Last-minute Meetup game on Veteran's Day, since the Shadowdark campaign took the week off. I had two players sign up, but only one showed - Brian, a Repeat Offender. The Shorter Half was also present. Run for whoever shows.
We were set up for a Shadowdark session, and with two players, I had Brian pick two PCs from the pile.
- Brian: Gashyakh, half-orc priest, and Ham Biddulph, halfling thief
- Seana: Muckdakk, half-orc fighter
All were boosted to 2nd level.
The three were introduced as recent arrivals in an unnamed City. As non-citizens, there were few legitimate job opportunities. But the Sewer Patrol was always hiring...
Some time ago, I cobbled together the Macceum Sewer II, a rewrite of a Tim Shorts creation. I'd never run it, although I'd gotten a message or two from people who had with some success.
Anyway...
The three "heroes" hiked up their waders and took their Sewer-Patrol issued shovels and slime-scrapers (pay docked if they would lose a tool) and headed into a section of the City's sewer to inspect and perhaps clear out a bit of vermin.
Things were going well enough, when Muckdakk stepped into an unstable bit of sewer. The floor collapsed, releasing blinding sewer gas. Muckdakk shook it off, but the other two squinted through teary eyes. However, along with the floor collapse, a forgotten bit of side-sewer was exposed as a wall fell away.
Intriguing.
The three explored the side passage, finding a branch into a forgotten sewer complex. Ham held the party back and slunk along one edge of the entrance. Sure enough, he found a raised flagstone, a possible trap trigger. While everyone stood back, Muckdakk pressed it with her greatsword. Zip! And a crossbow bolt shattered against the wall behind.
Breaking down a door, the three were surprised by a giant bat that swooped at them. Muckdakk immediately recognized it as a sham, and the other two spent some time cringing and sniveling. Muckdakk making the saving throw would be the theme of the evening. Once everyone had calmed down, they inspected the room, finding a few coins, some scratches and tracks on the floor, and a broken stone foot.
Off to the next room. Nothing here but sand and a floor drain. But what's in this chamber? Ooo, quicksilver flowing freely through channels in the floor. It's too bad that vapors have built up in here. Yes, Gashyakh and Ham failed their saves, taking penalties from poison. Sigh.
Back to the main passageway, they were set upon by a trapdoor spider, which Muckdakk exterminated. Ham found a section of wall that felt "off," and with some probing, he revealed a secret passage. Upon opening the door, a pair of giant rats scampered away. Well, part of their job was to kill vermin, so they pursued, surprising a rat-man and another rat. Some combat occurred, and the players realized that the ratman was blind, using the rats as their senses. Curious. Muckdakk claimed some plate armor the rats had been nesting in.
Further on, Muckdakk found an alter to a forgotten god. As a "cult initiate," she recognized the god as a forgotten protector of gates, and even heard some whispers from said god. While she was having her religious experience, Gashyakh leaned against the wall, still trying to clear his head from the mercury. He fell through another poorly-constructed bit of false wall.
The party entered, and chose right versus left at a junction. Coming upon a door, all three failed to either pick or kick down the door.
Fine, a much-annoyed medusa just answered the door.
Just as the torch went out (TIMER!). Fortunately the medusa rolled a '1' for initiative, and after some panic, a torch was lit before she could cause much trouble.
Her snakes were poor attackers, and Muckdakk was able to get in a hit, as well as Ham doing the 'invisible halfling' thing and getting in a backstab. Gashyakk was not so lucky, and although being the only party member with a mirror, did not retrieve it in time and, once again, failed a saving throw. Stoned. "That's where the foot came from!" were his final words.
Mukkdakk followed up with a Harry Hamlin-level decapitation, and the two surviving sewer workers found the medusa's loot pile, hauling off as much as they could carry....
Sewer patrolling might be a lucrative occupation, after all....
DM Notes:
It was good to have a light session. The adventure went well, with a couple of wandering monsters and appropriate saving throw failures... Nothing really threatened the party until the final fight, and attrition via petrification is to be expected. This is the first time I've been on the opposite end of the light timer running out. That was some fun excitement, right as the medusa emerged... ha.
As before, the Sewer Patrol is a ripoff of Jim Garrison's Sewer Militia. Likewise, the collapsing sewer floor was rolled from one of his random sewer encounter d30 tables. And it made a perfect segue for discovery of the forgotten complex.
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