This is a standard place for OOC conversation.

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Hey, hey everyone.  I'll be playing Finn the Mighty.

In another life, he might have been at home on a farm somewhere, but you know ... have sword, will travel.  He is strong like ox (and about as nimble).

Welcome everyone in so far!

I listed in the character creation all of the things that need to be in the character sheet.  You can use that as a guide, or Thorona has a nice sheet if they are okay with folks copying it.

Hi all, I'll be playing Ash the Apprentice Thief. He actually is nimble and reasonably healthy (for a thief) but he's also not so hot on the wisdom front and so weak willed anyone waving their hand in front of his eyes could probably hypnotise him without a spell.

Ash is your classic n'er do well who needs to find some gold quickly to pay off some large and unreasonable men after a streak of rotten luck in a gambling den recently.

I'm still trying to sift through the code and unlock its secrets so I can make a better sheet. There are some very nice ones on the Heaven thread that I'm still playing around with so I can figure out how they work.

Anyway, in the meantime, hello everyone! I'll be playing Thorona, an elderly acolyte who has decided in her waning years to take the battle to Chaos personally. Neither strong nor hale of body, nor particularly studious, she's nonetheless accumulated some simple wisdom through the hard trials of a long life of cloistered religious devotion.

The dice had it out for me this time, so I'm honestly unsure how long Thorona will be with us. But I'm up for the challenge. ^_^

Until I work it out, here's the model I'm working with:


Name & Title   xx, xx
Class & Level  xx/1
Alignment      xx
XP (+0%)       0/xx
Languages      xx
============================================================================
Ability     Score  Bonus  Affects...
Strength      xx    -x    To-Hit (Melee), damage (melee, thrown), Open Doors
Intelligence  xx     —    Starting languages
Wisdom        xx     —    Saving throws vs. spells
Dexterity     xx     —    AC, To-Hit (Missile/thrown)
Constitution  xx    -x    Hit Points per Hit Die
Charisma      xx    -x    NPC reactions, hiring retainers (Max xx, Morale xx)
============================================================================
COMBAT

Armor Class    xx (armor + shield)
Hit Points     xx/xx (HD)
Movement Rate  xx' per turn • xx'/combat round • xx'/round running
To Hit Roll Needed:
 AC: 9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1  0
    xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SAVING THROWS
Death Ray or Poison         xx
Magic Wands                 xx
Paralysis or Turn to Stone  xx
Dragon Breath               xx
Rods, Staves, or Spells *   xx
  * Include Wis bonus vs. Spells
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ATTACKS
Weapon/Attack  #AT  To-Hit  Damage  Special
xx              xx    xx    xx
xx              xx    xx    xx      Range: Short (+1) xx'
                                           Medium (0) xx'
                                           Long (-1)  xx'
============================================================================
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Vision: Normal
Weapon Use: xx
Armor Use: xx
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
xx
============================================================================
EQUIPMENT
Item               Wt  Notes
----               --- -----


TOTAL ENCUMBRANCE  xx cn
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
VALUABLES
Platinum Pieces (PP): 0
Gold Pieces     (GP): 0
Electrum Pieces (EP): 0
Silver Pieces   (SP): 0
Copper Pieces   (CP): 0

Magic Items: None
This message was last edited by the player at 00:59, Mon 10 May 2021.

Hello all.  My character's name is Benny.  He's a bit of a simpleton and their is a large scar underneath the hairline on the right side of his face near the temple.  He has flashes of insight that seem out of place and surprisingly  someone took the time to teach him to read.

He'll fight to protect those he likes.  He's dressed in plate mail and wields a Mace.  He abandoned his shield long ago to hold the Torch as he doesn't like the dark. A small charm has been welded to the top of his gauntlet.

You should be able to hold a torch in your shield hand. You could in 'real life'.


Also, Hi! I am playing, Falco Mugwort, the uncouth and not very bright fighter.

"It is important to remember which characters are carrying light sources.  A character could not, for example, carry a lit torch, a drawn sword, and a shield at the same time. (p. B21)"

This seems like a strange rule. You could in real life, as mentioned.

https://preview.redd.it/k1zu24...d841b98418c622162151

I guess you could toss the torch on the ground at the first sign of trouble and draw your weapon. Still seems strange to me.

My interpretation is that you can carry the torch in your shield hand but can't then properly use the shield, and so it doesn't count.  Or you drop the torch and it goes out.  RAW, you can't use both.

Hmmm...strange, but okay. Not sure why a torch would go out if you toss it on the ground...unless it's wet where it lands, of course.

Ash dreams of one day having the gold to own a torch. After leather armour and Thieves'Tools his budget only stretched to a dagger and a sling. He's definitely hiding behind the guys in heavy armour!

We have five players right now.  I'm comfortable with that, does anyone feel like more are needed?

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 14):

I think having a magic-user might be helpful in future if we need a replacement but five is a pretty good number for a group.

You can always look for a Magic-user henchman.  The hard part is keeping them alive through level 1, a problem common with most classes but acute with M-U.

Please finish up the descriptions and character sheets, I'll put the introduction up shortly.

Five sounds ideal to me. I'm excited to see how we fare. I love the Dungeon Crawl Classics vibes I'm getting from our party, too.

We have a last minute request, so the classic six.

Age: 43
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 195#
Skintone: Tanned
Gender: Male
Eyes: Grey
Hair: Dirty Brown w/Grey (usually matted & unkept)

Falco Mugwort is a lowborn man who rarely puts much thought beyond his short-term needs and wants. He is small-minded and uncouth. His face has clearly seen too many bar brawls. He has a pot gut and tends to stoop over. With his lack of interest in bathing and poor mannerisms, he's certainly not one to appeal to women that have any degree of standards.

He knows he's not very smart and tends to take the direct approach to solving problems unless he likes someone else's idea better. Superstitious, he doesn't like cats (possessed by witches) or dogs (possessed by demons) either one.

His clothing and gear is ragged and he clearly his puts his money elsewhere (beer and carousing).

Welcome Hignaril, or last member of the party!

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Woot!  Welcome one and all.  Stoked to get into this one.

Very cool. Welcome, Hignaril!

Welcome! :)

Okay, game intro is up.  This is a direct follow on to the Game Info, please read that first.  Note the OOC note in orange at the bottom as well.

My thought is that Thorona would have met most of you -- if not all of you -- at the last inn where we were able to find lodging. I imagine much of her journey to the Borderlands was made in relative solitude. However, she wouldn't have been opposed to traveling in the company of others for safety's sake, if any among you would choose to travel with a surly old nun.

That being the case, she wouldn't have spoken much through the day's long journey, except perhaps to discuss simple theological concepts or to learn information about what the Borderlands may hold for them. She's not necessarily unfriendly, but she does have a bit of a gruff exterior stiffened by traditionalist notions of religious propriety, making her a bit difficult to relax and unwind around.

She would have dined with the others at the inn, drinking in moderation, but spending the rest of her time in prayer. She would have welcomed any who wished to join her, but her idea of religious devotions mostly involved kneeling on the floor next to her bed and grumbling about the pain in her knees between recitations of sacred scripture.

Based on the scores Benny is the third smartest in the group...

Oh Goodness.  That's scary.  I can see why we don't have a mzgic user yet until one of us dies...

Going to give Hignaril another day or so to get set up.

Well, if nothing else, we have twice the number of acolytes to attempt turning any undead we may encounter...

---

The next couple of days will be hectic for me, gang.

I'll be able to check in / post by the weekend though.

Hignaril told me they will complete their character tomorrow; they will be in the tavern already when the rest of you arrive there.

Hignaril pulled out, so I will advance the game as I look to see if one or two others who applied late are still game.

---

Apologies for the radio silence, gang.  I've just returned from a trip that turned out to be quite busier than expected and I didn't have a ton of free time for PbP.

Welcome back, Finn; and welcome, Dynlor!

Hello all, it is nice to be playing here.

Looking forward to a good game!

Welcome! :)

Sorry, it is unclear if Thorona is addressing Abercrombie or if she, Benny and Dynlor left him to join the others.  Ash I presume is questioning the serving boy.

I will reply tomorrow.  It has been busy here.

He was thanks, sorry I should have been clearer in my post.

Conversations in the tavern can continue, I encourage some discussion of tomorrow's plans.  When you move to the Inn I can post an introduction of that.

---

Tomorrow will be a full day of travel for me. Should be good to go by Friday though.

Sorry, self learning  and tutoring my son in the new math - vertex mapping cases for quadradic equations.  The new way of math is overly complicated.  Drained my tablet to almost zero,

Okay, will put a description of the Inn and then later today will change scenes to tomorrow.

I think we need to clarify:  Abercrombie allowed the clerics (three of them) to sleep in the chapel, professional courtesy.  Reea is a fighter and not included in that offer.

Let me know what the plan is, will you strike out into the wilderness looking for the caves?  Ask one of the soldiers which way?  Pick up any supplies?

Apologies for the absence, busy week.

Ash is completely broke so he'd have had to sleep in an alley.

I figure Falco will ask the men-at-arms at the gate while retrieving his spear and venture out after that based on what they say. Falco can't really afford to pick up any further supplies at the moment, but the others might.

As you gather to depart the relative safety of the keep, where are you going?  There is an Area Map as the Main Game Map.  Each square is 100 yards.  Movement on the map is one square per hour if you are searching and otherwise moving carefully, 3 squares per hour walking at a leisurely pace.  This will slow a bit depending on the terrain.

Just give me a sense of where you are going, such as "follow the road at a walk until X point..." or some such, then post something IC of the characters setting out.

At this point, Reea will follow what the group wants to do, happy she's being included.

Waiting for others to post...

...but I would presume, if the men-at-arms pointed up the say (since the location is indicated on the map, is that the case?), that we would travel along the road to the fork and turn down the road towards the Caves of Chaos as indicated on the map. However, I have know idea what information the guards may pass onto us yet (what do we need be weary of? How should we approach it? What else do you know about it? Etc.) since you've not said as much.

We've not yet, but Falco was planning on it when fetching his spear as they head out. Just waiting for others to post.

I apologize but I have to drop out.  Dialysis has been very difficult over the last two months and I have slept so much it isn't funny.  The weight loss stage was supposed to be over.

I hope the rest of you have fun.

Good luck to you.  Health and family first.  Take care.

What information was Falco able to get out of the man-at-arms regarding the Caves of Chaos? Any other advise, warnings, or rumors they provided, such as what we might encounter or how we might best proceed?

Nearly missed that.  The caves they say are likely to the Northeast.  They also warn of bandits and other vile creatures in the region.

Sorry to hear it, Benny. My father was on dialysis for a time; I wish you didn't have to go through that.

So Ash and Reea are going ahead of the rest?  How far ahead?  Which direction?  Following the road, or heading into the marsh?

Reea wants to stay on the road.

How daunting does the marsh look?

It's stinky, you can't tell how deep the water gets, but you can see a forest perhaps 1 km south of the hillock in the marsh.  The area is water, tall reeds, and willows.

Marsh = bad. Road = good.  :-)

Will advance along the road tomorrow unless I hear from Ash sooner that he wants to go into the marsh.

If Ash wants to enter the marsh, Reea will balk at doing it.

Friends, I have to apologize, but I don't think I can continue with the game. I've been having difficulty keeping up with a number of online obligations, for whatever reason, and I think I may need to step away from play-by-post games for the time being.

Sorry to leave you in the middle of things, and I apologize for the inconvenience, DM. You've all been fantastic, and I'm sorry to let you down.

Well, I understand.  Thank you for the notice and good luck.

One cleric left!

Where is our support? Looks around for Finn and Ash.

<_< >_> -_-;

Sorry, very busy week! I'm catching up now.

DM, could a sling hurl a lantern? Spider webs are pretty darn flammable...

Run away, dude. Run away.  :-)

A sling can't really hurl a lantern, no.  It's too big.

We seem to have slowed down.  The spider webs are crossing the road, so to stay on the road means going through them.  It is also clearly a hazard to travelers and caravans.  The spiders were confused and didn't react to the scout's presence, what will you do as a group?

If there are enough responses to post an update today I will, also notifying that I will be traveling until Saturday and may read but will find it hard to update in that time.

There are two giant spiders and only three active party members. Engaging the spiders sounds like death.

So, is Finn out as well?  He was online two days ago.  If so, I can recruit for more players.  You can go around the spiders and deal with them later...

Reea has no desire to go anywhere near the spiders.  :-)

I'm fine with a small group. I like my character and am having fun with her. I know people are busy in life, but I'm still hoping we can eventually move at a brisker pace.  :-)

It's generally desirable to have a larger party in OSR games than a smaller party--lest the party be wiped out easily. Strength in number and all that.

What if we all play 2 characters (taking existing ones or rolling new ones)?

I prefer a smaller group of players. As long as everyone posts at a decent rate, the pace of the game moves forward.

At lower levels, fewer characters can be bad, so I like the idea of each of us having two.

My opinion.  :-)

Random thoughts.

Did the DM give us a spider challenge because our full group could handle them? If so, our group is small now, so the spiders are too much for our adventurers. Is it possible the DM doesn't want us to go to the caves? The forest is an ambush lair waiting to happen. The marsh is going to be wet, boggy, and sloppy.

What should we do?

The spiders are one of the set encounters on the area map.  They are powered for a full party.  Let me get settled in after the trip to review more.

Okay, are you guys still with me?

Reea is here and ready to go.

Yes.

I'm in!

Right then, what is the plan?  Return to the Keep and warn about the spiders?  Go around them?  Engage them?

Also, final consensus: seek another player or two?

I was waiting to see the spiders' reaction, but the intent was to back away and not engage them if they don't pursue. Falco was intending to go around them to the North, if not engaged

Beyond that, a first-level party of three wandering around are not likely to get very far without dying. Without twice as many characters, we are likely to suffer a total party kill on our first encounter unless we get lucky.

The spiders are too tough for our characters. I agree our little group wouldn't fare well unless we were fighting a couple of kobolds.

Someone suggested we each play two characters. I'd go with that. I prefer fewer players, because the game pace moves faster as there are less people to wait for to post.

That's my opinion.

Okay, is everyone comfortable running two characters?  As a rule I don't like doing it, but it's something I'm willing to try if you are.

Not my preferred choice, but it's acceptable.

Please don't do something uncomfortable on my account.

I can play 2 characters, even though I agree it is a workaround.

Dynlor is not going to engage the spiders if nobody else does, and will gladly go back to the castle to find reinforcement.

Maybe we can try to attract new players. If it fails, we can fall back on the '2 characters' option. My 2 cts.

Okay, how about if I open the recruiting for a couple of days and see who we get, and in the meantime, everyone still here can make a new character.  That new character is either a second one to play concurrently if we don't get enough new players, or a back up in case the current one gets killed.

Give me a name and I will assign you each a new character slot.  Does anyone want to adopt and personalize one of the orphaned characters?  (Benny, Finn, Thorona)

Also, making a change to the Area map.  Each square will take one turn to move, as outdoor movement is 120 yards per turn and each square is 100 yards.  That means six squares per hour vice three (on the road) so that it is more feasible to move back and forth to the Keep.

Simon

New character name I presume?

yes

Please don't anyone do something they would rather not do. I was simply tossing out options. Playing one character or two if fine. Some of us having one, while others have two, is fine as well. Recruiting is good. I just don't want to cause problems. I'm enjoying the game, so I want it to keep going.

No worries.  having a back up character is always a good idea as well.  Do you (Reea) want to give me a name for a second character?

Backup character name: Jori

I'd prefer a larger group (6 or so adventurers) over a smaller group. Most OSR adventures presume you have a party of 6-8 adventurers. Mostly though, I just want some active players who actually post.

I posted an advert for more players, let's see what we get.

'Faldal' would be the name of my second character.

Before deciding what to do, exactly how many characters do we have actively participating?

I have four players currently listed as active:  Reea, Dynlor, Falco and Ash are the primary characters.

Ash hasn't logged in or posted since July 2.

Well, we have one new player, welcome to Leozaren

Hi! Welcome, player of Leozaren.

Hello there! Glad to be here, love me some B/X gaming. I'm a longtime RPol member, posting is not an issue.

Welcome, Leozaren. :)

Looks like Leozaren is ready.  He could be making his way East along the road, having arrived in the vicinity of the Keep early in the day, decided to scout the area while there was still half a day of more of light.  If any of you with a second character slot wish to roll up a second and have them with him we can wait a bit for that.

Simon, the wizard's apprentice, is ready.

To be clear, is the East road the one leading up to the Keep, or the East part of the main road to the south?

There is one road going East-West, with a spur leading up the bluff to the Keep.  Everyone came or is coming from the West, off the left side of the map, meaning moving East toward the right.

Besides Leozaren there is one more new player joining, as soon as I get a name.

Reea going to post?

Greeting from Gyp, vagabond court fool in the search of adventure, or perhaps just coin as he has none.

Hi! Welcome, player of Gyp.

Are we going to wait for the new characters to join us?

The easiest way to get the new characters to join the group is, as stated before, they are walking East along the road and come up behind you guys just as you are decid8ng to go around the spiders.  If that works then that is what we will do, and Rees, Falco, Ash and Dunlop can probably see the  approaching about 100 yards away  the others can see those four inthe road about 100 yards ahead.

Added one more player, welcome to Illes Zofi.

This should be enough for now, I've turned off the requesting tag.

Illes Zofi, message 117 in this thread has your introduction.

Welcome, player of Illes.

As soon as Illes is ready you should have a veritable army against the spiders.  Fighting a common foe is a good way to bring disparate folk together...

With new people joining and some of us with a second character, I count eight adventurers in the group. Is that correct?

Eight is enough to fight two spiders, if that's all there are, but I'm wary of having to roll a save versus poison and losing a character in her first encounter.

Gyp has no real way of fighting the spiders, he couldn't even afford to purchase a dagger.

I suppose we need to decide what's on the other side that's important and what its worth. Any fight is a risk and we should be managing that risk as much as possible. I know getting into a fight will happen but my opinion is when it happens its because something else went wrong.

Can we smoke the spiders out? If we all hold flaming torches will it prevent them dropping out down on us?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:36, Wed 21 July 2021.

We have an Elf with a Sleep spell. That would be me.

Sleep spell gets my vote of approval.

Just to confirm, the plan is to cast Sleep on the spiders and then is it:

A) run past them and keep going; or

B) Slay them in their slumber?

Gyp will be going for plan A.

I believe plan B would make the most sense. Why would we want to leave them and then have to face them a second time later? It's unlikely they are going to just leave the area when they awaken.

I'm not sure what armor Dynlor is wearing or if he has a shield, but I suggest we do the following formation:

(First letter of your character's name)

 JFR
DGSAL

This message was last edited by the player at 15:44, Sun 25 July 2021.

Gyp has no armour and his only weapon is a single javelin. He will be of no use in the slaughter of the spiders but he will stick around and offer encouragement.

Hence why I suggested him in the middle of the second rank by the magic-user, but you can of course throw your Javelin/Run Away if the plan fails =p

Yes he'll throw his javelin if needed and yes he'll also run if it goes badly.

Jori has only three hit points, so she isn't a frontline warrior. She also has a sling, so she can fire from a distance.

I think Falco has 2 hit points! Someone has to go at the front or we run passed as Gyp suggested.

Falco only has 2HP.

Player of Jori, your character has a high armor class (Plate Armor) - that is why I suggested her up front. The same with Reea.

We're first level characters - everyone has few HP. One hit will likely kill any of our characters.


However, Dynlor stepped up, so we still have a front rank.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:34, Sun 25 July 2021.

I would suggest the Elf casts his Sleep spell first.

If a Spider remains, then the ranged attackers should fire their missile weapons (focusing fire until one the Spider is dead, then switching to the other) and fall back.

Should there still be an active Spider, then the Magic-User can cast his sleep Spell on the remaining Spider. If both are taken out by the Elf's Sleep spell and/or the missile fire, then the Magic-User should preserve his Sleep spell--we might need it later.

The front line melee should only engage the Spiders to finish them if the Spiders are on the ropes, or if the Spiders engage the party and they have to defend themselves or the others.

We have to fight together as a team to minimize the risk of anyone getting killed.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:48, Sun 25 July 2021.

Okay, so first combat in this game we'll take it slow and all remember how this works.

Sleep has a range of 240 feet, so that should not be in issue.  Nonetheless, Initiative comes first.  Someone roll 1d6 for the party initiative.  The spiders rolled a 6, but they don't have ranged weapons that can go that far.  If you guys roll a 6 also we roll off.  At what range will you cast the sleep, keeping in mind that you all have a move of 120 feet.  So if you cast from maximum range it is two rounds until anyone can be in melee range (attacking on round 3.)

Falco Mugwort rolled 6 using 1d6.  party initiative.

Falco Mugwort rolled 1 using 1d6.  party initiative rolloff.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:57, Mon 26 July 2021.

Before initiative shouldn't we declare actions? Spellcasting must be declared before the roll.

No, in this version Initiative comes first, then the party that wins initiative does stuff.  However, spells are second to last last in the round, right before melee, and movement is first.  So if you want to melee this round you need to move up before the spell goes off.

Spiders rolled 2 on the roll off, they will have the initiative.  But no for much, they are not moving off the webs or trees around the webs, so until you come into range, they are not attacking.


09:50, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 2 using 1d6.  Initiative roll off

So is that a house rule that spellcasters don't declare spellcasting before Initiative? This change in the rules will affect the opportunity for characters and monsters to disrupt spellcasters.

I'd assume we'd want to cast the spell from as far away as possible - if the spiders move 120' then that would give us two rounds of missile fire at them, assuming any of them survive the spell and decide to come at us. If they both fall asleep it doesn't matter, but if we have a little breathing room let's use it.

Leozaren is AC3 but has only 2 HP, and doesn't have a bow!

In reply to Gyp Toogood (msg # 141):

Here is the combat sequence from p. B24 of the D&D Basic book:



That is the book I am using.  Not a house rule, no declarations before initiative.

The declaration before Initiative is on page X11.

BTW, I don't mean for Falco to sound 'bossy'. No one else seemed willing to step up and I felt the group needed to approach the clearly dangerous foes in an organized manner. Feel free to 'speak up' if anyone has a better plan.

Very happy to have a party leader. Gyp will follow Falco.

The road is about ten feet wide.  The wagons used in the Realm are  six feet wide, though the wheels end up being about seven wide.  At ten feet it is easy enough for a rider to pass, though it gets tricky with wagons.

That puts the spiders about 10 feet apart as well.

Stopping to the light the torches will take a couple of rounds.  Let's call it two: one to get everything out and one to actually light it.  That was rounds 2 and 3.  You are 80 feet away, the spiders haven't moved.  Actions for Round 4?

To the DM: A sleep spell lasts 4-16 turns. Is a turn ten minutes? A round is one minute, right?

To the group: Any sleeping character or creature will awaken if slapped, kicked, or shaken.

Might that include being in the middle of a fire?

Characters can kill a sleeping victim with a single blow of any edged weapon, regardless of the creature's hit points.

Maybe sending two people, one for each spider, along with a torch as back up, to just finish off the creatures, is better?

Reea doesn't want to get chomped.

Seems like a good plan.

Falco just isn't sure if the spiders are really asleep, or remaining motionless to lure the party in, since he doesn't know anything about how magic works.

Also, apparently Falco is the only one with a long melee weapon? Who can move into melee to stick the spiders without getting stuck in the webbing?

I'm suspicious about the spiders, too. It seems a lower form like that might not actually sleep.

Sleep spell lasts turns of 10 minutes each, rounds are 1 minute each.

Where is the rule about killing a sleeping victim?

Within the Sleep spell description.

In reply to Falco Mugwort (msg # 154):

Ah yes.  Sometimes I forget how disorganized the rules are in these old games.

Like Falco stated, killing a sleeping victim is in the spell description.

My only suggestion is to kill one spider at a time. Kill one then more on to the other. Better to have one awake and one sleep if things go wrong than have both awake. The sleep description suggests that you have to get close to kill them as it states 'Bladed' weapon not any weapon. So I think it implies slitting their throats. This is something Gyp is good at doing, he can move silently and backstab, if someone lent him a dagger...

At first level, without maximum hit points, and no healing spells, how are our characters going to survive this module?

The fact is some of them won't.  This is how D&D was at the beginning. It's a different mindset than 5e.

This is a really good resource on playing the old style D&D

https://lithyscaphe.blogspot.c...cipia-apocrypha.html

---

This is what I tell my players before a game

---

Gyp did say we should sleep them and sneak past...

Sorry, week from hell here.

I haven't caught up on the in-game thread yet, but I'd suggest killing the spiders simultaneously. I would doubt that they might awaken from a magically-induced slumber when they subconsciously smell the blood of their departed friend, but I'd rather not risk it all the same.

edit: ah well, it happens! For the record, Leozaren has neither a missile weapon nor a long-handled weapon.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:07, Sun 08 Aug 2021.

For RP purposes, it's reasonable to say the spider sliced his femoral artery and he bled out.  Dynlor has time for Dramatic Final Words^TM

Okay, boys, what do we do next? We need to take care of Dynlor's body. Should we take him to the temple in the keep? Someone will need to smack Gyp on the back of the head for taking Dynlor's mace without asking first.

By my count, we have five active characters. We have no cure spells. Our magic-user used his spell for the day.

We're certain to face more challenges our group can't handle. I love playing Reea and don't want to lose her.

I say we carry on. Chances are there will always be obstacles on the road. Also we're unlikely to have healing magic for many adventures yet.

The more we explore now the better prepared we will be for any return journey.

---

Gyp couldn't really ask Dynlor's permission and why should be ask anyone else the mace isn't theirs. He'll also be a much more useful member of the party now he at least has a weapon.

Reea isn't the sharpest tack in the box, so she'll wonder why Gyp took the mace.  :-)

It's also suspicious that Gyp took the mace covertly instead of being open with the group.

Having only just met everyone Gyp is still looking out for himself and well as trying to be entertaining.

I want to emphasize we're just playing our characters. I'm not trying to start something.  :-)

Yeah me too

I say carry on. At this point running away is usually the best policy.

My opinion is, the shield is magic.  :-)

The webs that stretch across the road can be easily burnt away without risking the trees.

What is the plan?  I’m fine with a hybrid of OOC discussion here and IC discussion in the game thread, just like you would sitting around a table.

It is just after noon, you could push on up the road in search of the caves (you have a pretty good idea where they are), or go back to the keep.  And what of Dynlor?  Will you bury him nearby or take him back to the Keep?  Abercrombie is not high enough level to have raise dead spell.

My vote would be to push on to the caves so we can assess any obstacles or threats along the way, going as far as we can today before retreating. A scout ahead might identify something we can prepare for and bring the correct equipment for. Rather than retreat now and be forced to retreat again.

I think the group consensus is against the idea however so I'm happy to go along with whatever.

Not really bothered by the webs. The spiders are dead and there isn't any obvious treasure besides the shield. I'd say just leave the webs as they are, they are not obstructing the road.

Lets burn the webs, may as well if it does no harm to the trees and they serve no purpose in any case.

I'm against scouting. For one, NEVER break up the party. For another, we're down our one effective spell and for yet another we can't carry Dynlor while scouting, and we can't leave him behind - if we wish to give him a proper burial - without something dragging him off for supper.

I guess we could leave Dynlor's body IN the webs, it should be safe there and would then afford us the opportunity to scout ahead unencumbered.

Been waiting to see what Falco uncovers? Money purse? Signet ring? Documentation? Nothing?

Sorry, I thought it was clear that there was nothing else.  The skeleton is of an elf, that is the only other information.

Well I guess we're heading back to the keep.

We can't leave Dynlor lying on the road.

That was never the plan. There have already been in-game posts to the effect that we (Falco and I) were taking Dynlor back to the Keep, and that hasn't changed.

In my opinion, if there won't be any adventures or encounters in the keep, we could jump ahead to the next morning.

I agree, if there is nothing anyone wants to do.

Fine with me!

That's fine. Falco and Simon are just going to stay the night at the Inn anyway - and Falco will drink beer, of course.

Do we get an XP award for leaving the keep, killing two spiders and returning to to the keep? I know it will be a very small amount but every XP counts.

It's very small indeed.  The spiders were 50 xp each, and RAW is that you divide the xp among those who participated.  I think that is five characters, for 20 xp each. (Falco, Gyp, Jori, Reea and Leozaren.)

Excellent what I expected. Gyp is now an experienced adventurer!

Is it for certain we're going to the caves?  If so, what's the plan?

I believe the plan should be to locate the Caves of Chaos (or what we believe to be the Caves of Chaos) and any other points of interest we can, but it's probably unwise to just rush in--our numbers aren't that great. We need to adventure to get stronger, so we have to seek out trouble and gold, but we can't handle much yet.

There's the caves, the river, and the woods. They're all likely to hold things our characters can't handle. Which is the least dangerous? I'm not thrilled about going into a swamp.

I'd rather not trek through the swamp muck either.

Typically, in OSR-type games, the further away from the 'base of operations' (which in this case is the Keep) you go, the more dangerous things are (and more rewarding, if you make it back alive).

There's really no way to know where to go other than if we can get such information from the NPCs (which is what Falco tried to do, but they didn't provide much). Otherwise, we just keep wandering around and hoping for the best.

In terms of difficulty, Falco is about right, with one exception.  The caves themselves scale from 1st to 3rd level challenges, with the lower level cave entrances being easier.  So caves A and B are pretty easy for smart or lucky players.

Seems we're being nudged, lol.  :-)

Not really, but I do need to know where you guys want to go next.

There's no such thing as a balanced encounter in OSR. That's not how its designed to work. As I stated in the IC thread Gyp will try to talk with whatever we meet. Combat is not expected or required. Gyp has a high Charisma and a positive reaction modifier so when meeting things in the caves he plans diplomacy and negotiation first, combat is a last resort.

If we can return to town with treasure Gyp's next plan will be hire as many man-at-arms as he can find. A few man-at-arms makes a lot of difference in surviving adventures and also carrying treasure.

Death of characters is expected, the life of an adventurer is worth little. That's a feature of OSR not a bug.

Also OSR is sandbox, we can do what we want. We don't need to go near the caves at all. However I think it will be a good start.

Lead us, oh mighty Falco!  :-)

Anyone there?  GM?

Hi.

No you don't have a comparable map of the area.  If you look at the contour lines you can see that you are in foothills that are higher elevation than the plateau of the keep.  From the keep you can see south he river, the mashes, the woods and the low hill to the east.  But north, not much.  So you could easily have surveyed the view from the Keep, and be familiar with those bits.  The "2" is something I meant to erase and it marks a potential encounter.  There is nothing from the Keep or the road to indicate something there.

Thanks for the clarification.

Remember, you can spend a turn hunting and for each turn there is a 1 in 6 chance of catching enough food to feed 1d6 people.  It is mid afternoon so you have plenty of light in the day if you want to spend some turns hunting.  As with movement, 1 turn per hour needs to be a rest to avoid fatigue.

Anybody else who wants to roll for hunting/forging, please do so and I will update tomorrow.

Gyp plans to sneak up and scout around the cave.

If possible he forage/hunt on the way back to the camp?

It's possible.  It takes one turn to move each square on the map if you are moving cautiously and aware of your surroundings.  For planning purposes.

How many squares away is the cave from the camp?

About 8 squares.  The cave is at a intersection of squares, from the upper left square going 8 due west (left) is about where you are camping, a square part clear and par forest that is in a straight line north of the spider lair.

Thanks. So realistically Gyp is going to be gone for about 3 hours. Hopefully the others can hunt/forage for plenty of food in that time. So Gyp's focus will be on travelling safely and keeping out of sight. He won't stop for food.

If Gyp is scouting for 3 hours the hunter/foragers can roll for food 18 times each.

Gyp has gone scouting and will be back in 3 hours. I will reply to your post when I know the outcome of Gyp's scouting. I'm not ignoring you.

Were Reea and Jori's hunting trip(s) successful? Have they returned? Did they fall in a hole?
How was Gyp's scouting trip? Has he returned? Was he eaten by an undead cow?

I saw one roll for each where they got 4 on a d6.  So for that one turn they each spent hunting, no.  Didn't catch anything.

15:23, Thu 16 Sept: Jori rolled 4 using 1d6.  hunting.
12:10, Tue 14 Sept: Reea rolled 4 using 1d6.  hunting.

This is why I asked if anyone was going to do any more hunting, Gyp is gone for three hours, that's 18 turns of hunting.  Statistically they will catch something in that time, but they only declared 1 turn each.

I'm sure they will continue to hunt until they either catch something...or something catches them.

Considering the standard 1 in 6 turns for rest, we could roll 15d6 and for each "1" that comes up another 1d6 for "man-days" of food.  It will make a difference since you guys have few rations, plus it is not "iron" rations, and so will spoil.  Your endurance in the caves may be based partly on the results.

I will PM Gyp about his scouting trip.

Gyp will hopefully be returning.

He will be hungry when he arrives so I would recommend being persistent with the hunting. Reea you can roll hunting/foraging another 14 times, Gyp is going a long way away and will be some time yet.

Reea started getting paranoid about being alone and separate from the group, so she hurried back.  :)

Anyone else available to forage for roots and nuts or hunt for game?

Gyp is on his way back.  His total time away is about 3 hours.

If no one else is going to forage or hunt we can skip to his return.

Okay, next move?

Just waiting for others to post, but I would presume we are going to investigate the goblins Gyp reported he saw.

Aye, to the cave.

How far to the north-east are the birds, and what cover is there between our camp and that area? Is it open grassland, partial concealment?

At the other end of the heart-shaped clear area on the side of the hill where you are now there are more trees/woods.  Beyond those trees.

Thanks, I'll stick with my post and see what we decide to do. I'd suggest staying in cover here, or working our way around the edges of the wood until we approach the area where the birds were disturbed.

Or we could do something completely different.

I was giving Reea a chance to post, but I'll post tomorrow either way.

Juat to be clear that the birds lifted off beyond the cave where Gyp saw the goblins.

Falco would have reacted differently then. My impression from Leozaren's post were that the birds were near us, not off in the distance ?=/

I'm still here and I've been checking in once or twice a day. Can we please do some D&D?

You guys, as a team, need to clearly say where you are going and what you want to do.  Otherwise I may as well just skip from encounter to encounter in the order I want and we play out some battles.  If we were sitting around a table this would take less time, but you need to come to consensus or elect a leader.  In the latter case, don't complain if the elected leader chooses a path you don't like.

In the original rules there was a "caller" who was the person that called what the party was doing.  All other discussion at the table was ignored, and the DM proceeded with the action as per the Caller's statements.  Want to do that?  Who wants to be the Caller?

It's my understanding the group talks and the Caller makes the final decision if there's disagreement. The Caller is also the liaison to the GM.

I agree we should retain our choice to do whatever we want.

This is easier around a table. We can make it easier by having a party leader. When they pick a direction we all go that way. I vote for Falco since they already seem to be doing it.

I thought we were doing just fine, we can't fast forward to the +3 swords and dragons.

Happy with Falco as leader too, if Falco is okay with that!

If you want Falco to lead, I guess that's fine. He wasn't a sergeant or anything, but he understands working together since he was a spearman in the military.

Also, I'm going to presume Falco didn't see the birds himself so I don't have to edit my post.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:08, Tue 05 Oct 2021.

Reea already looks up to Falco, figuratively speaking.  lol

Should we establish a marching order?

In reply to Reea (msg # 233):

That will be more important and necessary when you enter the caves of chaos.  In the wilderness, not so much.

Which cave are you guys approaching?  Two caves could qualify as "nearest."  To the right is the one that is lowest to the ground and closest to the widest pint where the ravine begins.  To the left is one that is physically closer to where you entered the ravine, but is a little higher up and a little further from the ravine entrance.

The lowest one. Easier to retreat from.

Makes sense.  Got it.

Cave 1 map is in Group 2 game map.

Any volunteers to take the front? I think we're probably all one hit away from going down, so maybe we draw straws!

Maybe the people wearing armour draw straws?

Reea has the best armor and the most hit points, so she should be in the front. I already know our characters aren't high enough in level to survive this.  :(

I think the key is we don't have to fight everything.

Give Gyp a chance to parlay, as he has a Charisma bonus then the auto attack on the lower end of the Monster Reaction check will be avoided.

Since there is room for a 'double-file', Falco will be to Reea's immediate left.

Simon will be to Gyp's immediate left.

Front row is Falco and Reea
Second row, Gyp and Simon?

Ash, Faldal, Jori, and Leozaren?

Falco on left, Reea on right.
Simon on left, Gyp on right.

I'm not sure having two wizards in the second rank makes any sense. If one of the front line fighters goes down the mages are sitting ducks in melee, and they can hardly step into the gap. Leozaren might be a better fit for one of them, low HP countered by low AC.

Pretty sure Gyp is a thief, not a spellcaster.

Maybe this?

Left/Right

1) Falco/Reea
2) Leozaren
3) Simon/Gyp
4) Faldal/Jori


Ash hasn't posted in over 3 months, so I don't believe he is a participant anymore.

In reply to Falco Mugwort (msg # 248):

I'll remove Ash from the game.

Okay, onward brave adventurers!

I'm happy for Gyp to step back to allow Leozaren to come forward.

Yes Gyp is a thief, almost as squishy as a magic-user.

Reea, please include some sort of declared action in your post, what is she going to do this round?

Also, for the group, we are using "side" initiative, so you guys have the initiative with that 2.  You may post actions with die rolls.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:48, Fri 22 Oct 2021.

Gyp, you're up.

Sorry, been away camping for the weekend. Will get a post up asap.

Between them the creatures have 32 sp.

I didn't want to interrupt the action with that bit of info; Faldal you can write it into your next post.

Let me know what the next move is; left or right?

Let's go left, I guess.

Hmmmm...apparently I need to use Cardinal directions instead of left and right. I'll keep that in mind for the future.

Damn, did I mess that up?

You misinterpreted what I meant, but it's okay. I'll just change my post.

I'm currently in the process of building a new computer. This has delayed my posting and this may continue temporarily.

No worries Gyp.

For the rest, how far are you going?  I'm assuming that Leozaren is only moving 20 feet since he is "falling in with Falco," Faldal as well?  Who is carrying the torch again?

Faldal stays close to Falco, but behind Leozaren as much as possible.

Ok. New PC is up and running.

So should resume usually posting on Saturday onwards.

Great!  Still waiting on action declarations for the others, will assume standing still if there is nothing by tomorrow.

Can we make it into melee with the archers this round?

If you charge, yes.  You are about 30 feet from the nearest one, as that is the radius of the torchlight.

Between them the kobolds have 17 gp and each has a hand axe along with a short bow.

Gyp would be more useful to the party having one of those short bows. However he is listening at the door at the moment.

I'll take one bow, and Gyp can have another. Anyone else?

How many arrows came with them?

The quivers had 16 arrows each, and each one of them had an arrow in hand they were getting ready to shoot at you guys.

Gyp will have to pick the lock first.  Once unlocked the door needs to be focred open, normally requiring 1-2 on 1d6; STR bonus applies.  (+1 STR bonus means 1-3 instead.)

I'll give Simon and Falco a little more time to declare an action.

Does Kyr have any distinguishing features that Simon would be able to recognize her among other Kobolds?

It is perhaps hard for him to tell, but she is quite the kobold beauty.  The chief took the prettiest ones for himself.

Part of that would be a coppery iridescent sheen to her scales.

What's the call, camp in the woods, along the road or push on to the Keep?

You left the keep early in the morning yesterday if I did the count correctly.

Guess we can camp out. Too bad we cannot make it back before nightfall. I think traveling in the dark is more dangerous than camping out.

Probably should retrace out path back to our previous camp and then the next morning make our way back along the road to the Keep.

Yep, agreed.

Total xp earned up to this point is 1589, including the spiders, and not including any story awards.  That is creatures and gold.  There are five active, remaining characters.  That comes out to 317.8 each.  I will round that up to 400 with story and good RP awards.  So Falco, Faldal, Gyp, Leozaren and Simon each get 400 xp.

Loot:

67 gold coins, 22 electrum coins, 61 silver coins, 203 copper
One necklace with a gem on it valued at 1,200 gold
One shield +1 acquired.

Did I miss anything?

Awesome! Well done everyone.

Gyp was carrying the 67gp and the necklace. I assume someone was carrying the remaining coins and shield.

Does anyone use a shield besides Falco?

Gyp can't use the shield.

Although he'll probably head to the blacksmith in the morning to get himself a two handed sword!

Leozaren could, but I'd rather you had it.

Faldal uses one, but he is not in urgent need to change.

Is it okay for Falco to take the Shield + 1 then and give his normal shield to Faldal (if he wants it?)?

Yes keep the shield.

Faldal already has a shield.

Oh, I didn't see a split AC, so I thought he didn't have one. Okay. I'll stick the shield on Falco.

 67gp/5 = 13gp each (plus 2gp to General Funds)
 22ep/5 =  3ep each (plus 2ep to General Funds)
 61sp/5 = 12sp each (plus 1sp to General Funds)
203cp/5 = 40cp each (plus 3cp to General Funds)

General Fund = 2gp, 2ep, 1sp, 3cp

Necklace w/Gem = 1,200gp (or 240gp each if sold)

A lot of chickens (gold) in one basket (necklace). Are we selling the necklace and divvying it up?

Yes - sell, sell, SELL!!

If we were richer I'd say keep the jewellery, however Gyp is broke so SELL it!

Faldal is not so much about jewelry, so he agrees to sell.

Okay. 240gp each then for the necklace.

The banker charges a 10% fee, so you will get 1,080 gp for the necklace, but full xp.  Sorry, I was distracted, should have said so before.

Okay. So 216gp each.

With treasure divided, what is the nest plan?  Where do you guys want to go next?  A return to the Caves is about a day's march, you can then pick another cave to explore.  Or would you prefer an outdoor encounter?

Also, do you want me to recruit more players?  We have four players and five characters active right now.

Gyp will be getting rid of his mace, javelin and short bow then he'll buy a sword, a silver dagger, a long bow, leather armour, and a horse then he'll spent the remaining gold on hiring men-at-arms and mercenaries before returning to the Caves of Chaos.

Return to the caves for me.

Gyp, how is he going about finding someone?

We can RP this out; cold call approaching people in the Keep is not the best way.  He can put an ad up in The Green Man and/or the Guild House and interested people will come.  The Innkeeper, Wilf, will charge a fee of 1 sp per week to put a sign up by the entrance.

Yes Gyp will pay Wilf to put up a notice and he'll entertain the folk there to make a name for himself and get the word out that he's hiring.

What sort of job is the notice advertising?  It will impact the type of people who respond.

Gyp will advertise for both torchbearers and men-at-arms.

What gear is available, and at what price?

Falco will ask around the Keep about any rumors regarding the goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears, orcs, or anything related to the Caves of Chaos. Additionally, he ask around the Keep about any rumors related to the area surrounding the keep. He'll also ask around about any odd jobs or the like.

I'll call it three days in total.  You can stay in The Green Man in for 1 gp a day and that includes a simple breakfast and a simple diner.  You can supplement your meals from the price list for the One Eyed Cat Tavern.  Info on both is in the Notes on the Keep and Surroundings thread.

Falco, I paused at a point in sight of the shallow cave on the hill, not the caves of chaos, to give you guys an opportunity to talk, etc.

Sorry about the confusion.

I;ll set the map up likely tomorrow evening.

Okay, game map 2 changed for the new cave.

And I realized that I started us in the wrong thread.  I moved the posts to the proper thread.  We should be in the Caves of Chaos Part 2.  Apologies.

I rolled dice to see how this combat would start and essentially killed Gyp.  One of the two sword-wielding goblins hit and did 6 points of damage.  I'm putting it here because despite the nostalgia of this rule-set I am myself becoming frustrated with some of the aspects of it.  As they say, they revised them for reasons.

So, I was avoiding house-ruling anything, up to now just using some of the optional rules in the book.  Three obvious options present themselves going forward:  continuing as-is and letting the dice fall where the may; making some house rules, which has the danger of spiraling away; or changing to a later edition.  I ask you as the players of the game your preference, since either option is a deviation from the original intent of the game and therefore from what you signed up to play.

I accept Gyp’s death. He had plenty of chances, the monster Reaction Roll, the Initiative roll and attack roll. Any of them might have gone in his favour; alas the rolls all went against him.

His sacrifice might save the rest of the party and be a noble one, or it might be fruitless. This is the nature of the game, I think I’ve said it before but combat has to be a last resort for the party and the party must gain any advantage they can. In the current situation my take was we couldn’t all hide because anything living in the cave would most likely have infravision so putting out the torch would likely benefit them more than us. So keeping the torch lit and separating the party so the monsters couldn’t see all of us or use their infravision properly (which is usually longer range than torch light) was a good plan, however it didn’t work. I don’t think there’s much we could have done better, but I’m open for suggestions for the next delve.

In terms of house rules I often use this (which coincidently would mean that Gyp would be revivable)

Death and Dying (From LotFP)

The LotFP death & dying rules apply, which can generally be summarised as:

>0        Up and capable

0        Up, but any strenuous activity (like attacking) will cause the character to drop to -1hp

-1        Incapacitated but conscious

-2        Unconscious

-3        Dying. Will die in 1d10 rounds (rolled secretly) unless continuously tended to. See below for information about tending to a dying character.

-4        Dead. Cry out your dying words if you must.


When tending to a dying character, they will need to be tended each round or their rounds before dying will count down. This normally means that one other character must tend them continuously until combat is over. A full turn spent tending to a dying character (normally after combat) will prevent the character’s death from this countdown, and they will simply be unconscious and in bad shape at -3hp.

I like older rulesets mostly for the flavor, but am not that much attached to the rules themselves. The rules presented by Gyp for character death sound reasonable to me.

You're always one strike away from death in these editions, and running away is usually the best policy - it just gets very tiresome, very quickly, so at some point you use all your spells and you just stand and fight.

I don't think it helps that most (some?) of us rolled low for hit points. One good adjustment is to maximise hit points at first level, or allow at least one more than average (5 for d8, 4 for d6, etc). As it stands a strong breeze could kill half the party.

But we all knew the rules coming in. The early editions of the game were a grind, and losing characters in bunches was just part of it.

Okay, I've been mulling it over.  Let's bump up to max hp at first level.  I'm looking at Gyp's suggested rules about death and dying and am leaning that way also.

Does that sound reasonable?

Yes it is.

Okay with me

With a constitution of 5 Faldal has -2 HP per hit die. Does it mean he starts at 4 with the new rule?

Gyp has maximum 4 hit points anyway.

Right, so into the death rules then.

Yes, that would make sense.

Nice change, up to 6hp now.

Head's up that I start a one week business trip this afternoon. I will read from hotel and airport wifi and post as I am able. Crossing nine time zones today arriving Tuesday, then have to turn around again on Friday.

Not sure if I qualify for a vote but I'd vote for retreating out of the caves to somewhere safe to rest, so that Gyp might regain consciousness. However it might be worth at least scouting out a little in the direction the goblins came from, there might be something there and it might now be unguarded.

I've been thinking about about this for a while. The PbP format just doesn't seem to work for this kind of game. It's just too difficult to make any progress. So I'm dropping out. Take care.

Well, take care.  I appreciate that you stuck with us this far.

Anyone else share the sentiment?

I am keen to continue.

I too am keen to continue. I've played plenty of games of PbP, all run slowly. Traditional dungeon crawls are slow to get going too. I think the progress we have made has been good. We have reached the dungeon and entered it twice, I expect it will get quicker as we start building up some routines.

I'm happy to carry on. PbP can be slow, but sometimes that's a good thing. Games that require daily posting burn out just as quickly, if not quicker.

Since we are back at the Keep, now would maybe be a good time to find new blood to accompany us to the caves?

I will see about recruiting again, yes.  We can also move the conversation to the Keep thread if you guys prefer that sort of organization.

Hello, everyone. I will be playing Roland, an apprentice woodcarver traveling to the keep on guild business. In combat, he favors the bow. I have just uploaded a basic character description.  I am not experienced playing with the B/X rules so I ask for your patience. Looking forward to playing with you all.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:21, Mon 23 May 2022.

Welcome, Ian!

Welcome Ian.

Did we receive any XP for part 2?

Yes, I’ll work it out tonight.  It’s not a lot, but anything is good.

Welcome Lars as well, new guy joining the group.

The xp for 6 goblins is only 30, divided by 3 for Gyp, Faldal and Leozaren is 10 each.  There is also xp for 1:1 for each GP worth of treasure, they only had a couple of silver each.

Welcome to the game Lars, hope you'll have a wonderful time.

In reply to Roland (msg # 338):
Thank guys. Looking forward to adventuring and hopefully not dying with you.

I'll take the 10XP, every point counts.

Gyp will need a couple more days rest before returning to the caves.

I'd suggest returning to the goblin cave and hopefully getting a little further in next time, we have a couple more adventurers and could always hire more men at arms too.

Welcome Lars!

What are the alternatives if we decide not to go to the goblin caves? Do we know of any other entrance to the caves?

You could see several cave entrances at different levels if the defile.

Welcome to the game, new people!

Now we are all introduced is everyone good to fast forward a couple of days then head on our adventure?

OK with me

In reply to Gyp Toogood (msg # 344):

That sounds good to me.

Well, I just added another player, welcome Valdus

Welcome Valdus!

Heya Valdus!

Hail and well met, ancient role-player here, forged in the fires of D&D red box (so I guess I am in the right place). I hope things go well for us with the 3d6 in order. Planning on doing that as soon as possible.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:26, Thu 02 June 2022.

Valdus rolled 14,13,10,7,8,6 using 3d6,3d6,3d6,3d6,3d6,3d6.  str,int,wis,dex,con,cha.

A sickly figher or a buff magic user? I am more than a little suspicious that the scores went from high to low in order. Did I roll something wrong?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:15, Thu 02 June 2022.

That's nice rolling. You've got some potential. Personally I'd go Fighter and lower the Int so you end up with a 16 Str. But if you'd prefer a Magic-User or anything else go for it, with Strength and Intelligence you could go Elf.

What’s the party got thus far? That CON does scare me i must say! 8?

Hello Valdus!

Go with whatever strikes your fancy: the party has a little of everything, so I guess it is up to you!

Yeah go with whatever you fancy.

I think I rolled lucky with Gyp. Every ability is between 9-11 except Charisma which is 15.

What is the list of class in the party. Just tell me what y’all are playing might go dwarf because of that CON.

Gyp is a thief.

Dorn the Dwarf.
(Would you consider an Elf? Then you could act like a caster with a bow and have d6 vs d4 hit die.)

Welcome Valdus, Roland is a fighter with high dex, but low con and str.

Leozaren may still be away, he is an elf
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:54, Sat 04 June 2022.

Magic user or elf it is looking like.

Rialto the Caster?

Faldal is a cleric.

This starfleet officer is leaning towards elf.

EDIT: It is Elf!
This message was last edited by the player at 14:09, Mon 06 June 2022.

I have got to get to that character creation, so used to do it on computer. I will, I will.

In reply to Valdus (msg # 364):

Character sheet on. all that is left is to the review equipment list (per DM) then fill out THACO and damage lists.

Looks good, and I apologize to Roland, it seems I forgot to unlock the character sheet.  That is now done.  Dorn, looks good also.

Everybody OK? Are we ready to move on?

Ready

Which cave entrance will you go to?  I may have a map that I can put up to help.

EDIT:  Okay, I added Map 3 showing the Caves of Chaos valley with the two caves you identified marked.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:09, Thu 23 June 2022.

Psyched!

Yes, Roland is ready to enter the caves.

To answer Elaguz's question, we are using group initiative; Dorn rolled a 3 first, that is the group's initiative.  I had to take a short trip without my laptop and so couldn't post.  Apologies.

Anyone attacking?

I hope so.

I believe we are waiting for Leozaren to act this round, then the goblins go.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 375):
Doesn't look like he's logged in over two weeks now (and hasn't posted here in a month-and-a-half).
Can we carry on without?

Yes, let’s proceed.  I’ll post an update tonight

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 375):

[Private to Dungeon Master: Interesting, the reason I posted that is that it is mentioned in the OSE basic rules here https://oldschoolessentials.ne...p/Weapons_And_Armour. It lists distances for a range advantage and penalty. "Missile: Thrown or fired weapon (greater than 5’ distance). The distances for short (+1 to hit), medium, and long (–1 to hit) range are shown in parentheses."

On page 25 of the Moldvay Basic rules, It says that Missile attacks may be adjusted based on the range but I cannot find anything more specific.