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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 2792564" data-attributes="member: 3586">Trick #6: The mid-air stream and Sir BlutoReturning to the dungeon, the PCs took the other fork in the Blackrazor area. ("What fork?" asked Sarah. "I described it when you were out of the room," I said. "Oh," said Sarah).As the PCs got into the kayaks and paddled down the stream, ("Why are you doing this?" "Because they're there." "Oh.") Sir Bluto and his merry henchmen got ready to net them.I wish to point out that there are *no* rules for nets in core AD&D or in White Plume Mountain. I ruled that saving throws versus paralysis were needed. ("Versus Paralysis?" "Yes." "Not Reflex Saves?" "No." "Oh.") Everyone saved except Ben.Then Sarah got to work, engaging the villains in melee. She was in for a surprise. ("Sarah?" "Yes?" "You know that +2 platemail you're wearing?" "Yes?" "It's actually platemail of vulnerability. You have an AC of 20!" "Oh.")Meanwhile, Mat was trying to cast spells. I don't know if you've noticed, but druidic and cleric spells take a while to cast in 1e. I was using a slight variation on the 1e initiative rules (my rules make sense!) so that if the difference between the initiative rolls was greater or equal to the spell's casting time in segments (and the PCs had won initiative), the spell got off first. Mat's spells were taking 4+ segments to cast. He wasn't casting many spells successfully. A bit of a pity, because Summon Insects is such a *nasty* spell. (1d4 damage per round, and the recipient can't act for its duration - no save allowed!)Ben was making saves against paralysis. Eventually he de-netted himself and started using magic missiles against the foes. (Mainly Sir Bluto). With a 1 segment casting time, it's much more likely to be successfully cast.And Gerard. Gerard, who was wielding Blackrazor... He killed a minion, and I told him he gained 20 hp and a +4 to attack. He liked that. Blackrazor started singing. "I love the smell of blood in the morning! I love the smell of the blood in the evening!" Sarah started getting annoyed. "Why do I get platemail of vulnerability while he gets Blackrazor?"Gerard killed another minion. Now, I could be wrong about this, but from the description in WPM, he gets *another* +4 bonus to attack and 20 hp. (They were F4 minions). Oh dear. At least his damage hasn't increased. He can't miss, but he still takes a little time to kill things. Blackrazor casts haste on Gerard. ("Make a System Shock roll, Gerard!" "Made it!" "Oh.")Sarah keeps getting hit by Sir Bluto, but Gerard has almost finished the minions... they're finished! And so, Sir Bluto suddenly finds that Blackrazor isn't fun to fight against. Gerard is victorious! (Sarah's still alive, surprisingly).At this point we ended the session. Gerard and Ben really want to continue this adventure; Sarah isn't so sure. Well, I'll decide after Christmas, as it looks unlikely that we can play again before then.I had fun. I didn't take it too seriously (just as well), and things rollocked along. I'll mention that all the preceding description occured in one session of slightly under four hours in length. I don't think it was much faster than my 3e games, though - I run combats much faster than most people I know.An observation on White Plume Mountain (or White Plum Mountain, as it's called in the classics): every encounter is some sort of trick. You don't have simple "it's a pit" or "it's a orc" encounters except for the wandering monsters. At all times, the author is changing the ground rules.This can get very annoying. Sarah was extremely frustrated by the razor blade traps. She had fly cast on herself already... and fly doesn't work in that room. You get abilities... and then find that you can't use them in areas where they'd actually be useful.So, will we return to White Plume Mountain? I hope so. It's an interesting glimpse into the past: where men were real men, women were real women, and paranoid half-orc assassins were real paranoid half-orc assassins!Cheers!</blockquote>

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