Our young heroes have taken on the quest to rescue Stonehaven. But first, they must regroup and head down into the cellar of the Black Lobster.
New Spell for Leonidas
I forgot to include this in the last session, and it's fairly important. Leonidas will get a new spell. Since his current ones are all 4 Stamina, he can only attempt to cast them once a day or so. That's rough. So, a couple 1-Stamina spells are necessary.
Looking through the list, one I like is GOB. It allows him to use a goblin tooth to summon a 5/5 Goblin [Short Sword, Light Armor]. I love the trope of summoners in games but haven't really played on in my solo career, so I'm for it.
It's 1-Stamina and it burns up one goblin tooth. They just fought eleven goblins last session, so let's go harvesting some teeth. Gruesome, I know. Now, AFF recommends one-tooth-per-goblin but I think I'll add some RNG to it. {1: 0 Teeth | 2-5: 1 Tooth | 6: 2 Teeth}.
Rolling 11d6 we get... 12 teeth harvested. Adding that to his character sheet.
In a similar light, we'll use a system for recovering arrows: {1-4: arrow broke | 5: arrow needs SKILL roll to fix | 6: arrow recovered}. Marryck shot three last session — including one into their own leg — so...3d6 = 3 broken arrows.
The Two Hirelings
The party will be hiring Thalon and Pholex. The former is a bodyguard who will be tasked with protecting Leonidas. The latter is a cartographer who has some insights but is not great at fighting.
Thalon Veray: 6 Skill, 8 Stamina, Short Sword, Leather Hauberk. He will cost 7gp a day [paid in advance].
Pholex the Cartographer: 4 Skill, 10 Stamina, Staff, Leather Jack. Also has maps that can be useful. 6gp per day [in advance].
After I finish this box I'll go and craft a couple of tokens for them. Two important notes:
- If anything that shows up that I feel adds to Pholex's knowledge, the day will be a freebie [or, the next day will].
- If they are still alive and getting along in a chapter or two, they might official join the party as full characters. We'll see. That's the fairly Doug way that the hirelings end up being friends or enemies.
For now, -13GP for them for this first "day."
For now, both get the turquoise "Ally" flash. If they actually join the party, it will be upgraded to the emerald "PC" flash.
The Dwarven Halls, Chapter Two
Not So Fun Guys...
{DH26} There will be a room at the back of the cellar before the heroes can go down that have [X] Vampire Fungi. I looked, but these seem to be new for this — or maybe from one of the The Warlock Returns, etc. The stats are given, though: 5/8 with Barbed Darts (as Throwing Knives) [up to 20']. They move very slowly, only 5' a round, and wouldn't be able to open doors.
There doesn't seem to be a number given, hence [X]. For now, I'll say one per character +1. So 5 of them.
Note: These are 4' high and purple are absolutely not going to be hidden. People will be surprised by them, for sure, but they will see the big-ole-fungi no problem.
{DH25} Three days later, Jogi and his wife, Eaken, lead the heroes around to the back of The Black Lobster and unlock a heavy door against a stone frame. After a short hallway, stone stairs lead down to the cellar.
[Underground Lore +4 to see if Jortimer notices the dwarven construction >> 8 vs 11, Success.]
Jortimer, worried a bit about leaving Fool's Gold behind, comes out his thoughts and points out the first shock for the team.
Jortimer (looking at the walls): This is dwarven.
Jogi: Well, I didn't realize that, but this was here when I built the Lobster.
Tholan: So the dwarf was telling the truth.
Tabintha: Why would he waste his dying breath lying to us?
Tholan: I didn't...
Leonidas: We still need to find the way down, then we'll know how truthful Drang was...or if he was mistaken.
They chat a moment with Jogi and Eaken and find that Eaken was not here when Jogi found the foundation of some long gone building and picked it as a good spot at the top of a hill along the road.
Jogi (pointing to the various barrels and boxes): It makes a good place to mature the ale. And the food keeps down here. No secret dwarven tunnels, but... (points to a door along the far wall) ...I had to seal off that door early on because it is far too damp to store things.
Across the room, partially covered by a stack of crates, is an old door of much older construction than the wooden implements on this side of the room. Boards have been nailed into it to keep it shut.
Marryck: It is half-rotten.
Eaken: Like Jogi said, damp.
Leonidas: We are too far up the hill for the stream below to penetrate, so that's a good sign.
Jortimer: I have never seen a rotted door nailed shut in my life and thought, "That's a good sign."
Tabintha: Nevertheless, it sounds like we need to go that way.
Daffodil, Tabintha's mutt, runs over and starts sniffing...
[Can Daffodil sense the vampire fungi on the other side? (Bad) >> {GMAF83} No. But will be curious about the smells, sure.]
...and then scratching at the door.
Tabintha: Daff! Get back.
[We'll do a Leadership test +3 to see if Daffodil listens... 7 vs 9. Yes.]
Daffodil runs back and sits at her master's feet. Tabintha pets the dog and then motions to Tholan to come with her. The two start tugging on boards around the door while Jortimer and Marryck pull the crates back. To their surprise, they are rotted enough to come out easily.
Soon enough, the door itself is exposed fully and then with a heavy push Tabintha has it open. As it opens, it falls to pieces. The smell that comes through is one of centuries of damp and rot. Daffodil lets out a little whine from the back her throat.
Jortimer: Oh, look Leo, another "Good sign."
Leonidas: ...
Leonidas goes over and grabs a couple of lanterns1 from the shelf and lights them, and hands one to Pholex, and the two take up positions in the back. Tabintha nods to Pholex and Marryck and the three take point entering into the room.
In the dim light getting through, Tabintha can see a number of large mushrooms and lots of fungal growth. The mushrooms come in a variety of colors but the purple one clinging to what might be an old sofa is by far the largest.
Tabintha (shouting back): We need more light in here.
Leonidas: Ok, coming. Pholex, hold back. Jortimer?
Jortimer: I've got your back, Leo. Just give a shout!
{DH26} With the additional light, the group can see the destruction of the room. All the furniture has been dissolved by fungal growth. Besides the large mushrooms, there is furry fungus growing all the wall and various slime molds on the floor.
[{DH26} says to test it, but with Daffodil giving +4 and the test giving +5...Tabintha is going to succeed. Her dog will start rooting around the floor.]
Tabintha: There are lots of bones in here. Rats, looks like. Other small animals.
[Does the Vampire Fungi's barbs leave a trace? (Even) >> {GMAF114} No.]
Jortimer (slapping a hand over his mouth): You think the fungus killed them?
Tabintha: Maybe. Wrap up your mouth just in case.
The group start pulling shirts and cloaks to cover their face.
{DH25} says that two rounds after entering, that characters within will be attacked by one of the vampire fungi. We'll do one attack against each. I'll use the +4 surprise modifier.
It pains me to say, but I'll include Daffodil in this.
Round One (Surprise)
[Tabintha: 5+5 vs 9+4+5. Hit for 1(1hp) - 4+1(1) = OHp Damage. Daffodil: 5+4 vs 3+4+5. Hit for 5(2hp) damage. Tholan: 6+6 vs 8+4+4. Hit for 3(1hp) - 4(1) = 0hp. Leonidas: 7+4 vs 6+5+4. Hit for 4(2) - 1(0) = 2hp damage. Marryck: 11+5 vs FUMBLE. Vampire Fungi E fumbles (11) and its barb pierces itself for 3hp. hehehhehe]
Daffodil yelps as a barb pierces her side and other barbs shoot around the room. Both Tabintha and Tholan are saved by their armor but Leonidas gets struck in his arm. Marryck dodges back as a barb covered in purple mushroom jabs into the door near their head.
Tabintha: Leo, get Daffodil out! Daff! Run, baby!
Round Two
[Tabintha vs VF A: 11+7 vs 5+5. She does 4(3hp) to it. 5hp remain.]
[Tholan vs VF C: 9+6 vs 6+5. He does 5(3hp) to it. 5hp remain.]
[Leonidas will assist Daffodil in escaping. How I'll do this is he pulls the dog back by having two attacks against him. He will go defensive (+2). vs VF B: 8+2+4 vs 11+5. Hit for 4(2hp) - 6(1) = 1hp. vs VF D: 10+4+2 vs 8+5. Defends the second. He gets the pupper out.]
Leonidas runs forth and uses his body to protect the mid-sized mutt as more of the barbs fly out towards him. One hits him in the back but he and the injured dog get out of the room.
[Jortimer runs into the room and can just reach VF A and starts helping Tabintha to bash it. 3+1+6 vs 3+5. Hits it for 2(3hp). 2hp remain.]
[Marryck vs VF E: 12 (CRIT). (3) Shoots it through the shoulder (n/a) but does double damage. Damage was 2+1(2hp) so 4hp. It now has 1hp left.]
Round Three
[Tabintha and Jortimer vs VF A: 6+7+1 vs 8+5. She just hits it. Does 2(2hp) to it. Which kills it. Jortimer will be bashing a corpse, basically.]
[VF B and VF D do not have current opponents, per se. {1-4: Follow Leo | 5-6: Switch} >> VF B switches to {Tabintha | Jortimer | Tholan | Marryck} >> Jortimer. 10+6 vs 7+5. Does not hit. VF D is pulling itself slowly towards the injured Leo.]
[Tholan vs VF C: 12 (CRIT) >> (9) VF C is knocked down for a turn. Takes 3(2hp) = 2hp damage. 3HP remain.]
[Marryck vs poor, poor VF E: hahh, they fumble. (3) Another shot in their leg (2hp lost). Also, will take 1hp from the attack. These two keep shooting themselves.]
[Leo starts casting a GOB spell. Waits one turn to build up some energy.]
Round Four
[Tabintha runs to intercept VF D: 4+7 vs 9+5. She is hit for 3(1hp) - 2(0) = 1hp.]
[Jortimer now versus VF B: 8+6 vs 8+5. He does 5(3hp) damage. It now has 5hp remaining.]
[Tholan vs VF C: -4 because it is slowly getting up. Take that, dog shooter. 6+6+4 vs 11+5. A tie....]
[Leonidas casts his spell. 7 vs 8. Success. A glowing green goblin appears and runs into help his sister.]
[Back to the wonder twins. Marryck vs VF E: 4+6 vs 6+5. They take 2(1hp) - 6(1hp) = 0. Deflect the shot.]
Round Five
[Tabintha and GOB vs VF D: 7+1+7 and 5+4+1 vs 8+5. Tabintha hits, GOB does not. She does 5(3HP) damage. 2HP remain.]
[Tholan vs VF C: He fumbles. 5 = -4 for two rounds. Oh bother. Takes 5(2hp) - 4(1hp) = 1hp damage.]
[Jortimer vs VF B: 7+6 vs 7+5. He does only 1hp of damage, though. 4hp remains.]
[....Marryck vs VF E: 9+6 vs 4+5. They hit for 1+1(2hp) damage. That finally kills VF E. They will grab up a board and go and start helping Jortimer.]
Round Six
[Let's get the bad out of the way. A downed Tholan (-4) vs VF C: 7+6 vs 4+4+5. A...tie? How's that for comeuppance!?]
[Tabintha and GOB vs VF D: 9+1+7 and 6+1+5 vs 6+5. She does 6(! 3hp) and GOB does 6 (! 3hp). They chop it to bits at the same time.]
[Jortimer and Marryck vs VF B: 8+1+6 and 5+6+1 vs 9+5. He does 1(1hp) and they do 5(2hp). Only 1hp remains with B.]
Round Seven
[Tabintha and GOB vs VF C: +2 since it is focusing on Tholan >> 7+2+1+7 and 4+3+1+2 vs 5+5. She does 3(2) and GOB does 6(3). They have double chopped another...that leaves...]
[Jortimer and Marryck vs VF B: 11+1+5 and 6+5 vs 7+5. Jortimer hits for 6(3hp) damage. Smashing it to bits.]
The spectral goblin fades into smoke. A burned up tooth falls down where it was.
After the Fight
Jogi: THIS was underneath the Lobster the whole time? What if Wenna or Rythe had gotten curious about the door. (wipes sweat from his forehead)
Eaken: You are going to hire someone to clean this up. No, I take that back. I will hire someone to clean this up.
Tabintha gets Thalon up and Marryck goes to check to see if any of their arrows are retrievable.
[Four were shot in that fight, so let's do 4d6 = 1.]
Unfortunately is able to recovered from the muck on the floor. Jortimer starts tapping the floor with his mace, looking for anything under the mire.
[Will start with SKILL and then add a cumulative +1 each round just to see how long it takes. 5 vs 5. One round. Good boy.]
It does not take him too long to hear a hollow thud under a particularly orange variety of slime mold. Taking the board that Marryck had been fighting with, he scrapes it aside until an old trap door is visible underneath.
Jortimer: Here it is, I think. We ready to go down?
Leonidas: Um, Jort, do you think you can help Daff before my sister punches one of us?
Jortimer looks back and Tabintha is fussing over her injured pet much more than her brother. Jortimer walks over and sees what he can do.
[Healing: 11 vs 7. No. Can his priestly magic work on pets? You know, what...yes. Daffodil is fully healed. Let's try Healing vs Leo and Marryck: 5 vs 7 and 12...holy crap. He fumbles vs Marryck. Leo gets +3 Stamina due to Jort's Natural Physician but Marry takes 1 point of damage. He'll also use his priestly healing on them. Daffodil and Marryck have been HEALed for the day.]
Jortimer face plants from the orange slime on his boots while wrapping bandages around Marryck's wound and the resulting tug ends up with both of them on the ground, Marryck wincing.
Marryck: I notice you didn't slam Leo into the ground.
Jortimer: Stupid slime. I'm sorry, Marry.
Marry: If you just wanted a tumble with me, you usually ask first.
Jortimer: Ha, ha... (starts praying)
Jortimer then shows the others the pit. Before they go down, though, they talk with Jogi and Eaken about making this cellar safe. Sige should be able to help with making a reinforced door and the group can help with clearing out the slime and fungus.
[Won't roll this. Will just say it takes them another day. In that time, folks will finish healing up. By the end, a better door will guard the Lobster. JUST TO BE A JERK, Does something attack in the process? (Even) >> {GMAF50} Glancing ahead, the first creature I see is a Zombie so we'll say wanders up while the four youths and Sige are down cleaning.]
The Lone Zombie
While Jortimer is scooping the last of the green fungal growths into a bucket, a groan is heard coming from the open trapdoor he found. The four turn and see a rotted corpse pulling itself up the ladder into the room beyond! As it sees them, it starts letting out a loud and piercing screech that causes their ears to ring.
To make this one a little different. Instead of the normal zombie stats (6/6/Dagger) we'll say this one is (6/6/Claw Medium) but because of the screaming, attackers will be at -2 SKILL versus it. That being said, it *is* one versus four so in *theory* shouldn't be too bad.
Jortimer and Marryck run to one side, wielding the tools they have been using to clean. Tabintha drops her shovel and pulls out her short sword. Leonidas gets some motion going with the bucket he is holding and plans to use it to back up his sister.
Screaming Zombie, Round One
[Tabintha (assist from Leo) and Jortimer and Marryck vs Screaming Zombie: 6+2 (assist)+2+7-2 [15 (6+1)] and 4+2-2+5 [9 (4)] and 5+2-2+5 [10 (1)] vs 8+6 [14 (2)]. The zombie is aiming for {T | M | J | L} >> J. Tabintha does 7(4hp) damage to it. It does 2(3hp) - 4(0) = 3hp damage to Jortimer.]
Screaming Zombie, Round Two
[The TEAM vs Zombie: T = 5+2+7 [14 (3+1)]. J = 6+5 [12 (1)]. M = 10+5 [15 (4)]. Z = 5+6 [11 (6)]. In this case, all three beat the zombie. T = 3hp. J = 1hp. M = 2hp. That's enough to finish it.]
The Screaming Zombie, FINISHED
Tabintha: Well, frankly, we should perhaps have expected this only get worse.
Marryck (calling to Sige): Maybe add a trap door to that order.
Leonid: The longer we wait, the more things like this might attack the Lobster. Marryck, can you go and get Tholan and Pholex and tell them its time to go?
Marryck runs off upstairs while Jortimer bandages his wounds and switches out shovel for his mace.
Once the two older men are ready, all six head down. Daffodil is currently staying with Wenna. Whining softly.
Quick Wrap-Up
Since Leonidas risked definite serious injury to protect a dog, and then helped his sister, I'm going to give him +5XP.
Besides that, we will jump right into the tunnels on the next one.
DOUG'S COMMENTARY
I almost 100% wasn't going to let the dog die. Not without spoiling it with a trigger warning or something. Not when Tholan was right there to dive in front of the dog heroically.
This one went overlong because I figured it would end up somewhere in the tunnels. That's ok, the fact that the cellar is more protected helps my GM heart to not feel the need to check to see if anything tracks the heroes back out. And the inns folk are going to consider the four youths proper heroes already. The start of their reputation is growing.
- Book doesn't say there are any but it makes sense. Otherwise, lighting will be an issue, here. ↩︎