Dyson’s Delve - Session 20

I suspect this is the penultimate session in this Dyson’s Delve campaign, unless they all die horribly today. My to-do list (again, not necessarily in this order):

Level up Chuckles
Discuss “followers”
Explore the cave on Level 10
Consider visiting the “new regime” of the wererats

Preparation

I’m running through downtime a bit more quickly today without paying too much attention to more in-depth narrative.

Downtime: Chuckles

He’s reached 5th level as a Barbarian. He gains d10=5 hit points (up to 33), improves his saving throw by 1, and has marginal improvements to his skills.

The dangers in the dungeon continue to increase, though, so rather than party, this time he’ll engage in some martial training with other party members. He’s in good form, so he’ll get +1 AC (melee) and +1 to hit.

Downtime: Krimkol

His spiritual exercises with his staff of healing have not progressed well. Previously, he started to wonder if this was not the will of his gods. Now, though, he’s regaining some confidence: this must be a test of perseverance, and he will continue to try to focus his faith on improving his abilities with the staff. His faith is rewarded with clarity of spirit, moving him to the second step of three on the tracker.

He will pray for the following spells:

bless
protection from evil
detect evil

Downtime: Parouz

She will practice together with Chuckles, sharpening her skills in preparation for likely combat. Likewise, she maintains good form, and she will get +1 to hit and +1 to damage for this adventure.

From her spellbook, she will prepare the following spells:

phantasmal force
read magic (for her scroll of fireball)
sleep x2

Downtime: Shyup

From a meta perspective, he’s unlikely to reach 5th level in this campaign, as they really only have like a level and a half of the dungeon to complete. So, he’ll continue to work on his skills together with the others. This pays off and he’s in top form, so he’ll get +1 to hit and +1 to damage in addition to +1 AC (melee).

Downtime: Maple

As a thief, she’s not really much for combat - except for backstabbing. While this is not the core of a thief in this version of D&D, in reality that’s how it has played out in this dungeon (which hasn’t had a lot of traps). So, she’ll practice her backstabbing skills with the others. She’s a little rusty, so only gets +1 to hit.

She doesn’t intend to invest more in the business, but is there a profit this time (50/50)? No, sadly.

Planning

I alluded to this in the to-do list, but there’s still an open question whether the group goes down and checks on the wererats. They defeated the king and his high priest, which made room for the vizier to take power and dominate the queen and prince. There were two other noble families they’d met briefly near the lair of the white worm.

Otherwise, the cave on level 10 (past the minotaur lair) is the next obvious place to explore. They don’t know that there’s only one level below that, but we do. Also, I haven’t shown the level 10 map directly on this blog in a previous post, but of course it’s in this one.

Followers

After doing some research and finding useful blog posts like “Henchmen and Hirelings in Dungeons and Dragons”, I’ve finally gotten a better handle on how to handle these sorts of “NPCs”. (That term seems to have been used a little differently back in the 1970s, and in any case in a solitaire game like this, there’s no real distinction between PCs and NPCs in the adventuring party.)

So what I “should” have been doing is treating the porters and torchbearers as hirelings, and the other characters (like the dwarves-at-arms) as henchmen. I had the latter in a sort of midway point, where they got a half share of the treasure but no experience points or special abilities. I’ll continue to do that for this campaign, but I expect to handle it differently in the next one. I have definitely come to appreciate how important they are for the success of the expedition!

With that in mind, I’ll continue to have Krimkol hire the dwarves he has brought along before, and Chuckles will take care of the porters. There’s some other miscellaneous resupply as well (oil and lamps and whatnot). The stats are:

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, 5 hp); Atk dagger (d4); Move 12; Save 18; Morale 7. Speak Common.

Delve

The Underclock starts at 20 and the die size is a d6. As they enter, Parouz will cast read magic so she has her scrolls immediately available. Krimkol, though, will wait until they’re on a level they want to explore properly.

Passing through the upper levels

I’ll continue my practice of using Underclock rolls to simulate traveling through levels they’ve already explored; two rolls on level 7, one each on 8 and 9. (Note that level 10 has no wandering monsters and thus I won’t be rolling there until they get to the level below that.)

Level 7-1: d6! = 5 => 20-5=15
Level 7-2: d6! = 6+1 = 7 => 15-7=8
Level 8: d4! = 1 => 8-1=7 (decreased frequency of encounters on these levels leads to a smaller die size)
Level 9: d4! = 3 => 7-3=4

Turn 1

They descend the stairs from the worm’s lair to the level where they defeated the monitor. Krimkol takes a moment here to cast protection from evil on himself, giving him a bonus of +1 to AC and saving throws against evil creatures. The cave here is the same stone as they’ve seen, but with a somewhat smoothed-out floor. They’ll go through the lair where the minotaur was, as the other passage is now closed off by the cave-in.

Turn 2

There’s another natural chamber here, and they spend some time inspecting it for secret doors, treasure, and the like. In absolute terms, they’re quite close to the wererat royal chambers, but they do not find any direct connections to this cave.

Turn 3

The cave narrows to a long corridor. In the distance, they can hear skittering sounds, and so Krimkol casts detect evil. He doesn’t have any indications of such, though he’s aware that doesn’t mean that natural beasts like bears, spiders, and the like won’t be present.

The marching order generally is:

Rank 1: Shyup, Krimkol
Rank 2: Chuckles, Parouz
Rank 3: Lantern Bearer, Maple
Rank 4: Lantern Bearer, Dwarves

Turn 4

As the corridor seems to fork a bit, a pair of Tuatera Lizards (imagine like 10-foot iguanas) are encountered. Neither side is surprised, and the lizards seem to hesitate for a moment when they see this whole contingent descending. After a moment, they pull back into the darkness. The party isn’t necessarily trying to fight them, as the lizards seem quite large and threatening. Hopefully they will not regret this with some sort of ambush or picking off the rear guard later.

The lizards’ cavern ends in stairs leading down, a minor feat of exploration.

Turn 5

As they descend the stairs, Chuckles and Maple hold up their hands to signal a halt. They can hear… waves? Water? They are hundreds of feet beneath the surface of the earth, but that’s what it sounds like.

And as they come out of the stairs on level 11, the cave opens up to a lake shore of some sort. Inky black water stretches off into the distance, and the occasional ripple of the water or… slurp? can be heard. Looking to their right, they can see where the shore leads to some other caverns, so they head that way.

(The Underclock returns here, at a d4.)

Underclock: d4! = 2 => 4-2=2

Krimkol has a bad feeling about this, feeling evil auras back in those caverns.

Turn 6

The dwarven priest casts bless on the party; it gives an additional +1 to attack rolls for the other adventurers (Chuckles, Parouz, Shyup, and Maple), though not himself or any of his henchdwarves.

The first cavern to their right opens up to a large space with a floor of stone masonry. There are a few baskets and crates of food of various sorts (none of it smelling particularly appetizing). A pair of large double doors leads north, and the cavern has a small alcove that leads to a door to the east.

While they’re exploring this room, Maple and Chuckles listen at the double doors, and they can hear mutterings and voices, but they can’t quite make out what they’re saying. The group prepares for possible hostilities.

Underclock: d4! = 2 => 2-2=0 (reset to 3)

They can smell a horrible stench nearby; this must be troglodytes.

Turn 7

Two of the dwarves pry open the door and fall inside. Shyup and Krimkol follow, and there’s a small corridor immediately leading to a T intersection. They go left, where the noise is slightly quieter.

This room - and it is indeed a room, not a cavern - has one those huge tuatara lizards in a stable, attended by eight troglodyes! Somehow, these underground reptiles don’t notice the party, giving them a moment to prepare.

Troglodytes (8): HD 2 (13, 6, 15, 12, 8, 4, 5, 16 hp); AC 15; Atk 2 claws (1d3), Bite (1d4+1) or by weapon with shield (1d8); Move 12; Save 16; Morale 8; AL C; CL/XP 3/60; Special: Stench, chameleon skin.
Tuatara Lizard: HD 6 (34 hp); AC 15; Atk 2 claws (1d4), bite (2d6); Move 9; Save 12; Morale 6; AL N; CL/XP 7/600; Special: None.

The two groups are 30’ apart at the start of the encounter. However, the adventurers are not leaping to the attack; they know there are more voices in the room to the right, and fighting them all at once seems like potentially problematic.

Underclock: d4! = 2 => 3-2=1

Turn 8

Instead, Chuckles and Maple try to check the other room, with the party immediately behind them. They find a large lair with over a dozen trogs in it! However, these do not seem to be aggressive; on the contrary, they regard them with curiosity (tinged by suspicion, sure). Maple covers Chuckles’ mouth before he can say something stupid. In the ensuing conversation, the trogs here explain that their king must be the ones to receive them (though of course they warn against treachery).

Underclock: d4! = 4 => 1-4=-3 (reset to 20)

Turn 9

As they say that, a door on the east side of the room opens. They are escorted into the throne room where a massive, ogre-like troglodyte, flanked by three bodyguards, waits. His throne is encrusted with gems, and there is a suit of magical armor hanging on the wall. There is a chest bolted to the middle of the floor.

He bares his teeth and demands an explanation for the intrusion before he tells his followers to rip these surface dwellers apart (hostile but not an immediate attack). Thinking quickly, Parouz says they have come to offer tribute to his glory, in the form of a mastercraft helmet (the helm of alignment change in her pack). Will he allow her to place it upon his head? He is hesitant and non-committal, but eventually agrees.

The helm doesn’t necessarily change his personality, nor does it change him to a servant of the adventurers. But it does change him to Law, away from Chaos (evil). This makes him much easier to deal with, and (crucially) reduces the threat of a fight. He continues to ask them of their intentions, and they claim they are “simple explorers”. Has he heard of what happened with the wererats (likely)? No, though he is aware of the defeats of the white worm and minotaur.

Therefore, he’ll ask them for a favor: there are some ogres nearby. He’s been working to keep tension down between them, but it’s starting to become a burden. Perhaps this group might be able to serve as some sort of intermediary? Ultimately he woould like to see the troglodytes establish control of this area, but at a minimum he wants to ensure that the ogres will not feed on his people.

The group agrees and prepares to head around to the ogre lair. (This fifth room counts as another minor feat of exploration.)

Underclock: d4! = 4+3 = 7 => 20-7=13

Turn 10

The adventurers leave through the large cavern, then head to the door on the southeast side of it. Maple and Chuckles listen and can hear ogre patois. They prepare in case of a fight. Four of them still have bless active… and Parouz has her scroll of fireball ready if needed.

In the interest of diplomacy, though, Krimkol physically raps on the door with his staff. After a moment, an ogre opens the door, and is visibly taken aback to see dwarves and surface dwellers standing there. However, the ogres immediately yell a war cry and grab their weapons. Fight’s on.

Ogres (4): HD 4+1 (29, 23, 26, 19 hp); AC 14; Atk weapon (1d10+1); Move 9; Save 13; Morale 10; AL C; CL/XP 4/120; Special: none.

Other than the ogre at the door, the others are 40’ away.

Round 1: Parouz starts to cast fireball, intending to throw it into the room and around the corner. The ogres win initiative, though, and the three around the corner come up to the entrance. (The sound of other doors opening can be heard.) The ogre at the door swings at Krimkol, but misses badly. Another ogre stands next to the first and hits the dwarf for 7 damage, taking him to 14 hp. The other two cannot reach the party yet, as there’s not enough room in the corridor. Krimkol and Shyup are the only two in the front, so they both go for that first ogre, but without success.

However, at the end of the phase, Parouz completes her reading of the scroll, points her finger, and a small point of red flame flies out of it, growing as it arcs through the air, landing just around the corner. The “burst radius” of the spell is 20’, so it will hit all three ogres - and the four that are coming up behind them (unbeknownst to the party). It does 1d6 of damage per level fo the caster, but spells cast from a scroll “are cast as if by a 6th level caster,” so that makes 6d6 damage for each of them, although they can save for half. The fireball does 24 damage (although it won’t hit the front two ogres at the door). The third ogre saves and takes 12 damage (down to 14 hp), while the fourth misses their save and is killed. Two of the next ogres save and take 12 damage each, while the other two fail and take 24. I haven’t rolled their starting hit points yet, so I’ll do that now: 23, 19, 15, and 21, meaning that the first two are killed and the other two are down to 3 and 9 hp, respectively. Because the “blast fills… 33 10’ x10 x10’ cubical areas”, I would say that all of the surviving ogres and the front two adventurers need to save or be knocked off their feet. Both adventurers save; one of the front two ogres does as well. The surviving ogre of the first group also stands on their feet. Of the second group, only one is still on their feet. One of the injured ogres (at 14 hp) surrenders and cowers back around the corner.

(My reading of the spell effects may be at variance from others, but that’s how it seems to me for now.) At this point, anyone in the general area is definitely aware of the fight.

Round 2: The adventurers go first this time. Krimkol steps back slightly, allowing Chuckles to stand to the front. The remaining ogres try to come up. Chuckles attacks the one that was knocked down; I count this the same as “attacking from behind” (so a +2 bonus). Unfortunately, it’s not enough. Krimkol does the same and hits them for 9 damage, taking that one to 14 hp. The first ogre attacks Chuckles, bringing down a massive club on his head for 7 damage, leaving him at 26 hp. The other stands back up.

Round 3: Parouz realizes this is going to be a long slog if they don’t get a little smarter and begins to cast sleep on the first ogre. The ogres go first in initiative order. During the movement and missiles phase, Chuckles and Shyup stand back slightly, which would give the ogres a bit of room to step outside the door (exposing them to a couple of flanking attacks). The ogres have already moved, so that won’t change anything until the next round, and they can still reach the two adventurers. One swings at Shyup and hits for 3 damage (down to 23 hp), while the other (who just stood up) does the same at Chuckles, thumping him for 10 damage (down to 16 hp). Chuckles whirls his war hammer and smashes the ogre in front of him for 7 damage (reduced to 7 hp). Shyup thrusts his spear into the same ogre, killing them. At this point, Parouz completes her spell and the lead ogre falls into an enchanted slumber. The ogres have now lost more than half their number, and the two in back need to make morale checks again. Both of them pass their checks and continue to fight.

Round 4: The ogres go first and rush into the gap, allowing Maple and Krimkol to flank them. In melee, Maple tries to stab the 3-hp ogre in the back, but only scores a light scratch (no damage). Krimkol brings around his holy battle axe on the 9-hp ogre and kills them straight out. Shyup finishes off the surviving ogre in the fight.

There are two surviving ogres, one asleep and the other surrendering. The two will be secured as prisoners for the troglodytes.

Underclock: d4! = 4+4+1 = 9 => 13-9=4

Turn 11

While the dwarves-at-arms secure the prisoners, the main adventurers advance into the ogre lair. This first room contains a cauldron, although the fireball blast has knocked it over and scorched away the liquid within. The solid chunks are too blackened for identification.

Underclock: d4! = 1 => 4-1=3

The adventurers can hear ogres stomping in the distance.

Turn 12

Chuckles, Krimkol, and Shyup return to the entrance to the ogre lair, prepared for a possible return of more enemies. Parouz and Shyup explore the back room of the ogre lair, which has been tossed around by the blast from the fireball. They find a hobbit corpse partially butchered - but also, a decent around of treasure in sacks. This is 1000 gp, 3000 sp, a platinum bracer valued at 700 gp, and a golden bracelet with jet worth 1200 gp.

Underclock: d4! = 3 => 3-3=0 (reset to 3)

The stomping grows louder, and ogre voices can be heard.

Turn 13

The adventurers pull together the prisoners and slowly transport them back to the troglodytes. That takes time, though, particularly for the one who is unconscious.

Underclock: d4! = 4 => 3-4=-1 (reset to 19 due to treasure encumbrance)

Turn 14

As they are shoving the second ogre into the double door leading to the troglodyte lair, a returning squad of four ogres comes around the corner from the underground lake. No reaction roll required: they can see one of their own as a bound prisoner, and they immediately attack.

Ogres (4): HD 4+1 (27, 18, 19, 15 hp); AC 14; Atk weapon (1d10+1); Move 9; Save 13; Morale 10; AL C; CL/XP 4/120; Special: none.

They are a full 60 feet away when the encounter begins.

Round 1: Parouz begins to cast phantasmal force, making it appear that a cave-in will drop a massive flood of boulders on the ogres. The ogres win initiative, though, and they rush forward. Maple fires her short bow at the lead ogre; unfortunately, she misses. Shyup hurls his magic spear at the same one, but it also misses (he’ll need to recover it after the fight). The ogres finish closing the distance. Krimkol and Chuckles receive the charge; the first ogre misses Krimkol, but the second hits him for 4 damage (down to 10 hp). The other two ogres attack Chuckles the Barbarian, and both miss (one missing him by just a hair). The two adventurers counterattack without success. Parouz finishes her spell, and the ogres need to save against the illusion. All but the last fail and take 10 damage from the “boulders”, leaving them at 17, 8, 9, and 15 hp (as the last one was not fooled).

Round 2: The adventurers go first. The dwarves-at-arms scurry behind the ogres, as do Maple and Parouz. In the melee phase, Krimkol attacks the first ogre, but misses. (I just realize I wasn’t counting the bless for the others, which would definitely have made a difference! Details are hard.) Chuckles misses badly on the second ogre, and Shyup (with his regular long sword) hits the third ogre for 5 damage, leaving them at 4 hp. Maple tries to stab that same ogre in the back and completely eviscerates them in the process. Parouz uses the opportunity to attack the first ogre from behind, but comes nowhere near them. Now the dwarves attack; the first two on the first ogre, hitting it for 3 and 5 damage, respectively (down to 9 hp). The next two attack the second ogre, also from behind, but they do not succeed. Finally, the last pair flank the ogre that saw through the illusion to deal 4 damage (down to 11 hp). Having lost one of their own, the remaining three must make morale checks: the first two fail and run away squealing, while the last one stands their ground.

Round 3: The troglodytes start to come out to see what is happening, but they are not participating. This ogre wins the initiative roll and attacks Krimkol randomly, clubbing the dwarf for 6 damage (down to 4 hp). The adventurers go next. Maple can’t get a hit, even from her flanking position, but Parouz can and deals 8 damage to the ogre (3 hp left). Chuckles finishes the job.

This impresses the troglodytes mightily: these adventurers destroyed their ogre enemies handily, including bringing them two prisoners.

Underclock: d4! = 1 => 19-1=18

Turn 15

The Lizard King acknowledges the success of the adventurers. Given the alignment change, I don’t think he will betray them, but I will roll his reaction to see how much of a reward he gives them. On an “unfriendly” result, he’ll give them half of the treasure in the chest; on a “hesitant,” the whole chest; and on a “friendly,” he’ll also give them the armor. The result is friendly, so they gain 8000 gold pieces and the +2 plate armor.

When they ask after the origin of the armor, the King tells them blandly that it belongs to a knight who sought to slay their munificent patron, Dulwin the Wyrm, who dwells in a cavern just above their heads. Parouz clarifies: yes, there’s a black dragon up there, not a “worm” in the sense of the vermiform creature they’ve already defeated. After a nervous grin at each other, the adventurers thank the King and make their way back to the surface.

Between the quest and this information, that counts as a major feat of exploration.

Underclock: d4! = 2 => 18-2=16

Return to Surface

As before, they only need to roll once on level 9, once on level 8, and twice on level 7.

Level 9: d4! = 4+4+4+2 = 14 => 16-14=2
Level 8: d4! = 1 => 2-1=1
Level 7-1: d6! = 1 => 1-1=0 (reset to 3)

The scouts can hear sniveling wererats in the distance.

Level 7-2: d6! = 2 => 3-2=1

They exit without an encounter.

Experience and Rewards

Monsters:
- Ogres 12x 120 XP
Treasure:
- 1000 gp
- 8000 gp
- 3000 sp
- Platinum bracer (700 gp)
- Golden bracelet with jet (1200 gp)
- Plate armor +2
Feats of Exploration:
- 2 minor (five rooms, entrance to level 11)
- 1 major (Lizard King quest / information)

Since Chuckles leveled up, that changes the TXP for the feats of exploration mechanic.

Chuckles: 25000
Krimkol: 13000
Parouz: 26000 (due to XP debt)
Shyup: 8000
Maple: 10000

That means the TXP is 82000. Minor feats are worth 2% of that, for 1640 XP each, and major feats are worth 5%, for 4100 XP.

Therefore, from monsters they earn 1440 XP. The treasure is worth 1000+8000+300+700+1200 = 11200 XP/gp, and exploration earned them another 7380 XP. This is a total of 20020 XP each, divided by 5, for 4004 XP each (before bonuses). Additionally, with six dwarves (each getting a half share of the treasure), there are 8 shares total, so the adventurers each get 1400 gp, and the dwarves are paid 700 gp each. (Again, this should also affect the adventurers’ XP, but since I’m almost at the end of the campaign, I’ll let it slide.)

Krimkol reaches 5th level as a Dwarven Priest and Shyup similarly reaches 5th level as a Fighter. In the next session, they’ll get their bonuses from that… and then the group will make its final delve to confront the black dragon at the core of the dungeon.

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