Dungeon Bash

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• James Morthor, Warlock
  • Doggan, Tiny-Sized Dragon familiar
  • Iodberta, Fighter
  • Frauuara "Frauline", Fighter
  • Leah Thewend, Airwalker
  • Encarna D'Cruz, Priestess
  • Alice, human child (age 10)
• Airsen Birdmaster, Airwalker
  • Sara, Airwalker
  • Erik Stein, Dwarven Vaultguard
• Sneakily, Spy
  • Dzixud, Thrassian Assassin

Caranthir and Airsen returned to Wallace to fetch their companions; since Morthor, Rig, and Llarm's players weren't present, they were left behind in Wallace. As long as they were there, they scoured the area for henchmen, and ended up hiring two: a Thrassian Assassin named Dzixud for Sneakily, and a Dwarven Vaultguard named Erik Stein and an Airwalker named Sara for Airsen. They also borrowed Elenora, the white mage, as they knew they would need some healing. As a special note, that makes Erik the third humanoid male this party has hired, beside Zarc and Faufe. There are still no human male henchmen...

The first level

The second level

Rejoined, the partywarband returned to the tower and once again descended into the lower levels. They worked their way through the second level of the dungeon, fending off a ghoul with ease; when they ran into a dozen tarantulas, they managed to destroy most of them, though Caranthir was poisoned. Thankfully, tarantula venom is much slower-acting than black widows or other, larger creatures; while it dropped him to 0 hp, it was a full turn later, and he was able to recover - though needs a week's rest. He decided to follow, supported by his henchwomen, and staying at the back during any battles. The second day in the tower, they fought a ghoul and a black widow, crushing both easily. The ghoul was lethally surprised, as a secret door lead the party directly behind it; it never knew what back-stabbed it. Soon, they ran into two giant ants; usually not a problem, but one of them seemed to be wielding strange power! It glowed purple, and fended off attacks with a magical energy. Eventually, it was slain, and though it was dissected for answers, there was no apparent cause of the strange energy.

Later, the group found a dripping pipe over a small pool of acid; they filled nearby bottles for eventual use. Finally, they had reached the scorpions; they set up camp again to be prepared for spellcasting, and began setting traps. In the room just before the scorpions, they found a huge queen ant, though she didn't attack them; they left her alone, and tossed stones towards the scorpions, attracting them to the traps. After a fierce battle, the scorpions were slain, though henchdwarf Erik fell to their crushing claws. Though Elenora had a terrible time passing any Neutralize Poison checks, she did at least manage to heal everyone fully.

Finally, the group decided to check the last rooms (where Luce and Rhea explored before), and lo and behold, there were the stairs down! They had cleared an entire level searching for those stairs, and they were less than a hundred yards from the entrance. Oh well; at least they made a bit of money on the deal, right?

Also, throughout the level, various pit traps and energy traps were discovered; not one was tripped. Having some dozen party members, two of which are dwarves, really helps out.

The party returned to the surface to resupply and, I presume, sell off the stuff they collected. While the tower is not a city per se, it's a large enough garrison to count as one, similar to a modern military base.

Treasure and XP

• XP from encounters:
  • 2 ghouls (29 each)
  • 1 giant ant (80)
  • 1 giant ant with eldrich powers (135)
  • 12 giant tarantulas (190 each)
  • 1 giant black widow (80)
  • 4 scorpions (135 each)
  • 1 giant ant queen (0, ignored)
• XP from discoveries:
  • acid 100
  • secret door 100
• XP from treasure:
  • 10 bottles of acid (unsold, one used)
  • 1 crate of monster parts (unsold)
  • 2 crates of armor and weapons (unsold)
  • 1000 Electrum
  • 1000 Silver
  • 26 bone fetishes and figurines (622 gp)
  • 1 porcelain trinket (400 gp)
  • 1 wrought silver trinket (300 gp)
  • 1 bronze trinket (120 gp)
  • 5 silver holy symbols (500 gp)
  • 1 Bloodstone (50 gp)
  • 1 malachite (10 gp)
  • 1 turquoise (25 gp)
• Total XP from encounters: 3173
• Total XP from discoveries: 200
• Total XP from treasure: 2627
• Total XP: 6000
• XP per PC: 800
• XP per henchbeing: 400
• Treasure per PC: 656 gp, 7 ep, 5 sp

GM Notes

Dungeons are rough going. Sleeping in a dungeon results in no regained hit points (unless magically enhanced), and there is no light, meaning torches are a must. Movement is very slow; moving a mere 60 feet takes ten minutes, due to careful movement, checking for traps, and often uneven ground. Worse, monsters of all sorts lurk about; any side passage left unexplored could result in being attacked from behind by all manner of nasty creatures.

Then again, dungeons often have huge piles of gold, dug up or stolen by its denizens, and magical items left behind by deceased adventurers; though they may be slow and dangerous, the chance of high rewards tempts many an adventurer.

Tangentially, my notes show that Elenora was transferred to Caranthir; if this isn't the fact, please correct me. If it is correct, Caranthir needs Elenora's equipment and information.