He had it coming

Was the writing on the wall for Cragstrum?
Being stung in the face twice by giant killer bees was bad enough but then he fell foul of a poison needle trap. So long old friend, you fought well, we'll miss you. We'll just take his possessions and stuff his body into the chest that proved to be his his undoing. Our adventurers have completed their quest, levelled up and learned a thing or two about bragging too much in sordid inns. Will the group stay together long enough to take the map to someone who can decipher it? Where will it lead? Are they perhaps 'In  search of  the Unknown'....

How?

Astonishing as it may seem, five first level characters have all just survived their first push into a new dungeon! How is this possible? I don't know. Its never happened before. Sheer luck?, skill? dodgy character sheets? I think it was all down to the bulldog clip monsters and a black d6. Our new band of wastrels are resting up whilst trying to forget the sight of zombie flesh dripping from the walls and ceiling. Sweet dreams. Sweet exploding zombie dreams..


Some of the recently departed......

Lost in the mists of a misty place

A Halfling and a Cleric stumble through the door of a wretched tavern at the edge of a small and very bleak settlement. Meriaboc and Wiffo are looking for other adventurers to join them on a quest but it seems none will be found in this desperate place. The small dark room is frequented by two grumbling old men and a flee-bitten dog. Feeling down hearted Meriaboc orders two ales from the inkeep. Reaching for his purse to pay,  he discovers that its missing. A shadow flits across the room and dissapears near a twisted old bookshelf located in the corner of the room....

Session Comic - Second Edition

We finally finished the adventure Seobeq was running! Much has changed, much has stayed the same.
The ever-present death around every corner stayed the same.

The Adventure! Continues

There was such a good reaction to the session-recap-comic last time that I just had to do another one, and make it a bit fancier, so this one's longer and has a bit of colour on it too. The Moldvay Basic D&D colours of red and yellow, y'know. The very same colours used on the cover of the first printing of Labyrinth Lord from fun benefactor Goblinoid Games.

Enjoy!

(Oh, and there's a full-size version of the comic right here, for the keen.)

Lets get out of here..

At long last Fortress of the Mountain King has been completed. More brave player characters perished. Only Wiffo the Cleric and Meriaboc the Halfling survived. Given the large amount of treasure they have accumulated, (not to mention the monsters inexpertly dispatched), those chaps are about to go up a level. The Mountain King Escaped and was last seen heading North. The fallen heroes now lie mouldering in a dung heap inhabited by an Okyuck. Our weary adventurers drag their battle worn bodies back to the village where toasted crumpets and guady waistcoats bring comfort to their sadened hearts. Will they continue adventuring?.................Of course they will!.

Bring it..

At long last, the time for adventure doth approacheth thh thu. Ready yourselves, do some yoga, eat organically certified vegatables, get a shiatsu, sharpen your swords. Hmm, being locked in a library for six months must surely have some effect on intellegence modifiers....

Itchy dice..

Blimey, it's tough getting folks together for a game. But then again, it makes it all the more worthwhile when it happens.

Humble Pie

Weapons have been honed, armor repaired, stomachs filled and egos gently massaged. The party is considering a return to Larm to hire some muscle. The Mountain King's raiding parties have plundered many homes and farmsteads over the years, there must be treasure to be had. Onwards!

Not so easy..

Our intrepid adventurers are safely hidden in the secret library discussing the intriguing possibilities that lie ahead. What treasures might the Iron Key reveal? Where did the Kobold in the throne room go? What does Trèsor mean? Who's crying out behind the door in the long passage way? Whats behind the secret door? Survival in a dungeon of this type is unlikely with such a small party. So perhaps a return to Larm might be prudent.

Missile Attacks

I'm pleased to report that there was a whole lot of Cross Bow and Sling action going on as the session progressed. There may even have been a Magic Blast from the Magic User Ghastor at one point. 'Keep your distance adventurers', and survive to fight another day. Iron Spikes were the utility of the day, trapping monsters behind closed doors seemed a good idea until the party, confronted by a very nasty Dwarf, attempted to escape through these doors and realized that this was was no longer an option. ieeeeeee.

The Week in Pictures

Hello, I'm Lee and while I'm not working on the shading on the forehead of my character portrait, I play Labyrinth Lord under Seobeq's watchful, reptilian gaze. I'll leave most of the discourse to him, but I can contribute visuals to the blog - like this wee comic below - my report on the first session of play. As it will become apparent, the other thing I contribute is fresh, new characters. I am rewarded with ever-present death.

Click to view

We don't just go around press-ganging Kobold sentries into new nautical careers, we also tried to employ a goblin as a scout and talked about getting him to turn the rest of the goblins in the dungeon to an impromptu militia in our employ, but goblins are quite tricksy and it didn't quite work out...

First game in years....

So then, I just ran my first basic d&d game in many years.

It was full of the familiar old mayhem and carnage that entertained me and my mates in the late 70's and early 80's.

I decided to start with a Labyrinth Lord module called 'Fortress of the Mountain King'. Labyrinth Lord by the way, is a retro clone of the Moldvay edition of Basic Dungeons and Dragons. I like to use a combination of these original rule books and Labyrinth Lord. As there are only two players in the current group, I decided to let the player characters hire retainers. This turned out to be a wise decision as the two main player characters perished early on before even entering the fortress! The retainers (who at that point had become main characters) then returned to the town and hired more retainers for a return visit. The party now consisted of an Elf, a Fighter, a Magic User, a Thief and a Cleric.

The party successfully infiltrated the fortress after extracting knowledge of the secret knock required to open the main door from a beleaguered Kobold. Said Kobold now sails the sea serving as a kitchen slave. Following a narrow miss with a Rust Monster the party decided to investigate the Dwarvern statues. One of the party, Wiffo the Lord, a Cleric, triggered the statue trap thereby getting a stone axe butt to the face. Still, he earned himself some gold pieces form Hairy the Fighter, so that's okay then. Ouch!

Some careful exploration revealed a secret library, which turned out to be an ideal place for the party to eat food and get some rest in relative safety. Following a days rest, the party steeled itself for the horrors that know doubt lay ahead. Hairy the Fighter took a little damage from a Giant Crab Spider but managed to fight off the effects of the poison injected into his face.