Run Date: February 28, 2024
PCs
Delvinan:
Lv1 Nightblade
Enddilas: Lv1 Spellsword
Thea: Lv3
Barbarian
Dalinar: Lv2 Ravager
Mina: Lv2 Explorer
Hench
Frieda the Draper
Achilles the Goldsmith
Hungry Like The Wolfe Manse
The session opened with the recruitment of two Lv0 henchmen. It’s not something I had lined up ahead of time so we took the opportunity to explore the NPC generation section in the Judge’s Journal. More on that later.
After recruiting a Draper and a Goldsmith (a pair the party decided were husband and wife), the group headed out back to the Wolfe Manse. Enddilas stripped down some of his plate to lighten the load and improve the group’s overall travel speed, allowing the party to arrive at the Manse at sunset. They spotted a lone lion on their approach, but it fled back into the savanna. Sometimes the encounter avoids you.
Before heading toward the stairs at the back of the church, the party took a detour to explore the few rooms on the first floor. They found the overgrown garden, what may have been a study, and a crumbling kitchen. Inside the kitchen they discovered a wall of webs barely holding a section of ceiling together. Delvinan, apparently familiar with engineering and construction, notified the group of the dangers. This warning allowed the party to step to safety before tossing a flame into the wall and burning up the wrappings and cocoons. They were happy to find there was treasure within. I was less happy that I couldn’t find treasure destruction rules on a skim (there was a potion in the lot; did it pop?).
With the first floor secured, the party headed to the second floor and found an old hall with a pair of rooms. There were remnants of an old battle and an overgrowth of vines and moss. Thea explored a bedroom in the hopes of finding something of interest, but only found some loose stones that dropped her to the first floor. Good thing the stone broke her fall! After Thea regrouped with everyone, they checked the other room.
In this second room stood a radiant guardian of knightly visage and a plumed helmet. He was positioned next to a ruined statue of Dynamis the used to hide a secret room. The party attempted diplomacy, but found the knight did not answer. Weapons were drawn and the spirit engaged. This encounter was a Unique restock, and with how often I seem to roll Uniques, I didn’t have much in the way of ideas. Result? The party got to fight a Guardian of Faith. They found their strikes could land and harm the knight, but it came at a cost: retaliatory radiant (luminous?) damage. The PCs made quick work of the knight, but certainly suffered for it.
With their obstacle cleared, the party headed into the secret room and found a long stairwell descending into the hill. They fell in line and followed it until they found a landing with connecting halls. Just as they were exiting the stairs, however, they were accosted by a group of wolf-like zombies. Enddilas was the front rank and promptly spread a Fan of Flames across the lot. Thea followed with a large cleave chain and cut down the rest.
As the zombies fell to flames, the party spotted a short hall the spell had drifted down. Webbing and splintered wood was alight, revealing another chamber of unknown use. They peaked in and spotted more cocoons bubbling up with large, wriggling maggots; hissing, popping, and falling to the ground as tufts of ash. Another Unique overcome.
Things settled down for a bit while the group continued their exploration. They discovered a loot mausoleum for the Wolfe family and a side room with unknown purpose. A narrow hall lead them further in, and to an ancient pantry; nobody wanted to try the pickles. In the pantry, the party came across a group of wolf-like halfmen (wolfbolds, as it goes). The creatures were hesitant to engage, but the party forced their hand. The battle was quick, leading into a chase down a long cave tunnel.
As the party ran down the last couple wolfbolds, they spotted a dull orange light. Ahead of them was a chamber that revealed a cave system proper. Luminous beetles were devouring what appeared to be a grotesque boarman, and didn’t mind the party’s presence. The group cautiously did a bit more exploration and mapped out a southern chamber that appeared to be a dead end. They then stepped into what felt like a maze of looping tunnels and promptly started their trek back to the surface (session time was dwindling).
Upon returning to Fayum, the party paid the usual fees and had the potion identified.
Rewards (Totals)
225
XP
180 GP
Afterword
The NPC generator seems simple enough to use, but the charts needed for reference are in two different chapters. With a bit of practice (or a physical copy), it should be easy enough to run at the table. Of course, there is always having a pool to pull from prepared.
The question that came up during play was an interesting one. Henches don’t begin with combat proficiencies unless they’re of a specific type (like mercenaries or guardsman). They all have single weapon as a fighting style, though. This created an interesting conflict when paired with the rules in the Revised Rulebook regarding nonproficient use: no XP and fight as a Lv0. A Goldsmith has no weapon proficiencies, but obviously needs to gain XP to become Lv1. Whether or not this is an intentional choice or a quirk, I do not know; but the JJ does use an example of a woodcutter having proficiencies in axes due to his work. Said Prof would be put in place of one of his others.
Hench stuff aside, I feel like this session was pretty slow. It took most of our game time getting to the cave system and “dungeon” proper. Of course, restocking after months away lead to more obstacles so the crawl itself technically started on the surface. Hopefully, as myself and the group improve, we’ll be knocking out and knocking down the enemy even quicker.
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