This is part of my on-going diary series for my Doom of Barrowmaze campaign run using Old-School Essentials.
Session 11 - The Reptile God
This week the party consisted of...
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Barry, Barbarian 4. Duvari polymath and would-be warlord. Expedition leader. Played by Zi. |
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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 2. Enigmatic prophet haunted by eldritch whispers. Played by Andy. |
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Thaddeus, Paladin 4. Eccentric holy warrior in search of wisdom. Played by Todd. |
The Lieutenants
The party faced off against a trio of cult lieutenants, swiftly dispatching them. Narion used a spell to blind the commander, enabling Thaddeus to incapacitate him with a nearby chair. Kazrik attempted to reason with a zealous peasant guard but, failing, resorted to knocking him out. Psteve acquired a +1 shield, and Narion claimed the magic sword "Scalebane" (+1, +2 vs scaly creatures) from one of the assassins.
In the lieutenants' quarters, the group discovered a magically warded chest, realizing it belonged to an elusive cult leader. Psteve and Kazrik deliberated on bypassing the ward, with Kazrik accidentally disarming it by saying "Explicitica," much to the group's amusement. Inside, they found clerical vestments and a scroll containing two healing spells.
Twisting Tunnels
Determined to swiftly eliminate the threat of the Serpent Mother, the group descended the stairs into the lower dungeon level. Navigating through twisting, muddy corridors, they headed east and discovered a passage leading to a banded wooden door.
The Dead and the Caged
Before venturing into the chamber beyond the door, the group prioritized creating an escape route. With hammer and axe, Kazrik and Barry removed the door's hinges, inadvertently attracting the attention of a haggard corpse. Thaddeus swiftly attacked, but the undead horror rose again, causing him to flee in terror. Barry and Kazrik stepped in, hacking the corpse to pieces, their magic weapons ensuring it wouldn't return a second time.
While exploring the room, Narion, with elven insight, discovered a secret door. The group investigated, finding it led to an unexplored portion of the first floor. Realizing their location, they promptly returned to the stone chamber.
Moving into a long hall, they peered through a western door, revealing a small room with prison cells. Among the prisoners were Alfred and Beryn, the carpenter's children, Grimbold, a plump merchant from Murkwater, and Lewith, the wife of a farmer charmed by the reptile god. The group promised to free the prisoners before proceeding north into a room with five blood-stained benches raised 3' off the ground. Without lingering, they hurried on.
The Temple of the Reptile God
The final door opened into a wood-paneled temple room, where a priest of the dark god, Garath Primo, awaited with his assistant, a terrifying wight. The wight rushed forward, and as Garath raised corpses into zombies, the party swiftly cut down the wight, aided by the magic weapons they had found. Narion targeted the cleric with his crossbow, disrupting spellcasting, while Psteve turned the risen dead. Unable to cast any more of his repertoire, Garath was slain in short order.
Inspecting further, Barry and Thaddeus discovered a secret door in the northern wall, but not how to open it. Kazrik and Psteve examined the granite statue of the reptile god stationed on a low wooden dias, realizing its head could be turned, and in doing so, opened the door. Venturing into the corridor beyond, they opened another secret door, revealing a large, columned room with a lake beyond.
Explictica Defilus
The light of the party's torches revealed a large pile of gleaming treasure and the baleful eyes of a large snake with a human face, the reptile god itself, Explictica Defilus. With serpentine speed, the dread demi-god gazed upon the group, charming Barry to its will. The group swarmed upon the naga, surprising it with a flurry of savage blows. Khiral pulled out one of the scrolls from his pack and read it, casting dispel magic upon Barry, freeing him from the naga's influence.
Explictica Defilus, sensing that it was outmatched and imminent doom upon it, devised a wicked vengeance. The naga cast its most powerful spell, fireball, centered in the room, hitting everyone in the space, itself included. The fiery blast instantly killed the serpent god, Khiral, and Narion. Barry, Khazrik, Psteve, and Thaddeus all blocked the blast by sacrificing their shields, saving their lives.
Searching through the god's hoard, hidden among the piles of coin, the party found a scroll case with several divine spells, including a raise dead spell, which they cast upon Narion. The group then set about inspecting the other items hidden in the chests and among the coins, including a bag of holding (500 coins), a pair of boots, a horn, several rings, a scroll of arcane spells, and several pieces of jewelry.
With the reptile god defeated, the session concluded. The group now must decide if they wish to return to the Barrowmaze next week, or head off for adventures in some other distant corner of the world.
Final Thoughts
Speed Run!
After wandering around the entire first floor, I wondered if the group would do the same on the lower level. This was not a problem. A lucky turn towards the temple complex saw the group face off against the most dangerous members of the cult straight away. It didn't surprise me that the group then decided to check the temple room for secret doors, given their previous experience with Barrowmaze, but I was still caught off guard that they bypassed 2/3 of the lower level, including the Troglodyte den.
Energy Drain
This marked the party's first encounter with a monster wielding the energy drain ability. Fortunately, none of the characters fell victim to the Wight (per our house rules, PCs certainly would have broken their shield if they had been hit to avoid the drain). However, this prompted a later discussion on the preferred rules variant. While most players leaned towards the classic experience level loss, some vocal members opposed energy drain as "anti-fun" or a mere tool for player punishment. Certain players implied a misconception that OSR games promote adversarial GMing, a notion both untrue and presented in bad faith. GM fiat is inherent in any RPG. Assuming old-school games advocate more malevolence than 5th edition or Blades in the Dark is absurd.
Personally, I find energy drain most compelling with the level drain mechanic. Losing hard-earned levels is among the most fearsome aspects of an RPG, adding a layer of dread to encounters with undead. The repercussion of level loss is an incentive to embark on more adventures, reinforcing the gameplay loop. Due to a lack of unanimous agreement on the traditional level drain mechanic, we've opted for a variant from Halls of the Blood King, turning energy drain into a -1 penalty on all rolls until the character takes a night's rest.
The Fireball
If I could redo a part of the session, it would be the final round of the encounter with Explictica Defilus. After the players had depleted 37 out of the naga's 40 hit points in just two rounds, the climax felt lacking. Seeking to inject cinematic flair, I chose to use the fireball spell from the monster's repertoire, a decision I now regret. In the module, the spell is intentionally meant to be wasted against the players, as Ramne neutralizes it with his globe of invulnerability. Without the wizard in the module, the naga likely wouldn't have possessed fireball. In hindsight, I should have considered options like using web, sleep (still a possible TPK), or introducing several crocodiles from the lake, as suggested in the module. The error was partially mitigated by the Heal spell in the clerical scroll, a spell absent in OSE, so I adapted it into a raise dead spell allowing the PCs to restore Narion.
To be clear, I don't view the last round as a mistake because a PC died. The issue was that once the spell was cast, Narion faced inevitable death regardless of his actions. Even if Narion, Psteve, or Karik saved against the fireball for half damage, the spell would still kill them outright. The Shields Shall Be Splintered house rule spared the latter two, but Andrew rightly pointed out later that, regardless of his actions, his PC was doomed due to my choice of spell. Whether blaming the GM is a valid reaction is a separate debate. While some might argue it aligns with the world's fiction and occasional unavoidable death, to him, it felt akin to a "rocks fall, you all die" scenario.
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