Darguk's Dungeon

My friend could not attend our Four Against Darkness session last Sunday so my brother and I pressed on by ourselves.

The Party

We played with our alternate characters, which meant that we had a small party. 

Here are the party members.

• Gerd - warrior
• Marlin - wizard

Because we had a small party, I halved the number of enemies.

The Quest

Go into the dungeon, kill stuff, and take their treasure.

I created a complex adventure but did not want to run it without my friend. Therefore, I decided to run a completely random adventure. I had no idea what the boss was.

The Adventure

Our heroes hear tales of a mysterious cave, No one has visited it and returned alive. Naturally, Gerd and Marlin decide to check it out.

Here is a map of the dungeon.

While exploring the cave, our heroes encounter:
1 - 4 skeletal rats

2 - 3 goblin swarmlings

3 - Armory. Marlin took a short sword and Gerd took a mace.

4 - Empty

5 - A catoblepas. They both saved vs. the monster's gaze. Gerd got in the first wound. Marlin then lightning bolted it and then smashed it with his staff.

6 - A minotaur. After one major monster, the heroes did not want to face another. RUN AWAY!

7 - A troll. Gerd kills it. Marlin remembered to slice it up so it would not regenerate.

4 - Wandering monster while backtracking - 2 orcs.

8 - 2 giant frogs.

9 - An orc brute named Darguk - Gerd wounds it then Marlin puts it to sleep.

At this point, the party reached a dead end and fought a boss, so I declared that they had explored the entire dungeon. I wanted a shorter dungeon anyway, so this was perfect.

I had my brother roll for wandering monsters on the way out. He rolled brilliantly; the party had no encounters!

Aftermath

Marlin had to use a bandage and was close to needing a heal. Gerd took some damage but was in no danger. They managed to save their healing potions.

Both characters got to roll to gain a level. They both succeeded and are now level 3. They also raked in around 150 gp each. So it was a profitable venture.

The Ogre Swamp

This was the second adventure of our ongoing Four Against Darkness campaign. Previously, we killed the orc brute that was leading raids in the area.

The Party

My friend joined us. Because he missed the first adventure, we allowed him to run 2 characters. My brother ran Groin the dwarf and I ran Haldor the cleric.

Here is our marching order.

• Groin - dwarf
• Haldor - cleric
• Marcus - marksman
• Aetal - wizard

The Quest

An ogre has kidnapped the daughter of one of the local village chiefs and absconded with her to his swamp lair. There is a 100 gold bounty for her safe return.

The Adventure

This is a wilderness adventure in a swamp, but I ran it like a dungeon. The "rooms" represent clearings.

Here are the party' encounters.

1. 8 giant rats

2. A will 'o wisp

3. An ooze

4. 5 mushroom men. Aetal tries to negotiate with them but they attack. Aetal manages to kill 2.

5. 4 lizardmen

4. Backtracking, the party runs into 2 oozes.

6. 5 goblin swarmlings.

7. 4 crocodiles. Aetal manages to put 3 to sleep. The party then crosses over a stream on the sleeping crocs' backs.

8. Party gets lost. They spend some time getting re-oriented. Fortunately, no wandering monsters appear.

9. 2 more crocodiles.

10. Quicksand. Groin gets sucked under and takes damage from asphyxiation before the party rescues him.

11. Treasure!

12. 10 mushroom men.

13. Swamp witch! Aetal kills her.

14. Marsh gas nearly overcomes the party.

13. Backtracking. 6 giant centipedes are feasting on the swamp witch's corpse but then they attack the party.

15. Giant spider. Aetal kills it.

16. THE OGRE. Haldor gets in the final blow. The party rescues the chief's daughter.

8. Heading out of the swamp. 6 mushroom men. Aetal is badly wounded so he teleports out of the swamp. The rest of the party has to escape on their own.

1. They almost get out but run into 2 trolls. They kill one but it returns to life. The party finally defeats them and escapes from the swamp.

Aftermath

The entire party makes it out, although most have taken wounds. Haldor healed himself at one point during the adventure and still was down by half his life.

Still, it was a prosperous venture. The party stocked up on healing potions and bandages. Haldor reached level 3. Some of the others also leveled, but I don't remember who.

Into the Orc's Lair

Last Sunday I began my new RPG campaign using Four Against Darkness.

The Characters

One person could not make it so we were down to 2 players (including me). That's OK; we made 2 characters each.

• I ran a warrior named Gerd and a cleric named Haldor
• My brother had a a dwarf named Groin and a wizard named Marlin.

The Setup

I decided to create a more themed adventure for our characters. I chose one of the 4AD bosses - the orc brute in particular - as our primary adversary for the dungeon. I then chose other encounters based on the boss. For example, there were plenty of goblins and orcs about, but no zombies.

The hook for the adventure was simple - the orc brute was leading raids on the nearby settlements. The adventurer's town put a price on the brute's head.

The Dungeon

With the motivation of a bounty, our heroes entered the orc's lair.

Here is a map I created using PowerPoint.

They entered through the room at grid C1, where a spear trap immediately impaled Brother Haldor. They encountered some goblins, hobgoblins, and another spear trap before bribing some orcs (D5).

Deep in the dungeon, they ran into a goblin shaman, who fried them with fire. But they survived and killed the shaman. Then they battled some trolls. Imagine their surprise when one of the trolls regenerated and wounded Brother Haldor.

Next they slaughtered some orcs and then prepared for the epic battle with the orc brute. Except that the battle was anti-climatic. Marlin put the brute to sleep in the first round and then the party lopped off his head! The brute's head, that is, not Marlin's :)

Then they had to run a gauntlet of enemies to escape the dungeon. Our heroes battled through orcs, hobgoblins, and vampire bats before exiting.

The Spoils of Victory

Fortunately, no one died, although there were plenty of wounds. Brother Haldor had to heal himself, Marlin, and Groin (I think). Gerd was down to half life.

Nevertheless, the mission was profitable. Besides the bounty, the party looted plenty of gold and gems. All told, the party members made off with nearly 150 gold each. They used the gold to improve their armor and to stock up on healing potions and bandages.

The party also found a magic hammer (which went to Groin), and some scrolls. Marlin used a scroll to add the lightning bolt spell to his spell book.

Finally, each party member is eligible to make a roll to level up. We'll see how that goes next time.

Progress!

Over the past week I finished a couple of small projects.

Four Against Darkness

To expedite my upcoming co-op Four Against Darkness campaign, I built an automated dungeon creator in Excel.

Here is a shot of the results page.

With the press of a button I get a complete room laid out.

I also created a map template using PowerPoint.

To ease mapping, I greatly simplified the number of different rooms and corridors. I've done this before and it works fine.

With the tables in Excel, it becomes quite easy to create custom dungeons. For example, I built the tables for an orc lair with the orc brute as the boss. For this new campaign, I plan to create special dungeons themed around each of the bosses in the main game.

Looking forward to trying this out next Sunday!

Fantasy Battle Game

I did a little more work on my latest fantasy wargame rules. I created some counters and markers.

Here is an army inspired by Warhammer's Kislev (which is inspired by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). I found the images on Junior General.

Here is an Imperial army.

The unit counters are designed for 1 inch squares.

I also made some half inch shields. I'll use these as casualty markers.

Across the Burning Sands

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure

(Using Four Against Darkness)

Part 1B of the Six Stones of Sorcery

Introduction

Note: This intro is pure fabrication and was not part of the game. Skip down to the Journey if you want to read about the actual adventure.

It had been nearly three days since our heroes had bested the sphinx and acquired the Book of the Magi. Atoz had been toiling away nearly non-stop, trying to discern the location of the Stones of Sorcery. Khamen was walking back to the Library after partaking of some libations in a nearby establishment. It appears that he was wrong; the Cult of Erlich wasn't going to attack. Nevertheless, he and Candorra took turns watching over the librarian.

As he neared the Library, he could hear shouts from inside. Atoz! He drew his weapons and rushed in. A cloaked man ran into him.

"Stop him!" Candorra shouted.

The man shouldered Khamen aside. As he fell, Khamen lashed out with his blade. It caught the man behind the knee. He fell with a shout, then kept stumbling away.

"Get down!" Candorra shouted. 

Khamen ducked his head. An arrow whizzed by. He could hear it thunk into the stumbling man's back. The man fell dead. Candorra walked over to him and grabbed a parchment from his grasp. She then rushed inside, Khamen at her heals. She made a beeline for the librarian's office, stepping over dead figures.

"Who?" asked Khamen.

"Cultists, of course." explained Candorra, as she reached the office. Khamen peered in and saw Atoz on the floor, blood staining his tunic. Candorra rushed over to him.

"Do you have the map?" Atoz croaked in obvious pain.

"Yes," replied Candorra.

"Then folllow . . ." the librarian commanded before passing away.

The Journey

The very next day our heroes were on camels, riding into the desert. With them was Abdul, an experienced guide. They had hired him to lead them to their destination, a lost pyramid deep in the desert south of city of Alatar. Fortunately, they were able to follow the mighty Phiaro River for most of the journey.

A couple of days into the journey, they were ambushed by several cultists (1). Abdul proved his worth as a fighter, taking out three of the enemy. Khamen took a minor wound but bandaged it up.
I made Abdul a 2nd level fighter, giving our heroes a little aid on the quest. Each character started with 1 bandage. Also, Khamen and Candorra had a potion of healing each.

The next day they spotted a pack of hyena-men (2), fierce inhuman raiders. The hyena-men gave chase but the party was able to outrace them and escape.
Because they were mounted, I gave the party a chance to get away. They easily won an opposed die roll so I ruled that they escaped without incident.

After sheltering from a sandstorm (3) and rescuing Abdul from a sinkhole (4), the party reached a point where the river bent to the southeast.

"We must leave the river, now" Candorra announced, as she read the map. "Our destination lies in the heart of the desert that way." she said as she pointed southwest.

As they made their way into the heart of the desert, four giant scorpions (5) pounced on them. Khamen was stung and poisoned before they drove off the horrid creatures.

"I'll be all right," Khamen insisted as Candorra tried to minister to him.

"Take your potion." she demanded.

"I'm fine," he repeated, despite his nausea and pale features.

Abdul concurred with Candorra. "You are ill. It could hazard your quest. Heal yourself."

"I said I"M FINE. Besides, I may need that potion later." Khamen reiterated as he stormed off.

"Stupid human pride." Candorra mumbled to herself.

The Challenge
Our heroes proceeded into the desert for a few more days. They found themselves surrounded by a seemingly endless sea of sand.

"Are we going the right way?" a visibly ill Khamen asked.

Candorra conferred with Abdul. "We think so. It's hard to tell without any landmarks."

Candorra stopped her camel and stood balanced upon its hump. She surveyed the horizon for a few minutes, then shouted in triumph.

"There!" she pointed.

"Where?" asked Abdul. Khamen grumbled about elven eyes.

"Follow me!" Candorra yelled as she galloped south.

Several minutes later Khamen could see it; a small hill in the distance. But no, that was no hill. It was too regular. An hour after that he could finally make it out. It was the top of a pyramid; the rest had been buried under the sands.

They drew near and dismounted. Suddenly there was a whirling wind and a blue figure appeared.

"Djinn!" exclaimed Abdul.

"Halt!" it declared. "You are forbidden to approach the Tomb of An-Makeran. Turn back now!"

"We are on a holy quest at the behest of the Temple of the Maker. We must enter that tomb." Candorra explained.

"No, you are not worthy. Turn back, or suffer the consequences."

"We will prove our worth . . ." but before Candorra could finish here sentence, the djinn summoned a whirlwind that slammed into our heroes. Abdul and Khamen were knocked to the ground, but Candorra managed to dodge and somersault up to the djinn. She slashed it with her blade.

The djinn pulled a heavy mace out of thin air and began to swing wildly at our heroes. It smashed Candorra, who flew several feet, landing heavily on her back. The djinn then attacked Khamen. Due to his sickness, he moved slowly and failed to dodge. The mace landed a heavy blow on him. He sunk to his knees. The djinn moved in to finish him off.

Just then, Abdul leaped to Khamen's defense. Khamen was able to crawl away while reaching for his healing potion. Abdul sparred with the djinn for a moment before it landed a blow. Abdul staggered back.

Candorra was back on here feet and attacked again, landing another hit. As it advanced on her, Khamen jumped into the fray, stabbing the djinn in the back. It turned toward him.

"I'm baaack." he quipped as he retreated before the djinn's onslaught. But the djinn was too powerful and knocked him to his feet. Once again, he readied a killing blow.

Suddenly, a sword point pierced through the djinn's chest. Abdul stood behind it, his thrust penetrating from behind.

With that, the djinn dropped his mace, which disappeared. It moved away from the heroes, then turned to face them.

"You have proved your worth." it announced with a bow. Then it flourished its hand and a whirlwind swept toward the pyramid. It blew away the sands, revealing a ramp leading down toward a stone door. Four bodies in cultist robes lie near the door.

"Who were they?" asked Khamen.

"They were not worthy." announced the djinn. It then disappeared from sight.

The heroes just looked at each other. They had proved worthy of this challenge, but what of the next? What of the Tomb?

Find out next time!

Game Notes
Obviously, I made quite a few tweaks to standard Four Against Darkness.

• First, I turned it into a hex-crawl wilderness adventure. I created a grid of offset squares (which approximates a hex grid). The characters start in the first hex, following the river. I placed the tomb in a square that was about 8 spaces away from the start.
• Each turn, I would first roll a D6 to determine the direction of the river. Then I could choose to follow it or strike out into the desert. I stuck with the river (more about that later).
• I used my homebrew encounter table to determine the contents of each square.
• I wanted desert-themed encounters, so I re-skinned standard 4AD encounters. For example, cultists were hobgoblins, the sinkhole was a pit trap, etc. The djinn began as a Chaos Lord but I changed its power based on D&D stats.
• I have other 4AD supplements and probably should read through them for more options, but I was too lazy to go through them all. It would be nice if there was a single 4AD bestiary with stats for all encounters from all 4AD products.
• I changed the location of the final encounter. I was originally following the river but then I rolled the boss before I reach the target space. Because I was on my 6th encounter, I decided to draw the adventure to a close. For narrative purposes, however, I wanted the Tomb to lie away from the river. I decided to move it on the map.
• I also embellish a bit when I write the narratives. For example, Khamen took the healing potion right before Abdul scored the killing blow. I moved it a little earlier in the fight.

My Four Against Darkness Tweaks

With LARPing out of the question for the time being, I have developed a real itch for some fantasy gaming. I decided to reboot a campaign I had started a while back but left hanging. It involves 2 characters that I created for Four Against Darkness (4AD), an excellent solo dungeon crawl game.

Now that I am posting new adventures on this blog, I thought I would tell you a little about the campaign. This turned into a rather lengthy discourse, so I have divided it into multiple posts.

First, let me tell you about how I play 4AD. While I really enjoyed it as written, I eventually made some changes to better fit my personal preferences. Here are changes that I am employing in this campaign.

Two Against Darkness
Before 4AD, I was running some homebrew solo RPGs with 2 heroes (essentially a main character and a sidekick). I found it a little easier to control the characters and it felt a little more cinematic. I actually created Khamen and Candorra to see if 4AD would work with 2 heroes.

I have given them a little assistance here and there to compensate for the missing party members. They start each adventure with a healing potion and I will reduce the enemies to manageable numbers. Sometimes an NPC will join them. Shortening the adventures (see below) also helps.

Overall, I like the change. I feel that I can concentrate on developing the main characters more (and they have certainly taken on a life of their own - but more about that in a later post). By judicious tweaking, I have kept the challenge level appropriate. My characters meet with danger but are not completely overwhelmed. It's been a lot of fun.

Shorter Adventures
I find that I start to get bored if the adventure goes on too long. 4AD does recommend using a time limit or a smaller map if pressed for time. This just felt a little artificial to me. Therefore I took some different approaches to speed up the game and reduce the time needed to finish a dungeon.

• I restricted the map to a 4 x 3 square grid, with each grid equally a room or corridor. This means that there is a maximum of 12 encounters per adventure (although I have done some 2-part adventures). I have a rule that the boss cannot appear in the first half of the map unless the characters complete 5 other challenges. This prevents the game from ending too quickly.

An example of a 4 x 3 grid

• Because I changed the map, I also changed how to determine room shape. It's pretty quick (no shuffling through pages to find the room). I lose a little flavor; the maps tend to be more generic and less interesting than straight 4AD. But I find the gain in speed worth it.

Streamlined room layout generator

• I created an adventure sheet with the encounters listed on it. Before I start the game I fill in the potential encounters. This greatly speeds up the process of determining encounters during the game. It also allows me to create a more focused, thematic dungeon.

A blank adventure map
I fill in the possible encounters before starting

No Loot

I've written about this in a previous blog post but I will reiterate that I don't care for the RPG obsession with acquiring stuff. To me, that is not heroic. Therefore I have dispensed with looting and instead assume that my characters get needed supplies from a patron, usually the Temple (i.e. the church). This causes a couple of issues in 4AD:

• Characters don't have money to bribe monsters. I generally just ignore the reaction tables. Instead, if there is a chance for a parley, I give the party an influence roll (I generally just come up with the needed value on the fly). If they succeed they can avoid combat. In most cases, however, combat is unavoidable. For example, when the heroes met the cultists in the Library, there was no chance for negotiation. In the campaign's backstory, the cultists were deadly rivals to my characters.
• There is no chance to acquire random magic items. I alleviate this by allowing a chance of acquiring magic items after defeating the boss. The patron can also furnish items - for example, I start each character with a healing potion, courtesy of the Temple, at the start of an adventure.

Of course, I don't find these problems to be insurmountable. For me, dispensing with loot has increased my enjoyment of the game.

The Labyrinth Under the Library

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Using Four Against Darkness

Part 1A of the Six Stones of Sorcery Campaign

Introduction
Sent by the Temple on a quest to find the Six Stones of Sorcery, our heroes have traveled to the thriving port city of Alatar, in the kingdom of Palmeria. It is a hot desert land, watered by the great river Phiaro and famed for its palms, pyramids, and rumors of mummies. Khamen the rogue and Candorra the elf are searching for clues about the whereabouts of the Stones. And if you are in need of information, there is no better place than the renowned Library of Alatar, said to be the storehouse of all human knowledge.

At the library, our heroes convince the librarian Atoz (yes, a homage to a Star Trek episode) to help them out. He suspects that any information will be contained in the labyrinthine catacombs below the library. However, the labyrinth has been locked shut because of rumors that foul creatures had taken up residence there. Nevertheless, Atoz agrees to accompany the party.

Khamen and Candorra are level 3 each. I added Atoz as an NPC - a 1st level wizard

The Labyrinth
As the party approaches the labyrinth they find that the door has been forced open.

The Labyrinth

"This cannot be!" shouts Atoz as he rushes into the room (1) only to stumble into 3 rather angry cultists. One lashes out at Atoz but he dodges. Candorra shoots one and Khamen stabs another. Surrounded, the last cultist snarls, yells "For Erlich!", and then attacks. Our heroes easily defeat him.

"Erlich." notes Candorra. "That can't be good."

"I suppose they are looking for the same information as us." replies Khamen.

Our heroes proceed through the winding labyrinth, inspecting the shelves filled with ancient scrolls. None have the information they seek. They also encounter a ghost (2), fight off skeletons (3 and 6), dodge a boulder (4), and find a statue (5). Atoz takes some wounds so Candorra uses a bandage and healing potion on him.

They come across an underground river (7). Two crocodiles surge out of the river and attack. Atoz kills one with a lightning bolt; the other dives back into the river and swims away.

After surviving a swarm of scarab beetles and a pack of zombies (rooms 8 and 9), the party comes to a dead end (10).

"There must be more!" exclaims Atoz. "Look for a secret door."

Atoz is correct, and Candorra finds the door. They proceed into a room (11) filled with scrolls. In the center is an altar dedicated to the goddess of knowledge, Almarif. Atoz bows before the altar and feels that his mind is enlightened. I rolled the Blessed Temple, but since I knew that there would not be any more undead, I changed the benefit to one more fitting to the final confrontation.

"Come," says Atoz as he heads toward the next room, "the answer we seek is this way." Khamen and Candorra exchange puzzled glances. Khamen just shrugs and follows, with Candorra at his heels.

The Boss Encounter
(Sorry that this is so long-winded. Scroll down if you just want the bottom line).
They enter a huge cavern (12) with a ceiling that seems to stretch into infinity. On the far side is a book upon a pedestal.

"Is that it?" asks Khamen as he begins to cross the cavern. Then there is the swoosh of wings beating and a huge winged beast descends. Khamen has to leap away from the leonine figure. It is a sphinx!

"Halt." it commands. "I am the guardian of the Book of the Magi. I cannot allow anyone who is unworthy to touch it."

"And how do you determine if we are worthy?" asks Candorra.

"We shall play the riddle game. You must take turns answering a riddle that I ask. Once you answer three riddles, I shall surrender the Book to you. If you miss a riddle you must pay, in blood. Are your ready?"

Atoz steps forward. "Ask your riddles, guardian. We shall play your game."

"Very well, you first librarian."

The sphinx asks the first riddle.

"I know that!" exclaims Atoz. He then proclaims an answer. The sphinx smiles enigmatically.

"You are wrong, librarian." it declares. It leaps forward and rakes Atoz with huge claws. The librarian collapses to the ground. Candorra rushes over to succor his wounds.

"You are next, elf maid." declares the sphinx. Candorra stands to face him and he asks the next riddle. She is puzzled and fails to answer. The guardian lashes out, but she ducks. His claws graze her, drawing blood but she avoids serious damage.

"You seek to avoid payment?" the sphinx asks testily.

Candorra shows him a gash on her arm. "You did not say how much blood." she retorts.

The sphinx smiles. "Very well, then. New rule - if you can avoid my attacks, I shall forfeit your payment. Next is the human."

Khamen readies himself. He cannot answer the riddle but is able to dodge the attack and remains unscathed.

The sphinx turns to the librarian. In a painful, wheezing breath, Atoz says " I am near death's door. I cannot play anymore."

"Take this," says Candorra, handing him the last healing potion.

"I cannot"

"Take it," she asserts. "We cannot do this without you."

Atoz downs the potion. His wounds heal and he is able to stand. The sphinx asks the next riddle.

"Now I know this one." Atoz declares and answers the question.

"This time, you are correct. That is one. Elf?"

Candorra misses again. She dodges the attack but takes another wound.

Khamen readies himself for the next question. When he hears it, he begins to chuckle.

"This is no laughing matter!" Candorra scolds him.

"And you complain about my spending time in taverns!" Khamen replies. Candorra gives him a puzzled look.

"I lost a bar bet on this riddle! But now I know the answer." Khamen then gives the correct answer.

"You are the last one, elf." states the sphinx. "Answer or pay."

She misses again. This time the sphinx is ready for her dodge. He adjusts his attack and inflicts two serious wounds. Candorra falls to her knees. She knows that she must answer the next one, or die.

The sphinx, a gleam of triumph in his eye, asks the final riddle.

Hesitantly, Candorra answers. The sphinx scowls. "That is correct" it says and then flies off.

Aftermath
After winning the riddle battle with the sphinx, the party recovers the Book of the Magi. Atoz pages through it.

"Yes, yes. This information is priceless. I am sure it will have the answer to your question."

Khamen and Atoz help the wounded Candorra along as they retrace their steps through the labyrinth. Fortunately, they make it back without incident. They return to Atoz's office where he begins to pore over the Book.

"I may take some time to find the information you seek. Return in a few days and I will let you know."

"No can do, Atoz." Khamen replied. "With the Cult of Erlich on the loose, we cannot leave the Book unguarded. We will stay here with you."

"Ah yes, that is a wise precaution. Well, make yourself comfortable. It may be some time." With that, he returned to his study.

What will Atoz learn from the Book of the Magi? Find out next time!

And stay tuned for a series of posts this week about this campaign!