We Were Wizards: Halloween Costume Game of Forbidden Caverns of Archaia, A Play Report and Review

TL;DR Played a session in this dungeon while dressed up as wizards.  We had a great time but I wish the module was better.

It's a strange Halloween year.  Tuesday is an awkward day for the holiday, so people have been intermittently partying all weekend.  I've avoided most of it, but the party happily came to me in Friday.  Our good friends Nick and Michelle came over after dinner with wizard costumes, but no party to go to.  Jah and I put on what we had, Medusa and random Renaissance Faire stuff respectively, and there we were, eating and drinking cocktails.  How about a game?

Nick was intrigued by my copy of Forbidden Caverns of Archaia sitting on the coffee table.  It's Fall colors appealed.  "Let's play that!"


AN UNCOMMON EVENING
We whipped up characters for my "Uncommon Dungeons" ruleset.  It was quick and easy.  My wife and our friends have mostly played type V D&D, but they soon got into rolling 3d6 for the stats, writing the minimal information on a blank paper and getting down to business.  I was pretty happy with the speed and ease of it.  The longest time was spent writing down gear.  I had no time to prepare so I got right to it.  "You have been trekking through the badlands all day, through sand storms and scorching heat, buzzards circle overhead as you pass macabre crucifixions in wastes.  Finally you arrive.  You see this."  I held up the illustration.

An overly fanatical Dwarven Cleric, a crafty Elf Wizard, and a brave Fighter descended the rocky trail to canyon floor.  I said, "Now you see THIS," again I held up a picture in the book.

Player rolls on the Doom Die forced the group to hunker down and eat their rations.  While they did that, a tremor rumbled through the canyon.  The walls shook and one nearby cliff partially collapsed.  They group rushed into the nearest cave they could find, for shelter.

Within, an ominous silence.  Torchlight revealed a long hall, pockmarked with holes and splattered with dried blood.  The sharp eyed elf spied a secret door on the right so the dwarf barged in a promptly fell through a trap door!  A Pfaetherfall spell saved him but he happily took a proffered rope back up as he found himself in a barred cell with a skeletal inmate and a jailor coming to investigate.

The trio fled that cave and ran across to an ancient arch with a skull shaped keystone.  Carefully tapping their way down a long stairs, the three began to explore what was certainly an ancient Archaian building.  They found an old scroll still sealed in its stone tube.  A rigged crossbow trap shaved a whisker off the dwarfs beard.

Then a sudden tremor shook the complex violently.  Stone and dust rained down, the earth lurched and suddenly a gaping crevasse opened across the trio's retreat.  Then came the zombies.  They came through a crack that had been opened in a wall.  The wizard stepped forward and poured fire upon them all but it wasn't enough.  Still they advanced.  The fighter hacked with her axe.  The cleric healed then tried to heal again.  He remembered this morning's augury.  "Woe".  The dwarf died at the hands of his own hubris.

A the last zombie fell, and the fighter realized she was on her own for the wizard had succumbed to her own magics as well.  The fighter loaded the frail elf on one shoulder and ran out of there.  She didn't stop until she got back to Eastdale.

 The Forbidden Caverns were gamed.  Totally spontaneously.  They claimed their first PC.  We had a great time.  In wizard costumes.  The players did more drama troupe acting and funny voices than I did this session.

REVIEW OF THE FORBIDDEN CAVERNS OF ARCHAIA
I have to admit I've been fairly ambivalent about the Forbidden Caverns.  I'd been looking forward to it for about a year as I have been steadily playing the Barrowmaze Complete book I bought as part of the same kickstarter.  I was stoked when I finally got my copy in the mail, started doodling in it but lost interest kinda quick.  I've gotten more playtime out of BMC than most game books in my collection.  The classic simplicity of it works well.  This is all well and good.  I really like the aesthetic of the book.  Stefan Poag and Peter Pagano do a lot of really great work that really makes the whole things look really cool.  I don't love the cover.  Erol Otus is awesome but the covers for these two books are not that rad.  Maybe too cartoony, not mysterious enough. 

The Forbidden Caverns are more of the same after Barrowmaze.  That's part of the problem.  The set up doubles down generic/classic depending on your perspective.  There is a canyon full of ruins and caves inhabited by every type of evil humanoid monster: goblinoids, beastmen, lizardmen, evil humans, even giants.  They are all part of an army that will one day pour forth to devastate the world.  In the meantime they are collecting trash and living in a very geologically active area.  There are dozens of small to medium to huge dungeons in the book,  Unfortunately the dungeons themselves are pretty straightforward.  Here's this kind of monster.  Now here's this other one.  I have had to really look through the book carefully a couple of times to start to figure out which questions to ask to make this dungeon interesting.  How is it any different than Barrowmaze (or even Caves of Chaos)?

It actually suffers from some of the same problems as Barrowmaze in that it is unclear what anyone is doing there.  In Barrowmaze most things are undead, so they're obviously just hanging around zombie-ing out, but then you occasionally run into Necromancers of Orcus or Set or Nergal and there is no personality to any of them, no sense of in what way the three factions are different (skull face,  pentagram head, uh) or really what they want in the maze.  The campaign setting is super similar as well.  The town of Eastdale is basically just a re-skinned Helix with some mention of how the local paladins are teetotalers so carousing is frowned up.  Now there's the mission!

Forbidden Caverns is similar.  There are all these monsters and hideouts and lairs, and a bunch of them have these Chaos Priests/Warriors of Impurax lurking in the back rooms but there's no sense of what their doing and why.  The Chaos dudes get names but no sense of who they are our how the wrangling of their particular group of evil humanoids is going.   Deep in the final dungeon are the High Priestess of Impurax and also a couple of old magical liche type creatures.  How do they relate each other?  I'm going to need to use one of those old npc relationship tables from Vornhiem to make it interesting.

It all seems very static, but unlike Barrowmaze, the Forbidden Caverns are the opposite of static.  There are constant earthquakes and collapses (I decided that anytime a Doom Die roll repeated itself that would signal a quake), there is a growing garbage mound, there are violent evil monster armies full of factions who don't like each other.  This sandbox needs to be dynamic.

The DM needs to do a bit more prep.  Basically, every dungeon resident needs to have a grudge against or alliance with another (Froglings plotting to take out the Kobolds for example).  Especially the Chaos warriors.  They have names, so we need to make a table add some random stuff and give those guys problems with each other, goals, attitudes toward the beastmen and orcs they are supposed to by wrangling.   The archons at the end need it as well.  Just a couple of "wants" and "needs" phrases for these guys would really help the whole thing.  The only reason for all these different monsters to be hanging to together is because this great prophecy of Impurax that must say something about how it will require "ever finger of the hand of Chaos to bring the dark god to this realm."  That has to be the thing, and that needs to become player character knowledge pretty early on in a campaign but that sort of hint and clue is left entirely up to the DM.  At the very least all the Impurax guys should be carrying around the Rotting Hand diagram.

I get that this style of dungeon module is supposed to be bare bones so that the detail and amazing parts can be more emergent, but for such a huge module, you'd think there'd be more color, more about the npcs and some more creative weirdness in the dungeons.  For a city of lost magic, the magic is pretty straightforward.  Where's the crazy weird remnants of magic as technology stuff?  I don't know how much I'll use this book, but if I do I'll be using my old Ruins of Myth Drannor and Undermountain item cards for sure.

I don't mean to bag on the book too much.  I just had a great session with it.  I obviously have been thinking about how to run it.  I love the art.  The "wheel of time" is great.  There are some cool magic items, especially the modular staff items that can be put together in different combinations to unlock different abilities and different magic gates.  It is totally playable from cracking the book and I love the illustration section.  I love BMC's illustration section.  I always dig the illo sections of Goodman Games modules as well.  All modules should have dedicated illustration sections.

All in all, I'm going to stick this dungeon in my campaign world somewhere, but it doesn't make me want to lure my players out of the Barrowmaze to explore the Caverns.  Might happen at some point though.

This diagram needs to be found in the possession of the Horde bosses and Fanged Legion reps, because how else are they gonna keep it all straight?

Storm King's Thunder #25: Casino Boat Showdown

  When last we left the drow sorcereress in media res, she had reached a moment critical of critical subterfuge in her attempt to gather information from the sleazy politician and casino boss, Lord Drylund, so she altered her self and became a half dragon robed in purple and claimed, "I am from the Cult", much to the confusion of Lord Drylund.  He was taken aback and said, "Who are you?  Who sent you?"  She accused him of betrayal, to which replied that he had done everything asked and the cargo,  was delivered to Rauthym, sleeping on the Morkoth.  Then his pet octopus jumped on his had and ripped his throat open.
  After a battle that featured the solo sorcereress nearly dying in a fight with an octopus, the group slew the Purple Vikings and parlayed with Pow Ming.  She professed her ignorance of the whole affair, but offered her services to the Dragon Cult for power and profit.  The sorceress and her companions left Pow Ming and traveled back to Waterdeep.  Bards knew well the Purple Rocks of Rhauthym the last desperate outreach of mankind into the Sea of Swords, a thing the Elves of Evermeet despise, for the Purple Rocks represents all that that detest of humanity.
  There was one captain in Waterdeep brave enough to challenge the high seas of the Sea of Swords in late fall.  He would brook no negotiation of his price.  And so they prepared to set sail, search for the "Morkoth" though they knew not what that was.
  The campaign draws closer and closer to conclusion.  Perhaps they shall prevail.  Perhaps they will sink beneath the waves or even fall victim to sky whales.
  The casino boat was a little strange.  They knew the clue was connected here, but there was little to suggest who it was connected to and how.  Even now, I have no idea how the clue made it into the Maelstrom court.  Did hirelings of Drylund actually get paid in wooden tokens?  Did a bunch of mercenaries actually succeed in kidnapping a giant giant?  They must have had help.  Anyways, it's over now.  On to the battling.

Barrowmaze Saga #23: Doooom!

Saga Reborn

Winter has passed, and the duke has grown weary of his hospitality.  The saviors of the prince are obliged to continue their profession of the previous summer, escorting a pair of dwarves to the fabled barrow mounds.  Of course it is early season yet, and thunder and lightning pours down on their hungover heads.  

Eric the Red ruminates grimly on the changes wrought on his fair barmaid from the season before, all stretched thin, her smile, her skin, her laugh, all motion now.  What gives?  

The barrow moor is infested with toads, riled by the pounding rain.  

A tomb is broken into, gold! found, deathshead coins.  A toad slain, its companions avoided.  

Slogging north, a chance encounter with another early season party, slouched under a tree, black hoods up, rags over faces, stone eyed, menacing with shield, artillery and ideology, the “Autonomous Collectors Collective”.  

They demand a tithe, before Berg’s Boys enter a second tomb, claiming “squatter’s rights”.

Game system nerd notes:

We restarted the campaign tonight after a couple months off. Roll20. Maps still in place. Nice. I am glad to play "traditional" D&D, using my Uncommon Dungeons set of houserules. Of course I have been tinkering, pulling from various sources, like City of Iron's B/X Essentials project, but most specifically from the blogs Necropraxis, and Dungeon of Signs, their, "Exploration Die", "Overloaded Encounter Die" or "Hazard Die". I'm calling it the "Doom Die".

DOOM DIE

Basically, time is a fickle beast. It's been impossible for me to keep track of even in these Barrowmaze games where wandering monsters, torches, etc are crucial for maintaining momentum and tension. The new "Forbidden Caverns of Archaia" contains a great stab at it, a "Wheel of Time", but as much as I love the graphic, it's just a reminder to do a lot of different rolls and things.

The lads at the afore-mentioned blogs, +Brendan S and +Gus L combined it all with the wandering monster roll. It's less predictable, but it's simple. I tried it out tonight. The players rolled, which kept me honest.

Here's my stolen/modified table:

Doom Die

1	Encounter	Roll on Random Encounter table.  Roll for surprise, encounter distance   (1D6 -1 melee, 2, 3 short, 4, 5 medium, 6 long), and reaction.
2	Exhaustion	The party is tired and gains one Exhaustion Point (-1 to rolls).
3	Torch	A fickle torch, candle or other improvised light source gutters and burns out.
4	Lantern	Lantern uses ½ flask of oil.  Burns out on second roll
5	Spell Exhaustion	Any and all active short duration spells are exhausted, long duration spells are reduced by one duration point.
6	Discovery	A clue, non-combat encounter or event.

There were definitely more rolls, and it made for a consequence of searching. Three encounters were rolled: Toad(1), Toads(6, avoided), and Tomb Robbers(8). Two fatigue rolls. The second I just had them mark off rations without a further roll. A torch burnt out and two discoveries were made(silver dagger and signet ring, rolled on the old Undermountain II item cards).

It certainly cluttered up the game. Basically, something happened every dungeon turn. I was rolling a combination of this table and a Wilderness d6 table. During combat I used the Doom Die in place of initiative, which forced Morale rolls.

It felt like maybe TOO much happening, possibly too much negative stuff. Too many opportunities for "-1"(Exhaustion, Morale). This might slow down the game a bit too much. Perhaps the solution is a d8 on the same tables, with "No event" for 7 and 8?

All in all, however the "Doom Die" did bring all the resources and factors into play: Time, encounters, rations, torches, chance discoveries, even weather on the outdoor table. I'll tinker more... the Barrow of the Slime awaits!

Storm King's Thunder Sessions #22-24

Collected Notes: Sessions have been interrupted by real life good times, but we are playing regularly again, and I am hoping the campaign finds its way to a good pausing point before the holidays.  A player wants to DM Tomb of Annihilation (I've been avoiding all spoilers) and I am happy to hand over the screen.  Although its amazing to have had such a long running campaign, I don't love DMing high levels.  But it will be a pause.  I've got ideas cribbed from all the other type V campaign books for adventure into the epic levels, but I wouldn't mind making that episodic.  In any case, they are very close to find the lost king.  Looking forward to it!

August 17th:  Blow the Horn to Travel Beneath the Waves

Alright! We are back in the saddle. Two weeks in a row. Both roleplay heavy sessions. Players are leery of taking on more than they can handle. 10th level mostly. Closing in on 11. They got the Maelstrom Horn (its a dragon horn in my game) from Queen Guh. I had to have an attendant goblin chase them down and tell them where it was. But the players were not so ready to attend the Maelstrom Court. A while back they had stolen a flying ship from a gang of dragon cultists. This ship was stolen back by its rightful owner while the group explored the Temple of Annam. But the players can't let it go. For one thing, it contains a massive horde of treasure and I have been gouging them terribly to buy potions and such. Also, players hate it when things are stolen.  They actually travelled back to the Spine of the World Mountains (via teleportation) and began an expedition to the Klauthen Vale, but were intimidated and turned back by the brooding aspect of the place.

August 31st:  Chaos in the Maelstrom Court! 

We had guests so they played the storm giant sisters Mirran and Nym. It was awesome. They were way more evil than I could have made them. Imryth was unmasked but escaped without the scepter. Mirran snatched it from the elf wizard who had used a Time Stop (!) scroll to snatch it from Imryth. Mirran then claimed the throne and packed Serissa off to the dungeon. She then told the party to scram, though not before they found a certain wooden coin with a goose on it they recognized from 10 months(RL) ago! (A player even drew the goose during the session way back then, so I handed that drawing back to the group. Still took a while to remember.)
Now the group is on the trail of Hekaton, wants to return to depose the vile queen and still is hoping to fight Klauth for their flying ship... good times.

October 18th:  Inspecting the Golden Goose.

Last night was detective time / keystone kops. What to do with the Golden Goose token found under the Wyrmskull Throne?
Good on me for foreshadowing that EARLY in the campaign. It just so happened the party had partied in Waterdeep on just such a casino boat and were able to track down some decadent acquaintances to direct them to Yartar. A short teleport later the group was posted up in a posh yacht harbor cafe scheming for a way to sneak onto the Grand Dame. Eventually they decided to go with invisibility. This lead to hilarious hijinks -bumping a platter of glazed hogs head into the river -drinking with oarsmen in the galley -but ultimately the group were immediately suspected and questioned by the hawk-eyed Pow Ming. The mage slayer finally got up close and personal with a wizard but succumbed nevertheless to a SUGGESTION to jump off the stern. Soon after, the clerical knight strutting around in full plate was obliged to follow by the purple faced viking guardsmen. This left a dark elf using ALTER SELF to pose as a particular patron, hobnobbing with Lord Drylund in the captains quarters. All the subterfuge had gotten her alone with the guy and one other weakling noble. What would she do? 
-"Wait a minute, why are we here? What am I supposed to ask this guy?"

Best thing in Forbidden Caverns of Archaia