Revisiting T1, four years later

As I'm gearing up to kick off a new campaign (and as I've been bogged down with a cold all week), I've been reading, a lot. AD&D blogs, Realms stuff, DMing books, you name it. One thing I did was revisit my posts from running T1 for high school buddies a few years back. We played four sessions, sorely needing one more, but due to scheduling and life, we never got it in. It'd have been nice to wrap that one up.

In any case, what really stood out to me in those games was how they practically ran themselves. The village and NPCs, everything simply reacted to what the characters did, and the successes and failures they found. There was an overarching plot to the moat house, but it mostly lurked in the dark, away from the spotlight. It was all about the PCs.

The Ravenloft game we just ended was pretty railroad-y, most of the way. Ravenloft's atmosphere demands that, to some extent. But I really want this next campaign to reclaim the "sandbox" element and freedom of direction that we had with Hommlet. It's D&D in its rawest form. Plot is like a good spice: a little goes a long way; much more than that can ruin the dish.

T1: The Village of Hommlet (part 1)

T1, part 2: A Mixed Bag

T1, part 3: A Feasting of Ghouls

T1, part 4: In the Arms of the Enemy (literally)

T1, part 4: In the Arms of the Enemy (literally)

Last night's game was both a complete disaster and the perfect setup for part 5. Here's what happened:

Midday. With the core of the party still ailing from its previous foray with the ghouls, Gulwar was left recruiting new help in the Inn of the Welcome Wench while Rylin the halfling resumed his job as a line cook. A druid named Greenleaf befriended the pair, and not a moment too soon: before they could even begin to discuss their plans, the mercenary Zert came storming into the taproom, trailed closely by Turuko and his hulking-yet-dimwitted arm-for-hire Kobart. Behind that pair meandered a handful of villagers. Spugnoir quietly pulled his spellbook up over his face as Zert tossed the contents of a bloodstained, burlap sack at Gulwar, proclaiming:

"Death seems to follow you, adventurers. Perhaps you'd have done better to let restful bodies lie, for now WE will be forced to finish the work that you've started to ensure the lasting safety of this village."

From the bag rolled the severed head of Ellimorell, and the patrons gasped in horror. Zert went on to explain (menacingly) that the bodies of the fallen, hauled back to Hommlet by the PCs, had risen as ghouls and terrorized several farms before being slain by none other than Zert himself, along with his new allies. The trio accused Gulwar's party of endangering the village, challenging the townspeople to unite against such recklessness, and though some of the villagers nodded their agreement, just as many stood to the PCs' defense. Finally, Gulwar declared that he and his companions would leave the very next day, if that was the desire of the village. Zert seemed satisfied at this and left, accompanied again by Turuko, Kobart, and a particular farmer...

Gulwar stepped outside and followed the foursome toward the traders establishment, though once there he found only the warriors. Unable to hear their conversation without compromising his identity, he waded out to the northernmost farmhouses until he located the farmer. To the farmer and his family he solemnly apologized for any distress he and his companions may have caused, and offered them a few gold coins. Obviously torn, the farmer admitted that Zert and Turuko had paid him off (only a few silvers) to go along with their story and serve as their witness.

Armed with this new information, Gulwar gathered Rylin and Greenleaf (who in the meantime had taken it upon himself to bury the disembodied head of his player's former character) and visited Canon Terjon at the church of St. Cuthbert. The canon was distraught to learn that the bodies may have been stolen from the church's mausoleum, and bade the PCs to uncover the truth behind Zert's accusations. The village elder, too, supported the PCs in the name of upholding the church and extinguishing any potential for widespread panic or uprising in Hommlet.

...

So, at this point, the PCs are really itching to locate Zert and his new allies, who curiously haven't been seen since Gulwar observed them at the traders establishment. Back at the inn, Rylin uses inside resources to locate Zert and Turuko's rooms, and the party sneaks upstairs to infiltrate both. The rooms are completely cleaned out, with no personal effects remaining. Ostler (the innkeeper) didn't know that either of them were leaving, though as their dues have been paid for several weeks in advance, to him it hardly matters.

Why would Zert and Turuko bother themselves to poison the village against the PCs just to turn around and leave? The only semi-plausible explanation seemed that the trio was looking to reclaim the PCs' local renown for themselves by plundering the moat house on their own. And so, the next morning, after the village elder (backed by Rufus and Burne) publicly exonerated Gulwar and his friends of any wrongdoing, the characters re-hired Spugnoir and set back out for the ruins...

...

Seeing no sign of their accusers above ground, the party quickly descended to the dungeon level, then down the chute to the [now empty] ghouls' chamber. They forged ahead into unknown corridors, and all was going smoothly until they stumbled upon a room brooding with dog-faced gnolls.

A melee ensued, and though the PCs (outnumbered more than two to one) managed to gain a quick upper hand, Greenleaf made the untimely mistake of dispelling his magic entanglement upon the enemies, and the gnolls captured Rylin and the druid, while Gulwar remained hidden under his cloak of elvenkind and Spugnoir fled. The gnolls marched the captives down another corridor, past a series of human guards wearing black armor that bore the yellow-eye insignia, and up to a dark-haired man adorned with a staff and mace who was obviously their leader (all the enemies referred to him as "Master").

The master offered Rylin and Greenleaf their lives in exchange for their indefinite service, and the pair reluctantly agreed (for the other option was death). Gulwar, still concealed, located Spugnoir and attempted to exit back up the chute, only to find it closed and barricaded. With some effort, the pair managed to circumvent a single human guard and discover an alternate way out: a tunnel under the moat that exhaled into a rocky outcropping above ground, a quarter-mile disposed from the moat house proper.

That's where we left it, though before the session broke we confirmed that Gulwar and Spugnoir returned to Hommlet safely and relayed their tale to the village elder. And that there still was no sign of Zert, Kobart, or Turuko...

XP

Not much: one gnoll defeated, and three vials of holy water, an unknown potion, and an unknown clerical scroll returned to the village safely (not to mention just one out of three characters). I'm not planning to disposition experience for this session; I'll just lump the above in next time around. I'm still waiting for the group to have a break-out adventure both in terms of in-game success and experience earned (which tend to go hand-in-hand), and don't plan to reevaluate the AD&D experience system until at least after we're done playing the module - it's too hard to make a fair assessment with so much still left unresolved.

DM's Commentary

Had the gnolls not preferred capture over the outright slaying of the PCs, the characters would probably all be dead.

The party needs more firepower. It's interesting to note the change in dynamic since the campaign started with regards to NPCs available for hire. At the onset, Hommlet was enjoying an influx of adventurers and mercenaries in response to hearsay of local bandits, so much that the PCs were actually being approached by individuals looking for work. Weeks later, the bandits are gone, and many have died or been grievously injured since the adventuring population became saturated. Now, the remaining characters have few places to look for help.

My gut feeling is that our next session will write the end to the party's chapter in Hommlet. The urgency of the PCs' situation is suddenly very much increased, with two characters held captive and the realization that a substantial evil force has taken up residence below the ruins. The party will need careful planning, men-at-arms, and the resources of the village to rescue their friends and close the door on the moat house for good.

Will they succeed?

T1, part 3: A Feasting of Ghouls

We played our third session of The Village of Hommlet last night, with a cast of Gulwar, Amiculum, Ellimorell, and Rylin, halfling thief and newcomer to the party. The characters have found their local renown surging of late, and as such have been approached by a steady stream of prospective mercenaries and hire-ons. Rylin, hitherto working as a line cook in the Inn of the Welcome Wench, was one of these. With Dravin still ailing from the party's previous expedition (fell ill after being bitten by rats in the moat house), the PCs also employed the hulking fighter Kobart (arranging a wage of 5 gp/day through his associate, Turuko) and the self-proclaimed scribe, Spugnoir.

At the onset of the session, an ore trader arrived in Hommlet bearing the bodies of a local huntsman and his two adolescent sons, who had departed east along the road the previous morn in anticipation of Ulaa's Hunt, a scantly-recognized holiday in the region. The hunters' wounds indicated a grisly attack, and after [finally] meeting and consulting with Rufus at the estate of the village elder, the PCs chose to investigate. At dusk, they noted the local custom of food-sharing by candlelight in the wake of a significant death.

The next morning, the PCs visited the traders' establishment to replenish supplies before heading out, and on their way they encountered Rogar; curiously, the man had a long and newly-drawn scar across one side of his face. The warrior admitted to fighting, but would say no more on the matter. After he and Gulwar mutually apologized for their previous dispute, Rogar agreed to accompany the party east. Their venture lasted two days and uncovered no leads in relation to the murders, though the characters did encounter a clothier and his family (a wife and two cousins) traveling west, and escorted them to Hommlet.

Upon their return, the PCs and their three hirelings delved back into the moat house, opening a pair of locked doors on the dungeon level and discovering an assortment of armor, weapons, provisions, and a large pile of black capes and tabards bearing an unknown insignia: a yellow eye wreathed in flames. Intrigued, the PCs set shields face-down on the steps and piled them in front of the doors to serve as makeshift alarms, then proceeded to the secret chute uncovered in the torture chamber during their last visit.

Rylin scouted the bottom, some 30 feet down, noting what the group believed to be more zombies amid an earthy room lined with six-foot alcoves (crypts). After experimenting with various means of setting fires down below using two kegs of brandy found in the store rooms (these were marked as being from Dyvers), the party descended the chute, ready for battle.

That's when things got interesting. The zombies, four in all, converged on the friends immediately, paralyzing Rogar and Amiculum, to the group's horror. The melee then degenerated into a gruesome bloodbath and feasting for the ghouls (for that's what the creatures truly were): Rogar was half-eaten alive, Ellimorell was slain, and Amiculum fell, bleeding and burned. Kobart failed a morale check and fled up the chute, but Spugnoir cast sleep and the warrior plummeted back down to the stone floor, landing in a broken heap.

In the end, Rylin and Gulwar defeated the ghouls, the latter saving Amiculum from within hairs of death with his magic. Kobart and Spugnoir lived (Spugnoir actually never descended the ladder), and the survivors (five in all) hauled the mangled corpses of Rogar and Ellimorell back to Hommlet. That's where we ended.

This was an eventful session to say the least, and it ran great, even if the outcome was less than ideal for the PCs. I inverted armor classes on the fly, eliminating hit tables in favor of hit bonuses, and the change was well worth the minor up-front effort. There's not a ton more I need to streamline at this point, though I do need to make some alterations to our character sheet to avoid any confusion going forward.

Right now, I'm unsure if I'll make the move to C&C or just stay with OSRIC. There are cases for both at this point, though I'm probably leaning a bit toward the latter. I just need to think about it more in the coming days.

Not much XP was gained from this session. I'd already decided to grant Amiculum and Ellimorell a 1,000 XP boost, as in retrospect it was somewhat unfair to allow Dravin and Gulwar to begin the campaign so much higher. The party is also granted 1,000 XP for the cloak of elvenkind found in the previous session, though this award will only be split by the characters that played in that game. For this session, the ghouls are valued at 352 XP, and this award will be split equally between Rylin and Gulwar.

Updated XP totals should be reflected on the site shortly.

Matt

T1, part 2: A Mixed Bag

Tonight ran the second session for the party exploring the ruins of the moat house in The Village of Hommlet. It was also my third session running 1e/OSRIC. My opinions of the games so far have been mixed, and are leading me in a direction that I actually find very surprising.

First, a recap: Dravin, Gulwar, and Amiculum hired Rogar, man-at-arms-for-hire, for a suit of old chain mail plus wages of 2 gp per day and delved back into the moat house, fighting off a horde of rats before slaying the wolf spider lurking in the tower left of the draw bridge (props to Gulwar for his clever use of a mirror in this encounter). They located the steps to the dungeon level, but elected to camp for the night in the bandit room with the door barricaded before descending.

At night, the ogre from the dungeon level wandered up from below, detected the PCs, and broke through the door. Though it managed to bash Gulwar with its club, the party just as quickly peppered it with arrows, and down it went. The party waited out the rest of the night, but then decided to return to town, wounded and out of spells. In Hommlet, word of the ogre was enough to recruit Burne on the characters' next foray - in exchange for a third of all gold and treasures found. And so, five strong, they returned once again, battling zombies, uncovering a hidden chute inside a pillar (amazing rolls here), and freeing three prisoners locked in a closet next to the dead ogre's sleeping chamber.

The session ended with an interesting exchange between the PCs and Rogar, which occurred after the gnome prisoner offered the latter an iron ring of friendship to return him to safety (prior to this, the PCs had decided they would escort the prisoners back to Hommlet only after their resources were further depleted). The characters were adamant that the ring was rightfully theirs since it was obtained while adventuring; Rogar felt otherwise. In the end, they all returned to Hommlet, and Rogar, offended by the pettiness of the dispute, tossed the ring back to the PCs, accepting a small bag of silver for it, albeit reluctantly. It should be interesting to see whether this bridge has been permanently ruptured.

So, that was what happened. Reading the above, it had all the makings of a good session. The PC-NPC interactions really stood out, and the personalities of Rogar, Burne, and even Zert (who the party nearly hired before Gulwar detected him as evil) became much more defined - these are the kinds of things that should really drive the game forward as it progresses.

Despite all the good, this session was tiresome to run; three main reasons stand out to me:

1. Combat is dry. Too many misses, too many rounds of nothing but melee attacks, over and over. Did the players get creative at times? Sure. But especially from my side of the screen, when I'm running the part of giant rats, sitting there rolling piles of d20s and just looking for 15s and higher practically puts me to sleep. The zombie fight was equally fruitless, Burne's wall of fire being the main highlight.
2. The XP-for-treasure system is questionable. This session, it lead to lots of metagaming decisions. Treasure is good, and characters motivated by treasure are fine, but characters motivated by treasure because they need it in order to gain levels is weak sauce. Additionally, we just don't play often enough to use this XP system "by the book." As written, these PCs may not see 5th level until 2011 or later (they're currently levels 3-4, mind). Having grown up on the 2e experience tables, I certainly can respect and appreciate this kind of slow advancement, but I'm seriously doubting its long-term merit for this campaign.
3. Looking up rules is an annoyance. Especially when there's the 2e rule that I grew up knowing, the 3e rule that I played with for several years, the 1e rule that I've read once or twice, and the OSRIC rule that I'm now using as my de facto source. How does detect evil work again? Let me double-check how this system defines it. Too much ambiguity and flipping through books, even if it's not all that frequent.

So why am I surprised by the direction this is leading? Because that direction is 4e. The above items are three core pieces of D&D that it addresses: cinematic combats (allegedly), regular advancement, and minimal rulebook references. The things that went well in this session were all system independent: what might we gain from giving 4e another shot to see how things go? With the PHB2 races and classes, all the current PCs would be easily translatable, and I could cut things I don't like (dragonborn and tieflings) to keep the "classic" D&D feel without worrying about character options being too limited.

Does that mean I want to convert my game to 4e? No. I still have many doubts about the system, two of the foremost being long, dragged-out combats and hard-coded options stifling player creativity. That said, given that I have access to the 4e version of The Village of Hommlet, the idea of letting the players re-engineer their characters for a session or two to finish the adventure in 4e is intriguing: it might be as close to an apples-to-apples comparison as I'm ever able to come up with. If not, maybe I'll try a one-off run of Keep on the Shadowfell - I just hate pulling players away from plot lines they're starting to become involved in.

Anyway, we'll see what happens. Depending on when the first domino of our kitchen remodel falls, it may be a few weeks before I have a chance to play again. Anyone reading this post, feel free to comment, especially if you're one of the players.

Experience from tonight should be forthcoming sometime this weekend. I also like where the campaign is headed, plot-wise. I feel like I have a lot of good leads and NPCs to work with.

Matt

The Village of Hommlet: 4e

Today I acquired a PDF copy of the 4th Edition reprint of The Village of Hommlet, the AD&D module I'm currently running. I've only glanced at it so far, mostly just to get a feel for differences and similarities to the original. I don't really have an opinion on it yet, but given that I own the 4e core books, and despite the less-than-positive feelings I've had trying to run 4e in the past, I wonder if it would be worth running this as a one-off for those currently playing the AD&D version, just as a way of doing a side-by-side comparison. In any case, I'm expecting to have another one to two more sessions (at least) in "old school" T1, so I definitely have time to think about it.

T1: The Village of Hommlet (part 1)

Last night marked my first attempt at running a classic AD&D module; I chose T1 (The Village of Hommlet), precursor to The Temple of Elemental Evil. We brought Dravin Deepsyer over from the 2e campaign I ran briefly last year, resulting in the following cast of 2nd-3rd level PCs:

• Dravin - human fighter (NG)
• Gulwar - half-orc thief/cleric (N)
• Ellimorell - elven assassin (LE)
• Amiculum - human ranger (CG)

The group, having met south along the road, marched into Hommlet, like many others, in response to a call for protection by the Viscount of Verbobonc. In the village, the party spoke to a number of potential arms-for-hire, most notably a warrior named Rogar at the traders establishment, and an assortment of fellows at the Inn of the Welcome Wench: a fighter named Zert, a gambler named Furnok of Ferd, an ogre of a man named Kobart, and a passive scribe named Spugnoir. The characters also visited the castle-under-construction of Rufus and Burne, a semi-retired warrior and wizard of local adventuring fame who originally came to Hommlet three years ago.

In the end, the PCs decided to proceed to the ruins of the nearby moat house on their own, where they explored the east and south portions of its ground level and defeated a troupe of nine bandits, killing five before capturing the bandit leader, Margon (the other three escaped with their crossbows). Margon was escorted back to Hommlet and turned in to the captain of the militia, and to the characters went the bandits' spoils:

• Two bolts of fine cloth (later claimed by a local merchant)
• A decorated inlaid wooden box (also claimed by the same merchant)
• A set of a crystal flagon and four crystal goblets (sold for 20 gp)
• A gold chain necklace
• A chest of 2,000+ cp (tithed between the church of St. Cuthbert and the druidic grove)
• Four finely-crafted arrows
• A suit of chain mail

Upon returning to the traders establishment, the PCs agreed in principle to barter the chain mail to Rogar in exchange for the fighter's services, though the arrangement has not yet been finalized. They also received a standing offer of 50 gp for the gold chain from the fat merchant, Rannos Davl. Finally, as a courtesy for their efforts, the magic-user Burne ("His Most Worshipful Mage of Hommlet") granted a casting of identify, revealing the arrows to be +1 magical arrows.

I still need to calculate experience for the adventure, but all in all, the players did well, having circumvented almost certain peril at the hands of the bandits after being ambushed by drawing the enemies into a dark chamber where Gulwar and Ellimorell's infravision yielded a major tactical advantage. By the time the bandits managed to procure torchlight, the tide of the battle had fiercely turned in favor of the PCs.

Having never run a true 1e game before, I really enjoyed the initiative system using combat "segments." At least two initiative rolls against the bandits were certain matters of life or death, and both of these the characters won. A couple questions I found myself pondering during and after the session:

1. Is a thief's backstab ability viable in an ongoing melee? We had a situation where Gulwar approached a bandit, presumably unobserved in total darkness, while the bandit was busy blind-fighting either Amiculum or Ellimorell (I can't remember which). I allowed a backstab attempt at the time (which succeeded), but my uncertainty in the moment makes me want to research a little more about backstabbing before we play again.
2. When awarding XP for treasure, should I award points based on the stated value of the treasure in the module, or the value received from its sale? (I think probably the former.)

I plan to find the answers I seek for both of these questions at Dragonsfoot. I'm sure I've seen forum threads on both of these topics there before.

Matt