Session 32: Setback!

The players catch up with recent events at Fort Fenrir.

Session report for April 25, 2025. Three players adventured for one day.

Characters

Karl the Might-Nervous, human magic-user level 2
Paddy Mane, human druid level 1
Troy, human ranger level 1

This will be a quick one because we got started late.

Karl the Might-Nervous stepped off the river ferry into Fort Fenrir for the first time in months. He was relieved to see the place was still standing after all the arson and orc attacks.

Fenrir repelled the orc invasion, but at a cost of half his army. This invasion was instigated by bdubs1776 as part of his #BroXT initiative. I gave him the scenario (orcs attack FF), he farmed it out to two wargamers, and they played it out for me "off-screen". You can read about it at HootOwl's blog. Great things happen when you open up your table to the whole club.

As a result, the lands outside the Fort were gradually reverting back to wilderness. The monsters waiting outside that bubble of civilization had grown bolder.

Karl met up with Troy the ranger and a new druid named Paddy. They figured orc armies were above their pay grade, and went for a dive in the local dungeon known as the Pig Pen.

Restocking a dungeon is fun. My procedure is to roll a d20 for every room or area of the dungeon and consult Appendix A, Table V.F.: Chamber or Room Contents. Results of 18 ("Special or stairway") are usually read as a 17 (monster + treasure) or 19 (trick/trap), depending on my mood. When stocking monsters or traps, I get to pull in information from prior sessions and activity from factions in downtime - what kinds of monsters have been here before? Has a faction from another level moved in? Has an faction from the overworld moved in? And sometimes a randomly generated monster is just what the space needs to shake things up.

or make up your own restock table

All that to say that the status quo had changed. The dungeon entrance, a 30' chamber, was the site of some grisly ritual. A magic circle was drawn on the floor in blood. The walls were covered in prayers to a dark goddess named Kali, warning that this was her domain.

The party explored the west wing of the dungeon. They followed the same route as the very first session up to a dead end room where they found another dark ritual site. They also found the secret exit that led to a dense forest only a few miles from the ruined keep.

Back inside, they continued their exploration. It was quiet work until they stopped to rest in a small room with two exits. Two fighters and a group of men-at-arms entered the room from the other exit and braced for trouble. They didn't look like the dark ritual types, so the charismatic druid offered parley over violence.

The warriors took Paddy up on his offer. They shared a rest in the safety of the room. They also compared notes and maps, which were quite complementary.

The party explored a little more. When they approached an intersection with many hallways and were low on session time, they left the dungeon with not much to show for it except their lives.