Classic D&D in Naka-ku, Nagoya

[ashmie]

Sounds great mate, I'll have to clear it this evening. I'm Roleplaying tonight as well with Traveller so it might be bit much twice in a weekend but I'm definitely interested.

[Sizzlelean]

Dug out some PDF files for Moldvay, Mentzer and the bunch. I'll print out and bring a copy of Moldvay basic as it is our primary resource and not too many pages to boot. If anyone else would like the PDFs I will bring them on a little flash drive. Not all have great resolution mind you but the Moldvay Basic and Rules Cyclopedia are crisp. Sorry if my tendency towards piracy offends anyone!

[JoshR]

Many thanks to Sizzlelean for coming out today. I hope you had fun. I felt more comfortable as DM as we continued on, and I think I'll be better the next time around.

The group's next meeting will be April 14th, from 11 am to 4 pm, and the Yellow Submarine in Osu, near Kamimaezu Station.

Here's a report of today's session --

With his somewhat airheaded son having formed an adventuring party and vanished into the local ruins, the Mayor of the Town auditioned adventurers to form a rescue party. Passing the muster were four diverse fellows: Levin, the Veteran Fighter; Sloan, the Cleric Acolyte; Carl the Apprentice Thief; and Baskes, the Magic-using Medium.

Desiring a bit more muscle before going into the unknown, the group's first order of business was hiring some help. Adam and Bob, two veterans, agreed to join the party for a half-share of the loot. Curt the Elf took some more convincing, but ultimately agreed to a full share of the loot, and a small share of the reward promised by the Mayor.

With their party ready, the adventurers headed for the ruined keep. All that seemed left of the ruins was a dilapidated tower. Curt and Adam scouted the entrance way, while the others circled the outer walls of the tower, to see if there was another way in. They had not circled long before encountering a distraught trader, cowering by the wall. He and the others in his group had been attacked by bandits on the road. His friends had run into the keep to hide, and the bandits followed, but he himself had been too scared, and hid in the rock and ruins outside. When the party said they would look for his friends, he gratefully left for town.

Meanwhile, Carl's scouting of the entrance way revealed a dangerous pit a ways into the entrance. He triggered it by having Adam toss a heavy rock onto the suspicious floor-stones, which gave way. Having
avoided this pitfall, whether intentional or accidental, he took a glance through the inner doors, noted that nothing was waiting there, then waited for the others to return, and reported the results of his scouting.

The party carefully and quietly slipped through the inner doors and into the corridor. Immediately they were faced with a choice -- a door to the east at the end of the corridor, or a door and a turn in the hallway to the west. After a peak down the corridor on the west, the group decided to try the east door. Inside they found a ruined barracks, the floor caved in and filled with water from the leaky roof. In the pool of water was a rusted statue and a waterlogged bed. The party checked the room carefully, and finding no clues or anything value, exited out a door to the north.

The corridor on the other side ran westward, and they found some goblin footprints in the dusty floor. Encouraged, they followed the corridor to a door. On the other side was a corridor running north, with doors to the west and the south. The door to the south was locked. Carl picked the lock, then carefully entered the room. Almost immediately upon entering, he noticed a kind of green slime slinking along the ceiling. Quickly, he exited, and closed and locked the door. The party backed away from the door, waiting 20 minutes to make sure it didn't ooze out from underneath to follow them.

Having secured their rear, the party began cautiously winding through the snaking corridor, until they came to a long hall running westward, with two doors on the north side. They carefully listened at the doors. At the near one, they heard scraping and clattering sounds. At the far one, they heard nothing. Neither door was locked. Carefully they opened the near door.

Inside were twelve goblins. Two were watching the door, two were playing dice at the far north end, and eight were snoring in bunks that lined the east and west walls. It seems neither side expected the other, and neither was spoiling for a fight. One of the goblins spoke Common, and demanded to know the party's purpose. Carl responded by asking if the goblin knew about any people coming into the keep. The goblin insincerely insisted he knew nothing of people, and told the party to be on their way. With a cheerful nod and smile, the party agreed, and closed the door...

But four goblins who'd been spying on them from a secret room at the end of the hall decided to take matters into their own hands. They opened their secret door and prepared to charge. But Levin was quick to respond, and ran up alone to halt their advance. Sloan and the three fighters drew their weapons. Baskes darted back into the room with the twelve goblins and cast his sleep spell, so that the goblins couldn't sandwich the party from behind. All twelve were incapacitated. Sloan came up to aid Levin, and between their blows and the arrows of Curt, the goblins were dispatched.

After searching the goblins' barracks and finding nothing, the party decided to try the far door. Inside were four hobgoblins guarding two human prisoners. Having heard the commotion, the hobgoblins formed a
defensive line, and tried to intimidate the intruders. Before any negotiations or threats could begin, Levin jumped in and engaged them. He took a hit or two, but his sturdy armor protected him from most of their attacks. He was joined by the others, and soon all but one of the hobgoblins was dead. A final subduing whack convinced him to surrender.

The two men were frantic and distraught, but eventually the group calmed them down enough to learn more of the fate of the traders. The traders had fled down the trapdoor in the center of that room. They were attacked by goblins, and these two men had been captured. They knew not of the Mayor's Son, nor of the fate of the bandits who pursued them.

The group had defeated the company of goblins, and gained some small treasure. Now with the two prisoners freed, they elected to guide them back to town, restock, and see what was down the trapdoor...

[Sizzlelean]

I had a great time Josh. Thanks for the invite! Really looking forward to our next session. On the train to Kobe I started to realize just how fun a game of Basic really was. So rules light that it allows for a really easy fun experience! I think I will print out the advanced set before next session unless you can think of anything better to have.

[MBCE]

I look forward to furthering our adventures. I've already told the manager at Yellow Submarine about the 14th so we are okay there. 11am-4pm. If anyone is interested, afterwards, will be a 4E adventure DMed by a Japanese from 4-8.

[JoshR]

Our story picks up with the party having stumbled upon a party of 6 dwarves in search of their missing leader. After helping a group of bandits recover their comrades the party began further exploring the dungeon. Levin the fighter, Galdrick the cleric, and Tio the halfling stayed back to secure the party's rear, while Sloan the cleric, Carl the thief, Baskes the magic-user, and the six dwarves moved on.

The party soon found that there was a room in the center of the dungeon, enclosed by mighty steel doors with highly crafted locks. Taking a path through the rooms that surrounded that center room, the group first encountered a room holding three crab spiders. Making good use of a heavily armored front line and the ranged attacks of Carl and Baskes, the party was able to defeat the spiders and move on.

The next room contained some kind of magic mist that disoriented Baskes and most of the dwarves, but Carl, Sloan, and Daeraven the dwarf where able to throw off its effects. The party next found some kind of study, filled with books and comfy chairs, and then some kind of bedroom, apparently occupied by a person of prurient tastes. The party made a big breakthrough when they unlocked a door leading out of this room, and found the missing traders.

The trader's leader, Olodak, explained that after fleeing into this level of the dungeon, they came across and were savaged by two giant lizards in some kind of bath house. In order to clear the way for the traders to leave the dungeon, the party secured the traders in the bedroom, and entered the bath house. There they found a quick, but successful battle against the lizards. The dwarf leader Ashhier and Daeraven were wounded in the affray, but the giant lizards were killed. The traders gave the party the 40 gold pieces held by their fallen comrade in reward. By passing through this bath house the party returned to the room of darkness whence they had started, and made sure the traders escaped the dungeon.

Returning to the underground hallways, the party headed for the misty passage way again. Along the way they realized they were being followed by crab spiders. Wanting to make sure their rear was clear, they prepared a defensive line at a choke point and gave battle. One spider killed the dwarf Irmenlaf, but was soon killed in turn. The other spider decided this meat was too tough of a meal, and skedaddled.

At the misty passage way, they tried a door to the south, and were surprised by a stirge lurking there. The stirge took two passes at Eovor the dwarf, but the dwarf's armor protected her. Carl took down the stirge with a well-placed arrow shot at point-blank range. Beyond the door they found Walker the thief, companion of the Mayor's son, held captive in a cell. They let him loose, and learned much. The capture of the young noble's party had been orchestrated by a foul fighter named Bodemus and his magic-user companion, Pevensie.
Goblins, kobolds, and other beasts of the dungeon did their bidding. Along with the young noble had journeyed four adventurers - Walker the Footpad, Gwen Forwain the Seer, and Belward Pegason the Adept, and Waelgeon Billmund the Warrior.

Taking Walker, the party carefully listening at the door of the next room. Some murmuring and the sound of dice alerted them to a cadre of goblins. Moving aggressively, they charged into the room. The goblins saw they were outnumbered, but did not look ready to give up. Acting from the party's position of strength, Sloan bribed the goblins to walk away. They would have safe passage to the dungeon exit. Just walk away and there would be an end to the horror.

One goblin, Getz, agreed to stay with the party and help them defeat Bodemus, in order to guarantee the lives of his comrades. Getz led the party into a store room where the equipment of the young noble and
his companions was kept. Walker retrieved his leather armor and sword. The party loaded up the rest of the equipment, hoping to free the other prisoners...
-----------------

Great game, guys. I think we found our groove, as play went smooth, and a lot of ground was covered. Having plenty of room certainly helped. Many thanks to Matthew, Eric, Thomas and Waiz for coming out.

Some stats to-date:
Session 1: 5 rooms and 520 sq. ft. of dungeon explored.
Session 2: 8 rooms and 760 sq. ft. of dungeon explored.
Session 3: 10 rooms and 910 sq. ft. of dungeon explored.
Total: 23 rooms and 2,190 sq. ft. of dungeon explored.

The next game will be Sunday, June 16th, from 12:45 to 4:30 at the Naka Shogai Gakushu Center. We've reserved the #2 Washitsu (tatami room) this time. Today's room cost 2,400 yen, but the washitsu will only cost 1,200 yen. If we get maximum participation from everyone to-date, it'll be really cheap/per person.

ashmie, I haven't heard from you in a while, but feel free to jump in whenever you like and whenever you can.

[JoshR]

With new goblin companion Ooblick Getz, as a guide, and joined by Walker the Footpad, the party endeavored to find the remaining members of the young noble's party, as well as the leader of the dwarves, and if possible, stop Bodemus and Pevensie. The party first returned to the large chamber where they'd left Levin the fighter, Galdrick the cleric, and Tio the halfling. With Carl on point, they first explored the east passageway they'd by-passed previously. They came to a room with a stuck door. The door was forced open, but Ooblick was not eager to go in first. Carl set a torch in a nearby holder, and entered the room. It was 20' x 20' with a high ceiling from each hung large rocks. However, these rocks seemed quite secure, and did not fall on the party, to the apparent bewilderment of Ooblick. Inside the room a hidden chest was found, in which was 200 sp and 600 gp.

The party exited the room and continued down the passage until they came to an intersection running north-south. to the south was a door. However, the stones of the floor seemed quite flimsy, and an examination revealed they were thin plates over some kind of bracing contraption, under which was a deep pit with no apparent bottom. Ooblick was sent up north to see if he could disable the trap, which he apparently did. The party tried the south door, and opened it to find themselves facing a bottomless bit. To the west, on their left, they could see a cell where Belward the Adept was kept. But with no way to cross the pit, the party backtracked to find another way.

Noting that the back of the cell went up right next to a room south of the large rock room, they went to that room to see if a way into the cell could be found. That room was a small 10' x 10' antechamber, with yet another door to the south. Carl beat on the walls, but to no avail. They tried the southern door, which opened into a 30' x 30' chamber. Inside this chamber were 10 boxes, nine of which contained sprites. Carl freed the sprites, who told the party that Bodemus was capturing people to use them in some dark spell of transformation. In gratitude for freeing them, the sprites put a spell of true sight on Carl, and flew off to leave the dungeon.

Carl and some of the party continued on to a room to the east of the sprite room. Therein was some kind of temple to a half-man/half-rat being, with a statue of said being on an altar surrounded by cushions and pillows. Carl's true sight showed that the statue had some kind of magic on it, so they left the statue alone, and opened a north door, which the map suggested would lead right back to the bottomless pit room.

Upon opening the door, Carl found that the pit room was actually an illusion, which he could see through with his true sight. They quickly rescued Belward, and armed him with his recovered equipment. Heading back up the northern passage, they heard a buzzing sound, and decided to backtrack through the rooms they've come through earlier. They passed by the chamber where the bandits had been hiding, and went further north, where they came across a pair of goblin guards posted at the cell of Waelgeon Billmund, the Warrior. The guards were quickly dispatched, and Waelgeon rescued. They also secured a very fine looking key, which they hoped would open the metal doors where they suspected Bodemus and the young noble might be found.

The now continued west along the northernmost passage, with Ooblick leading them to a storeroom in which was hidden a chest with 200 sp, 60 gp, and 5 gems. A similar room was filled with giant shrews feasting on dead goblins. The party quickly backed away without engaging them. The next room seemed to be some kind of zoocage. Some shadows lurked behind a corner in the back of the cage, but the party decided to leave the room be.

They were fast approaching the buzzing from before, but Ooblick guided them to a room just before that, where he said there were smelly sticks that could tame the "stingers". Boxes of green and red incense were found. Using these, the party were able to force giant bees back far enough to reach the cell of Gwen Forwain. Now with quite a force of Carl, Sloan, Baskes and Levin, plus the young noble's party, plus four dwarves, the party decided to take on Bodemus.

Upon opening the door, they were immediately set upon by a goblin guard. Levin took this one on, while the others streamed through the door. Inside was the young noble, his essence seemingly being drained from some kind of crystal. Other goblins guarding other doors quickly moved to engage the party. The dwarf leader, Onela, stood by another door, a stupified expression on his face. Bodemus drew his sword, and Pevensie began casting a spell, but initiative was on the side of the party.

The party quickly took down the goblins, some attacking Pevensie and ruining his spell. Walker the Footpad fell in the battle. The fighters engaged Bodemus, who soon turned into a giant ratman. But before the evil lycanthrope could infect any of the party, he was killed. A search of the room and the bodies of the slain revealed 3,000 sp, 3 gems, 30 electrum pieces, a Protection from Lycanthropes scroll, and Bodemus's sword and Pevensie's dagger, both of which look extremely fine-made, and perhaps magical.

The young noble was awakened from his stupor, and while he was weak, he was otherwise well. Onela, the dwarf, too, was brought back to his senses. When all were safely back in town, the Mayor gave each member of the party a reward, as did Onela, in gratitude for helping his people recover him.

Found treasure: 3,400 sp, 660 gp, 5 pieces of jewelry (1,600 gp, 1,000 gp, 900 gp, 900 gp, 800 gp), 3 gems (10 gp, 1,000 gp, 500 gp), sword +2, dagger +1, protection from Lycanthropes scroll
Rewards: 500 sp, 500 gp from Mayor, 5 gems (10 gp, 10 gp, 50 gp, 100 gp, 1,000 gp) from Onela (1,720 gp total)
Total treasure: 7,710 gp (963 gp per person) + 1,720 gp (245 gp per person)
Monster XP: 6 goblins - 60, wererat - 50, 2nd level magic-user - 50, 9 sprites - 54, 4 killer bees 24 (238)
Total XP: 9,668 (1,381 per person)
Baskes: 1,874 XP (Lvl 1), 1,401 gp
Carl: 1,869 XP (Lvl 2), 1,401 gp
Galdrick: 1,515 XP (Lvl 2), 1,229 gp
Levin: 1,771 XP (Lvl 1), 1,413
Sloan: 1,824 XP (Lvl 2), 1401 gp
Tio: 1,640 XP (Lvl 1), 1,229 gp
Witheryield: 1,659 XP (Lvl 1), 1201 gp

Carl, Galdrick, and Sloan level up! Adding their XP bonus for Level 2 to their current total, they end up at:
Carl: 2,109 XP (needs 291 XP to reach Level 3)
Galdrick: 1,665 XP (needs 1,335 XP to reach Level 3)
Sloan: 1,974 XP (needs 1,026 XP to reach Level 3)

Meanwhile the rest of the party:
Baskes: Needs 626 XP to reach Level 2
Levin: Needs 229 XP to reach Level 2
Tio: Needs 360 XP to reach Level 2
Witheryield: Needs 541 XP to reach Level 2

[JoshR]

Today, Takeshi and Thomas came out to inaugurate the next step in the campaign.

Galdrick, now an adept, made the journey out from the town of Mistamere out to a keep on the borderlands between the Realm, and uncivilized monstrous Chaos. After arriving in town, he paid his respects to the Curate and see how he might do the Church's work in this dangerous area. The Curate informed him that there were a number of caves to the northeast of the keep, whence many monsters came to raid. Just the day before, a merchant had been captured by some of these, and there was rumored to be a great reward for his rescue. Galdrick undertook this mission, and to aid him the Curate sent along three acolytes, Aledard, Bainswick, and Carolina. Wanting a little more power, Galdrick visited the Traveler's Inn to see if he might find some adventurers-for-hire.

At the Inn he met Duric and Eswell, two veteran men-at-arms looking for some action to pay for their food and board. His talk with the two men was overheard by Jack, an elven veteran and medium, who offered to join the party. With a full company thus formed, they followed the road into edge of Chaos. They spent an uneventful night on the road, and reached their destination the next morning. A valley surrounded by steep slopes, into which they found eleven cave entrances -- some obviously artificially made, and others seeming to
be naturally made.

The party had heard a rumor that there were many suits of magical armor to be found in the southern caves, so they decided to try one of those. They approached a natural-looking cave entrance, and listened inside. They could hear what sounded like breathing, and a strong, sour odor emanated from the cave. Deciding to leave that one be, they moved to the next entrance over. This one was obviously opened up and built up by some intelligent creatures. From the door they could echoing footfalls. Jack decided to scout ahead using his infravision. A short way from the entrance the path split three ways. He choose the left path and looked down that. In the distance he could make out the heat from about 5 distinct creatures. He returned to the others and reported on what he found. The group double-checked their equipment, readied their weapons and torches, and prepared to go into the cave...

Many thanks to Takeshi and Thomas for coming out. The next session will be August 18th, at Naka Shogai Gakushu Center #2 Washitsu (tatami room), from 12:45 to 4:30! Hope to see you there!