Don't You Eat My Dungeon!

Delvers! They just never do what their meant to...

"Atroll is a troll. He sees a giant octopus in the pool. He reaches into his Pack of Many Things and putls out his Squidjigger--a weapon especially designed for combat with cephalopods, and then attacks the octopus. Once the octopus has been rendered into sushi and devoured, Atroll continues with his plan to walk out to the center of the pool and look around. He may even take a refreshing walk on the bottom of the pool--being a rock troll he is too heavy to swim, but he also doesn't need to breathe under water, so he can completely explore the pool. If there is any more food inside it, Atroll will eat that too."

The sushi is very good indeed and boosts Atroll's CON by a generous 2d6. The pool is no pool at all but a very small part of an ocean. It is very deep here and Atroll sinks down many, many metres. He sees huge, hulking shapes in the distance from time to time but none come close to him. Perhaps they fear him after what he did to the Doctor or perhaps they are just vegetarians.

Atroll could wander off along the seabed or he could try jumping to get back to the island. It would normally take a L10 SR on STR to do this - surely a small step for Atroll although a giant one for mankind - but writhing rubbery weeds are emerging from the seabed to ensnare his ankles. They are remarkably tough and require a STR SR five levels higher to rip apart - still within his compass, one imagines.

As the weeds wrap themselves about his stalwart legs, he feels a strong cold, current coming from his left and catches the strains of a haunting melody carried through the ocean.

He can easily access his PoMT...

Those First Few Steps

1) Atroll goes to walk to the little island but stops when he sees a large octopus in the water; it is clear that it is watching him intently. Does he continue to with his walking plan?

2) Buruk goes over to the instruments. They look first class. Which one does he play?

3) Cogre walks to the window. All he can see behind the glass is a small swarm of busy bees and a dull metal key.

What next?

Fair Play For Delvers

I got this comment:

"That's some puzzle room. There are so many elements to it that I'm baffled before I even get a good start on the puzzle. What is tho object of the room? Are we supposed to find a treasure, find a way out of the room, free the bears? It's hard to solve a puzzle when you have no idea what kind of solution is wanted. Now, if I were part of a party exploring that room, I'd split us up. Send someone to the center of the pool, have someone play an instrument, go look through the window to see what could be seen, investigate the beds and closets, check on the bees--are they flying free or confined in a hive of some sort. Oh, there are plenty of things to do in a room like this."

Ah ha! Fair enough - now, I was given 12 nouns and challenged to make all of them integral to one room. I'm imagining three Level One humans with no magic, no weapons or amour.

I have a sequence in mind but if anything clever or humourous is offered, I throw the script away.

Tomorrow I shall post the results of Mr. Atroll's searches - just the first three moves on  the chessboard.

BTW, attributes get rolled as and when we need them.

Escaping from the Octagon Room

What You Can See When You Arrive in the Octagon Room

1 - 50' by 30' pool of clear water with a small round platform, 4' diameter, in the centre with 2 beams of wood 1' wide leading to the platform.

2 - A glass window 10' wide by 3'

3 - Bees and a large key

4 - Prison bars with three bears inside, 2 adult, 1 juvenile

5 - Kitchen area with stove, cupboards, workbench, utensils and pit filled with ice

6 - 3 beds and 3 closets

7 - piano, drums, violin, xylophone, trumpet and tambourine

8 - glass-walled room with wooden box inside

9 - statue of snaky haired woman, one hand behind her back, the other outstretched, open palmed

10 - 5' long metal zip with weird runes above it

Golem Busting

Three

Moving cautiously deeper into the caverns, Kuticles leading the way, the party come to a large door, 11’ wide and a massive 17’ tall. This provokes Slippey to wonder about this being a home to giants rather than dwarves but Kuticles points to both a key hole 3’ from the ground in the door’s centre and the significant clue contained within glittering crystal: dwarven runes stating this to be the chambers of Z’Tpozz. While the hobb blushes, Idris listens at the door and, hearing nothing, casts Knock-Knock (INT check 4,2 – pass) but the door stays locked. Runeweaver is a little perplexed but casts Omnipotent Eye (3,2 – pass – WIZ cost just 1) and learns the door is Knock-Knock-proof. This allows Slippey to make amends and use his roguery talent to attempt to pick the lock.

Using pick locks and his Roguery talent (here, DEX +2), Faggends makes three successive saving rolls but it still takes 3 turns to work the heavy, unresponsive mechanism. No one is very impressed and now five turns have passed.

Four

When the hobb rogue finally here’s the long hoped for click and moves aside for the dwarf to open the door, the delvers see a 110’ by 70’ chamber with a 40’ high domed ceiling with the imposing feature of a lava curtain cascading into a channel over in the west. An opening can be made into through the lava. At the far end, just as alarming, can be seen an obsidian golem statue, 7’ tall and a bulky 10’ wide, armed with a huge spear. As they entered, its eyes glow red and it speaks in a low rumble: “You are not he. You shall not pass!”

The golem makes Sammy nervous – “I just know it’ll come to life!” As soon as Kuticles takes a step forward, the novice warrior is proved aright but when the dwarf retreats the golem backs off too.

Now conscious that time is ticking away, Runeweaver states his opinion that they either need to go further in the first cavern they entered or plan an all-out assault on the golem since any goodies must be beyond the lava-fall and the golem is guarding the way through.

The elf mage has recovered some WIZ by now and let’s rip with a L3 TTYF (INT check made, WIZ high enough); it costs him just 11 WIZ and does 90 damage. When he sees the sorry state the golem has been reduced to, Kutcicles and Sammy charge at it, the dwarf just using his kukri so as not to waste the Whammy on his war hammer. It is a piece of good judgement and the golem’s head explodes in a shower of powder and razor-sharp shards with only minimum force applied against it. Kuticles is convinced the shards must have some value but the fairy make sit clear that she, at least, cannot afford the time for a distraction and wants to know what they do about getting through the lava.

Kuticles considers borrowing Sammy’s shield and using it as an umbrella but Runeweaver thinks his Wink-Wing spell much safer – except that he would be dangerously low on WIZ… Then he has the bright idea (L4 INT SR with double 3s followed by the 1-2 combination) of deflecting the lava with the golem’s body, having it wedged in the opening diagonally. He has the CHR to persuade Kuticles to ge the job done and with STR of 50, the dwarf just needs a little guiding force from his sidekick, Sammy, to put the golem to good use. A sixth turn has passed.

The Party of Six in the Dungeon

Slammin’ Sammy Saladhin: STR – 11/11/11 WIZ – 13/13/13 INT – 10/10/10 LK – 9/9/9 CON – 14/14/14 DEX – 8/8/8 CHR – 10/10/10 SPD – 13/13/13 ADDS – 0(-1) Weapons – Gladius 3+2/4+2, kukri 2+5 Armour – Leather (6)/(12), Buckler (3)/(6)

Other Possessions – Lantern, backpack and provisions        Talents: TBA      Languages: TBA

Runeweaver: STR – 9/7/13 WIZ – 10/15/20 INT – 10/15/30 LK – 13/13/13 CON – 9/6/12 DEX – 9/14/24 CHR – 15/30/50 SPD – 12*/23/23 ADDS – +13(+19)       Weapons – Kukri 2+5, 2 poniards 2 each Armour – Leather (6)/(6)                Magic – all L1,2,3 plus Wink-Wing, Double-Double, Smog, Protective Pentagram, Upsidaisy     Other – Wand of Focus, lantern, backpack and provisions              Talents: TBA              Languages: TBA

Idris Slackbladder: STR – 10/10/13 WIZ – 10/10/16 INT – 10/10/20 LK – 11/11/11 CON – 4/4/12 DEX – 12/12/30 CHR – 9/9/12 SPD – 9/9/9 ADDS – +13(+19)    Weapons – Kukri 2+5, 2 poniards 2 each, common sling 2 Armour – Leather (6)/(6)          Magic – all L1 plus Poor Baby, Hidey Hole, Omnipotent Eye, Mirage, Little Feets, Cateyes, Fly Me, Rock-a-Bye    Other – Wand of Focus, lantern, backpack and provisions Talents: TBA                        Languages: TBA

Sylphilia: STR – 6/2/10 WIZ – 8/16/16 INT – 11/11/20 LK – 5/8/16 CON – 13/3/10 DEX – 5/10/40 CHR – 12/24/24 SPD – 10/10/14 ADDS – +34(+62)                   Weapons – Kukri 2+5, 2 poniards 2 each, common sling 2 Armour – Leather (6)/(6)      

Magic – Oh Go Away, Knock-Knock, Hold That Pose, Call Flame, Vorpal Blade,    Little Feets     Other Possessions – Lantern, backpack and provisions       Talents: TBA      Languages: TBA

Slippey Faggends: STR – 10/7/9 WIZ – 20*/15/15 INT – 8/8/10 LK – 9/9/13 CON – 7/14/14 DEX – 11/17/20 CHR – 10/10/10 SPD – 10/10/11 ADDS – +9(+17)       Weapons – Kukri 2+5, 2 poniards 2 each, common sling 2 Armour – Leather (6)/(6) Magic – none    Other Possessions – Lantern, backpack and provisions            Talents: Roguery +2         Languages: TBA

Kuticles: STR – 11/22/50 WIZ – 12/8/15 INT – 9/9/12 LK – 31*/20/20 CON – 8/16/20 DEX – 10/10/15 CHR – 7/5/8 SPD – 13/13/15 ADDS – +52(+55)                       Weapons – War hammer 5+2/10+2, kukri 2+5, 2 poniards 2 each                         Armour – Leather (6)/(12)   Other Possessions – Lantern, backpack and provisions, 100’ silk rope, piton hammer and 10 pitons      Talents: TBA    Languages: TBA

(Attributes – I give the dice roll, the modified number (for Kraken continent) and then the number after leveling. NB – wizards get half combat adds only)

Let's Go Down A Dungeon!

The Chamber of Z’Tpozz The Mad Dwarf – A GM Tunnels & Trolls Adventure

Played and GM’d by Khaghbboommm!

“This is an adventure for 4-8 characters, level 1-5.”

OK, so here is the party of 6 characters (we’ll fly in replacements as needed):

1. Kuticles - Dwarf warrior (L5)
2. Slammin’ Sammy Saladhin – Human warrior (L1)
3. Runeweaver – Elf wizard (L5)
4. Idris Slackbladder – Human witch (L3)
5. Sylphilia – Fairy rogue (L4)
6. Slippey Faggends – Hobb(it) rogue (L2)

We’ll see what possessions they have and what their attributes are as we progress – we want to get on with it!

One

The Panjandrum of the Fire Dwarves wants to hire us to recover their princess who has been kidnapped by a mad dwarf wizard. We get a map to take us to the wizard’s lair, located within an active volcano – not good but we do a small supply of Vyron potions to protect us. You can only take one dose at a time (or you die) and we get three each; they last 13-18 turns and you don’t know how long so we’ll only roll once 12 turns have gone by). (As GM, I know that PCs can only last CON divided by 25 turns before their lungs give out so the fairy will be in trouble if not very careful.)

Two

The party enters a lava tunnel and it is clear that the first dose of potion is needed. Even Kuticles the Dwarf swallows a vial of the liquid, saying he will try not to use any more so that he may help anyone else who is less hardy. Kuticles, Runeweaver and Slippery volunteer to take care of one third of the remaining glass tubes each.

The first living thing encountered in the caverns is a strange hen with bright plumage that looks kind of rocky. It is about 2’ tall. Although they are not here to slaughter all life found below ground, Sylphilia suggests Kuticles sees how he does in combat against it so they get a sense of how tough things are down here in the fiery depths of the earth. The dwarf agrees and the fairy hovers above the combat, ready to help the warrior if needed. The wizards are alert and ready with spells.

Kuticles: STR – 11/22/50 WIZ – 12/8/15 INT – 9/9/12 LK – 31*/20/20 CON – 8/16/20 DEX – 10/10/15 CHR – 7/5/8 SPD – 13/13/15 ADDS – +52(+55) Weapons – War hammer 5+2/10+2, kukri 2+5, 2 poniards 2 each Armour – Leather (6)/(12)

Other Possessions – Lantern, backpack and provisions, 100’ silk rope, piton hammer and 10 pitons

(Attributes – I give the dice roll, the modified number and then the number after leveling.)

The dwarf fights with his war hammer and kukri and rolls 12 d6 for 36 (1 spite) plus 59 adds for a total of 95. The G’Zenna hen has MR 13 and rolls 2d6 for 6 (no spite) plus 6 adds for a total of 12.

The warrior smashes the hen flat with his hammer in the first strike of the contest and wipes it clean on his beard. (He gets 13 APs).

Runeweaver casts a Whammy on his hammer and he helps Sylphilia and Idris cast Vorpal Blades on every one’s main weapons (they cannot afford to hang about recovering WIZ so limit the blade-boosting). (Runeweaver gets 16 APs for the L2 Whammy and 9 for the L1 Vorpal Blade; Sylphilia gets 26 APs for two Vorpal Blades; Idris gets 17APs for two Vorpal Blades – no critical fumbles on INT SRs to cast spells (I shall find their INTs later).

One turn has passed and the delvers are ready to go on, not scared of chickens they have no need to count.