Plunderers! of Thracia: #3
We begin with Albilee shapeshifted into a Gnoll, escorting the party through the Gnoll Caverns. After some cursory exploration, they decide to leave the Caverns before the spell wears off. They snag the crate with the gleaming plate mail and one of the strange weapons (a set of nunchaku) on their way back out.
I keep returning to this concept of "masterwork" weapons and armor, i.e. something which takes up fewer slots than its effectiveness would imply. So the "masterwork" plate mail has the weight of mere chain mail, the nunchaku acts like a medium weapon but weighs like a light one, etc.
When the party reemerges in the cave next to the Marble Quarry, they meet an expedition of gnome geologists led by Roald Zeeling. They have a cordial chat and the party heads out to explore more of the Ruins. They explore a Well covered by debris, and Carlfel casts the Excavate spell to clear the debris so Albilee can climb down inside.
Carlfel has consistently rolled very well for their spells. While I'm happy for their player, I do hope to see some fun miscasts in the future.
Albilee notices a tunnel leading down, presumably into the caves. Curiosity satisfied, she climbs out and the party explores the ruins of some fancy estates, finding nothing, before returning to the Quarry to sleep.
The rules specify things like Mana regenerate after "a night resting in a safe place." I think regaining these kinds of resources happens gradually enough in Plunderer! that I don't need to restrict it to settlements, but hopefully future playtesting will give me more evidence to choose one way or the other.
Rested, the party goes back out to the ruins, investigating an impact crater. There are a number of these around the ruins, and Albilee and Carlfel go down into the crater to check out the boulder at the center. They find that the boulder is made of obsidian, and the crater seems to have occurred relatively recently due to the lack of plant life. It seems that this boulder was dropped or thrown by something, but what?
I tried to be more procedural with how the investigation rules worked and it seemed like the players pretty much got how this was supposed to work when I was more clear with what I was envisioning.
On their way west, the party runs into a group of escaped human captives from the caverns, claiming to be pursued by Gnolls. The party urges them to head for the estates to take shelter, and hides as a band of Gnolls (plus a Minotaur) comes through. The warband proceeds to slaughter the humans before returning whence they came.
This was the first actual random encounter, and it went swimmingly. I loved how the situation forced the party to make a decision, and was surprised that the players chose the more rational approach of inaction rather than the more heroic approach of rushing in and probably getting killed.
The party begins traveling west, but is startled by Gnolls demanding tribute. Carlfel casts Excavate beneath their feet, dooming all of the Gnolls to a rocky death.
Doing an average of 12 damage to 4 creatures, even if those creatures get a chance to save, is pretty OP; I may need to revise Excavate's description so that the excavation is gradual rather than instantaneous.
Once the coast is clear, the party goes west to a pool south of the largest structure in the town. Carlfel throws a rock into the pool, which a watery hand throws back, nailing Carlfel in the head. Albilee inspects the water, and nearly gets dragged in, but manages to evade.
I'm trying to be eminently fair, and part of that is giving the players warnings that something is amiss before simply killing their characters. Carlfel only took 1 damage (albeit out of 2 HP) and Albilee managed a save to evade the creature in the water.
The party heads into the large building to the north, some kind of court or temple which is overgrown and reclaimed by wildlife. The first floor is swarming with bats, but the second floor is filled with documents. Most of the party gathers documents while Albilee and Stranglix check out the third floor.
This decision would prove a fateful one...
Albilee and Stranglix spend about 20 minutes trying to break open the swollen door to the third floor, during which time a hungry slime hiding under broken tablets starts to move towards the would-be archivists.
Carlfel got a chance to save against getting surprised by the slime, but failed.
The slime attacks Carlfel, killing him.
I tried to be very fair here too, giving each character an equal chance to be attacked by the slime. Unfortunately, Carlfel was it. RIP.
Albilee and Stranglix rush down the steps, the party battering the (quite formidable) slime, as it fells Darsh the porter and nearly kills Billosh, Carlfel's retainer, but ultimately the party brings down the abomination.
I messed up and forgot to take into consideration the slime's resistance to bladed weapons, but this didn't affect the combat very much. In any case, I'm quite pleased with the combat rules for Plunderer!: combat is relatively fast but doing initiative each round means combat feels pretty risky, like anything can happen. The slime was technically outnumbered by the party, but still felt like it could have slain the whole party, whether that's true or not.
We ended the session here, and decided Billosh would become a 1st-level Fighter to replace Carlfel as a PC. Stay tuned for next session.
In Memoriam
I had an idea to write short, (hopefully) amusing poems to commemorate deaths in the party. Eventually I may get bored, but for now here you are:
Carlfel
Struck down in their prime,
By a primeval slime,
Before they could cast but a spell,
Alas: our poor Carlfel fell.
Darsh
Not to be harsh,
But old man Darsh,
Could often be quite glib.
Yet he still loved his son, little Dibb.