Favourite Lankhmar adventure?

Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar setting, home to the legendary Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, is the first officially licensed setting for the DCC RPG.

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J4ckD4wkins
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FLGS: The Guild House

Favourite Lankhmar adventure?

Post by J4ckD4wkins »

So the box set and the first adventures have been out for a while now. What's been your favourite adventure you've played/run so far?

I have to say No Small Crimes was a real blast, and I'm looking to possibly run a couple more adventures at my FLGS. So any thoughts on the next best one I could be running would be much appreciated!
michaelcurtis
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Re: Favourite Lankhmar adventure?

Post by michaelcurtis »

I obviously can't answer because I'd either have to praise them all or be biased. I am, however, interested in what others think, so I'll be following along here.
Scrivener of strange tales, part-time madman, and odd word aficionado.
JudgeTim
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FLGS: The Citadel

Re: Favourite Lankhmar adventure?

Post by JudgeTim »

Acting Up in Lankhmar is my current favorite.
michaelcurtis
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Re: Favourite Lankhmar adventure?

Post by michaelcurtis »

I'm pretty pleased with "Acting Up" and I think it's my favorite Lankhmar adventure I've written. The urban setting lets me experiment with plots that the dungeon just doesn't lend itself to, and AUiL was one of those. "Unholy Nights in Lankhmar" is another one that eschews the usual kick in the door and kill 'em all style for something better suited for the big city.

I'm happy you like it!
Scrivener of strange tales, part-time madman, and odd word aficionado.
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Vort
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Re: Favourite Lankhmar adventure?

Post by Vort »

So far I've only run two: Masks of Lankhmar and No Small Crimes. Both were an absolute blast, though I had to trim stuff out to run them as 4-hour one-shots (and both still ran over 5 hours).

I thought "Masks" was sword & sorcery style fun with good pacing, and it worked well as a good intro to Lankhmar -- both the system and the world -- because it really has a bit of everything. And, it starts off with a bang, in the thick of the action, which the players didn't expect and was a refreshing change. The adventure is loaded: the initial cellar meet and fight, figuring out some puzzles and traps, getting out of the house, resting up/healing if necessary, figuring out what to do next, meeting Sheelba -- and I managed to throw Ningauble in for the complete F&GM experience; they even ended up serving Ning instead of Sheelba as the two had competed for the mask -- getting to the tenement temple (I had to skip over most of the encounters there due to time but used a begging boy to help them locate the tower), getting into the tower, triggering traps, encountering the supernatural masks, running into the thieves' guild, and getting out. Incidentally, Ningauble won out at the end as he appeared to be the "nicer" of the two (their words, not mine); I had mouses running up legs with messages, and when the wizard was immobilized by "sloth" in the powder room, a bat flew in to bite him into action with the message "Wake up!" attached. Another party member had succumbed to "Rage", attacked his partner who knocked him out in return -- and this was while the thieves' guild members had joined the fray. The masks were flying, "shooting laser beams from their eyes" (again, their words), bags were flying, hands were flaming, it was chaos, and it was a hoot! Sadly we didn't have time for the rooftop chase, so I'm planning to insert that into another session where I can, but there was a ton of variety in play already.

The second session was "No Small Crimes" and only two of the players could make it. I was a little apprehensive about having only two but it turned out just fine and ran quite fast paced. I started them off with some carousing to regain luck, letting them narrate how they got out of their "situations"; they had fun with it. They almost ran into the house (after being commissioned by Ningauble to retrieve and bring back whatever they find), scoured the bookcases, dragged books over the hole in the trapdoor, and wanted to set up an "alarm" for anything coming out of the cellar by placing a kitchen utensil on top of the books. (Really, my job was easy! They did all the thinking and I just had to follow and let them get into trouble...) So, into the kitchen and up the shelves to encounter the spider! Quick encounter, with many a fumble, all for a ladle. Then up the stairs, a quick exploration of level 2, encountering cat signs but avoiding the rats, and up to 3; puzzled through opening the door, and I had forgotten the cat! So, once they were in the room and focused on the golem, the cat showed up, narrowly followed by two rats of Lankhmar Below, with crossbolts! Two white potions later they were large again (and composed mostly of cat, stuffed alligator, lab equipment and such) and bolted into the next room leaving the golem to the rats (one now large, 3 others small). Secret doors, treasure, back to finish off the golem and remaining rats, down to briefly stop to gather the rat-god idol, then book it down and out the back door where four members of the Thieves' Guild are just approaching the house (not in the module, but in place of the guards suggested at the beginning as a "meet", and we had time for a bit more). Conversation ensues (I was giving them a way out without combat, and they made the Personality rolls!); they convince the thieves that they scoped out a huge treasure chest on the 3rd floor and the thieves split up; unexpectedly (to me, at least) they gut the two thieves left behind, then up the stairs silently to gut the two thieves looking for the chest. Then, all bodies in a pile, they light the entire house ablaze and escape into the night to take the spoils to a very pleased Ningauble. It was a good time. I think I would run this again in a convention or maybe on "DCC Day" as it has a lot of fun elements reminiscent of the books. And the realization on the players' faces as they grew small was priceless.

Both were a ton of fun, but I think you can have fun no matter which module you run. There's so much creative content there! And the Fleeting Luck is genius! Just remember to hand it out (and take it away on fumbles); I kept forgetting and having to make up for it later. At one point they were spending 4 or 5 luck at a time, which wouldn't have happened in core DCC. I would even consider using this mechanic in my regular DCC games ... but now I'm looking at running Lankhmar at every opportunity, as it really has a different, fast-paced feel to it.

My plan is to generally just run through the modules by level, tweaking difficulty if necessary based on their character levels. Though, because I run them as episodic one-shots (with open attendance so there could be a mix of returning and new players), I might have to break up some modules into separate self-enclosed sessions (ie. not rely on the continuity of returning players) because some of them look quite hefty in content.

I'm thinking of running "The Fence's Fortuitous Folly" next as it fits well into the continuity: the players have gathered and sold a few treasures by now and, due to one of the PC's boons, they already have a fence established in that PC's brother so there will be incentive to help. I like that it starts with a chase (which I've wanted to do since Masks), and then has a crawl: two diverse elements, as I've come to learn, that make for good pacing in a four-hour one-shot. "Cheating Death" sounds fun but I want to wait until I have a few players more familiar with the overall feel of the setting as the character of Death is so well established in the books and is not just a throwaway.

Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with any choice of module as they're all packed with well laid-out creative (and bizarre, but in a good way) content! (And fantastic art, too, but then that's for you to just enjoy!)

Good luck!
Trevor / Road Crew (Calgary)
---
Shaky, Gambler, N, AC 10, hp 1, S12 A9 S5-2 P9 I9 L9, r+0, f-2, w+0, club +0 (1d4)
Shifty, Smuggler, C, AC 11, hp 1, S9 A15+1 S5-2 P13+1 I8-1 L8-1, r+1, f-2, w+1, init+1, attack rolls -1, sling +0 (1d4)
The Illuminating Anhk, Elven Artisan, L, AC 10, hp 3, S11 A9 S9 P13+1 I10 L15+1, r+0, f+0, w+1, fumbles +1, staff +0 (1d4)
KIA Bailey Bramford, Beadle, L, AC 11, hp 1, S13+1 A13+1 S12 P5-2 I13+1 L11, r+1, f+0, w-2, init +1, staff +1 (1d4+1)
J4ckD4wkins
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Re: Favourite Lankhmar adventure?

Post by J4ckD4wkins »

Wow Vort, thanks for the excellent writeup.

So it seems I'll be steering clear of the FLGS for the next while, but I will be running Acting Up this Sunday. I look forward to channelling all my plague-era Shakespearean energy into such a fantastic adventure. I'm sure it's just the cusp of more Lankhmarian weirdness to come!
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catseye yellow
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Re: Favourite Lankhmar adventure?

Post by catseye yellow »

I've run gang lords twice. it is open ended, sandboxy and can turn very violent. in fact it is more medieval richard stark than leiber but i really enjoyed both runs.

first time PCs gave up and ran out of city just to barge right into [SPOILERS] mingol ambush [SPOILERS] and then escape via ningauble's caves. second time, the other group, snuck up to the pimp street gang HQ sort of finished them in a pitched battle that ended via massive spellburn-ed color spray. i pretty much liked it because it sets whole neighborhood and provides you with a bunch of locales and NPCs.
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