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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 5788851" data-attributes="member: 3586">At the end of our <a href="http://rpggeek.com/thread/752892/the-frost-queen-session-2" target="_blank">last session</a>, the party had almost completed the quest: they'd done everything except defeat the evil priest. (For real old-school players, the Anti-Cleric). So, all they had to do was enter the dungeon, reach the priest, and kill him - right?Ah, if only it were that easy.I took the opportunity to introduce the duergar to my campaign. I've been a fan of the duergar for many years now, and had always been intending to use them in a major way. For this norse-themed campaign, it seemed the perfect time. So, when the group reached the priest's lair, they discovered that the priest was missing, but there was a suspicious, recently-dug set of stairs leading to some tunnels below...Unfortunately, this was really as far as my planning had got: I'd been very, very busy at work, so I had the basic plan of the structure of the session, but little actual details - such as a map!This didn't deter me; I just opened my DMG to the Random Dungeon appendix and took it from there. I've run several sessions in the past (even with 3E) using that system, and as long as remember to use my judgement, it works pretty well. And so it did on this occasion. I made a basic decision that the duergar were to the east and a tribe of rival orcs were to the west, and then used that to help plan the structure of the dungeon.Of particular note, the group first ran into the entrance to the duergar lair - protected by an archway filled with mist. Which managed to send to sleep or shock those who tried to pass without first disabling it, which the group was unable to do on first attempt. They decided to go another way, and headed back west.There they discovered one of my all-time favourite tricks in the dungeon: an elevator room. Unusually, the dwarf of the group actually detected it for what it was and the group managed to avoid getting trapped on the second level of the dungeon. Good for them!So, back to the initial room and with both east and west explored lightly, they headed north. They ran into some orcs who they actually talked to and told them that the duergar lived to the east. A second group of orcs were then attacked, slept, and one taken as a slave. They then returned to the misty archway, and used the orc to disable it - incredibly, on the first try. From there, shriekers alerted the duergar to their approach, and they fought several battles with the relatively unprepared dark dwarves. They weren't able to penetrate far into the stronghold, however, before they ran low on hit points, spells and healing, and were forced to retreat. They did so by a northern route which linked back to the way in, hinting at a back door into the duergar stronghold.Due to the gems carried by many of the duergar, they gained a good number of XP, although Adam's elf still hadn't reached 2nd level in either of his classes. Exactly what the duergar were doing with the priest was still unclear, but given how far the group had come in this session, answers couldn't be that far behind.</blockquote>

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