Delve 10 – Parlay??

A reduced party sets out for the Haunted Halls: Gimwort, Tansybell, Eldred, and Old Dolf. Sassaran has left on her journey with Taravol, and Trigg is on his brief honeymoon with Emelda.

THE LOG

TURN 1 – A8: Welcoming Trap

The party heads to bronze doors that guard the inner halls and the now-routine dash past their blocked lightning trap.

TURN 2 – B31: The Room of Pools

The party turns south to explore some of the side passages of the mysterious Room of Pools.

TURN 3 – B23: Storage Chamber. “This room is used primarily for furniture storage, although it is mostly empty. There are three large oaken tables, a number of chairs, and fourteen wooden stools stacked against the walls.”

A search of the room fails to turn up anything interesting.

TURN 5 – SP31: Gaming Room. “This small, quaint little room has a game table in the center. A chess set, with a game apparently in progress (or never finished), sits upon it. A large map of a world unknown to the adventurers has been painted on the floor.”

Some of the orc survivors of Ivy’s party’s attack on the Caves of Chaos fled to the Haunted Halls. Three of them were holed up in here, gambling on chess matches and debating about what to do. They heard the PCs approaching and ambush them.

TURN 6 – Combat!

Gimwort takes a nasty sword wound in the initial ambush. On the following round Gimwort repays the wound with interest, and Tansy kills another orc. The third orc scurries behind the gaming table and begins speaking rapidly in harshly accented Common. He’ll fight for them if they don’t kill him! Or maybe they’ll just let him go? They can have all of the stuff, he just doesn’t want to end up like Lokug and Skraglurk.

While Dolf is mistrustful, the others agree to let the orc (Mothclaw) go. Gimwort tells him that the Halls are no place for orcs, and he should head for the Stonelands. Mothclaw lopes off down the tunnel. Will the party live to regret their mercy, or will they be rewarded for their good deed?

The PCs loot the room of the chess set, a bottle of fine brandy, a carved pipe, and 8 silver pennies.

TURN 7 – B31: The Room of Pools

With Gimwort wounded and enough loot to get Eldred to level 2, the party heads for the exits.

TURN 8-9: Escape!

THE TALLY

• 2 orcs: 20xp

• Gold chess set: 250 xp

• Anterian Brandy: 200 xp

• Carved pipe: 30 xp

The party receives 125 xp each.

Eldred achieves level 2! He rolls extremely well on his stat increases, earning +1 Constitution and +1 Strength, and now has 3 whole HP.

He also learns the spell Spook.

Downtime in Eveningstar – Mell Joins Up!

July 25–27

Gimwort sells the chess set, but keeps the carved pipe as a souvenir. They split the proceeds (43 gp and 77 sp each), then split the bottle of brandy at the Golden Unicorn. Over drinks they discuss their adventures to date and their plans for future delves. 

With Sassaran gone and Trigg a married man now, they need another fighter. They decide to recruit Mell of the Moonwood, a huntress and adventurer who has recently arrived in town.

Mell of the Moonwood

Fighter 1 HP: 7 AC: 15 XP: 200/2,000

Str 13, Dex 16, Con 6, Int 9, Wis 8, Cha 8

Gear: crossbow, 20 bolts, shortsword, leather armor, coat of mail

Downtime in Eveningstar 9C – The Wedding!

Hooray!

The big day finally arrives! Trigg and Emelda, wearing crowns of wildflowers, meet outside of the abbey. The Abbot comes out to greet them and asks them (before the crowd of assembled witnesses) if they freely consent to enter into marriage, then leads the two of them before the altar to exchange vows.

The ceremony is brief, but between the feasting, drinking, and dancing the affair still manages to last all day and most of the night. The Inlow’s feel that the yard of the Golden Unicorn is too small for their only daughter’s, so the wedding feast is held on the village green. There are long tables laden with food and barrels of abbey beer, all decorated with a profuse assortment of flowers (many of them magically conjured by Lady Winter for the occasion). After the main feast there is a considerable amount of less organized eating and drinking, along with a great deal of dancing lit by scented bonfires.

Emelda’s bridal chest contains her fabrics (which Emelda and her female relations have been assembling and embroidering since she was a girl), some cookware, a set of painted plates and cups, and her few small pieces of jewelry. Her father gives Trigg several sheep (nominally, anyway: they’re still pastured on Farmer Inlow’s land since Trigg lacks a sheep pen and any pasturage), along with a bottle of good wine and a bedframe. The bedframe is the most expensive item in the lot, and apart from a chest and a couple of stools is the couple’s only piece of furniture.

The Feast [Mechanics]

Trigg, Gimwort, Tansybell, Old Dolf, Sassaran, and Taravol each spend 500 gp on the feast and receive 500 xp. Eldred has a place of honor at the table but gains no XP, as he has no money to spend. 

Gimwort finally achieves level 3 and rolls well on his stat increases, netting +1 Dexterity and +1 Constitution!

Feast Events

As always I’m interpreting the results from HERE, using a softer tone for a bucolic village rather than a Viking mead-hall.

• Trigg foolishly attempts a feat of strength and fails, not realizing that the beer barrel he was given to carry in the footrace was packed full of earth and stones (thanks to his new brothers-in-law).

• Gimwort, having been given a real beer barrel to carry, easily wins the race.

• Tansybell knocks Errol Inlow to the ground after he tousles her hair. To everyone’s surprise, Emelda’s hot-headed brother immediately takes to Tansy after this and the two become fast friends.

• Old Dolf enraptures everyone with his tales of fighting the undead side-by-side with the brave Trigg Sunbold. To his friends’ slight surprise, Dolf makes Trigg out to be the hero of the story and downplays his own role to a sort of squire.

• Garlan Inlow, Emelda’s poetical older brother, becomes infatuated with Sassaran. She does not reciprocate and it takes some time to actually explain the situation to her, by which point the young man is thoroughly embarrassed.

• Taravol ends up drinking with the Abbot (as an educated man the Abbot speaks Elvish and has a taste for the stronger elf-wines) and for his role in the destruction of the evil relics he receives a Ring of Protection marked with the symbol of Lathander.

Lady Winter gives Emelda a winged kitten and formalizes the gift of Trigg’s strips in the fields. She also receives his oath at this time – he’ll owe his first month’s taxes next week!

To the party’s disappointment, Ivy Almyr does not attend the wedding.

The Old Thaddath Farm (now the Sunbold Farm) is still in bad shape despite all that Gimwort and Emelda’s brothers could do. Trigg will need to purchase tools, material for more extensive repairs, and other sundries before it can be a properly functioning farm. But for the night of the wedding it is clean, swept, and decorated with garlands of flowers.

NPCs About Town

The Ringlad Brothers’ party (consisting of the twin rangers, Pious Oddle the cleric, and the dwarf Flarkin of Toadmarket) returns from an expedition to the Haunted Halls. They recovered a silver mirror and a few gems. Flarkin is later overheard boasting about how he destroyed some living statues that nearly killed all of the others. Elm Ringlad, who previously lost an ear and a finger fighting skeletons in the temple of chaos, has had most of his hair burnt off and smells strongly of smoke.

ElfQuest

At the end of the week Sassaran and Taravol finish purchasing and packing their supplies, saddle their new horses, and say farewell to the party before setting out on their journey.

Readers may recall that after the first assault on the temple of chaos Taravol failed his morale check. Normally this would result in his refusing to adventure again, which would have been a disaster for the quest. Since other rolls from previous downtimes had indicated that he wanted Sassaran to join his party, I decided that she would convince him to see it through by promising to leave Eveningstar with him afterward. I thought more characters would die before the quest was achieved, but even in victory it feels appropriate that the solemn, silent Sassaran would prefer to stay with a friend that she can speak to. I may run the pair of them through some adventures if I get tired of Eveningstar before I run out of steam on this solo campaign – perhaps the elves will even pass this way again! But for now I think Sassaran is retiring on a happy note.

Behind the Curtain

So ends this extensive episode in post-adventure bookkeeping! The campaign has certainly grown in scope, as solo gaming allows me to indulge in NPC activities. I’m now tracking two NPC parties with three quests amongst them (Ivy’s campaign to rule Eveningstar, the Ringlads' somewhat cowardly attempt to earn fame and fortune, and Flarkin’s desire to earn enough to retire and go into business with his cousins back in Toadmarket), a magic shop, and a half-ruined farm. Plus there’s whatever’s going on with the elves, and Lady Winter, and the evil priest who escaped from the temple…

I played two more expeditions before work and life put the game on a long hiatus, so regular readers can look forward to a new PC joining the cast, Eldred the Enchanter finally reaching level 2, and an eventful encounter where the sword Scalebane earns its name!

Downtime in Eveningstar 9B – Tale of the Black Sword

Week 2: July 11–17

The Inlows need some time to arrange the upcoming wedding. Trigg, Gimwort, and Emelda’s brothers Errol and Garlan spend the week restoring the Old Thaddath Farm.

Dolf, Tansy, and the two elves mount another raid on the ogre cave. They find it eerily silent and empty, but discover the monster’s secret treasure:

• 6 arrows +1

• Potion of Invisibility

• Scroll of Cure Light Wounds

• Scroll of Hold Person

They divide the spoils, with the arrows going to Sassaran, the scrolls to Taravol, and the potion to Old Dolf. Declining to venture further into the cave, they return to town.

Ivy Almyr: Tale of the Black Sword 1

Ivy recruits Nogi of Firedeep. Under the influence of the Old King’s Helm, she is no longer concerned about the deaths of her followers, and Nogi sees a chance for a heroic death in service to the grim swordswoman.

On the evening of the 13th, Nogi tells the story of their first adventure to Gimwort and Flarkin over ales in the Golden Unicorn. He is covered in bandages and is missing an eye.

The two went to the Goblin Cave and came upon six guards. Nogi manages to wound one before going down with a crossbow bolt and three goblin spears in him. With his remaining eye Nogi watches as Ivy kills twelve goblins (six guards plus reinforcements) without taking a wound. She walks off into the darkness. Nogi hears sounds of battle in the distance, and some time later four goblins emerge shrieking out of the darkness, running pell-mell past him. A moment later a battered and bleeding Ivy returns, hauls him to his feet, and tells him to help her loot the cave. Nogi sees the headless corpse of the Great Goblin amongst the bodies of his guards and concludes that the fleeing goblins he saw must have broken after the death of their chief. They return to town with an ornamental tapestry and a small hoard of mixed coins.

NPCs About Town

The Ringlad brothers recruit Pious Oddle to their party. They hunt giant spiders in the Briarwood. They manage to kill four of the beasts but return without any treasure.

Downtime in Eveningstar 9A – The Return of Eldred the Enchanter

He's back! And he still only has 2 HP!

 Week 1: July 3–10

The victorious party returns to Eveningstar. Trigg brings the shattered fragments of the evil vessels to the Abbot and recounts the tale of their quest. The Abbot performs the magic to revive Eldred the Enchanter. Our heroes have a tearful reunion with Eldred. They explain to him (with some difficulty) the situation regarding his death, their quest, and his return to life.

Early the next day the party is summoned to Eveningstar Castle to make a report to Lady Winter. They stand in awkward silence in her solar while she works at her loom, ignoring them. The Lady’s winged cat familiar plays with the yarn at her feet while two scarred and grizzled purple dragon knights stand guard. When she deigns to notice the party, she informs them that she is displeased. She has received a letter from the Council of Molehill informing her that the son of their Thane, one Berrybert of Molehill, was murdered by adventurers. His faithful cousin Leegild escaped their cruel blades to bring the tale. 

As Molehill supplies Eveningstar with iron ore and pipeweed, diplomatic tensions could become a serious annoyance. While she has already spoken with the Abbot and believes their tale of a curse, the party’s failure to recover Berrybert’s body makes things more difficult for her. Lady Winter does however give Trigg her blessing to marry Emelda Inlow and take up residence in the Old Thaddath Farm, provided he pays his taxes and swears oath to serve in the muster at need.

Afterwards in the common room of the Golden Unicorn, the party talks to Trigg: they’re willing to help him pay for the farm and the wedding (even Sassaran, who still intends to leave Eveningstar with Taravol the NPC elf). They cough up 500 gp each, plus 500 gp from the party’s “common fund”, and the Inlows begin wedding planning.

Ivy Almyr

Ivy spends most of the week in a black mood, recovering from her wounds. Having lost two parties, she resolves not to burden anyone else with her oath: she will drive the monsters from the caves on her own.

On the morning of the 10th Ivy leaves town on her own and returns to the temple to explore the last few rooms. I ran this section turn-by-turn rather than using my NPC adventurer procedure because I wanted to count each energy-draining blow from the wight. As it turned out the wight never landed a hit, so I didn’t need to do any XP adjustment.

She dispatches the cult’s torturer in the torture chamber after taking a wound, claiming 135 gp and a gold bracelet worth 700 gp. In the crypt she is able to fend off the wight’s deadly blade with her enchanted shield, and her rune-scored axe crashes through withered flesh and brittle bone. She emerges with a sword +2, a scroll of protection from undead, a raven-winged Helm of Alignment Change, and a jewel-encrusted silver dagger worth 800 gp.

I haven’t really been using alignment in this game, so I decided that the wight was the body of the old king of Eveningstar, from the days before the land was absorbed into The Realm. The sword (Blackstar) and helm were his, and a remnant of his cruel spirit lingers in the helm. The old king’s personality merges uneasily with Ivy’s – she still intends to hold to her oath to drive the monsters out of Eveningstar Gorge, but now intends to set herself up as queen of the old king’s realm. She becomes harsh and cold, and will begin hoarding treasure.

NPCs About Town

Elfarran Half-Elf completes the Scroll of Light that she was working on as a thank-you present for Sassaran saving her life. Taravol commissions a Potion of Healing from her, and Elfarran officially opens her magic item shop:

Elfarran’s Shop

Weekly Business – 2d6

5- : loses 2d6 gp

6-8: break even

9+: gain 2d6 gp

Spells Known: Light, Read Magic

Stock: none

Commissions:

• Scroll: 250 gp, 1/week

• Potion of Healing: 250 gp, 1/week

Elfarran spends 100 gp to make the item, invests 100 gp into expanding her stock, and makes 50 gp in profit. When she has 1,000 gp banked she plans to research another 1st level Magic-User spell to improve her inventory.

The Ringlad brothers and Flarkin the dwarf go hunting in the Briarwood. They meet a strange hermit, who tries to murder them along with his giant cat. They return to town with a meager haul of coins and the hermit’s dagger +1.

The cleric Pious Oddle and the dwarf Nogi of Firedeep arrive in Eveningstar, looking for adventure.

The Smaug Dragon

It is possible to stat up a dragon in Old School Essentials by taking Smaug’s boasts literally.

“My armor is like tenfold shields”

A shield provides a +1 bonus to AC. Multiplied by 10, this gives our dragon an Armor Class of -1 [20].

“My teeth are swords”

A sword does 1d8 damage. Smaug’s teeth are like “swords” plural: our dragon has a bite attack that does at least 2d8 damage. Let’s say it’s three swords, for 3d8.

“My claws spears”

Spears do 1d6 damage and have the “brace” and “missile” properties. Our dragon has two claw attacks that do 1d6 damage, with double damage against charging enemies (the dragon feigns distraction, then lashes out with surprising speed). Obviously it can't throw its claws, but let's say the dragon can perform a flying leap with a claw attack, moving between 5–60 feet. This leap gets +1 to-hit against opponents within 20’ and a -1 to-hit against opponents more than 40’ away. The dragon cannot leap two rounds in a row.

“The shock of my tail a thunderbolt”

Paraphrasing from the Lightning Bolt spell, our dragon can lash its tail in a 60’ line. Creatures caught by the tail attack suffer 5d6 damage, with a successful Save vs Wands indicating half damage. The dragon cannot move in a turn where it uses its tail strike, and cannot lash its tail two rounds in a row.

(This is the minimum caster level required to cast lightning bolt. You could instead use the dragon’s HD as the caster level to determine the number of d6s, or the 9th level implied by the OSE red dragon’s spell selection)

“My wings a hurricane”

From the Control Weather entry for “high winds”: the dragon’s wingbeats create powerful winds that can impede lesser creatures. Whenever the dragon flies or leaps, movement rates for smaller creatures within 180’ are halved. Missile fire and flight within this area is impossible (smaller flying creatures are knocked back, potentially taking damage if they hit a solid object). In sandy areas, may cause a sandstorm, reducing visibility to 20’.

“And my breath death!”

You could use the Death Spell here, but the OSE dragon’s breath weapon is pretty deadly already. Let’s say that the dragon’s fire ignites flammable materials and anyone who fails their Save vs Breath, dealing 1d8 damage for two rounds (as burning oil).

Smaug is red, so we'll use the Red Dragon to fill in the rest of the stat block.

Dragon

AC -1 [20]

HD 10**

Attacks [2 x claw (1d6), 1 x bite (3d8)], leap [2d6 + wingstorm], tail strike [5d6], or breath

THAC0 11 [+8]

Movement 90’ (30’) / 240’ (80’) flying

Saving Throws D6 W7 P8 B8 S10

Morale 10

Alignment Chaotic

XP 2,300

Number Appearing 1

Treasure Type H

Breath Weapon: 90’ long cone of fire, 2’ wide at the mouth and 30’ wide at the far end. All caught in the area suffer damage equal to the dragon’s current hit points (save vs breath for half). All flammable objects and any creatures that fail their save are caught on fire, suffering 1d8 damage for two rounds. Can be used 3/day.

Flying Leap:  range 60’, 2d6 damage. This leap gets +1 to-hit against opponents within 20’ and a -1 to-hit against opponents more than 40’ away. The dragon’s wingstorm is active on any round where it uses its flying leap. The dragon automatically wins initiative in a round where it uses its flying leap. The dragon cannot leap two rounds in a row.

Wingstorm: the dragon’s wingbeats create powerful winds that can impede lesser creatures. Whenever the dragon flies or leaps, movement rates for smaller creatures within 180’ are halved. Missile fire and flight within this area is impossible (smaller flying creatures are knocked back, potentially taking damage if they hit a solid object). In sandy areas, may cause a sandstorm, reducing visibility to 20’.

Swift As A Snake: characters that charge a dragon take 2d6 damage (save vs breath for half) as the monster lashes out with its claws.

Fire Immunity

Pride: dragons are immensely proud creatures and will always listen to flattery.

Language: dragons speak their own language plus any languages used by creatures that live near their lairs.

Dragon Reaction Roll

2d6, no modifiers

2-: Attacks

3–5: Demands tribute. The dragon is hungry and impatient, and will attack if its demands are not met immediately.

6–8: Demands tribute. The dragon is interested or has recently fed, and will make a game of the interaction and only attacks if thwarted or annoyed.

9–11: Amused condescension. Demands tribute, but roll at +1.

12+: Asleep

Dragon Tribute

2d6 + CHA modifier

2–: your lives, everything you have, and the dragon is angry enough to go and destroy the nearest settlement afterwards.

3–5: one large animal or person per HD of the dragon, and/or 1,000 gp per HD.

6–8: one large animal or person and/or 500 gp per HD.

9–11: the dragon is open to proposals. What have you got?

12: the dragon falls asleep or wanders off.