A Fantasy Adventure – Act 13b.

This is the second instalment of a fantasy dungeon crawl taking place in a labyrinth beneath the city. It uses dungeon tiles from DMB Games and the Swords and Wizardry “Old School D&D” rules.

The party consists of 6 sixth-level adventurers: GIMLIT SON OF GROIN (dwarf fighter), ST.JOHN WILDBLADDER III (human paladin), BELWINA (human female ranger), KRANOVAL (half-elf magic-user), THE BISHOP OF BATHENWELLS (human cleric) and FRITO BUGGER (hobbit thief). Additionally there is Frito’s dog FIDO and KOBBE the Kobold who had attached himself to Kranoval.

Having fled from the trolls, the party then decided to rest up in this room, and try to recover from their wounds and regain their strength. Midnight came and went while Bathenwells and Gimlit were on watch; Bathenwells watching the single door and Gimlit the double.

In the early hours of the morning, the single door burst open and in charged the four trolls.

The fight was desperate. The party did much damage but the trolls regenerated and healed themselves every turn. Gimlit, Bathenwells and Fido killed the first troll and then they turned to help their comrades. But they forgot that the troll would regenerate, and it jumped up behind them.

When Wildbladder, Kobbe and Kranoval killed the next troll, Kobbe was surprising clever (or perhaps just wise in the ways of the underdark) and used the flames from his torch to stop it from regenerating.

Eventually the party killed all four trolls and burned them quickly using oil.

The party then preceded through the double doors to the room where they knew the trolls lived. The searched the room and found gems to the value of 600 gp and a small chest. Frito examined the chest and determined that it was trapped but that he couldn't disarm it. There were runes decorating the chest that none of the party could understand, but Bahenwells was sure that they were clerical in nature.

The party left the Trolls' lair by another door. The passageway passed through numerous archways and the party traversed many crossroads and T-junctions. It came to a small square opening from which a bridge spanned a slime filled pool.

Gimlit and Belwina crossed the bridge and came under fire from crossbow bolts from the flanks. They rushed over the bridge and were med by four Dark Dwarfs. Gimlit failed to recognise them as his evil cousins, and tried to start a conservation.

The Dark Dwarfs were not impressed by Gimlit's oratory skills, and went immediately to the attack.

With the fight in full swing, Frito rushed over the bridge, dodging the crossbow bolts thanks to his height (or lack thereof). He pulled out his Silver Horn of Valhalla and blew 3 long clear notes. Five berserk warriors appeared behind the Dark Dwarfs and went to the attack.

Belwina retired and drew her long-bow, and together with Frito's sling and Kranoval's magic missiles the crossbow dwarfs were suppressed. Bathenwells and Wildbladder rushed over the bridge to the aid of Gimlit. 

With the Dark Dwarfs defeated, the party searched their lair. Among their goods was found coins to the value of 800 gp and an exceptional gold statue of a naked young woman.

The party then left the labyrinth via a secret door they found in the Dwarfs' room and returned to the ground level of the City.

Crafting a double door for the dungeon.

I have made a double door for my Dungeon Crawl Project. I have dungeon tiles from DMB Games which are made using Hirst Art's moulds.

But the range from DMB only includes single doors, so I made a double door out of foam core board. Seen here with some old-style Citadel dwarfes...

First I copied the single door onto some squared paper and then next to it I drew the double door that I wanted.

I created a template using card from a cereal packet, and then cut out 3 pieces of foam core: one from 5 mm and two from 3 mm. I soaked the pieces in warm water for a short while so I could then peel off the paper covering the foam. In the two 3 mm pieces I even cut out the centre hole.

I glued together the 3 pieces of foam using PVA (white wood) glue with the 5mm piece sandwiched in the middle.

Using a HB pencil, I then drew on the stonework and the door's wooden planks. Here I pressed hard enough to make indents which would show up well when it takes a Quickshade or ink wash.

I then rolled up a piece of kitchen foil into a ball and rolled it over all the brickwork to give the stones a more rough appearance which will show up well when dry-brushed.

I added door furniture by cutting out small pieces of card from a cereal packet. The rings were made from cotton buds - by thinly slicing the plastic stick.

Painted as follows:

1. Overall: Matt Mod Podge mixed with black hobby paint.
2. Stonework: Mechanicus Standard Grey
3. Stonework: Dry Brush of Stormvermin Fur
4. Stonework: Dry Brush of Dawnstone
5. Woodwork: Steel Legion Drab
6. Metalwork: Ironbreaker
7. Overall: ArmyPainter Quickshade Strong Tone
8. Overall: Matt varnish
9. Stonework: Dry Brush of Administratum Grey

Compared to the single door from DMB Games, a good match I think.

Job done!

A Fantasy Adventure – Act 13a.

This is a fantasy dungeon crawl using dungeon tiles from DMB Games and the Swords and Wizardry “Old School D&D” rules.

The party consists of 6 sixth-level adventurers: GIMLIT SON OF GROIN (dwarf fighter), ST.JOHN WILDBLADDER III (human paladin), BELWINA (human female ranger), KRANOVAL (half-elf magic-user), THE BISHOP OF BATHENWELLS (human cleric) and FRITO BUGGER (hobbit thief). Additionally there is Frito’s dog FIDO and KOBBE the Kobold who had attached himself to Kranoval.

In exchange for resurrecting a party member, the party had promised to help the Temple of Freya by going on a quest. When they again met the High Preistess Völva she explained, "A thief has stolen a golden statue depicting the goddess Freya from one of the temple buildings. A priest and 3 acolytes chased after him but the thief lost them when he entered a labyrinth under the city." She asked the party to enter the labyrinth and retrieve the statue.

Following her directions, the party proceeded to the labyrinth. They entered a 10ft wide passageway and noticed that it was especially dark and the light from the torch was not bright. The passageway continued, it passed through numerous archways and the party traversed many crossroads and T-junctions.

The party then came to a T junction where the passageways were now only 5ft wide. The Bishop of Bathenwells became suspicious and suggested to Belwina that she act as rearguard as the rest of the party explored in one direction.

As the party explored, Belwina was attacked by a Carrion Crawler. Belwina fought bravely but was paralysed by the Carion Crawler's tenticles.

The party came rushing back to help Belwina with Bathenwells in the fore, while Fido "blinked" and attacked the Carrion Crawler from behind.

Having dispatched the Carrion Crawler, the party continued on past many archways and crossroads. The observant Belwina notice a semi-transparent cube slowing sloshing towards the party. They beat a hasty retreat leaving the cube safely behind them.

The party continued on through the labyrinth past many archways and crossroads, when all of a sudden they were ambushed by two Minotaurs. It was a hard fight but the Minotaurs were eventually defeated.

The party continued on through the labyrinth past many archways and crossroads, and then came upon a doorway. Frito opened the door and they entered a 30ft square room with a double door opposite. In the middle of the room was a brazier that burned fiercely and along the walls were 6 unlit candles in different colours; red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Unsure what to do with the candles, the party tried to force the double doors but without success. So instead they decided to light the candles starting with yellow. When all six were lit, the single door shut with a bang, the doubles doors opened, and out flew a swarm of locusts which attacked the party.

The party entered through the double doors into a smaller room, and examined the room while still under attack from the locust swarm. Gimlit noticed that the far wall was made to move but he was unsure how it worked.

The party checked for magic and it was determined that the wall, both doors, the locusts, the brazier and the candles were all magic. Kranoval dispelled the magic of the wall but noting was seen to visibly change. Using brute strength, the party lifted up the wall, while still being attacked by the locusts.

The party saw that the space behind the wall contained 4 trolls.

Frito blew his Silver Horn of Valhalla and 3 fighters appeared to challenge the trolls. The party decided that these would be a good rearguard and the fled back into the room with the brazier.

Having fled from the trolls, the party snuffed out all the candles which caused the locusts to disappear and the doubled doors to slam shut with a bang and a click.

They then decided to rest up in this room, and try to recover from their wounds and regain their strength.

A Fantasy Adventure – Act 12.

This is a fantasy dungeon crawl using dungeon tiles from DMB Games, map tiles from Red Dragon Gaming and the Swords and Wizardry “Old School D&D” rules.

The party consists of 6 sixth-level adventurers: GIMLIT SON OF GROIN (dwarf fighter), ST.JOHN WILDBLADDER III (human paladin), BELWINA (human female ranger), KRANOVAL (half-elf magic-user), THE BISHOP OF BATHENWELLS (human cleric) and FRITO BUGGER (hobbit thief). Additionally there is Frito’s dog FIDO and KOBBE the Kobold who had attached himself to Kranoval.

While Frito, Wildbladder and Kobbe were recuperating in the temple, the rest of the party went out into the city in search of help for Fido. First they stopped at the city's Animal Care and Training centre but they didn't seem to trust Natanah the druid's offer to do her best.

After some searching they came upon a simple stone building that housed a small temple to Solanus. They entered the temple and talked with Father Beamus, He would resurrect Fido for a reasonable price, if the party would investigate the Temple of Jamboor in the Slum Quarter when he suspected the High Priestess Elan of wrongdoing.

The party scouted the temple and came to the conclusion that Father Beamus was right, there was something fishy going on. The temple was filled with beggars that the clerics treated like slaves. However the High Priestess had noticed the party and their spell casting, and she tasked a gang of thugs led by a master thief to watch the party and eliminated them if they returned to the Slum Quarter.

The party picked up Wildbladder and Frito from the Temple of Freya and returned to the Slum Quarter after dark so as to avoid the city watch, but unbeknown to them they were shadowed by the thugs who had prepared an ambush.

The party moved slowly through the dark streets of the Slum Quarter with Wildbladder and Frito in the lead, followed by Gimlit and Belwina, with Bathenwells and Kranoval bringing up the rear. Bethenwells felt something disappear from his backpack, and as he turned around an arrow hit him in the chest but bounced of his armour. A second later a hail of arrows flew out from the rooftops hitting each party member and the gang released half a dozen giant rats to distract the party.

The party quickly dispatched the annoying rats, but still the arrows flew down from the unseen thugs on the rooftops. Bathenwells scanned all the alleyways but couldn't see the bowmen.

Bathenwells kicked down the door of the nearest house and rushed in. Frito spotted 3 thugs with bows on the rooftops. Six thugs rushed out of the darkness to attack the party as arrows continued to rain down from above.

Bathenwells found stairs leading up to the roof. Frito climbed up the wall of a house to reach the roof. The rest of the party fought off the thugs on the street. The thugs were not brave, and having taken too many losses, they remainder disappeared back into the darkness of the Slum Quarter.

The party continued on to the Temple of Jamboor. There they quickly killed the four guards on duty at the entrance. They went down into the cellar when they found the kitchen and mess hall and storage areas. They also found a locked door behind which was a flight of stairs going down deeper.

At the bottom of the stairs was a passageway and a small alcove on the right hand side. Frito and Gimlit examined the alcove and determined that the floor was made to move; so they didn't go into the alcove believing it to be some sort of trap.

The party came to a door which Gimlit tried to kick in, but it was so heavy that he needed three attempts.

As the door finally flew open, the party was met by the forewarned occupants, a row of 4 guards and 2 Acolytes behind which stood the High Priestess Elan. Behind the High Priestess was a shrine to Da-Jin the chaotic God of Death. The party rushed forward to attack.

Standing in a pentagram, in safety behind her minions, the High Priestess waved her hands in a intricate pattern and the party heard a creaking noise coming from the alcove they had just passed.

Frito reacted quickly, and turned towards the creaking sound. Out of the alcove came a Flesh Golem and attacked.

Kranoval shot a lightning bolt at the High Priestess which even passed through her minions doing great damage. He then fled forwards into the shrine, to escape from the Golem.

The guards were defeated, but the High Priestess and her two Acolytes continued to fight ferociously.

The High Priestess and one Acolyte were killed. The far end of the shrine was filled with darkness, and when it was dispelled with light, the last Acolyte has disappeared.

The Golem entered the room pursuing the retreating Frito and Bathenwells, here he was met by Gimlit and Belwina who stopped his advance. The rest of the party rushed to their aid and the Golem was slain.

The party searched the room and the bodies of the Golem, the High Priestess and the Acolyte. The golem had a large ruby in it forehead worth 200 gp. They found that the High Priestess was wearing a thin gleaming coat of chain mail under her robes, probably of dwarfen origin.

A secret door led into a small office where the temples accounts were kept. Here they found a strongbox containing 600 gp.

In a secret compartment under the shrine, they found a Horn of Valhalla which when sounded by a warrior will summon berserk fighters to defend him. There was also a potion and a scroll.

They searched the High Priestess's and the Acolyte's quarters where they found items worth another 200 gp.

The party freed the temples slaves and then left, going into the night, laden with the temple's treasures.

The resurrection of Fido had been troublesome, a normal Raise Dead spell didn't work work on him so the Temple of Solanus had to combine it with a Reincarnation spell. Thus he came back to life, not as a dog, but as a Blink Dog.

The raising of Kobbe was extra difficult as this was his second time and it is possible the the Goddess Freya herself had to intervene. In such a way he was blessed with the capabilities of a paladin. When Kobbe arrived at the Inn, escorted by two of the temples acolytes he looked fit and well and his skin was glowing. Kobbe explained that he will accompany the party but they may not use him as sacrificial bait any more and that they must buy him new leather armour and a shield. Also he wants a reasonable share of the gold, most of which he will donate to the temple that has just raised him from the dead.

A Fantasy Adventure – Act 11.

This is a fantasy dungeon crawl using dungeon tiles from DMB Games, map tiles from Red Dragon Gaming and the Swords and Wizardry “Old School D&D” rules.

The party consists of 6 fifth-level adventurers: GIMLIT SON OF GROIN (dwarf fighter), ST.JOHN WILDBLADDER III (human paladin), BELWINA (human female ranger), KRANOVAL (half-elf magic-user), THE BISHOP OF BATHENWELLS (human cleric) and FRITO BUGGER (hobbit thief). The party was still carrying the dead and somewhat scorched bodies of FIDO and KOBBE.

The day was coming to a close and the party was just one day's march from the city. They came across a ruined tower near to the path they were following and decided to camp their for the night. They could see the remains of a fireplace in the middle of the tower, so obviously other parties had been sheltering in the ruined tower previously.

They made a camp fire, ate some rations and the settled down for the night.

While Kranoval was on watch during the night, some wolves and giant bats attacked the party. Kranoval shouted to wake his comrades and then defended himself with his staff. Gimlit, Wildbladder and Belwina were soon on their feet helping the defence.

More wolves and giant bats arrived as Frito and Bathenwells joined the fight. Frito bravely rushed out into the enemy attempting to get behind and back-stab with surprise.

Bolt, the leader of the wolf pack positioned himself on the flank. With the exception of Belwina, the party had formed a straight defensive line, and Bolt opened his jaws and out shot a lightning bolt hitting all five in the line as well as sizzling one giant bat by mistake..

Learning tactics from the enemy, Kranoval ran outside the tower to flank the wolves. He puled out his wand and shot a lightning bolt through the enemy.

The wolves did not like the lightning bolt, and a huge worg attacked Kranoval putting him down and out of action.

Now the enemy leaders appeared, two werewolves attacked Belwina and Bathenwells.

Frito killed the worg that attacked Kranoval, and Wildbladder the Paladin rushed to his aid in order to heal him. Belwina and Bathenwells were in trouble with the werewolves and Gimlit was fighting Bolt the wolves pack leader.

Kranoval used his web spell to hamper the werewolves as a monstrously huge bat appeared and dived on Bathenwells.

As the rest of the party finished off the webbed werewolves, Bathenwells fought hand-to-hand with the Bat Monster which attacked him with both bite and claws.

The party rushed to the aid of Bathenwells, all drawing their ranged weapons. After taking a few salvos, the Bat Monster flew off into the dark of the night.

The party slept for the rest of the night, but this time with a stronger watch.

The next morning the party looked around and Belwina the Ranger soon found the wolves' tracks. The party packed up and then followed Belwina into the woods. After a short journey they came upon a small cage from which the wolves' tracks emerged. Frito peered into the dark cave. Seeing nothing, it was decided to lower Frito down into the cave.

The cave entrance led to a flight of stair going downwards. The rest of the party followed behind Frito. They came to a large room which was obviously the home of the Werewolves and their pets.

On the far side of the room was a door that was both barred and locked.

Frito listened at the door, but it was dead quiet. So the party unbarred the door and kicked it in. Behind the door was a 25 ft square room in the centre of which stood a closed Iron Maiden. Above the iron maiden's doors was written the following text:

The wise and knowledgeable man is sure of it. 

Even the fool knows it. 

The rich man wants it. 

The greatest of heroes fears it. 

Yet the lowliest of cowards would die for it. 

What is this upon which I ponder?

The party discussed the riddle, but couldn't solve it!

Getting bored with riddle, Gimlit kicked down the door to the right and he and Wildbladder rushed in to be met by six Pyre Zombies.

A few seconds after Gimlit and Wildbladder started fighting, the doors to the other rooms and to the Iron Maiden flew open. Out of the Iron Maiden came a Mummy that jumped on Kranoval while 6 Pyre Zombies waddled out from each room.

Kranoval webbed most of the zombies as the rest of the party came to his aid. Bathenwells pulled out his Holy Symbol and cried out "Flee before the power of LAW, foul undead thing of Chaos!". The party then ganged up on the mummy.

The party examined the Iron Maiden, and tried again to solve the riddle. Having failed with the riddle, Frito decided to search the inside of the Iron Maiden.

When Frito touched the Iron Maiden, without first having said the riddle's answer, a fire ball shot out of its mouth exploding in the air in the middle of the party. A few party members managed to jump for cover, avoiding some of the blast, but Frito and Wildbladder took the full brunt of the blast and died straight away.

Gimlit examined the bottom of the Iron Maiden and discovered a hidden compartment containing some potions and a scroll.

It was now critical to get help from a temple, so the party left the shelter of the cave and journeyed quickly on to the City. They were heavily loaded down with the 4 dead bodies: Wildbladder and Frito as well as they somewhat more decayed Kobbe and Fido. In addition, the dwarf was carrying the party’s spoils: treasure with a total value of 2,000 GP.

When they arrived back at the King’s Road Inn they were welcomed by Barnky the barkeep who had kept their rooms for them, but demanded they pay the 7 GP per room for the week that they were away. In addition he wanted 87 GP to pay for the repairs that were needed after Kranoval’s spell had gone wild. If the party doesn’t pay up, Barnky threatens to call The Watch.

Kranoval paid Barnky for the room and even for the damage without even complaining, taking the money from the party’s common treasure pool.  Barnky was rather surprised, he had been expecting some hard bartering, so said that this was very good and he would let them stay another week in their 3 rooms free of charge because they were such good customers.

Kranoval went down to the market to convert the treasure into cash, taking with him Gimlit as a bodyguard.

Led by the Bishop of Bathenwells, the party went to the Temple of Freya which is by far the largest and most densely attended Temple in the City. Here they learn that the raise dead spell is not common and requires a high level cleric or scroll, however the temple of Freya can raise up to 3 characters from the dead. For each character raised they require both an offering of 1,000 gp to the goddess and the party must swear to go on a quest for the High Priestess Völva. But High Priestess Völva isn’t happy; it will take at least a month before the Temple can raise anyone else from the dead.

The party chose to raise Frito and Wildbladder and then after some debate even Kobbe. The raising of Frito and Wildbladder went off without a hitch, but that of Kobbe was extra difficult as this was his second time and then Temple had no experience in raising Kobolds. 

While Frito, Wildbladder and Kobbe were recuperating in the temple, the rest of the party went out into the city in search of help for Fido.