Dyson’s Delve - Session 17

Every time I play this game, I get a better sense of how much it differs from modern editions of D&D. The game has a different focus in many ways, and that lends it to solo play.

Preparation

I need to run through downtime again, plus level up our thief, Maple. I’ve been trying to keep everything more or less in the order on my roster, though.

Downtime: Chuckles the Human Barbarian

(This name still makes me laugh.) Anyway, he typically indulges in some revelry, and I don’t see a reason why that should be different this time. He spends 200 gold on his drinking and feasting, not really getting up to the total bacchanalia that sometimes happens.

However, he has some regrets, as he experiences a financial loss. He was conned somehow, perhaps by someone who heard him turn down the potential business investment last time and took advantage of his drunken state. He loses another 200 gp, but with no additional XP gain. This leaves him with a total of 1015 gold in addition to his expensive jewelry.

Downtime: Krimkol the Dwarven Priest

Now that he’s taking better care of his dwarven retainers (by giving them a share of treasure, as he should have done all along), perhaps he might try his spiritual exercises again. What if their unnamed gods were holding back their guidance because of that?

As before, the goal of his exercise is to get a blessing or better usage of his staff of healing such that he can roll the healed amount twice and take the higher result. I’ve already decided that that’s a moderate effect requiring three steps of tracker progress. This time, unlike before, he finds a clarity of spirit (advancing the tracker one step). Perhaps indeed he has unblocked his connection with the gods!

Downtime: Parouz the Elfblade

Parouz needs to continue her martial training, and she’ll spar with their newish companion Shyup to do so. She doesn’t necessarily want to learn any new techniques, just stay in top form. She gets three temporary bonuses: +1 to hit, +1 to damage, and +1 to AC (versus melee) until her next downtime.

Downtime: Shyup the Human Fighter

From participating in the training and sparring with Parouz, he’s also in top form, with the same three bonuses: +1 to hit, +1 to damage, and +1 to AC versus melee.

Downtime: Maple the Human Thief

Before getting to her downtime, she needs to level up, having reached 3rd level as a thief. She doesn’t get a bonus to hit yet, but she does get an additional 2 hp. She has also learned how to read most any normal written language, at least well enough to comprehend treasure maps or other documents. (This doesn’t cover magical writing, though.) Her chance to hear sounds (e.g. at a door) improves to 4 in 6, and other thieving skills get marginally better.

(I spent a potentially inordinate amount of time auditing the XP for all of my surviving characters, and I think I’ve got it right now.)

So, last time she met a business prospect. Let’s see what kind of person that might be. Again, I’ll go back to the D30 Sandbox Companion for this.

• Race and Sex: elf, male
• Occupation: clothing merchant
• Employ: bored with job
• Ability: masterful
• Temperament: scheming
• Motivation: earn reputation
• Bad Habit: manipulation

The dice have painted a clear picture of this elf. I’ll call him “Maseera”. He sounds like a real piece of work, to be honest. He previously proposed a business venture to Chuckles, who was completely sloshed but also has no interest in wealth generation. Maple would like to be rich, though, so Maseera instead starts to try to manipulate her into a deal. Because I want to see what happens, I will have her agree to it.

Thus, she’ll take the Building an Institution downtime activity. In this case, he’s looking for her to invest in his business. I’m not entirely sure he’s on the up and up, but it’s also possible that he’s actually intending to start a legitimate business.

I’ll start the Institution Tracker at the bottom, “inconsequential”. Maple needs to invest 500 gp to attempt to advance it. Maseera is trying to get some sort of a fashion house going (“Maseera Designs”), but in reality he just sells poorly-made clothing from a small market stall. Result: growing pains. The institution is growing (reaching the next tracker leve, “minor”). Unfortunately, the business runs into unwanted legal attention. The authorities are investigating Maseera for some reason, and Maple is now involved in this mess. She’ll need to pay 600 gp “by the next downtime (or find some other solution) or have the business shuttered.” That’ll occupy next downtime, then. I’m not turning this particular campaign into an urban adventure, so this will stay in the background.

Planning

Having recovered some momentum as a party, they’re going to try to recover Khnar’s body. (Yes, this could mean his equipment as well, but that’s truly not the main motivation). It’s actually not that deep into the temple, considering the side entrance they’ve found. But there are significant dangers in the form of wandering monsters, the unknown whereabouts of the medusa, and generally moving a stone “statue” (his petrified form) down stairs and through a dungeon environment.

This means that they will need to hire extra porters plus some sort of cart to place the “statue” on. That’s in addition to the mercenary types to help protect what will certainly be a more challenging expedition than the last one.

I decide that means they need to hire a total of six porters at a higher rate than usual; normally they pay 2gp/day for an expedition, hiring them for the course of a week, so 14 gp per porter. For the extra work (moving a stone statue isn’t like carrying lanterns and sacks) and risk, they’ll pay 20gp per porter, a total of 120 gp. Chuckles will cover this cost.

They’ll also need to hire more dwarves-at-arms, having lost one in the previous delve and wanting more protection. Therefore Krimkol will seek out his kin, explaining the honor involved in retrieving a fallen hero from a dangerous environment in the underworld. Who better to do this than dwarves? Stand together! Again, the usual rate is 5 gp/day per dwarf, for a total of 35 gp for the week. He’s hiring six total, so he spends 210 gp.

That means 12 retainers and 5 adventurers, requiring the usual 3x rations, for a total of 51 gp. Parouz opens her purse for this piece. A hand cart costs 10 gp, and I’ll have them take two just in case. Also, Shyup buys a small mirror for each of the adventurers. These mirrors cost 20 gp a pop, so that’s 100 gp more.

(We’ve definitely long passed the point of D&D where tracking individual arrows and rations makes much sense, to be honest, and I’m not quite as fastidious as you might think. Oil pints cost 0.1 gp each, and Parouz alone has over 8000 gp. If anything, though, I err on the side of spending more than the game indicates, just for miscellaneous purposes.)

Delve

The Underclock normally starts at 20 and the related Underworld die at a d6. Given the relative encumbrance of the carts, I will cap the Underclock at 18 for this delve. Our follower stats are as follows:

• Dwarves (6): HD 1 (3, 7, 8, 5, 8, 8 hp); AC 15; Atk war hammer (1d4+1); Move 6; Save 15; Morale 10; Special: +1 to attack rolls (+2 total), +2 to saves and morale (included), darkvision 60’, detects attributes of stonework. Speak Dwarven and Common.
• Lantern Carriers (6): HD 1d6 (2, 6, 5, 2, 4, 5 hp); Atk dagger (d6); Move 12; Save 18; Morale 7. Speak Common.

They’re moving more slowly with this size group, particularly counting the carts, so I’ll have them transit the dungeon less abstractly even though they’re going through levels they’ve already completely explored.

Turn 1

They reach the entrance in late morning, having moved more slowly through the hills even though they left town at dawn. The carved fresco is quiet and lightly shaded by the trees in bright morning sun. Chuckles and Maple listen quietly at the door to ensure they can’t be surprised, then the door is forced open and they move down the hallway.

• Underclock: d6! = 3 => 18-3 = 15

Turn 2

It takes a full turn to move down this long corridor, and the torches have burned out since the cult is no longer here to maintain them. The porters light lanterns and the party moves on.

• Underclock: d6! = 4 => 15-4 = 11

Turn 3

Once they reach the antehamber, again they take precautions with both the barbarian and thief listening to avoid surprise on the other side.

• Underclock: d6! = 2 => 11-2 = 9

Turn 4

It takes a bit of maneuvering to get everyone through the antechamber and air chapel, but they’re able to get to the main temple sanctuary with everyone still together.

• Underclock: d6! = 3 => 9-3 = 6

Turn 5

The tension is growing, and they know that whatever malevolence still inhabits this dungeon must surely be aware of their presence. They have to work the carts through the fire chapel to the base of the stairs leading up to the level where Khnar was turned to stone.

• Underclock: d6! = 1 => 6-1 = 5

Turn 6

Moving these carts up the stairs is difficult and requires combined effort. Because of this, I’m making two Underclock rolls this turn. One counts as being on the temple level, and the other on the level above. (This matters in the case of an encounter.)

• Level 7: d6! = 6 => 5-6 = -1 (encounter and reset to 18)

Turn 7

Just as they’re getting the carts up the stairs, they hear that same slurping sound behind them. Fortunately, Chuckles and Parouz were holding back, so there’s no surprise. They can’t see whatever is making the goopy sound, but they know it’s there. This sounds a lot like the thing they heard when leaving the dungeon last time.

Chuckles tentatively tosses an oil flask, underhand, trying to hit the creature or at least illuminate it. (He’s not very wise, remember?) The flask lands on a slithering tracker! It will do 1 damage and set it on fire, starting the fight.

Perhaps the most dangerous of wandering monsters, slithering trackers are a form of transparent slug and may be related to gelatinous cubes. They are difficult to see (10% chance for a person to spot it, and he may lose sight of it again in the next round). Unless they are starving, they do not attack moving prey (5% chance to be starving). Instead, they follow the potential prey until it sleeps or camps. They can ooze under doors and through fairly small cracks, so even a barricaded room with a closed door is probably not safe. When it attacks, the victim must make a saving throw or be paralyzed by the slitherer’s secretions. A paralyzed victim is sucked dry of all body fluids in 5 turns (50 minutes), losing 20% of hit points each 10 minutes.

(From Swords & Wizardry Complete Revised, p. 122)

• Slithering Tracker: HD 4 (13 hp); AC 14; Atk none; Move 12; Save 13; Morale 12; AL N; CL/XP 6/400; Special: drain fluids (complete in 5 turns, creature loses 20% of hit points every 10 minutes), paralysis (save or paralyzed), transparent (10% chance to spot).

That transparency is the reason they’ve had trouble seeing it. It wasn’t even attacking them, just following and waiting for a chance to slurp something up. But the slug moves fast enough that this could be a problem and they do not want to run into it unexpectedly later. The five adventurers will engage it, while the dwarves protect the porters moving the carts. Chuckles holds a lantern to keep things illuminated for himself and the other humans.

Round 1: No spells this time. The adventurers win initiative and try to hit the monster. Chuckles’s war hammer doesn’t really do much besides make a wet, squishy sound. Krimkol cuts it deep with his battle axe for 5 damage, so it’s down to 7 hp. Parouz also cuts into it for 4 damage, reducing it to 3 hp. (I don’t think flanking bonuses should count against such an amorphous creature.) Shyup hits it for another 8 damage, finishing it off and ending the threat.

The Underclock resets to 18 and I’ll make the second roll as the carts reach level 6:

• Level 6: d6! 2 => 18-2 = 16

Turn 8

The expedition has reached the guard post. The dungeon here is still unnaturally quiet. They catch their breath, then push on past the empty weapon racks into the corridor.

• Underclock: d6! = 3 => 16-3 = 13

Turn 9

The carts turn a corner and wait. The adventurers move extremely carefully, because while they saw the medusa flee, they don’t know if she has returned to haunt this area. Everyone is on edge.

Maple attempts to move silently (I’m not rolling until she’s actually in danger) and Chuckles moves behind her. If they detect the medusa, he’ll set an ambush.

So, I need to check with the oracle: is she here? I decide it’s unlikely she has returned to her prison chambers, but not extremely so. That makes it a 2-in-6 chance: she is here, unfortunately. She must have fed, then returned to her lair to recover some of her belongings before moving on to haunt the rest of the dungeon (which was the other option).

“Design for Two Masks Shaped as Satyr and a Winged Medusa Head” by Carlo Bianconi, between 1732 and 1802

Does she detect Maple? At level 3, Maple has a 3-in-10 chance of moving silently, but she fails. That said, Chuckles will try to set his ambush. The Swords & Wizardry Book of Options says on page 4:

A Barbarian in a wilderness or underground environment who is given enough time to investigate their surroundings can lay an ambush for any foes passing through the area. The Barbarian can take into consideration their allies when preparing this ambush, but for each additional person receiving the benefit of this ability, the Barbarian’s chance of success is reduced by -5%, unless those allies are also Barbarians. If the ambush effort is successful, the Barbarian (and their allies, if present) automatically surprise foes that come within 30 feet of where the ambush has been prepared.

At his level, he has a 25% chance, minus 5% for Maple (who is a thief, not a barbarian). That’s a 2-in-10 chance: he fails. Therefore, the medusa has only the standard 2-in-6 chance of being surprised by the group rather than automatic surprise from anyone, and unfortunately she is aware of their presence.

• Medusa: HD 6 (22 hp); AC 11; Atk weapon (1d4) and snake-hair (lethal poison); Move 9; Save 11; Morale 8; AL C; CL/XP 8/900; Special: gaze turns to stone, lethal poison (save or die).

I’m handling the special ability as described in The Monster Overhaul p. 90:

Seeing the red and glowing eyes of a Medusa turns living creatures to stone. If a creature just glances at a Medusa’s face, the creature’s limbs become heavy, slow, and grey. They can Save to restore movement. If they fail, they are rooted in place and count as an immobile target for the purposes of attacks.

If they get a good look at a Medusa, by targeting them with an attack or by meeting the Medusa by surprise, the creature must Save or turn to stone. If they pass, they are still rooted in place (as above).

The encounter starts with the medusa 20’ away from the scouting rank. Parouz, Shyup, and Krimkol are about 20’ behind them. The dwarves are protecting the porters and not engaging in this fight unless she breaks through both ranks.

Round 1: Somehow, the group wins initiative! All five of them, however, hold up their mirrors at her. I decide that she needs to make a saving throw; on a success, she avoids the mirrors and can attack them with a significant penalty. On a failure, however, she is temporarily immobilized. She succeeds on her save, so she attacks Maple with a -4 penalty with her weapon and then snake hair. The dagger misses, as does the snake hair.

Round 2: With the medusa in their midst, they continue to hold up their mirrors. The adventurers win initiative again, and despite the fact that they’re flanking her, they are not looking directly, so there’s a combined modifier of -2 (-4 from not looking, +2 for attacking from behind). Maple does not get the +2 bonus, since the medusa faced her last time, so she’ll just be at a regular -4. All of them miss. She randomly targets Shyup this time, but she needs to make her save again: she fails! She is immobilized for this round.

Round 3: Parouz and Krimkol realize they didn’t cast their spells as they should have earlier. Therefore, she will cast read magic for her scroll, but Krimkol is forging ahead with combat. The dice continue to favor the adventurers with advantage. This time, they can all have the flanking (attacking from behind) bonus, since she’s immobilized, but they continue to avert their gaze and hold up mirrors (thus attacking with one hand). Chuckles, Krimkol, and Shyup miss - but Maple does not. She uses her backstabbing expertise to hit the medusa for 9 damage, reducing her to 13 hp. Parouz completes her casting and can read from a scroll in the next round. The medusa makes her save and is no longer immobilized (effectively, she needs to fail on two consecutive rounds). She had targeted Shyup, but couldn’t get to him, so she’ll continue that line of assault but at her -4 penalty. Both of her attacks miss, fortunately.

Round 4: Parouz reads from her scroll, casting mirror image from her scroll. That increases the number of targets the medusa has to attack. The adventurers continue to act first, though Shyup will not get the bonus for attacking from behind. Chuckles hits her for 4 damage (down to 9 hp), and Krimkol does so as well for 3 damage (down to 6 hp), but Maple and Shyup miss. The medusa randomly attacks the mirror image! But she fails her saving throw and is immobilized again.

Round 5: No spells this time. The medusa wins initiative, but she has to make a saving throw or be petrified by their mirrors: she fails! She is turned to stone, and the party has defeated her. They can now recover Khnar’s body and any other treasure in the area.

• Underclock: d6! = 3 => 13-3 = 10

Turn 10

So now the question is, has anyone already come here and stolen Khnar’s equipment? I decide that would normally be extremely unlikely, but Chuckles accidentally divulged the secret when he was drunk in town, so I’ll upgrade that to just “regular unlikely” (2-in-6): no, he still has his magical equipment (the rest will have been petrified with him). He was carrying a shield +1 and a spear +1. They’ll disburse these next session in the planning phase.

While the porters load Khnar’s body on one cart (and the medusa on another, as long as they’ve got a spare), Maple and Parouz search the room for treasure. The dwarves help the porters, and the other three adventurers stand guard at the entrance.

The medusa had treasure in the form of jewelry: 10 pieces worth 400, 600, 700, 800, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1500, and 1600 gp, respectively! This is an incredibly valuable hoard worth a total of 10,200 gp. I decide that some sage or noble will be willing to pay for her statue as well, if they can get it back safely. (Khnar’s statue is worth “honor” but no gold.)

• Underclock: d6! = 3 => 10-3 = 7

Turn 11

The expedition moves very slowly now, rolling carefully back through the corridor to the guard post.

• Underclock: d6! = 2 => 7-2 = 5

Turn 12

As they’re moving down the stairs, I will make two rolls. As before, the first roll counts as being on the level where they’re starting the turn, and the second roll on the lower level where they end the turn.

• Level 6: d6! = 2 => 5-2 = 3
• Level 7: d6! = 6+4 = 10 => 3-10 = -7 (encounter and reset to 16 for the encumbrance)

Turn 13

Just as they gingerly reach the bottom of the stairs, they here a snivelling sound from four wererats. The lycanthropes are surprised; this is not a sight they typically see here. But the adventurers have had decent, or at least non-aggressive, interactions with the local wererats before, and thus they don’t immediately attack.

Instead, Krimkol and Parouz remind the wererats of that history. In fact, I think carrying a medusa statue through the dungeon is probably worth an extra bonus factor just from the sheer audacity and intimidation. I’ll give them a +2 bonus to their reaction roll from the previous interactions, and another +2 for the medusa statue. That’s enough to push them from “hesitant” to “friendly” and they let them pass. (For a moment, I considered having the adventurers try to lure them into service, so instead I’ll imagine that they bribe the wererats with 100 gp each, or 400 gp total, for them to spread the word amongst their community. That’s Parouz, naturally, who has a decent Charisma score.)

• Underclock: d6! = 6+1 = 7 => 16-7 = 9

Turn 14

Back through the fire chapel and large sanctuary carrying these two statues on carts, moving slowly and carefully. They’re highly unlikely to be surprised, but I don’t think they can really surprise anyone else at this point.

• Underclock: d6! = 4 => 9-4 = 5

Turn 15

It’s extra tight through some of these turns going through the air chapel and antechamber.

• Underclock: d6! = 5 => 5-5 = 0 (omen and reset to 3)

Somewhere echoing in the darkness around them is a wet slurping sound. They’d like to get out of here before they have to face that kind of creature again.

Turn 16

They’re almost home free, back at the long corridor. One more turn, and if they can escape, it will be early afternoon and a long, difficult, but relatively safe return journey.

• Underclock: d6! = 2 => 3-2 = 1

No encounter! They return as intended.

Experience and rewards

They defeated two monsters, a slithering tracker worth 400 XP and a medusa worth 900 XP. The treasure was worth 10,200 gp, so that’s 11,100 XP total, divided five ways for 2220 XP each (before bonuses). They split the treasure with the dwarves, giving them half a share each, for a total of 5+6/3 = 8 shares. That’s 1275 gp each for the adventurers, or half that for each dwarf-at-arms. (Yes, that’s a huge haul!)

They’ll need to find a suitable buyer for the medusa statue, which will count later. Shyup reaches third level as a fighter, and Maple reaches fourth level as a thief. I will carry out their levelling up procedures next time.

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