Judge Evie's All Grown Up

Behold Judge Evie!

Yesterday was International GM's Day, a celebration of game-masters (role-playing game referees and judges) that occurs on the anniversary of D&D creator Gary Gygax's passing.  While every player at the table is important in a tabletop role-playing game, it is the game master, dungeon master, or judge that is the creative engine of this method of play.  We chose to celebrate International GM's Day by inviting a few friends over to play Dungeon Crawl Classics, with my ten year old daughter Evie at the helm.

As I look back to last night's game I wonder.  If a judge is the "creative engine" of DCC, then Judge Evie is a rampaging, death-bringing locomotive of chaos and carnage, unleashed from some unknown hell reserved for only those fool hardy enough to step up to her table.

This was Judge Evie's first time running Dungeon Crawl Classics, so she decided to leave a delightfully painful mark in the tabletop role-playing game history books.  

This was Judge Evie's first time running Dungeon Crawl Classics, so she decided to leave a delightfully painful mark in the tabletop role-playing game history books.

Now, Evie is no newcomer to RPG'ing.  She's spent the past year running games of No Thank You, Evil! pretty much non-stop.  In one post on the RPG's for Kids Facebook page I noted that she was part of the "No Thank You, Evil! graduating class of 2016.  Evie's GM'd games in our house, at our local game club, and even in an official capacity at the Monte Cook Games booth at Gen Con 2016.  As she's learned to referee role-playing games she's gained self-confidence, an ability to present herself boldly, and sharp improvisational skills.

Last night she used all of these against us.  

For Judge Evie's very first "grown-up" role-playing game adventure, I suggested that she try Nebin Pendlebrook's Perilous Pantry, written by Mark Bishop and published by Purple Sorcerer Games.  The layout and design of this 0-level adventure are perfectly suited for a first-time DCCRPG judge, and the whimsical encounters are both memorable and absolutely terrifying.  

When was the last time you were killed by an undead tortoise chair?  

Each of our six players (Carrie, Andy, Craig, Dylan, Cooper, and me) were dealt three 0-level commoners for this session, bringing our grand total to eighteen tortured souls to be thrown into Judge Evie's pressure cooker.  As I looked over my three characters, I didn't think I'd stand a chance.  

I was right.  

By the end of the session, Evie had killed all of my 0-levels, as well as all of her sister's characters.  

As is tradition with the Living 4 Crits blog, there is typically an adventure recap following any successful adventure.  This week I invited Evie to write her own:

Nebin Pendlebrook's Perilous Pantry

by Judge Evie Walls

Last Night I ran Nebin Pendlebrook's Perilous Pantry and there were eight deaths of eighteen characters including three that died in one attack.  

It all started out as the players bought some gear before they went into the house of Nebin Pendlebrook.  The players started to head into a dark tunnel soon approaching six acid spiders and were now in combat.  The spiders took out two characters.  The characters continued down the path and found no more than Nebin Pendlebrook snoring on top of of a skeletal tortoise.  Neban took a hit to the head and... died.  

Then the characters were in combat with the skeletal tortoise and six skeletal dwarves.  There were four skeletal dwarves that took out all of Carrie's characters!  

Once they were taken out the characters wanted to go back, but some said to "adventure more."  

So that's what they did.

They came across a grub but not much happened.  

The final encounter had one stone behemoth, one chest mimic, and Varooth Moss [a wizard].  Varooth Moss had fired magic missiles at Carrie, so she was toast.  A couple characters died, but not many.  The characters decided to head back home and say "Nebin was already dead" to anyone who asked.

Evie received a lot of great feedback following last night's game:

"She's Jim on steroids," quipped Craig.

After dishing out a terrific cache of loot and treasure Carrie commented that Evie "was like a violent Oprah."  

Player Andy left this comment on Twitter this morning:

While I'm not sure what DCC adventure Evie will run next, I'm fairly certain that she's only getting started.  So please join me in congratulating my bright and talented yet so brutally bloodthirsty daughter Evie on running her very first "grown-up" role-playing game.  

I'm so proud of you kiddo, and look forward to dying by your dice again very soon!

DCCRPG - Perils of the Sunken City - Part Two

Great SCOT!

The SCOT stands for "Sunken City Omnibus Tour," and what makes this series of events "Great" is that we plan on running through all four of +Jon Marr's amazing adventures one by one:

 The Sunken City Omnibus comes with four adventures:

• Perils of the Sunken City
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk
• A Gathering of the Marked
• Lair of the Mist Men

Last night we finished Perils of the Sunken City, in a game that I will remember for years to come!  It was one of those very special tabletop evenings.  The adventure was perfect, the players came ready to role-play their characters, and the overall level of comedy and humor was delightful but never derailed the gameplay.

I'd call it "outlandish" without being too "over-the-top" campy.  

When we wrapped up our session last month I allowed every player to advance one character to 1st level.  Some of the players still had multiple 0-level commoners at this point, but I thought the game would move faster if we didn't have an entire mob of 1st level characters in the game.  Since the adventure is written as a 0-level funnel, I figured that five 1st level adventurers would still fare well against the terrors of Madazkan's Dungeon.

I should also point out that one of our players, +Michael K, opted to choose an alternate class for his dwarf: a Dwarven Priest, written by +Jeffrey Tadlock and featured in issue #10 of the Crawl! Fanzine.   After witnessing the character class in play, the Dwarven Priest reminds me of a Fighter/Cleric from AD&D 2nd Edition.  There was a Kit featured in the Complete Book of Dwarves called a Champion that resembled the Dwarven Priest.  The Dwarven Priest gains a Mighty Deed die at higher character levels, and has a few less spells than a Cleric.  But they still gain the Infravision and Underground Skills of the rest of their dwarven brethren.  The only thing the Dwarven Priest really lacks is healing ability... but who needs that?

After reading the class in full, this is definitely something I would play if given the opportunity.  

Perils of the Sunken City, Part Two

The Free Company chose its five strongest souls to explore the depths of Mazkadan's Dungeon, facing off against undead, slimes, and a giant catfish named Whiskers.  The five encounter Malloc, the Dark Creeper, and one of their own dies in an outlandish attempt to appease a newly formed Patron Bond.  

Die Rodney!

Dramatis Personae 

• Nicodemus - Thief, played by +Alex Perucchini 
• Mason - Elf, played by +andrew lyon 
• Watson - Wizard, played by +Craig McCullough 
• Bellows - Dwarf, played by +Marc Plourde 
• Ramson - Dwarven Priest, played by +Michael K 

Adventure Summary

The Free Company began the next phase of their adventure in the lowest depths of Madazkan's Dungeon.  The long drop from the arena ended with a plunge into a healing pool of water.  The room containing the pool was circular, and consisted of one doorway to the west.  Five members of the Free Company chose to further explore the dungeon's depths.  Nicodemus, Mason, Watson, Bellows, and Ramson all felt adequately "advanced" enough in their understanding of basic adventuring protocols and etiquette to stand as a bastion against the fell creatures that inhabited the darkness.

[*cough* Level Up *cough]

[Judge's Note:  While dealing with basic campaign management, the topic came up of Dwarven Gods.  Michael was putting the last minute touches on Ramson's Dwarven Priest class, but since this is a mini-campaign, I didn't have a list of deities available.  So I thought I'd let the players choose.  Marc came up with Igneous, so he earned his character a point of Luck.  Igneous the Stoic is now the Lawful Dwarven Deity of Stone and Smithing in this world.  Let the Campaign Mythology begin!]

The stones walls surrounding the pool were full of cracks, revealing an eerie green light.  Mason's keen elven eyes were able to see through the cracks, and he described that the Free Company was in the middle of prisoner cells, each containing piles of bones covered in chains.  Knowing that they had to move forward, Nicodemus checked the door to the west and gave the all-clear.  The party opened the door, and everything remained still and serene.

But as soon as Nicodemus stepped into the larger chamber all of the chain covered skeletons started to rise.  In addition, a terrifying Minotaur skeleton appeared from a corner, clutching a steel pickaxe riding a spectral mine cart...

... it was the dreaded skeletal Mine-o-taur of myth and legend, spoken of only in the wicked far, north-eastern corners of the Great City.

[Mine-o-taur: same stats as the Chain Skeleton, but with a Pick Axe that does 1d8 damage, 13 hit points, and the ability to do a Spectral Mine Cart Charge (+2 to hit and damage)]

[Judge's Note:  Just before this happened the topic of Minotaurs came up, and Marc revealed that he pronounced them "Mine-o-taurs."  It must be a New England thing, but I had to twist the knife and put one of these terrible creatures into the game!]

Nicodemus ran back into the pool room and slammed the door, but the Mine-o-taur just used its spectral mine-cart to slam through the portal.  But Bellows was ready!  The dwarf announced that he was readying his spear to make the first strike.  As soon as the Mine-o-taur came through the door, Bellows stuck his spear into the wheels of the spectral mine cart, causing the creature to fly through the air and land in the enchanted pool.

[Achievement Unlocked:  MIGHTY DEED!]

With the Mine-o-taur taking damage in the water, THE Free Company turned their attention on the chain skeletons that were pouring through the doorway.  What happened afterward was a blur, so here are some of the highlights:

• Knowing full well that the Stick of Smite attained during their first quest could cause extra damage against anyone or anything with a name starting with the letter "R", Mason the Elf screamed out "DIE RODNEY!" when attacking a skeleton.  It was Mason's hope that the skeleton had a name starting with "R" before it found itself amongst the ranks of the undead.  Unfortunately the skeleton's name had been Horance, but "DIE RODNEY" became The Free Company's new motto.  

• During the battle, Watson cast his Magic Missile Spell against some of the chain skeletons on the other side of the doorway.  While most Magic Missiles appear to be bolts of fire, or blasts of ice, or maybe just enchanted arrows flying in mid air, Watson's spell had a very different manifestation.  Upon casting the spell, a giant eagle appeared and flew into the skeleton with a piercing shriek.  The stories of this spell would become so legendary that "Watson's Eagle-Eyed Magic Missile" would become the basis for a show called The Colbert Report hundreds of years in the future... on another plane of existence.  

• After a successful casting of Mason's Runic Word spell, the doorway to the rest of the dungeon became blocked by an enchanted barrier.  The rest of the battle played out like a scene from the movie 300, with a lot of slow-mo spear and sword action.  Nicodemus even shouted out "Die Rodney" a few times, in solidarity with Mason.  

Once all of the skeletons were defeated, the party gathered some of the chains, as well as the Mine-o-taur's pickaxe, and explored the next series of chambers.

The central chamber of Madazkan's consisted of a dozen or so ancient prison cells, doors to the east and west, and a large archway leading to a chamber to the south.  Using his keen elven eyes, Mason managed to find a secret doorway to the north.  Knowing that they would need more gear and equipment to survive the horrors of the underworld, the party picked the rooms clean, grabbing everything they could find.  

One of the more unique artifacts was in a closed chamber to the northeast.  Nicodemus found a chain skeleton with a pierced skull.  Apparently the Mine-o-taur had become annoyed with this skeleton, and rightly so.  When the Thief lifted the skeleton, turning the face towards his own to reveal a mouth full of gold teeth, the skull began to speak!  

His name was Cedric of Redwater... or at least he said that was his name, as Cedric was a bit of a liar.  Not just a casual liar, but a blatant, over-the-top, compulsive liar.  He wouldn't even admit to being a skull trapped in a dungeon, but insisted that he was selling produce in a South Redwater market.  He certainly didn't give The Free Company any help in exploring the dungeon. 

[I should point out that "Cedric" sounds like "Mick" from Rocky.]

Unsure of whether he would keep Cedric for his gold teeth or as future entertainment, Nicodemus threw the skull in his backpack, and continued searching the room.

Eventually the party tired of the prison cells and approached the secret door that Mason found.  On the opposite side was a weird den of wicked desires and debauchery.  Leather straps and buckles.  Plush yet worn benches.  If the Mad Necromancer Madazkan were there he would tell the party that he didn't do romance, and that his tastes were very... singular.   

There were four doorways out of the secret room, and a bookshelf with one remaining intact tome.  The party took down the secret door (it was just a series of stones), and entered the chamber.  The leftover tome was definitely a spell, and Watson greedily grabbed the book.  Not happy with remaining unarmored, Mason took all of the straps and belts and covered himself with a weird, jury-rigged leather armor resembling a gladiator's manica.

But it wasn't what was "in" the room that got the attention of Bellows and Ramson, but what was beyond the doorway to the northwest:  Gold!

The dwarves could smell the rich substance, and wanted it immediately!  The rest of The Free Company agreed, and followed the dwarves through the doorway and into a long corridor until they all came to a sudden, terrifying stop.

The next room was a great, circular chamber with a giant stone tree sporting an organic, living mouth in its trunk.  The teeth of the tree moved and manipulated the body of some poor bloke who must've found his way into this chamber only a few hours earlier.  But at the tree's edge rested a golden cup filled with jewels, so despite the grotesque and otherworldly entity, The Free Company didn't flee the scene.

Eight deep holes circled the stone tree, each situated at a compass point.  Nicodemus approached the nearest hole, but a great tentacle-like root sprung up from the void, grasping the Thief and throwing him against a nearby wall.  The Thief was knocked into unconsciousness, and the party feared him dead.  Mason started to approach, but found himself contacted by the tree... 

... but it was not truly a tree...

... it was Malloc, the Dark Creeper!

Malloc called to Mason, offering a bargain if only the Elf would submit and cast the appropriate spell [Patron Bond]  Mason agreed, cast the spell, carving the images of trees into his arms and legs [Spellburn], and felt himself deeply connected to the somewhat alien entity.  The casting was quite successful, and Mason felt as if he could almost call the Patron his "friend", or at least a very dear acquaintance.  

So when instructed to surrender either the dying Nicodemus or another party member as a blood sacrifice to Malloc the Dark Creeper, Mason felt very comfortable asking for a few minutes to think the decision over while he dragged the thief to safety.  At this point the rest of the party had run back down the hallway to another chamber, quivering in fear that another tentacle root would appear.  There was some discussion as to whether or not one of The Free Company's other members [the remaining 0-level characters] would be sacrificed to Malloc, but everyone hoped that they could find another sacrifice somewhere in the chambers.  

The Free Company continued their search, discovering several interesting chambers in Madazkan's Dungeon:

• The very next doorway actually led to the dungeon's exit.  A trapdoor in the ceiling of a long stone hallway revealed a ladder leading to the surface outside of the arena.  Mason considered climbing up, but got the feeling that Malloc would disapprove.

• Another hallway to the east of the "Singular Taste" room led The Free Company to a skeleton wearing a golden medallion.  "Gold!" screamed Bellows, but when he reached the skeleton there was a partial cave collapse.  He took some damage, but survived with an amulet depicting Malloc.  

• To the west of the central chambers the party discovered a strange altar with ten clay vases.  Smashing open several of the vase the characters released single electrum pieces one by one [each worth 10 gold pieces].  Pushing their luck, one of the vases exploded in a noxious gas.  Rather than risk any further damage, The Free Company stashed two of the vases.

• Everyone loves singing slimes!  South of the "Press Your Luck" room was a dungeon bathhouse, featuring several tubs for washing, a few pits for crapping, and a well crafted chest with Malloc's symbol on the outside.  Covering the walls of this chamber were thousands of tiny purple slimes, each one singing a song of praise and worship.  The Free Company tossed two of their remaining vases into the room, unleashing a horrific poison that killed off all of the little slimes, but caused two large purple slimes (singing, but with much deeper voices) to reveal themselves.  A combination of Watson's Choking Cloud and Mason's Sleep spells took one of the slimes out of action, while Nicodemus bashed the remaining one with a flask of oil [he had asked Cedric the lying skull to pass him a sword, but was instead given the bottle.]  

Four passages, and still no blood for Malloc.  The Dark Creeper was growing impatient, and Mason started to fear for his own life.  There was just one chamber remaining in Madazkan's Dungeon, located behind the large archway on the southern wall of the prison cell room.  

Passing through the archway, The Free Company came to a great underground pond filled with thousands of tiny glowing crayfish and a twenty-foot long mutant catfish...

... wait...

... yeah, I read that right.

In the middle of the pond the party saw a small island covered with loot, but getting there required swimming through twenty-foot long mutant catfish infested waters.  Mason approached the edge of the pond, and dipped a pole in the water.  From out of the depths, the great catfish [let's call him "Whiskers" since that's his name] jumped up and took a bite out of the elf's shoulder.  

For most adventuring companies, the scene of an orca-sized catfish chomping down on, but not killing, a fellow party member would end the encounter.  But not The Free Company!  They decided to strap a bunch of chains to Mason and use him as bait, with the hopes that they could all get attacks off on the catfish.  Once dead, they could drag it's bloated body back to Malloc and quench the Dark Creeper's thirst for blood.

Let's just say now that the plan worked, and only caused the party 20% casualties.

Twice the party goaded the creature into jumping at Mason, and each time they nailed the beast with spears and swords.  But on the second "fishing attempt" Whiskers succeeded in getting all of Mason in its mouth before dying.  By the time the party made it to the elf, pulling on his legs, all they got were legs.  The rest of the now dead elf was inside the great catfish.

With not a moment to waste, the four remaining members of the adventuring party dragged the catfish (and Mason's body) back to Malloc, flopping the two right in front of the strange entity.  The stone tree statue consumed the blood of the catfish, and pulled Mason's legs into its circular mouth, chewing until satisfied.

"Do you seek the blessing of Malloc?" the Dark Creeper asked.

It seemed like a loaded question.  

Ramson backed away, fearing that he could anger Igneous the Stoic [wise choice, +Michael K!] but everyone else stood their ground.  Watson requested the golden chalice, and was given permission to approach and grab the cup.  Nicodemus and Bellows both wanted that "blessing", and each was given a boon granting improvements to their core attributes at a minor cost.  Nicodemus grew a tree-shaped mark on his face and Bellows would never be able to cause harm to a tree again.  

Biding Malloc adieu, the party returned to the island and grabbed the remaining swag before collecting their commoner allies.  The portal to the surface was located just a few hundred feet from the Sending Stone that teleported The Free Company back to the entrance of the Sunken City.

Die Rodney!

  

Quotes?

"I say it's foul sorcery!" - Ramson is not a fan of foul sorcery.  

"I've always pronounced it with the long 'a'." - Marc pronounces Minotaur "MINE-o-taur".

"DIE RODNEY!" - Mason's war cry.

"There's some wicked lahge MINE-o-tars in heere." - Jim mocking poor Marc.

"We've got a compulsive liar, disembodied head... awesome." - Craig mocked Cedric's appearance in the adventure.  

"You know, I'm an elf, it's a tree, we can make that thing work out." - Andy's all about the upside.

"Given Andy's outfit, is this gonna give him Patron Bondage?" - Marc needling Andy's choice of armor outfitting.  

"So... I made a deal... with an evil tree... it's a nature spirit." - Mason to Nicodemus, trying to rationalize the whole situation.

Alex - "Can we make a fishing reel out of the chains?" 
Jim - "Sure."
Alex - "Well, I'm not smart enough to suggest that."

In Memoriam 

• Mason - used as bait for Whiskers the Catfish

DCCRPG - Perils of the Sunken City - Part One

Planning for the "Great SCOT"

[You have to yell out "Great SCOT" for the proper effect.]

Since acquiring The Sunken City Omnibus by +Jon Marr last summer, I've read through the adventures at least twice, each time thinking "wow, I can't wait to run this!"  Of course I feel the same way about a lot of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG adventures that I have, so you'd think I would stop acquiring new modules.

Wrong.

Like many other DCC fans, my rate of adventure acquisition exceeds my rate of adventure completion:  RoAA>RoAC.  To make this more challenging, during the DCC 4th Printing Kickstarter I went hog-wild and pitched in to grab a whole mess of new modules.  

Legends will tell of how the Great SCOT turns the tide in this battle against my DCC modules!  It  is the beginning of my plan to plow through some incredible adventures in order to make room for the copious amounts of DCC swag that keeps showing up in either my mailbox or DriveThruRPG account.  

So what is the SCOT?  SCOT stands for "Sunken City Omnibus Tour."

The Sunken City Omnibus comes with four adventures:

• Perils of the Sunken City
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk
• A Gathering of the Marked
• Lair of the Mist Men

Technically the first three adventures are designed as 0-level funnels, but given the flexible nature of DCCRPG, it won't take much to make them playable for 1st and later 2nd level characters.  This will probably take between 8 to 10 total sessions to complete.  

Unlike other campaigns that I've run, for the Great SCOT I'm not asking for any real commitment from the players.  Personally, I would love to have the same folks back to the table every two weeks.  Last night's session was so much fun!  But I also know that it can be unfair to ask people for ongoing commitment for a Saturday night slot week after week.  

Between work, kids, spouses, family-gatherings, weddings, and human sacrifices, Saturdays are very busy!  

That's why this is the "SCOT" and not the "SCOC."  Since this is a Tour and not a Campaign, I welcome players to join in for some sessions, and perhaps swap out for others.  I plan on following some simple player rules:

• Schedule five players for each event
• Hold a sixth seat free for last minute additions
• Players who complete an adventure have "dibs" on joining the next adventure
• Players can bow out, and rejoin later with living or new characters so long as there is a open spot at the virtual table

I'm hoping that I don't need any additional rules to coordinate the Tour.  Should you have any suggestions on running something similar, I would greatly appreciate the advice!

Well, I think we should move on to the adventure itself... 

Perils of the Sunken City, Part One

In which Ramson's The Free Company (not to be confused with Ramson's Free Company) sets out for the Sunken City, battles opossumfolk, and has an electrifying experience in an ancient colosseum.

Dramatis Personae 

Alex

• Jimmy the Snitch, Cutpurse
• Nicodemus, Alchemist
• Timmy the Guy in the Red Shirt, Caravan Guard

Andy

• Mason, Elven Barrister
• Wade, Cutpurse
• Renaldo, Jeweler

Craig

• Caldwell, Astrologer
• Watson, Parsnip Farmer
• Vander, Elven Glassblower

Marc

• Leif, Elven Forrester 
• Bellows, Dwarf Blacksmith
• Sigourney, Weaver

Michael

• Ramson, Dwarven Herder
• Wanna, Mendicant
• Yicky, Gravedigger

Todd

• Pitt, Costermonger 
• Zevon, Trapper
• Bata, Cobbler

Adventure Summary

Upon meeting up at the Soiled Dove in Mustertown, at the edge of the Great City (so great that no one called it anything else), Ramson the Dwarf Herder announced to everyone in the tavern that he was forming a free company.  It would be a new group of adventurers, with a bold name to announce to all the minions of darkness that this particular company would be a force to be reckoned with...

... it would be The Free Company.  

This generic name, thought up quickly by Ramson, brought forth much scorn and ridicule from everyone in the tavern.

[Judge's Note:  I took 2 points of Luck away from Ramson for this uninspired name, and then another point from everyone in the party for going along with the title.]

Gathering The Free Company together, Ramson announced that it was time to leave.  Some of the troupe, Bellows in particular, wanted to do a little light shopping.  Perhaps pick up some rope.  But there was no time!  The Free Company was not on a deadline and had nowhere to be anytime soon... and they needed to get there fast!  When Bellows refused to leave Mustertown of his own free will, some of his compatriots picked up the dwarf and dragged him towards the Causeway.

The Causeway to the Sunken City was a muddy, stinking path through the deep and fetid swamp.  With the journey north relatively uneventful, The Free Company made a quick pitstop at the Lady's home.  The Lady, known for being something of a fortune teller, could possibly bestow some fortune on the party... for a price of course.  Leif was the first to call out to the Lady. 

"IMPRESS ME!" the Lady cried out to her new petitioner.    

The Elven Forester offered some of his fine herbs for a blessing.  In turn, the Lady rubbed some ashes on the elf's face, giving him a small boon for later.  

Renaldo wanted a bigger, better blessing, so he produced a fine gem, cut by his own tools.  The Lady promised a much more amazing gift for such a token, and waded into the swamp. The old crone dug through the muck before pulling out a big, slimy stick.  With a big, toothless grin the Lady offered the branch to Renaldo.

"Here, the Stick of Smite!" she cried out.  

Renaldo seemed unimpressed, and asked how the stick "worked."  With a single snap, the Lady struck the Jeweler dead.  

"See, that's how it works!"  The Lady dropped the branch, and waved goodbye to the rest of the party as they headed north.

[The Stick of Smite:  1d6 damage, +2 to hit and damage against anyone, or any creature, whose name begins with an "R."  Also against pirates... arrgh...]

Once at the Sending Stone and Proving Stone just outside the Sunken City, The Free Company took note of the demon face carved into the Sending Stone.  Leif stepped forward and placed his hands on the stone, teleporting away a few seconds later.  Zevon was soon to follow.  But the rest of the party seemed nervous, and waited a minute before traveling with their compatriots...

... this minute would cost Zevon his life.

Since Leif and Zevon were first, they found themselves face to face with a lone Degenerate Opossum Man.  Perhaps the creature was foraging, or maybe he was just out for a walk.  Either way, Zevon tried offering some inviting words to the opossum man.  Unfortunately, Zevon's mutterings got lost in translation, and the opossum man took a step back and lobbed a javelin right into the trapper's heart.  Terrified for his life, Leif took off towards the east.  There was a fire in the distance, and the Elf hoped that some friendly faces awaited.

About a minute later the rest of The Free Company arrived in the Sunken City.  To the north east stood a massive marble arena, trimmed with metal, with the word "Madazkan" carved into the entrance  To the south was a lone opossum man picking the gear off of a dead Zevon.  Enraged, Wade the cutpurse charged forward slicing off the opossum man's ear before Yicky bashed in the creature's head with a shovel.  

Sigourney noticed that the dead opossum man had some dirty cloth armor.  Perhaps she could fashion some kind of woven-mail out of the rags, if only she had some reeds.  Between The Free Company and the arena was a small bog, so Sigourney started looking through the plants for fine reeds.  

"LIZARD!" a voice to the east cried out.

Everyone in The Free Company looked about, bewildered.  Everyone except Sigourney, who was swallowed whole by a raging Crocodillo (a crocodile/armadillo hybrid creature native to the swamps of the Sunken City.)  

The voice belonged to Leif, who was returning to the scene of the initial teleportation.  After traveling east, all the elf found was an encampment of more opossum men, so he decided to come back and wait for his team.  He arrived just in time to see the first crocodillo.

Quickly The Free Company sprang into action.  Wade and Leif charged forward, cutting down the first crocodillo in mere moments.  Soon, the second was surrounded by Bellows, Timmy, Nicodemus, Watson, Yicky, and Wanna.  Hack and slash, hack and slash, each of the adventurers tried their best to fell the beast, and their plan was working...

... until the crocodillo started spinning and whipping everyone with its deadly tail!  The spinny-whippy attack tore through Vander and Timmy, and knocked several others on their backs.  

Standing far away, Pitt and Bata never planned for a coordinated attack.  The costermonger was going to lob a banana peel at the crocodillo, but accidentally tossed the banana.  Armed with the late Zevon's sling, Bata went to chuck a rock at the crocodillo, but ended up putting Pitt's peel into the sling.  Fortunately, the banana peel smacked the creature in the eye, causing it to be temporarily blinded.  This brief stroke of luck allowed the rest of the party to take down the last remaining crocodillo, with Wade ending the creature's accursed existence with a dagger stroke.  

Dipping his quill in the dead crocodillo's blood, the Elven Barrister wrote on the shell of the wicked beast.

The Free Company, was all Mason wrote.  Perhaps their group's name was dull, generic, and unoriginal.  But by the Elder Gawds, The Free Company was here to stay!

[Given Mason's badass graffiti, I restored some of the party's Luck lost during the initial company naming.]

After hearing Leif's tale of the opossum men to the east, The Free Company chose to head north into the colosseum, hoping to find more glory and riches in the Sunken City.  Jimmy the Snitch and Nicodemus led the way up the eastern stairwell into the arena, reaching a large metal door at the top.  Carefully the cutpurse opened the door, revealing a massive chamber.  

The circular arena featured a large viewing area, covered in risers, overlooking a strange floor.  Where one would typically find sand or stone, the floor in this arena was metal and stone, crafted into several tiers.  The first tier, closest to the wall, was slanted towards a central, circular wall.  On the other side of the wall was a great funnel dropping into the unknown.  Standing over the entire structure, a great pavilion of marble dominated the northern edge of the arena.  The final unique portion of the structure, was actually just outside of the arena's walls: a large spire, with a big steel globe at the top.  From the globe, the party could here an occasional buzzing.  Most strange.

Oh, and there were skeletons.  Hundreds of them!  

At first the boney remains gave The Free Company pause, until it seemed apparent that these dead were most likely "really" dead, and not undead.

[At least not yet.]

Free pickings!  After Leif took a shiny brass belt buckle off of one of the skeletons, several other party members started looting the remains of ancient spectators.  Hoping for something more substantial, Jimmy the Snitch sauntered towards the pavilion and climbed inside.  On a large throne sat the remains of Madazkan the Necromancer, with a chain covered rod still in hand.  Three dead guardians, each adorned in black scale mail and armed with longswords and short bows, lay on the floor.  Jimmy and Nicodemus started looting the room, and were soon joined by the rest of the party.  

At the back of the pavilion The Free Company noticed several levers.  The first activated spikes in the arena.  The second fired small metal balls into the arena; steel bowling balls of death and dismemberment should anyone be on the floor.  It was probably best, everyone thought, to stay away from the floor.  

The Free Company was not a team of hotheaded youngsters!  No, these newly crowned adventurers were brave and bold, but they were also wise and knew when to cut and run.  Once it seemed that all of the booty had been gained, the party decided to leave the arena...

... but the arena was not ready to see them go! 

With a zap of lightning, the spikes and firing metal balls started to blast across the arena floor, and all of the doors to the building closed.  The Free Company was trapped!  To make matters worse, all of the skeletons started to rise, their necks creaking as decrepit heads turned towards the defilers.  Not sure whether they could handle several hundred skeletons, the members of The Free Company all ran towards the pavilion.  The only way out of the arena seemed to be the pit at the center of the arena floor.  

Jimmy tried grabbing one of the levers, hoping to shut off the machines of death below, but quickly pulled back his hands, realizing that there was electricity running through the machine.  Yicky was not so lucky.  Seeing the skeletons march towards the pavilion, Yicky tried pushing the metal door closed, but started to shake and convulse.  While Mason was able to shut the door using the Stick of Smite, all this did was stop the skeletal bodies.  The electrified ghosts simply passed through the wall, and started to scratch and claw at the living.

"Over the edge," cried Jimmy the Snitch, who led The Free Company onto the arena floor where they were forced to climb over spikes and dodge metal balls of doom.  Mason and Wade pondered staying behind, but quickly they came to their senses.  The only way to salvation was through the funnel.  

Despite the apparent presence of death, and with a little luck [actually a LOT of Luck... the players really burned themselves down during this encounter] each member of The Free Company made it to the wall in the center of the arena, climbing over and sliding down into the pit below...

... each member except for Jimmy the Snitch.  Jimmy just couldn't get over the wall, with all that ball-dodging and spike avoiding.  The ghostly skeletons soon descended upon the cutpurse, and dragged him away, kicking and screaming in terror.  

But was Jimmy the Snitch's death a blessing in disguise?  What awaited The Free Company at the bottom of the funnel?

... to be continued... 

Quotes?

"Impress me!" - The Lady's demand.

"So as long as we don't touch it, nothing can go wrong?" - Todd's logic.

"The best part about this game is it actually sucks you into a funnel." - Andy noting the funnel at the bottom of the arena in this 0-level funnel.  

In Memoriam 

• Renaldo - Whacked by the Stick of Smite
• Zevon - Introduced to an Opossum Man's dart
• Sigourney the Weaver - Crocodillo food while making reed armor
• Timmy the Guy in the Red Shirt - A crocodillo's tail
• Vander - A crocodillo's tail
• Yicky - Jolted by electricity while trying to work a lever
• Jimmy the Snitch - Killed by electric ghosts

Parting Shot

Social media gets a really bad rap.  

Sure, it sucks down much of our free time and pulls us away from our family at the dinner table.  Yes, it reconnects us with long lost friends only to shatter our rekindled connections once we are exposed to their outlandish political leanings.  Often it ironically shames us with memes about its abuses and detriments.  Many times it tells us how we are "having fun wrong," and how someone else's way of having fun is far superior.  

But occasionally, social media is amazing.  This is one of those stories!

On Wednesday night I was pining about not having any gaming events set up for this weekend.  Granted, last weekend spent in Grand Rapids was chock full of some seriously sweet role-playing sessions, but I wanted more.

I always want more.

Like a "Commissioner Gordon" of the RPG'iverse, I put out a call to the faithful:

"Hey DCC fans and/or DCC-curious gamers! I've got two spots available for a run through Perils of the Sunken City by Purple Sorcerer Games. We are playing this Saturday, starting at 8:30pm EST, probably until 11-11:30 EST (this may be a two parter...) 

If interested, respond below."

I posted the call on Wednesday, and within twenty-four hours I had a full virtual tabletop.  Say what you want about all of the negative aspects of social media, how it is destroying the fabric of blah, blah, blah, *snore*....

The truth is that I wanted to game on Saturday night, and not with a bunch of artificially intelligent non-player characters.  Games like Pillars of Eternity or Torchlight or Diablo help to scratch an itch, but for old-school tabletop gamers like me, I always crave more.  I want real people, real laughter, and completely fabricated stories that I'll share year after year.  

If getting this connection whenever I want means having to look at endless, over-posted memes, and awkward and completely unflattering selfies, so be it!'

I got to game this weekend with some incredible people... so... boo yah.