Session 12: Knowledge Is Power

Careful mapping pays off!

Session report for March 14, 2024. Seven players adventured for one day.

Characters

Bastion, human fighter 4, with six men-at-arms
Bard the Stout, human fighter 3
Mustacha, human ranger 3
Arrek, human fighter 1
Brother Flint, human monk 1
Karl, human magic user 1
"Stacks" Lorenzo, human assassin 1

With strength in numbers, the players decide to get their revenge on the orcs of the megadungeon. It's about time this megadungeon had a proper name. What would you call it?

The players had had enough of dragging treasure back home and departed Fort Fenrir with two pack mules and a few more men-at-arms. These light infantry are ideal for guarding the mules at the dungeon entrance, which is a shallow cave.

They stopped just short of orc territory to explore a new room. Four other exits led in different directions. The first door revealed an octagonal room with five troglodites in it. They braced for a fight, but after sizing up the situation the trogs chose cowardice and closed the door back in their faces.

Rather than chase the monsters down unfamiliar corridors, the party opted to use their knowledge of the dungeon to track them down methodically. They doubled back down the hall and around a corner which they believed would lead back to the same area they found the troglodytes.

All their careful mapping paid off! They found the troglodytes resting in another room and wiped them out with their superior numbers. Another hallway full of mist led back to the octagonal room. But they found no treasure or explanation for the appearance of the troglodytes.

Behind the second door was a closet with empty shelves. Stacks and Karl searched anyway. Karl's hand found a bottle he could not see. He opened it and smelled strong spirits. How long had it been there?

On to the third door, which led to another room of doors, but also a staircase going down.

They encountered an NPC party cooling their heels in an adjacent room. Reactions cooled down once both parties realized the other was not an orc patrol. They spoke briefly with their leader, a LN cleric named Enoch. They traded information on the dungeon and went their separate ways.

Time was short but the players were not ready to leave empty-handed. They wanted to descend the staircase and hope for a big score on a lower level. The hirelings were spooked by the staircase and scared of more troglodytes so they stayed up top to guard the room and the party headed down to level 4.

The room at the bottom of the stairs was covered in spider webs. The party set it all on fire before the inhabitants realized food had arrived. And hidden inside stone benches, they found their big score! Satisfied with sacks bulging with coin, they headed back to the surface.

Just as they got to the entrance a wandering monster appeared. Two fire beetles had entered the cave to make a meal out of the mules! The brave men-at-arms took a couple of vicious bites before the players swept in to save the day.

No one died. Everyone got paid. Karl and Stacks shared the invisible spirits on the walk home. It was a good day.

THE VANQUISHED
5 troglodytes
7 large spiders
2 fire beetles

THE SPOILS
93 copper
81 silver
55 electrum
38 gold
26 platinum
4000 silver coins hidden inside stone benches
potion of extra healing
potion of gaseous form
potion of plant control
potion of polymorph (self)
an invisible bottle

THE SCORE
XP for monsters slain: 900
XP for treasure taken: 1512

Each surviving character gets 345 XP and earned an 'E' grade for roleplaying.