[The Delvers explore through the gate for specific loot and wake things maybe they shouldn’t have.]
[This game uses the Fifth Revised Edition of the Hero System rules along with the Fantasy Hero supplement. This session happened September 2, 2019.]
Player Characters:
Jala – human female – a person of discretion, studying aspects of the Law [to avoid them] at the Dusk Academy
Clarence – human male – studies Religion in Temples district, coincidentally the group healer
Vorgand – human female – professional porter and Adventurer’s Aide, irregularly attends classes at The Tested military academy, practitioner of Steel Serpent martial arts
Zarek the Red – fox male – a cerebrally-unfettered spell researcher [read: Mad Scientist] turned into a talking fox, studying Natural Philosophy at Monarch University to find a way to become human again
Ricky the Astrologer – human male – has a thirst for knowledge but doesn’t know what he’s searching for, currently studying Astrology at Monarch University
Nick Stalwart – human male – part of the Stalwart family of merchants, studying Mathematics at The Interesting Institute of Profitable People, a college at Monarch University
Non-Player Characters:
Torsten, Fish, Harek – surviving bandits and now torchbearers for the Delvers Guild
Freysday, October 25th, 1st year of the reign of King Vladik the Gamesman
1:00 PM
Taking a rest, the Delvers spent an hour sitting on the couch from the moon as Zarek manipulated the location cubes on the gate control pedestal. Zarek methodically worked his way through the cube combinations with two cubes before adding the third cube and going through those combinations.
The Delvers discussed where they should explore. They all wanted to explore the moon locations more, but with only two sets of ear rings that provided breathable air, they did not want to send only two at a time to explore. They decided to concentrate on gate locations that included ruins, hoping to find more sets of magical ear rings. Looking over their notes, they selected gate setting 2.6 [2 on the first cube, 6 on the second] as the best place to start.
Location 2-6 was a small set of ruins inside a cavern with no light. The Delvers carefully walked through the gate, alert for signs of danger. The cavern was roughly 60 feet in length and 50 feet across and contained three buildings and a wall. The gate was in a clear space about in the middle of the buildings. There were two tunnel entrances, one at each end of the cavern, both about 20 feet wide. The tunnel to the south was collapsed, the one to the north clear. The wall had a gate [doors] in it and isolated the northern tunnel from the buildings, giving the area the feel of a long abandoned fort or toll station.
The three buildings were of different sizes. The smallest was a 10-foot square structure with a door but no windows. It was in the southeast corner of the cavern, up against the walls. The next larger building ran along the east wall, abutting the gated wall, and was 10 feet by 20 feet. It had a door adjacent to the gated wall. The building looked burnt, like it had been set on fire a long time ago. The largest building was on the west wall, also abutting the gated wall, and looked to be 20 feet by 30 feet. It had a single stout door and high narrow windows that ran along the eaves.
The Delvers decided to investigate the smallest building first. Jala discovered that the door was locked but had been broken open in the past. She cautiously nudged the door open. The inside looked like an office of some sort that had been fought in and then searched. There was a long-dead elf on the floor in the back corner, next to a filing cabinet. Jala, Clarence, and Zarek entered the office to search it [and the corpse]. Jala checked the elf-corpse for ear rings and found a pair. She showed them to Zarek, who cast Detect Magic to see what was magical in the room. The ear rings were magical, so were several things the elf-corpse was wearing…and the shadow that detached from the elf-corpse and started attacking Clarence!
The shadow [actually a wraith] drained Clarence of most of his strength in two quick attacks. Zarek and Jala attacked the shadow with lightning and a magic dagger, respectively. This weakened the shadow enough that Clarence was able to destroy it with a holy fire spell. Vorgand was frustrated during the short fight as she had no magic weapons to attack the shadow with.
Once the shadow was destroyed, the Delvers investigated the magic items Zarek had detected. The armor the elf-corpse was wearing was magical ring mail reinforced with dragonbone, providing superior defense [especially Energy Defense] for about the same weight. The shield laying on the floor next to it was beasthide with aetherstone reinforcement, making it tough and very light. The elf-corpse was also wearing magic bracers and had a magic rapier. Those items took more time to identify. Eventually, Jala and Vorgand, both loot-wise, were able to interpret the marks on the items. The bracers were Bracers of Archery and the sword was a Dragonslaying Rapier of Healing. All agreed that the sword was Vorgand’s as the primary fighter in the group and the only one without a magical attack. The healing aspect of the rapier also restored the strength Clarence had lost to the shadow, much to his relief. The armor was also given to Vorgand and she immediately set to adjusting it so she could put it on. Luckily, she had a similar build to the previous owner and this process did not take long.
Not wanting any further surprises, Clarence cast Sense the Unholy. The largest structure had a great deal of evil in it. The medium structure had three sources of evil. Zarek flew up over the medium structure to peer in through the damaged roof. He cast Detect Magic and saw three weapons held by burned skeletons sprawled on the floor.
Feeling they knew what to expect, the Delvers planned an overkill assault on the three skeletons. Zarek, Nick, and Clarence set themselves where they could cast spells into the burned building. Zarek pre-cast an explosive lightning bolt set to trigger when he finished casting the spell a second time. Nick started slow casting his attack spell, still set to a cone of razors. [He was taking extra time to cast to get a bonus on the casting roll and avoid the side effects.] Clarence prepared to cast his holy fire spell, coinciding with Nick completing his spell. As Nick brought his spell to completion and cast it, Clarence’s holy fire went off and Zarek cast his lightning spell, which chained in the delayed lightning spell. All four spells went off and blanketed the interior with destructive energies. One of Zarek’s explosive lightning bolts was super effective and blew out the walls of the southern half of the building, causing the entire roof structure to collapse into the building and sending dust billowing everywhere.
As the Delvers coughed from the dust, they distinctly heard the sound of three flames igniting.
Three damaged skeletons, wrapped in intense flames slowly stood up, pushing fallen timbers off them that burst into flame at their touch. The Delvers could feel the intense heat radiating off the burning skeletons. Just as the first skeleton made its way out of the debris, Vorgand stepped up with her new dragonslayer rapier and attacked it. Her attack did a little damage, but the increasing heat from the burning skeleton nearly burned her through her newly improved defenses [it has a big damage shield]. The edges of her rapier came away glowing slightly from the heat transfer.
Back near the gate, where the torchbearers and Jala were waiting, Torsten leaned over to Jala and whispered, “Can we run away now?”
End of Session
[I used a set of random magic items tables designed for the Hero System to determine what loot the group found on the elf-corpse. The random items worked well together and I was pleased with the implied theme they generated.]
[The burning skeletons are Effigies from 2e AD&D, Monster Manual 2. I’ve always wanted to use them, but their high CR always seemed to get in the way. Now I finally can. Heh, heh, heh.]
Delvers Guild
Session A, Character Creation Part 1
Session B, Character Creation Part 2
Session 01
Session 02
Session 03, Part 1
Session 03, Part 2
Session 04
Session 05
Session 06
Session 07
Session 08
Session 09
Session 10
Session 11
Session 13
[This game uses the Fifth Revised Edition of the Hero System rules along with the Fantasy Hero supplement. This session happened September 2, 2019.]
Player Characters:
Jala – human female – a person of discretion, studying aspects of the Law [to avoid them] at the Dusk Academy
Clarence – human male – studies Religion in Temples district, coincidentally the group healer
Vorgand – human female – professional porter and Adventurer’s Aide, irregularly attends classes at The Tested military academy, practitioner of Steel Serpent martial arts
Zarek the Red – fox male – a cerebrally-unfettered spell researcher [read: Mad Scientist] turned into a talking fox, studying Natural Philosophy at Monarch University to find a way to become human again
Ricky the Astrologer – human male – has a thirst for knowledge but doesn’t know what he’s searching for, currently studying Astrology at Monarch University
Nick Stalwart – human male – part of the Stalwart family of merchants, studying Mathematics at The Interesting Institute of Profitable People, a college at Monarch University
Non-Player Characters:
Torsten, Fish, Harek – surviving bandits and now torchbearers for the Delvers Guild
Freysday, October 25th, 1st year of the reign of King Vladik the Gamesman
1:00 PM
Taking a rest, the Delvers spent an hour sitting on the couch from the moon as Zarek manipulated the location cubes on the gate control pedestal. Zarek methodically worked his way through the cube combinations with two cubes before adding the third cube and going through those combinations.
- With two cubes, there was always one setting on the second cube the reflected their current location. Adding a third cube to these settings did nothing.
- Somewhere between a third and a half of the settings were glitches and no longer went anywhere.
- A small number went to a location with strobing light from the receiving gate. Based on their experience with Hefhauer, they knew this was a sign the gate was damaged and was about to explode and become a glitch.
- A number opened onto complete darkness.
- Another set seemed to open at other locations on the moon, including an abandoned strip mine and what looked like an abandoned shipyard.
- The rest went to caves and ruins in various climates. One opened inside an active volcano and let burning heat and poisonous fumes through [they closed that one quickly]. A couple opened underwater.
The Delvers discussed where they should explore. They all wanted to explore the moon locations more, but with only two sets of ear rings that provided breathable air, they did not want to send only two at a time to explore. They decided to concentrate on gate locations that included ruins, hoping to find more sets of magical ear rings. Looking over their notes, they selected gate setting 2.6 [2 on the first cube, 6 on the second] as the best place to start.
Location 2-6 was a small set of ruins inside a cavern with no light. The Delvers carefully walked through the gate, alert for signs of danger. The cavern was roughly 60 feet in length and 50 feet across and contained three buildings and a wall. The gate was in a clear space about in the middle of the buildings. There were two tunnel entrances, one at each end of the cavern, both about 20 feet wide. The tunnel to the south was collapsed, the one to the north clear. The wall had a gate [doors] in it and isolated the northern tunnel from the buildings, giving the area the feel of a long abandoned fort or toll station.
The three buildings were of different sizes. The smallest was a 10-foot square structure with a door but no windows. It was in the southeast corner of the cavern, up against the walls. The next larger building ran along the east wall, abutting the gated wall, and was 10 feet by 20 feet. It had a door adjacent to the gated wall. The building looked burnt, like it had been set on fire a long time ago. The largest building was on the west wall, also abutting the gated wall, and looked to be 20 feet by 30 feet. It had a single stout door and high narrow windows that ran along the eaves.
The Delvers decided to investigate the smallest building first. Jala discovered that the door was locked but had been broken open in the past. She cautiously nudged the door open. The inside looked like an office of some sort that had been fought in and then searched. There was a long-dead elf on the floor in the back corner, next to a filing cabinet. Jala, Clarence, and Zarek entered the office to search it [and the corpse]. Jala checked the elf-corpse for ear rings and found a pair. She showed them to Zarek, who cast Detect Magic to see what was magical in the room. The ear rings were magical, so were several things the elf-corpse was wearing…and the shadow that detached from the elf-corpse and started attacking Clarence!
The shadow [actually a wraith] drained Clarence of most of his strength in two quick attacks. Zarek and Jala attacked the shadow with lightning and a magic dagger, respectively. This weakened the shadow enough that Clarence was able to destroy it with a holy fire spell. Vorgand was frustrated during the short fight as she had no magic weapons to attack the shadow with.
Once the shadow was destroyed, the Delvers investigated the magic items Zarek had detected. The armor the elf-corpse was wearing was magical ring mail reinforced with dragonbone, providing superior defense [especially Energy Defense] for about the same weight. The shield laying on the floor next to it was beasthide with aetherstone reinforcement, making it tough and very light. The elf-corpse was also wearing magic bracers and had a magic rapier. Those items took more time to identify. Eventually, Jala and Vorgand, both loot-wise, were able to interpret the marks on the items. The bracers were Bracers of Archery and the sword was a Dragonslaying Rapier of Healing. All agreed that the sword was Vorgand’s as the primary fighter in the group and the only one without a magical attack. The healing aspect of the rapier also restored the strength Clarence had lost to the shadow, much to his relief. The armor was also given to Vorgand and she immediately set to adjusting it so she could put it on. Luckily, she had a similar build to the previous owner and this process did not take long.
Not wanting any further surprises, Clarence cast Sense the Unholy. The largest structure had a great deal of evil in it. The medium structure had three sources of evil. Zarek flew up over the medium structure to peer in through the damaged roof. He cast Detect Magic and saw three weapons held by burned skeletons sprawled on the floor.
Feeling they knew what to expect, the Delvers planned an overkill assault on the three skeletons. Zarek, Nick, and Clarence set themselves where they could cast spells into the burned building. Zarek pre-cast an explosive lightning bolt set to trigger when he finished casting the spell a second time. Nick started slow casting his attack spell, still set to a cone of razors. [He was taking extra time to cast to get a bonus on the casting roll and avoid the side effects.] Clarence prepared to cast his holy fire spell, coinciding with Nick completing his spell. As Nick brought his spell to completion and cast it, Clarence’s holy fire went off and Zarek cast his lightning spell, which chained in the delayed lightning spell. All four spells went off and blanketed the interior with destructive energies. One of Zarek’s explosive lightning bolts was super effective and blew out the walls of the southern half of the building, causing the entire roof structure to collapse into the building and sending dust billowing everywhere.
As the Delvers coughed from the dust, they distinctly heard the sound of three flames igniting.
Three damaged skeletons, wrapped in intense flames slowly stood up, pushing fallen timbers off them that burst into flame at their touch. The Delvers could feel the intense heat radiating off the burning skeletons. Just as the first skeleton made its way out of the debris, Vorgand stepped up with her new dragonslayer rapier and attacked it. Her attack did a little damage, but the increasing heat from the burning skeleton nearly burned her through her newly improved defenses [it has a big damage shield]. The edges of her rapier came away glowing slightly from the heat transfer.
Back near the gate, where the torchbearers and Jala were waiting, Torsten leaned over to Jala and whispered, “Can we run away now?”
End of Session
[I used a set of random magic items tables designed for the Hero System to determine what loot the group found on the elf-corpse. The random items worked well together and I was pleased with the implied theme they generated.]
[The burning skeletons are Effigies from 2e AD&D, Monster Manual 2. I’ve always wanted to use them, but their high CR always seemed to get in the way. Now I finally can. Heh, heh, heh.]
Delvers Guild
Session A, Character Creation Part 1
Session B, Character Creation Part 2
Session 01
Session 02
Session 03, Part 1
Session 03, Part 2
Session 04
Session 05
Session 06
Session 07
Session 08
Session 09
Session 10
Session 11
Session 13
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