Portal Under the Stars - Help to decide on Unexpected Action

[Realm Master K]

Hi all.
I've been running Portal Under the Stars for a group of 5 experienced rpg players. Although none of us have ever played DCC, I have been a Gamemaster for decades running a variety of gaming systems and they have been playing in my campaign for more than a year.

They have been playing extremely well and the game has been a blast. One of the characters however did something a bit unexpected and I would like to get some input from others who have a bit more experience playing DCC.

After the floor collapsed in the pool room the party went down the spiral staircase and eventually opened the door on the Clay army. One character had a sling and tried to hit the Warlord twice in consecutive rounds, missing both times. When the badly damaged warriors climbed out of the pit the characters all retreated back to the pool room. The Elven Falconer sent his falcon to attack the orb. I had the Warlord swing his spear to protect the orb. Since they saw him try to protect the orb from above the character with the sling decided since he only had two sling bullets left he would shoot at the glowing orb instead. He rolled a 19 + 1 for his Agility bonus. I rolled a 10 as a saving throw for the orb.

Two questions.
1) Would you let a sling bullet destroy the magical crystal ball since it's saving throw was so low or would it take something more powerful to destroy a magic item in DCC? Keep in mind he did roll a Natural 19.
2) I am also considering allowing his awesome roll to not only destroy the orb but to also destroy the Warlord in the release of arcane energy upon it's destruction as a spectacular finish to the biggest encounter in the adventure. Good idea or bad idea?

We'll be playing again in a week so keep your comments and opinions coming. And thanks in advance for taking the time to weigh in.

[Raven_Crowking]

Your player came up with a cool and unexpected solution.

You established that the orb was vulnerable by having it protected. The player attacked the orb. You asked him to roll to hit. And then you rolled a save, which I assume failed (because of your question).

Let it work.

DCC is swingy. Things will go against the PCs eventually. Let them have what victories they earn.

[Realm Master K]

Your player came up with a cool and unexpected solution.

You established that the orb was vulnerable by having it protected. The player attacked the orb. You asked him to roll to hit. And then you rolled a save, which I assume failed (because of your question).

Let it work.

DCC is swingy. Things will go against the PCs eventually. Let them have what victories they earn.

Thank you so much for the advice and especially for taking the time to respond. Here is how I handled it.

Once the orb was destroyed, the magic energies spread out from the ruined orb and bolts of magical lightning struck each of the characters targeting one of their items. Then the energy began to arc into the crystals in the mud pit creating a sort of magical plasma. One character, a dwarven miner had fallen earlier when the pool collapsed and was buried in the pit. The magic energy revived him and one of the other characters rescued him using a grappling hook. After his rescue he asked to be lowered down into the pit to retrieve his pickaxe using pieces of a broken table from the war room as "plasma shoes" During the procedure he fumbled and fell head first into the plasma. While trying to pull him back up the other character involved rolled a natural 1 as well and fell into the plasma pit as well. Finally they were able to escape the remaning clay warriors and ran back up the spiral stairs. However, they were now both glowing blue green from their extended contact with the magical plasma.

When the other characters saw that they were glowing and that the Dwarf's pickaxe had at least temporarily gained magical powers (On a natural 19 I had a blast of magical plasma destroy a few clay warriors that were blocking the door so they could escape); they began lowering their weapons on ropes.

They all then retreated without finding the treasure vault. One player who had been off island in his hometown for the summer rolled up a dockworker and since he had a late RPG Book for his trade goods, I let him find the name of the war wizard in the book. So they were able to deactivate the fire statue and leave safely.

A contingent of armed knights accompanied by a mad scientist eccentric wizard type were waiting for them just over the hill leading to the portal. They were "escorted" to a walled city, blindfolded and taken through a secret door and questioned at length. They were told that magic used to be real but it had been drained from the world in a disaster. What they had just experienced was of incredibly important significance. The glow had slowly diminished during their journey leaving only a few remnants on those who were in contact the longest. The Dwarf's beard the Gongfarmer's arms etc. The former wizard helped them to translate the glowing runes left on his arms and they were enrolled in an Adventurers Academy and all became first level characters.

Each of their items which were struck by lightning has become their gateway to magic for the Wizards, Clerics and Elves, with magical runes etched into whatever they had been carrying. For example. The Elves staves. The Eleven Barrister's Book and quill has become his spell book. The Holy Symbol has become one Cleric's conduit to his Patron etc. The rest are learning to be Warriors and Thieves, and of course one Dwarf.

Thanks to your suggestion and some ideas I got from a fellow Gamemaster, I have been able to create an amazing story that ties into my long running Fantasy campaign while remaining fresh and new, and letting magic and 1st level capabilities have a natural and logical source.

Thank you so much for all of your contributions to DCC and this forum. I have read many of your posts