Where i share my experiences with DCC (as a noob)

[not-so-newguy]

We are about to start the next adventure. I'm doing things a little different this time. Usually, the party would receive three hooks to three different adventures. The players would discuss things, perhaps some Q&A with me, then come to a decision. This time I'm only going to present adventure hooks to one adventure with the possibility of discovering the other two adventures along the way.

The adventure hooks are loot with a secret side quest for the Cthulhu Clerics. These hooks are better described in the spoilers below. The adventure site is Falkrest Abbey (pdf at DrivethruRPG) which is located near Lune Peak in the Dawn Forge Mountains. In order to get there, the party will need to make a 3 week journey across the desert, then a 1 week travel into the Dawn Forge mountains. While in the desert, there is a possibility of discovering a step pyramid (B4 The Lost City). While in the mountains, they will be approached by a desperate clan of humans who need adventurers to explore the great glacier (#79 Frozen in Time).

Group adventure hook

Spoiler

When we play next, it will be 3 months since you last visited the Goat dungeon. Your home base has been renovated, including a stable for your donkeys. Also during this time, Ogilvy shares some stories of the land west of the Dawn Forge Mountains.

It's a seperate culture with most of the gods being different from your own. The people have pale skin and lighter colored hair. A caravan will traverse the mountains every once in a great while. This allows for some sharing of information between the cultures.

One story Ogilvy shares is The Legend of Saint Brynned's Abbey found near Lune Peak within the Dawn Forge Mountains. There once was a small kingdom called Yore found within the valley near Lune Peak. "Yore was a kingdom of Kings, Queens, and Knights. Still remembered in the ballads of the bards" according to Ogilvy. "All that remains now is a small outpost known as Jora's Inn and Emporium."

The Abbey was built in honor of Saint Brynned who was known for her miraculous healing powers. A "secret garden" exists within the Abbey. It is said that a mortal with pure intentions can collect the tears of Saint Brynned within this secret garden. The abbey fell when Grusom, the last abbot, was corrupted by Chaos and attempted to reach the secret garden using a foul demonic portal.

Ogilvy's has no interest in the Tears of Saint Brynedd, but his brother Seamus does. Seamus lives in Hammerfast which is located west of Dawn Forge Mountains. Seamus is willing to pay 5,000 gp. The Tears can be used to fully heal, revive the recently deceased, or destroy undead.

In order to get to the mountain valley of Yore and reach Lune Peak, you must first cross the Blood Plains of Esh which should take 3 weeks. Then navigate the Dawn Forge Mountains which should take 1 week.

There will be random encounter rolls. There will also be the hazard of becoming lost and stranded. I have made contigency plans for that. I guarantee there will be an adventure regardless. You will not just starve, unless you are determined to do so.

Side adventure hook

Spoiler

Cultists with Compassion

All Followers of Cthulhu share a core belief: Cthulhu, a being from the Far Realms, will devour The World. The Cthulhu Sect in Iruk, led by Cutty the Chronicler, believes that the cosmological powers of Law and Chaos must be held in "perfect tension" or "balance." This will make it easier for Cthulhu to enter The World because the Powers of Law and Chaos will be focused on each other. If these powers are distracted, then there will be less resistance. Less resistance means less suffering in The World when it gets eaten by Cthulhu. Chomp.


Nyarlathotep's Imperative
Nyarlathotep, messenger of Cthulhu, contacts both of you at the same time; leaving both of you unconscious for a short period. This Vision would be unintelligible and horrific to the Uninitiated. What's written below is your shared interpretation of the Vision.

Go to the ruins of Saint Brynned's Abbey, which lies westward in the Dawn Forge Mountains. There you will find what remains of the unholy Abbott; its restless soul asleep in a body preserved by Necromancy. Before his death, The Abbott managed to create a Well that is a Portal to the Abyss.

Destroy the Abbott, but preserve the Well. Some of your friends may want to destroy it, but the most important thing is preserve the Well. When the time comes, you will transform it into a Portal to the Far Realms.The Well transformation will require relics that are beyond the scope of this quest. Do not concern yourselves with it for now. If the Well is destroyed, expect a pissed off Nyarlathotep. Did I mention that it's important to preserve the Well?

Another undead in the Abbey, the Ghost of Queen Ethofled, opposes the Abbott's desecration of the Abbey and wants the Well destroyed. You may need to convince your friends that she is also evil.
This Abbey could potentially be the future site of a Church of Cthulhu.

 

[not-so-newguy]

Road trip!

The gang has decided to travel all the way from Iruk to Saint Brynedd's Abbey. The journey will require the group to find their way through the Blood Plains of Esh to Harn's Pass. From Harn's Pass, they will then need to travel up the Dawn Forge Mountains to a mountain valley known as Yore valley; specifically to an outpost known as Jora's Inn and Emporium. From there, it's a relatively short trek to the Abbey.

The first leg of their journey is expected to be the longest, an estimated three week trek across the red desert wastelands known as the Blood Plains. The gang bought eight mules, four weeks of ration & feed, a merchant's journal, and the Jar of Steve. The merchant's journal has detailed descriptions of landmarks along the Blood Plains. Following these landmarks will eventually lead to Harn's Pass on the other side of the Plains. The Jar of Steve is a magical item that creates an endless flow of water, among other magical abilities. The rate of flow from the Jar is 0.5 gallons per minute.

Travel Rules:

Spoiler

Movement Speed
FAST 1.5 Hex -2 Perception -2 Navigation (no forage or sneak)
NORMAL 1 Hex No Change (Forage only)
SLOW 0.5 Hex +2 Perception +2 Navigation (Sneak allowed and Forage +2 allowed)

Navigation
Following the Landmarks (aka Staying on the Trail): DC 8 Intelligence. Failure means you guys missed the next Landmark and are lost.

Lost
Rediscovering the Trail is DC 8. This assumes that the party has stopped forward progress and just spends the day looking for the landmark. The party can decide to move in a westerly while searching for the next several Landmarks, but it's more difficult. DC 11 Navigation Check +2 per extra day travelling lost (Day One is DC 11, Day Two is DC 13, etc). You can become hopelessly lost this way. Eventually you'll hit the Dawn Forge Mountains if you never rediscover the trail.

Forage
DC 20 Intelligence or Personality. Warriors add their Deed Die.
Find enough to feed 1d4+1 people per day. Or 1-2 mules. Anything foraged is considered to be vegetation. Nat 20 doubles the amount. Opportunities to hunt can only happen as random encounter.

Perception
This covers any situation where the party is avoiding an ambush or trap

Supplies
Note: the weight of supplies, daily food&water needs, and animal carrying capacity are based off the 5e PHB.

Spoiler

Basic Needs:
One person needs 2 pounds of FOOD and 16 pounds (2 gallons) of WATER per day.
One mule needs 10 pounds of FOOD and 96 pounds (12 gallons) of WATER per day.
One familiar needs 1 pound of FOOD and 8 pounds (1 gallon} of WATER per day.

Ten people = 20 pounds of FOOD/ 160 pounds (20 gallons) of WATER per day
Eight Mules = 80 pound of FOOD/ 768 pounds (96 gallons) of WATER per day

Ten people + Eight Mules + One Familiar needs...
101 pounds of FOOD per day / 936 pounds (117 gallons) of WATER per day
_________________________
Jar of Steve
Produces 0.5 gallons of water per minute or 720 gallons of water per day.
With the Jar of Steve, the party should never need to find a water souce. However, there should be some water constantly available. Having 25 gallons (200 pounds) of water on hand should be enough for everyone.
_________________________

Mule Carrying Capacity = 420 pounds / 8 Mules = 3,360 pounds
28 days of Food = 2,820 pounds
Water Available + Jar of Steve = 200 pounds (25 gallons)
Each Mule carries: 352.5 pounds of food / 25 pounds (approximately 3 gallons) of water
Total Extra space = 340 pounds / Single Mule Extra Space = 42.5 pounds

Random encounters
Here's the list of random encounters that I created. Random encounters are checked twice daily using a d20 with a encounter occurring on 15+. If a random encounter occurs, then I use a D8+D12 which creates a nice bell curve (pg 85 5e DMG).
Some of these are single encounters and others 1 or 2 page adventures. The last entry is B4 The Lost City, the classic old school adventure. B4 is also my way of getting the players out of a jam; just in case they find themselves stranded in the desert without food.

Spoiler

ENCOUNTER

2
Lamia

3
Oasis of the Sunken Goddess

4
Sandstorm

5
Treasure of Rhahim-el-Nabaz

6
Fiend and/or Elemental. [D5] 1-2 Three Hell Hounds. 3-4 One Air Elemental. 5 Hell Hounds and Elemental fighting.

7
Oasis Trap

8
Gnoll Scouting Party. 4d4 Gnolls.

9
Accident

10
Wild Pack Animal

11
Common Beast

12
Caravan

13
Swarm

14
Thugs

15
Village of the Condemned

16
Caravan of Shadows

17
Tomb of the Cursed Shahzadah

18
Tower of Elemental Fury

19
Sphinx

20
B4 The Lost City

Here's our first session recap. It's was a lot of fun and nice change from our typical dungeon crawl sessions. There's plenty of tension at the table because there's a very real danger of things going wrong. On the other hand, the players are empowered to use tactics to mitigate this hazard (speed of travel, foraging, etc). I imagine that solutions will get more creative if things get more desperate. We'll see

Recap: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Spoiler

Recap Aug 6

8 Hexes traveled
14 more hexes to go.
16 days have passed

Current supplies:
18 days rations for 10 people
13 days feed for 8 mules
25 gallons of water available + Jar of Steve covers water needs for perpetuity.

Session xp: 7
Total XP
Eni 143
Turmus 143
Mizz Cleo 75
Manu-are 43
Abboud 43
Orn 99
Wiblo 75
Ned 43

Not present:
Wuzra 36
D Wiggums 17

new tactic
Shield Wall (Warriors and Dwarves only)
+4 AC vs missles.
Two or more with shields
Must be adjacent.
All take the defense action
Move at rate of slowest warrior or dwarf.

ENCOUNTERS
Accident 0xp
*Party saw smoke rising just beyond the next red dune.
*Abboud crept forward and spots two plundered and smoldering wagons
*No bodies were recovered, but signs of extreme violence found


Gnolls 3xp (ETA: i'm using the 2d6 reaction table. The Gnolls rolled a 2, attack immediately.)
*Abboud spotted two humanoids on the next dune approximately 100 yards distance. They had slightly elongated snouts, so definitely not human. More could be heard.
*Abboud heard some sort of ceremony, judging by the loud call&response pattern of their speech.
*Abboud conferred with the group.
*Manu-are the Cleric decided to step forward and speak for the group.
*Manu-are walked down stoss slope, keeping his hands up and speaking words of peace.
*The few creatures quickly spotted him and moved to the brink. Others appeared on the dune crest.
*They approached the Cleric of Cthulhu walking at a brisk pace.
*Their hyena features revealed that they were Gnolls. All 13 of them were hefting javelins, some giving their weapon a twirl as they approached. They each had 3 short javelins and a longer spear. Growls and yips of command could be heard from the apparent leader. This did not look good.
*A fight ensued. The warriors formed a shield wall which provided ample defense against the javelins. The rest of the group hid within Eni's cloud of darkness until all of the enemies' javelins were spent.
The Gnolls broke and ran when Turmus scored a crit that splattered the guy's remains all over his friends who were twenty feet away. Their numbers had been reduced to half when they finally escaped the field.


Wild Game 1xp
*The gang hunts, kills, and eats a wildebeast.
*The gang tries to feed meat to the mules. It doesn't work.

Return of Gnolls 1xp
*The 6 Gnolls that escaped two days earlier ambush and subdue Abboud.
*The group attack and kills the Gnolls
*Ned the Warrior destroys his awesome two handed flail when he accidentally hits a rock

Hell Hounds 2xp
*The gang finds out that forming a tightly clustered shield wall is a bad defense against breath weapons.

(Chasm of) Rhahim-el-Nabaz 0xp
*The gangs finds a path leading down into chasm.
*Animal and human tracks were found.
*D Wiggums didn't smell no gold from where he was standing, so the group decided to skip it.

Caravan 0xp
*The gang came across a caravan traveling east.
*The caravan gave them some food in exchange for water.

 

[Mannahnin]

Love it. Your system for the exploration sounds great. I did a similar random encounter chart for the last campaign I had with extended overland travel.

 

[not-so-newguy]

Clarified travel procedures for our next session and shared this with the group via blog post

5 Step Travel Process

Spoiler

The 5 Step Travel Process
I created this to keep play a little more organized. Feedback welcomed! I really liked how things developed in the last session, but it felt like things were running together a bit. Example, I would be rolling encounters for one day and you guys were already discussing your travel plans for the following day. Hopefully using this process will keep everyone on the same page. Also using these rules will give you guys a chance to flesh out your characters a bit (step #5).

-----------
Roles:

Navigator: Interprets the journal description and determines the direction of the next Landmark.
Scout: the person(s) "on point" or traveling ahead of caravan.
Hostler: 2 persons in charge of herding, feeding, and watering the mules
Forager: person(s) scavenging for edible vegetation and small game (includes rodents and insects).
__________
#1 Players set speed for the day.
The character(s) that scouts ahead of the group sets the speed in play.

• SLOW The Scout is traveling 50' to 150' ahead of your caravan. The Scout will often confer with the Navigator, meanwhile the caravan stops.
• NORMAL The Scout is traveling 50' ahead of caravan. The Scout occasionally confers with Navigator.
• FAST The Scout is traveling 10' in front of the caravan. No conferences just keep movin'

#2 The DM rolls for encounters.
This can occur while traveling (this step) or it can also occur during Watch (step #5)

• TRAVEL ENCOUNTER: The DM describes the scene and players react.

#3 Navigator rolls TRAVEL CHECK.

• Mark progress on map.

#4 Foragers roll FORAGE CHECK.

• Add to food stocks.
• Remaining Food for characters and mules is determined.

#5 Watch Schedule is determined.
5 shifts with 2 characters per shift.

• Nightly Encounter Spotlight. DM rolls a d5 die and describes the scene. Players describe their activity during the watch. This is a chance to flesh out your characters a bit.
• Random Encounter. If a Night Encounter is determined in step #2, then it occurs during the Watch that is being Spotlighted (see bullet point just above).

RINSE & REPEAT

 

[not-so-newguy]

My regular game group cancelled, but I got the chance to run for a couple people that I just met. In fact, they were both GMs who run their own games. I ran Sailors of the Star less Sea.

A Tale of Strange Victory
WARNING Spoilers for the DCC module Sailors of the Starless Sea

Spoiler

Encounter 0

• Team Red led by Crystal the Astrologer. Knowledgeable and buffed. Reads everything.
• Team Green led by Caleb the Unnecessarily Bold. It's all in the name, folks.
• Team Blue led by Coolie the Luckbound. An orphan and vodka entrepreneur.

The mob gathered at the base of the hill. Even in the midday, Molan's Keep exuded deep pitted terror. You all shared what you knew about the keep. The North and East Walls were crumbling or missing. A large circular tower was located in the south east that was said to lead to a dungeon below. A gate house, flanked by battlments, was in the south west.

The discussion turned to other things that they learned about Molan's Keep.

• Team Green recalled that someone told them that "some of the villagers kidnapped in the night return as feral, bestial monsters." Specifically the mayor who was kidnapped, who then the returned the next night as a snake headed monstrosity.
• Team Blue recalled from someone's uncle's best friend's hostler to "Look for treasure in the keep’s sole remaining tower. A wealth of gold is hidden there."
• Team Red recalled from someone's grandma to "Beware the well! It has swallowed many a poor soul."

____________
Encounter 1 The Devil's Causeway[

The mob followed the overgrown road to th keep. Up ahead the could see the South Wall of the keep, with the tower to the right and gatehouse to the left. A ravine bordered the wall and two large planks were lain across it that led to the gatehouse.

Between the ravine and the mob was a peculiar warning of sorts. Two bodies hung from a makeshift gallows, their bodies writhing in the wind. The Halflings with their superior sight could tell that the bodies were infested with vines that animated the corpses. Coolie released his duck towards the vine bodies. A single vine lashed out towards the duck, and missed, as it flew towards the vine and circle back to Coolie. So that was something to worry about.

Coolie and the gang decided to look to get Betsy, their cow, across the ravine. Rather than using the plank bridge ahead, they found a place where it narrowed to the west of the keep. Caleb, Crystal, and the rest decided to stay on the road, but keep their distance from the vine thing. As Coolie came back towards the Keep on the other side. Caleb took his pony across the plank bridge without incident. You guys brought several other emotional support animals, including a goose and a mule.
____________
Encounter 2 Gatehouse

Going single file over the plank bridge and approaching the gatehouse, you guys noticed the sound of sniffing from above on the wall. Caleb could also hear the sound of hooves on stone. Murder holes were spotted while passing through the gatehouse, as you guys passed the outer portcullis. The sound of hooves above could still be heard. As the last person was passing through, the portcullis came down with a crash, impaling poor Davis the Halfling and pinning his carcass to the ground. The Keep had taken its first victim.

The sound of hooves could be heard rushing from the Gatehouse towards the Tower.

Merc the Dwarf from Team Green was able to loot Davis' body. Luckily the Halfling's equipment was intact. "He owed me money," grumbled the disappointed Dwarf.
___________
Encounter 3 Courtyard

The 11 remaining members gathered on the other side of the gatehouse within the Keep's Courtyard and took stock of the situation. A large well, equipped with a block and tackle attach to a chain, was directly north and further north was a crumbling wall. To the northeast was a missing gap in the Keep's wall. Directly east was the burnt out remains of a chapel. Southeast was the Keep's only Tower.

Coolie began to walk north towards the well "That well will swallow your soul!!!" Warned Crystal. So Coolie thought better of it and returned to the group.
___________
Encounter 4 The Charnel Ruins

Crystal and Coolie walked over to the remains of the stone soot covered chapel. The Astrologer studied its large bronze doors. They were barred from the outside with a piece metal. Demonic faces were engraved on the door with a skilled hand, although Crystal couldn't decipher which demons they were. The word "REPENT" was crudely written on the door, probably with a chisel, defacing the diabolical artwork. Crystal placed an ear on the door and listened. The door was oddly warm, but she could hear nothing.

Meanwhile, Coolie headed northeast towards the empty gap in the east wall. The ground under his feet started to feel hollow, like he was walking across a frozen lake. Up ahead he could see a large sinkhole with mist rising from it. Coolie could swear that he saw demonic faces in the dissipating mist, or was his mind playing tricks? He didn't stick around to find out and carefully back tracked.
_____________
Encounter 5 Tower of the Beast

The mob reunited in the middle of the Courtyard. After exhausting all apparent options, they decided to open the door to the Tower. A sudden concern for their menagerie of animals came over them and they tried to release the cow, the mule, the duck; but not the goose. The duck flew away, yet the cow and mule decided that their best chance to survive was with the mob.

Caleb the Unnecessarily Bold lived up to his name and insisted on going first through the door. Crystal stood behind his left shoulder and Pliney stood behind his right shoulder. Caleb open the door onto a hellish scene. His fellow townsfolk were chained to the wall, beaten and exhausted. The smell of filth and abject terror filled his nostrils. One prisoner made eye contact with Caleb and shook his head. The clatter of hooves, talons, and feet were heard before beastmen invaded the room.

Caleb backed off and four of his fellow townsfolk joined him. They formed a horseshoe around the doorway. Rage-filled monstrosities rushed into the Courtyard; one had a falcon's head, another a rat; and yet another was just a malformity of fur, pointed teeth, and fleshy flaps. The peasants wielded their pitchforks with alacrity as they picked off the beastmen one by one. Finally the bull headed leader wielding a greataxe entered and promptly skewered. Well that was easy.

The mob armed themselves with looted spears and the greataxe. The interior of the Tower's ground floor was explored and the townsfolks' manacles were broken, freeing them. The mob explored the south wall battlements were explored. They raised the portcullis, unpinning Davis the Halfling.

The freed townsfolk were given the mob's animals, except the goose. They were instructed to head back to town, but to be sure to avoid the Vine Corpses. Nothing was heard from the departing peasants and animals again.
___________

Encounter 6 Trail of Gold

Caleb led the group single down some winding stairs leading underneath the keep. They came to a passage where some gold coins scattered. Caleb spotted a gap, indicating a concealed door, on the left wall and a rough hewn passage to the right; while the main passage continued north. The mob decided to explore the concealed room first.
___________
Encounter 7 The Empty Vault

A room with some coins on the floor and three opened chest. They quickly discovered the chests were empty, but Coolie realized that the second chest had a false bottom. Dude with a 10 foot pole was called in and he began poking around. He managed to slide a door open on the false bottom, which triggered a blade trap. His 10 foot pole was now a 9 foot pole.

They found two silver rings set with emeralds (worth 15 gp each), a silk tabard stitched with the sigil of Chaos (worth 5 gp) and a steel vial containing two doses of black lotus oil (never consumed). [Spoiler: Characters imbibing the lotus oil gain 1d10 hp for 1 hour, but at the end of the hour lose any hp gained from the oil and must succeed on a DC 10 Fortitude save or take 1d4 points of damage.]
__________
Encounter 8 Tomb of the Fallen

From the main passage, the mob explored the passage of rough cut stone. It followed it for 10-20 minutes until they came upon stone door with glowing writing on it. Crystal did her best to interpret the writing, but came up a little short. Of the six lines, all she could understand was "the baleful storm, heedless to supplication." Given the sinister reputation of this place, the mob decided to leave this alone and back track to the main passage.
[Spoiler: The six lines on the door...
the burning purge, which scours the earth
the hardened glamour, stilling life
the baleful storm, heedless to supplication
the raging tempest, devourer from within
banes four I place upon this gate:
Fire, Ice, Storm and Hate]
__________
Encounter 9 The Dread Hall

From the main passage, the mob continued north and found a door. Someone listened at the door and could hear the dripping of water (presumably). Caleb shouldered the door open after a couple of attempts.

"Wide stone steps descend into a long hall. The walls are decorated with elaborate tile mosaics depicting foul ceremonies to horrific and baleful fiends. The walls are slick with condensation and black algae. The condensation runs in rivulets and collects in a long, brackish pool set in the center of the hall."

The mob spread out into the room. They found four tattered cloaks with the Chaos symbol on the back. One Crystal's buddies was suddenly graced with a divine force and he was compelled to search the pool and retrieve something from it.

He waded into pool and discovered that there was a steep drop off near the center and so he paused, peering into the dark water. A human skull floated to the surface, its eye sockets had a whitish unearthly glow. He picked up the skull
"Avenge me!" The unvoiced skull yell in his head.
"Who are you?" The peasant asked.
"A challenger" it answered. Nothing more was said.

No one wanted to do a deep dive into the pool, so you continued. The passage was wider here and the mob could easily walk 3 abreast. The stairs turned to the right two times, so that the mob was facing south. It open up to a small beach with a stone monument on it.
__________
Encounter 10 The Starless Sea

"The wide stone steps run down to the dark-sand beach of a vast underground sea. Far out across the water, you can make out a golden glow through the gloom. An enormous menhir stands at the water’s edge, dark waves lapping at its intricately carved faces.

Past the towering standing stone, a dragon-prowed longship emerges from the darkness, its hull scrawled with forbidding sigils and runes that glow a sickly green in the dim light. The ship draws to a stop some 50 feet offshore.

The beat of distant drums and far-off wails of terror mixes with the quiet lapping of the waves."

The mob started with exploring the stone monument (aka menhir) at the water's edge. Crystal followed the carved steps up the monument and tried to interpret the swirling lines that were engraved on it. A spirit trapped in the menhir, with a will of its own, invaded her mind. She watched herself as she attempted to skewer Caleb standing next to her. When the spear was knocked from her hands, she saw her hands grab ahold of his neck and throttle the life out of him. Eventually she was able to regain control without further damage.

As Caleb recovered his wits, Coolie climbed the steps without reading anything. He found a half melted candle in a bowl which he took. They lit the candle, which drew the longship ashore. Everyone loaded on the ship and it headed for pyramid shaped island in the distance. Not-Davis the Halfling took out a spyglass [WTF? A spyglass?]

He saw that the island was a ziggurat with an altar on top. Beastmen with torches were gathering townsfolk up the ramp. Cloaked stood at the flattened peak, around a fire that sprout from within the structure. Townsfolk and treasure were being thrown into the fire.
__________
Encounter 11 The Leviathan

About half way there, the self propelled longship stopped. Six giant tentacles sprang forth from the water. Giant eyeballs and mouths with needle sharp teeth protruded along their sides. Most disturbing were the dead human sized faces. The faces animated in unison, and like a Greek Chorus, made the Tentacles' demands known:

"The pact has been made. The price must be paid. In blood or gold. The Dark Pact must be maintained"

The mob began divesting themselves of any coins and throwing them overboard.

"Totally lame"
"LaAame"
"Brah, not even close"

The Tentacles, having made their displeasures known, were becoming agitated; until Caleb the Unnecessarily Bold boldly stepped forth, goose in hand, and made the sacrifice in blood.

"You shall pass. Just chill brah!"
"DuUude... too far"
"Fool ganked his own goose! Damn!"

And, so our stalwart mob would arrive at the ziggurat unharmed.
__________
Encounter 12 Temple of Chaos

The mob quickly sensed what to do. Four of them put on the tattered Chaos cloaks, while a fifth person put on the silk Chaos tabard. The others posed as prisoners and they attempted the classic Star Wars "we're bad guys like you and just escorting some prisoners" ruse. It worked.

The mob followed the tail end of the procession of beastmen and prisoners. A ramp wound its way up the ziggurat. At the top, a ritual was being performed. The Halfling with the spyglass estimated that there were around two dozen beastmen on the ziggurat.

Wanting to get the jump on their foes, the mob decided to attack the last of the beastmen as they turned the corner. This would prove premature and fatal. Facing two to one odds, the mob did pretty well at first. It took some time for the lead beastmen to realize they were under attack. They were also slowed by all the prisoners blocking their path. The Near Heroes fought well and cut the enemy numbers. That's when the dice turned. Within twenty seconds, the party was hacked to pieces. So, the Lord of Chaos was reborn and the townsfolk of Teaser were no more; either sacrificed to Nimlurun, the Demon of Disease and Filth, or turned into beastmen.

....Thus ends the tale of the DM's second TPK ever.

Scoreboard:
DM 2
PLAYERS 4,065,523

 

[not-so-newguy]

Both of those DMs texted today and said they bought the PDF of the core rulebook. I dont want to brag or nothing, but I think i made a couple of converts

Praise Bobugbubilz

 

[overgeeked]

Praise Bobugbubilz

PRAISE BOBUGBUBILZ!!!

 

[not-so-newguy]

So our game is on hiatus for another month plus I got hit with Covid (Mostly recovered). In the meantime, I will be going through this bad boy, which just arrived on my doorstep. Coming in 2024!

 

[overgeeked]

So our game is on hiatus for another month plus I got hit with Covid (Mostly recovered). In the meantime, I will be going through this bad boy, which just arrived on my doorstep. Coming in 2024!


View attachment 294597

Oh. That sucks. Hope the rest of your recovery goes well. For what it’s worth, I’m enjoying the updates. Looking forward to more.

 

[MNblockhead]

Sorry to hear about that and I hope you get well. I am interested in what you think about the Lankhmar set. I passed on that kickstarter at the time, even though I read all the Fafhred and the Grey Mouser books. I did pick up the Dying Lands box set and extras and am thinking of making that my next campaign after I wrap up my current 5e game.