Dyson’s Delve - Session 7

Thanks to friends and readers who have told me how they’re following and enjoying these play reports. Truthfully, I do these for my own fun, but it’s nice to see that others get something out of them as well. Entertainingly, some of them said that they had “favorites” among the characters, even though I haven’t done that much RP with them. I might try to give each of these characters a little more personality, but in reality this solo game mostly focuses on the procedures and game itself. So I don’t plan to overdo that.

Characters

I have rolled up a new character to replace Anela, the necromancer who got splattered by a falling rock as they entered the crypts underneath the Tomb of Saint Ulther. The others have all improved to 2nd level, and I’ll note a few improvements for each of them.

Chuckles: Barbarian 2 (Human). AC 13, 19 hp. Wears leather armor +1. Wields a bastard sword in melee and carries two spears for missile attacks. He also has skills in tracking and some thief-like abilities to go along with the 4 pints of lamp oil and a crowbar. He has more wealth than he’s comfortable with (2239.3 gp), so he’s going to do something about that very shortly.
Khnar: Fighter 2 (Elf). AC 18, 12 hp. Wears plate armor and a shield. Wields a battle axe and a shortbow. Can parry enemy melee attacks and also make two attacks against enemies of 1 HD or less.
Krimkol: Priest 2 (Dwarf). AC 17, 10 hp. Wears plate armor and a shield. Wields a battle axe +1. Can turn undead and has bonuses when dealing with dwarven followers. He also now has access to 1st-level Cleric spells and carries 1 pint of lamp oil.
Parouz: Blade 2 (Elf). AC 14, 10 hp. Wears chain armor. Wields a longsword and 5 pints of lamp oil. Knows the following spells:
- detect magic
- hold portal
- light
- magic missile (learned upon reaching 2nd level; prepared)
- protection from evil (prepared)
- read magic
- shield
- sleep
Illuin: Thief 1 (Human). AC 12, 3 hp. Wears leather armor. Wields a short sword and a shortbow, plus carries 5 pints of lamp oil.

Retainers

Now that the characters have reached 2nd level, I’ve decided they’re going to hire some followers. The rules in S&W Complete don’t have a lot of guidance for the referee here; most of it refers to hiring employees once the characters have a stronghold. In the past, I have extrapolated from these rules to double the daily wage for torchbearers. I have not previously had my groups hire anyone along the lines of “Man-at-Arms (Adventuring)” that the rules mention. (I looked at Fantasy Medieval Campaigns by Marcia B. for ideas as well, but decided to hold off on that approach for now.)

I am going to take the same approach as before: double the daily pay, and considering that the dungeon in question has been extremely deadly to adventurers, I will start the base at 5 gp/day. That means each adventuring man-at-arms will require 10 gp/day plus equipment. Since I assume these expeditions take place once a week (requiring all that time for preparation), that means we need to spend 70 gp plus equipment per man-at-arms.

Additionally, hooded lanterns shine a 30’ radius of light, so I think we need one lantern per three humans (those with darkvision don’t necessarily need the same level of illumination).

There’s a wrinkle here: Krimkol has a bonus when dealing with dwarven followers.

Whenever a Dwarven Priest retains the service of a hireling who is of dwarf ancestry, the upkeep and wage costs are reduced by 50%. Dwarven hirelings (ordinary non-character-type NPCs, not hired Fighters) of a Dwarven Priest fight with a +1 bonus to all attack rolls. They also receive a +2 on all saving throws made to avoid abandoning or betraying their service. Finally, the Dwarven Priest adds 1 to their maximum number of special hirelings, as long as those hirelings are dwarves.

(Swords & Wizardry Book of Options (affiliate link), p. 12)

So Krimkol will hire a dwarven follower but without the additional cost that dwarves required in the original rules,. That will be an adventuring dwarf who will use the common dwarf stats from the Monster section of the book with the additional bonuses granted by the priest. Similarly, Chuckles will hire a human lantern bearer but at the lower rate for non-combatant followers of 14 gp for the week. They will also use the normal human stats, but with no weapon other than the oil they carry. (Followers don’t need names.)

Dwarf: HD 1 (3 hp); AC 15; Atk weapon (1d8); Move 6; Save 17; Morale 10; Special: +1 to attack rolls, +2 to saves, darkvision 60’
Human: HD 1d6 (3 hp); AC 10; Atk oil (1d4); Move 12; Save 18; Morale 7

Expedition

Rather than go turn by turn through each of the upper levels, I am going to make two Underclock rolls on each level they pass through. Since the dice explode, that means there’s still a chance of an encounter on those upper levels, and it also means that the tension will be quite thick once they get to the exploration. Additionally, while it starts at 20, the die only goes down by one step between expeditions. This hasn’t mattered until now, but last time it increased two steps (d6 -> d8 -> d10). That means we’re starting off with a d8.

Since we’re going down to level 3, I’ll make four die rolls: 3+3=6, so the Underclock is at 20-6=14 after the first level. Then (8+2)+2=12, so the Underclock is at 14-12=2 after the second level. We’re likely to have an encounter very quickly.

For calculating feats of exploration, the TXP is 2500+2000+2500+2500+1250=10750. Therefore, minor feats of exploration will be worth 215 XP, major feats will be worth 537 XP, and extraordinary feats will be worth 1075 XP. (I didn’t notice until now that the additional XP to reach second level at each class seems to be the same amount as needed to reach first level.)

The marching order will be Chuckles (scouting ahead with his lantern bearer), followed by the heavily-armored Khnar and Krimkol, then Parouz and the dwarf man-at-arms, and finally Illuin. If they find themselves in unexpected combat, or run into more traps, that will define how things start. If they have a chance to prepare, though, they’ll reconfigure to move the armored folks up front and hopefully get Illuin into a position to sneak up and backstab, or at least fire his shortbow at the back ranks of their enemies.

Turn 1

We’ll start off back at the natural archway with the loose ceiling. This is where Anela died last time. Before proceeding, Chuckles and his lantern bearer, along with Krimkol (an expert on stone construction), inspect the ceiling closely. They confirm that, as far as they can tell, the ceiling is safe now. The rocks that were in precarious position have already fallen, and everything else seems stable. They’ll proceed carefully into the next part of the cavern.

Underworld die: 8+2=10
Underclock: 2-10=-8

As expected, we’ll have an encounter immediately.

Turn 2

The indicated random encounter is 2d6=6 giant rats. Neither group is surprised, but the rats hesitate rather than immediately attack. That’s a large group of humans and human-sized people with lights and lots of movement, not the sorts of things the rats typically hunt down. At the same time, the adventurers aren’t really here to fight rats, so they’ll try to scare them off with long weapons and throwing a flask of oil. That’s enough to scatter them, I think, at the cost of one pint of oil.

The Underclock resets to 20 after this.

Underworld die: 1
Underclock: 20-1=19

Turn 3

Entering the next chamber finally, they see broken bodies littering the floor. Given the group’s expectations, the scouts hold back and wave Krimkol forward. After a moment, the bodies do in fact rise from their repose - zombies! No one is really surprised by this, and I’m not going to give them a reaction roll in this case. Zombies gonna zombie.

Zombies (5): HD 2 (9, 9, 11, 14, 8 hp); AC 11; Atk 1 strike (d8); Move 6; Save 16; Morale 12; Special: Immune to sleep and charm

Parouz specifically did not prepare sleep because they sort of thought there might be undead in the crypts known to exist here.

Round 1: Parouz, as an Elfblade, begins to cast protection from evil on himself, and Krimkol holds his holy symbol aloft to chant a prayer that will hopefully turn the zombies. The others prepare to fight the zombies, and they win initiative in fact. Chuckles will throw a spear, hitting the first one for 6 damage (dropping it to 3 hp). Illuin fires her shortbow at the same one and drops it. The other adventurers advance into melee. Khnar swings at the second one and deals 4 damage (taking it to 5 hp). Krimkol’s dwarf-at-arms misses, and Parouz’s spell completes, giving her +1 to AC for the next hour. Krimkol’s holy symbol flares with light, and the remaining four zombies all turn and flee. With that, Illuin can take a shot at one of the fleeing zombies, but she misses.

The zombies will flee for 3d6 rounds, giving the group a chance to prepare. Everyone with missile weapons will let fly as soon as they return, although that means that the two with shields will temporarily have reduced defenses for that round.

Round 2: The zombies return, and initiative occurs simultaneously. That’s good enough for this purpose. Chuckles throws a spear, which misses. Khnar shoots an arrow, also missing. Krimkol throws a flask of oil, which misses but sets up a patch of burning oil. I think the zombie will need to save or be obstructed for one round: it fails, and won’t be in the combat this round. Parouz does the same, but her oil hits another zombie for 1 damage (down to 10, and it will burn for one round). Finally Illuin looses an arrow at the earlier damaged zombie again, with the same negative result. The dwarf-at-arms throws another flask of oil at the last zombie, hitting it for 2 damage (down to 6) and setting it ablaze. This didn’t work as well as they hoped! Once the three unobstructed zombies reach the group, they engage them in melee at random. One swipes at Illuin, but she dodges. Another swipes at the heavily-armored Khnar but comes nowhere near the elf. Finally, a zombie attacks the dwarf-at-arms to no effect.

Round 3: The zombies win initiative this time. That said, one zombie is burning and takes another point of damage. So they’re at 5, 5, 11, and 14 hp. The three who attacked last round will attack the same targets: Illuin is untouched, Khnar’s armor protects him from the undead, and the dwarf-at-arms is also unharmed. The remaining zombie also goes for Khnar but presents no real threat. In return, Chuckles charges in but misses. Khnar swings his axe and hits for 4 damage (down to 1 hp). Krimkol’s holy battle axe strikes that same one for 3 damage and it’s down for good. Parouz is not able to hit an enemy with her longsword. Illuin tries to backstab the same zombie, which gives her enough of an advantage to cut into its decaying flesh for 5 damage (eliminating it). Finally, the dwarf-at-arms misses entirely.

Round 4: The two groups tie for initiative, so actions occur simultaneously. I decide they’re going to split their efforts: Chuckles, Krimkol, and the dwarf-at-arms will fight one zombie, which will fight back against one of them randomly. Chuckles hits it for 7 damage, and Krimkol does as well for 9 damage, so it doesn’t matter when the dwarf-at-arms misses. In return, the zombie attacks Chuckles, but the barbarians magic armor holds it back. The other group of Khnar, Parouz, and Illuin fight the beefiest zombie (which will randomly be attacking Khnar). That gives Illuin another backstab opportunity, which she takes for 8 damage (bringing it down to 6 hp). That’s all Khnar needs, and he finishes it off with 8 damage. Before the zombie goes down for good, it swipes at Khnar but misses.

Did Parouz waste her spell? Probably not, since it lasts until the end of Turn 9.

The zombies had no real treasure here, although perhaps they may all find something deeper into the crypts.

Underworld die: 7
Underclock: 19-7=12

Turn 4

Forming back up, the adventurers find a staircase leading down further. They don’t really know what to expect down there; this is standard construction, not rough-hewn or natural. After conferring briefly, they decide to continue on this level towards the crypts. This area still smells of moisture and death.

The next chamber has another set of corpses on the floor, three shredded humans by the look of them. Krimkol makes his way forward to inspect them. The bones from the alcoves are spread around the room, many crushed as if by a great weight. (Perhaps these are the remains of others who died from the sort of falling rocks that killed Anela. In fact, what happened to her body?) There is no treasure in the alcoves here.

Underworld die: 8+7=15
Underclock: 12-15=-3

Another encounter occurs here, and the Underclock resets to 20.

Perhaps aroused by the sounds of fighting earlier, or perhaps simply due to the presence of natural life, another group of seven zombies enter the room. Chuckles had heard them just before they entered, and so the group is not taken by surprise.

Zombies (7): HD 2 (9, 7, 8, 4, 5, 9, 9 hp); AC 11; Atk 1 strike (d8); Move 6; Save 16; Morale 12; Special: Immune to sleep and charm

This time, all the combatants (not including the lantern carrier) will engage one each, except for Chuckles and Khnar who will take on two each, in the order shown in the hp list above. Krimkol will attempt to turn them.

Round 1: Krimkol begins his prayer to the unnamed dwarven gods. Initiative is a tie again, so actions will occur simultaneously. The encounter begins at 10 feet of distance, so there’s no chance for missile weapons to be used. Chuckles will attack one of the first two and hit it for 2 damage (down to 7 hp). Those same two swipe at him as well but he evades their attacks. Khnar engages two zombies as well, hitting the weakest one for 2 damage (now at 2 hp). They almost hit him, but he’s able to fend them off with his shield. Parouz still can’t hit anything, but her enemy hits her for 4 damage (taking her to 6 hp). Illuin is in regular combat, so she doesn’t get a backstab bonus; she misses so badly that it wouldn’t have mattered (fortunately, so does the zombie). The dwarf-at-arms hits his target very hard for 8 damage, taking it to 1 hp, and it flails wildly. At the end of the round, Krimkol finishes his prayer and all the undead flee.

The group decides to leave before the zombies return, and they press forward in the dungeon.

Turn 5

There are more alcoves here and the wind swirls into the room from behind them. There’s a door at the far end, though, indicating the entrance to more regular corridors and construction. Chuckles and Illuin listen together, but there’s no sound through the door. Parouz takes a crowbar from Chuckles’ pack and gets Krimkol to help her open the door.

Once it opens, they find a long corridor but no immediate threats. They’ll keep going as a group.

Underworld die: 5
Underclock: 20-5=15

Turn 6

This long corridor runs north-south, and there are alcoves on either side. But there are steps down into a large chamber to their right, the deathly-smelling air from behind them mixing with the fresher air from inside the chamber. They can hear buzzing, but don’t see anything. The heavily-armored adventurers enter first and look up to see four huge robber flies in the ornately-decorated crypt. The flies immediately descend upon the intruders.

Robber Flies (4): HD 2 (8, 5, 12, 11 hp); AC 13; Atk 1 bite (d8); Move 18; Save 15; Morale 8

They do not count as “evil” for the purposes of Parouz’s spell, and they’re a full 20’ away when the encounter begins.

Round 1: As has happened quite frequently, initiative occurs simultaneously. Chuckles and Illuin will fire missiles; his spear strikes the first one (down to 4 hp) and Illuin finishes it off. The flies will attack adventurers at random: the one that is in the process of dying tries to bite Chuckles and deals 4 damage to him (he’s down to 15 hp). The second robber fly gets Parouz for 1 damage, reducing her to 5 hp. Another fly tries unsuccessfully to attack Illuin, and the last one can’t get anywhere near Khnar’s actual flesh. At the same time, Khnar slices into that fly for 4 damage (taking it to 7 hp), Krimkol’s battle axe doesn’t hit anything, and Parouz still hits nothing. The dwarf-at-arms hits the fly attacking Parouz for 1 damage (down to 4 hp). The flies succeed in their morale check and continue to fight.

Round 2: The flies move fast enough to take the initiative. They are at 4, 12, and 7 hp, respectively; none of them even get close to succeeding in their attacks. Illuin engages a fly attacking Parouz (the healthiest-looking one) and deals 4 damage to it, so it’s down to 8. Chuckles takes on the weakest-looking one and destroys it easily. Khnar hits Illuin’s targeted fly for another 3 damage (down to 5 hp). Krimkol’s holy battle axe almost hits it, but misses, and so Parouz continues her inability to hit anything. The dwarf-at-arms tries to go for the third fly, but misses. The flies are down to half-strength and need to make another morale check, but they continue to attack in hopes of getting some meat.

Round 3: Again the flies win initiative. They’re at 8 and 5 hp, continuing to attack randomly and futilely. Chuckles swings for the first one and clips it for 2 damage (down to 6 hp). Illuin finishes it off with 7 damage. Khnar faces the other one and does nothing at all but distract it for Parouz, who attacks from behind — but even that can’t help her accomplish anything. Krimkol hits for 3 damage (down to 2 hp), and his follower eliminates it with 4 damage.

Despite the ornate decorations here, the adventurers find no treasure whatsoever.

Underworld die: 7
Underclock: 15-7=8

Turn 7

Back in the corridor, they head north until it ends at a T intersection. They can hear nothing from either the left or right passages, although there’s slightly fresher air to the left. (I rolled a die to see which way they go, and they’ll go left.)

That takes them around to more alcoves, including stairs leading up (likely to the antechamber with the impaled goblins on level 2). There ae no immediate threats here, so they’ll focus on searching for treasure. This marks a fifth explored room, which grants them a minor feat of exploration.

Underworld die: 6
Underclock: 8-6=2

Turn 8

Each adventurer (not counting the followers) searches a separate alcove for treasure. The adventure text specifies treasure types J or K, which I know comes from B/X D&D rather than OD&D and thus I’ll refer to the Old-School Essential System Reference Document for this.

Out of five alcoves, two of them have treasure type J and three have K. The two J-type alcoves have 1000 and 2000 sp, respectively, while the K-types have nothing. That’s 3000 sp total from this bit of searching among the gnawed, jumbled remains that have definitely been previously scavenged. This also gives them the realization that the alcoves they’ve previously passed should be searched as well.

Underworld die: 4
Underclock: 2-4=-2

But at the end of the turn, an encounter occurs and the Underclock resets to 20.

Turn 9

As they’re comparing their finds, they hear zombies shuffling along the corridor. Four zombies come around the corner and seem to be surprised. The encounter starts at 40’.

Zombies (4): HD 2 (16, 6, 5, 9 hp); AC 11; Atk 1 strike (d8); Move 6; Save 16; Morale 12; Special: Immune to sleep and charm

This is the last turn that Parouz still has protection from evil active. The plan is for Chuckles and Illuin to fire missiles, Parouz and the dwarf-at-arms will throw oil, Krimkol will attempt to turn them, and Khnar will try to hold them off in the narrow corridor (since only two zombies can fight melee at once anyway).

Round 1: No initiative roll is required since the group has surprise. Chuckles throws a spear at one of the back zombies, but misses. Illuin takes aim and fires at the same one, but the arrow clatters off into the dark. Parouz throws oil at one of the front-line zombies, hitting it for 1 damage and thus reducing it to 15 hp (and leaving it burning for 1 round). The dwarf-at-arms throws oil at the other front-line zombie and sets it ablaze for 3 damage (down to 3 hp). Krimkol’s prayer goes unanswered this time; the group will need to fight these zombies hand-to-hand. Illuin fires an arrow once more at the weakest zombie, destroying it.

Round 2: The zombies win initiative and shuffle forward into melee range. The two burning zombies take 1 more damage each, so they are at 14 and 2 hp on the front lines. Chuckles throws his other spear at the zombie in the back rank but can’t get its measure. Illuin hits it for 1 damage, though, taking it to 8 hp. Parouz throws oil at it, finally doing something useful and setting it ablaze for 1 damage (down to 7). In the front, Khnar and Krimkol hold up their shields and take no damage from the zombies. In return, Khnar hits the one in front of him and does 8 damage (down to 6 hp), while Krimkol hits the other one for 2 points of damage (down to 1 hp). The dwarf-at-arms waits in back, ensuring nothing comes behind them or threatens the lantern bearer.

Round 3: Initiative will occur simultaneously this time. The zombies are at 6, 1, and 7 hp, although that last one is still on fire and thus takes one more point of damage (6 hp). Chuckles is out of spears, but Illuin has enough arrows and shoots one at the back zombie (missing it). Khnar and Krimkol both miss. Illuin fires one more time at the end of the turn, still unable to hit it. The zombies in front swipe at their enemies, fumbling pointlessly.

Round 4: Once more, the groups tie on initiative. Illuin misses with her shortbow. Khnar and Krimkol don’t manage to reach their targets, but the zombies are also unable to hit them. Illuin’s second missile attack finds its target and hits for 4 damage (down to 3 hp).

Round 5: This time, the adventurers can go first. Illuin has almost half of her arrows left, so she shoots one more time at the one in back without any result. Khnar hits the zombie he’s fighting and destroys it, but Krimkol can’t hit his (only keeps it at bay). Illuin fires her arrow without hitting anything useful.

Round 6: The zombies win initiative. The one in back is at 3 hp and the one in front is down to 1 hp. They both get into melee now, and the zombie that has just come into melee nearly hits Khnar but his shield deflects the blow nicely. In return, Krimkol finishes off his target.

Round 7: The adventurers will go first, and Krimkol edges around to give Parouz a chance to get in the fight (and also give himself an attack bonus). Krimkol makes that maneuver unnecessary by hitting the last zombie for 8 damage and destroying it.

Underworld die: 2
Underclock: 20-2=18

Turn 10

There are more alcoves to search, including the ones they passed earlier. These have the same treasure distribution as before, but they all turned up empty. Nothing here. There are more to search, and another passage they haven’t entered yet.

Underworld die: 8+8+7=23
Underclock: 18-23=-5

Oops, more monsters! Underclock is back to 20, though.

Turn 11

Five fire beetles come to investigate and, in fact, they’re hostile. The encounter starts at 40’ distance.

Fire Beetles (5): HD 1+3 (10, 7, 4, 5, 9 hp); AC 15; Atk 1 bite (d4+2); Move 12; Save 17; Morale 7

While beefy, the fire beetles hopefully don’t present much of a threat. The group will try to weaken them with missile weapons and maybe scare them off. They have seven pints of oil left.

Round 1: The adventurers fully win initiative here. Chuckles throws a spear at the closest beetle but misses. Illuin shoots her bow at the same one with the same result. Khnar also uses his bow but it bounces off the beetle’s exoskeleton. The others wait for the beetles to come closer. The beetles clatter their mandibles and rush forward. Krimkol hits that lead beetle for 3 damage (down to 7 hp). Parouz tries to make amends for her earlier failures, but these beetles have a tough carapace. The dwarf-at-arms remembers now that he has oil and tosses it at the beetles in back, hitting one for 1 damage (down to 3 hp) and setting it ablaze. I think that’s enough to call for a morale check from mindless animals, and it’s just enough to scatter them.

This counts as a defeat, but they don’t recover any of the light glands, either.

Underworld die: 6
Underclock: 20-6=14

Turn 12

The group will search three more alcoves in and near that sunken crypt where the robber flies were found. One of them had 4000 sp.

Underworld die: 6
Underclock: 14-6=8

Turn 13

There’s another passage they haven’t explored, to the right this time from that T intersection. When they look at the alcoves, though, they contain actual ghouls, who come out to attack them.

Ghouls (3): HD 2 (8, 10, 8 hp); AC 13; Atk 2 claws (d3+paralysis), bite (d4); Move 9; Save 16; Morale 9

The group knows the capabilities of these sorts quite well. At an encounter distance of 50’, they’ll hopefully have an opportunity to use missile weapons.

Round 1: Krimkol stands back and tries to turn them. The ghouls win initiative and rush forward, getting two of them into melee with Khnar and Chuckles. Illuin takes careful aim with her bow at the one in back, hitting it for 5 damage (down to 3 hp). The dwarf-at-arms throws oil at it as well, hitting it for 2 damage (down to 1 hp) and setting it on fire. The ghouls in front attack Khnar with no effect, but the other one in front slashes Chuckles for 3 damage (down to 12 hp). He fails his save and his limbs stiffen as he is paralyzed temporarily. (Imagine the fear he must feel!) Khnar hacks at the ghoul in front of him but can’t do any real damage to it; Parouz steps smoothly into the front line but also does no damage. As Krimkol finishes his prayer, the ghouls all flee from his holy symbol.

Krimkol also can cast cure light wounds but that won’t have any effect on the paralysis. They’ll have to wait for that to wear off.

That will incur three Underworld die rolls while they rest in one place. It allows the others to recover their hit points, though.

Underworld die: 4+6=10 (yes that’s two)
Underclock: 8-10=-2

They’ll have to deal with an encounter before the next roll. The Underclock is back to 20.

Turn 14

A single ghoul comes upon them while they rest, perhaps one of the ones that fled earlier. It’s not surprised, and the group is ready for it.

Ghoul: HD 2 (10 hp); AC 13; Atk 2 claws (d3+paralysis), bite (d4); Move 9; Save 16; Morale 9

The encounter starts at 20’ distance.

Round 1: They just want to hack this one down, but it goes first and comes up to them, attacking Khnar in the front. It would bite Khnar for 3 damage, but he allows his shield to be destroyed instead. It does bite him for 2 hp, though. In return, Khnar hits it for 5 damage (down to 5 hp) and Parouz runs it through from behind for 6 damage, destroying it.

It has a pouch containing 4x 500 gp gems!

Underworld die: 8+3=11
Underclock: 20-11=9

The Underworld die steps back up to a d10.

Turn 15

Chuckles has recovered, though his hp is still at 12 as he instead recovered from paralysis. Now the group can properly search the alcoves in this area. They find 3000 and 5000 sp in two of them. After this, there are two more alcoves, then they will have explored everything they have seen on this level.

Underworld die: 8
Underclock: 9-8=1

Turn 16

In the northwestern alcove, there’s a coffer. This is where Illuin the thief steps forward; it’s been a bit since I’ve used the thief skills in S&W, so I’m reading the descriptions carefully.

Delicate tasks. This percentage chance is used for disabling small mechanical traps such as poisoned needles and is also used for picking pockets. The skill is also used to detect whether a mechanism, keyhole, or other small location contains a trap that can be removed.

S&W Complete (Revised), p. 24 (emphasis mine)

So first I check to see if she finds the poisoned dart trap: failure. She grins and, in fact, luck is with her: the trap does not trigger (I’m using the 2-in-6 chance suggested on page 75). However, she only has a 10% chance to open the lock - and she succeeds! It contains 5000 cp, 5000 sp, and 1000 ep.

In the next alcove, does anyone notice the secret door? I need to see who searches it first: Parouz. That’s good because she’s an elf, and she’s probably getting frustrated due to her lack of success in combat. Fortunately, the dice favor her, and indeed she finds a hidden door! This is another minor feat of exploration, I decide.

Underworld die: 8
Underclock: 1-8=-7

Time for an encounter as that happens, though. The Underclock resets to 20.

Turn 17

Three giant rats come squealing from the secret crypt, hungry and hostile.

Giant Rats (3): HD 1d4 (1, 2, 2 hp); AC 12; Atk 1 bite (d3); Move 12; Save 18; Morale 8

The encounter starts at 40’ distance. None of these rats are diseased.

Round 1: The adventurers win the initiative roll, and they’re going to try to end this fight immediately so they can search this last room. Khnar and Krimkol each split a rat, and Parouz makes mincemeat of the last one.

Underworld die: 5
Underclock: 20-5=15

Turn 18

In the center of this crypt waits a single undisturbed sarcophagus. Illuin inspects this one as well but finds nothing. The group collectively decides to see what’s inside (again, they are adventurers, not heroes). When they open it, there’s a blinding flash of light! They all must save versus paralysis: Chuckles, Khnar, and both retainters fail, while Krimkol, Parouz, and Illuin succeed. The ones who failed are blinded for a bit, leading to two more Underworld rolls.

However, in the sarcophagus, they discover 1100 sp and two magic scrolls, sleep and protection from evil.

Underworld die: 9+4=13
Underclock: 15-13=2

Leaving the dungeon

That’s enough for this delve, and in fact they cleared the whole level. As stated before, though, they’ll need to make two Underworld rolls on each level as they leave.

On Level 3, the first roll is a 4 so there’s an immediate encounter.

Encounter: Giant Rats

10 more giant rats show up; they’re hesitant, though, and the group isn’t interested in fighting them, so they all make their way past each other.

The next Underworld roll is an 8, with the Underclock having reset to 20, so they make it up to Level 2 with the Underclock now at 12.

However, the very first roll there is 10+5=15, so they’ll have an encounter and set the clock back to 20.

Encounter: Feral Undead Cats

Since the goblins were eliminated from these ruins, cats (from the S&W Fiends & Foes book) have moved in. Not just any cats, though:

Feral undead cats look like they were created by zombie-raising mag- ic, but they are actually things quite unlike normal animated undead such as skeletons or zombies. These undead cats are possessed of an animal cunning akin to that of ghouls (although with less intelligence), and they are not slow moving as zombies are. Like ghouls, they tend to form into packs. If a person is scratched more than three times by undead feral cats (not necessarily the same one), he must make a saving throw or be paralyzed for 1d6 turns. After the first set of three scratches, every subsequent scratch requires a saving throw. These creatures are turned as zombies.

Despite being undead, they are also cats, so I decide they get a reaction roll because cats are definitely not “mindless”. They’re not hostile, in fact, and they simply move on. That’s for the best; the group is tired and would rather not fight.

The next Underworld roll is an 8, reducing the Underclock to 12 when they reach first level. They get a 9 and a 7, meaning one more encounter at the last room before they can get out to the actual surface.

Encounter: Ratling

Having also moved in after the goblins, the ratlings are a bit feistier than the cats.

Standing no taller than 4ft tall, ratlings, as their name implies, resem- ble humanoid rodents. Although not much of a threat individually, ratlings tend to attack in packs (of 4d6). Ratlings dealing damage via a bite may infect their victims with the same disease that mundane rats do. The chances of passing on the disease are identical to that of their giant-rat kin (5%).

This one is hostile, though.

Ratling: HD 1 (6 hp); AC 9[10]; Atk 1 bite (1d6+disease) or weapon; Move 12; Save 17; Morale 7

This one is not diseased, though perhaps a bit addled to take on this group. The encounter occurs at 50’ distance.

Round 1: The ratling wins initiative and rushes forward to attack. It bites Krimkol but misses, and in turn the dwarven priest swings his axe but misses. Parouz steps behind it, which gives her enough of an advantage that she hits it for 6 damage and kills it.

No treasure is found, and the group departs the dungeon alive.

Experience and Rewards

Monsters: 16 zombies @ 30 XP; 4 robber flies @ 15 XP; 5 fire beetles @ 15 XP; 4 ghouls @ 60 XP; 3 giant rats @ 5 XP
Treasure: 21100 sp = 2110 XP; 4x 500 gp gems = 2000 XP; 5000 cp = 50 XP; 1000 ep = 500 XP
Feats of Exploration: 2 minor (five rooms, secret door) @ 215 XP

From monsters, they earn 870 XP, and treasure nets them 4660 XP. With another 430 from the feats of exploration, that comes to 5960 total, or 1192 XP each. Khnar reaches third level as a fighter! Illuin also just reaches second level as a thief, with 2 XP to spare over the threshold. The others are close but still remain at second level.

It occurs to me, while glancing over the class tables, that I didn’t use Khnar’s multiple attacks ability in this session, which might have eased some of the fights against the 1 HD creatures. I also didn’t have Chuckles throw his big party, so that will start off next time.