully turning a page. It's clear the book is largely damaged by time, with many pages so shattered by ages past that they are more akin to fragile butterfly wings than vellum. Still, he can make out a few words...
How I'll do this, to keep it interesting is to do a Skill + World Lore check for both of them, +3 because both are there, using Jortimer as base. Essentially every threshold 9/12/15/18/21 will expose a bit more but 15 will give all the salient details. Higher than that will possibly give some future bonuses or some such.
- (Skill) 5 [Jortimer] + (Assist, Leo) 3 + (World Lore) 1 + (2d6) 6 = 15. That was shockingly precise.
"It says, here," Jortimer reads as Leo tries to break off as little of the page as possible, "That some king named Otto Axebreaker (that's a mouthful, they had cooler names back then), was exploring...a vast underground... this page is not readable... nor this page... something about highways.... but, I think this word is underground city? Then something about the dwarves."
"Something good?," Leonidas asks.
"Something....something. I can't tell if this is the dwarven rune for 'Head Chopped Off' or if it means 'Headchopper' like a name or, you know... the person in charge of the axe."
"Axebreaker. Headchopper. That's a couple."
"True."
As they have no luck finding out any more details, at least without completely destroying the book, they step back.
Tabintha and Marryck enter, dragging one of the corpses from the previous room with them. Marryck taking the dry-as-drift-wood legs and Tabintha taking the shoulders, they toss it upon the tile...
It is clear that it would logically work, but let's do a Luck test to see how completely it works.
- Tabintha: 9 < 10. Passes.
- Marryck: 7 < 10. Passes.
The fire ignites the corpse but does not damage them [damage would probably be from the smell of centuries old corpse, frankly].
"The smell!"
The pair back up holding their hand over their mouths. Soon the corpse is just some ashes and when Tabintha pokes at the tile, it is spent.
"Again!"
A few minutes later, this time with help from Jortimer, they get another body on another tile.
"Now, the question remains? Which way. The one straight across or the one to the side?"
Again, a random choice by Pholex who is making it up as he goes along...
- {North | West} >> West.
Pholex points to the western door and the part steps over the ashes to continue their adventure.
After 6 or so squares (I'm just playing those as 3m, each) there's another fork in the hall: north or south. It looks like below. I'm going to just do another quick roll...
- {North | South} = North.
Pholex realizes that the room to the south is likely back the way they came.
The team heads North for another 6 or so tiles, and we'll pick up there. The start of "Room 3."
Setting the Scene, The Tomb, Room 3: "Cursed Cell".
"The heavy door has a large keyhole..." is the start of the description. Says it will need a Skill (+Locks) roll to open. The sound of scratching can be heard inside.
I'll add in more description as I get to it.
There's nothing chasing the heroes, there's nothing precisely pushing them forward besides the "quest." This means that we can assume it is 100% safe to spend a minute at this door until Marryck is successful. In other OSRs, there would be more of a time crunch: wandering monsters and such.
In this case, I'll say that Tabintha will prompt them to move on after the third attempt.
The Room of Bones...well, more Bones
"How's the lock coming?," Tabintha asks, "And you did check for traps, right?"
Let's do both. There is no trap but...
- Trap: 5 + 1 + (2d6) 8 = 14. Didn't find one but...
- Lockpick #1: 5 + (Locks) 1 + (2d6) 4 = 10 < 15.
"Give me some space. Can...you hear that?"
Tabintha leans over and tries to pick up the sound. Almost like a whisper if the person doing the whisper had a throat made of dry wood that had a fork being drug across it.
"Yeah...are you sure about this Marry?"
"Locked doors and traps seem like we are getting closer, right?"
The next two...
- #2: 5 + 1 + (2d6) 4 = 10 < 15.
- #3: 6 + 1 + (2d6) 12 CRIT!
The door opens...
Inside the room are two ghouls. The story attached is that they are "faithless retainers". Ok.
They are 6/6 with Medium Claws but no armor. Getting hit by them requires Luck or paralysis. The room itself is filled with bones and some other elements but since Marry took three attempts to open the door, I won't dive too deep into the description unless they can get past the pair.
The halls I'll say are wide enough for just two on two. Marry will have to fend for themselves unless they can back up.
I just drug the tokens in randomly but I'll say this is the way it stays. Leo will more or less hang back in the middle. Tholan will push in to try and get in by Marryck. Jort will hang around. Pholex will back up a bit.
- ROUND ONE
- Tabintha vs Ghoul A: 5 + 2 + (2d6) 11 = 18 VS 6 + (2d6) 5 = 11. Powerful Blow by Tabintha. She'll do (Short Sword) 5 = 3*2 Stamina. She, once again, one shots the ghoul.
- Marryck vs Ghoul B: 5 + 0 + (2d6) 7 = 12. Ghoul B = 6 + (2d6) 7 = 13. Hit. Does (Medium Claw) 4 = 3 stamina. Marryck's armor (Leather Jack) blocks 3 = 0. They take 3 Stamina. Luck Roll = 5 < 9. Marryck resists paralysis.
- Leonidas starts prepping a ZAP.
- ROUND TWO
- Tabintha + Marryck vs Ghoul B. T = 5 + 2 + (2d6) 12 CRIT! + 1 = 20. Crit does 8 (+2 Dam) and Ghoul B will be at -3 next round. Marryck does 5 + 0 + (2d6) 4 + 1 = 10. Ghoul B does 6 + 5 vs { M | T } >> T. Tabintha does another Powerful Blow. This time (Short Sword + 2) 6 + 2 = 5*5. Slaughters another.
- Leo will cancel casting his spell.
- POST BATTLE
- Jortimer attempts a heal. 5 + 2 + (2d6) 8 = 15. Success. Marryck gets back another 3 stamina.
"You have been bandaging me up quite a bit, today."
"Well," blushes Jortimer, "It feels nice to be helping people rather than trying to get them to pawn off the family jewelry."
"You were getting people to pawn off family jewelry?"
"No, but since I was no good at making new stuff, my dad had started to hint..."
Inside the room is lots of bones and 25gp after searching. Kind of like before, I'll do a threshold test. Leo and Tab will search while Tholan looks over the ghouls. The only detail to note is the ghouls have some ancient script scrawled on their face.
"MORE BONES!," shouts Tabintha, having entered the room. Her and Leo are standing ankle deep in bones, long aged and deeply chewed. This is some kind of larder for those creatures.
"More zombies?," Leonidas asks his sister and she just grunts.
"Look at this writing," Tholan says, pointing out the strange markings on the two creatures' faces.
After a minute, Tabintha and Leo find...
- {9/12/15/18/21} vs (Skill) 5 + (Awareness) 1 + (Assist from Leo) 3 + (2d6) = 12 CRIT! Man.
She'll find all 25gp. She'll split it 5 each among the friends and give 5 to the hirelings. In principle, this means their Morale will go up +2.5 for the day.
...25 gold coins. She takes them and hands them out. Without too much thought she gives five to Tholan and says he should share them with Pholex.
"Buy a drink on us."
"Well," Pholex says, suddenly excited about avoiding any more fights with the undead, "This way behind us should lead us back to stairs. Or do you want to push on?" She can almost hear him secretly hoping she votes to bail out.
Tabintha gives it a thought. Finding the money and taking down two undead creatures has bucked her up a good bit.
"Let's push forward first."
DOUG'S COMMENTARY
This feels like a good place to end this "session" [which over two smaller sessions and one a bit longer]. It's a very combat heavy campaign without a lot of chance to avoid such combat and this likely sets me up to finish it in the next session and then move on to Chapter Three.
I think I'm finally getting a decent grasp of the characters. Funnily enough when I first started, Leonidas was going to be a bit of the POV character but it is currently easier for me to posit Tabintha as the heart of the campaign.
So far the characters have been pretty lucky on the overall. A couple of dice rolls could have gone much worse. My current plan is that if someone dies to probably just have someone else show up at the Black Lobster, though possibly made one notch higher on the chart. Then in Chapter Four, go up another notch, but I'll need to see how the battles go.
ABOUT The Dwarven Halls & CREDITS
A group of young heroes got caught up in an attack by goblins against a lone dwarf at the Black Lobster Inn. The dwarf begged them to help free the Dwarven town of Stonehaven. Now, on a quest to descend, these heroes must learn what it takes rapidly in order to survive and to keep each other alive.
The Dwarven Halls is played using Advanced Fighting Fantasy, The Dwarven Halls Campaign, and some supplementary materials from the Combat, Heroes, Magic, and Priest Companions. Monster and treasure stats are taken from DH. Gamemaster's Apprentice: Fantasy Deck is used for oracles and prompts. Other sources used will be cited at the time of their use.
Maps are originally from DH. Tokens are from a variety of John Kapsalis art and others.
Part of the Ick + Humb world, though set in the more "mainline" AFF universe [at least apparently so...]
It uses Gamemaster's Apprentice: Fantasy Deck as an oracle and to give some additional prompts.
This post is in the standard Doug Alone post style. See Anatomy of a Post for more details.
ART CREDIT AND EXPLANATION
The stairs are from a photo by Jonathan Kane on Unsplash.