June 15, 2008

Running the Tomb, Part 6: Balloons Away!

Back to our “Tomb tale”…

What follows is Spoiler City. You were warned.

Our current player–character breakdown:

Adrian P. (covering for Mike F.)
Ceralt, 14th-level Fighter
Phelan, 9th-level Magic-user

Ken H.
Dendyr, 14th-level Cleric
Valdamane, 10th-level Paladin
Forethal, 9th-level Cleric

Steve C.
Rath, 7th/8th-level Dwarf Fighter/Thief

Will W.
Quint, 12th-level Ranger
Brandice, 4th/6th-level Drow M-U/Thief

Our intrepid heroes turned their attention to the only unexplored passage, and headed north. They discovered the sneaky secret door hidden behind a false door, despite my attempts to lead them astray. Alas, they missed a second, important secret trapdoor immediately thereafter. A series of double doors led to a fateful passage—filled with potent sleep gas!

(This was my first lapse as DM, into “Old Softy.” I asked the players at the outset they wanted me to “go easy a bit” and they, valiant souls, would have none of it. They unanimously wanted to beat the Tomb on Gygax’s ground, and I respect them for that. I gave them a save not mentioned in the module … at –5 penalty. Back to our narrative.)

Forethal and Ceralt make their saves, barely, and stagger in place. The other PCs drop face forward, dead asleep. Elsewhere, a huge stone juggernaut comes rolling out of the room where until now it lay, quiescent. Rrrrrruble.

The rules: the PCs are asleep 2 to 8 rounds. Each round, if a 4 on a d4 is rolled, the juggernaut rolls 1d6 squares (10-60 feet). The closest characters are about 80 feet away! The PCs who save are extremely foggy, so I allow them 1d6 5-foot squares of movement … and Forethal rolls a 1. Ceralt does better and exits the corridor immediately, leaving his companions to their fate; did I mention he was Lawful Evil? Luckily, the remaining PCs, due to kind dice, only sleep two turns.

Turn one: I roll a 4, and the juggernaut rolls! The stone beast rolls 20 feet and stops. The cloest characters are a mere 30 feet away.
Turn two: The beast stays dormant.

The PCs flee back to the corridor.

At this point they doubled back a bit, confused. Which was the correct way? Many rolls for secret doors take place. Eventually, however, our heroes once again turn north and discover a secret hatch over a roughly dug tunnel that led to an adamantium door with three slots. Rath noted that the slots are the width of a sword blade. After some hand wringing, the PCs plunged three magic swords hilt-deep into the slots simultaneously, and the valve swung silently open, granting access to the pillared throne room. At this point the players, familiar with Acererak’s riddle, knew they were getting closer to their final objective.

Investigation of the pillared hall revealed many things: many burnt skeletons surrounding a glowing orange gem, an ornate throne chair atop which sat a scepter and crown, several glowing doors to the north, and two more stone devil faces high up on the northern wall. Every so often a strong breeze blew through the area.

The party investigated (visually at first) the throne, and then moved around the massive chamber counter-clockwise. Forethal detects a vague wish-related magic about the gem, but given the many burnt skeletons that littered that area none dared attempt a wish or to even touch the gem. The doors were inspected, but not opened. (Earlier harsh lessons obviously had an effect here and the PCs avoided touching most objects!) Eventually the PCs spread about the room and began looking for secret niches in the many pillars.

The characters touching the pillars—all but Ceralt, who maintained a guard position—suddenly found themselves floating weightlessly up to the ceiling, victims of some malign magic! Yet another breeze blew, pushing the floating PCs northward. They soon realized with some horror that they were being relentlessly pushed toward the two gaping demon mouths on the far northern wall!

Forethal and Brandice, the two PCs closest to the faces, tried desperately the push away from the stone idols with their 10-foot poles. Quint and Rath, sans poles, also were towed
helplessly northward. Ceralt surged toward Brandice, and dripping opposite ends of the 10-pole, they brought Brandice “down to earth” long enough to tie him to Ceralt. Rath meanwhile placed a foot on either side of the face that meant to consume him, pushing off and buying a few more seconds of survival.

Ceralt and Brandice hastened to assist the others, several of which were struggling at the very edge of being sucked into a mouth to an uncertain fate. Bracing with their legs and using iron bars, the remaining characters held off—barely—until help arrived. Shortly thereafter the effects of the magic on their persons wore off and they regained normal gravity.

None the worse for wear (except perhaps badly frightened) the party walked straight back to the ornate throne mentioned in the riddle to be both key and keyed. Forethal had earlier discovered a silver ornamentation at the base of the throne that matched the crown. He gripped the scepter and touched the silver tip to the silver rune. A moment later, the entire throne shook and lowered into the floor with a rumble, revealing a brightly glowing foyer beyond. The party stashed the crown and scepter and moved into thee opening toward the brightly glowing area ahead…

Stay tuned, gentle reader, for Part 7: There Will be Blood.

June 08, 2008

Running the Tomb, Part 5: Slime All the Time

Recently I had the pleasure to DM the second half of an old-style, AD&D Tomb of Horrors session with friends (including two active members of the Goodman Games clan).

What follows is Spoiler City. Don’t read if you intend to enter the ToH as a player!

Our current player–character breakdown:

Adrian P. (covering for Mike F.)
Ceralt, 14th-level Fighter
Phelan, 9th-level Magic-user

Ken H.
Dendyr, 14th-level Cleric
Valdamane, 10th-level Paladin

Steve C.
Rath, 7th/8th-level Dwarf Fighter/Thief
Forethal, 9th-level Cleric

Will W.
Quint, 12th-level Ranger
Brandice, 4th/6th-level Drow M-U/Thief

Our brave PCs emerged from their battle with the “false Acererak” ready to continue their search for the real McCoy. A bit of backtracking (a dangerous thing in this place) led them back to the remains of the Chapel of Evil, there to bed down the night, rest, and recover spells. While there, they tested the archway of glowing orange mists in various ways, but didn’t tempt fate by stepping inside. Sound did not carry through the mist, nor did sight. (One character in the party, thinking evilly, animated the skeleton discovered earlier in the chapel and ordered it to step through the arch. He then ordered it to return, but it couldn’t hear his commands … presumably it stands there still.)

The party investigated the mummy preparation area, and Dendyr the cleric soon discovered the halves of the One Key hidden in the stone vats, and also the hidden ochre jelly! The jelly reared up and attacked, but was swiftly dispatched by Ceralt the fighter and Quint the ranger.

Next the party came to a long, open pit in the corridor. Many spikes dotted the floor. After some discussion, Brandice the drow mage-thief levitated across and affixed a rope to the far end. Each PC then would step down into the pit, walk across using the rope for balance, and climb up the other side. Simple! Dendyr crossed first, only to unleash a volley of spikes upwards as he stepped into the final third of the distance. Twenty-one points of damage later… time for a new plan!

A harsh turning point came for the group at the Jumbled Chamber (my term), a room of battered furniture, trunks, coffers, funerary items, and hideous greenish curtains depicting undersea life. Dendyr, Quint and Brandice busied themselves examining the walls behind the curtains, while Rath the dwarven thief-fighter checked out the (empty) chests.
Moments later the precariously balanced room responded to their movements, sending the characters flying. This happened several times. Finally, as the bruised characters were desiring to move on, Phelan decided to yank down one of the long curtains. Rrrrip! tearing the enchanted curtain reverted it to its natural state—an enormous quantity of green slime that fell in a sheet to cover a 10 by 20 foot area. In but a moment, Phelan and Dendyr were buried under mounds of green slime and destroyed, eliminating the group’s 14th-level cleric and 9th-level wizard in one fell swoop!

The band of adventurers trudged ahead, bypassing a spiked pit and then taking a spear to the gut (courtesy of a trapped door), and eventually made their way to a unusual grotto filled with brilliant streamers of gold and silver mist.

Rath inhaled the gas and shrugged off its effects, and he entered the cave solo while the others waited outside. Rath soon encountered a mysterious woman and engaged in conversation. She revealed little, evading questions about the tomb or her role therein and only hinting that she had been in her grotto a very long time. Rath, good thief that he was, noticed two sacks lying behind the woman and inquired about them. She sadly waved an arm toward them. The dwarf then touched the smaller of the two sacks and the other sack and siren immediately disappeared—spirited away to parts unknown (or oblivion) by Acererak’s magic. Investigation of the sack revealed four potions in metal, stoppered vials.

Rath related his experience to his companions as the shimmering mists in the cave behind him began to fade away. The group then forged ahead, moving to an area that would prove one of the most dangerous of the evening…

Stay tuned, gentle reader.
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