The Crypt of Doom

A Windhaven Adventure

A couple of weeks after our heroes' adventure in the local graveyard, the Baron of Windhaven once again summoned Onyx the dwarf, Rowan the crusader, and Griselda the sorceress to his presence. They noticed that the bishop was present, and appeared very overwrought.
The Baron explained that the bishop had come to him after one of the acolytes had gone missing. He has been sent to the crypt under the church and never returned. An investigation found his corpse, mangled and gnawed, in the entry corridor. The clergy at the church are now terrified of the crypt. The Baron asked the trio to investigate the hideous goings-on.

And thus our heroes once again went forth into peril.

A map of the crypt

The entrance hallway (1) was lined with sarcophagi. As Griselda passed, one of the lids fell off, but she agilely jumped aside as it crashed to the ground.

"Wonderful," thought Rowan as the sound echoed throughout the catacombs, "we have just announced our coming to the whole world."

Sure enough, the sound warned the inhabitants of the next room (2). Four zombies shambled toward the entrance. Onyx and Griselda dispatched two each with ease.

Fighting "zombies"

The next room (3) featured a deep puddle of slimy water. Onyx and Griselda fell in, sucking some of the contaminated water down their throats. They went into a spasm of coughing that left them weakened (I treated this like poison - it caused a wound)

The heroes then entered a corridor (4) where two ghouls were snacking on some corpses. They attacked Rowan, inflicting a couple of wounds. He managed to kill one. As the other prepared to pounce upon Rowan, Onyx cleaved it in twain with a mighty blow from his axe.

While binding his wounds, Rowan complained about the "damned abominations." Griselda replied with a quip - "Hey, ghouls just want to have fun." (my wife's joke)

Backtracking past the slimy puddle, the party passed a rotting corpse (5) and then fought off some giant roaches (6). Then the party entered a room (7) with a wight. The party leaped into action and quickly cut it down.

"I guess we had the wight stuff," joked Onyx. Rowan just groaned. (my joke)

After passing through an empty corridor (8) the party came across a holy water font (9). Was it still blessed or had it been fouled? Griselda had her raven sniff it. It seemed OK so they tried a sip. It healed them of their wounds! The were ready for the final boss!

They explored an empty room (10) before finding the source of the corruption. In the last room (11) they discovered a skeleton mage. When it saw them it gave a bloodcurdling scream. Fortunately our heroes were made of stern stuff so they did not flinch from the battle. Instead, Onyx attacked and hit the mage; it countered and struck Onyx in return with its staff. Griselda launched a fireball that set its robes afire. It attacked her but she deflty dodged and flamed it again.

The mage stepped back and launched a lightning bolt from its staff. It struck Rowan in the chest; he reeled back in pain. Once again, Griselda fireballed him. The intense heat began to disintegrate its bones. As the deathlike figure began to decompose it shouted out a warning.

"You may have defeated me, but you cannot defeat death. Death takes us all!"

The skeleton mage falls

The party then checked the room. Griselda was able to recover the skeleton mage's staff. Rowan discovered a hole in the wall, which opened into a tunnel that led into the bowels of the earth.

"I think these abominations are coming into the crypt from these tunnels" Rowan remarked,

"I think we found our next adventure" suggested Onyx.

What dangers does the tunnel hold? Find out next time!

The Ghastly Graveyard

A Windhaven Adventure

Once upon a time in the Barony of Windhaven, there arose rumors of foul deeds occurring at the graveyard beside the old church. In the mornings, the caretaker would find graves defiled, coffins unearthed, tombs opened, and corpses mangled and chewed. After three days of such horrors, the Baron decided to send a team to investigate.

He choose two stout warriors, Onyx the sturdy dwarf and Rowan the valiant crusader, and the friendly sorceress Griselda Romero.

On a night when scudding clouds obscured the wan light of the moon, our heroes ventured forth into the ghastly graveyard. Entering through the main gate, they had barely entered when 4 figures shambled toward them.

Rowan called out "Identify yourself!" but the only answer he received was from low moans.

"Zombies!" warned Griselda.

With that, our heroes launched themselves into battle. Onyx and Rowan each struck down one of the walking corpses. One of the others clawed at Griselda, wounding her. The warriors then finished the job.

The warriors then readied to push on, but Griselda held them up.

"Some lovely gravestones for my rubbings," she explained. Rowan just grumbled under his breath.

Once Griselda was ready, the trio pressed onward. The jumble of gravestones and overgrown shrubs forced the party to turn left and then right. In this next section of the graveyard, a foul, clawed figure jumped them. It rushed at Onyx but he could not act; he was paralyzed with fear. Rowan's service as a crusader, however, had steeled him against supernatural horrors. He stepped forward and felled the abomination.

The party then wound through the graves until they came to a mausoleum. The family crypt of the Barons of Windhaven!

Rowan opened the gate and was greeted by low, inhuman moans. Griselda pushed Rowan aside and tossed something inside. There was a loud explosion; a gout of flame erupted from the tomb, singing Rowan.

"Next time a little warning!" Rowan scolded.

Two zombies, engulfed in fire, burst forth. Rowan cut one down. The other attacked and wounded Onyx before Griselda smashed it with her staff.

Finding nothing else unusual in the mausoleum, the party debated which way to go. Griselda released her raven, which circled and then headed left. They followed, and soon could hear the sound of digging. Rounding past some tall grave markers, they noticed a suspicious character unearthing a grave.

Onyx immediately recognized the figure as a necromancer. Before the enemy knew what was afoot, Onyx raced forward and clove him in twain with his axe!

The party looks upon the vanquished necromancer

And with that, our heroes solved the mystery of the ghastly graveyard. The next morning, they returned to the baron who was pleased with their service.

Game Notes

• This adventure marks the start of a new adventure, using a new/old set of rules that I call Kevin's Krawl.
• The party consisted of my character Rowan, my wife's character Griselda. We added Onyx because our cat Onyx was messing with the game pieces. Clearly he wanted to play! We choose the dwarf because we showed him the box of figures and he sniffed that one first.
• Defeating the boss was a bit anti-climatic. Onyx (the cat not the character) jumped on the table, knocked the necromancer's figure down, then shoved him off the table. According to house(cat) rules, that figure is considered out of action. Game over, necromancer!
• Like Four Against Darkness, character creation is quite simple (and somewhat free-form). Players simply choose a class, which has set starting equipment. Each class has certain abilities - like the sorceress' spells. I let my wife choose which spells her character got. She wanted to heal but also have a fireball, so I gave those to her. The raven was an ad hoc addition based on the figure (which I need to finish painting). Character level and armor determined attack and defense bonuses. And with that, we were ready!
• I created the adventure a week ago, using a template I created for Four Against Darkness. It results in relatively short adventures - perfect for my attention span!
• The picture above shows the set-up. I used 2 boards; one where I drew the "dungeon" map and another that I used as a battle board.

Chaos Unbound

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Using Four Against Darkness

Life had been quiet for Khamen ever since he returned from the adventure of the Three Rings. Oh, the High Priest at the Scotsile temple found occasional work for him - minor tasks below his skill level. He spent much of his time in the taverns, gambling and drinking (much to the annoyance of the High Priest).

One day as he huddled over a mug, he heard the tavern door open ever so quietly. He turned to look at who had entered, but could see no one.

"Hmm," he thought, "I must be getting rusty. I could have sworn that someone came in."

He returned to his mug, then felt a sharp point pressing gingerly into his back.

"Stay still, be quiet, and listen," came a rough, husky, voice.

Khamen relaxed his shoulders in relief. "What do you want Candorra?"

His elven friend gave a soft chuckle. Khamen hated to admit that he found it pleasing to hear her.

"Can't fool you, huh? And I thought you had let yourself go."

Khamen did not want to admit to her that he had not noticed her sneaking up on him. He just could never forget her voice, although there were many times he wished he could.

Instead, Khamen just repeated his question.

"Come with me. We have a new job!"

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A few days later, the duo rode up to an abandoned chapel.

"There have been rumors of foul deeds." Candorra explained. "We need to check it out."

They entered through the main doors into the narthex (1). The hallway was gloomy and covered with cobwebs, but not a creature stirred. Our heroes then entered the nave (2). Here they approached the altar. It had been defiled with foul sacrifices. Candorra felt a shiver of fear throughout her body. She knew that the horrid sight would distract her in coming battle. Clearly that was the evil intent of the new overlord of the church.

Khamen then led them through the western door into a long corridor (3). They could see a torch heading their way. Before they could back away, they heard a voice. "Intruders!" Four robed figures pulled out wicked-looking daggers and attacked. Candorra shot one down with her bow then drew her sword. Khamen dodged a blow and sunk his blade into his foe's vitals. He then backed away into the shadows. The remaining pair advanced on Candorra. Khamen got behind them and back-stabbed both.

The party entered the door at the end of the hall. Three devilish creatures lingered in the bare room (4). They rushed the duo, who retreated back down the hall. When the imps saw the fallen corpses of the cultists, they began to feast on the dead flesh.

"I guess we'll try this way," Candorra said as she crossed the nave and opened the eastern door (5). As soon as it opened, the duo heard a resounding roar. A three-headed monstrosity attacked. Khamen ducked under the beast and sunk his blade deep into a draconic head. The monster's head lashed out at our heroes - both were wounded. Khamen struck deep again. The dragon head crunched his arm. With a mighty blow, Candorra struck off the dragon's head. The wounded beast rushed past them and out of the church.

Our heroes bandaged their wounds and then steeled themselves for their next encounter. At the end of the corridor (5) they came to a door, which opened into a room (6). The walls were covered with arcane runes. In the center stood a robed figure.

The figure spoke. "I am surprised you made it past my guardian. No matter. You are fools if you can think you can stop the triumph of chaos."

He then raised his hand to cast a spell. Candorra pulled back her bow and shot him. Snarling in anger and pain, the Chaos Lord drew out a sword and attacked. His whirling strikes wounded both Candorra and Khamen. Stepping back, Candorra muttered an incantation. A bolt of energy leaped from her hand and struck the villain. He quickly recovered and struck both heroes again. Candorra backed away, reaching for a healing potion. The Chaos Lord advanced on her, sword at the ready.

Khamen then stepped in front of her. "Over my dead body, toad breath."

"That can be arranged, puny mortal!"

The Chaos Lord swung. Khamen somersaulted under the blow. Coming to his feet behind the foe, Khamen thrust with his blade. It drove deep into the Chaos Lord's vitals.

The enemy screamed in rage "Chaos shall overwhelm you all!" and then collapsed in a heap.

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Upon returning to Scotsile, our heroes reported to the High Priest.

"So there were no other enemies at the site?" he asked.

"None," Khamen responded, "and no clue as to what he was up to."

"The runes are the clue," the High Priest explained as he scanned a sketch of the arcane signs on the defiled church's walls. "Clearly he was trying to summon some abyssal entities into our world. I fear that we have not heard the last from the powers of Chaos."


OOC Notes

• My wife has gotten into Darkest Dungeon (a video RPG). It inspired me to write a new dungeon for Four Against Darkness. As I was pulling out my 4AD stuff, I found the game sheet for this dungeon. I must have played it last year but never bothered to record it. I decided to jot it down now.
• Note that I used the stats for orcs for the cultists and goblin swarmlings as imps. The guardian was a chimera.
• I notice that 2018 was a bad year for this blog. Only 3 posts and none since May! We'll see if I can do better in 2019. I have some thoughts and plots for a campaign. I hope to talk my wife into playing with me.

Howl and the Game Tournament

Part Two of Howl's Tales - an Amazing Tales adventure

After befriending Lucky Liam the leprechaun, Howl the white wolf and his new pal travel through the fairy wood, looking for food and gold.

They hear a banging noise ahead. Howl tries to sneak up on the source of the noise, but he only manages to frighten a fairy away. In his haste, the fairy drops a stack of flyers. Lucky Liam reads the notice to Howl.

By the Order of Queen Thomasina

A Games Tournament Shall Be Held

Today at Noon

At the Gleeful Glen

First Prize - 500 gold and a free lunch

"Five hundred gold!" exclaimed Liam.

"Free lunch!" exclaimed Howl.

They decided to try their luck at the tournament.

Arriving at the Gleeful Glen, they see colorful toadstools arranged throughout the clearing. Queen Thomasina is on a perch overlooking the scene. Fireflies are flitting throughout the glen, creating a dazzling light display.

At first, the crowd is scared of Howl, but he reassures the attendees with his friendly manner. The pair sign up and are assigned the same toadstool.

As they are waiting for the tournament to start, a smelly goblin enters the glen. The guards are ready to throw him out, but he issues a challenge.

"Five hunnerd gold sez that I win this tournament!" he bellows. Queen Thomasina nods her head. The organizers sign the goblin up, and assign him to Howl and Liam's toadstool.

The game of the day is Settlers of Catan. 

"Excellent!" thinks Howl. "My bargaining skills will really come in handy."

"Excellent!" thinks LIam. "My luck will help me win!"

Howl tries to engage the goblin in some uneven trades. "Three of his sheep for one of my logs. He's stupid enough to go for it!" thinks Howl. The goblin just laughs at Howl and proceeds to build cities with the cards he holds. Meanwhile, Liam mutters in frustration. Unluckily, he just can't get any useful cards. At the end the game, the goblin emerges victorious.

As Howl and Liam hang their heads dejectedly, the goblin dances upon the toadstool and crows about his success.

"The tournament is not yet over." Thomasina reminds him.

The goblin laughs. "'Tis in the bag! I'll even up the ante. The goblin's hoard, in exchange for yer kingdom!"

"Enough!" the queen scolds him. "Respect the game or you shall not be allowed to play."

This makes the goblin angry. "Not play?! Then I'll be takin' the winnings!" With that he leaps onto the prize table, grabs the gold and a picnic basket with the lunch, and scampers into the woods.

"Not the gold!" cries Liam

"Not the lunch!" cries Howl.

"Find him!" cries Queen Thomasina.

"With your nose for food and my sense for treasure, we should find him easily!" says Liam. Howl nods in agreement, and the pair chase after the goblin. They track him to a dark, desolate looking cave.

"Let me check it out first," announced Howl. Stealthily he creeps into the cave, following the goblin's scent. Suddenly, a swarm of goblins jump him and tie him up! He barely gets a howl out before he is dragged off!

Meanwhile, Liam is anxiously waiting at the cave mouth.

Notes

And thus ended our first session. It was made very interesting by our heroes' inability to make their rolls. For example, in the cave, Howl's stealth roll was a 2 on 2D6!

By the way, I changed the task resolution system to use 2D6. In standard Amazing Tales, players will roll a D6, D8 or D12, depending on their skill, with a target of 3+. I'm not fond of multiple types of dice so I use a straight 2D6 roll, with a target of 5, 6, or 7.

Howl Makes a Friend

Part One of Howl's Tales - an Amazing Tales Adventure.

Once upon a time, there was a friendly white wolf named Howl. He lived in the fairy forest ruled by the benevolent queen Thomasina. One day, Howl was walking through the woods, looking for some lunch, when he ran into a little man. At first the little man was frightened of Howl (who had big, scary looking teeth), but Howl reassured him and they became friends.

"I am very hungry and looking for something to eat. Do you know where I can find something?" asked Howl.

"Nay," said the little man. Actually, he was a leprechaun named Lucky Liam. "I am looking for some gold. Do you know where I can find some?" he added.

"Sorry, I don't." replied Howl. "Perhaps we can help each other look."

So the duo began walking through the woods together.

Notes
And thus begins an adventure using Amazing Tales (which I describe in a post on my other blog). I picked it up because I thought my wife would prefer it to the typical math-intensive RPG. She came up with our characters (she is playing Howl and I'm Liam) and the setting and things went on from there. It was a natural for the ruler to be named Thomasina. That's our cat's name and for years we've been jokingly saying that she is really a fairy princess.

Howl is a white wolf who is good at bargaining, stealth, howling beautifully, and making friends. Liam is a leprechaun who is lucky, is good at finding treasure, likes to drink, and can walk on rainbows.

Anyway, I will be continuing the narrative in later posts.

The Last Ring

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Based on the Three Rings (A Four Against Darkness module)

Our heroes, Khamen, Candorra, and Rikk the Ranger, have been searching the South Wood for the last of the three rings. They encountered a large cave and have decided to investigate it.

Map of the cave

The entrance (1) was empty. The party decided to turn right (west). In the adjoining room (2), our heroes ran into a party of goblins. They took one look at Rikk, who was renowned throughout the forest, and ran out the south door.

The party followed into the corridor (3). At the intersection stood a statue of an armed warrior. Intrigued, Rikk advanced towards it.

"Interesting," he said as he reached out to the stone figure.

"No!" warned Khamen, who rushed to stop Rikk.

But the ranger's finger made contact. Suddenly, the statue came to life and swung its sword at Rikk. With cat-like reflexes, the ranger ducked. The blade continued, and smashed into the advancing Khamen. He hit the floor, his ribs badly bruised.

Rikk wasted no time, and stabbed the statue. Candorra peppered it with arrows.

Enraged, the statue rushed forward at Candorra. Its swords grazed her but she drew her own blade and engaged the figure. Their swords clashed as they circled one another. On occasion, Candorra's sword flicked out, stabbing or slashing the statue. Finally, her blade penetrated to its very heart and it crashed to the ground.

As Candorra and Rikk surveyed the enemy, Khamen came up, rubbing his sore ribs. Gesticulating at Rikk, he gruffly commanded "Don't touch anything!" and then stomped down the corridor.

In adjoining rooms, the heroes scared off some rats (4) and dodged a spear trap (5).

In the next corridor (6), the party ran into a group of orcs. Candorra fireballed one and Rikk shot one with an arrow. In the ensuing melee, all the heroes were wounded, Candorra badly. Yet they managed to slay the enemy. Candorra had to use a heal.

After passing through an empty corridor (7), the party entered a cobweb filled room (8). Suddenly, a giant spider dropped on them from above. Khamen and Rikk wounded it, but it sank its fangs into Candorra. She could feel the venom coursing through her veins, weakening her. It then turned on Rikk and gashed him. Fortunately, he pulled free before it could inject any venom. Finally, Khamen got behind it and stabbed it dead.

Despite their wounds, the party continued on, dodging a spear trap (9) before confronting more orcs (10). Both Khamen and Rikk took wounds before the heroes finished off the orcs.

After backtracking, the party finally found the orc reaver boss (11). In a blink of an eye, Rikk loosed 2 arrows, which struck the reaver in the chest. It howled with pain, rushing at Rikk. Its twin blades both struck into the ranger. Khamen tried to assist but the reaver moved like lightning and also wounded him. Candorra attacked, scoring a couple of wounds on their enemy. The orc swung at Khamen but he managed to dodge.

Candorra stabbed the reaver again but her blade got stuck in its body yet it did not die. As Candorra struggled to free her blade, it turned on her and delivered a crushing blow. She fell to the floor. The orc stood over her, lifting its blade for a death strike. Candorra pulled out a dagger, rolled between the reaver's legs, and plunged her blade up into its groin. The stab cut open a blood vessel, and a shower of black viscous blood showered over her. The reaver stumbled and fell dead.

Rikk tended to Candorra's wounds while Khamen searched the reaver boss. In its pockets, he found the object of their quest - the last of the sacred rings!

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Days later, the party made its way from the forest and arrived at the abbey. The monks were ecstatic that the rings were back in their possession. They took care of the  heroes, using the power of the rings to heal their wounds.

"See Khamen," Candorra scolded him. 'Those aren't just some fancy jewelry we went after. Their powers provide aid to the community. We helped those people."

"Maybe." Khamen mumbled, unwilling to admit that he was wrong about accepting the quest. "But next time, don't volunteer!"

Searching the South Wood

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Based on the Three Rings (A Four Against Darkness module)

After finding the second ring, our heroes returned to the crossroads. After a short rest, they began to follow the southern path.

In the first clearing (1), Rikk the Ranger got caught in a snare. It whipped him from his feet and suspended him from a tree. He bruised his head when he swung into a tree.

Khamen had to suppress a laugh as Candorra cut Rikk down.

"Watch yerself," the embarrassed ranger growled.

They followed a path (2) south. In the next clearing (3) Rikk discovered tracks leading south.

"Now what would ye do without me?" Rikk smugly retorted.

"Be without our comic relief" quipped Khamen.

"Khamen!" Candorra scolded. "Let's not start a fight among ourselves."

They continued south into a muddy field (4). Suddenly, the mud formed itself into 5 human-like figures. Candorra and Rikk cut down 2 of the mud-men with their bows. Then there was a brief struggle before the rest were defeated.

The path led south to a clearing (5) then turned west. As they proceeded along the path, they ran into a swarm of goblins (6). The goblins tossed poisoned javelins at the party. Candorra was hit in the thigh but the other two managed to dodge. Our heroes rushed into battle and easily defeated the goblins (game note - the party rolled 3 sixes in one turn).

As the path turned north (7) the party passed a field of large mushrooms. Suddenly, 5 funghi folk rushed to the attack. Candorra turned into a killing machine, cutting down 4 of the abominations. Khamen then dodged and took out the last.

Next they came across a pile of skulls (9). "Careful," Rikk cautioned. "Remember the last skull pile we found." Suddenly, the pile morphed into a dozen skeletons that attacked the party. The heroes were able to defeat them without too much trouble.

Following the path as it turned south again, the came to a rocky area. Before them, they could see a large cave.

What will they find in the cave?