Sinister Sakkaran Stones and Other Silly Things

Excellent. My first introduction to anything D&D-ish as a child was a bootleg BASIC rehash of Telengard and a couple of the original "roguelikes", Rogue itself; Moria...good times.

Yeah, most of the characters' names have been media references, because that is what happens when you need a name and do not know if your character is going to survive for more than a session or two.

I've been using a houserule where you only get XP from wealth that you spend (so you cannot just bring it back from a dungeon and get the benefit). Thematically, I like it because it keeps the adventurers poor and money-grubbing. (Because it makes it harder to level up and also slightly increases player bookkeeping, I asked the group what they thought of the rule after a couple of sessions. They all agreed it was worth keeping around.) If/when the game gets to domain levels, I will modify or remove it I think.

One of the behaviors my houserule seems to incentivize is more regular gaining of reserve XP. There's not a whole lot of expensive equipment low level characters need to buy, and the players have not demonstrated a huge interest in having large quantities of hirelings following them around. So the two biggest wealth sinks have probably been excessive debauchery (i.e. reserve XP) and buying "credits" at the local temple in preparation for future castings of restore life and limb.

After the first TPK, I think most of the new party started at least halfway to level 2. I happened to roll up a relatively large hoard for a relatively small number of bugbears, and that helped out a lot as well. After the second TPK, most (I think?) of the new PCs started out at level 2.

it took me a second to parse your houserule.  I think i get it now: by spending the gold on something else, they also gain the XP they would have gotten for bringing it back to civilization.

As you mentioned, it sounds like it disfavors hiring henchmen, which was a big part of my campaign that I ran.  I probably would not use said houserule, but as they say "Each Campaign is a Law Unto Itself!"

Session XII

The cast:

  • Finn McCarr, a Venturer
  • Regular-Sized Rudy, a Dwarven Fury
  • Pilo Filo, a Paladin
  • Barborygmos (“Borb”), a Cleric of Ammonar
  • Buddy, an Elven Ranger
    • Linda, his henchman, an Elven Courtier
      • Sammy Davis Jr. Jr., her familiar, a small dog
  • Robin, a Warlock
    • Batmanuel, his bat familiar, no longer a soothsayer

The adventurers had lept into the vortex of arcane energy with no idea what to expect. When they regained their senses, they and their surroundings had taken on a greyish, translucent cast. Despite this, the area they were in strongly resembled a garden the adventurers had noticed previously in the dungeon. In addition, they discovered that they had been reunited with Pilo Filo and Regular-Sized Rudy. There was little time to remark on this, for reunited party found themselves being menaced by a giant snake more than twenty feet long. Luckily, the serpent was lazy and not inclined toward immediate violence, as it likely could have slain the entire party. Making as little movement as possible, Linda drew upon her elvish powers and sang the snake to sleep. Rudy did not waste a moment, and he jumped forward and hacked off the snake's head.

“My friends, we seem to have been transported to the Ethereal Plane”, Robin opined. “Some aspects of this dungeon will be the same as before, but others may be changed. Caution is required.” The dungeon's basic structure seemed to be unchanged, and the adventurers came across the crystal ball that had shown Pilo Filo in hellish torment. Knowing it to be full of deceit, Finn McCarr fired a bolt at it and shattered it into countless pieces. Robin bemoaned the loss of a possible source of information.

The party also came across twelve sarcophagi. Barely waiting for his friends to agree with his plan, Rudy pushed one's lid off, revealing the remarkably preserved corpse of a human man. Quickly, the dwarf sliced the corpse's head off and took the finely wrought orichalcum necklace it had worn. He and Borb repeated this process for three more sarcophagi. Each contained the same body, and each newly uncovered corpse had already been beheaded. Yet, when opening the fourth sarcophagus, the two sprung a deadly trap: a pit opened in the ground, and coffin, cleric, and dwarf all fell into it. Tragically, the sarcophagus landed heavily on the two adventurers, crushing one of Borb's and both of Rudy's legs. Neither would be of much use for the next few weeks. The adventurers decided to not open any more sarcophagi.

To return to the main area of the dungeon, the party would have to travel through either the stone fish room or the bedroom. Both were sure to be dangerous, but the fish room was deemed less so. In the Ethereal Realm, the stone fish were animated and radiant. And something in the room was hunting them, an aberrant beast with a three-pronged mouth. The adventurers crossed through the room as quickly as possible. They caught the monster's attention, but not its ire, and escaped safely.

The vortex existed in the Ethereal Plane as well. Nearing it, Rudy was snatched into the nothing. Past the vortex was a narrow cavern passageway filled with waist-high water. The six remaining adventurers were advancing slowly through it, when, abruptly, a hole opened in the ground sucked Borb down into the murky depths. At this moment, Finn McCarrr revealed that he was a real hero (and a real human being). Tying himself to a rope that he handed to Buddy, he dove down after their cleric friend, and, remarkably, pulled him up to safety. Borb coughed and choked, utterly amazed at his continued existence. The watery passageway eventually widened into a small side room filled with paintings and statues, all of the same man who had been in the sarcophagi. Finn greedily eyed the paintings, but their size, as well as the possible threat of the statues, meant that they would have to be left behind.

After leaving that area, the adventurers all jumped through the vortex again. As they suspected, it returned them to the Material Plane, where they soon found Rudy. Since the vortex did not lead out of the dungeon, what else could be done? The adventurers returned to the ballroom of automata. Finn grabbed one of the inert mechanical humanoids and began to drag it away. This prompted the four dancers to attack, and battle was joined

The automata proved to not be especially dangerous combatants, but the fight was still difficult. Borg, Rudy, Robin, and Pilo had all not fully recovered from their wounds, and so they could not contribute to the party's efforts. Linda, Buddy, and Finn did their best, but first Linda fell, wounded cruelly in the genitals. The unskilled and bookish Finn then struck down an automaton. He shouted in triumphant glee before being smashed in the face by another. Enraged by the loss of his friends, Buddy did not flinch, and soon he was the only one left standing. But he was now the only adventurer still capable of combat. And the party did not have sufficient rations to wait for anyone else to recover. They hoped desperately that no further enemies would be found.

Making sacrifice to Bel at the altar now seemed a more appealing idea. Buddy, Borg, and Philo crept into the entry room. But luck was against them, as a number of the goblins had fully reformed themselves. Accompanied by a flurry of crossbow bolts, the three hastily departed.

Another possibility was a room that had contained six floating well-cushioned chairs that had been arranged in a circle around a pentacle drawn into the floor. Rudy sat down in one of the chairs, and a great red, horned demon appeared in the pentacle. “A mortal summons me”, the demon intoned in a guttural voice. Rudy stood up quickly, and the demon disappeared. He chose another chair, and the demon appeared again. “The same mortal has summoned me. What does he want?” the demon said this time. Rudy apologized. “Sorry, I was seeing if I could summon anything else instead of just you” and stood up again. “I don't know what I was expecting that time” he told his friends.

The ceiling of the demon's room had its own gravity, and it contained a lovely lily pond. The adventurers next made their way to it. This prompted a lovely nymph to appear and greet them. The mad mage who had made this reality-bending structure had imprisoned her in the pool for his own enigmatic reasons. “If one of you approaches me in the water, your life force might free me. Then we could work together to escape”, she said. The party looked at one another. Could she be trusted? Always one to volunteer, Finn stepped forward and waded out toward the pool. Yet his heroic instincts failed him terribly here. While his friends watched, the nymph grabbed the venturer, paralyzed him with a touch, and drowned him. Face-down in the water, his limbs slowly stopped twitching. Then the nymph turned to the rest of the party. “See how peacefully your friend rests. Would another one of you like to approach? I sense I am close to freedom, and then we can all escape together.” The survivors backed away in horror, and the treacherous water fairy disappeared into the depths of her pond.

Back in the demon's room, the adventurers had a remarkable idea. Finn's body still floated in the pool above them. The agile Buddy threw up his grappling hook and stuck it in his friend's body. The others then pulled the venturer out of the water, back onto the demon's area. If they ever managed to escape this dungeon, perhaps Finn could be restored to life. Seeing no other choice, Robin sat back down in one of the floating chairs, summoning the demon. Upon request, the fiend gave his name: Andromalech. Surprisingly, he proved to be quite chatty. He warned the adventurers not to trust the nymph that lived above him, a warning they ruefully agreed with. The party mentioned they were attempting to find a way of leaving this dungeon. Andromalech cheerfully mentioned that he could do just that. When asked how such a thing might be accomplished, and where they would be transported to, the demon was frighteningly vague on details. Having just been deceived, this made the adventurers quite cautious. But what else could they do? The only other plausible source of escape was the altar of Bel. But accessing it would require killing many goblins, something that Buddy was unlikely to be able to accomplish without assistance. And their provisions would go bad in less than a week.

The party trusted in Fate, sat down in the chairs, and told Andromalech that they were ready to leave. He smiled gleefully, and darkness took them. When they regained themselves, they found they were back at Türos Tem! According to a nearby soldier, mere seconds had passed since they had first entered the cube, which had vanished with their exit.

Pausing only to catch his breath, Buddy rushed Finn to Cyfaraun. The venturer was restored to life, but at the cost of his sight. Now blind, Finn considered everything he had seen and done and decided that his life as an adventurer had come to its end. He could seek out wealth and power as a blind businessman instead of having to delve for it in squalid dungeons. His companions were saddened by his departure, but they accepted his reasoning. Finn promised to lend them his mercantile services whenever they found themselves in Cyfaraun.

Shortly after, Rudy and Borb had their wounded legs restored. While waiting to recover, they made the acquaintance of a replacement for Finn, a fierce barbarian named Conan O'Brien. Once everyone had been restored, the adventurers ventured to the buried temple for their first time. After killing an ogre with relative ease, they made quite a discovery: The door that led to the temple's lower floor from the old brigand's area had been bashed down. Shortly thereafter, they heard the moaning of a dozen zombies. Although those were defeated, they would surely not be the last. For the undead of the catacombs could now roam the entire temple.

Mortal Wounds Count:

  • Linda, damaged genitals
  • Rudy, lamed legs (later restored)
  • Borb, lamed leg (later restored)

Death Count

  • Finn McCarr (later raised)

Tampering with Mortality Count:

  • Finn McCarr, blinded
  • Rudy, bottomless hunger
  • Robin, claws
  • Borb, difficulty sleeping

Retiree Count:

  • Finn McCarr

What dungeon are you running? It's perverse and twisted.

Conan O'Brien the barbarian made me laugh out loud.

Most of the clever parts, particularly the nonstandard geometries, were taken from the "Halls of the Mad Mage" one-page dungeon by Justin Alexander. The non-clever parts were improvised by me.

Session XIII

The cast:

  • Conan O'Brien, a Barbarian
  • Regular-Sized Rudy, a Dwarven Fury
  • Pilo Filo, a Paladin
  • Barborygmos (“Borb”), a Cleric of Ammonar
  • Buddy, an Elven Ranger
    • Linda, his henchman, an Elven Courtier
      • Sammy Davis Jr. Jr., her familiar, a small dog
  • Robin, a Warlock
    • Batmanuel, his familiar, a bat

Confronted with the prospect of roaming undead, the adventurers decided it was now abundantly clear that their next target should be: the dragon! First, a brief shopping trip was necessary. [After killing the ogre last session, Buddy was something like 14 experience points away from level 3.] Yet returning to Türos Tem proved fraught with risk. While still in the dungeon, the adventurers encountered a pair of bandits the bandit king, Peleos Methori, had sent to investigate the temple's current status. Although neither group trusted the other, calmer heads (that is, everyone but Rudy) prevailed, and violence was avoided. But the bandits' return boded ill for the future. In the forest, the adventurers also had the extreme misfortune to almost cross paths with the monstrous ooze abomination their earliest iteration had released more than a year ago. Once it had vanished into the distance, Rudy wondered if maybe it would be better to go after the ooze instead of the dragon, and the group shared a hearty laugh. The journey back to the buried temple from Türos Tem featured an unwanted encounter with six ogres who demanded tribute. The adventurers sighed, dug through their pockets, and turned over every coin they carried.

But finally, the dragon! The party lined up at a door leading to the ziggurat, and Buddy peeked through. He saw seven kobolds arranged around the ancient pyramid, praying in reverence to their draconic master. The party debated the merits of delaying their attack but decided that the moment would get no better. Linda arranged herself in front of her companions and sang a song of inspiration. [For reference, this was the song she chose; you have to skip to like ten seconds in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fc0b48a5OQ] Then Robin summoned two quartets of bloodthirsty berserkers, and everyone charged toward the ziggurat. The kobolds, being kobolds, were slain easily, but not before one of them cried, “Mighty Idimmu, we beg for your aid against these mammalian intruders who savage us so brutally!” Moments later, the wyrm soared out from the shrine on top of the ziggurat. The first blast of its foetid gaseous breath wiped out half of Robin's berserkers and sent Buddy tumbling to the ground. The second took care of the remaining four and incapacitated Conan. Linda tried to hold her breath while dodging, but she misjudged the angles involved and ended up taking a huge waft of the poison. It was absorbed into her lungs and heart, and she died almost immediately.

With their three best archers out of the fight, the party's prospects seemed dire as long as the wyrm chose to remain in the air. But perhaps Idimmu had grown arrogant after vanquishing so many of its foes, for it descended toward the survivors in preparation for melee. Rudy entered his berserker rage and charged toward it. Although the dragon was a fierce combatant, its opponents were heavily armored and armed with conviction and desperation. The tide of battle began to turn against Idimmu. It backed up and prepared to breath out another cloud of noxious gas, but then Rudy jumped forward, and, with a single mighty swing of his axe, nearly severed the dragon's head. Idimmu was slain!

Binding their wounds as best they could, the adventurers explored the dragon's lair. In addition to its hoard, which was every bit as massive and remarkable as one might expect, the party also came across the rotting remains of a tentacled dwarf in a nearby room, which they suspected was the one and only Gazorpazorpfield. Now the task was to make it back to civilization without encountering any of the variously unpleasant things that would doubtlessly love to enrich themselves with the dragon's wealth.

Unfortunately, they failed in that task almost immediately when they encountered a large group of brigands in the temple's crossroads. Rudy of course wanted to attack, but the others were not confident of their chances, as they would be bereft of Buddy and Conan's contributions. Peaceful resolution was ultimately attained, but only at the cost of the two most visibly carried pieces of the dragon's treasure: a silver fox fur cape and a roll of fine Somirean silk. Their total value was nearly 2000 gold pieces. Satisfied with their tribute, the bandits bade the adventurers depart; nothing hostile was encountered on the remainder of the trip. Judging any possible restoration to be fraught with risk, Linda's body was burned and her spirit released to the gods as soon as the forest were out of sight.

Yet Idimmu's corrupt power lingered on after its death. While traveling back, the adventurers noticed that the dragon's noxious breath seemed to have afflicted Conan and Buddy with a wasting disease that ate away at their flesh and sapped their vitality. Even Priestess Genelen's restorative magic was unable to dispel it, so the adventurers made their way toward Cyfaraun as quickly as possible. Their haste was insufficient. Both Buddy and Conan perished during their journey, pieces of their disease-ravaged bodies falling of in the moments of death. Yet, in death, the disease seemed to have run its course, and, upon their restoration, neither Buddy nor Conan was still subject to its depredations.

While waiting in Cyfaraun for their friends to recover, the party amused themselves as best they could. Rudy, using his (mildly inexplicable) knowledge of history, volunteered as a teacher at the school the previous adventurer had founded. With his master's death, Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. had lost his powers. So he was offered as a therapy dog to Finn McCarr, who appreciated the company. It was in fact from Finn that the adventurers heard a most intriguing tale: The complex belonging to one of Cyfaraun's minor thievish factions, the Tenebrous Hand, had been silent for nearly a week. No one had been seen entering or leaving it. If something had happened to the thieves, the town would need to know. And surely the thieves' wealth would be available for redistribution. In particular, Finn suspected some of that wealth was his property: a shipment of fine furniture that had been waylaid en route to Arganos. The party agreed to investigate.

Just as they had been told, the complex was deserted, its door locked and its windows shut and barred. Waiting for a moment was the streets were more deserted than usual, the adventurers climbed on top of one of the complex's buildings and crossed its roof. In the center of the complex was a courtyard that contained five ravenous and starving guard dogs. Before the adventurers descended into the courtyard, Robin put the poor creatures first to sleep and then out of their misery. The party chose a door more or less at random and bashed it down. The house they found themselves in was empty of life, although the food laid out on a table suggested its inhabitants had abruptly left in the middle of a meal. Upstairs was an even more ominous sight. A man had locked himself in his bedroom and then bashed his head against the fireplace until death had taken him. At some point before, he had written a letter to his wife that the party found next to his body: “We had no inkling of what it was we did… My men have sacrificed themselves to contain the Evil… From what I have seen here today, I cannot believe this world is the creation of any loving gods.” The adventurers too had no inkling of what it was they had done.

Mortal Wounds Counts:

  • Buddy, damaged hips, diseased and mangled arms (latter later restored)
  • Conan, mangled lips, diseased and mangled leg (latter later restored)

Tampering with Mortality Count:

  • Buddy, dimmed life, shattered confidence
  • Conan, deathly pallor, object of terror for horses

All things considered, this is what passes for a happy ending in your campaign!

That was both awesome and hilarious. What a blow to lose that Thrassian! I'm sure the player wept bitter tears, as stats like that don't come along very often...

EDIT: Hm. This was supposed to be a reply to the first session.

Don't worry, comments about losing Thrassians are almost perpetually relevant to this campaign.

Session XIV

The cast:

  • Conan O'Brien, a Barbarian
  • Regular-Sized Rudy, a Dwarven Fury
  • Pilo Filo, a Paladin
  • Borborygmos (“Borb”), a Cleric of Ammonar
  • Buddy, an Elven Ranger
  • Robin, a Warlock
    • Batmanuel, his familiar, a bat

“We had no inkling of what it was we did… My men have sacrificed themselves to contain the Evil… From what I have seen here today, I cannot believe this world is the creation of any loving gods.” What had the Tenebrous Hand done? Rather than consider that, Borb focused on something more interesting: what did all the various keys the dead man had been carrying open? He pocketed all of them, and the party continued their exploration of the complex. One of the keys turned out to be able to open almost any building's door; Borb was delighted. In the common room of the complex's tavern, the adventurers came across an incoherent man who had been living for too long on spoiled food. From him the adventurers learned that the complex had a hidden basement. “They're down there, probably watching me… My friends. First they were normal, and then… they weren't.” It fell to Borb to ask the question that was on everyone's mind: “So, you got any more keys?” The man did not.

The adventurers continued their explorations. In a cupboard under the potter's stairs, Buddy noticed a secret door leading downward. Was this the hidden basement? A quick peek suggested it was. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, its depths were left unplumbed. (For now at least.) Instead, in the complex's butcher shop, the group came across a monstrous being. It had once been a dog, but corpulent pustules burst from all over its scabrous head, and a long narrow tentacle snaked out of what had once been a mouth. It was not friendly.

After overcoming their initial revulsion, the adventurers managed to put an end to the mutated beast. But in its last moments, its tentacle snaked out and brushed against Borb's face. His friends looked on in horror: was Borb about to become a monster? But nothing happened. Next the party applied their considerable collective medical expertise and attempted to heal his unknown malady. Nothing they did had any apparent effect. Was this a good sign or a bad one? They decided to take no chances and left the complex to go to the Temple of Ammonar. On Borb's suggestion, they bound him up tightly. Yet night had long since fallen, and the priests were unwilling to stir themselves from their rest. The only person awake was the acolyte tasked with ensuring that Ammonar's flame stayed lit throughout the hours of darkness. And she was not swayed by the adventurers' pleas. The party resolved themselves to waiting until the morning. Hopefully Borborgymos would last the night.

The Sad Story of Borborgymos

He almost did. A few hours before dawn, Buddy noticed that the dreaded pustules had begun to sprout from the cleric's face. Once again, the party rushed to the temple. Perhaps with proof the priests would prove more amenable. Yet this time the same acolyte revealed that the priests had already exhausted their daily portion of divine power. The party waited and considered their options. As dawn began to break, Borb let loose a tremendous screech and began shaking uncontrollably. In a few moments, it was over. He had become one of the mutated beasts. Only a quick sleep spell by Robin prevented him from attacking his former fellows. This commotion at last drew the priests from their rest. They looked on in horror at the thing lying in their temple. Fortified by the promise of a double donation, one of them approached the unconscious mutant and applied his divine powers. Yet he was unsuccessful. Finally, Pilo Filo realized what he had to do. He stepped forward, picked up what had once been his brother, and carried it outside into an alley. Then he took out his sword and drew it across the unconscious creature's throat. When it had stopped twitching, he cut off its head. He blessed the remnants and begged for the beneficence of the Empyreans.

And here Ammonar shined on his fallen servant. When his meditations had finished, the head priest's prayers restored Borb to life. The mutation was dispelled from his body, save for a lingering remnant in one of his hands. As their cleric recovered, the adventurers considered whether they should return to the complex. Rudy was in favor of going back immediately. “Do we really need a cleric? We got this, guys!” The others were more reluctant. They shared their discoveries with Finn, who agreed that caution was warranted. In disgust, Rudy returned to substitute teaching.

Yet the day came when Borb was again hale and hearty. The adventurers trundled back to the complex. As they expected, the crazy man had long since died of some combination of starvation of nutrition. He was carrying no keys. Inevitably, the basement beckoned. It had been the site of some mighty battle, and it was strewn with decaying body parts, blood, and other bits of gore. Upon entering, most of the adventurers could not retain their stomachs' current contents. Some of the basement's passageways led to other parts of the complex. Other led deeper into the sewers. One did not. It was blocked by heavy pieces of furniture. In addition to requiring two separate keys, opening it also required a special pass-word: “Lucretia”, the woman to whom the first dead man's letter had been addressed. This door led to the treasure vault of the Tenebrous Hand.

The adventurers moved through slowly, looking at the assorted riches in mild awe. Yet before the treasure could be counted and cataloged, a rustling and moaning was heard from the vault's depths. More than twenty of the mutants rushed out of the darkness. Each adventurer grabbed the nearest piece of booty and ran desperately away. They closed the door in time, but only barely. How could the vault be emptied, first of its mutants and then (more importantly) of its treasure? Robin's initial idea was to send his berserkers in to clear some of the chaff. It was a good idea, but the abominations must have somehow been aware of the impermanence of the heavenly warriors. As they ran though the vault, screaming and bumping into each other, not a single mutant appeared from its hiding place. More sophisticated techniques would have to be used. But what might those be?

Death Count:

  • Borborygmos (later restored)

Tampering with Mortality Count:

  • Borborygmos, possessed hand

It seems like the adventurers are doing better these days! Or at least less bad.

You say that though...

Session XV

The cast:

  • Conan O'Brien, a Barbarian
  • Regular-Sized Rudy, a Dwarven Fury
  • Pilo Filo, a Paladin
  • Borborygmos (“Borb”), a Cleric of Ammonar
  • Buddy, an Elven Ranger
  • Robin, a Warlock
    • Batmanuel, his familiar, a bat

The party put their heads together. How could they retrieve the treasure of the Tenebrous Hand without risking their safety and that of Cyfaraun? (Or at least without risking their safety.) Finally, after long discussion, Robin looked up. “I have a plan”, he said. His plan required a large rug and a decent amount of oil, so the group returned to the house of Finn McCarr. Luckily, their venturer friend was able to furnish the group with their desired items. Then Pilo decided that, if he were about to die, he would rather that he have lips and a tongue. This warranted a trip to the temple of Ammonar.

While waiting for the paladin to recover, the adventurers remembered that a particular house in a nicer part of the city had been circled on one of the maps they had found in the complex. Perhaps this house would yield further information regarding the mutants. The party found the house, and Rudy and Borb walked up to it. Rudy put on his most cheerful face and knocked. When a slot in the door opened, he said “Have you heard the sacred word of Ammonar? The only god capable of protecting the Empire from the Chthonic powers that dwell beneath us?” The person inside had, and they were not particularly desirous of further conversation.

Some time later, Pilo had recovered, and the group returned to the complex's hidden cellar. Robin's plan might be summarized as follows:

  1. Cover the pit in the passage leading into the treasure room with Finn McCarr's rug.
  2. Send Rudy in to the treasure room to draw the mutants' attention, accompanied by Batmanuel to provide healing support.
  3. Lure them out of the room, where, treading on Finn McCarr's rug, many would surely fall into the pit and be trapped.
  4. Blockade the passageway with furniture once Rudy was safe, set the oil on fire, and rain death upon the trapped mutants with arrows and spells.

It was not a bad plan, and Robin was quite pleased with it. The party put it into action. Would it work?

It may have worked; but, alas, it did not survive contact with the enemy. Its implicit, important, requirement was for Rudy to outpace the mutants out of the treasure room. This did not happen, and he was completely swarmed by mutants in a matter of heartbeats. When his fellows realized how helpless they were, they let out cries of shame and despair. As he was enveloped by the unnatural, Rudy's last conscious thought was to enter his berserker rage. Sobbing, Pilo closed the door. Moments later, Robin felt a jolt of pain as Batmanuel ceased to live.

What could be done now? Another frantic debate was held. The safest course of action would be to leave this place and never come back. But was it the proper course? Wracked with uncertainty, it fell to Conan to decide the fate of the party (and of Cyfaraun). He had lost his tongue and lips some time ago and could not talk. So in the dirt on the ground he scratched out the letters “W – W – B – D”. What would Borgnar do?

Pilo and Borb advanced into the treasure room, while the others held back to provide covering fire. The cleric and the paladin soon saw Rudy's mutilated corpse, surrounded by dead mutants. In dying, the berserker had certainly visited his fury upon the aberrations. Had his vengeance sufficiently weakened the abominations?

It had not. When the surviving mutants made themselves known, they cunningly separated Pilo and Borb from the others with their mass of mutated flesh. Although the party fought well, they were outmatched. After some time, only Robin remained alive. He dashed out of the cellar. If his friends could not be saved, perhaps he could seal away this complex and prevent its horrors from tainting civilization.

He could not: Cyfaraun was doomed. When the party had visited the house that had been circled on the thieves' map, they had attracted the attention of some of the surviving members of the Brotherhood of Pus. Four brethren of disease had followed the party back to the complex, and they stood at the entrance to the cellar, waiting for Robin. They offered him a chance to join their new world of eternal flesh. When he refused, they ended him and let loose the mutant horde.

Death Count:

  • The entire party
  • Most of the inhabitants of Cyfaraun
  • Probably a decent portion of Southern Argölle

As with the previous TPKs, the players took the death of their characters and the destruction of their favored city remarkably well. I do not know if I could have been that gung-ho were I in their place. It was decided that their major tactical errors were probably:

  1. Splitting up when they went back into the treasure room
  2. Using burning hands instead of summon berserkers against the mutants.

I think that Rudy had at least a 50% chance to beat the mutants' initiative and allow the plan to continue, so losing that check was a tragic moment.

 

We did not realize it when we played this session, but this campaign is essentially over, as two of the players are moving away. So I guess it at least ended on a note consistent with the previous tone. The players remain quite enthusiastic about ACKS as a system, so we might try to get an online game going at some point.

Absolutely savage. 

What was the module you were running in the sewers with the mutants?

If you need players for the online game, please let us know!

Sounded like a LotFP module to me. Particular since it just ended much of civilization in Southern Argölle. Forgive Us, maybe?

That would be a correct deduction.

The room of mutants that killed everyone was not meant to be something to be fought, really. The intention is that everyone grabs an item or two, and then the party runs away and shuts the door forever. The players were fully aware of this fact. This did not stop them from going back in, amusingly..

My group of players ended up finding a few more people we know from the meatspace who wanted to join in, so we are kind of full now. I will try to let the forum know if there are any dropouts, though. Thank you for the interest!