Dyson’s Delve - Session 18

The last session was a tremendous success, if a real nail-biter. The party not only regained some of its honor by bringing back the petrified remains of their former brother-in-arms, Khnar, but also a whole lot of treasure that significantly boosted the levels of their newer members.

Preparation

Having returned with so much extra wealth, the group members need to do something with their wealth and time before venturing back down to the level with ogres and owlbears.

Downtime: Chuckles

The barbarian really just lives to party. His revelry this time costs 800 gold pieces, gaining him 800 experience points and a boon: secret information! This represents “real actionable intelligence,” either an adventure hook or something about a known NPC. I considering making this be about Maple’s new business partner, Maseera, but decided that makes less sense for Chuckles himself.

Instead, it’ll be about the dungeon and their patron who’s hired them to find their lost agent. It’s been several weeks, so it seems less likely that the agent is still alive, but what does the patron actually want? The patron is a “rich vigilante” - perhaps they have some sort of villainous plan? I’ll go back to the Tome of Adventure Design to see what their plan might be. “Desecration - Target the Priesthood (Guile)”. So the vigilante wants to take out the priesthood of some church through guile, which explains why they hired this group of adventurers. After all, that came about just after the adventurers had eliminated an evil cult of elementalists in the dungeon. I’ll keep my eyes out for opportunities to weave this into the story as they delve deeper.

Downtime: Krimkol

The dwarven priest has been engaged in spiritual exercises, trying to get the gods to provide further blessings on his staff of healing. He’s at one step of three on his tracker; unfortunately, he remains at a spiritual impass and doesn’t make any progress this time.

Downtime: Parouz

Knowing that the group is headed down into extremely dangerous territory, she’ll work on her martial exercises. As before, she and the fighter Shyup will train together (giving them each a bonus to this roll). She is still in top form, just like before, and she’ll have +1 to hit, +1 to damage, and +1 to AC (versus melee) until her next downtime.

Downtime: Shyup

Before having him undertake his sparring, first I need to do some bookkeeping because he reached level 3 as a fighter. He gains 1d8+1 = 3 hp (up to 18), plus he improves his saving throw and multiple attacks against lower-level opponents. Even better, he gets an extra +1 to hit.

In Shyup’s sparring, then, he also finds himself in top form with the same bonuses as Parouz.

Downtime: Maple

As with the fighter, she needs to finish levelling up before actual downtime. In her case, she is now a 4th-level thief, giving her d4 = 1 hp (up to 11), some improvements to her thieving skills, and finally a +1 to hit.

For her downtime, she needs to deal with the fact that the fashion house she’s invested in has run into some legal issues. She spends 600 gp to clear up those issues. Does she get any return on her investment of 500 gp (not counting that 600 from the licenses and “facilitating payments”)? I decide it’s 50/50, and the dice say “nah”. I don’t think she’s interested in investing more just yet, so instead she’ll go out drinking with her business partner, Maseera, spending 600 gp and getting that much in XP. It’s a wild experience, but no particular mishap or boon results.

Planning

They don’t need as many porters this time, as they aren’t bringing back a petrified body (or two). (This reminds me that I didn’t have them look for a buyer for the medusa “statue” this time.) Instead, they are going down to the half-explored level 8, where they defeated several ogres and ran from some owlbears. While they’ve already found the descent to level 9, they need to finish exploring this level first. Not only is it likely that there’s more treasure down there, they still need to find the lost agent.

They’ll continue to bring along the six dwarves-at-arms and the two original porters to carry lanterns and treasure.

In terms of spells, Krimkol needs to prepare two 1st-level spells and one 2nd-level spell from the cleric list. He’ll take bless from the 2nd-level list, and detect evil and protection from evil from the 1st-level list, just as before. Due to his staff and the way I use the Underclock, healing spells are less useful. He also has scrolls of continual light, bless, remove fear, and silence 15’ radius. Actually, since he has a scroll of bless, instead he can pray for hold person instead.

In parallel, though, Parouz can memorize three 1st-level spells and one 2nd-level spell from her spellbook. She will continue to use read magic for her scrolls of fireball and detect magic (mostly the former, if I’m being honest), as well as memorize sleep twice. For her 2nd-level spell, she’ll take phantasmal force due to its immense flexibility.

They’ll resupply with oil and rations, and then they’re ready to go.

Delve

The Underclock is back at 20 and the related Underworld die at a d6. There’s no encumbrance penalty on that yet.

Follower stats:

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.
Porters (2): HD 1d6 (2, 6 hp); Atk dagger (d4); Move 12; Save 18; Morale 7. Speak Common.

On level 7, I’ll use the Underclock again just to get things started. Before that, though, Parouz takes a moment to cast read magic so she has her scrolls available when needed. (Krimkol is intentionally waiting until reaching the lower level to cast any spells.)

Roll 1: d6! = 6+3 = 9 => 20-9 = 11
Roll 2: d6! = 6+2 = 8 => 11-8 = 3

That’s an omen already, just as they are headed down the stairs. Again, they get that shiver, as if something were walking across their graves. Krimkol murmurs a prayer to cast protection from evil before they head down. It will last 12 turns.

Turn 1

The expedition is lined up as follows:

Rank 1: Krimkol (wielding shield +1 and battle axe +1), Shyup (wielding shield and spear +1, plus a sheathed sword and a short bow)
Rank 2: Parouz (wielding sword +1/+3), Chuckles (wielding war hammer +2)
Rank 3: Porter 1, Maple (wielding short sword and short bow)
Rank 4: Porter 2, Dwarves
Rank 5: Dwarves

As they head down the stairs, porters shining their lanterns into the darkness, they carefully avoid the traps they’ve previously identified, returning to the door where they had heard “snuffling sounds and occasional groans”.

Underclock: d6! = 1 => 3-1 = 2

Turn 2

Back at that door, Maples listens once more, hearing those same muffled animalistic sounds. Krimkol casts detect evil but nothing on the other side sets his senses off. Evil is definitely moving around in the dungeon level, just not immediately behind this door.

The whole party is on edge; rather than open the door, they decide to have Krimkol and Shyup guard the approach from the east, and Chuckles and Parouz guard the approach from the south. Something is coming.

Underclock: d6! = 2 => 2-2 = 0 (reset clock to 3 and give an omen)

The shivers intensify when they can hear a haunted moan floating down the halls.

Turn 3

They’ll move slowly down the hall to the east, staying prepared and hunting whatever evil has their hair standing on end.

Underclock: d6! = 6+2 = 8 => 3-8 = -5 (reset clock to 20, encounter happens)

Turn 4

Is the encounter coming from in front of them (likely) or behind? It’s in front of them. They’re some distance from the hanging cage when a pair of horrifying undead creatures appear, full of malice and a hunger for vitality burning from their glowing eyes. They wear azure masks and bandages.

Wight (2): HD 3 (12, 12 hp); AC 14; Atk claw (1hp + level drain); Move 9; Save 14; Morale 12; AL C; CL/XP 6/400; Special: +1 or better magic or silver weapons to hit, level drain (1 level with hit)

That said, I take the approach from The Monster Overhaul p. 172:

The touch of a Wight also drains vitality. It imposes an XP debt on the target. A target hit by an attack must save or double the amount of XP necessary [to] reach their next level. (E.g. if it normally takes 200 XP to level up, it now takes 400 XP.)

The wights are 10’ away, immediately in melee range, coming from a small niche on the south side of the corridor. No one is surprised, of course.

Round 1: Krimkol begins to pray loudly to rebuke these undead. The adventurers win initiative. Parouz snarls and steps forward. (I decide that her sword’s +2 bonus against spellcasters counts here, making it +3). She strikes out at the first wight, immediately dealing 11 damage (leaving it at 1 hp). Shyup swings for the one next to hit, thrusting with his spear for 5 damage and taking it to 7 hp. Maple hangs back, not having any weapon that can harm these foes. Krimkol’s prayer reaches a climax, but the wights are not affected. Instead, one attacks Parouz and hits her for 1 hp; she fails her saving throw and feels the vitality drained from her. (I’ll deal with this after the combat.) The other wight attacks Shyup but misses.

Round 2: Krimkol continues his prayer without letup. The wights go first this round, continuing their assault. Parouz evades the attack this time, as does Shyup. She destroys the first wight, and Shyup deals 3 damage to the second one (down to 4 hp). Chuckles is shouting curses, but in this tight space, he can’t get past his allies into the fight. Krimkol finishes a prayer, and the remaining wight flees into the darkness.

After the fight, Parouz will now add 13,000 to the XP required for subsequent levels (the delta from level 3 to 4 for an elfblade). That’s a serious blow, but it’s better than death, and subtracting XP is a bookkeeping nightmare.

Underclock: d6! = 2 => 20-2 = 18

Turn 5

Are the ogre and dwarf still in the cage (likely)? Yes, although they’re watching with something like bemusement. Krimkol purses his lips and stares at the caged dwarf, but says nothing. The party returns to the door where they heard the snuffling sounds; it’s time to see what’s behind it.

Chuckles forces the door easily, revealing steps down to a large cavern.

Underclock: d6! = 4 => 18-4 = 14

Turn 6

They descend the stairs to find a “mean, old, and scarred cave bear” moving slowly and painfully. It pauses upon seeing them and sniffs the air cautiously, raising up on its hind legs. Despite being a natural animal, this is an incredibly dangerous beast that could shred them easily. They’ll back away slowly, leaving it be for now. If there’s no reason to deal with it, they’d prefer to avoid doing so at all.

Underclock: d6! = 2 => 14-2 = 12

Turn 7

They’ll continue back to the hanging cage, then Krimkol finally loses his patience. “WHAT ARE YOU?!” he screams at the caged dwarf.

The prisoner tilts his head inquisitively. “I’m just like you. You could let me down and we could have a discussion, if you like.” Krimkol says nothing more, glaring at him before his companions can urge him forward.

There’s a pair of doors to the left and right at the end of the hallway. Previously, they’d gone left and encountered owlbears. This time, they’ll go right.

Underclock: d6! = 5 => 12-5 = 7

Turn 8

At this door, Krimkol detects no evil aura. Maples hears nothing on the other side, so Chuckles attempts to pry it open (requiring Parouz’s assistance).

As soon as the door opens and the two of them fall inside, they see a space stuffed with mushrooms. Immediately a high-pitched shrieking noise rings out. The adventurers have found some sort of fungal farm, clearly, but the shriekers within it draw too much attention. Each of the adventurers will take 1 damage from the noise before Krimkol and Shyup can pull their friends back and close the door.

Due to that noise, I’ll make two Underclock rolls.

Roll 1: d6! = 6+5 = 11 => 7-11 = -4 (reset clock to 20, encounter happens)
Roll 2: d6! = 2 => 20-2 = 18

Turn 9

One of the dwarves screams in pain as an acidic pseudopod strikes them from behind, dissolving the retainer instantly! When the group turns, they discover that they’ve been surprised by an amorphous ooze.

Ochre Jelly: HD 6 (31 hp); AC 11; Atk acid-laden strike (3d4); Move 3; Save 11; Morale 12; AL N; CL/XP 6/400; Special: division (lightning splits creature into 2 jellies with equal hit points).

The ranks are out of order for this attack. That one attack counted as the surprise, however.

Round 1: The ooze acts first, but the adventurers will have a chance to reposition a bit and launch missiles. Krimkol and Shyup push their way forward, shields up. Two dwarves throw flasks of oil; both hit, dealing a combined 4 damage (down to 27) and setting it on fire. In melee, the ooze is unable to strike any of its prey. Krimkol hits it for 2 damage, and Shyup’s spear thrust seems to seek it out for 9 more damage, so it’s down to 16 hp.

Round 2: The adventurers go first this round. Shyup stabs it again for 9 damage, reducing it to 7 hp. Krimkol gets close but doesn’t deal any damage. The ooze takes 2 more damage from the flames, then lashes out at the dwarven priest for 10 damage.

Round 3: Again the adventurers win initiative. Krimkol steps back, letting Chuckles go past to the front rank. The barbarian swings his war hammer for 5 damage, ending the threat.

At the end of the fight, the party has lost one dwarf-at-arms, and Krimkol is at 10 hp. (The others are only down by 1 or 2 from the delve overall.)

Underclock: d6! = 2 => 18-2 = 16

Turn 10

They’d rather not deal with the shriekers right now, so they’ll turn around and investigate the door to the owlbear cave. They’d like to explore it, and Parouz expects to use her phantasmal force spell to deceive the creatures if they prove hostile.

This spell creates an illusion that seems realistic to all who view it. The illusion disappears when it is touched, but if the viewer believes the illusion is real, it can cause damage.

Chuckles and Krimkol force open the door. As expected, the three orange owlbears (with grey and white fringe) are still here. Of course, they were already alerted by the shriekers, so no surprise is possible for a bit. However, they’re enraged by that and charge the group!

Owlbears (3): HD 5 (24, 20, 25 hp); AC 14; Atk 2 claws (1d6), bite (2d6); Move 12; Save 12; Morale 9; AL N; CL/XP 5/240; Special: hug (additional 2d8 if to-hit roll is 18+)

When the encounter starts, the two groups are 40 feet apart.

Round 1: As planned, Parouz begins to cast phantasmal force. Specifically, she creates the illusion of a massive bear face, several times larger than any whole bear, snarling at them. (If it succeeds, they will need to make a morale check at a penalty.) The owlbears win initiative, however, and charge towards the front rank of adventurers. As they do, the adventurers launch missile attacks: Chuckles heaves a spear at the lead owlbear but misses. Maple fires an arrow from her shortbow, also missing. Two dwarves of the five remaining (I should have checked morale earlier) chuck flasks of oil at the first and second owlbears. The first misses (blocking the owlbear) and the second hits for 1 damage (down to 19 hp) and setting it on fire. That second, burning owlbear goes for Shyup, hitting him with a claw attack and hug for 1+9=10 damage (down to 7 hp), then biting for another 7 damage (down to 0 hp). The fighter needs to save or die: he fails and is mauled to death. The third owlbear attacks Krimkol, missing with its claws but biting him for 5 damage (he’s down to 5 hp). In melee, Krimkol strikes back for 4 damage (down to 21 hp). The other three dwarves attack the owlbear that killed Shyup, and one of them hits for 3 damage (down to 16 hp). Parouz finishes her spell, and the owlbears must check morale at a -2 penalty: the first owlbear stands and fights, though.

Round 2: This time, the adventurers win initiative. In the movement phase, everyone gets into melee, with Chuckles facing down the owlbear. He misses, but Krimkol hits for 2 damage, Parouz hits for another 6, and Maple stabs it in the back with her short sword for another 5 damage. That leaves it at 11 hp. I don’t think the dwarves can plausibly get into the fight just yet. The owlbear attacks Chuckles, clawing him twice for 6 damage, then biting for 7 more (down to 14 hp).

Round 3: The owlbear goes first and randomly attacks Parouz. Both claw attacks just barely miss (thanks to her martial training), and its bitw closes on empty air. She counterattacks with her magic long sword for 3 damage, taking it to 8 hp, then the other adventurers get to work flanking it. Maple sinks her short sword into its back for exactly that 8 damage, killing it.

Shyup actually should have used his parry! I didn’t write down the actual rolls, but he has a massive -4 to enemy melee attacks due to his dexterity and level, so I will actually have him survive at 1 hp. He might actually have avoided some of the attacks, which would have him at a higher total, but as a penalty for my mistake, I’ll leave him here. They’ll rest here for a bit.

Underclock: d6! = 4 => 16-4 = 12

Turn 11

This is a rest turn. Given their location, I think they’ll just make one roll, but it will of course step up the Underworld die to a d8 after.

Underclock: d6! = 1 => 12-1 = 11

Turn 12

Everyone is back to full hit points. They’ll now search this cave; it opens up further west in the direction of the cave bear, but there’s also a natural set of stairs leading down to the next level (a minor feat of exploration). They also find the corpse of an elf with a backpack containing 4000 sp. After a moment of investigation, they confirm this is the missing agent. They take some tokens to provide proof of their success.

Underclock: d8! = 3 => 11-3 = 8

Turn 13

The dwarves and Parouz spend a turn digging a grave and interring the elf properly.

Underclock: d8! = 2 => 8-2 = 6

Turn 14

It’s getting dangerous down here, but they want to check out that cave to the west. They’re hoping it doesn’t just lead to the cave bear’s lair. Maple moves quietly in the shadows, with the rest of the group following some distance behind.

She sees a dark and stagnant pool; there are shapes within that don’t bear close examination. The cave curves south towards a ledge where the cave bear resides.

Underclock: d8! = 4 => 6-4 = 2

Turn 15

They can feel something drawing closer, but they don’t know what it is. However, they want to see where these stairs lead, so they head down.

Underclock: d8! = 3 => 2-3 = -1 (reset clock to 20, encounter happens)

Turn 16

As they are heading down the stairs, they hear a slurping sound behind them. The dwarves look around and see a massive ochre jelly traveling through the cave, but it doesn’t seem to be coming for them. That’s a relief, considering what it did to them before. The group then exits the stairs into a medium-sized cavern.

Underclock: d8! = 6 => 20-6 = 14

Turn 17

Here in this cavern, they see strange rippled mounds in the dirt. Do any of the dwarves recognize it (likely)? Yes, Krimkol recognizes wormsign. He waves everyone back, and just as they get back into the stairs, a mssive 30 foot white worm erupts from the earth. They’ll need to be prepared to deal with it.

Underclock: d8! = 6 => 14-6 = 8

Turn 18

Why hasn’t Krimkol cast bless at any point? Back in the cavern, they pause for him to do so. He blesses the other named adventurers, giving them a +1 to attack until the end of turn 24.

Underclock: d8! = 4 => 8-4 = 4

Turn 19

They go back past the hanging cage to a door they haven’t previously opened, right next to the door leading down to the statuary below. Maple listens at the door and hears nothing.

Underclock: d8! = 5 => 4-5 = -1 (reset clock to 20, encounter happens)

Turn 20

While preparing to go through that door, a giant albino weasel comes out of the darkness behind them. Both sides are surprised, and the weasel hesitates. That’s a dangerous set of prey, but after a moment, it decides to attack.

Giant Albino Weasel: HD 4+4 (23 hp); AC 12; Atk bite (2d4); Move 15; Save 13; Morale 8; AL N; CL/XP 4/120; Special: none

It’s only 30 feet away when it attacks.

Round 1: The weasel moves before anyone else has the chance to do so, leaping at a dwarf-at-arms but unable to bite through their armor. The dwarves counter-attack: the one under attack hits it for 5 damage, another one for 4 more, a fourth dwarf deals another 4 damage, and the last one does 4 more. That’s 17 damage overall, leaving it at 6 hp.

Round 2: The weasel wins initiative again, but it still can’t gnaw through the dwarves’ armor. That same dwarf smashes the weasel with his war hammer for 3 damage, and another dwarf hits it for 5 more to kill it.

The lead adventurers didn’t have to lift a finger. This is a good group, all told, although they haven’t found much this expedition.

Underclock: d8! = 7 => 20-7 = 13

Turn 21

Now they can pry open the door. Chuckles doesn’t have any trouble with it, since the hinges are rusted on the metal door. They can see water leaking on the south wall on the other side of the room, and there are several patches of mold. Do any of the dwarves recognize it (likely)? Yes, one of the hired dwarves immediately recognizes it as dangerous yellow mold. They’ll expend four flasks of oil to burn it away.

Underclock: d8! = 6 => 13-6 = 7

Turn 22

The door leading out on the east side of the room doesn’t seem to conceal any sounds, according to Maple. So when Chuckles opens it, they are a little dismayed (though not surprised) to see quite a few troglodytes in the room beyond. The trogs are unhappy that someone has burned away one of their defenses and are ready to fight.

Troglodytes (7): HD 2 (8, 8, 7, 3, 5, 10 hp); AC 15; Atk 2 claws (1d3), Bite (1d4+1); Move 12; Save 16; Morale 8; AL C; CL/ XP 3/60; Special: Stench, chameleon skin

The groups are only separated by 30 feet, the length of the room.

Round 1: Parouz immediately begins to cast sleep on these enemies. (It’s a good thing we found them before the bless expires.) The adventurers win initiative. Maple fires an arrow at the lead troglodyte, but it goes wide. (Chuckles doesn’t get to act on this round because of opening the door.) Shyup, Krimkol, and Chuckles leap into the melee. Shyup and Krimkol miss, but Chuckles slams his war hammer into the lead trog for 6 damage (down to 2 hp). Before the trogs can act, Parouz finishes her spell, putting all seven of them to sleep.

None of the adventurers were hurt during this exchange.

Underclock: d8! = 1 => 7-1 = 6

Turn 23

While the troglodytes slumber away, the adventurers will take a turn to search the room. There’s a wooden box under their table covered in yellow mold, so they spend another flask of oil to burn that away. Does the box itself burn (50/50)? yes, it does. Inside, they find two dozen 500gp gems. (Jackpot!) There’s another wooden chest with 6000 sp.

Underclock: d8! = 7 => 6-7 = -1 (reset clock to 20, encounter happens)

Turn 24

A single ogre wanders into the room from the west, where the group had burned away the mold. They had come to check on all the noise and a room that had previously been too hazardous to enter. The ogre is actually happy to see the adventurers having defeated the troglodytes. This is good news as far as they’re concerned, since these two groups were at odds with each other.

Krimkol advises the others that they should leave together rather than observe what’s likely to happen next.

With their encumbrance, I think I’ll cap the Underclock at 18, actually.

Underclock: d8! = 1 => 18-1 = 17

Turn 25

They’re more or less completed this level and are just exiting the dungeon now. So I’ll have them make two rolls here and two more rolls on the level above (the temple level).

Roll 1: d8! = 1 => 17-1 = 16
Roll 2: d8! = 8+7 = 15 => 16-15 = 1
Roll 3: d8! = 7 => 1-7 = -6 (reset clock to 18, encounter)

Turn 26

Up on the temple level, they hear that slurping sound again, but the difficult-to-spot slithering tracker doesn’t seem to be aggressive. They’ll try to move past it quickly.

Roll 4: d8! = 3 => 18-3 = 15

They exit the dungeon without further incident.

Experience and Rewards

Monsters:
- 1 wight: 400 xp
- 1 ochre jelly: 400 xp
- 1 owlbear: 240 xp
- 1 giant albino weasel: 120 xp
- 7 troglodytes: 420 xp
Treasure:
- 4000 sp
- 6000 sp
- 24x 500gp gems
1 minor feat of exploration

From monsters, then, that’s 400 + 400 + 240 + 120 + 420 = 1580 XP. They also found 10,000 sp and 24x 500gp gems, as well as earned a 4000 gp reward for recovering the body of an elven agent, which is 1000 + 12000 + 4000 = 17000 gp/XP.

Finally, there’s one minor feat of exploration, which is worth 2% of the TXP needed to reach the next level. (Parouz is way behind at this point due to the wight, of course, but that will help the rest of them in some sense.) So the TXP for Chuckles, Krimkol, Parouz, Shyup, and Maple (respectively) is 13000 + 13000 + 26000 + 8000 + 5000 = 65000 XP,, and 2% of that makes 1300 XP.

In total, then that’s 1580 + 1300 + 17000 = 19880 XP total, or 3976 for each adventurer before bonuses. Maple levels up again, reaching 5th level as a thief, and Shyup does as well to become a 4th-level fighter, though; they’ll level up again at the start of the next session.

Five dwarves-at-arms survived, plus five adventurer characters, so that’s 7.5 shares for the treasure. That’s 2266 gp per adventurer and 1134 per dwarf. (Perhaps they should be getting a share of the XP, but I’m not doing that in this campaign.)

Shyup had a close call, but in truth, had I been paying attention, it should not have been that close. Imagine if I were playing a truly crunchy edition like 3.5e or Pathfinder! (This is why I don’t, in large part.)

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