Goodman Games

Hey all, I'm trying to get some anecdotes together from the DCC Tournament we ran at GenCon 2004 in Indy. I had the pleasure of running seven of the Devil Lich sessions, and really enjoyed the wide range of people, tactics and ideas that appeared during the gaming sessions.

Please share your favorite memories, nastiest surprises, or best moments from the tournament. I'm sure everyone is dying to learn more!

As for me, the most frustrating DM moment was in the very first room of the first floor... The massive cavern entrance with the vampire monk, Brother Mikolas. He had just successfully used stunning fist against Jyncks the Wizard, on the far end of the cavern from everyone else... The group started to groan as the nimble monk dashed far to the other side, since no one would be able to catch up and possibly stop him from pummeling the helpless wizard on the next round. They got tense as they figured one of the characters would certainly die in the very first encounter.

I was grinning and licking my chops, ready to exact some vengeance and righteous DM rage, and unleashed a flurry of blows on Jyncks. At the Con, we had to make all our rolls in public. Imagine my dismay and shock -- and the rousing cheers of the group -- when this vampire monk rolled 1, 1, 2, 3 for his flurry of blows!! Even with his attack bonuses (+13/+13/+13/+8 ), all the attacks missed the darn wizard!!

There was much rejoicing by the group, which had made their way to help the wizard and proceeded to pummel the vampire with ease once they realized it couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!

Hey Jason,

That was a hell of a moment, and I remember the hooting of joy when our wizard survived the onslaught.

My favorite moment from the game for Brother Jharo was all the jump and balance checks I had to make in the Rainbow Room. What a gut-wrenching fear-fest that was. I thought I had won, and then with a misread on puzzle, say hello to Mr. Acid!!!!

Thank god I hadn't used my dimensional door for the day...whew!

Great job DM'ing and appreciate all the kindness you showed me and others with pick-up games for the "non-winners", and helping me get into round two despite losing. You rock! See you next year!

Ben "Superfan" Waxman

I didn't get a chance to play or DM the tournament, but I had a lot of fun running my home group through the module in the playtesting sessions. Here are some of my favorite moments...

- A PC activating the symbol of weakness trap in the rainbow room with a miserable Disable Device check. It reduced the Str of THREE characters to zero -- and ALSO did the same to the mephits! The characters freaked out when they heard a "ka-plunk" in the acid as the weakened, invisible mephits (now unable to support their own weight) plunged downward. One of the PCs got back to positive Strength with a restoration spell, but Jyncks and Mellyoun spent the rest of the adventure at 0 Str, using magic items and spells to prop themselves up to 4 Str when they needed to do something.

- Lady Varin rolling a 1 on her Climb check in the room with the illusionary floor and oozes below. She needed a 6 to cross the rope... so she missed by 5 and plummeted into the pit. The rest of the PCs decided to jump in after to save her... so all 6 ended up fighting in the darkened, silenced chamber against the oozes! I was suprised they survived that.

- Brother Jharo charging into the Chapel of Khetira. He stopped just short of Lord Braxus right as the unseen servant yanked the stake out of his chest. Lord Braxus sits up, Brother Jharo gets an attack of opportunity, Lord Braxus only has 1 hp, wham! CR 16 vampire dead in a single hit!

- Defeating the coin golem: My home group had the party retreat into the hallway, then the rogues reset the pit traps. The coin golem lumbered after them and dropped right into the pit. Clever move, I thought.

- The nicknames. My group had a bunch of them:
The spider-limbed flesh golem: "Three-toed Frankensloth"
Flint golem: "Zippo the lighter golem"
The elevator room: "The bidet of doom"
The cleric’s staff of life (which became a rod of life after playtesting) became known as "the wacky stick," as in, "Yo, Agrij, let me get a hit of that wacky stick!"

- Best quote: While arguing with the magic longsword True Death, one hero managed to truly wound the pride of this powerful magic sword when he said, "Oh yeah? Well, yo’ mama was a dagger!"