Dungeonland Part 1a, In Which RV5 is Entered
Continued mid-conversation from Part 0b, In which there are Final Exams. (This was actually the same session as the second half of the test combat.)
I really should have written this sooner, a lot of it ends up being, "and then there was combat." I'm not sure how interesting this is going to be for non-players, though there's a few good moments I remember in enough detail.
But I do want to provide this as a re-cap aid for players.
Osvaldo (the party's superior/supervisor introduced at the end of the last post), continues:
"You're now ready for your first assignment. We got word of a new dungeon discovery up in the hills north of here. From the reports of the outside, it appears to be an Ellenikai tomb-structure from early in the Ellenikai barbarian invasion.
"We're calling this site RV5. This would have been a site they only used for a generation or less, as they came down from the north. Judging from previous similar sites, you can probably expect a small work room or two, and a handful of interment sites of high-ranked chiefs and kings."
(DM Note: RV5 is some sort of systematic designation of dungeon sites. I haven't worked out the details. In this case, it's actually named after the KV5 site in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt: the tomb Ramses II built for his sons, which I used as an inspiration for the layout of this dungeon. But Portuguese doesn't use 'K', so I substituted 'R' as in "Rei".)
Tau: "So not a lot of traps?"
"Actually, the Ellenikai barbarians were talented sorcerers. These sites often have a couple of basic magical traps guarding the internment sites. Also definitely expect some magical constructs, the Ellenikai sorcerers were found of those."
Party members with some knowledge of history recall that the Ellenikai were human barbarians who invaded from the northern mountains about a thousand years ago. They conquered the Tiberi Empire, but then were absorbed into it and business went on.
Biteli further remembers that the Pontiaka humans who live mostly as shepherds in the hills around Bragança are supposed to be descended from the Ellenikai.
"So your job is to go in, conduct a full exploration of the site and clear out any hazards you find. A porter team will be on the road behind you, when you come out and report it safe, they'll go in and gather up the artifacts and bring them back. Biteli, keep an eye out for finds that shed light on the history of the time."
(DM Note: It's a ways overland, but I'm not worrying about overland travel at the moment.)
The party arrives at the site. There's an entrance that goes into the side of the hill, no front door. It looks like there's been some digging around the entrance lately. The party hears snuffling and grunting noises from inside.
Hiro and Haara set about their light-providing duties: Haara casts a light cantrip on her dagger which she holds aloft. Hiro decides to put his light further ahead in the party, to avoid the lighting problems which arose in the test dungeon. Hiro goes to cast light (at touch range) on Mousey's breastplate. Mousey intercepts him handily with her shield however, and the light ends up on that.
Coming in down a narrow staircase, there's a small entry-room, with a large wolverine in it. Çifro attempts to calm the wolverine, but it's having none of him, the party has entered into a crowded space with the wolverine, and it's not going to let them past.
The tight space, and the wolverines possession of a corner provide some difficulties for the large party. Hiro tries shooting acid rays through Çifro's legs to try to hit, with little result other than making Çifro very nervous.
Mousey manages to taunt the wolverine out of its corner, allowing Çifro to step in behind it, rather to the annoyance of Tau, who was angling for that spot. Eventually, Mousey puts her axe in its head, and the party moves on.
But, oh no! the light and sound from their combat alerted the large room beyond. Tau hears voices coming form down the hall, speaking something that sounds vaguely like Te Reo (elven), but is not quite right.
(DM Note: I screwed up here. The wolverine was a late addition to the dungeon, because I needed one more encounter to put the xp total where I wanted it. It made sense to have a wild animal that had wandered in from outside, since I didn't have any other good places to put an additional encounter. But I didn't adjust the layout at all when I added the encounter.
(This meant the first encounter happened in extremely cramped quarters, and also that it was close enough to the next encounter to alert those enemies. This caused the next encounter to move closer to the entrance as the enemies were alerted and started acting sooner than I had planned. This caused two back-to-back cramped fights which dragged on unpleasantly. I will work to learn form this.)
The party gather around the near side of the narrow doorway to the next room, where they see several shapes passing through the narrows beams of light they cast through the door, and then disappearing again into the dark. Eventually an orc steps into the direct line of sight of the door and throws a javelin at Mousey. It bounces harmlessly off her shield.
Some ranged combat happens, with each side refusing to come through the narrow doorway into the prepared defenders on the other side. Eventually Çifro grows impatient and charges through to clear a path for his comrades to come up behind him. He finds himself in a large room with columns spaced regularly around the room.
The melee follow through and more damage starts racking up on both sides. The orcs however are extremely stubborn and refuse to drop when they should.
Çifro notices while in melee combat, that one of the orcs has third-degree burns on his face and chest.
(DM Note: In Pathfinder, orcs have the ferocity trait which allows them to be keep fighting until reduced to, in their case, -12 hp, rather than going unconcious at -1. This significantly extends the duration of this combat, which does not combine well with the problem of back-to-back combats.)
The party eventually brings down the ferocious orcs, including one complete decapitation on Çifro's part (crit against an orc already at negative hit points, the orc was dropped to -23 hp), but not before Haara expends some considerable healing keeping everyone up and moving (Tau is dropped unconcious at one point, but Haara restores him.)
The orcs are dead, and Hiro calls for a rest and re-charge.
(DM Note, I am allowing the players to recharge their per day abilities, such as spells, more than once per day.)
And now, the continuation, tonight we further explore RV5.
I really should have written this sooner, a lot of it ends up being, "and then there was combat." I'm not sure how interesting this is going to be for non-players, though there's a few good moments I remember in enough detail.
But I do want to provide this as a re-cap aid for players.
Osvaldo (the party's superior/supervisor introduced at the end of the last post), continues:
"You're now ready for your first assignment. We got word of a new dungeon discovery up in the hills north of here. From the reports of the outside, it appears to be an Ellenikai tomb-structure from early in the Ellenikai barbarian invasion.
"We're calling this site RV5. This would have been a site they only used for a generation or less, as they came down from the north. Judging from previous similar sites, you can probably expect a small work room or two, and a handful of interment sites of high-ranked chiefs and kings."
(DM Note: RV5 is some sort of systematic designation of dungeon sites. I haven't worked out the details. In this case, it's actually named after the KV5 site in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt: the tomb Ramses II built for his sons, which I used as an inspiration for the layout of this dungeon. But Portuguese doesn't use 'K', so I substituted 'R' as in "Rei".)
Tau: "So not a lot of traps?"
"Actually, the Ellenikai barbarians were talented sorcerers. These sites often have a couple of basic magical traps guarding the internment sites. Also definitely expect some magical constructs, the Ellenikai sorcerers were found of those."
Party members with some knowledge of history recall that the Ellenikai were human barbarians who invaded from the northern mountains about a thousand years ago. They conquered the Tiberi Empire, but then were absorbed into it and business went on.
Biteli further remembers that the Pontiaka humans who live mostly as shepherds in the hills around Bragança are supposed to be descended from the Ellenikai.
"So your job is to go in, conduct a full exploration of the site and clear out any hazards you find. A porter team will be on the road behind you, when you come out and report it safe, they'll go in and gather up the artifacts and bring them back. Biteli, keep an eye out for finds that shed light on the history of the time."
(DM Note: It's a ways overland, but I'm not worrying about overland travel at the moment.)
The party arrives at the site. There's an entrance that goes into the side of the hill, no front door. It looks like there's been some digging around the entrance lately. The party hears snuffling and grunting noises from inside.
Hiro and Haara set about their light-providing duties: Haara casts a light cantrip on her dagger which she holds aloft. Hiro decides to put his light further ahead in the party, to avoid the lighting problems which arose in the test dungeon. Hiro goes to cast light (at touch range) on Mousey's breastplate. Mousey intercepts him handily with her shield however, and the light ends up on that.
Coming in down a narrow staircase, there's a small entry-room, with a large wolverine in it. Çifro attempts to calm the wolverine, but it's having none of him, the party has entered into a crowded space with the wolverine, and it's not going to let them past.
The tight space, and the wolverines possession of a corner provide some difficulties for the large party. Hiro tries shooting acid rays through Çifro's legs to try to hit, with little result other than making Çifro very nervous.
Mousey manages to taunt the wolverine out of its corner, allowing Çifro to step in behind it, rather to the annoyance of Tau, who was angling for that spot. Eventually, Mousey puts her axe in its head, and the party moves on.
But, oh no! the light and sound from their combat alerted the large room beyond. Tau hears voices coming form down the hall, speaking something that sounds vaguely like Te Reo (elven), but is not quite right.
(DM Note: I screwed up here. The wolverine was a late addition to the dungeon, because I needed one more encounter to put the xp total where I wanted it. It made sense to have a wild animal that had wandered in from outside, since I didn't have any other good places to put an additional encounter. But I didn't adjust the layout at all when I added the encounter.
(This meant the first encounter happened in extremely cramped quarters, and also that it was close enough to the next encounter to alert those enemies. This caused the next encounter to move closer to the entrance as the enemies were alerted and started acting sooner than I had planned. This caused two back-to-back cramped fights which dragged on unpleasantly. I will work to learn form this.)
The party gather around the near side of the narrow doorway to the next room, where they see several shapes passing through the narrows beams of light they cast through the door, and then disappearing again into the dark. Eventually an orc steps into the direct line of sight of the door and throws a javelin at Mousey. It bounces harmlessly off her shield.
Some ranged combat happens, with each side refusing to come through the narrow doorway into the prepared defenders on the other side. Eventually Çifro grows impatient and charges through to clear a path for his comrades to come up behind him. He finds himself in a large room with columns spaced regularly around the room.
The melee follow through and more damage starts racking up on both sides. The orcs however are extremely stubborn and refuse to drop when they should.
Çifro notices while in melee combat, that one of the orcs has third-degree burns on his face and chest.
(DM Note: In Pathfinder, orcs have the ferocity trait which allows them to be keep fighting until reduced to, in their case, -12 hp, rather than going unconcious at -1. This significantly extends the duration of this combat, which does not combine well with the problem of back-to-back combats.)
The party eventually brings down the ferocious orcs, including one complete decapitation on Çifro's part (crit against an orc already at negative hit points, the orc was dropped to -23 hp), but not before Haara expends some considerable healing keeping everyone up and moving (Tau is dropped unconcious at one point, but Haara restores him.)
The orcs are dead, and Hiro calls for a rest and re-charge.
(DM Note, I am allowing the players to recharge their per day abilities, such as spells, more than once per day.)
And now, the continuation, tonight we further explore RV5.