OD&D Dragonlance: Dunkin & Dragons

Ready to roll/role!

Gaming is the Breakfast of Champions

My parents live in Delaware and they wanted to get on the road early today, but not before we gave our little mini-campaign a second try.  Initially we were going to play last night but the kids were getting tired, and we felt it best to play when everyone was well rested.  But we'd have to play early, which meant "breakfast gaming!"  So my daughter Evie and I got in the car this morning and drove on over to Dunkin Donuts for a dozen of the evil little circles and a box of munchkins.  We got home, found the gaming books, made some coffee, and prepared for another epic series of encounters.  

Getting ready for an adventure!

Just as with the last game, Carrie and I were going to Co-DM.  I gave the backstory for the adventure and Carrie took the driver's seat for the encounters themselves.  We set the adventure in the area surrounding Haven again, but were using a map from the The Chaotic Caves, a Basic Fantasy RPG adventure that you can get from here for free!  

We learned some interesting things in this second quest:

1)  Dragons have all kinds of interesting gear with them at all times

2)  If you make my wife's character angry, she will burn your house down

3)  There may be consequences to killing off your parents' characters

If you missed the session report from our last Dragonlance game, which just happened to be the first game for both my dad and my son, feel free to give it a look right here!

Mommy, Evie, Carrie, Nini, and Pop Pop

As a refresher, here are our groups'  characters:

• Lulu, a Kender Thief played by my mom
• Fred, a Minotaur Fighter played by my dad
• The Killer, a Hatchling Brass Dragon played by my son Cooper
• Eric, a Human Cleric played by my wife Jen
• Emeralda, an Elf Fighter/Magic-User played by my daughter Evie

The Caves Below Gribbnock

In our last adventure the party took on the job of clearing the dwarven village of Gribbnock of a vicious harpy and some of her creatures.  Well even though the dwarven mayor paid for the work that was completed, he expected the adventurers to delve into the hole from whence the harpy came… just in case there were more monsters waiting to take on the village once the adventurers left.  Our brave band of adventurers agreed to this request, figuring that maybe there would be some cool gear stored by the horrific monstrosities below, and set out for Gribbnock village for round two.  

The first challenge to the party was the hole in the ground.  Fred brought along some rope, and held the one end while the rest of his team climbed down.  The first one down was The Killer, the party's hatchling brass dragon with a fierce temper and bad attitude.  The Killer (keep in mind, played by a 4 year old) reached the bottom and pulled out flashlight.  Although we couldn't find it on his sheet, the player confirmed that he indeed had a flashlight in his backpack.  Because dragons have backpacks too.  

Cooper plays by his own rules

The Killer waited for Lulu to climb down next, followed by Emeralda, Eric, and Fred (who fell and lost nearly half his hit-points.)  The dragon carefully moved down a passageway, with flashlight in hand, until he came across a horrific smell.  Ahead of the party was an ogre's lair, and the deadly beast was clutching the carcass of a bear.  The Killer looked back at the party, telling them to hold up, and then drew his sword.

Because all dragons have swords.

Emeralda found a secret door to the right, however, giving the party the opportunity to flank the difficult monster.  Since The Killer was the de facto party leader (to be fair it was Cooper's birthday, so why not?) he commanded his crew to use the secret door and enter the tight confines of a winding maze of caverns.  The party moved through the maze, The Killer in front, and Lulu right behind him looking for traps.  This process worked fine for a little while until the party's kender thief didn't find a collapsing ceiling trap!  Rocks rained down upon the two party members in front, but The Killer escaped injury mainly because he was wearing a helmet.

Because all dragons wear helmets.  

The cave-in definitely made forward progress difficult.  The passages behind them were long and still perilous, so the party didn't seem interested in backtracking.  But it was no problem whatsoever, as The Killer was quick to pull out the shovel he carried around (in his mouth, apparently) and command Fred to start digging.  

Because all dragons carry shovels.  

In the cavern adjacent to the cave-in there was a great deal of moss, slime, and fungus all over the ground and covering the walls.  The Killer, flashlight and sword in hand, entered the room without any attempt to conceal himself.  The rest of the team entered, looking to see if any loot was on the ground or tucked away somewhere.  But they didn't see the giant locusts!  Infesting this particular cavern, these horrific beasties were just waiting for another meal, and six of them sprang out spitting horrible acid at the party.  With the exception of The Killer, everyone was covered in burning acid spit, eating through armor, gear, and clothing.  The Killer felt that his sleep gas was necessary, and breathed a huge blast of the halitosis-laded spray upon the insects, putting all but one to sleep.  Fred wasn't going to let his dragon team member get all the credit though.  Wiping the nasty slime from his snout the minotaur fighter charged forward and gored the last remaining locust.

Carrie demonstrates Fred's charge attack

With the locusts gone the party entered the chamber directly behind the fungus room.  All of the moisture keeping the molds and slimes alive must've been coming from the pool at the center of the room.  On the other side of the small pool was a muddy shore, with a bone scroll case sticking out of the ground and a small raggedy sack resting at its side.  The Killer flew over to the other side, saw that a venomous sea snake was coiled around the pouch, and returned to the rest of the party.  

The Killer the told everyone it was safe.

So Fred swam across the pool and also saw the snake, but the minotaur wasn't about to let a small little serpent scare him.  In fact, Fred tried to eat the snake by biting the creature.  Unfortunately for Fred, the sea snake was horribly poisonous.  It bit the minotaur's head and killed him instantly.  Eric and Lulu killed the snake with stones and arrows and then grabbed the poor dead minotaur, dragging him back to the entrance to the room.  Eric read the scroll, saw that it was for Cure Light Wounds spell, and cast it on himself.  In the sack was five-hundred silver.  With one party member dead, it was time to get the heck out of the caves and see if there was a way to bring Fred back to life.  

Pop Pop shows Cooper his sad face

Returning to the start of the cave network the party needed to climb back out of the hole.  It was only 20 feet up, which would've been an easy climb for Lulu, who was going to take the rope to the top and tie it to something.  Well Lulu fell and died.  She didn't die instantly, but Eric had used all of his healing magic and the only scroll, so Lulu was a goner.  That was two bodies that needed to be returned to Haven.  The Killer grabbed the rope and flew up the hole, helping Emeralda and Eric back to the top.  Working together the three remaining characters pulled Fred and Lulu's bodies back to the surface, but didn't have a means of carrying them back to Haven.  That's when The Killer reminded the party that he brought his wagon along, you know, the one he pulls around all the time but had to leave outside the hole.

Because all dragons have wagons.  

Back in Haven Eric found a Temple of Paladine and begged his boss, Derrick, to resurrect his two friends.  Derrick told Eric that this could not be done without a significant donation to the Church.  Eric didn't have enough cash, and asked for a favor, which Derrick also denied.  Eric then tried to intimidate Derrick, pointing to The Killer and suggesting all the terrible things that could occur should Derrick not back down.  This didn't faze Derrick, nor did the blast of heat from The Killer, which the high-level cleric was able to withstand.  So Eric went outside and burned the building down.  This of course got the attention of a passerby: an evil cleric of Tahkisis.  The evil cleric gave Eric one look and said "I like the way you move."  

So the evil cleric offered to use a spell called "Reincarnate" on Eric's friends but he'd owe a big favor.  Eric agreed to this, because that sounded just like Resurrection, and what's the difference, right?  The Killer, Eric, and Emeralda waited around until the spells were cast and were reintroduced to their party members:  Fred the Half-Elf and Lulu the Hobgoblin.    

OD&D Dragonlance: My Son and Dad Role-Play for the First Time

OSR stands for Family Values in our house

A Very Special Evening

I've had a lot of gaming sessions in my life, far too many to count.  Like most of you, while many are enjoyable and very memorable, those games that are truly legendary are few and far between.  I'll always remember the 48 hour one-on-one gaming marathon at my friend Andy's house.  The Ravenloft game where we broke out the incense, candles, and red silk scarfs for the first time... just amazing.  Most recently the Numenera game held in a local park!  

But all of these gaming sessions may pale in comparison to the epic evening where my daughter Carrie and I ran an OD&D/Basic Fantasy RPG session of Dragonlance for three generations of the Walls Family!  This event was especially special for three incredible reasons:  it was Carrie's first time GMing, and the first game for both my son and my dad.

Evie and her new camera ready to shoot while Carrie perched next to the screen

Game Master in Training

Carrie's had a copy of the Basic Fantasy RPG rules for about a year now, and while she can make characters on her own, all of her time spent has been on the other side of the GM's Screen.  Recently, however, Carrie asked if I would help her gamemaster a session of BFRPG, so I started showing her the parts of the book where she needed to focus.  Encounter rules, creature descriptions, a published adventure, Carrie poured through these materials and seemed ready for the serious responsibility of running a gaming session.  To help her develop her skills, we came up with the plan to split responsibilities.  I would tell the backstory and help guide the characters through the session while Carrie would deploy the monsters and run the encounters on her own.  Much to my surprise and delight, my daughter had no problem taking command of most of the adventure, coming up with NPC names, detailing areas on the map, and describing scenes to the players.  

In fact, the only reason I was necessary at all behind the screen was to tell the amazing backstory behind the Dragonlance Campaign Setting.  Maybe I need to lend her the Dragonlance Chronicles to read… 

First Time Players

My two daughters, Carrie and Evie, have been role-playing for quite some time.  Typically I start my kids at RPG's by age 5 for limited sessions, but since my wife and mom were playing (both having played an RPG before), Cooper would've been alone in the living room while the rest of us had fun at the table.  Unacceptable!  Little Cooper will be four-years-old in just a week, so why not give him a chance to explore Krynn.  We asked him what he wanted to be, giving him a choice of an amazing warrior or a powerful wizard.  We even asked him if he wanted to be a "really silly dwarf."  

He pointed at the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, said that there were dragons in the game and boldly declared that he was going be a dragon. A dragon named "The Killer".  So I dug through my stash, whipped out my copy of Council of Wyrms, and built Cooper's Brass Dragon hatchling.  

Now it was destiny that Cooper would play in one of my role-playing game sessions… when you are born into a family of geeks and nerds your future is pretty much predetermined.  But there is one other person in my family who had never played D&D (or any other RPG for that matter).  My dad, aka Pop Pop!  Whether he knows it or not, this has always been a dream of mine, to get my dad to play a role-playing game with me.  He's done Zombie Dice with us, and other typical board games, but the closest he's ever come to playing an RPG was when he took part in a How to Host a Murder in 1990.  

But to make up a character like Fred the Minotaur Fighter, this was a first!  

Actually Carrie built his character, and when my dad asked what a "minotaur" was, we had to sadly break it to him that it wasn't the same as a centaur.  In fact, we told him to think of the Chick-Fil-A cow, but clad in chainmail with a giant warhammer and some spears.  But no matter, he seemed content with that answer, and thought the name "Fred" was perfect.  

Our Adventuring Party

So besides our Hatchling Brass Dragon named The Killer and Fred the Minotaur Fighter, we had three other PC's in this session.  My wife Jen broke out her famous (at least in our family) character from previous sessions, Eric the Cleric.  Evie loves all things cute and pretty, and when she saw an Elf Fighter/Magic-User ready to go she named her Emeralda.  Finally my mom (aka Nini) is really short (like 4'11") so I told her she was going to play a Kender Thief who she named Lulu.  I'm a terrible son.  

Adventure Summary

Our brave band of adventures were assembled at the Tavern of Guinness located within the city of Haven:  Lulu, Fred, Eric, Emeralda, and their hatchling dragon who loudly proclaimed just after hatching that his name was "The Killer."  While enjoying their flavorful beverages a disheveled dwarven elder crashed through the tavern door gasping for breath.  He was bald and had a grey beard but strangely enough sported bright red eyebrows.  Seeing that an obvious adventuring party was in the establishment, the dwarf introduced himself as Coomoronth of Gribbnock, and his hill village of Gribbnock was in trouble!  Coomoronth explained that a horrible chicken woman (most likely a harpy) had came out of a giant hole that suddenly appeared in the center of the village and enchanted the entire town.  She also brought with her a horde of ill-tempered animals, such as giant toads, that infested the small enclave.  The elder offered the party 100 gold pieces, but Lulu and Eric balked at this deal.  Lulu wanted more money and Eric wanted to be proclaimed as the new high priest of Gribbnock if the party was successful.  Coomoronth agreed to these terms, and wished the adventuring party good luck.

The Killer had a wall of Transformers stationed around his character sheet

When the party reached Gribbnock they were immediately attacked by stirges!  After The Killer sprayed these beasties with a blast of hot breath, Fred charged full speed ahead but missed with his horns (and the stirge screamed olé!)  Eric, Lulu, and Emeralda waded into the floating bat-bird-mosquito hybrids swinging maces, slinging stones, and firing arrows, but despite finishing off five of the six creatures, there was one pesky bug that just wouldn't die.  The awful creature sucked blood off of both Eric and Fred, but with a well-timed claw attack from The Killer, the flying bloodsucker was finally slain.

The party chose to enter the largest of the village's houses, hoping that the Harpy and her minions were located therein.  Unfortunately the door was locked, and Lulu was a rather terrible thief (like most at 1st level actually).  When the kender failed in picking the lock the party again turned to The Killer who blasted the door with hotness allowing Fred to bash through.  The house was dark, so the minotaur put his maul away and whipped out a torch and spear.  

Breath Weapon!!!

There were two passages to the left and ahead, but three doors on the right.  The first two doors led to nothing but the third door had a clucking chicken-woman (Harpy) that was ready to charm the party into doing her bidding.  She also had three giant toads ready to leap.  After taking a blast of hot breath from the party's resident brass dragon, and getting missed by the minotaur (who missed a LOT), the Harpy was successful in charming Fred, Lulu, and Eric.  Emeralda was pretty good with her bow, however, and between her arrows and The Killer's killer claws of death, the Harpy croaked leaving her giant toads behind.  This of course freed the three charmed heroes, allowing them to battle the remaining toads and surge ahead to victory!  Returning to Haven the party received their rewards and prepared themselves for future glory.  

In Closing

It was a great night of firsts… Carrie behind the screen, Cooper's dragon, and my dad as a cow-headed knight.  I've invested a lot of time these last few months trying to enlist new RPG'ers, showcase our hobby to the masses, and engage lapsed-gamers into regaining their passion.  This of course has allowed me to meet new gamers and get more involved with the gaming community as a whole.  

But for a "kid" who's been waiting to play Dungeons & Dragons with his dad ever since 1990, last night was truly a one-of-a-kind experience.