That belongs in a museum!
Session report for March 27, 2025. Five players adventured for three weeks.
Characters
Fomo Bagful, halfling thief level 3Hilfred the Yellow, human illusionist level 3
Jude, half-orc cleric/assassin level 1/2
Bendbardo, human fighter level 2
Karl the Might-Nervous, human magic-user level 1
Glinforgghen Sealeaf, elven fighter/magic-user level 1/1
Prologue
During the last session, Hilfred and Bendbardo were chatting up a young coed while casing the museum of natural history. They asked her where some of the valuable artifacts came from, so they could go do some treasure hunting on their own.
I had no idea. What would a low-prep DM do in a situation like this? To answer the question, I thought about what they were really asking.
Where did these valuable artifacts come from led to where can I find artifacts to sell to the university for money which led to where can I find treasure. Of course - they were asking for a treasure map!
Ask, and ye shall receive! I broke out my trusty Dungeon Masters Guide and used the rules on page 120 to create a treasure map for them. The museum receptionist told them the tale of an archaeological dig only eight or nine miles outside the city that yielded some of the artifacts on display - but it had shut down for being dangerous.
Hilfred hired a pack animal and a teamster for all the loot they were surely to find. Then the party headed out to find this buried treasure.
First Delve
They rode west from the city of Hartford out into the plains. By midday they entered a small desert. Just as the sun reached the horizon, they arrived at a large depression in the ground that had uncovered an old settlement. They rested for the night.
The next day, the party searched the digsite. Several spots had been cleared and examined by prior expeditions. They found evidence of an old stone road and a few buildings of various sizes, but they found nothing of value until they reached the larger buildings at the back of the site.
As they investigated a partial wall swallowed by a dune, a giant scorpion attacked from its hiding spot under the sand! The massive creature was a great threat to the party with three deadly attacks per turn. Fomo and Karl the Might-Nervous flinched, but Bendbardo led the party to attack - by attempting to grapple the scorpion's tail!
 |
| oh no! |
The scorpion fended off Bendbardo's grab with its giant claw and returned with a grapple of its own. It lifted the seven-foot-tall man into the air and bashed at him with its other claw and tail. He avoided dying to the venom, but the cumulative damage from all three attacks rendered him unconscious.
Everyone else attacked and brought down the scorpion before it could make another set of attacks. Glinforgghen, in particular, dealt massive damage to the scorpion with a combination of his sword and the shocking grasp spell.
Buried in the sand against the wall was the scorpion's lair which contained a sizeable hoard of gold coins. These were loaded onto the pack animal along with the battered Bendbardo.
The party continued their search for treasure. At another site, the floor of a large building, they found a trap door leading to a cellar. Inside they found a few urns containing only dust - and a secret door that opened to a staircase going down. They decided to cash in the sizeable treasure they found and get Bendbardo back to town to heal.
Bendbardo needed to rest for a week to recover from his near-death experience. On top of that, he and a few characters were ready to level up! So the players took a few weeks off and reconvened for the next delve. Fomo dropped out because of the late hour and the rest pressed on.
Second Delve
Back to the digsite with less than an hour of session time to go. They found the site undisturbed and entered the hidden cellar.
The party entered a large chamber with burial nooks along the walls. Before they could begin their investigation, the skeletons came to life and attacked!
Jude, a Chaotic Evil cleric and freshly level 2, was ready. He presented his unholy symbol and commanded the skeletons to "kneel before me". They did so. Who needs to hire men-at-arms?
A thorough search of the catacomb yielded a little treasure and a secret door. They pushed it open and entered a long hallway, sending the obedient skeletons ahead of them.
They encountered a side door part way down the hall. Bendbardo bashed it open and stumbled into an NPC party on the other side. It was a couple of clerics and fighters with men-at-arms - and they did not hear them coming! Total surprise!
The players discussed what they would do and dithered. After a few seconds I declared they had lost the first segment of surprise and still had one remaining. That lit a fire under them. Hilfred stunned the NPCs (and Bendbardo) with color spray. Jude assassinated a fighter and the skeletons fell upon the helpless group. [At this time, I generated the NPC party's alignment: Lawful Good. Ha!]
They looted the NPC bodies - including their armor, which was placed onto the skeletons as a kind of disguise. It was not effective, but Hilfred's teamster, now called Simple Jack, was paid well enough to look the other way. Jude duge a mass grave for his skeletons so he might collect them in the future.
Time was up, so they returned to Hartford with meager treasure but a new map and possibly a whole squad of undead soldiers.
THE VANQUISHEDDelve One: 615 XP
Giant Scorpion
Delve Two: 528 XP
Skeletons
NPC Party (4 characters and 5 men-at-arms)
THE SPOILS
Delve One: 6600 GP
Gold Coins
Ancient Urns
Delve Two: 207 GP
Coins and burial gifts
NPC gear
THE SCORE
Fomo Bagful earned 1100 gp and 1223 XP and an E rating for avoiding direct conflict and prioritizing treasure searches.
Hilfred the Yellow earned 1307 gp and 1355 XP and an E rating for solving problems with illusion magic
Bendbardo earned 1307 gp and 1355 XP for being the most fearless warrior I have ever seen
Jude earned 1307 gp and 1355 XP and an E rating for use of unholy powers and assassination capability
Karl the Might-Nervous earned 1307 gp and 1355 XP and an E rating for avoiding conflict and attempting to utilize his crappy spells
Glinforgghen earned 1307 gp and 1355 XP and an E rating for using combat spells in melee
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