Dyson’s Delve - Session 8

After having raided most or all of the original dungeon, the group will spend a little time in the local settlement before returning to their delve. (That means this post is a little longer again.)

Downtime

I have some bookkeeping to update as well as introduce a few new things. I haven’t forgotten about Chuckles this time.

Leveling Up

First, Illuin has reached 2nd level as a thief. She has some skill increases to go with that, and unfortunately gets the minimum 1 point increase to her hit points. (Is that a house rule, since I rolled 1 and she has a -1 modifier from her Constitution score?) Her saving throw improves by 1 as well. She’ll upgrade her short sword to a bastard sword as well.

Other downtime

To inject a bit of non-dungeon activity, I have decided to refer back to the supplement “Downtime in Zyan” (affiliate link).

The classical style of play leaves a white space between adventures that is handled haphazardly, often at the start of the session, as the players decide what their priorities are and take incidental actions before setting out on adventures. As a campaign develops, however, this white space becomes more important as players increasingly pursue self-directed goals that motivate more and more of their activity in the sandbox. After many years of playing in this style, I have become convinced that old school play has never developed a very good way of handling this crucial white space.

Certainly I have left that white space open in this solo campaign. I haven’t used this zine before, so it seems like a reasonable place to experiment with it.

The way it works in DiZ is that the character makes a 2d6 roll on a distribution much like what’s used in most PbtA games, and potentially then rolls on a table of related results or otherwise gets some bane or boon.

I’ll make the 2d6 rolls straight up here, with no modifiers.

Chuckles the Barbarian

The Swords & Wizardry Book of Options has something to say about the Barbarian class that I’ve previously mentioned but haven’t done anything with:

Barbarians have little use for material wealth and may only own what they are able to carry with them.

So he’s got entirely too much in the way of wealth. In the spirit of the original Sword & Sorcery fiction that inspired this archetype, he’ll engage in some revelry “in which a character flush with gold spends it on wild revelries, whether a feast lasting many nights, raucous tavern crawl, or the extended use of mind-altering substances.” (Downtime in Zyan, p. 20)

So Chuckles takes his lantern-carrier and Illuin (the other human in the group) and they go engaging in heavy drinking, eating heavily, and singing bawdy tavern songs. I imagine that the lantern-carrier secretly has a crush on Chuckles, but the barbarian is too oblivious ever to notice because he’s just having a good time, and Illuin knows all the best spots around town.

He spends level x 1d4 x 50 = 2x4x50 = 400 gp, and thus gains 400 XP; however, based on the 2d6 result, I also have to roll on the “Revelry Mishaps” table.

The character starts the next session 1d4 HP below maximum (min. 1). The player will collaborate with the GM to say who the fight was with and how it ensued.

So Chuckles will start the next session with 17/19 HP after getting in a fight with some other adventurers who make fun of some stereotype about the place he’s from. When the bouncers break it up, the other group tells him they’ll see him out in the dungeon. (He tells them not to threaten him with a good time!)

That said, he still has too much gold, so I have to figure that out when I’m done with downtime.

Khnar the Fighter

This elf is less interested in going out and blowing his money on parties. Other options in the zine that seem potentially relevant include “building an institution,” “martial training,” or “splendid artifacts.” I think Khnar is interested in keeping in form, one of the activities under “martial training.”

He’ll spend this time practicing with a battle axe, and as a fighter he can add 1/3 his level rounded up, or 1, to this roll. That doesn’t help enough, and so he’s a little rusty. He only gets one of the benefits of the training, which will be +1 to hit with that weapon in the next delve.

Krimkol the Dwarven Priest

For a bit, I thought he might commission a splendid artifact, but he wouldn’t do that here in a surface settlement. That would happen in a dwarven underground stronghold. Instead, he’s going to research those bone spikes that Anela had gathered from the goblin bodies. He’s worried there might be some greater danger they don’t know about yet.

But to do that, he needs to find somebody knowledgeable about such things. That’s “Cultivating a Relationship”, by looking for a sage or, better, a knowledgeable expert: an experienced adventurer. Again, we’re on the surface, so that will be a human of some sort, maybe an older woman named Rens who’s just trying to live out the rest of her years in quiet.

I’ll roll to see how that goes: the answer is not clicking. She’s tired of being asked about her experiences, and the fact that a dwarf is asking doesn’t change that.

Parouz the Elfblade

Last time, the arcane warrior felt somewhat embarrassed by her inability to hit her targets. She’ll also engage in martial training, as did Khnar. I think Elfblades (a simplified version of the Fighter / Magic-User options for elves in the original game) count as a Fighter “subclass” so she’ll get the modifier as well.

That makes the difference, in fact, and she is actually in good form. That gets her two benefits, so she’ll get +1 to hit with her longsword and +1 to her AC (for the next delve only). This will affect her spell choices next time as well, I think.

Illuin the Thief

Finally, our young thief. I already noted that she was out partying with Chuckles, so it makes sense to continue that to see what benefits she might get. Since she knows all the best places here, she’s probably got a bit of a reputation for indulging in some of the various chemical substances used for mood altering and whatnot, and that’s where her money goes.

After spending 200 gp on party favors, she gains 200 XP. She’s not as stout as Chuckles, though, and has a bit of a weak constitution; while he’s in her altered state, she gets in the same fight he does, and will start the delve 2 hp below her maximum at 2/4. (That’s really a problem and she will need to stay out of the front line as much as possible.)

Back to Chuckles

After a bit of thought, I remembered that (coincidentally enough) Dyson Logos wrote a blog post years ago about how to spend your gold in Dungeons & Dragons. I think he’s going to spend a lot of gold hiring minstrels to travel the land, telling of his exploits. He’ll spend a total of 2000 gp on four of these; should he meet his end, perhaps one of those bards may return to join the party. Or perhaps it will attract a classed follower for him in the future.

Other preparation

Chuckles gets a few pints of lamp oil, Khnar needs to replace his shield, Krimkol buys 10 more pints of oil (splitting them with Parouz), and Illuin replenishes her quiver with arrows. The group will hire back the same retainers as before. Chuckles also buys all the rations for everyone, because what other use is this gold?

Parouz has two spell slots available, and (driven by her frustration) she will have magic missile in both. Krimkol prays for his unnamed dwarven god’s blessing, and once more he asks for the ability to cast cure light wounds.

Feats of Exploration

The TXP has changed with Khnar reaching Level 3. That’s 2500+4000+2500+2500+1250=12750 total XP needed for everyone to reach the next level. Minor feats at 2% are worth 255 XP, major feats at 5% are worth 637 XP, and legendary feats at 10% are worth 1275 XP.

Return to the Delve

The group is prepared and, as before, they’ll enter through the cave entrance. The Underclock has reset to 20 and the Underworld die has stepped down one size to d8. If they can get through this delve without a rest, or if they go visit another dungeon in between, maybe they can get it back to a d6, reflecting the reduced tension in the dungeon. Given the nature of the crypt level of the dungeon (the level they explored in the last session), I will leave the wandering monster table as it is. Perhaps some undead necromancer is continuing to animate the dead corpses within…

Underworld rolls

This matters because I’ll continue to use two Underworld rolls per previously-explored level they traverse on their way down. (This is one reason additional side entrances will be helpful once discovered.)

Level 1: 1+3=4 => 20-4=16
Level 2: 7+5=12 => 16-12=4
Level 3: 6 => 4-6=-2 (so there’s an encounter before we make the second roll on this level)

Ghoulishness

That encounter turns out to be a single ghoul. I decide this represents Anela’s remains, animated by dark magic here. The group blanches a bit, or at least those who knew her do, as this takes them by surprise. The dwarf-at-arms even drops his weapon.

Ghoul (1): HD 2 (14 hp); AC 13; Atk 2 claws (d3+paralysis), bite (d4); Move 9; Save 16; Morale 9

When she comes upon them, the encounter occurs at 30 feet of distance.

Round 1: Having caught the group by surprise, the ghoulish form of Anela first goes for Parouz. Despite the Elfblade’s training, she gets bit (though not clawed) for 2 points of damage (down to 8/10 hp).

Round 2: The group recovers from their shock and counterattacks, although initiative will occur simultaneously. Krimkol doesn’t bother praying to turn this enemy, believing that she should be sent to her final rest. The ghoul attacks Illuin; this is bad in several different ways. Fortunately, she’s able to dodge the undead claws and bite. The thief won’t get a backstab bonus, but she is able to cut into the ghoul anyway for 7 damage (down to 7/14 hp). Krimkol does get a small bonus for this, and he’s able to hit with his battle axe for 2 damage (5/14 hp left). Parouz also does 2 damage with her longsword (3/14 hp left), and Khnar misses. The dwarf-at-arms picks up his weapon this turn. (Side note, I forgot Chuckles!)

Round 3: The ghoul goes first this time, and she turns on Khnar. She doesn’t get anywhere close to hurting him, though, and he returns the attack futilely. Everyone else misses also - except Parouz, who does 5 damage to put their former companion down for good.

There’s no treasure here, and barely any honor. The Underclock resets to 20, I roll a 5, and it decrements to 15.

Turn 1

Finally, they descend the stairs to a new level. They’re in a vestibule with stairs that lead further down, as well as a door ahead of them. The walls and door have been gouged and damaged with claw marks - some massive beast has passed through here. Is it still present?

Chuckles has some abilities in this regard, so I’ll look again at those Tracking rules. They specifically note that, underground, “the beginning of the trail must be no more than an hour old.” I know for certain that’s not true here, so it won’t apply yet. Maybe deeper in the dungeon, they’ll reach some fresher tracks. However, he and Illuin will listen at the door, but they don’t hear anything.

Krimkol takes the crowbar and tries to pry the door open - success.

Underworld die: 6
Underclock: 15-6=9

Turn 2

The group enters a long corridor. There are several openings to the right; the first one is a door, then down towards the end they can see two archways. Chuckles will listen at the door, while Illuin will try to see what can be seen from the archways. No sounds can be heard beyond the door, and the thief reports that the archways lead to a corridor and a room, respectively. The group will head through the archway to the corridor, they decide.

Underworld die: 8+6=14
Underclock: 9-14=-5 (encounter)

Turn 3

In this same corridor (so in tight quarters), the group encounters a group of six goblins. Somehow, the goblins take them by surprise, but they’re hesitant. Are these intruders here to slay them?

At this point, no, actually. They have already eliminated the raiding threat; whoever is down here is not troubling the locals. However, I never did deal with languages at the beginning. Parouz speaks three additional languages, to be chosen from Dwarven, Dragon, Giantish, and Goblin (assuming she knows both Common and Elvish). I’ll roll a d4 to see which she doesn’t know: Goblin, unfortunately. So she can’t communicate with them. The character with the next highest Intelligence is actually Chuckles, who speaks two additional languages (though Elvish is an additional possibility here). I’ll roll a d5 twice to see which he knows, and that turns out to be Dwarven and Dragon. Khnar and Krimkol also know two additional languages: Khnar (as an elf) knows Giantish and Goblin, while Krimkol knows Elvish and Dragon. Finally, Illuin only knows Common.

Khnar can interact with them, and he has a decent Charisma, so I’ll give him a +1 to the roll. He specifically asks them about the claw marks on the walls; additionally, he explains that they are not here for the goblins (although they will defend themselves if needed). The goblins are still uncertain, so while they don’t attack, they simply tell the adventurers that they have a “great and powerful ally” at their disposal. That doesn’t tell the adventurers much, but hostilities are avoided, at least.

This doesn’t count as a “defeat” for XP purposes. The Underclock resets to 20, and I roll another 5 to bring it down to 15.

Turn 4

Finally, the group goes down that corridor. There’s a door to their left with some more of those bone-like spikes in it, and the corridor leads down to a four-way intersection with two pillars in it. Chuckles listens at the door, but he hears nothing. Rather than try to force that, they’ll continue to the pillars - where there are even more spikes. Chuckles can see quite a few goblin tracks here and indications that some of them have been injured (or worse) here in this area. There are double doors ahead of them and to their left.

Clearly, there’s some great danger, but its nature (and its relationship to the goblins) is not entirely clear to them. Or perhaps more than one danger exists here. Illuin listens at the double doors, and she can hear goblin chatter on the other side. Khnar asks Parouz and Krimkol to open the door for him, and with the crowbar, that’s no trouble.

Underworld die: 6
Underclock: 15-6=9

Turn 5

This room contains part of a goblin tribe, four individuals. They’re a bit friendly, actually; if anything, they seem relieved. Khnar speaks with them for a bit and finally gets the low-down: there are a pair of manticores nearby! These monsters are not in fact allied with the goblins; to the contrary, the goblins are terrified of them. It’s a good thing they didn’t go through the door just before this in the longer corridor, because that leads directly to their lair. The goblins have a few more warrens on this level. (Krimkol looks suspicious at all this, but holds his tongue.)

Khnar realizes that these goblins are not actually in charge of anything, though. They have a leader nearby, and he’d like to meet with them. Given their friendly demeanor, and his charisma, he’ll get a +2 to the reaction roll for this: even with that, they’re not certain they should do that. Instead, they’ll just tell them where to go (which actually is the guard room). They also suggest not forcing the door but entering a bit more politely.

Underworld die: 8+2=10
Underclock: 9-10=-1 (encounter)

Turn 6

As that conversation is wrapping up, five goblins enter. While they’re not hostile, they do seem a bit concerned about all these surface folks (plus two dwarves) in their warren. Khnar and his new acquaintances explain the situation, but the new goblins do not think it’s a good idea for the intruders to go see their leader in force. They suggest that the dwarves stay here. Krimkol and his retainer do not like this, and I think there’s a 50/50 chance they’ll agree: but they do.

The Underclock resets to 20 before I roll a 5 and decrement to 15.

Turn 7

The humans and elves go around to the guard room and knock, accompanied by one goblin from the warren. I decide that’s enough for another +2 situational modifier here (including the show of good faith by not bringing dwarves). The guards here are uncertain and tell the intruders to wait while they go confer with their king.

(I’ll roll separately for his reaction without the modifer: more uncertainty.)

Khnar will be granted an audience. Parouz, Illuin, and Chuckles will wait here, along with their lantern bearer. Krimkol and his retainer are still back in the first warren they found. As Khnar is escorted by two crossbow-carrying guards and the original goblin, he quietly notes the presence of a secret door to his left, but says nothing for now.

Underworld die: 8+3=11
Underclock: 15-11=4

Turn 8

Khnar is now granted an audience with the Goblin King (not that one, fellow Gen Xers). The king has six particularly stout bodyguards here, and Khnar makes no threatening moves. Perhaps splitting the party was a bad idea, but it’s a gamble.

In his audience, Khnar again proposes an alliance: if the goblins will fight together with them, they will fight the manticores together and end their reign of terror. This might give them enough swordarms to defeat the huge creatures, and the adventurers would ask for first choice from whatever treasure those manticores might have accumulated.

There’s no additional modifier on this roll; the fact that Khnar has even been given this opportunity is the situation itself.

The goblin king is not pleased. He does not order his guards to fire, but he rejects the proposal. All of that treasure is originally theirs (or at least so he says). He tells his guards to eject the intruders from their warrens. Khnar is in no position to push back at the moment, and he is escorted back to the guard room.

I’ll count this as a minor feat of exploration, at least.

Underworld die: 3
Underclock: 4-3=1 (reflecting the high degree of tension)

Turn 9

Back at the double pillars outside the warrens, the adventurers reunite the party. They are at the outside of goblin territory, and they have several potential courses of action:

Force the door to the manticores’ lair and take them on (this would be a very bad idea)
Attack the goblins in their warrens (this would be a potentially bad idea without appropriate preparation)
Check the door that has not been identified yet
Go back to the vestibule and descend to another level
Go back to the surface

Options 1 and 5 seem like especially bad ideas for opposite reasons. As long as they’re here, they might as well check out that door; if nothing useful comes from that, they’ll descend to the next level and consider their options regarding the goblins again in the future.

Underworld die: 7
Underclock: 1-7=-6 (encounter, reset Underclock to 20)

Turn 10

Three goblins come back out, weapons at the ready. Maybe the adventurers tarried too long here rather than leaving immediately. No one is surprised when combat breaks out.

Goblin (3): HD 1d6 (5, 3, 2 hp); AC 13; Atk 1 weapon (d6); Move 9; Save 18; Morale 7

They’re 60 feet away, though, when they all spot each other (this indicates to me that they didn’t come from the double doors immediately to the south).

Round 1: The goblins go first, and they’ll rush forward into melee ranger. That doesn’t give the adventurers a chance to fire missile weapons, but at least they’ve set up their formation. Khnar and Krimkol will receive the charge, so each attack has a 50% to go against one or the other of them. Randomly, they all go for the dwarf, likely due to the enmity they’ve already expressed against each other. One of the goblins succeeds in hitting him for 1 damage (9/10 hp). In return, Khnar (as a third-level fighter against creature with 1 HD or less) gets an attack on each of them. He hits all three, and two of them go down. One goblin is still up with 2 hp left. Illuin tries a backstab, but she misses. Parouz hits with her longsword for 1 damage, but it’s still up, and Krimkol finishes the job with his battle axe doing 4 damage.

The goblins aren’t carrying any treasure, but this does change the adventurers’ viewpoint of the tribe. Despite their attempts at diplomacy, the goblins have initiated hostilities. I’ll give the adventurers a new quest: run the goblins out of this level of the dungeon. (When complete, this will count as a major feat of exploration).

Underworld die: 3
Underclock: 20-3=17

Turn 11

Plans have changed. Rather than go explore the mysterious room, they’ll turn around and try to punish the goblins. Should they go into the warren chambers or the guard room? The guard room had more dangerous foes, and the goblins in that first room were friendly enough, so they’ll fight the guards. Perhaps that will force a peace of some sort.

The plan is this: Chuckles will force the door open; Parouz, Illuin, and the dwarf-at-arms will launch missile weapons (arrows and flaming oil), after which Khnar and Krimkol will charge in, shields at the ready. First, though, they’ll try to block the nearby door to prevent reinforcements.

I decide that means the goblins will then have a 2-in-6 chance to force open that door, increasing by 1 each turn. The adventurers spend this turn setting up their preparations.

Underworld die: 8+6=14
Underclock: 17-14=3

That results in an omen, which means they can hear the goblins shouting behind doors at each other, preparing for a fight. No surprises will occur when the battles start.

Turn 12

It’s go time. Chuckles tries to pry open the door to the guard room, but he can’t get it open! Parouz has to lend her strength to the effort, and they finally get it open. As they fall inside, they won’t be able to act in the first round.

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

These goblins also have missile weapons, so depending on the initiative rolls, they may fire their bolts.

Round 1: Initiative occurs simultaneously. The goblins fire their crossbows; they have an equal chance to target the two door-openers, Khnar, or Krimkol: both of them target Chuckles. Neither of them hit, though. In return, Illuin shoots at one of the goblins in front, but she misses. The dwarf-at-arms tosses a flask of oil at the goblins, but he misses as well. (At least the patch will block one of the goblins from fighting this round.) Khnar wades in with his axe, getting three attacks again. He hits both front-rank goblins, killing one and injuring the other (2/4 hp). Krimkol attacks that one and finishes it off. Parouz and Chuckles are picking themselves up off the ground. The goblins must make a morale check: they fail, and they flee back towards the king’s chamber.

Meanwhile, the goblins in the side room fail to force open the door, so they’re still stuck there.

Underworld die: 6
Underclock: 3-6=-3 (encounter, reset Underclock to 20)

Turn 13

After a moment, those goblins in the side room force the door and rush out. There’s no reaction roll; this is war. There are another four of them.

Goblins (4): HD 1d6 (5, 1, 1, 1 hp); AC 13; Atk 1 weapon (d6); Move 9; Save 18; Morale 7

They’re 20 feet away at the start of the encounter.

Round 1: Both groups will act simultaneously. Illuin fires an arrow at one of them, but it hits the wall. The goblins close the distance and a melee ensues. Two will attack Khnar and two will attack Krimkol, but the adventurers are unhurt. Khnar kills one of them, and Krimkol kills the beefy one. Parouz isn’t able to deal any damage, but Chuckles drops one and the dwarf-at-arms defeats the other.

Underworld die: 7
Underclock: 20-7=13

Turn 14

The goblin king is still back in his chambers, but he’s well-protected at the moment by six heavy goblins (stouter than hobgoblins). They also know that there are a pair of manticores on the level, and while they’re not planning on assaulting the lair, they need to preserve lines of retreat if needed. There’s one warren they haven’t checked at all, on the east side of the level, so they’ll head that way.

It’s closed off by a door. Chuckles listens at it, but he doesn’t hear anything. Krimkol tries to force it open with a crowbar, and it comes easily.

Inside are another four goblins, already on alert.

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

They’re 40’ away when the encounter begins.

Round 1: The adventurers seize the initiative. Illuin lets fly at a front-line goblin without success. Chuckles heaves a spear at it and deals 1 damage (5/6 hp). The rest of the adventuring party closes to melee range. Khnar lays about with his battle axe, getting two hits and killing two goblins (5 and 2 hp left). Krimkol takes one out and Parouz finishes the last one off.

These goblins have 25 ep among them.

Underworld die: 2
Underclock: 13-2=11

Turn 15

The group spends a turn searching the room. (This is the fifth room they’ve visited on this level, which is a minor feat of exploration.) It doesn’t have much, just typical bedrolls and gnawed bones and whatnot. But during the search, the elves find a secret door on the back wall.

Opening it leads to another chamber with a different aroma; they’ll need to go explore it to learn more.

Underworld die: 1
Underclock: 11-1=10

Turn 16

This secret chamber doesn’t contain goblins or manticores; instead, there are three lizardfolk here. They’re surprised to see the adventurers enter their space, but they’re not immediately hostile. (S&W doesn’t specify their language of choice, so I decide they speak Dragon.) Parouz takes the lead in this conversation, explaining that they are here to hunt manticores and (now) goblins; would they like to participate, or at least stay out of the way?

Given the state of affairs between the lizardfolk and the goblins, I think that’ll be a +2 to the reaction roll here: it’s positive. They’ll help, but they want the run of the dungeon afterward. That seems reasonable; after all, the group isn’t planning to settle down here.

Underworld die: 1
Underclock: 10-1=9

Turn 17

They’re going to enter through a secret back door in the goblin king’s treasure room along with the door that Khnar noticed earlier. This pincer movement should provide a tactical advantage. The lizardfolk will gather a few more allies (for 6 of them total). As a gesture of trust, each group will split in half to fight with half of the other group. That is, Chuckles, Illuin, and his torchbearer will go with three lizardfolk into the treasure room entrance, while Khnar, Krimkol, Parouz, and the dwarf-at-arms will go through the middle door with three other lizardfolk.

The two groups get into position and prepare for their assault.

Underworld die: 2
Underclock: 9-2=7

Turn 18

At the lizardfolk’s signal, the groups burst in. I decide this level of planning grants them automatic surprise. There are six heavy goblins guarding the king in his chambers. Khnar and his squad will go first, hopefully eliminating as many of the guards as possible before the king can react.

Heavy Goblins (6): HD 2 (11, 4, 9, 6, 5, 9 hp); AC 13; Atk 1 weapon (d6); Move 12; Save 14; Morale 9
Goblin King: HD 3 (8 hp); AC 14; Atk 1 weapon (d6+1); Move 12; Save 13; Morale 9
Lizardfolk (6): HD 2+1 (8, 12, 14, 10, 12, 11 hp); AC 14; Attack 2 claws (d3), bite (d6); Move 6; Save 16; Morale 12

Round 1: One of the bodyguards drops his weapons in surprise, as does one of the bodyguards. Khnar wades in first and tries to strike down a bodyguard unsuccessfully, as do Parouz and the dwarf-at-arms. Krimkol successfully hits one and kills it. The lizardfolk claw to death the guard who dropped his weapon, then bite the last one for 4 damage (5/9 hp). This gives Illuin and Chuckles backstab opportunities on the king, but they both miss. The lizardfolk with them go for the guards, shredding the beefiest of them to death as well as the previously-injured guard. That leaves only the king and two guards (at 9 and 6 hp). The king maintains his morale, but the guards do not, and they flee out into the warrens.

Round 2: The adventurers go first, followed by the lizardfolk (I rolled separately for their initiative) and the goblin king. Parouz briefly considers casting magic missile, but decides the king will be dead before she can finish. Illuin in fact does just that, thrusting her bastard sword into the his back and killing him outright. The lizardfolk chase down the remaining guards; munching sounds can be heard from the other room.

The treasure room has three chests, but the lizardfolk indicate that they were previously emptied in their own thieving raids.

Underworld die: 4
Underclock: 7-4=3

The Underclock reaching 3 leads to an omen: they can hear the manticores roaring in the distance. This is as good of a time as any to pay their respects to the Big Lizard and leave the dungeon. While those monsters will certainly have significant treasure, the adventurers need to be better prepared for them.

Exiting with the Underclock

They’ll need to make one more Underworld roll to see if they can get up to the next level without incident:

Underworld die: 7
Underclock: 3-7=-4 (encounter)

That’s a manticore, then. Is it ahead of them or behind them (50/50)? Behind, fortunately. I think it will get off one volley of tail spikes before they can get out of the corridor and on the other side of a door.

Manticore: HD 6+4 (27 hp); AC 15; Atk 2 claws (d3), bite (d8), 6 tail spikes (d6); Move 12 (Fly 18)

I’ll roll individually for the spikes, one each against a different party member. That said, including the lantern-bearer, there are 7 party members, so I’ll roll to see who doesn’t get targeted: Khnar, perhaps because the manticore recognizes that he’s the best armored. Parouz gets hit for 3 damage (5/10 hp); Illuin is hit for 1 damage (1/4 hp); the dwarf-at-arms is hit for 1 damage (2/3 hp); and the lantern-bearer is hit and killed outright.

The group escapes with less casualties than I expected, because Illuin is extremely vulnerable.

On level 3, the Underclock resets to 20 and then I make two rolls: 2+2=4 => 20-4=16. On level 2, I’ll make two more rolls: (8+7)+6=21 => 16-21=-5 (encounter).

Robber Flies

A buzzing group of six robber flies sets upon the group. Chuckles is carrying his own lantern now. Both groups are surprised, but the flies don’t seem immediately hostile. The adventurers are not interested in hunting them, either, so they’ll move on.

I reset the Underclock to 20 and make two rolls on level 1: 3+5=8 => 20-8=12. The group makes it back to the surface without further incident.

Rewards and Experience

In terms of experience and treasure, the group didn’t get much.

Monsters: 1 ghoul @ 60 XP; 13 goblins @ 10 XP each; 6 heavy goblins @ 30 XP each; 1 goblin king @ 60 XP
Treasure: 25 ep (12 XP)
Feat of Exploration: 2 minor (visit king, five rooms) @ 255 XP; 1 major (run goblins out) @ 637 XP

So from monsters, 60+130+180+60=430 XP; from treasure, another 12; and from feats, 255+255+637=1147 XP. That’s a total of 1589 XP, split five ways for only 318 XP each.

To recover the main treasures from that level, they’ll need to defeat or at least rob the manticores. Potentially, if they betrayed their lizardfolk allies, they could get whatever treasures the Big Lizard has accumulated. But for now, I’m pleased that they’ve learned to play dungeon factions against each other. It’s a shame the goblin king didn’t want to play along, because otherwise he could have recovered his treasure from the lizardfolk and removed the larger threat of the manticores. Instead, he and his tribe are dead. (Again: adventurers, not heroes!)

That said, I don’t think Khnar will advise his comrades to go up against the manticores just yet. They don’t need to go deal with them until they’re much better prepared. Illuin, who nearly died from a grazing hit by a tail spike, will certainly agree.