Digital Drifting Dungeons of Highfell: Play Report Sessions 1-6

Product Placement

The Game:
We've played six times since Quarantine, about 2 hours each time.  Everyone is super familiar with my home rules document so things are really smooth.  My only hangup has been needing to look up monster stats for special abilities across several books.  I'm running HighFell pretty straightforward with minimal prep.  It's fun and definitely more light hearted than the Barrowmaze. We play using a combination of google hangouts and Roll20 (which allows a nice fog o' war feature for slowly revealing the map.  Best reason for roll20).  Pretty basic.  No tokens on the maps. Some people use the online dice roller.
We have 3 players & six characters but no wizard.  Keshar the Elfish Monk & Hewlan the Hobbit Cleric, Warren the Warrior & Nellus the Cleric, Puddle the Gnome Thief & Clutcher the Butcher.

Campaign Map

Sessions 1-2
The party was dropped off by the wizard Zanzibar from his flying carpet, given potions of Feather Falling and charged with collecting rare books.
They cleared the Forgotten Citadel of Kalgummer, discovering a Canterbury Cap, a pendulum hammer and Gygag's Cobbling for Beginners among other things. Upon descending to Kalguumer’s Crumbling Collegium they decided they were low on torches and food so they quaffed their potions of Feather Falling and jumped through a moon door.

Traditional games of the future

Sessions 3-4
Arriving back on the drifting isle via a bridge of fog, the group decided to forgo returning to the dungeon of Kurgammer, instead walking right through the shattered Front doors of Psyruque’s tower. Many spell components yielded great riches, but the aerial guardians chased their second level butts out of the tower. After reconnoitering, the group snuck back in and descended to the dungeon.

Epic

Sessions 5-6
After some solid carousing, the High Fellers traded colored glass to the ravens for a ride to the Drifting Dungeon. Well armed and also 2nd level they thought they would do some aerial reconnaissance, but were driven back by the Wyvern of the Stormhold.  Gazakel's Dwimmerhold is a pale green, strangely shaped tower. They entered the Dwimmerhold through the second story, breaking in through a stained glass window. There were crystals and mysteries within, and foes without. Soon a small band of winged dragon-like men followed into the broken window, but found themselves in battle with the undead. The crew fell upon the dragon men and undead alike, hewing left and right. When the scales settled, the serpent fetishists faded back to their original forms, that of weakling men.This was the best tower yet. Short, weird, puzzles and interaction, roleplay and connections. The collapsing walls only on the bottom floor was a little weird, and the lesser stone statue was a bit too weak. Rolling lots of wandering monsters the second session really brought the place to life. Some of Highfell is a bit undercooked. I wish this tower map actually showed the second story windows mentioned in the outside description and shown in the illustration. I wish there was a bit more wizardly detritus in these tower chambers. But on the other hand, this time it was just enough to keep play moving and inspire crazy hi-jinks.  

Luft Baboon

The party snuck in through a second story window and delved downward. Winged wandering monsters kept following them in the window, dragonmen, winged baboons, a giant toad, but a color puzzle completed, much loot was found, baboons were parlayed with (through interpretive dance), and a talking mannikin discovered it's desire to see the world. Now the Head of Gaz is being carried around, still holding its "air of death", and who knows what's next?

Jewels of the Carnifex: Uncommon Dungeons Playtest Report

I ran Jewels of the Carnifex (a DCCRPG from Goodman Games) for a couple of friends last month, before all the chaos.  The module was completed in two sessions.  Each player used two characters, playing my Uncommon Dungeons traditional style ruleset.  This post will include a variation on the play report I sent the dudes, then thoughts on the module and on my constantly evolving rules.

Play Report 

The motley crew of cleric, barbarian, monk, and wizard were fresh off the boat in Redgate, newly rebuilt outpost of the Middle Empire, in search of gold and glory in the newly thawed out lands of the Heartstone Valley.  They were soon hired by a mysterious patron, Zanzibar the Magnificat, who desired to find lost books of the elder empires from before the the Great Glacier swallowed the north.  He knew of a hidden temple of an ancient god hidden beneath the old town, a place of ancient lurking magic, where he hoped the tome known in the ancient writings as the Grimoire Nex might be found.  To facilitate entry, the magician ensorcelled the surface guardians into unnatural slumber so that his hirelings might descend the crumbling spiral stair.
The stairwell itself was the first obstacle.  Only judicious and decisive use of a levitation spell kept the masonry from collapsing.  Within, shadowy manifestations of pure evil reached out to sap their, strength, but the explorers did not tarry long.  The cleric raised his holy symbol high, holding back the darkness.  Further, 3 doors were discovered and explored.  Demon toads, ghosts and a crazed hermit were dealt with in divers manner, but eventually the inner temple was discovered, as were the mutated, ageless guardians, who seemed to regard themselves as servants of Light and Law, but were quite obviously corrupted by Chaos.

In the aftermath of the battle with the misguided and mutated guardians of the under temple all was quiet and still but for the drip drop of water, the squelch of fungal growth underfoot. The cloying warmth and hothouse stench of the place remained.
Azazail the Scion of Light disintegrated (or ascended to heaven) under the blows of Dirk the Witcher. The bodies of the “Pious” melted away as time has caught up with them. All that remained was the huge black bladed claymore called “Executioner’s Wand”.  The barbarian hefted in appreciatively.

Over the vestal vault still loomed the massive rat-like idol of roots and bright green moss.
Natural looking flowstone stairs lead down into grotto below.  Some careful thievery and brutal smashing later, the jewels were destroyed, the demonic presence beneath the Red Keep consigned to another millennia of captivity.  After much thorough search, many treasures were found, including the grimdark Grimoire Nex, apparently a codex of demonology.

The under temple of the Old Chaos gods caused a great debate amongst the delvers who rid it of its corrupted defenders, posing more questions than it answered. If a scion of Law can be corrupted without knowing it, retaining their power, then how do they know if they truly do the work of the Lords of Light?
With heavy hearts and great misgivings, the five returned to the Blind Knight Inn, laden with treasures magic and mundane. The elfish cleric agonized over the conflicts of righteousness and doctrine, the wizard worried they were setting dark powers loose upon the land.
The party did not trust their patron, Zanzibar the Magnificat and perhaps he did not trust them, for he was in their private chamber when they awoke from slumber. Dirk the Demonhunter cast his steely gaze upon the inscrutable wizard. He was neither a creature of Chaos, nor a servant of Law. What were his motives? He would not say, only that the recession of the ice fields from the Heartstone Valley uncovered many lost and best forgotten secrets. It would be best if "the wise" would acquire such things. He paid for his book, the Grimoire Nex, still triple locked within its cumdach. On his way out he told of a tower he hoped to procure as his new base of operations as well as a "drifting island in the sky" where he hoped to find yet more scholarly works for his library.
In the weeks that followed, some of the party spent their gold irresponsibly while others spent their time researching and tithing.
The thief earned a mighty hangover.
Both wizard cleric and witcher crossed paths with the Paladins of the Crimson Cross, the religious order and knightly host who serve as the hand and fist of Duke Wolverhampton the Wanderer. The Middle Empire reclaimed these lands a generation ago, but in recent years the Duke and his paladins have sought to tighten their grip on the marches beyond the keep and the riverlands, with uneven success.

Next stop, the Drifting Dungeon of Highfell.

Module Rumination

I always enjoy the art, the maps and short & sweet nature of Dungeon Crawl Classics rpg modules.  They tend to be memorable and finished in a session or two.  I have wanted to run Jewels of the Carnifex for a few years mostly because I love the green Mullen cover.
It went well.  The handout map was useful.  The players were intrigued.  They spent some time back tracking and discussing before they finally discovered the Grimoire.  Only the backstory was fairly confusing both to myself and the players.  Of course that wasn't helped by my attempts to shoehorn the thing into my new campaign world.
Overall, I'd highly recommend this adventure, but it's really worth outlining (maybe a set of bullet points) what the final villain says and does.  Any time you are trying to run a battle and drop backstory it gets a little confusing for my DM brain.

Rules Ruminations

We played my evolving personal ruleset, Uncommon Dungeons.  I've been using this for a couple of years now and I am more and more comfortable with it.  It move quickly, each character type stands out and players are limited by resources (HP, ability scores, rations, torches, time etc) to a degree that we are finding fun and engaging as I have built in ways to "push" each of these limits.  Basically, the game has been calibrated to my taste and I'm having a great time.  Getting closer to making a semi-settled printing.

Good Times in Town

There are still a couple things to fiddle with:  Spending money between sessions! Carousing and the like. This is where a lot of great roleplaying can happen as well, and when I am most enthusiastic about collaborative world building. An optional roll to gain some more experience points, and a Haven Doom Die roll. This time it was Peace and Contentment, but other times the setting may change due to shortages, disasters, or discoveries.
I'm still fiddling with the numbers. I want to encourage Carousing but I don't want it to to be absolutely necessary to keep up xp. Angelo made a good point that one could easily save up and do it all at once. I've no problem with that. 1xp per 3gp ratio is a little silly in terms of math, but maybe that's ok. 1/2? The others 1/4?

Combat

The one piece that still hasn't stuck for me is combat phases. I have written and am trying to use B/X style combat phases.  The problem is that I keep forgetting to use it, so used to just saying "What do you do?"  When we have used it, I find it very satisfying.

1. Initiative: Throw Battle Die (d6)
2. Movement & Archery: Each side moves or shoots with readied arrow & spear
3. Melee: Each side resolves Hand to hand attacks in initiative order
4. Spells & Volleys: Each side resolves Spells (if no movement) & 2nd Archery (if no melee)

I like that there are opportunities to move and run separate from fighting. It also allows for high rate of fire for arrows axes, slings and spears. I think spells taking effect at the end of all that is an important limiter,  especially since my dangerous sorcery rules allow wizards and clerics to push far past their allotted spell points.  Magic is powerful, but it is not instant.

Rules of Magic

One big development is that I recently converted most the spell lists (haven't gotten to high Order cleric spells yet) to Uncommon rules, which helps settle things.  The conversion mostly consisted of setting damage dice and Saving Throw ability as well as one or two sentence descriptions. Duration is probably the most significant change.  Since I am using the "Hazard Dice" to track durations, all spells in Uncommon Dungeons are Rounds, Turns, Days, Weeks/Months, or Permanent.  These correspond to the Battle, Doom, Wilderness and Haven dice.  The spell ends when "Expiration" is rolled on the appropriate dice table.

Duration 

Rounds may expire during Combat  

Turns may expire during Exploration 

Wilderness Turns consist one day 

Haven Turns indicates weeks & months

Monsters

There is no need to convert monsters from DCC or any old D&D style rules. I mostly use Swords & Wizardry or AD&D stats if something isn't in a given module.

Heartstone Campaign considerations

For some of my players, it seems that the biggest question is about alignment and cosmology. I'll try to write up a bit about the Eternal Struggle between Law and Chaos.  I am mostly inspired by Warhammer and Moorcock's eternal champion books. My thought is that there is a state Church of Orthodox Law, but within that faith are numerous cults of various saints such as Ygg the Righteous, Cuthbert the Stalwart, Sigmar the Hammer of Empire and the Queen of Swords. On the other side are the Ruinous Powers, Chaos Gods who seek to pervert and destroy civilizations, represented by Khorne Slaughter God, Nurgle the Pestilent, Orcus Lord of the Dead, Slaanesh the Decadent, Set the Dark Serpent etc. Law and Chaos are in a state of eternal cosmic war. Caught in between are most living creatures and various supernatural entities that are worshipped: such as the Green Man, the Cold Prince, Crom on His Mountain, Ttoth Keeper of Secrets, Mother Mitra of Peace and Contentment, but these are not recognized religions, though many folk of the north pay them homage. As in all war, it is those with the least interest in the outcome who suffer the most. Great are the atrocities of the hordes of Chaos, and disturbing are the purges of the Witch Hunters of the Queen of Swords.
All in all, there's been some great gaming going on through these troubled times.  I'll try to write more about my burgeoning Highfell campaign as well as the TypeV D&D game I'm running for my students and friends kids.

Winter's Daughter Play Report and Review

"Delve into the fairy-haunted forest of Dolmenwood"

"The tomb of an ancient hero, lost in the tangled depths of the woods. A ring of standing stones, guarded by the sinister Drune cult. A fairy princess who watches with ageless patience from beyond the veil of the mortal. A forgotten treasure that holds the key to her heart."

"A romantic fairytale dungeon adventure for characters of 1st to 3rd level"

Spoilers, of course.

A few weeks back my group played the Winter's Daughter adventure module by Gavin Norman. It's the best thing I've played in awhile for that dark fairy forest vibe. The back story is evocative (and nicely broken into bite sized chunks that I was able to toss out as characters were introducing themselves), the dungeon is a simple tomb but contains a story that reveals itself. 

 However, the first encounter has nothing to do with the story and was almost my favorite part. I don't want to spoil it but the heroes are presented with a scenario that seems genre typical at first glance, but turns out to be anything but. My players were non-plussed and I felt like it was a brilliant introduction to the Drune and the forest setting at large. The first session ended with the heroes drifting like snowflakes out of a hole in the sky...

In the second session, the heroes found themselves in a frozen world, at the edge of a frozen lake, surrounded by dense forest, staring at a white marble tower in the middle of the lake.  At the front door were the doormen, a goblin on the shoulders of a hungry troll.  The goblin Griddlegrim said that they were not on the guest list but that they could join the party if they ate a magic mushroom.  The heroes obliged and were variously affected by the stuff: shrunk to 6 inches, purple skin, etc.

In the tower they met the Winter Princess waiting for her groom to arrive.  They made deal with her, returned to the tomb, and figured out safe passage into the the crypt.  Thus, the ancient lovers were reunited and the heroes emerged victorious, laden with fairy jewels.  A good time was had by all.

A highly recommend the module.  It is high on investigation, idiosyncratic detail and mystery, low on hack and slash (though there was a brutal battle on the lake with the troll, ending only when the troll fell through the ice).   This makes for an engaging adventure and also one that plays a bit more quickly.  With only a handful of actual fights, the action moves faster.  This could easily be a 6 hr one-shot (we did it in two 3ish hour sessions).  

A final note on the layout: Very easy to use at the table.  Info is in bullet points.  Descriptive words for each location at the top.  Bullet points for NPC/monster "reactions" (sometimes "Wants" or "Knows") make it very easy for the DM to give the roleplay a sense of direction.  I want all modules to be like this, which is why I've been running Hole in the Oak!  

  

Session #47-48: Doom of the Dire Boar & Return to Harrowmoor

TL:DR: Dire Boar defeated, Ent encountered, healed of disease, communed with a strange lake creature beneath the crumbling Harrowmoor Castle.  And Lady Chantrelle seems to have taken young Jacque to the Hall of Sleep.

The earth shaking might of the Mother of All Boar was no match for the accumulated power of the Barrowmaze veterans.  As She approached bristles scraping the high ceiling of the cavern, the cleric Clonin retrieved an illuminated scroll from his haversack and intoned the syllables of power inscribed upon it.  Instantly, the paper turned to ash, then swirled around the massive beast which seemed to shrink as it charged squealing ever more high pitched as it's stature was reduced to that of it children.  A rough battle ensued between the party and the three pony sized pigs.  Clonin knocked his head against the cavern wall and lost consciousness before the last perilous porcine protagonist was butchered.
After gathering treasure and surviving a further attack from a returning singular of boars, the group began their journey back to Harrowmoor, clutching the cure for Erik's debilitating disease, the Cave Lily.  Travel was cross country and confusing in the dark tangle of the Dolmenwood.  They got lost and spent a cold night in conversation with a friendly tree called Rootbound who told them of the Elven Princes who once ruled the wood but are now more rare, and of the sinister Cold Prince, who was banished.  The old tree was particularly unhappy with the recent ruttings of goatmen amongst his roots. 
It took three days to find once again the high cliffs of the Groaning Loch, and it cost a gold coin or so to convince the loan fisherman they spied to ferry them to the castle.
Returning to the somber confines of Harrowmoor, the company first visited Dr. Prunesqualor, who obligingly brewed a medicinal poultice while intimating dark suggestions that the Lady Harrowmoor had been corrupted by dark forces and was no longer an adequate protector of her daughter Violet.  "Perhaps she needs to be removed from office," he murmured. 
The evening meal with the family of the manor began uneventfully, notable for the absence of the young lad Jacque and the mysterious Lady Chantrelle.  Presently, Resper and the learned men began to tell their tales, which fascinated the otherwise bored and tedious Lady of the manor.  Tales and wine flowed and suddenly it was the witching hour, with Violet long since sent to bed.  The strange lady bid they follow her lead, and, escorted by her clowder of cats, descended by a stair behind a bookcase in the study down down to a lake side cove for below the ramparts.
"Here is the source of my family's wisdom," she purred.
The moonlight caressed the waters of the cove and Erik felt compelled to sing a strange song that came to his mind unbidden, with words he did not understand.  The lake water began to shine with a luminescent light and nebulous shape rose to the surface, more light and presence than true physicality, yet the minds of the visitors to Harrowmoor were overwhelmed, wallowing in total sensory overload. 
They came to as the false dawn emerged and stumbled up the stair heavy of foot but enlightened by visions of cosmic import, a feeling that the brooding, skeletal claws of evil in the Barrowmaze was gathering strength again, opposed not by the Church (insular as it is) but by the wild chaos that was the Nag Lord.  Their conflict will bring ruin to those caught in between.
A night in seance with the "Forroth" was a taxing affair.  Though they planned to hurry after Jacque and Lady Chantrelle, who they assumed had absconded to the Hall of Sleep, but found that Sleep came heavy to themselves, sleeping a straight 48 hours once their heads hit the pillow.

Session #46: In the Valley of Beasts

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Sessions 44 & 45: The Chaos Crypts of St Clewd & the Mysteries of Harrowmoor Keep

The Heroes of Barrowmaze got out of those crypts quick.  They returned to the prayer room to find the summoned wall of iron gone and the great para-dimensional worm nowhere to be seen.  But something had stirred the denizens of Clewd's crypt; not the seemingly living and conscientious Wardens of Clewd, but a shambling horde of zombified monks, seemingly starved for flesh.  The warriors thought of their responsibilities above ground and retreated from the fray, hustling back into the tunnel whence they came and to the surface.  None followed.
The rescued children were brought back to the town of Prigwort with much fanfare, despite their best efforts.  The youngest child, Bilbry, was warmly welcomed by his relieved family.  Many toasts were given and songs were sung in the Wrinkled Medlar Inn.


The following day was blustery with rain, but the troupe left early with a horse and cart borrowed by the Heggid brothers (Mathias & Martin) from their old man.  Young Violet Harrowmoor rode in the cart with her dark companion, the boy Jacque, a surly boy who never smiled.  They arrived at he gatehouse in late afternoon, amidst a steady down poor.
The gatekeeper was named Steerpike, a surly type, but quick to raise the portcullis once he recognized the young heiress, who was brought refreshment and warm by the fire in the great hall.  Greetings from the relieved mother, Lady Harrowmoor, were strange and stilted, but that may have been the normal manner.  It was hard to tell.  The Lady was surrounded by cats, who followed her everywhere.  They cats seemed happy to see the little girl Violet.
Lady Harrowmoor rewarded the group with a large jeweled pendant, a lavish heirloom, and bade them stay the night as honored guests.  She wished to speak to them in her study on the morrow.
Upon request, Dangerous Dan was introduced to the castle apothecary, Dr. Prunesqualor, who informed the ailing warrior that the blight from which he suffered could only be cured with a tincture created with the juice of a inverted redcap, found growing in the ceilings of caves in the Valley of Wise beasts north of the Groaning Loch.  The doctor pointed across the tree tops from his tower window. "But beware.  The Court of the Naglord is not far beyond the Valley, and his beasts are vengeful of any slight."
Each of the rescuers of Violet were presented with their own room for the night, complete with fireplace and writing desk.  Dan looked out from his opened window across the courtyard.  The clouds had broken up and an early rising full moon shed its first silvery rays over the walls.  Turning, the warrior beheld a movement in the painting above his bed.  There was a large painting of a naked woman chained in a red room.  In her illustrative state she was yet gesturing, beseeching aid.  
After some deliberation, Dan discovered he could pass through and into the plane of the artwork, and he did so, making the acquaintance of the singular woman called False Chantrelle.  She begged to be set free, saying the she had been double crossed in the galleries beyond and only wanted to leave this strange treasure house behind.
Dan freed the woman, peeked into the patterned blue light of the room beyond, spying a blue skinned woman, and promptly turned and jumped back through the painting after Chantrelle, whom he then convinced to stay the night.
Lady Harrowmoor was bemused by her newly arrived houseguest, asserting that her uncle had loved the painting but that she had hardly paid it any mind.  The Lady was more interested in discussing the possible family tree of young Jacque, demonstrating his uncanny likeness to the last Lord of Ayarai, Jourdain, who disappeared along with his castle fifty years before.  She was certain that young master Jacque was actually the heir to his manse, a nearby place now known as the Hall of Sleep.
The group gathered supplies for a journey to the Valley of Wise Beasts.

Whew! Dolmenwood is very inspiring but a hassle to run.  There's a weird amount of detail and difficult to reference.  The hexes are tough to quickly grok.  I'm looking forward to getting the group back into a dungeon, but I think they are going to poke around in the forest first.

Knaves in the Moathouse

"What's a gambeson?"

Tonight I ran my wife and a buddy through the Moathouse using the new Knave rules, written by Ben Milton of Questing Beast.  They both were eaten by the giant lizard.  She got to dramatically rip her char sheet in two.
Fun session.
They both got into rolling up their traits before even stats and the inventory game was crucial.  As they found loot they kept dropping gear and debating if it would be useful later.
I also provided three random spells.  Increase Gravity was used very cleverly to collapse the damaged roof of the main hall on top of bandits.

The other houserules I used were a death and dismemberment table and a hazard die roll for initiative and encounters.  Worked great.
This was the first time the lil lady has had a character die in 5 years of gaming.  She fully enjoyed it.  I liked how fast and loose it was, especially compared to the slog of battles in our type V game (6th level in Tomb of Annihilation).
I'd like to use these Knave rules when I finally introduce rpgs to my after school club of 6th graders and I think I'll incorporate elements into my Uncommon rules.  I've been toying with a semi-level-less spell system...