Besides running Shadowdark, I'll get further onto BXBlackrazor's pariah list by ducking out of various Seahawks viewing opportunities to run another one-shot.
Because The Ridgecrest doesn't sport a TV.
Anyway. Off we go:
- Chris: Thorn, Dwarf Wizard
- Seana: Katwaen, Dwarf Sea Wolf
- Michael: Rango, Dwarf Knight of St. Ydris
- Patrick: Nix, Kobold Thief
- Daniel: Maven, Elf Witch
Three dwarves, two miscellaneous others. Dwarf-themed misadventure, it is.
I've always wanted to see how Dwarves With Worms runs at the table. PCs bumped to 3rd level, plus some random magical items, just in case.
Rango's "cousin" Ugraen had headed out with some followers to reconsecrate or expand some old temple. Trouble is, he'd gotten excommunicated from the local temple for some questionable practices and beliefs. Anyway, better go check up on him.
The party found the complex, showing signs of recent excavation and expansion. Upon entering, the dwarves were disappointed to see shoddy excavation and stonework. I mean, humans could do this...
Listening at a door, they heard nothing. Deciding to explore in the opposite direction, they spiked the door and headed deeper into the complex.
Well, that noise called up something:
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| Oops |
A trio of vacant-eyed dwarves accosted them. The party sussed that they weren't quite undead, as something seemed to writhe under their flesh.
Many poor rolls occurred. Finally, the wizard was able to web them up for easy disposal. Upon slaying them, large worms burst from their bodies, and swarmed the party, intent upon infecting them. Much worm stomping and stabbing, and possibly one Knight of St. Ydris screaming like a little girl. The wizard quaffed their sole potion of healing.
Fortunately, around the corner, the explorers found a stash of ale, which went a long way to cure shaken nerves.
Onward!
To a storeroom of more casks, this time water. Boring. Beyond was a pool, corrupted and acidic. Definitely glad we found that ale.
The party continued deeper through twisting, disorganized tunnels. They avoided more poor construction, and stepped over collapsed bracings and timbers. These dwarves here were definitely lacking quality control.
Sidestepping more timbers, they came face-to face with another trio of dwarves. Two more worm-infected, and a third conscious, but twisted by the infernal powers corrupting the place.
The corrupted dwarf proselytized on the powers of the Worm Queen, who's avatar now ruled the place. She had turned cousin Ugraen and resistance was futile and all that. Fine. More fighting. One worm-dwarf was slain, and the corrupted dwarf badly wounded. The corrupted one attempted to bash through the party to flee, but was stopped by Rango, who dispatched him (and stole his magic chainmail). The party allowed the surviving worm-dwarf to flee, following it to another closed door.
Humming and vibration was felt through the door. The witch summoned a toad to squeeze under the door to scout. It returned. "Bad dwarf, big worm."
This must be the place.
Dwarf-boot the door, revealing Ugraen and a giant worm-creature. And get blasted by the maddening hum of the Worm Queen's Avatar:
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| 'Sup, yo? |
The dwarves were paralyzed with fear, leaving the witch and thief to distract it for the time being. The thief took advantage of the chaos to effect a backstab on the worm, and the witch's Shadowdance spell further distracted the worm and dwarf, allowing the party to recover and attack.
Things were going about as well as could be expected. The party focused on the worm, and were blessed by a failed spell roll by Ugraen. Of course, the thief chose a critical moment to critical fail a bowshot, hitting Rango instead. Which allowed the worm to get ahold of him...
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| artist's rendition |
Some biting and squeezing, and no more Rango. Thankfully, the worm was bumrushed and slain, thus freeing the mind of Ugraen, who was able to revive the squashed knight. The sounds of release and combat were heard in the tunnels outside, as other corrupted dwarves found their minds, and went about purging the place.
DM Notes:
Well, the party hit about seven of nineteen possible locations in the complex. They (inadvertently) wisely blocked off a room with a summoning circle, with potential additional emergences from the underworld, as well as a nest of more possessing worm eggs.
Both of the corridor combats were random encounters. I reviewed the scenario after the game - there are six set-piece encounters, spread out through the complex, but its twisting and interconnected nature means that it is easy to miss them. The encounters were necessary to provide the "something is wrong here" energy and information. That the party essentially bee-lined to the bossfight was chance, as well. However, I do have it worked into the scenario that there is a chance that wounded enemies will attempt to flee in that direction, therefore leading the party on.
Is it 3rd level? Probably not, at least for a party of five. Especially one without a healer.... Or spellcasters without sufficient offensive spells (both lost spells from failures). The worm didn't even start casting its own spells, which would have further complicated things. I also deleted a couple of additional combatants in the room.
I don't see changing the scenario much. Possibly a mechanism to release 'corrupted' dwarves? Maybe another run-through with a slightly higher level party, or one with a different composition. Was fun, regardless.
Probably back to another venue for the next game. More rumblings of "do you do campaigns?"
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