This is part of my on-going diary series for my Doom of Barrowmaze campaign run using Old-School Essentials.
Session 5: Retracing Steps
This week the party consisted of...
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Barry, Barbarian 4. Formerly of the "Buff Bastards" adventuring group. Expedition leader. Played by Zi. |
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Francis, Thief 2. A shifty and lazy sort. Played by Stony. |
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Kazrik, Dwarf 2. Dwarven shipwright of Clan Boatstone. Played by Ryan. |
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Narion, Elf 1. An unusual elven smith and tinkerer. Played by Andrew. |
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Psteve, Cleric 1. Enigmatic prophet haunted by eldritch whispers. Played by Andy. |
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Thaddeus, Paladin 3. Holy warrior in search of wisdom. Formerly of the "Buff Bastards" adventuring group. Played by Todd. |
| Hirelings | |
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Harvey. Porter/Torch-bearer. |
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Jules. Porter/Torch-bearer. |
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Ofilia. Porter/Torch-bearer. |
Downtime
The party re-conviened at the Rogue Willow on the 15th of Summerrise, 1041 after a 3 week hiatus. Narion, Gwyn, and Psteve had traveled to Murkwater to identify magic items and buy supplies. Kazrik returned from Durnagald with Francis, and their new companion and Buff Bastards veteran Ser Thaddeus. Besides throwing Kazrik a hero's banquet, the dwarves of Darrow also taught their kinsman how to use Dasnast–Gisëk (roughly translated as Steppe Cobra in Dwarvish) the War Hammer +2, Dwarven Thrower. Upon their return to Tamhill, Francis found that a letter addressed to him had been delivered to Narion's house, which he read aloud.
My Sweet Francis,
I hope this here letter finds you doing alright, darling. I am still tending to the rickety cottage by the old farmstead. My bones may creak and moan, but my eyes, they still got a bit o' spark left in them. I've been hearing tales about your troubles with the devil's drink, and it just breaks my old heart, it really does.
Now, let me tell ya, Bogtown ain't what it used to be. Folks around here, they are acting real peculiar, like they done lost their way in the swamp. Folk go missing from time to time now, left their homes and crops behind, and nobody knows why. Some come back weeks later, acting strange; others never return at all. There is a darkness hanging over this place, and it has got me mighty worried.
I ain't asking you to round up no possee, darlin. I just want my Francis to come for a visit. Make sure you are okay, that's all. But between you and me, I reckon you might be the kind of fella who can protect his old aunt from whatever is stirring up trouble in Bogtown.
With all my love and worry,
Great Aunt Vilma Merridie
The group debated going to Bogtown to investigate the mystery, but decided instead to return to the Barrowmaze.
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| Kazrik's personal map of the Northern Reach drawn during his journey back to Durnagald. |
Expedition #4
The "Steel Tomb"
The party ventured across the Cairn Moorland in swealtering summer weather. Upon arrival at the Barrow Fields, the first order of business was to re-investigate the "Steel Tomb" which had almost collapsed on top of them during their second expedition. Francis got to work and unlocked all three steel doors without issue. The first chamber contained a large, stone sarcophogus which the party opened. Inside they found an ancient skeleton holding a fine vial, which they were able to determine was a point of extra-healing. The second chamber contained 4 alcoves filled with bones, but little else. The final chamber contained a suspicious sarcophogus surrounded by four, 8 foot tall pillars that had been finely carved to resemble human women. The party, understandably suspicious of the statues, investigated them thoroughly, finding that three of the statues had a thin gap between their hands and the roof of the chamber. On guard, most of the party backed out of the room and spiked the door open before Barry and Thaddeus opened the coffer, uncovering a still decomposing body with a fine rope wrapped around its neck. As they did this, the three odd pillars came to life and attempted to repell the tomb robbers. The party fled, Thaddeus grapped the rope as he retreated, dragging the corpse with it, and Kazrik used his new hammer to smash a support pillar, bringing the entire barrow mound down around the animated pillars!
While deciding their next move, Thaddeus decided to test out the rope, which he rightly assumed was magical. As soon as he attempted to use the rope, its cursed magic activated and the rope of stranguation attempted to kill the paladin. Lucky for Thaddeus, he passed his save vs magic and was not choked to death like the poor sod they found in the Steel Tomb.
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| Jacob Fleming |
Giant Scorpions and the Delve
The group attempted to descend back into the Barrowmaze through their excavated staircase, but they found a new complication to their plan. As they attempted to enter the tomb leading to the second staircase, the group heard the clatter of two giant scorpions that had made their way up from the depths and were now using the barrow as a den. Barry provoked them by throwing a torch into the barrow chamber and a short, tense fight ensued before the group retreated. Unable to safely proceed down the stairwell, the group returned to the original (secret) staircase and began their delve.
After some confusion over inaccuracies with their map, the group began exploring further west in the dungeon. After a quick fight with more giant carrion flies, the party entered a large empty chamber and more passages heading west. In a hallway, they found a pile of dead adventurers still with arms and armor. The group looted the bodies, but decided against proceeding further, warry of what might have killed the adventurers. After a short rest, the party ran into a pair of Sapphire Skeletons.
During the fight, Psteve decided to call upon his Patron and a terrifying, eldritch monstrocity pulled itself into our reality to help dispatch the skeletons. After the skeletons were destroyed, the rift in time and space was torn open again as a massive clawed hand reached out and pulled the unnatural aberration back into its proper realm of nightmares.
The party, somewhat stunned at this turn of events, decided that this would be a good point to conclude the session for the evening.
Final Thoughts
The Steel Tomb: I was very happy with the amount of caution and planning the group showed before finally attempting to open the final sarcophogus. The group's retreat and their choice to use the magic war hammer to bring down the barrow mound to stop the pillars was brilliant. I couldn't have been happier with the group for their dilligence and proper amount of caution given the described scenario.
Thaddeus and the Cursed Rope: Thaddeus' decision to test out a magic rope that had been found wrapped around the neck of a dead man proved a classic moment of "I don't know what I expected." Thankfully, Todd managed to save vs spells, and Ser Thaddeus lived to fight another day. I'm now very interested to see what kind of shenanigans the group gets up to with this cursed item.
Restocking the Dungeon: Due to the length of in-game time since their last delve, I made sure to restock the dungeon to keep things unpredictable. It's important for players to feel that their actions have consequences and that the game world continues to evolve in their absence. The appearance of the giant scorpions, while challenging, was a natural result of the changing environment, but I must admit this made me slightly nervous. I did not want the group to feel like all of their work last session had immediately been invalidated by the appearance of the bugs.
Player Knowledge in OSR Play
After the game there were several discussions regarding understanding and interacting with the game world without skill checks. The topic of the Caryatid Column ambush in the "Steel Tomb" being a point of contention. The crux of the matter is how and where the line has to be drawn on what information player characters can get from the game world. Some players expressed frustration at the apparent lack of a method to discern that the statues were indeed magical and poised to come to life. My standpoint was that players cannot always discern all information in a scenario, as player characters possess limitations in obtaining information, and at times, the answer may simply be "you don't know." Notably, the party did sense that something was awry in the final chamber of the Steel Tomb, prompting them to invest a considerable amount of real-time interaction with the room to assess its safety. Ultimately, they were aware of the potential danger but opted to engage with the sarcophagus despite the inherent risks. They took all feasible precautions, yet there remained some unmitigated uncertainties. Even if a detect magic spell had been cast and the magical nature of the statues had been revealed, I contend that the scenario's outcome would have remained unchanged.
My firm stance against the necessity of skill checks in this scenario is rooted in the belief that if players had rolled an Investigation check in the room it would still require an equal amount of DM fiat to say what they discover. Instead, the players were able to interact with the tomb and the statues in clever ways (like climbing on each other's shoulders so they could use a dagger to check the gaps over the statues) which is more in the spirit of the game in my eyes. To that end, I am not inclined to engage with "gotcha" traps, which are prevalent in the Barrowmaze, and I have consistently chosen to disregard them. My objective is to facilitate compelling interaction between players and the secondary world, fostering an environment where players' characters learn from their experiences and make informed decisions. I aim for the game world to pose a genuine challenge, rather than relying on adversarial tactics for the sake of it. Ultimately, my enjoyment is derived from crafting a hazardous yet rewarding game world where heroes emerge victorious due to their ability to overcome formidable odds, not solely because they are player characters.
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