The Beholder

Sometimes all it takes is a little push, so when my eldest son said he needed a monster for his D&D club (an at school activity) to chase a bunch of newbies (giving them a head start at 5th Level) around a dungeon - he asked would I paint the Beholder that had been lurking primed and shaded on the shelf for over a year, it was enough of a prod (see below, the paint went from pot to brush to figure and before you know it, my mojo was back):  

Not someone or something I would want to meet any day down a dungeon! The Whizzkids model is much more animated and scary than the previous one I painted.

Personal D&D Highlight of the current Campaign: "Elven Magic User, do you remember the time when, ..."

Snuggly settled into a quiet corner of a tavern, the players reminisce together: "Elven Magic User, do you remember the time when, ..."

" ... You got scared after a Spectator hit you with a ray and you sprinted off down a random dungeon corridor screaming at the top of your voice until you were out of sight? And then, when we eventually found you, weren't you chained to a large rock, barely clothed, shivering in the middle of a cavern surrounded by [as yet] unanimated skeletons? 

We rescued you but you kindly forgot to tell us about, ... the fact that a Wraith had put you there as bait to lure the party into the cavern and he was coming to get us?" ... pause ...  "And, as the Wraith was 'getting us' you were totally without any magical powers of any sort to help us - being striped of spell books and ingredients for spells, by the clever Wraith. 

And ... if it wasn't for the fact that 'Beady' our lovable, but slightly murderous Gnome thief was secretly [as in unbeknownst to the rest of the party] possessed and under the malevolent power of an ancient, evil, intelligent artefact - which made Beady hand itself over [that is the evil artefact, aka a 'Mark of Chaos' - which everybody is now agreed as a "bad ass" thing for him to pick up in the first place and not tell us] to the Wraith which was then .. to our complete surprise .. was consumed by an unnatural red ball of energy that opened a dimensional portal, out from which stepped forth a Greater Demon spitting forth lightning and destruction - which we narrowly ducked, despite it bringing the roof of the cavern partially down?" 

Gasp of breath and sip of beer, then the Dwarf continued ...

"Which meant that, instead of being simple undead servants of the Wraith, we were alive but now responsible for releasing a terrible monster into the realm of men-elf-dwarf-gnome, the likes of which has never been seen in centuries and something we are desperately trying to hide from all the authorities, despite their persistent questioning?" 

Now that is a good tale for a long, dark, wintry, night in a tavern - providing it doesn't end up in a bar room brawl (see below, the scene in question from the adventure, proof that 'a fellow party character in need' [magic-user chained to a large rock] is definitely a pest of the highest order): 

Meanwhile back at the bar ...

"Yes?" said the Elf rather truculently, "I do kind Dwarf, I do remember the incident in question, but what of it?". "Well I only ask," said the Dwarf sipping his tankard of beer which was almost empty, "because I thought, isn't it your round at the bar?"

Old School Friends continue our D&D Dungeon Hack

Damn it, is it not a frustrating blast when those darn adventurers get their act together and bamboozle a clump of dangerous looking monsters (in this case a band of five Bugbears). By deft and cunning use of a magician's familiar, a Dragon Breath spell (see cotton wool below in the picture below) which as it came from a completely unexpected direction, "spooked" the monsters into stampeding into a well set up trap, aka killing zone (see below, as their "singed" [Bugbear] leader fell along side another Bugbear to the deft back-stabbing of the party's two thieves [the tiny Gnome thief dropping down from a point above the archway - a set-up that is becoming his trademark move], the "force morale" of the remaining three Bugbears crumbled [as per the three Bugbears exiting south at the bottom of the photograph]): 

Catching but a short breath the adventurers then moved onto the "next room" and came across another three Bugbears plus their Drow overseer. Two of the Bugbears and the Drow were distracted as they searching in a chasm for "something" (see the figures in the white 'chasm floor' area [top part] in the photograph below). Silence whispers and mutterings  - the PCs were up to something. Sure enough they had a "plan" very similar to their last escapade. However, the party's next assassination plan (meticulously worked out beforehand) came unstuck right at the start of its execution. The magician's familiar was this time spotted and "plucked" from the sky [by exactly "what" the party are not sure of], but at least the party's thieving duo still managed to take out the isolated Bugbear on guard duty up top, already dead as he toppled to the chasm below (see below, the party's killing spree continues, but now the enemy now know they are there):  

I am looking forward to the resolution to this Mexican stand-off in the next session.  

Dungeon Fun: Skeletons

Ain't it always the same, a room described in the most non-descriptive way .. "a room filled with a bunch of trash really, intermixed with the now skeletal remains of the former guards who once inhabited and died in this area" .. the adventures trundle in and start rooting around from loot (see below, notice the eagerness of the thieves to be 'first in'): 

Imagine their surprise and my glee as the skeletons animate and surround the party gaining a two to one attack [apparently when this happens one of the attacks comes in at advantage] which started to beat up the party until the Cleric used his "anti undead" magic .. boo hiss .. and they all relaxed (see below, figures of the skeletons [Warlord games and really nice] are only partially complete [highlights, wash and base work still to be done] but have that lovely Jason and the Argonauts feeling which defines "skeletons" in D&D to me):

So spoiler alert, they got away (how did these guys make it to third and fourth level, I am sure in Second Edition Dungeons and Dragon their numbers would have been long up) but a more serious threat in the form of a guard room full of Bugbears awaits.

Why so few posts this year?

I put it down to computer fatigue - the screen and keyboard time associated with work have soared during lock-down. Being a home office working and spending most of my day in front of a computer, the thought of spending extra hours in front of it typing away at a blog simply does not appeal. The social interaction of online gaming is a real buzz though, as well as Virtual Meetings with other wargamers - such as those put on recently by Wargaming Developments. The high light however is the online D&D session that has rumbled on through Covid regardless (see below, a scene from my last "Dungeon Hack" session - the party gets bounced by a 'gang of ghouls' [evil laughter] lead by an "undead" boss monster with .. ooh look ... a dangerous looking 'evil' magic item - so the party's Cleric attacks the undead with "Light Domain - Channel Divinity" ability): 

More 'good news' is that I do snip away making things for my hobbies more. For some particular reason the Covid-crisis has inspired me to "put-together" plenty [too many] 28mm WWII (for Chain of Command) figures. I do seem to have organised and assessed the contents of the wargaming attic in meticulous detail - although arranging troops for my own  "big battles" has not been part of this activity. So, credit to all the other bloggers who have kept up such a prestigious rate over Covid and the good news story is that I am getting a few games of the F2F type in too, so I think the tide is a turning for the better.  

As for the Dungeon Crawl (see below, spoiler alert, the adventurers were victorious .. sigh .. [as all the undead are now really well and truly, once and for all .. er, dead .. their natural state I suppose], the adventurers may have won this particular battle but the war or rather the quest goes on!): 

PS: To all my fellow bloggers out there .. blog on .. I am still reading you .. and enjoying you all tremendously ;) 

Beauty is in the "Eye of the Beholder"

This is a Black Tree Design "Evil Eye" which to me equates to a Second Edition D&D Monster Manual picture of a Beholder (see below, a ping pong table tennis ball with pin tacks sticking out of it and a "bitey" mouth on it): 

As they say, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder (and although it does not compare to the Fifth Edition pimped up larger model of the Beholder) and I like its rustic charm. The other nickname we gave it was "the purple people eater"! Time will tell on that one as you have to be fairly high level to be unfortunate enough to meet and greet one! 

Some Pictures of D&D Adventurers that I had fun with in Lock-Down

One of the unexpected benefits of lock-down was my rediscovery of RPG with my old school friends at the tutelage of my eldest son (whom I think has memorised the contexts of 5th Edition AND the subsequent rules changes .. respect). From the loft came out some old Grenadier and Citadel friend from the 1980's (see below, not forgetting the ubiquitous dungeon floor plans - basic set corridor grey):  

This guy in particular, children's magic party "over the top" classic D&D wizard - dressed so crazy he's got to be both mad and powerful (see below, I take my hat off to the "mojo" I had when I painted him): 

Dwarves you gotta love them and that serious looking lost Crusader paladin type in the background (see below, the dwarf female looks tougher than the male counterpart - a happy couple on an orc killing spree): 

These are the new-comers in two senses of the word - new race (Drakon) and new figure casting (sexy plastic- resin from Wizkids, Noldur's Marvellous Miniatures) - but wat is there not to like (see below, apart from the joint custody of them between me and my teenage son; he'll eventually  break my heart when the collection moves out with him): 

Last but not least, in what seems like an age ago the original LOTR's "The Fellowship of the Ring" came out and along with is GW's LOTR's miniatures started (see below, I think it is Pippin, perfect for that halfling thief that appears in every party .. well at least at the start): 

This sums up D&D or rather RPG as lots of everything coming together in one big "mish-mash" of fun ;) 

Long may you all game on!

RPG Nostalgia: Gary Gygax Biography - Audible Book

I indulged myself in a nostalgic trip to before my roots in RPG when Dungeons and Dragons was but a twinkle in Gary Gygax's and Dave Arneson's eyes (see below, I loved it and it fleshed out the back story to the evolution of the game system):

Interestingly Gary Gygax was also an avid board and war gamer. Avalon Hill's Gettysburg was a favourite of his. On the morning of Gencon One he tip-toed across his front room, trying not to tread on sleeping bags of dozing fellow gamers and the 1/1200 scale models from the previous nights Fletcher Pratts sea battles! Respect. In fact Gencon One seemed to be as much wargaming (WWI Dogfights and Napoleonic Sea Fights) as well as Chain-Mail with its Fantasy Supplement!

I succumbed - 5th Edition D&D Players Handbook

After reading the Starter Set cover-to-cover does it come as a surprise to anyone I just 'had to' go and get the Players Handbook so I could roll up some PC's of my own or some interesting NPCs? I thought not (see below, colourful - nice artwork and entertainingly written, it has even got my son reading which in this electronic age is an achievement): 

Next Stop: The Dungeon Masters Guide, when I save up my pocket money that is!

The Lost Mines of Phalinder: 5th Edition D&D

The adventure rolls ever on. Rather than having scraps of paper stuffed into the back of books to be lost down the backs of sofas I kinda wrap everything up in a big roll of paper [£1 from the Pound Store or DIY Store]. That ways I can draw a map and move on chronologically, setting up little vignettes and scribbling things down. At the end of the night I just roll it up (see below, the lower portion of the map details the journey from NeverWinter - past the Goblin Ambush [spoiler alert] and arriving in Phandolin):

The adventures approach the camp-site of an Evil Mage and "bump" into his 'zombie bodyguards". Negotiations (assisted with a PC Charm Spell cast on the Evil Mage) are about to begin (see below, the four adventurers are approaching B, E, S, W which means three zombies each + the spell caster, all depends on an important saving throw):

The "New Guard" (my eldest son and one of his friends) of players were introduced to the "Old Guard" - my old school friends who last played D&D under AD&D First Edition, back in the 1980's. Boy that makes me feel old. The Old Guard were more than prepared or willing for the Young Guard to earn their spurs - as in do all the dangerous stuff ;)

Letting the youngest DM .. and me being Solo Adventurer!

Having walked the kids through their first D&D adventure I could see the sparkle stay in my youngest's eyes (he's only seven). He so wanted to "play with the toys" I had to let him become the storyteller (DM) and you know what, I think that bright young mind did it far better job than me. I was placed in the precarious situation of being a solo "dungeoneering". "This won't last long" I thought to myself, first monster and he will choose the biggest one in the box (probably the Umber Hulk ... a miniature that has never yet been killed in one of my D&D games)! So there I was walking across the stony floor of a chamber and it was announced that I had encountered a trap. Ooops.  One (failed) skill test later and I was left imprisoned by a falling cage (in true comic book fashion). That was it I thought .. monster meat! However with a benevolent sense of imagination, the monster that appeared was a small mushroom man that befriended me. He (it?) said that it would help me escape as it knew where the special key was for the cage! I then played the mushroom man getting the key from a locked chest. Ingenious. He (or was it, it?) set me free and my new BBF and I explored the next room (see below, we are sneaking around in the background trying not to be seen by a Big Blue Monster and two young hatch-ling Dragons [Red and Blue]):

One unremitting axiom of dungeoneering is that where you find treasure chests you find big ugly monsters. In this case a green one that came from a very old Warhammer starter pack. I didn't manage to catch his name as he bludgeoned me into the ground (three rounds of combat which I all lost) as I was distracted open treasure chest withe the allure of gold inside it (see below, I was left unconscious as my new BBF did a very good "hide in the shadows" which is perhaps what I should have done):

Luckily my mushroom BBF was on the ball to once again come to my rescue. It(?) sneaked away and opened a chest where he knew there was a secret healing potion in that resuscitated me (see below, my seven year old was definitely out dungeoneering me hands down):

Once I was back on my feet Mr Mushroom introduced me to Miss Mushroom (pink hat, I get it) his girlfriend(?) who would help me from here "as it was too dangerous for him to go on". Not only narrative but he ingested the sense of peril into the storytelling. I was impressed (see below):

There we had to leave it until another time. My only chance of survival is to "follow the mushroom" to find a way to safety. I think my youngest is a bit of a groovy hippy at heart ;)

Dungeon Delve with the Dungeons and Dragons Board Game

It's the classic tale. Two adventurers and a DM. Limited resources, one character each, pretty much their first dungeon delve and a whole load of mysterious experiences for these youngsters to come, my two sons. Bravely they lit their torches and pursued the band of Goblins who had captured the local village sheriff . Opening their first dungeon door (I wonder if they will remember this defining event thirty years hence), they surprised the distracted Goblin guard, wounded him and then watched him run off down the corridor to try and alert his friends (same old story at least guard always gets away to warn the others). Fearlessly they decided to push on (see below):

The guard ran to find his friends and this group of three Goblins turned to face the adventurers outnumbering them 3:2. This bravery turned out to be pure folly as the dwarven-magic-user (interesting) and human fighter's ranged bow felled two breaking the Goblin's brittle morale. Were these the serious monsters who overwhelmed the local village. Searching around the two adventurers found a wealth of magical treasure locked in checks (obviously the Goblins were packing up lot ready to move off). With a new found magic sword in hand, two potions of healing and a strange magic scroll (watch this space) the lucky duo passed into the final hall of the adventure. Deftly avoiding some nasty pit-traps (thanks to the dexterity of the fighter-their) they pinned the remaining five Goblins (four normal and the big sub-leaser) into their lair - but no sign of the "sheriff" (see below):

Here the novice dungeon delvers learned first hand of the power of a "sleep" spell. Four out of five of the Goblins were subdued and the fifth slain by the fighter. The remaining four never "woke-up" (the ethical consideration of this I am still pondering as a father .. but they were evil .. perhaps I should have hinted they could have been "tied-up" as prisoners). The adventure part one is over. As the adventurers sift through the treasure chests "lo and behold" they discover a map to where the "sheriff" is being held. This small band of Goblins were but a mere scouting party for something more bigger and sinister!

A Golden Rule: Never look back ... or you'll end up buying the 5th Edition D&D Started Pack

OK, so it started out as a casual conversation between work colleagues and led two weeks later to an impulsive "I know I was going to do it sometime so it might as well be now" moment (see below):

The upshot of it all is that D&D seems to have moved on a lot since my pubescent, hormonal 2nd Edition days (circa 1982 to 1986). The game system seems to emphasis play-ability (to which I think of as back to the "Old Blue" Basic Dungeons and Dragons book) and less on chart heavy play, but very positive in stream-lining (aka guiding) what the players can/could do (aka action types and attribute checks when the players are being "hard of thinking" or "doing something generic" outside of specif actions covered exhaustively in the rules).

All-in-all it has "beer and pretzel" written all over it, with a happy smile. I don't think I will be forking out well over "£100" for the "big set of pretty books" though, but adapt stuff from the "starter set" back into 2nd Edition (famous last words).

Note (see above): An unmade hotel bed and a freshly opened (I can still smell that clean, clear plastic wrapping film) box of 5th Edition D&D "Starter Set", can you think of anything more 'sexy nerdy'? Lenard Cohen "Chelsea Hotel" it is not ;)

A bit of Fantasy Painting .. AD&D Board Game Resin Figures (Ravenloft)

A spot of light relief from orders of battle with casts of thousands: :

A couple of pictures of a some figures painted out of a friend's board game, AD&D Ravenloft which he got for his kids. The first is a gargoyle primed in the Airfix (01) primer, then "dipped" in Vallejo Black Wash, not bad for a starting upgrade/alternative to the bare yellow resin as comes with the game (see below):  

I did the same for this "undead baby dragon" but while the kids played and we were watching Euro 16 on telly, I put a bit of two tone shading.

Painting notes (1): A middle colour of Vallejo Stonewall Grey, leaving the wash as the shade layer, and a light touch highlight layer by mixing in some Vallejo White to the Stonewall Grey. I darkened the gaps between the wings with more "black wash" thickened up with a drop of Vallejo Black.

Painting notes (2): Some spots of colour were the 'bone spine' Vallejo Desert Sand (I think) as a shade, Vallejo Bone White as a mid-colour and a touch of Vallejo Dead White as a highlight. A Vallejo Gory Red tongue highlighted with a touch of Vallejo Tentacle Pink. The final touch was a dab of Vallejo Golden Yellow on the tip of a cocktail stick dabbed into the eye socket.

A touch of FrostGrave (II) .. Welcome back to the D&D in a Death Match scramble for Magic Items

I discover there is no end to my magic users talents as he summons or rather animates a corpse into a zombie [see lady in red below] to be totally under his control, mawahaw, evil laughter. Sadly she is very slow to get into combat and upsets my own thugs in the process, something about sharing combat space with an undead creature (see below, the magic user doing his stuff with his ever faithful Ninja by his side as per usual):

The battle for the disputed artifact token heats up as I draw up most of my fellow grave robbers troops to me. My imp is going sterling service for his master in the background but is soon to become a victim to a lucky "stab in the dark" from my adversary so much for animated monsters (see below):

The spoils remain evenly split at three treasures a piece (a profitable draw) as I am repulsed back in the centre by my opponents mercenary fighters. Although I did take out two of his henchman off camera thanks to the poison blow dart of my Ninja! The wizard and apprentice decide to safely safely depart as discretion is the better part of valour, before the inevitable wandering magical super-guardian monster(s) appears to see what all the noise is about (see below, the zombie is showing what a useful ex-human shield she can be):

As a finishing touch I prepare a clever piece of magic which will steal me the last treasure item. A super charged magic missile is prepared with the last of my manna. All I need is a good high dice roll (see below):

And I blow my hand off! Ow, time for my one-handed magician to re-embark on his balloon boat out of FrostGrave, feeling sorely chastised for going one spell too far. Still I have plenty of time to peruse the magical tomes on the flight home.

Summary:
FrostGrave is an excellent way to recycle old AD&D figures and floor plans along with nerwer 28mm fantasy and Dark Age wargaining figures :) 

A touch of FrostGrave (I) .. Welcome back to the D&D in a Death Match scramble for Magic Items

Reeling after the intensive (but fun) game of Strategos II of First Mantinea (it has to be said, again, I seem to be on a bit of a trip here) I slumped into a chair exhausted. Obviously seeing me as an "easy picking" I was approached by a young chap with a quiet Monty Python style psst, nudge, nudge, wink, wink "Excuse me. Fancy a game of FrostGrave sir?"

With dismissive air of "Excuse me, who do you think you are talking to, I'm a serious Strategos II player, can you not see the blisters on my dice throwing hand? Don't come all 'Jack the Lad' with me young man!" The nice young chap explained the concept of the game and just to humour him I give it a go. Within five minutes of playing I knew I was going to be an addict. It all takes place in the frozen, ruined remains of a magical city, devastated by misuse of "fell lore" in the dark past and now it is inhabited by fearsome beasts guarding ancient lost relics (see below):

You control a wizard, their apprentice and a hired bunch of mercenaries (aka thugs) as you search for magical loot. You get straight into tactical action from the start (see below). My ancient Chinese wizard is guarded by his trusted Ninja (bottom right of picture) as he sends a thug to fight off my adversaries henchmen (see below, right middle):

My cunning wizard then summoned a mischievous magical imp to wreak havoc in the enemies backfield, boy I already love this game, I have already summoned a monster, something I never managed to do in my D&D career. True I often attracted monsters as a result of my actions but that is totally different story. It certainly beats being a 1hp first level D&D magic-user with a ventriloquism spell (see below):

Meanwhile guarding the back of my wizard, my apprentice impresses everybody by summoning an impassable wall to block any enemy advance while my thugs find shiny things in the shadows of the ruins (see below):

What could possibly go wrong? Stay tuned for further details ...

ARES Science Fiction Magazine (PDF Source Files) Online

Are you feeling retro?
Where were you when these "first" came out?

Thanks to http://ordinarygaming.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/vintage-gaming-magazines-in-pdf-ares.html

ARES
http://archive.org/details/ares_magazine

But wait there is MORE ... much MORE ... remember the Dragon magazine? Well there seem to be legally free electronic downloads here (gasp)

http://archive.org/details/magazine_rack

Er WOW!

Harry and his bucketful of dinosaurs (well "lizardmen")

A surprise project! Ahem, alert fantasy ... on the painting tray. 

An unexpected arrival for 2013. I have acquired a bucketful of "oldish" Games Workshop Lizardmen (see below):

Your classic "tin of goodies" being discarded from the depths of my local wargames club's shelves. Not an army as such but odd bits, mostly plastic but some metals. A selection of figure types are shown below:   

The aim is to let my kiddies paint them with me, put on some bright colours suitable for reptiles and wash them dark with inks, let them settle down and highlight at my leisure, unless the kids steal them as extra "baddies" for their Star Wars Lego adventures. This chap below has shades of "Jabba the Hut", although I do have to find (or make) an "arm" from the pile of discards. All part of the fun of the hobby.

Even the basic GW Lizardman foot soldier has a certain charm (see below):

There are certainly enough of them to tear apart a low level party of adventurers (evil DM laughter fades ...), the smaller ones being ideal substitute for small "Kobolds" (carrying poisonous blow-pipes ... more evil DM laughter).   

The Boys Are Back in Town (Part III): The Moral Justification For Saving Your Own Skin

Deciding not to "throw good money after bad" the PC adventurer's party did not run to the aid of the beleaguered 'Keep on the Borderland' guards. Perhaps there had been too much "us and them" and not enough "we're all in this together" during the weeks of the siege. Perhaps it was the notion of a dozen plus Orcs at the top of the stairs and someone remembering that the Caves of Chaos also had a small tribe of Bugbears stunted any real consideration of stopping and fighting it out. The party elected to put as much distance a possible between the them and the 'nasty monsters'. Fumbling their way forward with the Elf and Dwarf at the lead (DM's Note: That 'almost seeing in the dark thing' these races have - was I right about Elves hating being underground?) the party took another meandering side passage out of hope more than plan. Then "ooops" ... your typical party conundrum, a dodgy looking DM style 'trap or encounter'? Do we 'rush' [increasing the danger] or do we play it 'cautious' [wasting time] (see below):   

A large growth of underground fungus with what seemed to be a 'treasure chest' in its midst. The characters were less interested in the notion of the 'treasure chest' than trying to figure a way around it 'quickly'. The Dwarf also thought (as he technically was an NPC I allowed him a helpful reflective moment from his past adventures) they were "Shriekers" in amongst the fungus and recommended the party climb around the danger spot, venturing the fact he saw a climbing route and useful ledge to the wall on their right. Off went the Dwarf to the ledge ready to help the rest of the party (rolling well I may add on his thief ability). The (female) Cleric then stripped off her armour to the embarrassment of her male colleagues apart from the Dwarf how shouted "Nice Rack" (parents can explain to children) in Common Tongue. An now 'angry' Cleric then really badly fumbled her dexterity roll and came crashing down onto the mushroom patch, setting off a green cloud of spores and also causing the "Shriekers" to start to wail (see below):            

(DM's note: Well I laughed!) Four small "Mushroom Men" emerged from the fungi garden to attack the Cleric (see below). She fought one round of combat alone before her comrades in arms rushed to the scene while the Dwarf lobbed the last of the parties oil stock onto the "Shriekers" and set fire to them. The combat was short and sweet for the party, overgrown mushrooms proving no match for these hardy adventurers. (DM's note: I hope you can feel a tang pf my disappointment here, even the hapless Cleric made her saving throw versus the spores). The fire burned ferociously clearing the area revealing .... 

... a hidden secret/concealed exit (a very rough some would say burrowed exit leading "down" - always a bad sign in the dungeon when the only way seems to be down) as well as the charred but unopened treasure chest (see picture below). Now I had/have a reputation as a DM for not 'giving' bundles of money and treasure away. Characters had to earn it in my games, none of this 10,000 GP and a +1 Sword for killing a HobGoblin and his cat (even if it was 2HD, spat fireballs and regenerated .. a story for another time). So the player characters bypassed both chest (dismissively) and secret passageway (as sounding far too dangerous). Whereas the Dwarven Thief lingered and played with the locks, detecting and disarming the traps, finally picking the lock and having a careful 'nose' at what was inside. The party had moved on and he just 'put the things in his leather back pack (remember those) for safe keeping' with a wry smile to himself. Part of the this disinterest can also be explained by the fact that the Ranger had picked up a fresh trail of a solitary human(oid?) that had recently come this way (a small mystery being how he/she/it had cunningly avoided the fungus patch). Could this be the Evil MU they were after? The party set off in hot pursuit.

Some 200' on they came to another sight that made them pause for thought. The doors of a pit-trap hung open, as the PC's cautiously peeped over edge they saw a 'heavily webbed' (as in large spider type) dark, black pit, with the hapless figure of said 'Evil MU' caught in it. Two largish spiders were scuttling near him and he made imploring eye-contact with the party. The two D&D'ers looked at me incredulously and hanging back from the lip of the pit-trap they started discussing what to do. Meanwhile the Dwarf caught up with the rest of the party. Failed a Wisdom test (DM's note: Well after all he was a NPC still) and looked over the edge at the Evil MU. Something along the lines of "I could do with a little help here" was said to the Dwarf, a dice was rolled by me, and the Dwarf replied "You sure do" and popped over the side of the pit, dagger in hand to fight the large spiders. To I may add the incredulity of the two players and rest of the NPCs in the party. They had never seen the Dwarven Thief so brave and then the penny clicked (DM's note: Charm Person spell, see below for the state of affairs).  

It was late and there was a certain cumbersome farce to the combat. The player characters could not dissuade the thief from his heroism. The spiders attacked the thief. The PC's threw rocks and arrows at the spiders and the Evil MU. The result being the Evil MU was hit by a large rock which hurt him and knocked him further down to the pit (out of sight). A large spider was killed and another chased off, but not before it had paralyzed the thief. A fracas broke out atop of the pit as another NPC accused the Cleric of trying (deliberately) to kill the thief when she hit him with a rock by mistake. Emotions were still bruised as the limp body of the Dwarven Thief was pulled up (DM's note: He did at least have the sense to tie a rope around himself before he went down the pit in the first place). Alive but poorly until the poison wore off was the Cleric's verdict. The PC's also started to get interested in the contents of the thief's leather back pack ;)  

To be continued at a future Xmas D&D session yet to be arranged. Note: The Ranger's PC insisted on making the next one. 

PS I suppose post 490 should have been about Marathon ;)

The Boys Are Back In Town (Part II): The Adventure Begins

The context of the adventure is set so the action can begin ... "First Positions and Action!" (see below). The magically summoned humanoid monsters charge fearlessly at the party. The Ranger and the Elf Fighter Magic-User are torn between popping off missile weapons at the Evil "Big Baddie" Magic User and self preservation. The DM (me) calls for a quick decision or they will automatically lose the initiative (I am a meanie like that) and self preservation wins and they fight what is in front of them (Note from DM: Potentially a very bad call). In the background the Cleric starts Chanting a spell to give her boys a +1 to hit and damage in combat. Meanwhile the Evil MU turns his attention to the door and casts a Knock spell.(Note from DM: If that "Knock" spell works it could be a very short adventure and off to the pub after all!) 

Thankfully there is a lucky/clever chap in the party. Almost as an afterthought the Dwarven Thief (every party should have one) chucks a throwing dagger at the Evil MU, rolling high (19 and unbeknownst to the party the baddie is dextrous and magically protected to AC3 in good old 2nd Edition AD&D terms, so it was a very lucky hit) and hits, does damage and the Evil MU fuddles the spell. Note on the Player Characters (PCs), the party numbered five adventurers, but there were only two players present. Each chose their primary character from the five, a third player was nominated 'there in spirit' (and 'ethereally' commanded the Ranger) as we asked "What would Mr. P have done in the situation?" The Dwarven Thief was technically a trusted NPC who could be "asked to do things" (Note from DM: At which point I would make a roll based on the situation and perceived 'character' of the NPC). The Dwarven Thief certainly bagged a lot of XP for that 'lucky throw'. Meanwhile as the fighters were hacking into the low level monsters and getting to feel quite (over) confident two things happened in quick succession. The Elf Ftr/MU went "urk" and took a nasty cut took losing half his Hit Points (HPs) in one go and then then about two dozen armed skeletons charged into the room from a side entrance (see below). If you remember those red poker counters were meant to indicate noise and danger. The only good news for the party was that the Evil MU was obviously rather vexed at them turning up too! 

The party beat a hasty retreat back down the corridor they came from, leaving the Evil MU to deal with the hoard of angry skeletons and whatever other undead come after them. Last the party saw was a web spell being rather successfully being cast on them, but the sheer numbers probably meany he didn't get them all. The Cleric cleverly spotted a portcullis arrangement at the "T Junction" and together with the non-fighting members of the party brought it down with a tumble and a crash, releasing a rather large angry Giant Bat (see below). Fortunately the bat pounced on the last of the magically summoned creatures, giving the characters a chance to slip away. Part of the DM's glee of the night was: When the Giant Bat randomly chose whom to attack I informed the players the Dwarf Thief was excluded from the list as he had successfully "Hid In Shadows" to their groans. Revenge is sweet for the thief is commonly the "expendable man (or Dwarf) on point duty" ;)   

The party beat a hasty retreat down a side corridor as they heard the last gurgling sounds from the magically summoned humanoid just before the Giant Bat devours it. The sounds echoed down the corridor after them putting an extra spring in their step (see below):

What's this? Sounds of fighting up ahead! The last few remaining defenders of the Keep on the Borderlands seem to be fighting underground now. Which does not bode well for the battle above ground. Three wounded fighters are defending the steps (top right, see below) and a bunch Orcs are lobbing missiles at them (bottom right, see below). It's party decision time. Do they pitch in and help the fighters or use the time cynically to put some distance between the party and the Orcs?   

Tune in next time to find out. Where has that Evil MU got to? Is there another way out from this tunnel complex apart from the way up? In D&D there always seemed to be more questions than answers ;)

At this point I topped up the party's drinks and we settled down for a long night :)