DCC RPG Actual Play (8 weeks worth)
Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 5:19 pm
Started an 8 week rotation of DCC RPG on Thursday 03/01/2013, began with 6 players / 18 level zero characters on Sailors on the Starless Sea;
DCC RPG Session One (03/01/2013)
Sailors on the Starless Sea
THE CHARACTERS
TEAM ANDY
BELDIN: nefarious rogue
MEL: irritating minstrel
ILLEDRAL: bookish Elven sage
TEAM CHRISTINA
BEDWIN: well-endowed monk
DERFEL: surly Dwarven blacksmith
MORDRED: opportunistic gravedigger
TEAM EOMAK
LORD CAMBRIEN: heroic nobleman
MR. THRUPP: fastidious tax collector
BRAN: concerned hunter
TEAM NEW GUY
DRONGO PROUDFOOT: optimistic Halfling vagrant
LUCIUS: lonely alchemist looking for love
CORMAC: bushy-bearded hermit with a deep, booming voice
TEAM MATT
FARMER GILES: belligerent agriculturalist
HILDRISS: fair Elven forester
HORACE: righteous butcher
TEAM GARY
DULAS: scabby Dwarven ratcatcher
TARAK: unrepentant outlaw
TERIN: simpering Halfling moneylender
For too long, the bestial denizens of the old fortress have preyed upon the (relatively) good people of your village! Now a motley crowd of unlikely heroes muster before the pestilent keep, clutching whatever meagre weapons they've been able to lay their grubby mitts on.
Approaching the gatehouse along a broad and boggy causeway, the mob spot two bodies strung up beside the trail, a gristly warning to turn back before it is too late.... Edging closer, MORDRED THE GRAVEDIGGER is horrified to observe thick, green tendrils entwining the bodies, sluggishly burrowing through their dead flesh like carrion worms. Suddenly, a thorny vine slithers out of the first corpse's gaping mouth and scythes across the gravedigger's throat! As MORDRED stumbles away, hands pressed to his neck to staunch the pulse of blood from his lacerated flesh, LORD CAMBRIEN charges into the fray, brandishing his father's longsword. He had hoped the rest of the group might follow his lead, but most of them just shuffle their feet and try to look busy. Whilst the brave aristocrat hacks away at the first Vine Horror, LUCIUS THE LONELY ALCHEMIST douses the second creature in oil and sets it aflame! In its death throes, the flaming monster inadvertently decapitates DULUS THE DWARVEN RATCATCHER, setting his dirty beard ablaze as the severed head bounces off down the hill.
R.I.P: DULUS THE RATCATCHER
After burning their dead (and picking the sticky, mucus-like seed pods out of their clothes/hair), the horde forge on, undeterred by the ratcatcher's abrupt demise. Creeping through the crumbling gatehouse, the party are surprised when the rusty, iron portcullis suddenly descends with a shriek of tortured metal! Fortunately, nobody is pinned beneath the plummeting gate, but MEL THE MINSTREL and HORACE THE BUTCHER are trapped on the wrong side. A bell begins to peal - evidently the beastmen are home and are aware that they have visitors....
While TORAK THE OUTLAW climbs onto the battlements and helps haul MEL and HORACE over the wall, the rest of the mob wander over to the base of the tower, which is where it sounds like the incessant ringing is coming from. The only (ground level) entrance is barred from the inside. When they eventually get it open, a horde of fearsome beastmen surge out of the foetid darkness! They are led by a towering, axe-wielding figure with the head of a bull. HILDRISS tosses a net over this muscular brute - but it effortlessly breaks free of the entanglement and turns on the the Elven forester. HORACE to the rescue! Using TORAK's rope as a zipline, the heroic butcher descends from the battlements at speed and buries his bloody meat cleaver in the beastman's horned head. The champion falls!
Uninspired by the butcher's valour, the rest of the villagers fall into a disorderly retreat. LORD CAMBRIEN tries to marshal a counter-attack, only to be clubbed in the groin by ILLEDRAL as the cowardly sage scurries out of harms way. As the nobleman falls to his knees (nursing his bruised balls), one of the beastmen scampers over and runs him through!
R.I.P: LORD CAMBRIEN
Another beastman impales CORMAC THE HERMIT on its nasty little spear, but the indomitable shaman defies death and caves in the wretched creature's misshapen head. (I missed Paul in the initiative order and killed one his characters as a result, which hardly seemed fair, so CORMAC suddenly 'got better' to atone for my mistake.)
BELDIN THE ROGUE falls in the savage melee, but there are no other casualties after that and ultimately the party emerge victorious! Huzzah!
R.I.P: BELDIN THE ROGUE
MEL THE MINSTREL very almost suffered a fatality after fumbling an attack roll - natural 1 on a D20 - and falling off the battlements. It was at this point that I remembered players can burn their Luck points to prevent stuff like this from happening and Andy was able to (temporarily) preserve the life of his most useless character.
Searching the tower for valuables, TORAK and DRONGO PROUDFOOT chance upon a small fortune in silver and gold coins, which they quietly split between themselves - before MR. THRUPP tries to tax them on their windfall. The intrepid treasure hunters also find a masterwork elven blade, which they give to HELDRISS. (I did say at the table that this weapon would not provide a bonus in combat, but in retrospect it probably should, so +1 to attack & damage.) Meanwhile, TERIN THE HALFLING MONEYLENDER is negotiating the release of three prisoners chained (upside down) to the interior wall of the tower. They are BOB THE WOODCUTTER (Eomak), TOM THE MERCENARY (Gary) and DORIZAN THE WIZARD'S APPRENTICE (Andy) and they all gratefully join the quest!
Before descending into the bowels of the keep, the party have a poke around the burnt-out remnants of the ruined chapel. Upon crossing the threshold, the temperature increases almost unbearably and crackling flames can be heard. The party conclude that the chapel is likely haunted, but MR. THRUPP THE TAX COLLECTOR doesn't credit the existence of ghosts ("they don't pay taxes") and saunters in for a closer look. Beyond the squat, stone statue of a grotesque toad (black slime dribbles from its maw into a shallow pool at the statue's base), the prissy bureaucrat spots the golden glimmer of undeclared income! Attracted by the promise of epic loot, the rest of the party crowd in after him. Approaching the statue, an amorphous blob of foul, black ichor bursts from the profane fountain and engulfs MORDRED. To add insult to injury (or rather, injury to injury), the slime subsequently bursts into flame and flash-fries the poor gravedigger into a charred skeleton!
R.I.P: MORDRED THE GRAVEDIGGER
The allure of gold is suddenly a lot less compelling, now the party know their prize is guarded by a malevolent slime monster. Noting that the murderous goo is dripping from the mouth of the stone toad, TORAK hooks the statue and hauls it off its plinth, shattering the evil sculpture into a thousand tiny fragments. More black ooze spills out across the floor of the chapel. The slime does not spread beyond the chapel and the survivors decide to leave it (and its treasure) well alone.
As darkness descends upon the ruined citadel, the party retire to the gatehouse to rest overnight, resuming their explorations at dawn. The night passes uneventfully.
Descending a steep, spiral staircase beneath the tower (formerly) of the beastmen, the party reach a long, subterranean chamber dominated by a pool of brackish water. Bobbing in the dark water are a multitude of grinning, human skulls, their sightless eye sockets aflame with emerald green fire. Both CORMAC and FARMER GILES feel compelled to claim one of the leering skulls as a souvenir of their grand adventure.
Continuing their descent, the party find themselves standing on the sandy fringe of a vast, underground lake (the starless sea). While most of the gang watch a sinister longboat glide towards the beach with mounting trepidation, both ILLEDRAL and DORIZAN examine the tall, stone menhir overlooking the water. The chaotic runes carved across its surface are utterly alien to both scholars- and yet strangely compelling....
A somewhat effeminate shriek rings out, as ILLEDRAL and DORIZAN grab MEL THE MINSTREL and cut out his beating heart! Gibbering in an unfamiliar tongue, the wizard's apprentice chucks the bloody organ into the dark water.
R.I.P: MEL THE MINSTREL
Meanwhile, ILLEDRAL menaces HILDRISS with his bloody dagger. The fair Elven forester notches an arrow and warns the manic sage that she will fire if he does not desist immediately. ILLEDRAL lunges for her throat and HILDRISS shoots him in the chest.
R.I.P: ILLEDRAL THE ELVEN SAGE
Everyone else piles on top of DORIZAN. HORACE knocks him out cold and carries him away from the strange obelisk, praying that by putting some distance between him and the source of his murderous rage might allow the unconscious apprentice to recover his wits.
To be continued....
DCC RPG Session One (03/01/2013)
Sailors on the Starless Sea
THE CHARACTERS
TEAM ANDY
BELDIN: nefarious rogue
MEL: irritating minstrel
ILLEDRAL: bookish Elven sage
TEAM CHRISTINA
BEDWIN: well-endowed monk
DERFEL: surly Dwarven blacksmith
MORDRED: opportunistic gravedigger
TEAM EOMAK
LORD CAMBRIEN: heroic nobleman
MR. THRUPP: fastidious tax collector
BRAN: concerned hunter
TEAM NEW GUY
DRONGO PROUDFOOT: optimistic Halfling vagrant
LUCIUS: lonely alchemist looking for love
CORMAC: bushy-bearded hermit with a deep, booming voice
TEAM MATT
FARMER GILES: belligerent agriculturalist
HILDRISS: fair Elven forester
HORACE: righteous butcher
TEAM GARY
DULAS: scabby Dwarven ratcatcher
TARAK: unrepentant outlaw
TERIN: simpering Halfling moneylender
For too long, the bestial denizens of the old fortress have preyed upon the (relatively) good people of your village! Now a motley crowd of unlikely heroes muster before the pestilent keep, clutching whatever meagre weapons they've been able to lay their grubby mitts on.
Approaching the gatehouse along a broad and boggy causeway, the mob spot two bodies strung up beside the trail, a gristly warning to turn back before it is too late.... Edging closer, MORDRED THE GRAVEDIGGER is horrified to observe thick, green tendrils entwining the bodies, sluggishly burrowing through their dead flesh like carrion worms. Suddenly, a thorny vine slithers out of the first corpse's gaping mouth and scythes across the gravedigger's throat! As MORDRED stumbles away, hands pressed to his neck to staunch the pulse of blood from his lacerated flesh, LORD CAMBRIEN charges into the fray, brandishing his father's longsword. He had hoped the rest of the group might follow his lead, but most of them just shuffle their feet and try to look busy. Whilst the brave aristocrat hacks away at the first Vine Horror, LUCIUS THE LONELY ALCHEMIST douses the second creature in oil and sets it aflame! In its death throes, the flaming monster inadvertently decapitates DULUS THE DWARVEN RATCATCHER, setting his dirty beard ablaze as the severed head bounces off down the hill.
R.I.P: DULUS THE RATCATCHER
After burning their dead (and picking the sticky, mucus-like seed pods out of their clothes/hair), the horde forge on, undeterred by the ratcatcher's abrupt demise. Creeping through the crumbling gatehouse, the party are surprised when the rusty, iron portcullis suddenly descends with a shriek of tortured metal! Fortunately, nobody is pinned beneath the plummeting gate, but MEL THE MINSTREL and HORACE THE BUTCHER are trapped on the wrong side. A bell begins to peal - evidently the beastmen are home and are aware that they have visitors....
While TORAK THE OUTLAW climbs onto the battlements and helps haul MEL and HORACE over the wall, the rest of the mob wander over to the base of the tower, which is where it sounds like the incessant ringing is coming from. The only (ground level) entrance is barred from the inside. When they eventually get it open, a horde of fearsome beastmen surge out of the foetid darkness! They are led by a towering, axe-wielding figure with the head of a bull. HILDRISS tosses a net over this muscular brute - but it effortlessly breaks free of the entanglement and turns on the the Elven forester. HORACE to the rescue! Using TORAK's rope as a zipline, the heroic butcher descends from the battlements at speed and buries his bloody meat cleaver in the beastman's horned head. The champion falls!
Uninspired by the butcher's valour, the rest of the villagers fall into a disorderly retreat. LORD CAMBRIEN tries to marshal a counter-attack, only to be clubbed in the groin by ILLEDRAL as the cowardly sage scurries out of harms way. As the nobleman falls to his knees (nursing his bruised balls), one of the beastmen scampers over and runs him through!
R.I.P: LORD CAMBRIEN
Another beastman impales CORMAC THE HERMIT on its nasty little spear, but the indomitable shaman defies death and caves in the wretched creature's misshapen head. (I missed Paul in the initiative order and killed one his characters as a result, which hardly seemed fair, so CORMAC suddenly 'got better' to atone for my mistake.)
BELDIN THE ROGUE falls in the savage melee, but there are no other casualties after that and ultimately the party emerge victorious! Huzzah!
R.I.P: BELDIN THE ROGUE
MEL THE MINSTREL very almost suffered a fatality after fumbling an attack roll - natural 1 on a D20 - and falling off the battlements. It was at this point that I remembered players can burn their Luck points to prevent stuff like this from happening and Andy was able to (temporarily) preserve the life of his most useless character.
Searching the tower for valuables, TORAK and DRONGO PROUDFOOT chance upon a small fortune in silver and gold coins, which they quietly split between themselves - before MR. THRUPP tries to tax them on their windfall. The intrepid treasure hunters also find a masterwork elven blade, which they give to HELDRISS. (I did say at the table that this weapon would not provide a bonus in combat, but in retrospect it probably should, so +1 to attack & damage.) Meanwhile, TERIN THE HALFLING MONEYLENDER is negotiating the release of three prisoners chained (upside down) to the interior wall of the tower. They are BOB THE WOODCUTTER (Eomak), TOM THE MERCENARY (Gary) and DORIZAN THE WIZARD'S APPRENTICE (Andy) and they all gratefully join the quest!
Before descending into the bowels of the keep, the party have a poke around the burnt-out remnants of the ruined chapel. Upon crossing the threshold, the temperature increases almost unbearably and crackling flames can be heard. The party conclude that the chapel is likely haunted, but MR. THRUPP THE TAX COLLECTOR doesn't credit the existence of ghosts ("they don't pay taxes") and saunters in for a closer look. Beyond the squat, stone statue of a grotesque toad (black slime dribbles from its maw into a shallow pool at the statue's base), the prissy bureaucrat spots the golden glimmer of undeclared income! Attracted by the promise of epic loot, the rest of the party crowd in after him. Approaching the statue, an amorphous blob of foul, black ichor bursts from the profane fountain and engulfs MORDRED. To add insult to injury (or rather, injury to injury), the slime subsequently bursts into flame and flash-fries the poor gravedigger into a charred skeleton!
R.I.P: MORDRED THE GRAVEDIGGER
The allure of gold is suddenly a lot less compelling, now the party know their prize is guarded by a malevolent slime monster. Noting that the murderous goo is dripping from the mouth of the stone toad, TORAK hooks the statue and hauls it off its plinth, shattering the evil sculpture into a thousand tiny fragments. More black ooze spills out across the floor of the chapel. The slime does not spread beyond the chapel and the survivors decide to leave it (and its treasure) well alone.
As darkness descends upon the ruined citadel, the party retire to the gatehouse to rest overnight, resuming their explorations at dawn. The night passes uneventfully.
Descending a steep, spiral staircase beneath the tower (formerly) of the beastmen, the party reach a long, subterranean chamber dominated by a pool of brackish water. Bobbing in the dark water are a multitude of grinning, human skulls, their sightless eye sockets aflame with emerald green fire. Both CORMAC and FARMER GILES feel compelled to claim one of the leering skulls as a souvenir of their grand adventure.
Continuing their descent, the party find themselves standing on the sandy fringe of a vast, underground lake (the starless sea). While most of the gang watch a sinister longboat glide towards the beach with mounting trepidation, both ILLEDRAL and DORIZAN examine the tall, stone menhir overlooking the water. The chaotic runes carved across its surface are utterly alien to both scholars- and yet strangely compelling....
A somewhat effeminate shriek rings out, as ILLEDRAL and DORIZAN grab MEL THE MINSTREL and cut out his beating heart! Gibbering in an unfamiliar tongue, the wizard's apprentice chucks the bloody organ into the dark water.
R.I.P: MEL THE MINSTREL
Meanwhile, ILLEDRAL menaces HILDRISS with his bloody dagger. The fair Elven forester notches an arrow and warns the manic sage that she will fire if he does not desist immediately. ILLEDRAL lunges for her throat and HILDRISS shoots him in the chest.
R.I.P: ILLEDRAL THE ELVEN SAGE
Everyone else piles on top of DORIZAN. HORACE knocks him out cold and carries him away from the strange obelisk, praying that by putting some distance between him and the source of his murderous rage might allow the unconscious apprentice to recover his wits.
To be continued....