Play Report: Dungeons of the Left Behind - Part 1

Getting this out a little later than I wanted, but that's fine. Let's take a look at our cast of characters for this session

Session 1

Fumi the Wizard and his retainer Tim Gim the Jester

Frithen the Halfling

Frostpike the Warrior

and Granny Ginger the Thief

Things started simply enough, with a day's walk from the town of Oda to reach Door Hill. All the adventurers had heard rumors about what lies beneath. The town's rumor mill has been abuzz about it ever since an expedition of orcs from the city of Erilian arrived a few weeks prior with the express goal of exploring it. Everything from demons escaping from under it to a giant bipedal turtle that has made it its home.

With fear and greed fueling our delvers they reached the massive 10ft x 10ft stone doors that seal the entrance to Door Hill. Despite their size the doors opened with surprising ease. Revealing a staircase leading deep into the earth. Shortly after lighting their torches they came across a bending hallway and another equally massive door, choosing not to leave a potential threat to their flank the group opened the door. 

Inside they saw the light of another group's torch, and heard the sounds of bickering that were quickly silenced upon their entrance. A group of orc adventurers who were debating how to deal with a partially animate statue in the next room over. A silent agreement fell over the orcs when they saw our delvers, a potentially useful group of rubes. A deal with quickly struck between the orc's thief who's name the party never learned. They would charge the statue and try and steal its massive ruby eyes. Hoping that numbers would play to their advantage.

The two groups lined up next to each other, one from each rushing in at a time. Our first group an armored orc and Frostpike rushed forth right as the statue's eyes began to glow. Frostpike was shot directly in her eyes, blinding her instantly. However her bravery, or perhaps foolhardiness, prevailed and she continued to charge. The statue did not relent as the next two entered. Another burst of energy ended with Frithen's orcish partner being cooked alive within his armor. A similar fate befell Frostpike's pair who was unceremoniously crushed by the statue's animate arms. Frithen reached the statue, managing to climb onto its shoulder and pluck one of its eyes. At the same time Frostpike's blind reaching grabbed the other. The two retreated, Frithen unharmed and Frostpike on death's door.

There were looks between Granny Ginger and Fumi if they should betray the two remaining orcs. One was injured and the other didn't have the best armor. But Frithen's trusting nature acted too quickly as she handed over the other gem, completing the deal. The two groups rested and mourned the orc's losses. Learning the names of the two surviving orcs, Grih and Gruh. It wasn't long before the two groups' rest was interrupted by the sound of an impossibly large bell being rung echoed through the dungeon. 

With the bell's echo fading from our delver's ears they chose to continue along. Having been warned to avoid the wizard Imrin's makeshift study they went through what appears to be a thoroughly desecrated shrine. Tapestries ripped, the altar turned on its side, and shards of shattered pottery scattered about. In digging around the room they recovered a scrap of cloth with a clear symbol on it.

It did not take long for Fumi to recognize it. The symbol of the Masters of Magic, an enigmatic organization that has interests in every magical field for as far back as history goes. Any wizard worth their salt has encountered some scrap of the Masters' influence. A tome written by one of their apprentices, a spell developed by one of their members, or worst of all meeting a Master in person. Few get to live long enough to tell such tales.

They continued forward, deciding to double back to an unopened door when they encountered a crossroads. Inside they found a group of orc guards eager to test their blades, but the mention of Grih and Gruh gave them just enough pause to convince them to point our delvers in the right direction. One of the orcs explained a path to an unexplored section of the dungeon, with instructions to tell the other guards they'd encounter that Trick had sent them.

Going back to the crossroads, our delvers pressed forward into the guardroom they were warned about. Quickly explaining Trick had sent them the guards knew what was going on and pointed them to take the left door.

The door led into a newly constructed shrine to Illrisch, the Worker. The orcish god of Industry. Frithen gave her respects to Illrisch and Frostpike refused to take the +1 hammer that sat upon the shrine on principle. Not that it would be sacrilegious, but that she would never use a hammer.

Continuing on the party encountered something of a dead end. A hallway that terminated with a massive locked door with a carving of a pendulum axe on it. A short debate was had about whether Trick had tricked them or not (He had). Granny Ginger took the time needed to look the door over for traps. Noticing a trigger mechanism inside the keyhole, she tried and succeeded at jamming it before unlocking the door. The massive stone door swung open with ease much like all the others. A massive pendulum axe sat in the ceiling immobile thanks to Granny's foresight.

The group circled the walls of the chamber. Hands running along the brickwork in an attempt to find secret passages. However this search distracted Frostpike just enough to trigger a pit trap to open up beneath her. She dropped and was left still and nearly dead. Only by the grace of the gods was she allowed to survive with only an internal injury.

Once the group had checked and ensured Frostpike was not in fact dead they continued along. Locking up the pit trap that nearly took their companion's life behind them. Reaching the end of another hallway the group was faced with a portcullis closed on the way into a chamber filled with softly glowing blue runes. A strange door with no seams sat in the far wall, bearing the symbol of the Masters.

Our delvers took turns trying to open the portcullis, each time the rust that held it in place getting shaved off.  Until Fumi the Wizard managed to finally dislodge the gate and let everyone into the room. The strange runes glowed with an energy that began to empower their weapons. Fumi magically translated the runes, allowing him to describe the contract the Masters of Magic had struck with Benhilder, the Artificer. A contract which hardens and hones all constructs that rest in this room. A deal intended for the artificial jailers the Masters had built, but had the unintended consequence of doing the same to constructed weapons.

Once they noticed this magical enhancement the party turned their attention to the door. Attempting to push it, pull it, move it to the side, channel magic into it, and plead with it, before Frithen produced the scrap of cloth she had recovered earlier, the one which bears the Masters' symbol. The engraving on the door glowed the same yellow and blue colors as the cloth, and the door slid to the side of its own volition. Revealing another long dark hallway ahead of them.

As they stepped forward Frithen noticed a faint purple light that quickly disappeared from a passage to her left. As well as the sound of someone walking with a cane. Unnerved but not dissuaded they pressed forward, encountering another closed portcullis. Here the lantern light at Frithen's hip flickered revealing a massive room lined with cells. A wooden pillar completely covered in glistening eyes with massive wheels at its base stared at then, but did not move. Except to turn the attention of an eye to each member of our group. The group quickly decided they had had their fill of adventure for the day and retreated to the safety of the surface world.

Play Report: Dungeons of the Left Behind - Part 0

     So a little over a month ago I was reading a conversation on discord about just going and running games. Which got me to run a DCC funnel that went quite well. One thing led to another and I was 60 rooms deep on a 100 room dungeon level and committed to running it. 

    The first session of this campaign happened last week and went really well, and as I'm writing this I have the second in a little over an hour. The game takes place in my own semi-generic setting that I'm building out as I need/when the mood strikes me. The primary dungeon is that of Door Hill a prison constructed by an order of wizards to imprison demoniacs from the nearby town of Oda.

    This is being run in DCC with a smattering of supplemental rules and procedures from various blogs and BX. Some of the more notable posts I'm using are HWG's  18-slot inventory and small gods, Skerples' price list, Phlox's dungeon blocks, Nick LS' wandering monster tables, a number of monsters from Appendix M, and my own monster design being informed by advice on the Ravencrowking blog.

     I'll get the report for the first 2 sessions out some time this week. Hopefully tomorrow, but we'll see how that goes. 

Mushroom Men (A Take on the Origins of Half-Folk)

    Advanced fungal parasites the Half-Folk parasitize not a singular host body, but a community and a culture. Each colony of half-folk produces blooms which have a humanoid shape and act as the colony's agents in the world. The colonies do their best of hide their fungal nature from the rest of the world as an act of societal camouflage. Up until now this has worked remarkably well, as all but the occasional wizard cursed with the gift of clairvoyance know of the fungal nature of a single kind of Half-Folk. Let alone the shared nature of them all.

    Created when Bwyd, the elemental spirit of mushrooms, stole a mote of raw creation from the other elemental lords. It used that mote to become a mockery of mortal life as it had been wrought. Destined to live in the shadow of mortalkind, Bwyd spawned its own versions of each kind it encountered. These Half-Folk are known as the following.

The Half-Folk of Elves are known as Gnomes
The Half-Folk of Dwarves are known as Dero
The Half-Folk of Humans are known as Halflings
The Half-Folk of Orcs are known as Hobgoblins
The Half-Folk of the wilds are known as Goblins

  

 

A Gnomish Redcap

 

    Bloom Appearance: Squat long eared humanoid with spindly arms and legs, often a beard, sometimes wear red caps.

    Tendencies: Territorial and vicious, carnivorous
  
    Culture: Warlike, often used by the elves as scouts in their conflicts. Those who wear red caps are the worst of them all, constantly redying their headwear in fresh blood.

    Burrow Shape: Open cavern with sharp wood-like spike mushrooms lining the floor. Mycelial networks encourage moss growth to hide their nature. 

    Colony Characteristics: Subservient to elves. Often times a Gnomish colony will be purposefully cultivated by an elvish gardener in order to grow new scouts.

    Bloom Production: Gnomish blooms form best in iron rich environments with heavy moisture. Oftentimes this is inside a host body which has been stabbed with one of the wooden spike mushrooms that the gnomes use as weapons. Otherwise blooms can be produced by a careful gardener leaving a body to rot where the spike mushrooms are dense. A standard human corpse can spawn 1d4 Gnomes over the course of 2d6 weeks.

    Lifespan: A Gnomish bloom will live for anywhere from 5-40 years depending on how often it feeds. After it dies there is a 1% chance that the site of its death will spawn a new Gnomish colony

 

 

A dero collector

    Bloom Appearance: Grey-skinned bearded men with pure white eyes and a cubic stature. When motionless, appear to be statues

    Tendencies: Inquisitive and reclusive

    Culture: Working off the backs of the Qevish empire most dero stay out of sight as often as possible. Working alongside criminal elements of the empire in exchange for various materials useful to the colony.

    Burrow Shape: Bare stone-like networks cover what appears to be a completely natural cavern. A number of bulbous growths scattered around the floor like softly glowing leather sacks. These sacks contain a number of substances useful for trade or for defense of the colony.

    Colony Characteristics: Some of the most chemically complex colonies. Dero colonies will collect strange plants, minerals, fungi, or animals for their experiments. These colonies are able to decompose most of a creature's body while also maintaining the specific organ it needs to produce certain compounds. In turn it synthesizes these compounds into drugs, poisons, and salves that are impossible to recreate.

    Bloom Production: Blooms are created with the excess material caused by the decomposition of foreign bodies. In times of need a colony will rapidly consume its stockpiled organs to defend the colony or to procure food with new blooms.

    Lifespan: Dero blooms live on average 90-120 years, though few reach that age. Oftentimes a dero bloom will die violently in the process of trying to capture a powerful beast or deal with a dangerous criminal. In which case the colony will try and recover the materials of the corpse with non-bloom labor

 

 The entrance to a standard Halfling colony

 

    Bloom Appearance: Squat hairy men with giant feet and bulbous faces.

    Tendencies: Passive and care-free (sneaky and treacherous in times of need)

    Culture: Vaguely supportive of the nearest human settlement, working skilled trades as possible. Otherwise they tend to farm a wide variety of plants that contain nutrients the colony can't normally produce.

    Burrow Shape: Cozy wooden structures with no obvious signs of its nature, especially as the blooms decorate them with human detritus as an advanced form of camouflage. 

    Colony Characteristics: Some of the smartest colonies, able to learn trades and produce blooms with those trades as long as the colony survives. Most self sufficient if its host settlement dies, but is always at risk of goblinification. May turn to thievery in times of trouble. It is not unheard of multiple colonies merging together into villages of halflings. Each bloom of a specific colony considers the other blooms to be their family, even considering one or two blooms to be "parents" despite the nature of their spawning.

    Bloom Production: Halfling blooms are formed whenever resources are plentiful enough for them to do so. They spawn asexually in the "cellars" of the colony. The colony manages the skills of its blooms much the same way a dero colony manages its chemical compounds. Ensuring a balance of community that can keep it safe and prosperous in the shadow of a larger human settlement.

    Lifespan: Halfling Blooms tend to live for 60-90 years, at which point they are buried near the colony and allowed to reabsorb.

 

 

A draconic hobgoblin foot-soldier

    Bloom Appearance: Tallest of the half-folk blooms, a hobgoblins holds a somewhat dense structure while averaging about 4'6"-5'2" in height. Details of their appearance change depending on their master

    Tendencies: Calculating and obedient

    Culture: Hobgoblins live for a cause, in all aspects of life hobgoblins exist to serve something or someone beyond the colony itself. Often times this is a government or warlord, but just as easily it can be a divine power or great beast. 

    Burrow Shape: Oftentimes hobgoblin colonies prefer to grow above ground in already existing structures, or baring that growing into a new structure built by its blooms. When surrounded with timber, meat, and stone a hobgoblin colony will grow into a shape similar to the architecture of surrounding buildings. Seeming to be a natural extension of the settlement

    Colony Characteristics: Hobgoblin colonies are more adaptable than most other half-folk colonies. They originated with the orcs, but have since spread out and revere a number of different beings. As long as there is strength to be served the hobgoblins will be obedient. Hobgoblin colonies prefer to be paid in the corpses of those its blooms kill in service to its master, or in the form of lumber that it can consume and build with.

    Bloom Production: Hobgoblins produce the second most number of blooms next to goblins. It is a constant balance within the colony between growing itself for more room to grow blooms, and creating blooms to serve its master and feed the colony. 

    Lifespan: Hobgoblin blooms can live for 2-90 years, depending on how useful they are to the colony's master. A foot-soldier
will wither away and die as soon as they return to the colony if its body is damaged. While a lieutenant or general filled with the knowledge of the colony will live as long as possible to advise the colony's master in any topic they desire. 

 

 

A goblin elder

 

    Bloom Appearance: Short green-skinned men with wide eyes and large ears. 

    Tendencies: Cowardly and hungry

    Culture: Goblins tend to grow wild, gathering up as many resources as they possibly can. A goblin colony rarely has a motivation beyond security by any means. Anything that could possibly be a threat is either worshipped until they leave the colony alone, or destroyed if at all an option. 

    Burrow Shape: Unsecretive about their nature, goblin colonies are caverns coated in the thin strands of mycelial networks with fruiting bodies sprouting where and whenever they can

    Colony Characteristics: Goblin colonies are the fastest growing of any Half-Folk colony. Able to sprout new goblins from fresh meat in a number of hours instead of days or weeks. These colonies however rarely have the forethought to be able to capitalize on their fecundity. They are only looking towards what's the nearest threat and where's their next meal. Often times these are one and the same

    Bloom Production: Goblins sprout from any open space in the mycelial network as long as there are enough resources to spawn it. The colony cares little for whether the bloom can continue to survive after that relying on the fact that it can always reabsorb a dead goblin and try again.

    Lifespan: The natural lifespan is unknown, there have been no recorded instances of a goblin bloom dying of old age. Theoretically they are immortal, but the colony's shortsightedness makes assessing that impossible. There are legends however of an ancient goblin spawned by Bwyd itself who has lasted since the ages of creation.