Timekeeping
PCs adventured for 1 day starting on 11/09/22 and need one day of rest. So they can take actions 11/11/22.
Gront Coldsky (L4 Neutral Barbarian, Housecarl template)[E]
Hanzo (L1 Thief, Tomb Raider template)[E],
Hollyfelled (L1 Elven Nightblade, Duelist-for-Hire template)[S]
Proteus (L4 Mage, Soothsayer template)[S]
Tuck Burgidsen (L3 Neutral Barbarian, Pit Fighter template)[E]
Session Report
Hanzo and Hollyfelled were new PCs so the Party launched out of Dubzaron and were on hand for (Patron) Prefect Drakon's wedding to the daughter of (Patron) Jarl Kyle's daughter. It seems these two Patrons were working together to form an alliance and this wedding was the culmination of their plans for same. I can only guess what each planned to gain from such an alliance but it again proves that with 1:1 time and Patrons the macro world of a real D&D campaign is always moving.
The patrons also worked privately to do a write up of the daily events, how everything looked and such like Module Box Text I was handed prior to the session; since the wedding and party happened on the same day as Session 80. It was a nice big event for a historic session number in the Dubzaron campaign and I really appreciated it.
It set the tone for what the session would be and the party wanted to be part of it somehow, deciding that giving Drakon a wedding gift would be a good personal session goal and maybe make a name for themselves with the prefect. Read on and find out what gift they decided on...
Hanzo and Hollyfelled watched the procession and events from the crowd like so many others, noting Drakon and Kyle took special care to have tarps and pavilions set up outside so the wedding party would be out the Curse of Lamalla blood rains. Hanzo decided he wouldn't try to pickpocket the many nobles and drunks around since his ACKS template is Tomb Raider; I agreed that being a bit less sticky fingered wouldn't hurt his grade due to his template.
Hollyfelled is a new ACKS template for us, a Duelist-For-Hire which we brainstormed and decided was an assassin duelist type whom nobles hire for duels so they themselves don't get hurt. If you're running ACK you simply must use Class Templates. Hollyfelled considered trying to get a meeting with Drakon to be his personal trainer but there was simply no way Drakon was going to meet with a random level 1 elf on his wedding day.
As the wedding proper ended the wedding party was moved to the palace and a massive party began. Prefect Drakon was allowing any one who attended to have free food at an outside pavilion, not necessarily within access to the High Table since he's usually quite careful with his own personal security in the palace.
This party went deep into the night wherein the legacy PCs who were on the road traveling to Dubzaron (the rest on the list above) arrived in town and went straight to the party. Gront wanted to make a showing for (Patron) Jarl Kyle whose Patronage he seems to have taken on so he, Gront, can have training available as he levels up. Also Kyle ransomed Gront from the Temple of Doom lizardmen a couple weeks back so Gront may be thankful for that. Kyle was a bit busy to meet with the younger barbarian, however. Unlike Don Corleone he wasn't holding council on the day of his daughter's wedding.
Players debated what hooks or concepts to take on. Some shadier hooks were discussed which I won't place here for the PCs' privacy from prying eyes. But they eventually settled on delving the Nethercity kil-dungeon to look for a wedding gift for Drakon so they could make a big splash with their newish PCs. This dungeon hasn't been visited since session 61!
Problem is it's kind of hard to get into the Nethercity these days as Daria (PC Bladedancer level 7) owns the only known public entrance and she's notoriously difficult to work with. The party met with Xanthos to try and make an introduction.
BUT DARIA WASN'T THERE IT WAS NOT DARIA the Bladedancer. I actually, during the session, decided to make it Daria since the player had retired from the campaign until a couple days after this session. He came back to me after and informed me Daria couldn't be there because she was out at an elf fastness in the woods or something. So it seems it was some sort of Daria imposter! The PCs have taken and run with this idea in the last few weeks dreaming up their own hook for what it all means. Maybe they can unmask the imposter and Daria will reward them? So my goofy mistake has made for a more interesting game world.
The Introduction went fine but Notdaria was sure to make some insults towards the lower level PCs as she opened up the Shrine of Ianna's Nethers to let them delve into the entryroom of the Nethercity. As she walked away with Xanthos the party could hear her discussing with him which of the PCs would die first. "Probably the elf. New elves always die."
The party descended some natural stairs and came to the guard room with like 10 heavy infantrymen inside. Their job is to hold this room from the three doors that enter into it. Two of the doors were installed by Rapunzel long ago and the third was a massive stone circular crypt door on the west wall. The party decided to leave the southern door alone since the guards stated the last PCs to adventure in this place went that way and Xanthos got level drained. The party wanted none of that. They checked the western crypt door and noted that room, a tomb of sorts with many wall graves, appeared to have been fought in and raided/looted long ago. So to the east they went whose door opened into a natural volcanic tunnel hallway. On one wall was a double bronze doors which they bypassed. Coming into the next room after a bit they found a huge hall/room cavern which ran west to east with them coming in at the north wall. They crossed this room to a double bronze doors on the other side to check it out and were attacked from their eastern flank by troglodytes who got Surpise on them. Some PCs were hurt but no one fell and the barbarians sliced the trogs to bits.
Opening the door they found an antechamber and the they got nervous and had Hanzo check for traps as they crossed the medium room to the matching double doors on the other side. This opened into a gallery with wall graves and a crypt door on the west side. They looted the wall graves as fast as they could and found trinkets and eye coins worth about 97 gp. Meh.
Continuing down the gallery hallway there was a hallway with natural stairs ascending on the west wall and the hallway continued on ahead of them past their light. A gray ooze slimed its way down the stairs by Gront surprised the creature and decided to push the party back and avoid combat with the thing. There was discussion about trying to capture the gray ooze for Billy the Explorer to use in his Ooze Launcher Gun but they couldn't work out how they might do it.
The Delving was going slow with the party discussing going back out of this temple complex and checking the natural volcanic caverns. But Gront decided his give the crypt door near the front of the complex a good heave. If he could open it in 3 or 4 tries, he decided, it was meant to be and they would explore that way. As per usual in the Nethercity, doors were one of the main villains confounding PCs! Well on the 3rd try Gront hoofed the crypt door open by rolling a natural 20. Nice!
Inside was a weird sarcophagus on a dais and a shrine of sorts to Kangsta Wrappa (of #BROvenloft fame!), with a CD of his prominently displayed on the back wall away from the PCs. But between them and this apparent score was an angry looking mummy elf with lizard skin and his pet mummy baboon golem... thing. The pet had a bobblehead of Kangsta that spun around and broadcasted his beats and rhymes. The mummy's got surprise on the party but not the two barbarians. The main mummy tried to cast Bloody Flux on Tuck but failed. The barbarian felt his guts heaving up to puke out but he made his save vs death and it didn't work. I should have cast mirror image instead! The Mummy's spell repertoire wasn't amazing for combat, sadly. Though he did cast Ogre Power on himself before the party got the door open so when he smacked Gront it hurt. Hollyfelled chucked a holy water at the mummy and got a direct hit so the thing was melting... meltiiiing. With two rounds of 1d8 damage. Nice.
The combat raged with the barbarians mostly holding the front rank and getting very hurt but not quite to zero or below hit points. Proteus cast magic missile from a scroll and Hanzo laid military oil on the floor to set off in case he had to run away make a daring escape. Eventually the party downed both weird mummy creatures with a combination of holy water, magic missile, Gront's powerful magic glaive and Tuck's magical blade.
They looted the room and found the mummy in question was Kangsta's biggest fan. They grabbed the CD from the back wall display and the Sony DISCman(tm) and Beats(tm) headphones from the mummy himself (he was vibing).
Hanzo and Hollyfelled checked out the room as the others watched behind them. They ALMOST forgot to check for treasure inside the sarcophagus and then ALMOST forgot to check for secret doors. Thankfully Hollyfelled, being an elf, is very good at finding secret compartments and found the one inside the sarcophagus which had a rolled papyrus spellbook and a bunch of scrolls inside. Proteus and Hollyfelled debated and hashed out which of them should get which as the party made their way out of the dungeon.
This debate over scrolls has become a thing in my ACKS campaign since I've instituted the 1e AD&D rules about arcane casters getting the whole value of scrolls and spellbook XP to themselves, not sharing it with all party members. But my house rule is that the Arcane Caster(s) must claim it in session or it has no XP value to anyone at the end of session.
Proteus cast magic mouth on a rock or debris to use as an alarm system if "any non human footsteps get within 40 feet". When the party came across 3 white apes checking out the bronze door in the first room Proteus tossed it at their feet as a distraction so the party could make their escape without further combat. Both barbarians were down to like 1 or 3 hit points at this stage and the party wanted no more combat.
The guards in the entry room opened the door very quickly, I made an initiative check vs the apes to see if the guards were asleep at the wheel but weren't. So the party closed and locked the door behind them and left the Nethercity and the Shrine of Ianna's Nethers to treck back across town to gift Drakon with the Kangsta CD, DISCman, and Beats headphones. I rolled reaction to see if Drakon was delighted or offended... 11 out of 12 reaction. He loved it! He thanked the PCs but then retired from the party with his bride as the revelry continued deep into the night and then sunrise the next day. Kyle's bards took turns listening to the DISCman and were able to get the beat and melody so they started performing covers of Kangsta's "16 Inspiring diss tracks" for those party goers who intended to stay until the red sun rose. PCs were among those.
Grading Thoughts
Best to worst Grades: E, S, F, P
Hollyfelled the Elven Nightblade caught S rather than E for not really engaging with nobles and party goers in any meaningful way which we both agreed would kind of align with his template role. For the delve and such he was in his role well.
Proteus the Mage was graded an S rather than E for being slow to bring spells to bare in the life or death combat vs the mummies. He eventually did start spell slinging but the initial balking could have got the barbarians killed.
Everyone else received an E grade with Gront being bold (despite initially looking as though he might flee! but he was trying to set up a charge line), Tuck being similarly bold as well.
Hanzo the Thief wasn't as sticky fingered as he might be in the dungeon but no easy opportunity for some extra scratch presented itself so a grade docking wouldn't have been appropriate. If there would have been a way to access the room during the battle to thief it up I may also have lowered his grade; but there wasn't. He was otherwise Excellent as he stayed out of melee combat and prepared an escape.
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.
Ambrose (Level 2 Cleric): Total XP: idk. Strangled to death by cursed octopi in a canoe on Lake Laman claiming the Sinister Stone of Sakkara for Law and eventual destruction in session 63.
Traiticus (Level 9 Fighter): Total XP: alot. Head split in half by Froggo's bronze magic "Fren Axe" during Operation Muscle Thunder on 08/09/22.
Alina (Level 7 Mage). Cut in half at her belt line by Froggo's bronze magic "Fren Axe" during Operation Muscle Thunder on 08/09/22.
Olgar McKenzie (Level 5ish Barbarian). Soul eaten by Stormbringer wielded by the Manson the mad assassin during Operation Muscle Thunder on 08/09/22.
Celeste (Level 7ish Witch). Soul eaten by Stormbringer wielded by the Manson the mad assassin during Operation Muscle Thunder on 08/09/22. Said Ancient Soul caused a backfire effect and blasted Manson's face off leaving him dead in the sea foam.
Allen A'Dulles (Level 1 Bard): Petrified by a basilisk in the Meniri Mountains in Session 66.
Cyfaraun (Level 1 Elven Spellsword): Eaten by basilisks in the Meniri Mountains in Session 66.
Tamryn (Level 1 Elven Spellsword): Petrified by a basilisk in the Meniri Mountains in Session 66
Allen the Bard (Level 1 Bard): Petrified by a basilisk in the Meniri Mountains in Session 66.
UnNamed Venturer (Level 1 Venturer): Killed by astral demons and sucked into the vacuum of spacetime in Session 66.
Major Garland Briggs (Level 1 Explorer): Killed by the crossbow bolt of an angry thracian in a dormant (?) volcano dungeon called Queens Rest Mountain. Then his body was eaten by giant chameleons as the rest of the party made their escape in Session 73.
Autumn Leaves (Level 1 Elven Spellsword): Died to lizardman crossbow bolts to the tears of her adventuring compatriots who tried to revive her after absconding with her corpse just outside Queens Rest Mountain in Session 73.
Xanthos (Level 6 Cleric): Cut down by a flaming blade by a very powerful thracian lizardman below Queens Rest Mountain in Session 74. Ressurected about two weeks later.
Stormin' Norman (Level 1 Gnomish Trickster): Captured by the lizardman tribe below Queens Rest Mountain whilst trying to use illusionist tricks to steal a magic spear. Was subsequently fed to their Giant Chameleons for being an annoying gnome in Session 74.
Alexa this is so sad play "Relics of the Kangsta" album by Kangsta Wrappa
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