Session II, Part III

Here is the map to the dungeon I used for this delve:

I like this map because, again, it's naturalistic: rather than exactly 10' wide corridors meeting at right angles, I can easily see the above as a tunneled out cave complex that was first used as tombs, then repurposed by Mr. Infamous.


The PCs enter the cave complex from the west and approach the point where the corridor artificially narrows; the party suspects a trap and disarms it.  Shortly thereafter, they encounter a very strange looking beast:

As an experienced player,   D knows about carrion crawlers, but  keeps quiet.  K is a rookie, so he has no idea what the heck it is.

The nameless Thief successfully Hides in Shadows while Aleena and the nameless Fighter present a two-person front to the wriggling mass of tentacles.  K is a bit taken aback when I announce that the strange beast gets EIGHT attacks per round!

Then, there's a moment of silence when Aleena is struck by a tentacle and, failing her Save versus Death, she stiffens with a gasp before slumping to the ground (for my Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition homebrew I conflated the saving throws down to three: Fear, Magic and Death).  As a further result, the room plunges into darkness, since Aleena was carrying the torch!

I make a ruling that the darkness results in a -6 Melee Attack Adjustment, which presents a severe problem for the PCs since another house rule for my AD&D 1E homebrew  removes the Melee Attack Adjustment for a high Strength score: I understand why a high Strength score would increase melee damage, but increasing the likelihood of a hit doesn't make sense to me.

As the PCs struggle in the dark to fight the carrion crawler, a tentacle also strikes the nameless Fighter, who also fails his Save versus Death.  K gets quiet as the melee rages on without the nameless Fighter.

The nameless Thief decides to halt attacking and relight the torch.  Without the -6 Melee Attack Adjustment, he's able to drive off the carrion crawler with a solid blow that sends the beastie fleeing.

When [as DM] I say, "Aleena and the nameless Fighter are merely paralyzed," K is relieved and D says, "A failed Save versus Death doesn't always result in Death."


A bit later, the party encounters some undead, and retreats to favorable ground before Aleena turns the ghouls.


Then, the party finds where Mr. Infamous has heaped together all the treasure from the tombs.  Lurking in the piles of coins is a large snake:

After the snake darts out and bites the nameless Thief before darting back into a pile of coins, the PCs are at a bit of a loss, so Aleena suggests dousing the coins in oil and setting them on fire.

K says, "That's… actually a really good idea," and soon the air is filled with the aroma of roasted serpent.

The snake is slain!

The party notices a tunnel in the corner of the room.  Advancing, they can tell a trap is laid at the other end of the tunnel as it opens into another room.  The PCs also see the shadow of a guy with an impractical helmet crouched and waiting to ambush them as they exit the tunnel.

After the PCs deliberately trigger the trap from a safe distance, melee begins!  The party wins initiative but only by one segment.

Quickly, the nameless Thief (who took a level of Magic-User) casts Sleep… but all the opponents make their saves (my AD&D 1E homebrew nerfs spells that I think are overpowered, so now opponents get saving throws against Sleep).

[As DM] I say, "Gee, that's statistically improbable."

D says, "I really don't need to hear that!"

In a gutsy move, the nameless Fighter charges in!  A hooded wizard in dark robes, screened by a pair of kobolds, is casting also a spell.  In fact, the wizard is using the exact same words as the nameless Thief.

Rushing forward, the nameless Fighter makes a Dex check to dash between the kobolds in front of Bargle before K rolls a critical success on his melee attack, inflicting SIXTEEN points of damage!

Pausing, I look again at the result.

SIXTEEN points of damage!

Another house rule for my AD&D 1E homebrew substitutes the Melee Attack bonus from charging with a Melee Damage bonus, which, again, makes more sense to me.

I originally intended for Bargle to become a recurring villain that would continually oppose (read "screw with") the PCs over the course of the campaign but there was no reasonable way for me to fudge K's damage roll to allow the would-be evil mastermind to survive.  (Now, when the nameless Fighter slipped between the kobolds, the lizards had the chance for Attacks of Opportunity.  However, canonically Bargle is an asshat to his underlings, so I figured the kobolds saw this hellbent charging warrior and thought, "Eh, whatever.  I already got paid.")  Moreover, the PCs earned this surprising victory, so I let it stand.

Bargle is slain!