Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• M.A., playing - James the Cleric and - Jeffrey the Monk.
• T.A., playing - Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and - Dooley the sly (a thief).
• E.A., playing - Curufin the Elf and - Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing - Taffy the Halfling and - Alice the Cleric

Actual Play

Went back through J to 50, where they had discovered the secret door. They went through and discovered skeleton. Jeffry has the boots. Spent a bunch of time arguing, which lead to a wandering monster encounter: 4 goblins easily killed, with no loot. Went through second secret door, explored 63, nothing valuable. Headed north & Dooley ran into a gelatinous cube. Others pulled him back and fled. Argued about how to kill the gelatinous cube, which lead to another wandering monster encounter: 22 goblins, the rest of the tribe, looking for their lost 4 scouts. This left half of the party unconscious, but thanks to the staff of healing, wand of paralyzation, & sleep they survived. They had used up their healing for the day, so went back to the keep for 1 week, then on to 62, where they opened coffins until they found a wight. It rolled a 3 for its attack on its surprise round, then lost initiative to the party, whereupon James rolled well and turned it. It fled. They found a hidden compartment with a helmet, which Dooley promptly put on. Alas for everybody, it was a helm of evil. Intra-party conflict ensued, until Dooley was rendered unconscious by Curufin's sleep. At the end, the scroll went to Alice, the +1 flaming sword to Jeffry, the elven boots to Dooley. Gelatinous cube loot: 4 cp, 5 sp, 5 ep, 3 gp, 2 pp, wand of fireballs.

Reflections

I was really off at this session, even though I had been looking forward to it. The kids were unfocused and I was unable to get them to concentrate. Eventually I gave up. The kids played some of Lily's new games (Doodle Dice) until Charlita called for her kids to come home.

Attending

• T.K.B. — Labyrinth Lord
• T.A. played Arlow (an Elf) and Grimmin (a Dwarf), and also played James (a Thief), who was created by D.B.
• E.A. played Elsie (an Elf) and Leanna (a Dwarf), and also played Hermes (A Magic User), who was created by D.B.
• M.A. played John (a Cleric) and Zedd (a Magic User).

Actual Play

1st day: They all hunted, since Mad Sammy's stores were running low. They found 20 days worth of food, which they shared with Mad Sam.

2nd day: They went back to the crypt, to the room with the orange and green painted keyholes. The two shadows attacked them, but luckily for the PCs, by this point in the adventure many had magic weapons, and they were able to land some good solid hits. The shadows faded into the gloom, and then attacked again when the PCs attention was diverted. This time the party handily disposed of the shadows.

They then used the Green & Orange Rod Keys, and the secret door opened. The climbed down the chain (a couple slipped, but caught themselves) to the lower level and opened the double doors into what turned out to be the final room of the crypt. It contained two stone coffins with statues atop each. They were talking about pulling down the statutes so they could open the coffins when the statue on the left coffin attacked — it was actually a gargoyle. They killed it without much trouble, and turned to the statue on the right. That statue was firmly fixed to the coffin and they were unable to pull it down. They turned back to the other coffin, which opened easily. They pulled out the treasure and read the note wrapped around the ring, and heard the banging and screeching start in the right-side coffin, while simultaneously the statue from that coffin fell and struck two of the party glancing blows.

Despite the noises from the coffin, they opened it with the key none-the-less — the lid was pushed back, and a medusa sat up, surprising them all. All but one of the PCs were turned to stone by the baleful gaze of the medusa. Grimmin was the lucky adventurer, and he resisted the gaze once again, while he ran around behind the other coffin, where he quickly rifled through his backpack and found the silver mirror. Standing up with the mirror before him, he avoided the medusa's gaze, while she looked full into the mirror and was turned to stone.

Grimmin was left alone, surrounded by the petrified bodies of his friends. The Stone to Flesh scrolls they had found earlier were also, unfortunately petrified, as was all the treasure they had accumulated before this room. Fortunately, there was plenty of treasure in this room. After spending a night with Mad Sam, Grimmin set off for civilization to find more scrolls of Stone to Flesh and a novice wizard to accompany him back and read the scrolls to free his comrades. Eventually he did, but it cost him all the loot from the last room. He traveled back to the crypt with Harlan, his hired magic user, but as they came down the steps they were attacked by skeletons. Grimmin, knowing that if Harlan was killed it was all up for his companions, bravely threw himself in the path of the blow intended for Harlan, and was stuck by the other skeleton as well, and luckily survived both. After that, with help from Harlan's Magic Missile, it was easy to finish off the skeletons.

Once they got to the statues, the magic user read the scrolls and the PCs were restored. After a night's rest in Mad Sammy's basement they all (except for Sammy) set off for civilization. However, on the first night out, on the sleeping Grimmin's watch, they were attacked by wolves. Once awake they fought back valiantly. When the Guardian of the Crypt, a great glowing orb with one eye, appeared they were at first taken aback, and feared the Guardian had killed Harlan when it sent a bolt of magical energy into the tree where Harlan had hidden. However, Arlow ended up killing it with one Magic Missile, and they finished off the wolves without too much difficulty They returned to tell Sammy that his nightmare was over, and then all (including Sammy, this time) left for civilization.

Loot & XP

The loot for the final room was 5930 gp, all used to buy scrolls and hire Harlan to read them. The previous loot was 3108 gp, so everybody got 388.5 gp. Total monster XP for the whole adventure was 797 XP divided by eight PCs and rounded to 100 XP. Total XP with the loot (once they got it back to civilization), per PC, was 1230 XP each. Not even James the Thief leveled!

So ended the Fabled Curse of the Brigand Crypt!

Afterward

I pointed out to the kids that very little of their final XPs came from killing monsters, that most of it came from taking their stuff, and that if they could do the later without the former they'd be better off.

We talked about what game to play next, during the school year when L.B. isn't here, and they eventually decided on Evernight, the Savage Worlds campaign, at T.A.'s suggestion. That was fine with me!

Next week, when L.A. is in, we'll work on Keep on the Borderlands. We are getting near the end, and L.A. has said that she doesn't want it to end. I'll have to see what I can do about that. Perhaps I'll populate one of the dungeon maps I've drawn recently, and make it the Cave of the Unknown…

Attending

• T.K.B. — Labyrinth Lord
• T.A played Arlow (an Elf) and Grimmin (a Dwarf), and also played Hermes (A Magic User) and James (a Thief), who were created by D.B.
• M.A. played John (a Cleric) and Zedd (a Magic User), and also played Elsie (an Elf) and Leanna (a Dwarf), who were created by E.A.

Actual Play

1st day: They found the crypt doors locked again. Pick Locks failed, so they went back to the Temple. Hermes: Red Stone. James: Key, so /bite (he immediately dropped the key, so was only bitten once), then Blue Stone. Zedd: Gray Stone. John: Key, so Bite (and dropped the key). Arlow: Gold Stone. Elsie: Green Stone. Grimmin: Key. Since some were injured they went back to Mad Sammy's, go thealed, and slept.

2nd day: Back to crypt. Door in room 2 was locked again and when they opened it they surprised 8 giant rats. R1 rats surprised, Leanna and Grimmin step forward and attack, killing 3 rats, while the rest of the party falls back and takes position in room 2. R2 Hermes casts sleep, sending the remaining 5 rats off to their last slumber, then the rest of the party coup-de-graced the rats. They decided to pick them up on the way back out to smoke-dry for rations. Off to area 4, the pit. Wandering Monster: 4 skeletons in the pit. They animate when James starts down into the pit. John turns 5 HD, so all the skeletons tried to flee over the north edge of the pit, which repeatedly dumps them back into the pit. It takes the party 6 rounds to destroy the skeletons, but James took 4 wounds and fell unconscious. Zedd had the Green Rod Key. He put it in the green-daubed hole and pulls upward. Everybody hears the click. He takes the key out. The party members in the pit climb out on the north side, which now doesn't dump them back in the pit, and the rest of the party steps around the corner from the west site of the pit. Leanna picks up James and carries him, and they all head off to the door to room 11.

They had reached the doors when they noticed, coming up the hallway behind them, a rather surly looking dwarf. After an exchange where the dwarf insisted they shouldn't be here and tried to intimidate them into leaving, he turned and left. T.A. immediately has Arlow (?) agitating for the party to attack the retreating dwarf. Upon learning that the dwarf is wearing plate mail, Grimmin and Leanna fire their crossbows at the dwarf, and Arlow joins in. They score one hit, but the dwarf steps round the corner over the pit, and Arlow, Grimmin, and Leanna chase after him. They chase him in the dark until he vanishes out of their range of sight at the bottom of the stairs in room 10. They hesitate at the top of the stairs, Leanna retreating to find the others, and Grimmin and Arlow hear a scream in the room below, then sounds of struggle, then silence. They wait, listening, and then Grimmin is surprised by the shadow and taken to –1 HP in the first attack. Arlow picks up Grimmin and flees to room 2, where they paused. The others (carrying James) are already in room 2. Here they are all surprised again when 2 shadows attack! The shadows attacked Arlow (and missed) and Zedd (and hit). In the second round the shadows attacked Hermes (and missed) and Leanna (and hit). Party fled and left crypt door open.

They spent two days just resting and healing. Every night they had wolves howling outside and clawing at the Mad Sammy's cellar door. Mad Sammy shrieked and howled, babbling that they had offended “the eye”. On the third day some of them hunted, because their supplies were gone and Mad Sammy's supplies were running low. They found enough to feed four people for the day. On the fourth day they found enough food to feed three people for the day. On the fifth day John was able to heal Leanna of the last of her wounds, and the party was finally completely healed. On the sixth day they found enough rations for 12 people, and after eating had 3 days rations to smoke dry that evening.

On the seventh day they headed back to the crypt. They went directly to room 11, where they were surprised by 2 ghouls hidden in the loose dirt near a ¾ buried chest. Grimmin was paralyzed on the first round (for 7 rounds), but the rest of the party was able to kill the ghouls in three more rounds. John cast cure light wounds on Grimmin, which also cured his paralysis. Leanna took the magic flail, and Hermes took both scrolls. Back to mad Sam's, where there were still wolves at the door every night.

Reflections

I made an effort this time to follow the Labyrinth Lord Labyrinth Play Sequence, Time and Movement, Rest, Monster Reaction, Wandering Monsters, and Morale Checks rules more closely than I have hitherto.[1] The dwarf was a wandering monster roll, straight from the Level 1 column on the Wandering Monster Table on p. 104 of Labyrinth Lord, with everything after that improvised on the fly — I decided he was another treasure hunter, upset at finding competition, and once he started to flee the PCs it seemed inevitable that he end up in the room with the shadow, and get killed and turned into a shadow himself. I thought it added a lot to the game, and made me look on wandering monsters with much more approval. I do think that I ought to make location-specific wandering monster tables, though.

Attending

Clockwise round the table:

• T.K.B. — Labyrinth Lord
• C.DW. — a Thief named Aria
• B.B. — a Dwarf named Urgo
• T.A. — a Magic User named Octavian
• E.A. — an Elf named Trista
• M.A. — a Cleric named Jude

They trekked through the hills for 4 days (Trista downing a dear when their rations were gone), until they finally found the huge tree said to be the entrance to the old pit. Unfortunately, they were unable to find the entrance, and as they were looking they were attacked by javelins thrown from above, in the tree. Not able to see their assailants in the leafy boughs, they fled. At a safe distance they decided to run back and have the dwarf climb the tree, while the elf, thief, and cleric used their missile weapons. With the goblins concentrating on the dwarf climbing towards them, the others were finally able to pinpoint the goblins, and managed to kill one of them, by the time the heavily wounded dwarf managed to climb up to the goblins and miss his first attack. The dwarf managed to scare the remaining goblin into surrendering, and they climbed down out of the tree. The goblin swore he would leave and go back to the deep mountains, if they would let him go. When the dwarf swore he would let him go if the goblin told them how to enter the pit, the goblin did so. An argument ensued among the PCs, Octavian in particular not wanting to let the goblin go, but Urgo finally did (having sworn) and the goblin high-tailed it out of there. Several of the PCs had been injured, but Urgo had taken the worst of the damage while climbing up the tree.

They headed down the narrow dirt tunnel the goblin had shown them, concealed behind a cleverly hinged section of a huge root, and the tunnel quickly opened up into a stairway cut from stone. They passed through one empty room, where they paused to light Octavian's lantern, then down another stair to a much larger room. At the far side of the room they could just make out a demonic face carved on the wall, its huge mouth gaping blackly. As they stared at the demonic face they were surprised by 4 goblins springing down from niches high on the wall where the stairway entered, behind them. After a few rounds, they were attacked by archers in the dark beyond the demonic mouth, too. Soon all the PCs were badly injured, the dwarf at 0 HP, Octavian at negative HP, and then Aria was brought to negative HP. Urgo bound Aria's wounds, and fell unconscious himself, bleeding to death, while Trista and Jade attacked the two goblins beyond the mouth, Jade throwing himself through the gaping mouth. Jude killed one of the two goblin archers, but fell to the other, who finally fled in the face of Trista's deadly arrows. This left Trista the only conscious adventurer, with four unconscious companions to care for in this deadly dungeon.

She bound up her comrades' wounds, then searched the dead goblins, finding a single vial of thick green liquid. She gave it to the dwarf, Urgo, and when he revived they carried their comrades partway back up the winding stairs, out of easy bowshot, and secured them to iron spikes, so they wouldn't slip down the steps. There they each guarded one approach. Urgo fell asleep, but luckily Trista's keen elvish senses noticed his snores and woke him, for in the night he heard goblins approaching up the stair. He hurtled himself down the stair into the 4 goblins, killing one outright and injuring another and setting them and himself tumbling to the bottom of the stairs. Dazed and confused by the tumble, they all traded blows in the dark, flailing madly and futilely until Urgo finally killed 2 more of them, and the last remaining goblin fled back through the mouth before Urgo could catch up with him.

Eventually Jude recovered from his wounds enough to wake and pray, and then healed Aria. The companions then fled, carrying the unconscious and deeply wounded Octavian with them, headed for town!

Aftermath

I hope to continue this adventure when B.B. & C. are next in, perhaps on fall break.

Attending

• T.K.B. — Labyrinth Lord
• T.A played Arlow (an Elf) and Grimmin (a Dwarf), and also played Hermes (A Magic User), who was created by D.B.
• E.A. played Elsie (an Elf) and Leanna (a Dwarf), and also played James (a Thief), who was created by D.B.
• M.A. played John (a Cleric) and Zedd (a Magic User).

Actual Play

The characters from part 1 spent several days healing and resting. Some friends who'd had the same idea about finding the brigands' treasure showed up (M.A.'s Zedd and E.A's Leanna) and were welcomed to the party. Zedd brought his pony, who sleeps with them in Mad Sammy's cellar at night.

They went back to room 6, and decided to open one of the closed stone coffins, and while pushing the heavy lid off, Elsie, along with several others, fell into the coffin on top of the skeleton. The others managed to (eventually) exit the coffin, but poor Elsie was too entangled with the skeleton. Eventually the party killed the skeleton, but Elsie ended in the negative hit points, so they went back to Mad Sammy's with Elsie on a floating disk to recover.

After healing up, they went back to room 6 and opened coffin #2, where a couple fell in again, but got pulled out more quickly. They killed the skeleton and opened the rest of the coffins and found the treasure and a key. They move through room 7, empty since its occupants were killed in room 6 in the first session, and enter room 8, where the piercers drop, impaling Zedd & Leanna & missing Arlow. They eventually pull the piercers out (doing more damage in the process, and kill the piercers. Then it was back to Mad Sammy's to rest again.

When they returned to the crypt they entered room 9 where they pulled down the hanging bodies and were attacked by the 2 blue cave spiders. John is bit and paralyzed, but the others kill the spiders. John recovers from the paralysis in 6 rounds, and makes his save vs. poison, so lives. (Maybe here is when they went back to Sam's, instead, or also?) Next they're down the stairs to room 10. John puts the key in first, gets bit, and tries to bash the statue with his flail, and gets bit again. Finally he drops the key, which rolls to the floor after the statue releases John's arm. Next they put the stones in: Elsie the green (one of her weapons glows), Arlow the gray (and he gets gray hair), James the gold (he gets a ring from the statute, which Zedd puts on then returns to James, who puts it in the statue's mouth, whereupon it falls out again), Grimmin the red (stung for 1 HP of damage), Hermes the blue (he made his save), and then Elsie put the key in. They heard the chain beyond the wall, and got the Green Rod Key, and then were attacked by the shadow. By the time they got it off Elsie, she was in the negatives, and by the time they got it off Leanna (injuring her with their non-magical weapons in the process and figuring out they could only injure the shadow the magic) she was in the negatives took, so they grabbed the girls and fled, leaving the shadow. Each time the shadow attacked from the shadows and the party was surprised. Of course, they ran back to Mad Sam's, although they did close the crypt doors on the way out.

Attending

• T.K.B. — Labyrinth Lord
• D.B. played James (a Thief) and Hermes (a Magic User), and also played John (a Cleric) who was created by M.A.
• T.A played Arlow (an Elf) and Grimmin (a Dwarf), and also played Elsie (an Elf), who was created by E.A.

Actual Play

They reached the village of Iron City, where the bandits were supposed to have lived, in the late afternoon. They searched several of the houses, until they reached the storehouse. They broke in the door (the tongue of the lock tore out of the jamb) and questioned poor mad Sammy, who was frightened by them but called down enough to talk once they showed him no harm. He babbled about everything but several times repeated to them that they should not let “the eye” see them, and that it roamed at night. They decided to spend the night with him, and barred the door, as best they could.

The next day they searched the rest of the town, found the well, and entered the temple. They pulled out the stones and the key, and luckily pulled the key out last, so no one got bit. James pulled out the red stone, but gave it to Grimmin. Elsie pulled out the green stone. Arlow pulled out the gray stone. James pulled out the gold stone. Hermes pulled out the blue stone. John pulled out the key. After that they opened the Crypt with the key and explored room 1, and over the course of several days opened all the burial vaults in that room, killed the undead, and found the treasure and the keys. They had to rest and heal at least twice and each time took at least two days.

After clearing out the burial vaults in room 1, they went down the stairs to room 2, where T.A. insisted on searching for secret doors, repeatedly, using up almost five hours of daylight. Eventually they opened the door with the key from burial vault E. Entering, they heard the sound from the east end of the corridor, investigated, and found the pit, 4. Seeing the green-daubed hole, they decided to investigate and James slid down a rope held by Elsie and Hermes. The 2 skeletons immediately attacked, and Grimmin slid down to help, but fell. John slid down too. Grimmin blunted his battle ax on the stone wall and dropped it, while John dropped his flail after also hitting the wall. After that John turned both of the skeletons, who spent several rounds trying to uselessly climb up the east wall of the pit, while James, John, and Grimmin tried fruitlessly to hit the skeletons, seeming to fling their weapons repeatedly into the corners of the pit. Eventually they managed to kill the skeletons. James decided, looking at the green-daubed keyhole, that it was larger than any of the keys they had found so far, and probably hooked up to some mechanism, rather than a lock for a door, and that whatever it might be, it was beyond his current skill.

They crawled back up out of the pit, and one of D.B.'s characters (I think it was John) tried to step around the corner to the north corridor, which tilted and dumped him back into the pit, for more damage. Next they explored the western end of corridor 3, where James set off the arrow trap, which luckily missed. They went in to the crawlspace in 5 with Grimmin in the lead and he killed the skeleton with ease! They came out of the crawlspace into 6, a long narrow room with 12 coffins. T.A.'s characters went to look at the 4 open coffins and were attacked by two ghouls and a skeleton from room 7. D.B.'s characters, more cautious, had stayed by the crawlspace, but moved up to help their comrades. Luckily, the ghouls attacked Arlow and Elsie, who as elves were able to ignore the paralyzing effects of the ghouls. The resulting fight destroyed the ghouls and the skeleton.

They decided to open one of the closed stone coffins, and while pushing the heavy lid off, Elsie, along with several others, fell into the coffin on top of the skeleton. The others managed to (eventually) exit the coffin, but poor Elsie was too entangled with the skeleton. Eventually the party killed the skeleton, but Elsie ended in the negative hit points [1], so they went back to Mad Sammy's with Elsie on a floating disk to recover.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric

Actual Play

Entered G and went right to 33 where they killed the 3 gray oozes and found the jewel-encrusted goblet (1,300 gp) in the pool. Found 2 sp searching debris of 32s, then attacked by owlbear from 34. Found scroll with protection from undead. Went back to Keep to rest and heal.

Entered J, the Gnoll lair and 46, then 47 25 gp 4 sp 10 cp, sable cloak (450 gp). 48 Cursed sword to Dru. (I skipped the ale out of deference to my sister, mother of three of my players.) 49 killed all, 7 gp & 55 sp. 50 2 silver arm bands @ 50 gp each, 39 gp, sons total 10 gp 10 ep 10 sp. 4 wives: 4×silver neck chains @ 30 gp each & 28 ep total. Pot below flagstone, 200 cp, 157 sp, 76 ep, 139 gp.

Discovered secret door!

Last day of summer campaign, as L.B. had to leave the next for Alabama and her mom's for the school year.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric

Actual Play

The evil hero from room 41 in the Caves of Chaos killed 2 guards, nearly killed the banker from the Keep, room 11, and stole gems and statue and weapons and plate, then leaves keep by west wall. Dru tracks him across river, into Pine Woods, to a cliff with cave formed by leaning stone slab, and the PCs kill him. They return the stolen goods.

Back to the Caves. Via 43 to 44, killed 2 fire beetles, got 2×3 glands. Followed confusing passageway until they saw the entrance, exited and reentered, wandered into 42. Taffy, Alice, and Drusilla got impaled by stirges. They killed the impaling stirges and Glen cast sleep on the remaining, flying stirges. The stirges fell from the air, hit the ground, and started to wake, disoriented. PCs get initiative and kill all the stirges before the stirges recover enough to defend themselves. On to 45, where Taffy & Alice did double damage and finished off the minotaur. Jewelry was a torc and 2 armbands. Total Treasure: 4185 gp. Each: 523 gp 1 sp 2 cp 2 farthings. Treasure excludes magic James got magic plate and sold old plate, 37.5 gp each.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric

Actual Play

Coming out of 38 down the slope the party was surprised by an ambush at the tee, where the bugbears from 35 and 39 were waiting. They retreated up the slope, drawing the bugbears after them. They wiped out the bugbears at some cost to themselves, and returned to the keep, where they sold the urn for 175 gp. 10 gp 11 gp 8 gp 7 gp 10 gp 6 gp 9 gp 7sp 12 gp 7 sp.

Returning after a few days they missed seeing the tripwire for a new deadfall, tripped it, and several were injured by the fall of heavy stones from the ceiling, while another line ran to a clanging alarm, bringing the chief bugbear and mate from 36 and 6 guards (who had been out hunting last time). The PCs retreated back out the tunnel, got in position on either side of the entrance and ambushed the bugbears as they came out. They killed the chief and some of the guards, and the others retreated to 36, where they barricaded the door shut. Currifin and Drusilla broke the bracings and the door swung open, but poor Drusilla fell and knocked herself out. She was struck immediately by three of the remaining bugbears, but was quickly pulled back by James. Alice was nearly killed (down to negative HP) but was pulled back and healed (requiring 2 Cure Lights from James), and then she cured Drusilla. Eventually they killed the remaining bugbears and discovered their treasure. They found the secret passage, and killed the 3 fire beetles and took their light clands.

They then returned to the bugbear lair and discovered the stores in 37 and decided to return to the keep for healing and a wagon. They returned with the wagon (200 gp deposit, 20 gp rent) and killed the humanoids in 40 and 41, while freeing the eval human, who accompanied them, all unsuspecting, back to the keep.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric

Actual Play

38 3×12 HP (11 gp, 3 gp, 6 gp). 7×8 HP, 3×3 HP. Found urn. Just finished the room when parents called and kids had to go.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric

Actual Play

After some time off to heal, they came back to F and expored, leading to 17 and the goblins. 6 goblins, 3 HP each and a 25 HP ogre. (And them without the fireball scroll they'd been hoarding to take care of the ogre!) They don't have any problems, though, and the ogre falls. They search around and find the secret door, and stab his bearskin rug! They find all his booty and return to town.

They come back to the Caves of Chaos and attempt H, the bugbear lair. They follow the east corridor to 38, where they use sleep to put down some of the bugbears.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric

Actual Play

The party cleared out 30, the chief hobgoblin's quarters. The cash came to 1529 gp, divided by 8, so each share was 254 gp 8 sp 4 cp. With their hired cart they cleared out armory 27 and everything else.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric

Actual Play

Went to F, where Dooley didn't notice the new pin-type poison trap. He made his save and was unconscious for 15 minutes. After that he disarmed the trap and moved the bar and pushed the door open with a ten foot pole, knocking over the stack of noisy items. 5 hobgoblins came from 26, while 1 warned 27. Killed all 5 and were standing over the bodies when 6th hobgoblin showed up, saw the massacre and ran back to 27. PCs ran after them. (BTW, already used up both of their healing spells.) Dooley checked door of 27 for traps and then they opened the door and rushed in. They were surprised by 6 hobgoblins hiding behind various rocks. Curufin was taken to 0 HP in the first round. Eventually killed all the hobgoblins. Searched and Jeffry found the secret door! 3 hobgoblins with scale and mace, three with shied, scale, and longsword. 7 sp 4 ep 4 sp 4 ep 4 ep 4 sp 7 ep 5 sp 2 ep 5 sp 5 ep 4 sp 5 ep.

They decided to rest overnight in 27. Set up 5 watches. 31 attacks on watch 3 (Jeffry, Dooley, Guards 1 & 2). 23 attacks on watch 4 (Dru, Jeffry, Taffy, Guard 1). Hobgoblins from 28—31 came in 1st rush, except females from 30. All died eventually. After that females from 30 came and were killed. Glen down to 0 HP. Dru found secret door at other end of 20 foot corridor. Dru and Taffy stayed to watch their unconscious comrades. They searched the rooms beyond and found the false bottom of the iron chest, but Dru and Taffy heard a noise beyond the barred door and Taffy ran for the others. The hobgoblins burst through just as Dooley ran back, jumped the barrier, and poured a healing potion down Curufin's throat. Curufin woke up confused, the hobgoblin's threw javelins, Dru was injured, Dooley was taken to negative HP. Then next round initiative was simultaneous, Dru injured more, Curufin used their fireball scroll, killed all the hobgoblins. Dooley and Glen are unconscious.

Next Morning: Glen 1 HP, Dooley 2 HP. Curufin, Taffy, and Alice go back to town. 100 GP deposit for team and cart, 20 gp rent. Jeffry pays 1 gp each for the guards' funerals.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric

Actual Play

They went to room 24, where they ran into 2 hobgoblins. 1 whip, 1 javelin, 2 longswords, 2 chain. #1: 5 cp, 2 sp, 3 ep. #2: 2 cp, 6 sp, 6 ep. Silver armlet, 135 gp. The 2 captured guards took service for arms & armor & room & board.

Taffy let the gnoll loose, and it attacked her. Dooley and Jeffry join the grapple and kill the gnoll after it drives Taffy to –2 HP. Dooley lest out orc with Glen holding a crossbow on him. The orc ran for the head of the valley, and Dooley yelled “Come back!”, even as he, Taffy, Curafin and Drusilla loosed arrows. Dooley and Taffy's shafts killed the orc. Jeffry lost his Lawful alignment and his monkhood for suggesting, with glee, torture and murder. 100 gp reward from the captured Merchant. +1 magic dagger (to Glen). Jeffry gave his share of the treasure to Drusilla. “Jeffry the Shamed!”

Afterward

M.A. was not happy that Jeffry was not a monk any more, and I had him have Jeffry do some penance between games to regain his happy monkhood.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric

Finishing the Orcs

C. 6 orcs from 14: 5sp 12sp 3sp 7sp 6 scale armor, 2 light crossbows, 6 morning stars.

Curufin found the secret door to 13, then kissed Taffy's hand.

Bow, quiver w/20 arrors, 2 swords, 2 daggers, 2 shields, 2 gems, 20 gp, 40sp.

Guard from 16: 8 sp 1 gp, Chaimail, short sword. Girl: ivory bracelet (100 gp). Orc leader: longsword, plate mail (to Alice), shield, magic +1 hand axe (to Taffy), silver belt w/gold buckle, sword w/100 gp gem in pommel, purse with 9 gp, 17 ep, 5 sp. Storage Room: wine barrel 55 gp, sack with 50 gp, rope of climbing, copper bowl 50 gp.

Dru & Curufin took shields, Dooley took 2 swords, Glen took the daggers, Taffy took bow & quiver. (Alice gave her chain to Drusilla.)

They went back to town and healed up.

On to the Hobgoblins

They headed out towards the Caves of Chaos again, and this time they approached H. Taffy found the lever to move the bar. They went in and straight to 25, where they killed 4 male hobgoblins and 4 females. The males had 4 gp, 4 gp, 2gp and 4 gp, while the females had 5 sp 10 sp 9 sp 6 sp and 9 sp. They also had 4 scale armor, 5 leather armor. Pewter diskes, 25 gp. 4 heavy picks (8 gp) and 5 maces (5 gp).

Attending

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord
• M.A., playing Niall, a cleric
• L.B., playing Caramel, a halfling
• T.A., playing Angrim, and Elf

Actual Play

S, W to SW, S, SE, S, SE, NE, NW, around CH, N, NW, SW, slid down the greased steps and all fell in northmost O (Oubliette). I said that Caramel's 10 foot pole fell across the entrance to the oubliette, so they were able to throw Angrim's grappling hook up and snag it and climb back out.

Back up the greased steps, and then NE to northmost G, where they killed 4 gray goblins. 9 sp, 14 sp, 3 sp, 11 sp, 4 scale armor, 2 light crossbows, 4 flails. Caramel took one light crossbow.

Went back to village. With last time's haul they have 8 scale armor (260 gp), 4 maces (10 gp), 4 flails (6 gp), 3 light crossbows (24 gp). Total: 300 gp, 100 gp each. Spent 2 weeks at village.

Back to the Gray Goblin Warrens. S, W to SW, S, SE, S, SW, first covered pit. Angrim fell in. Used Caramel's 12 iron spikes to get around turn to where Angrim could climb up.

Back to village.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric.
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.

More Orcs

C. Net: 2 rounds. Killed male orcs from rooms 14 (9 orcs) & 15 (6 orcs) at the entrance. Dooley, Jeffry, & Alice went to below zero HP — Alice healed Jeffry, James healed Alice, and James bandaged Alice's wounds. Looted bodies and fled.

(This appears to have been the first session recorded in my moleskine.)

Attending

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord
• M.A., playing Niall, a cleric
• L.B., playing Caramel, a halfling
• T.A., playing Angrim, and Elf

Overview

This was another short session, and since one of the regular players was missing (E.A.) I decided to run something other than B2.

Attempt #1

S, SE branch, to room S, attacked by Living Statues. Eventually fled, jumping and pulling Caramel up, and back to town.

Attempt #2

S, W to S, to G, when attacked retreated to passage, then ran through to SW branch, killed 2 goblins, then killed the 2 goblins from other side who came up behind. Loot: 14 cp, 9 cp, 12 cp, 4 maces, 2 crossbows, 4 scale armor.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric.

Kobolds are Dead

Still out for revenge, they went after the kobolds again, but set off the alarm bell, and ran back to town. They came back on the second day and were attacked by female kobolds in the tree, who were joined by six more from inside the kobold warren, but the day went to the adventurers, who wiped the kobolds out, and proceeded to clean out the kobold warren as well.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric.

Kobolds are Stubborn

The group spent most of their loot on a high level cleric who fixed Dooley up, even regenerating his fingers. Dooley now is a bit more rough-hewn, but not really any uglier than he was originally.

Out for revenge, they went back and went after the kobolds. This time they got past the pit trapped and killed lots of kobolds, but were run off again. Dru and Dooley were both dying when their friends dragged them out and healed them, but the kobolds were in no shape to pursue them.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric.

Kobolds are Sneaky

They decided to try the kobolds that surprised them on one of their earlier trips. Luckily the kobolds weren't in the tree branches this time, so they went down the tunnel. Unfortunately, Dooley fell in the pit trap. James pulled him out with his belt (since they didn't have any rope or pole). The guards attached them with ranged weapons, and the party fled the kobold warren. Once outside the stopped for a moment, but giant rats boiled out of the tunnel, soon followed by kobolds. Eventually the group managed to defeat the rats and the kobolds, but in the process Dooley was overcome by the rats, and lay unconscious while they chewed on his face. His comrades healed him as well as they could, but he was horribly scarred and lost two fingers from his left hand.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.
• L.B., playing Taffy the Halfling and Alice the Cleric.

Healing and Hunting

After their narrow escape from the valley last time, they decided to find a safe place away from the valley and rest and heal. James and Alice spent their days healing the wounded, while Drusilla spent her days finding food for everybody. After five days they were ready to try again.

This time they made a plan: they'd lure out the orc guards into an ambush, some staying outside out of immediate sight of the tunnel entrance, while a couple went in and apparently got scared and ran out. Luckily the orc guards fell for the deception and headed outside. The P.C.s slaughtered the guards, then moved in and systematically cleaned the orcs' tunnel complex out, ending with the orc chieftain. They even found the secret door. Then it was back to town with their loot.

Reflections

It was nice to see them have a solidly successful session, after having two sessions in a row of spectacular failure. They were so excited that they were finally taking the monsters down.

We had more time to play this time, which helped a lot. And having the fourth player (and thus two more characters) made things move along more smoothly, too. These old-school modules really do need a larger party of adventurers.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.

Manual Labor & Shopping

Last session they'd been captured by goblins who stripped them of all their equipment and most of their clothing, but did accept a ransom offer.

Following up T.A.'s suggestion last session that they look for work, I decided they would stay around the keep for a while and try and find work, so they could get enough money to buy some new equipment. They found some work as guards, some work digging sewers for the keep, and some random odd jobs around the keep.

T.A. suggested that they'd have probably cached the hides from the three deer Drusilla killed the week they were camping, so that they could pick them up on the way back. I allowed that it was a likely thing for them to have done. Then T.A suggested they'd probably have cached the 6 shortswords from orcs they killed, and I allowed that it was a reasonable thing for them to have done. Then T.A. suggested that they'd cached the money they were carrying, and I said no way, no how.

Anyway, after a month of work, they pooled their money and figured out that each person had about 25 gp to buy equipment. James sold the shortsword and 2 javelins he got as loot. Jeffrey sold the javelins, but kept the shortsword. Glen sold the shortsword and javelins as well. The others kept them, so they didn't have to buy a weapon. After this the players worked at reequipping themselves. At first they didn't think they'd be able to afford any armor better than padded, but by cutting down their lists and the non-armor-wearing characters loaning the other characters a little bit of money, they ended up being able to afford leather armor, and slings and sling bullets for ranged weapons. [1] Eventually [2] they were all outfitted, and ready to go.

Oops, Take 2!

So, they set out east and then north along the road leading into the borderlands. When they got to the area of the road nearest the valley where they'd found the goblins, they again left the road and pushed their way through the thick undergrowth of the forest until they reached the semi-clear valley. This time they decided to explore the other side of the valley, climbing up the hill above the first thicket in the valley. There they found another cave entrance. Having learned from their mistake last time, they decided to try stealth. The three that had Move Silently, Jeffry the Monk, Dooley the Sly, and Drusilla the Ranger, would try to sneak in, while the other three would wait at the cave mouth for a yell.

Unfortunately, Dooley and Drusilla made a lot of noise as they went in, so they motioned for the others to follow them in. The first thing they saw, in the light of their torches, was a section of wall covered with niches, which all contained severed heads in various stages of decomposition. Fearing for their lives, they immediately ran out of the cave and Dooley, looking for somewhere to hide, lead them further into the valley, downhill slightly, to another large thicket.

As they rushed into the thicket, through the heavy bushes at the outside into the lighter undergrowth of the inside, they noticed it concealed, at its lowest point, just above where it edged onto the flat valley floor, another cave entrance. Then they noticed the kobolds in the tree throwing javelins down at them. Before they got out of the thicket they had two men down, Dooley and Jeffry. Once out of the thicket they ran full speed for the road, only to see that orcs had come out of the first cave mouth, and were throwing javelins, as well as the kobolds on the edge of the thicket throwing another round of javelins. Luckily, nobody else was downed, and they saw the orcs and kobolds laughing at them as they vanished into the brush.

They made it to the road, and not hearing any immediate pursuit, stopped to let James cast Cure Light Wounds on Jeffry, the worst hurt, and luckily M.A. rolled pretty well, healing enough of Jeffry's wounds so that he was conscious and able to get up. At the same time Drusilla attempted to bind Dooley's wounds to keep him from bleeding to death. Drusilla succeeded, so Dooley stabilized. And that's were we left them.

Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the Labyrinth Lord:

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.

Camping

Since everyone (pretty much) had been wounded, the characters spent 7 days camping and getting Cure Light Wounds cast on them by James. Drusilla spent the days hunting in the nearby forest, and kept them feed reasonably well, although there were a couple of hungry days.

By the 7^th day the orcs started to stink, so they buried them, still in their leather armor. After they buried them they realized they could have sold the armor, but after several days of decomposition the armor was probably not salable any more.

They divided the coin up, with 10 sp each, with 4 left over for the party treasury. Glen paid his 10 sp immediately to Dooley, which after the interest left him still 12.5 sp in debt.

Oops!

On the eight day they continued north along the road that lead into the borderlands. Before the valley closed in, they could see the outline of the hills under the trees curving in sharply on the west, while the east side continued straight and steep. As they walked along the narrow valley, Drusilla noticed some light tracks leading into the thick forest to the west, although she couldn't tell what had made the tracks. They decided to follow the tracks through the forest. After a lot of bending and crawling and scraping through the thick undergrowth they emerged in a small, partially forested valley. One of the first things that they saw was a cave opening on the south side of the valley. Whooping and hollering they headed straight for the cave. They'd only gotten 30 feet in and had noticed that the original cave had been turned into tunnels carved from the rock, when they ran into a group of goblins, who yelled “Bree-Yark!” and attacked. The characters, though several had been injured, were doing pretty well, having killed 5 of the 6 goblins, when two more groups of 6 goblins appeared, one in front and another behind, an they heard something big stopping its way down the corridor toward them. The new goblins all threw javelins, and by the end of the round Glen and Dooley were on the ground dying, and the rest of adventurers were severely wounded, though still standing. And that's when the ogre arrived, stomping down the corridor. With the goblins behind them blocking their way out, things were looking grim.

At this point I suggested to the kids that perhaps surrender would be a good idea, if the goblins thought the adventurers could be ransomed. Luckily, Curufin knew how to speak goblin, an quickly offered surrender and ransom, which the goblins accepted. They quickly stripped and tied the adventurers and negotiated a 10 gp ransom each, to be paid no later than 2 days from now.

The PCs picked Jeffry to go back to town and get the ransom, as he actually had enough to ransom everybody [1], and although he had a close call on the way back, having to hide from a group of orcs out looking for something, he managed to get back in time, and the goblins kept their word and released the adventurers, wearing nothing but breech-clouts.

The adventurers hurried back to the Keep to regroup. They expected the townsfolk to be mad that they'd stirred up the monsters, but the townsfolk said that the monsters had been killing people already, and at least the adventurers had killed some of the monsters. The townsfolk did suggest the adventurers should be a little more careful next time.

So, the adventurers are safe, but they've lost most of their money, all of their equipment, and somehow have to reequip. T.A. suggested they look for work around the Keep to help get money for new equipment. And that's where we left them.

Attending

Clockwise round the table starting with the Labyrinth Lord.

• T.K.B., the Labyrinth Lord.
• M.A., playing James the Cleric and Jeffrey the Monk.
• T.A., playing Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and Dooley the sly (a thief).
• E.A., playing Curufin the Elf and Drusilla the Ranger.

Attack in the Dark

Once the kids had gotten their characters completed we only had about 30 minutes to play before I had to be elsewhere. [1] While they were finishing their characters, I finally decided to start with B2 — Keep on the Borderlands, so I started with them approaching the keep entryway. We spent a little time in the keep, talking to people and then left to find the monsters we'd heard were plaguing the area. The characters followed the road north where they'd heard merchants had been attacked, looking for trouble. They hadn't found any by the end of the day, so they camped in the bend of the road and set watches through the night, with no campfire or lights burning. During Jeffrey's watch he was surprised by a volley of javelins from the dark He couldn't really see what was going on, but he woke the others, and Curufin could see that they were being attacked by orcs. Jeffrey started lighting a torch for the humans to see by, Curufin started shooting his bow at the orcs, Dooley charged up to the orcs to fight them hand-to-hand, and Drusilla also headed up to the orcs to right. Despite the penalties for fighting in the dark they were able to score some hits, and once the torch was light things got easier. They finally killed all the orcs. Pretty much everybody had been injured, but nobody had been killed. They decided to start a campfire to finish out the night with some light.

Aftermath

There were 6 orcs, with 8 sp, 11 sp, 12 sp, 12 sp, 9 sp, and 12 sp, respectively. Each orc had 2 javelins, a short sword, and tatty leather armor.

[This is an after-the-fact entry; I could have sworn I'd written something about this already, but if so I've lost it. I'm not sure what date and time this actually happened. Sigh. I think it was nap time for the youngest kids.]

Attending

• T.A., playing

  • Glen the Strategist (a wizard) and

  • Dooley the sly (a thief)

    We'd established that Dooley was on the run from the folks in his home town who'd burnt his hovel after they'd figured out that he was a thief.

• E.A., playing + Curufin the Elf and + Drusilla the Ranger.

• M.A., playing + James the Cleric and + Jeffrey the Monk.

[This is an after-the-fact entry; I could have sworn I'd written something about this already, but if so I've lost it. I'm not sure what date and time this actually happened. Sigh. I think it was nap time for the youngest kids.]