Dubzaron Session 59: When Wererats attack!

This session was played on 05/20/22 delving on this same day. PCs need one day or rest and can commence actions on 05/22/22. 

Session Report

This session was a re-uniting of Team A, in a way. Most of the PCs from the early campaign's main group had been off doing solo downtime adventures and things since about January. Gaius (PC Fighter Level ???) was given Turos Tem (now called New Cyfaraun) to oversee. BriarWhisper (PC Elven Ranger Level ???) has been running various scouting ops in downtime around the region for Patrons and himself. Timur (PC Barbarian Level ???) traveled a bazillion miles to the capital of the Empire to fight in the big arena. Finally Laru (PC Thief Level ???) has been doing thieves guild kind of stuff around Dubzaron getting himself established. 

Laru's player was also the substitute DM when I took a 6 week-ish long hiatus from session DMing. This is the type of thing #BROSR campaigns can do which other styles of campaign structure simply can not.

So anyway all of these mid to name-level PCs were back in session play. What had them so riled up, anyway, where they'd put their big important duties aside? Leonard Smalls!

MadEye (PC Venturer Level ???) who, strangely, didn't participate in session play, was still big mad about Smalls trying to blackmail him or kill his henchman or steal Mandonio's Relic Spear or whatever. Additionally Acton (PC Cleric level ???) has some snitches I mean informants who he tasks with keeping an eye out for chaotic cult behavior around town and they heard it from them streetz that Smalls was hiding out with the were-rats in the sewers!

MadEye rumormonged with his people then and learned the general location of the wererat's lair. He handed these high level PCs the map and went back to his shop or caravans or something. Good luck guys!

While the party was breaking open a sewer grate just behind the Merchant's Guildhouse some foppish merchants noticed Gaius and Daria (PC Bladedancer, mid level) and wondered aloud about why folks of such high station would be mucking about in the sewer. Gaius said something rude/prideful to the NPC merchants and Daria was mostly just confused as is her way. The party climbed into the sewer.

Traveling down the thin passageway along the sewer sludge the party trudged along. I rolled a random encounter for, wouldn't you guess it, wererats! The distance rolled was like 120 feet away and the reaction was Neutral. I ruled since the passageway was a straight line that each group could see the others torchlight from 120' away with darkness between and get a general idea of numbers and what the other group was up to. Neither side had Surprise.

The wererats were in human form and checking walls for secret doors. The PCs do this sort of thing all the time so I thought it fair they'd know what such a task looked like even from a distance. 

PCs probably figured these were the wererats but they were playing their generally Lawful alignment well enough to not just launch arrows into dudes who might simply be sewer hobos. They tasked a Cleric with casting Detect Magic and they wanted to get 60 feet (I think) away to see if these dudes showed as "evil". Wererats most certainly would, by definition. 

The wererats seemed to see the PCs were approaching and could maybe tell there were clerics among the party so they doused their torches and fled away from the party into the darkness. There was some wrangling with players about distances and action economy on how fast they could cast the spell or something (zzzz) but eventually they came to the location the "hobos" were when they first saw them. No sign of them now and certainly out of vision with the PCs' torch light.

BriarWhisper tracked the ground and rolled quite well so it was obvious the wererats went directly away from the party in the only apparent direction. Tracking thus proved they didn't slip into a secret door or jump in the sludge or something to hide. Some 60' or so following the tracks and BriarWhisper noticed the footprints turned into claw prints like huge rats. Oh no!

At this point they pretty much knew they had seen wererats and they took chase. Briar lost the tracks after a bit and Billy (PC Explorer low mid level) tried tracking to no avail. Sorry newb!

The party eventually came to the spot that MadEye's map/info led them to believe was the entrance to the wererat lair. It was a bunch of debris, broken furniture and stuff in a sewer alcove which hid a secret door. They took to clearing it out and I checked for random encounters, getting none.

Beyond the debris was a rat infested mini-dungeon of sorts of the caller tasked Laru and his rogueish henchmen with scouting ahead here and there. In one room a swarm of rats was hiding in the debris and came rushing out knocking down and biting up one of Laru's henchmen. 

Further into the small facility was a four way intersection with one exit leading directly into an empty barracks. Laru and Co found some chests there and were tasked with doing their thief thing on the chests (unlock, traps, etc) and got to it. The rest of the party covered the intersection. No small task considering enemies could come from 3 sides.

At some point their heard sounds like an earthquake coming from the northeast passage and Gaius and Timur posted up on the threshold to "hold the line" in case something came. Daria was in the second rank. What came was a big stone man like 12 feet tall the PCs eventually realized was an earth elemental.

It began beating Timur down pretty well and appeared to be avoiding attacking Gaius, possibly intelligent enough to realize Timur was an easier target (at least by appearances). Acton and Brian (PC Wonderworker Level 1) spaced out in the intersection to cast Protection from Evil which prevents summoned evil creatures from approaching the area effected. Both of them would have to stand around and concentrate on that the rest of the fight so the elemental couldn't get into the mass of the party and make attacks on lower level and lower AC PCs. 

A big hydra arrived the next round of combat but it also couldn't approach the softer targets since it was apparently summoned as well. 

Under ACKS rules if an PCs attack from the Protection from Evil ward the whole thing collapses and monsters are no longer warded from approach. But the PCs tonight were dealing with a ruling the substitute DM made in a previous session which is that PCs on the OTHER SIDE of the ward bubble could make missile attacks and not pop said bubble.

I ruled this was fine within the letter of the rules I saw but I'm beginning to see why the "mummy hunts" the PCs were getting into week after week while I was on hiatus were not particularly dangerous. I'm guessing they employed this bubble tactic quite a bit.

It was working well for them this session but Timur did get damaged enough to where he wanted to back out of combat and get healed. The earth elemental punched him below the belt and he didn't like that, not one bit. Daria took his place in the line but the hydra and earth elemental beat her down to within 2 hit points and she was scrambling out to get healzz too. 

In combat magical healing is quite difficult to achieve in ACKS since you can't move and cast. Healing spells then are more of a strategic concern in old school dnd and not a tactical one in most cases.

After the Hydra died some wererats came storming into the room and tried to attack Acton and Brian to break their concentration and make them drop the protection bubble(s) but by that point it was too late and the PCs were in mopping up mode. The leader of the bad guys should have sent the wererats in sooner. I need to up my monster-tactics game to #WinAtRPGS !

The PCs killed the earth elemental and mopped up the wererats and moved deeper into the complex. They came upon a wererat who had apparently killed a ranking mage member of the Tower of Knowledge. We moved through this really quickly because it was late af. Some PCs said "screw that guy" and wanted to loot him and the more Lawful sorts wanted to bring his body and items to the Tower. 

In downtime they split the difference by casting Speak with Dead on the mage and learning he was in league with the wererats and was himself a wererat so the PCs figured it was fair to strip his items before giving his body to the Tower.

Leonard Smalls was not found during the delve. The search continues!

As the party exited the sewer the NPC Merchants who saw Gaius and Daria enter the place had brought chairs and an entourage to watch and wait for the PCs to come back up. Upon seeing all the party members alive and well the merchants and their cronies applauded "good show, legate!"

Daria was confused again.

Afterword

This session had a ton of players (9) and they brought many henchmen (7 total). It was a bit cumbersome to run the combat itself which is quite a shame since BROSR DND prides itself on being able to handle very large tables of drop-in/drop-out players. 

I'd say the main culprit for cumbersome play here is that ACKS proper uses individual initiative. Counting down and needing to stop what amounts to 17 times (plus each monster) gets a bit mentally taxing. When the PCs wanted to post up to do the Protection from Evil scheme that took a bit of time to work out timing of since this PC had to wait for that PC to move here or there first etc etc.

The healing spell question mentioned above as also confounded by individual initiative. PC 1 needs to move here first in round 1 so he can catch the heal spell in round 2 and all the while the PC healer and healee are wrangling with initiative count to try and time it right. Not fun.

I'm pondering changing my campaign over to group initiative but, much like 3e, so much of game design is hooked in together and changing one thing like this leads to a cascading effect. If I can crack the code about this cascade and how to fairly address it for both PCs and monsters I'll certainly pull to trigger on moving to group initiative. Worry not players, if and when this happens there will be a month or more of warning for you to play in individual init until such time.

The session ran late partially because of combat being so slow but also because the players came to the session still working out some of their gameplan for the delve. I can't blame them for this they had 9 total PC voices that must needs have their say about what they'd be doing tonight. I didn't rush them at this point because I enjoy hearing players make plans and schemes. Perhaps I should have lit a fire under them earlier.

One thing I liked about this session, however, was how the mission came about thanks to downtime and Patron play. Smalls himself is a Patron on the run, of sorts, thanks to PCs knocking out his syndicate so he moved to hide with the wererats. It was a pretty good fit but sadly the rats didn't have what it took to hold off the mid to high level PCs on Team A. 

Where he is now is anyone's guess but the PCs, in downtime, are already trying to figure it out. I'm not sure why they hate (or fear?) this guy so much but player guided hooks like this are certainly much more interesting than the standard module hooks of "go kill guy bc npc said so and u get 500 gp pls thanku".

Deceased

Dama (L1 Venturer) played by RR.  Current total xp: 75. DECEASED. Poison gas in Session 3.

Darius LeVay (L1 Assassin) played by JB. Current Total XP:451. DECEASED. Poison gas in Session 3.

Donald the Guardsman (L1 Fighter) played by MP. Current Total XP:570. DECEASED. Intra-party justice in Session 3.

Felix (L1 Thief) played by Nicholas. Current Total XP:431. DECEASED. Poison gas in Session 3.

Hektor (L1 Paladin) played by Moai. DECEASED. Cause of Death: goblin warg rider throat removal surgery in Session 2

Leonidas the Inquisitor (L1 Cleric) played by RR.Current Total XP:498  DECEASED. Frozen undead blistering cold aura left his skin frostbitten and broken in Session 6. Body not recovered.

Mard the Mage (L1 Mage) played by Nicholas. DECEASED. Frozen undead blistering cold aura left his skin frostbitten and broken in Session 6. Body not recovered.

Yolo Baggins "My friends call me Swaggins" (L1 Gnomish Trickster) played by J. DECEASED. Paralyzed and eaten by ghouls in Session 12. Body not recovered.

Jack Filcher (L1 Thief) played by C. DECEASED. Shot full of arrows by Inthorn's brigands in Session 12. Body not recovered.

Swoleous Maximus (L1 Paladin). DECEASED. Captured then drawn and quartered by Inthorn the Brigand warlord in Session 12. Posthumously named "Petty Hero of Turos Tem" by Legate Valerian. Ashes offered a place of pride in the Hospital.

Damianus (L1 Cleric). DECEASED. Captured and beheaded by Inthorn the Brigand warlord in Session 12. Posthumously named "Petty Hero of Turos Tem" by Legate Valerian. Ashes offered a place of pride in the Hospital.

Bucky (L1 Barbarian). DECEASED. Became a illegal pit fighter during his downtime. Had two bouts to the death, winning the first and losing the second. Was killed by Young Jack Sparrow who sashayed into the ring, drank rum, and mogged on Bucky before putting a dagger into his ribs, killing him. This happened during downtime between Session 17 and 18.

Broll Wolf-Eater (L1 Barbarian). Current total XP: 1079. DECEASED. Carried off by harpies after falling for their enchanting song in Session 19.

Brother Franklin (L1 Cleric). DECEASED. Decapitated by a mad cultist of a Lovecraftian slime thing in Session 19.

Felix the Elder (L1 Bard). Total XP 825. DECEASED. Captured by mad cultists and fed to a Lovecraftian slime monster in Session 19.

Templar Flavius Africanus (L1 Cleric). Total XP 7. Killed by the claws and beak of mad harpies in Session 19.

Xendi (L1 Explorer). Total XP 6. DECEASED. Carried off by harpies after falling for their enchanting song in Session 19.

Yllmeeton (L3 Shaman). Total XP 4,563. Bludgeoned by the corpse of a bowmen by Rosie Odonnel hag in Session 21.

Longinus (L2 Assassin). Total XP 2,036. Had his face ripped off by Rosie Odonnel hag in Session 21.

Mandonio (L3 Fighter). Total XP 4,779. Charred to a leprous crisp by diseased Dragon breath in Session 22.

Corydon (L1 Joker). Total XP: 0. Burnt to a crisp by chimera breath so thoroughly his corpse wasn't even fit for the crows. Died with a smile on his face and a song in his heart. that's life and as funny as it seems... some people get their kicks, stomping on a dream... In Session 25.

Donny Keebler (L1 Elven Spellsword). Total XP 2,238. Had his legs burned completely off by chimera fire breath in Session 25.

Marina (L2 Fighter). Total XP: 2,204. Burnt into ash by a chimera fire breath in Session 25.

Gundro (L2 Gnomish Trickster). Total XP: 2,575. Had his mouth and tongue bitten off by a lizardman ambusher in the dank sewers below Cyfaraun in Session 26.

Polydoros (L1 Fighter). Total XP: 0. Had his legs ripped off and eaten by Akira monsters in the dark canopy of the Viaspen Forest in Session 28.

Odrum (L1 Explorer). Total XP: 287. Javelin to the heart from the hands of weird vine goblins hidden in the walls of Ferigno's lair in Session 30.

Garvin the Nutless Wonder (L1 Mage). Total XP: 0. Fell off the side of Ferigno's lair 20 feet to his death in Session 30.

Blackmoon (L1 Assassin). Total XP: 768. Choked to death by BOB from Twin Peaks while stealing treasure from Ferigno's dragon horde in Session 30.

Xanthus (L2 Cleric). Total XP: 2,364. Choked to death by BOB from Twin Peaks while hanging out on the roof of Ferigno's lair in Session 30.

Lord Zyklon (L1 Elven Spellsword). Total XP: 0. LORD ZYKLON DISEMBOWLED LORD ZYKLON upon finding himself on the losing side of the Desolation of Turos Tem.

Turin (L1 Cleric). Total XP: 0. Eaten by Wargs in Session 32.

Rat Face (L2 Thief) Total XP: 1,577. Seemingly grabbed in the dark by a Xenomorph in Session 36. In a sinkhole your party can hear you scream! 

Smarticus (L1 Mage) Total XP: 0. Captured by a Xenomorph in Session 36 for all the party to witness. Taken deep into a sinkhole.

Hearticus (L1 Cleric) Total XP: 0. Gored to death by giant horned beetles in Session 39 after projectile vomiting all over himself from the stink of sewer sludge.

Mickey Mouser (L1 Thief) Total XP: 0. Gored to death by giant horned beetles in Session 39 in the happiest place on earth: the Cyfaraun sewer!

Aenes (Level 1 Paladin) Total XP: 62. Swarmed by giant flies in the sewer beneath Cyfaraun in Session 40.

Acianus (Level 1 Mage) Total XP: 0. Chopped to pieces in Session 42 by a six armed demon statue from behind and quickly forgotten about by his compatriots who saved MadEye and lamented Hardar instead. But I'll never forget you Acinanu nanu...nanite... nananaa...

Hardar (Level 2 Mage) Total XP: 2,832. Chopped up in Session 42 by a six armed demon statue as he held his Darth Vader Choking Grip spell long enough for his compatriots to escape an unwinnable battle. His dream to become the most evil being in the universe suffers eternally the indignity of being remembered for self sacrifice and laying his life down for his friends.

Nubbs (Level 3 Thief) Total XP: 4,017. Swarmed by scarabs which bored into his ears and brain in Session 45.

Grummz (Level 1 Dwarven Vaultgard) Total XP: 0. Ripped limb from limb by a throng of skeletons and their undead golem leaders in Session 46.

Grommzs (Level 1 Dwarven Vaultguard) Total XP: 2,168. Torn to bits and eaten by trolls in session 48

Rapunzel (Level 4 Priestess) Total XP: 11,540. Torn to bits and eaten by trolls in Session 48.

Schizo (Level 1 Mage): Total XP: 0. Frozen to death by an assassin's guild ruffian bard wielding a Wand of Cold in session 54.

Marteen (Level 1 Thief): Total XP: 0. Fell to his death in Lamalla's Temple upon a pile of dragon horde gold. Corpse eaten by Sheila the Beautiful, an Ancient Blue Dragon in session 56.

Alexa this is so sad play "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by the smashing pumpkins