Dyson’s Delve - Session 4

I’ve decided to go back into the Dyson’s Delve mini-megadungeon, carrying forward the one character that survived.

New characters

However, I’ve made a few concessions to solo play within the spirit of OSR rules.

Characters start with the maximum HP available to them at level 1.
Attributes are determined by rolling 3d6 in order, but any one pair of attributes may be swapped.

With that in mind, I have a new set of characters. Anela remains on the roster, of course. She has recovered the wand of magic detection with two charges that her former comrade carried before his untimely demise. (Coincidentally, the playthrough by Lone Horizons that inspired this also dealt with the issue of new characters in the most recent episode.)

The party will not have any retainers (followers) this time.

Chuckles

Yes, that name is intentional: Barbarians, as described in the Swords & Wizardry Book of Options (affiliate link), are “warriors that have grown up outside the confines of civilization.” That is, they’re largely defined by being from Someplace Else (because naturally, that just implies they are from a different civilization).

Barbarians have some thief-like skills (e.g. Climb Sheer Surfaces, Ambush, Detect Pits & Snares) and some ranger-like skills (e.g. Tracking, Alertness). Chuckles wears leather armor and wields a bastard sword, and while he has a shield, as the only party member without any form of darkvision, he’ll need that hand for a torch most of the time. He also has rope and a crowbar.

Khnar

As previously noted, I don’t feel bound by the ancestry restrictions in S&W. So Khnar is an elf fighter, with no mage or thief abilities at all. He has a battle axe and a shortbow, wears leather armor, and has a shield when in melee combat. His dexterity is high enough that he can parry incoming melee attacks.

Krimkol

He is another new class, the Dwarven Priest. I figured that a campaign that, at least in the beginning, is motivated by goblin raids would attract a dwarf. Because of this, he has the Cleric spell list and a few bonuses when hiring other dwarves. (Also like clerics, he can’t cast an actual spell until 2nd level.) He also wields an axe, naturally.

I don’t think I will include any sort of current animosity between the dwarves and the elves. That said…

Parouz

…here’s another elf. She is an Elfblade, “a simplified version of the elven multi-class combination of Fighter and Magic-User.” She carries a longsword and keeps her other hand free to cast spells. Her ability scores lead her to lose one potential HP per level, and she does not have access to the Arcane Parry ability in the Book of Options.

Her available spells are:

detect magic
hold portal
light
protection from evil
read magic
shield
sleep

For this delve, she is preparing the sleep spell. I think both elves are interested in seeing the tomb of Saint Ulther, who was an enemy of the elves many centuries ago. (Given that they are both first-level characters, it’s safe to assume neither of them fought in that war themselves.)

Feats of Exploration XP

The Total XP Needed for the next level across all 5 characters is 12,000. Thus minor feats will gain 240 XP, major feats will gain 600 XP, and extraordinary feats will gain 1200 XP for the group.

The Delve

Before they go back in, I decide to give each cleared room a 1-in-3 chance of being reoccupied by monsters similar to the original ones for that particular area. Despite the statistical improbability, the only room on Level 1 that has “new” monsters in it will be the crypts in the southeast portion.

I’m also bringing back the Underclock.

To summarize once more:

I’ll roll the Underworld die every dungeon turn, then subtract that amount from the current value. The die starts as a d6 and the Underclock starts at 20.
The Underworld die explodes on the maximum result for its size: subtract that value and roll again.
When the Underclock equals 0 exactly, set it to 3.
When the Underclock equals 3 exactly, a Shadowing Event occurs (e.g. an omen or spoor or clues of what is coming).
When the Underclock is less than 0, a random encounter occurs (usually related to the Shadowing Event).

This also means including a “resting” mechanic, which recovers the party’s HP but requires 1-3 Underclock rolls and increases the size of the Underworld die.

Turn 1

The party enters via the cave that Anela was shown last time, rather than go through the surface ruins. They find the animal bones mostly undisturbed. As before, they don’t go disturbing the animal nests in adjoining chambers.

Chuckles lights a torch that will expire at the end of Turn 6.

Underworld die: 5
Underclock: 15

Turn 2

They proceed through the narrow passages that lead north into the constructed portion of the dungeon. Despite his need for a torch, Chuckles takes the lead, followed by Khnar, Krimkol, Parouz, and Anela.

Underworld die: 3
Underclock: 12

Turn 3

Now they’re in the dungeon proper. Have the bodies of the prior adventurers been removed or disturbed (very likely)? Yes, they’re completely gone. That’s somewhat ominous, they decide. The party decides to visit Saint Ulther’s tomb, not for looting but to pay their respects and perhaps investigate.

To the south, there are half a dozen skeletons milling about. Anela has a bit of a glint in her eye but, given her compatriots here, keeps her mouth shut. (She hasn’t yet revealed the nature of her necromantic powers.) While these are “mindless undead,” I want to see if they’re going to be aggressive and rush the group for far away or wait to be engaged. (Related: as a Stygian, Anela has a +2 bonus on Reaction rolls, which fits particularly well here!) It’s not enough, however, as the skeletons attack.

Skeletons (6): HD 1 (1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6 hp); AC 11; Atk 1 strike (1d6); MV 12; Save 17; Morale 12

No one is surprised at this.

Round 1: Before they get started, Anela prepares to cast hold undead and Krimkol puts away his battle axe in favor of holding his holy symbol high so that he can turn the enemies. The skeletons win initiative this time and rush forward. The tomb is 20’ wide at this point, but St. Ulther’s sarcophagus is on the side. Taking into account the spacing rules in S&W (p. 40), and keeping in mind that none of them are using both hands for their weapons, that puts three of them in the front: Chuckles, Khnar, and Parouz. No missile fire will occur this round, so we’ll go straight to melee. There will be two attacks on each of the front-line adventurers: one hits Khnar for 2 hp (dropping him to 7), and one hits Parouz for 3 hp (dropping her to 4). The others miss. In return, Chuckles destroys one of the skeletons (4 hp), Khnar hits another (5 hp), and Parouz hits a third (3 hp). Three skeletons remain (1, 3, 6 hp). Anela casts hold undead, which affects only one of them, and it fails its save. Krimkol turns the other two, and they flee back into the crypts.

Krimkol gives Anela an appraising look but, regardless, this makes the destruction of the remaining skeletons child’s play.

Underworld die: 1
Underclock: 11

Turn 4

The group spends more time now inspecting the tomb. There’s nothing particularly valuable or interesting, at least not mechanically, but this is particularly interesting to the elves. They’ll spend these few minutes taking some rubbings from the engraved sarcophagus lid, sketching the mosaic, etc. I’ll count this as a minor feat of exploration.

Underworld die: 5
Underclock: 6

Turn 5

Back to the descent room, they listen around the staircase that leads down to the next dungeon level. Anela assures them that she saw goblins come out of this hole. The group listens carefully but hears nothing before deciding to descend.

Underworld die: 1
Underclock: 5

Turn 6

They find themselves in corridor that ends in a door, plus a side passage to the right (leading south). Khnar listens at the door and hears goblin chatter. In fact, the door is open a crack. Due to this, I decide to give the group a bonus on their roll to surprise the goblins: success! They weren’t quite wise enough to bring a bunch of oil, so they’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Khnar and Krimkol will kick in the door and brace with shields, Parouz will prepare to cast sleep, Chuckles will guard the rear, and Anela will throw darts if needed.

Parouz’s sleep spell succeeds very well, catching all of the goblins in the den. The party has no difficulty carrying out their intentions. Among the cooling corpses of the goblins, they recover 40 electrum pieces (ep).

At the end of all this, Chuckles lights another torch that will expire at the end of Turn 12 if nothing happens. He has another three unlit torches in his pack.

Underworld die: 1
Underclock: 4

Turn 7

The group goes back into the corridor and heads south. The passage leads left and right, with the left (east) side leading immediately to an archway blocked up with broken old furniture and a lot of fire beetles inside. To the right, they can hear (and see) a few more goblins.

Rather than deal with the fire beetles right now, they must ensure they don’t get flanked by the goblins. They decide to go right, and the goblins seem to react positively. Perhaps they are not aware of the threat the party represents? Regardless, I don’t think the party is inclined to parley with them, particularly after the number of adventurers that have met their ends here trying to stop the raids the goblins have carried out on the surface. Instead, I will give them another bonus on their chance to “surprise” the goblins (catching them off-guard): failure. The goblins might not have been aggressive, but they were also not unaware.

Goblins (4): HD 1d6 (1, 2, 2, 6 hp); AC 13; Atk 1 weapon (1d6); MV 9; Save 18; Morale 7

Round 1: The party doesn’t have any spells available to cast. The goblins win initiative and rush forward. The party is in a 10’ wide corridor, so only two of each side can engage in melee: two goblins will clash against Khnar and Krimkol. From the back, Anela can throw darts, while Chuckles and Parouz ensure no surprise combatants can flank them. Anela’s dart glances off the armor of a goblin. The goblins attack: Khnar ducks under the swing of the first one, but Krimkol takes a full 6 damage (down to 2 hp). In response, Khnar hits his goblin for 7 hp and kills it, while Krimkol doesn’t hit. Anela then throws two more darts, one of which hits for 3 hp and kills a second goblin. The remaining goblins have to make a morale check, which they pass, and they will stand and fight.

Round 2: This time the adventurers win initiative. Anela throws another dart but misses. Krimkol advances, with Parouz filling his spot, so one of the remaining goblins is flanked (but so is the priest). In melee, then, Krimkol swipes at the one in the rear, but can’t hit it. Khnar takes down the one in front. The remaining goblin attacks Krimkol, but misses.

Round 3: Initiative will occur simultaneously this round, but none of the melee combatants do any real damage to each other.

Round 4: Again they take their actions at the same time. The goblin is too active and doesn’t take a hit, although it does get Khnar for 2 damage (down to 5 hp).

Round 5: The goblin moves more quickly than the adventurers this time, but still Chuckles manages to wedge himself into the fight. The goblin tries to stab Krimkol, but fails, and Khnar finally takes it down.

Besides the broken old weapons, the goblins have 28 ep on them.

More debris chokes the passage ahead (west), and there’s another corridor south from here.

Underworld die: 5
Underclock: -1

This leads to an event! For this dungeon, that’s a random encounter. It’ll occur in the next turn, though, and the Underclock resets to 20.

Turn 8

As the party is picking through the remains in the guard alcove, seven more goblins advance on them from the south. Neither group is surprised, and the encounter takes place at a full 50’ of distance. I don’t think a reaction roll is necessary here, as the goblins can see the intruders standing over the bodies of the guards that previously held this location.

Goblins (7): HD 1d6 (1, 1, 1, 3, 4, 4, 6 hp); AC 13; Atk 1 weapon (1d6); MV 9; Save 18; Morale 7

Round 1: The adventurers win initiative. Formed up again, the two shield-bearers (Khnar and Krimkol) are in the front rank, with Parouz and Chuckles immediately behind. Anela is in the back and throws a dart at a front-line goblin, hitting one for 2 hp (6->4). She’ll get a chance to attack the back line at the end of the melee round; as the goblins surge forward, Khnar and Krimkol just miss taking their enemies down, scoring armor but not flesh. The goblins hit Khnar for 1 hp (down to 4 hp) but can’t get through Krimkol’s defenses. Anela throws another couple of darts and kills one of the backline goblins. The goblins fail their morale check and flee into the darkness.

The party decides this will be a good opportunity to rest. To do that, they each consume a ration, and I’ll make two Underclock rolls: 1 and 1, reducing the Underclock to 18 and increasing the Underworld die to a d8. That recovers all of their hit points, though.

Turn 9

From here, they have three choices: go back to the room with the fire beetles, clear the debris to the west, or pursue the goblins to the south. Fire beetles are quite large, and while they’re not always aggressive, they can be very deadly in groups when angered. The party decides to deal with them on a future delve; for now, they’ll have Krimkol and Parouz clear the debris while the others keep watch.

Underworld die: 3
Underclock: 15

Turn 10

Once the debris is cleared, they pass through into another T intersection, with passages leading left and right (north and south). There’s a door to the south, and Chuckles listens at it: he hears some noise on the other side. They’ll try to pry it open and surprise the occupants. Krimkol will sheathe his weapons and shield to use a crowbar on it; with Parouz’s assistance, they can do so without trouble.

The door opens to reveal a surprised old goblin, giving the party the opportunity to act before the monster can. They aren’t here for prisoners, so:

Round 1: Khnar and Anela are the only ones with ranged attacks, so they’ll go first. Khnar’s shortbow hits for 7 damage, skewering the goblin immediately. Good thing, too, since it turns out the goblin had flasks of oil and was wearing leather armor.

In fact, on investigation, the party finds that the goblin was wearing leather armor +1 and a necklace worth 800 gp!

Underworld die: 2
Underclock: 13

Turn 11

They’ll spend a turn gathering what they can out of here. Chuckles pries the armor off of the goblin. I don’t think goblins are necessarily significantly smaller than a human, and this is magical armor anyway. Regardless, it would take another turn to don it; the next time they rest, someone can do that. They also take 4 flasks of oil, which they’ll split between Anela and Khnar. Parouz will carry the necklace for now, and the group will split the proceeds from that later.

Underworld die: 1
Underclock: 12

Turn 12

Time to head back north through the corridor. This time, as they pass through, they find a secret door directly opposite the passage where they came in! Chuckles listens at it and doesn’t hear anything. They’ll open it up and see what’s inside. This will again require the combined efforts of Krimkol, Parouz, and a crowbar.

Chuckles lights another torch that should last until Turn 18.

Underworld die: 8
Underclock: 4

Turn 13

This is an antechamber with six pillars, an exit to the north, and a staircase leading down. (This counts as another minor feat of exploration.) On the columns are quite a few goblin corpses impaled on 8-inch bone-like spikes. The party is a bit terrified by these spikes and decide not to go down just yet. Anela takes a couple of spikes for investigation later.

Underworld die: 4
Underclock: 0

This indicates a Shadowing Event, then the Underclock resets to 3. Somewhere off in the distance, they hear goblin chatter again. It sounded like it came echoing down the corridors rather than from below. They’ll circle around to the north.

Turn 14

This turns out to lead them back to the T intersection; the secret door is effectively a shortcut to the stairs. At this point, they’re back in the guard alcove at the center of this level. Their resources are somewhat low: Anela and Parouz can’t cast any more spells today and Anela is down to 1 dart. On the other hand, they have no hp damage at the moment. They also know where there are some goblins gathering, plus some penned-in fire beetles. That means they will want to make at least one more delve in this level before they will consider going down to the next.

They decide to have Chuckles track the goblins, mostly to avoid being surprised, then try to find their way back up.

Underworld die: 1
Underclock: 2

Turn 15

The barbarian’s base chance is 90%, with 2x 25% penalties from the side passages of the trail, so he has a 40% chance: success! He knows where they are, so he and Krimkol will form up at the rear, Anela in the middle, and the two elves up front as they make their way back to the stairs leading up to the first level.

The tracking won’t prevent the goblins from coming up behind them; it will just ensure there’s no chance of surprise for the group.

Underworld die: 6
Underclock: -4

Indeed, they do show up, but the group is prepared. There are 8 goblins in this group.

Goblins (8): HD 1d6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6 hp); AC 13; Atk 1 weapon (1d6); MV 9; Save 18; Morale 7

This looks like a tough fight. Of course, the goblins aren’t surprised, either. The encounter takes place at 60’ distance. The party will try to retreat if at all possible, and that distance might make it easier.

Round 1: The two groups tie for initiative, so while the adventurers fall back, the goblins advance. No blows are exchanged while the monsters pursue the party.

Round 2: This time the adventurers win initiative, and I think that between that and the twisting passages, they have a significant chance of simply losing the goblins in the dungeon: success! They’ll make their way back to the surface.

Experience and Rewards

Monsters: 6 skeletons @ 15 XP each = 90 XP; 12 goblins @ 10 XP each = 120 XP (210 XP total)
Treasure: 68 ep; 800 gp necklace; leather armor +1 (834 XP total)
Feats of Exploration: 2 minor (Tomb of Saint Ulther; stairs to level 3) = 2x 240 XP = 480 XP

That comes to a total 1524 XP, divided by 5 characters, is 305 XP each. Additionally, as a barbarian, Chuckles is uninterested in much treasure beyond what he can carry, so he’ll take the armor and forego the coins this time. The others split 834 gp four ways for 208.5 gp each.

No one is really near level 2 yet; I have some concerns about whether they can handle the next level of the dungeon. But they have at least one more delve in this level and there should be treasure to find. If needed, I have another “side quest” dungeon to send them on before going to level 2.