Grymwaldian Grinding

It has been a while since last updating curious onlookers with details of what has been transpiring in the 1E AD&D Grymwald campaign in Lake Geneva, WI.  At first, it was to avoid spoilers for the players involved but we also skipped a couple of weeks after they finished off the bones of a couple of locations they had not quite stripped clean.  As of last session, the group has moved on to a new area of the map, having leveled up (a couple of levels in some cases), but this just brings new dangers for them.  There are still a handful of vile and unscrupulous personalities out in the world of which they are aware, and who are aware of them.  I'm a big fan of making sure strong NPCs have their own agenda but also keeping in mind that those NPCs will be proactive about defending what that see as their own territory from PC threats.  A group of adventurers can cut a deep swath of destruction and not everyone will be happy about that outcome.

In any event, the group now is attempting to tackle the first of a series of locations they had heard existed when they originally formed as a party.  There is an arced line of tors on the Trackless Moors where, in ancient times, dwarfish builders had created safe havens approximately one day's travel from one another so that the moors could be more safely crossed from south the north, and vice versa.  While some have speculated there might not be great wealth within them, others disagree.  There might not have been good reason to horde wealth at these travel stops but they did need to be defended.  The moors are a dangerous place even today despite civilization flourishing on all sides.  In ancient times, it is suspected that the moors were the least dangerous path from the Hills of Dissent to the Great Mouth Bay and thus the route chosen for the building of the Dragon's Teeth.

Photos in which the DM appears taken by "Scott Michael"

When last we left off, the group was heading back to the third level of some crypts they were systematically clearing.  Once there, they encountered a great many ghouls but developed a protocol, dealing with each new wave, doing their best to keep the undead at bay and dispatch each in turn.  Sadly, when you do the same thing over and over, successfully but relying in part on chance, sooner or later the fates will intervene and after dealing with a great many undead via via their fighting formula the odds caught up with the group.  Thusly, they were not in full health when they discovered a secret door which they hoped would lead them to great treasure.  An unlucky attempt to remove a trap on the door's locking mechanism dropped the thief to a failed poison saving throw and forced the group to retreat once more to recover their strength and raise the thief.  A couple of other adventurers also needed to be carried or assisted back to town for healing and recuperation, so this group took a fair beating before stepping back to reassess the situation.

More of these have been added and / or painted since this photo

Their next assault was thwarted now by two goblin leaders who had joined forces against the party: the oil-tossing goblin veteran met on level two and the goblin shaman who had been driven from the complex further north.  Apparently, the shaman had come south and linked up with the veteran to form a deadly combination.  Along the route the group was taking to get back down to the third level of the crypts, the devious goblins had laid an oil trap, which was sprung to cause serious damage to the group, then the goblins made their escape blocking off pursuit with a wall of ice strategically placed to cover the stairway down.  No matter.  Pursuit of the goblins would have been quite risky with a fair portion of the party so injured so once again they limped back to town, frustrated but determined.

Alex keeps a journal of events for the party

After regrouping in Jalston to heal and resupply, they ventured back toward the crypt complex.  They skirted the eastern edge, sticking to the road outside the moors and traveling down to a place they had used to ferry across the River Serpentine at the town of Fall Bridges.  When they arrived, they discovered that some goblins had boldly crossed the river to destroy the boat they had used in the past to traverse the water.  This did not please the group but rather than be dissuaded, they commandeered an alternate vessel, made the crossing, and picked up the trail of the goblin raiders.  They tracked them over the moors and managed to catch up to the goblin warband before they could go to ground.  The fight that ensued was decidedly one-sided.  The enemy which had proved to be quite formidable in the confines of the tunnels of the crypts was caught out in the open and dispatched with great aplomb.  The fire-wielding goblin was cut down with arrows as was his new-found shaman ally.  The remaining goblins the two leaders had enlisted were even less of a threat and though a couple attempted to flee, they were wiped out to the last.

It's an interesting testament to the flexibility of the game system and the style of play first edition D&D engenders when used in combination with a sandbox setting.  The group had an enemy leader escape earlier in the campaign only to have that enemy bolster the strength of a second enemy who might well have been easily dispatched under luckier circumstances.  The combination of the two villains now working in tandem created several game sessions of more challenging encounters and, in fact, the villains were able to bring the fight to the adventurers.  These weren't monsters that were going to be chased away and never seen again nor content to sit idly by in their pre-written lairs and await some adventurers to come and slay them.  They adapted even as the players needed to adapt their own strategies to meet the evolving challenges faced when dealing with such villains.  What could have been some underwhelming vanilla goblin fights became, in retrospect, a dynamic story arc in the lives of the player characters that could only unfold through game play.  This is what I love about Old School D&D.

One more time the group ventured to the crypts with the intention of returning to the secret door and discovering what lay beyond.  They were sure, based on all they had seen and divined, that this would be the big pay off.  With little difficulty, they descended the three levels and dealt with a few ghouls before setting up outside the hidden portal, now revealed.  They had come a long way to reach this moment, had experienced many setbacks, and had overcome great diversity.  The lock was picked and the tomb beyond was as daunting as they had suspected.  It was a round chamber with an alcove to the left and a single sarcophagus in the center of the domed space.  There were symbols upon the lid that were similar to ones they had encountered on the first level, in a lesser tomb.  The symbols had proved necessary in open a previous sarcophagus interring the remains of a follower of the goddess Nekrem.  A particular phase of the moon was the only time it could be breached.  Despite knowing that particular phase of the moon was several days away, they decided to proceed immediately, attempting to get in and get out before any other problems could arise.  This would prove to be their undoing.

Entering the tomb had set off a number of wards and alarms, releasing a slab that then trapped several members of the party within the tomb, others caught outside desperately trying to move the slab and release their comrades.  Inside, things quickly went from bad to worse with an unrelenting blood-colored ochre or ooze threatening to engulf the chamber from the dome downward at an increasingly rapid rate of speed.  With two of the trapped adventurers atop the sarcophagus trying to decipher the symbols or discover a way to reverse the 'countdown,' Nydijan, the cleric of Darien, entered the alcove and found a panel which, once opened, revealed a hand-shaped depression on a half globe relief.  With little hesitation, Nydijan placed his hand on the globe and proceeded to manipulate it clockwise and counter-clockwise as it pressed inward from time to time when various maneuvers seemed to make progress in this multi-part lock.  The cleric worked swiftly and eventually managed to avert total disaster but not before the blood ochre had reached far enough down to infect him, the two atop the sarcophagus unharmed.  When the ochre retreated, and the stone slab barrier lifted, the full party was reunited, but the lid was still unopened.  Deciding now to await the proper moon phase, the adventurers moved up a level in the complex to a suitable resting place to camp for the night but by morning had an unsettling discovery.  Apparently, over the course of the night, the infection to Nydijan had spread further up his arm and was in danger of completely overwhelming him in within days.  So, too, his very soul seemed infected as well and he seemed to be possessed by a desire to switch from his own deity Darien to that of the evil Nekrem.  Unable to convince him to return to the temple of Darien to seek help, they managed to subdue him and carry him forcibly back with all haste, arriving just in time to have the infection excised.  There would be several weeks more of recovery but they had missed this phase and would need to wait for the next cycle to make another attempt on the sarcophagus anyway so they resigned themselves to remaining in Jalston and taking care of various other duties before returning to the crypts.

With the goblin threat now finally eliminated and knowledge of the crypt's primary tomb in hand (so to speak), the group returned to the crypts the following month only to discover a new and different obstacle.  Their repeated retreats to town for healing and supplies from the temple of Darien had also attracted the attention of the priests in charge at the temple of Toeffer, the main religious organization in the kingdom of Jals.  In the local hierarchy, the temple of Toeffer sometimes enlists the help of the smaller but more militaristic temple of Darien.  The temple of Darien knows its place in this hierarchy and stays on the good side of their Toeffrun allies.  However, the temple of Darien has its own irons in the fire and had been helping fund the PC adventuring party in order to gain more knowledge of the moors in hopes of one day exploiting whatever resources might be found there.  While they weren't keeping any secrets from their allies, they weren't sharing everything they were discovering nor had they invited the temple of Toeffer to join in this venture.  Well, it seems the temple of Toeffer decided to invite themselves to the party and when the adventurers returned this time to the hillock of the ruined tower above the crypts they found dozens of pilgrims and a handful of clerics performing a ritual on that site.  When questioned, the Toefferites welcomed the party to join in the ritual but also blocked the way for the party from venturing within the crypts, for their own safety, of course.  This presented a different type of dilemma for the group.

In the past, the politics of the kingdom had been something of which they were aware but never affected their plans or decisions.  Now, ignoring the Toefferites or forcing their way past might jeopardize the party's standing with the temple of Darien or even cause the two religions to be at odds with one another.  The temple of Darien had been increasingly supportive, providing supplies, healing, resurrections (at a price, admittedly, but discounted as well).  When pulling Nydijan back from the brink of evil, he had recommitted to the temple and both Tertius and Sonoma had followed up this recent act by pledging their arms to Darien as well.  The two fighters now were decked out in the regalia of the temple of Darien which afforded them certain privileges but also came with responsibilities.  If the first time they rode out, as temple representatives, they sparked off a religious conflict, it might not be seen as putting their best foot forward.  It should be mentioned that there was some debate within the party as to whether or not to ignore their fealty to the temple and simply try to explain things away later if necessary but cooler heads prevailed.  In the end, the party moved off a bit and the druid and thief explored the possibility of entering via the previously blocked off rat tunnels.  This they did and although the thief became grievously injured in the process, it did gain the group access to the tomb in time for the moon phase which allowed them, with their previously gained knowledge of the hand-lock, to open the sarcophagus and glean the treasures within.  They then slipped away, leaving the Toefferites undisturbed, unaware of the fact that the party had essentially made off with any treasure to which they might hope to lay claim.

Although the group has played once more since the above events, it is definitely a new leg of the campaign so I will leave recounting it to a future missive.  Much of the group is fourth or even fifth level in some cases.  In the meantime, I will be bolstering up the details of the places they are now exploring, hoping to make it as fun and challenging as it has all been in the first half of 2019.  Game on!

Deep in the Grind in Grymvald

There was some concern from the players that they had been under-leveled to delve into Marak Tor and some even felt that the Deaddrop Goblin complex presented a low chance for survival.  I can't argue with that and every group, and player, can have their own opinion about the difficulty level of any adventure or campaign.  There have been a fair number of deaths.  And I'm not a kid gloves kind of game master anymore than I am an iron fist in velvet glove type.  I allow players to make choices and tell them the consequences.  I don't allow trial balloons (i.e. "IF I do [this], what will happen?") but I make sure to answer exploratory questions regarding details that can help inform choices.  There's no such thing as a true sandbox, as I've stated in the past, since there is no infinite sandbox, but I like to think that on the sliding scale between railroad and sandbox my own campaigns are pretty far over to the latter.  So, what's the point?

Well, after listening to my players concerns about what they seemingly believed to be a high rate of new character generation, shall we say, I decided to give them a location where they could simply throw themselves in for a few weeks or month and grind up some monsters into a fine EXP powder, along with the requisite coinage and magic items for treasure.  But please recall in my last campaign report I wrote, "This newly discovered ruin, while not directly tied to the Dragon's Teeth, seemed like something the group should be better equipped to tackle without too great a risk to life and limb, something the group had begun to learn was worth consideration.  Early losses in the numbers of the group had been slowing down their overall progress and they felt a more incremental approach to adventuring might be prudent.  There were only a handful of founding group members (and a number of players had worked through several characters).  They understood that what they would find at this new ruin would be an underground goblins' lair and rats' nest, and so it has proved thus far."

A bit shorthanded but not daunted!

So a couple of weeks of exploring this new ruin found them dealing mostly with goblins on the first level but also with a few other creatures, animalistic in nature.  There were a couple of hobgoblins but these were a cake walk.  They also had to deal with a small crypt section which, while it presented some serious difficulties, was eventually overcome through clever game play and force of arms.  Then they started feeling their oats and delved deeper, working their way around the second level, clearing out more goblins, hobgoblins, some fire beetles, and a bit more, only to eventually run up against one of the surliest, veteran goblins ever.  This fella was in no mood to charge in with a nasty goblin knife, opting instead to throw a flask of oil during a surprise round . . . then won initiative and tossed a couple more.  Needless to say, the group which had been doing so well grinding out encounters and had, indeed, found some success in leveling along the way, were burnt in half with six party members severely crispified, three to zero or below, one even so far under you'd have thought Thanos snapped him out of the game.  It was devastating.  But the party regrouped, cut off a continued assault by the goblin vet, gathered up their fallen, and retreated from the complex, then proceeded with great speed to the one place they thought they could get enough healing to make a difference.

In the kingdom's capitol, they hooked up with a temple they'd previously utilized and traded off a major magic item to secure a Raise Dead spell, to bring back the one party member who was beyond the pale.  They even had enough value from the item to bank two additional Raise Dead spells for future instances, should they be required.  The rest of the party needed some time in civilization to recover from dropping below zero but the healing of them was within the means of the party.  It was a tough set back but there were no permanent party member deaths, so it should be chalked up as a semi-success.  The group has reached a point where death is an obstacle but not insurmountable.  The grind has afforded them the option of pressing their luck without the risks being impossible to take.

Photo by "Scott Michael"

Their set backs seemed to fuel the group's resolve and they remounted an assault.  This time they approached by a less deadly route, opting to travel some distance through civilized lands and come at the complex from across a river, saving themselves from many wandering monster checks.  Always a plus.  They dove in, having previously mapped a good deal of the first and second levels, and utilized their wand of enemy detection to triangulate the whereabouts of potential threats then eradicate them with surgical precision.  While they were unable to locate the surly, fire-wielding goblin vet, nor the goblin shaman from the Deaddrop caves who had eluded them (and who they were sure had traveled to this location), they cleared out many goblins and hobgoblins, as well as other creatures quite successfully.  They also garnered a good sum of coins and gems, as well as some useful items.

Sadly for the group, you can only fight so many goblins before you experience what Portwert the Moneychanger calls a diminished rate of return.  At some point, the going is going to get tougher, and the rough-and-tumblers are either going to have to get going or get gone back to civilization to lay down their arms.  Adventuring is not a pretty business.  New challenges await the group as they are poised to explore the third level of the complex.  They are aware it is a more extensive crypt and that the undead are going to abound in great numbers.  They've seen what can happen to large parties of adventurers who get spread out and don't watch their six, nor their three, nor their nine.  They know they can't get the dead raised if no one is left to transport the bodies to the raisers.  While they might be less worried about a single death, or even two, they now have to be concerned about the risk of a Total Party Kill.  Not that I am rooting against them, of course, but sometimes the dice aren't in anyone's control.  And a sandbox is no sandbox if it doesn't let the dice fall where they may . . .

Mopping Up,Getting their Due, & Tracking Down in 1E AD&D Grymvald

The Lake Geneva 1E AD&D crew gathered a few weeks ago with but one missing member to unfreeze time after the big cultist temple battle from two weeks prior.  They still had the Witch of Dour Haven to locate and bring to justice.  Plus, there surely must be some treasure to be had.  And, of course, there must be experience to tally and some sweet, sweet leveling to be done.

The light of two huge braziers on the riser at the far end of the temple highlighted the carnage.  The bodies of almost a dozen heavily armed and armored cultists lay mangled on the floor along with two comatose party members.  There were two archways leading out of the temple, one to the north and one to the south.  They suspected the witch had cast a spell during the proceeding combat and that she had done so from the southern archway because now, a few feet down the hallway beyond the archway, a membrane of green slime blocked further progress.

Photo by "Scott Michael"

Why is the DM hiding, one might ask . . .

This was a more cautious foray into the complex at Marak Tor than many of the previous trips, but also one that was meant to be thorough.  They wanted to be able to say they had cleared the place and have it as a potential HQ for future expeditions deeper onto the Trackless Moors.  Once they had removed the slime-obstacle, they were able to ensure both the southern room and northern room were free from opponents.  This left the question of where the Witch of Dour Haven had fled.  The room was outfitted as a sleeping quarters for the witch, alone.  Some treasure was found as well as signs that others treasures had been here but were now gone.  A quick reconnoiter by the Half-Elves revealed a secret door to a supply room where food stocks and other provisions were stored for the witch and her closer bodyguards.  After some additional searching, yet another secret door was found to a lower chamber where a standing stone was kept, as well as a great deal of coinage).  It obviously had been brought here from elsewhere, as evidenced by the damage to it and the manner in which it had been propped up on an unlike pedestal.  The runes upon it were some form of ancient Dwarven language so they figured a way to transport it out of the structure (and eventually back to town in a double-locked box).  A later search of the same areas, mostly to retrieve coinage they were not able to carry on the first trip, revealed an additional hideyhole containing a wand of enemy detection.

After regaining civilization, the group spent some time converting their treasures into more directly useful items for the various party members, some healing potions were distributed, as well as cure scrolls and a few other spell scrolls.  Armor and weapons were acquired through trade or purchase to try and optimize everyone who might be in the line of fire.  A fair bit of time was spent seeking sage advice on the standing stone / obelisk, what it might be meant to represent or possibly do.  The group had sussed out that it might be used as a portal but were not clear on how.  A first attempt to discover its secrets from a wizardly mentor was only minorly helpful, though he did direct the group toward a more knowledgeable information source in the form of the Temple of Darien, the Guardian, a military-religious order in the kingdom's capital, Jalston, with which the party had previously had dealings.  In fact, Nydijan the (Human) cleric, one of the original party members (and still kicking) is of that order of Darien, though the temple in Jalston has a mostly Dwarven membership.  This, of course, worked out well for the adventurers because they were able to discover that the portal-stone was not usable without some sort of accompanying headwear, that it was connected to the Dragon's Teeth (a series of tors-cum-towers spanning the Trackless Moors), and the stone was probably what the witch used to escape.  All this being likely, arrangements were made to cover the stone in molten gold, encasing it in such a way that no one could come to it from elsewhere, or so it is surmised by the temple sages.  They also left it in the temple vaults for safe keeping.

Mind you, the above took place over a couple of game sessions and yet a third has transpired since.  Although the witch had escaped, she was no longer considered an imminent threat and chasing her straight away in the unknown seemed like suicide.  The group opted, rather, with the help of a map and some information from a mining camp scout, to check out a ruins south of the Deadrop Goblin caves where that threat may have originally emanated.  This was also confirmed by their ally, the mist dragon that had been freed by the group from the Deaddrop Goblin caves.  The mist dragon, Vaporex, came up to them in a fog bank, making the party a bit nervous as to what might be approaching, but thanks to the newly found wand of enemy detection they group managed not to jeopardize their friendship by plugging the dragon full of arrows.  This newly discovered ruin, while not directly tied to the Dragon's Teeth, seemed like something the group should be better equipped to tackle without too great a risk to life and limb, something the group had begun to learn was worth consideration.  Early losses in the numbers of the group had been slowing down their overall progress and they felt a more incremental approach to adventuring might be prudent.  There were only a handful of founding group members (and a number of players had worked through several characters).  They understood that what they would find at this new ruin would be an underground goblins' lair and rats' nest, and so it has proved thus far.

The group scouted the hillock upon which mere remnants of a crumbled ruin sat, discovered a spiral staircase from it to below, but also found a cave entrance down the side of the hill.  Some goblins were dealt with outside of the complex, including several caught unawares while gambling by the top of the stairwell.  The cave entrance was determined to be primarily used by disease-ridden rats, so they torched and blocked it as best they could then made use of the spiral stair to descend within.  Inside they had several tense battles with goblins, mostly, but also a few hobgoblins, and a trained ferret in the keeping of the goblins.  Though they did not discover the location of the goblin spellcaster from the Deaddrop caves, they did find some treasure as well as a stairway leading even deeper underground and that's about where the group has left off.  With more to explore, they plan to hone their skills as a well-oiled machine to become a more competent strike force for these dangerous journeys in hopes of someday going on more legendary adventures!

No Denying It in the Grymvald 1E AD&D Campaign

Well, the group was left frozen in time the previous session as they needed to decide if making a strategic retreat and leveling up outweighed whatever advantage they might have from surprising the cultists of Marak Tor.  They had carefully approached, caught a few unaware and dispatched them, but at least one had gotten away after noting some arrow fire and a cleverly laid trap.  If they charged in immediately, though with some party members not in attendance, they might gain some advantage early on but they also knew the numbers were heavily against them.  In the end, as their first act after restarting the clock this time around, they headed back to civilization to resupply, gather more of the group (ten players this week!), level up, and report what new information they gained.

But they would not be denied and returned to Marak Tor stronger than ever.  This proved to be a wise move because although the cultists knew they were returning, and set up an ambush and a further choke point, the adventurers withstood what was thrown at them and cleared their way down to the main temple, defeating nine more cultists along with ten of the personal bodyguards of the Witch of Dour Haven.  Though she had a hand in the battle, heating up the armor of one of the top fighters and adding green slime obstacles in the group's path, the temple defenses were not strong enough to keep the party from a victory.  Now with the temple secured, what lies behind the scenes needs to be discovered, the witch needs to be located, and whatever else might be awaiting the brave adventurers must be faced.  I wish them well . . .

New 1E AD&D Campaign and More

It's been a couple of weeks since my return to blogging after over two years and I've made some headway on a few things.  I've gotten a few bits and bobs ready for a new podcast: an intro, outro, and some music and such.  More on that soon.  The store is geared up for for the next MtG release and we've seen quite a few preregs for prerelease weekend, which is always a good sign.  It's great to start off a new year with a strong month.  But I wanted to blog this time a little regarding the 1E AD&D campaign I am getting set up.

Next week will see the first gathering for our new group.  I know everyone involved, mostly from online though I've met almost everyone at least at a Gary Con or around the store.  I have a couple of returning players that were part of a campaign from a few years ago, so I'm glad they've got time to join.  But the eight or nine other players will be new to my table and DMing.  I set up a secret Facebook group to share some maps and preliminary information about the rules we'll be using.  It's mainly 1E core three with a bit of other stuff added in as we go.  Pretty straight forward but that's good for a new group, I think.

We'll be playing in my Grymvald setting, sandbox-style, but I want to make sure I have some early options so I've shared some of my old maps and have made some adjustments to some Dyson Logos maps for the starting area.  It's a village called Holdmarch, at the west end of a causeway that stretches east to the capitol of the Kingdom of Jals.  They may not stay in the area but considering the Listless Marshlands lie to the north and the Trackless Moors border on the south, there's plenty to do in any direction they decide to go.  I'll be sure to blog more about this after we're up and running.  In the meantime, keep gaming!

This is a modified version of

Cartography by Dyson Logos and is licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.