Barrowmaze #2: Skeletons - Thousands of 'Em!

I've decided to publish the logs of our Barrowmaze delves here (our RPG game using the Old-School Essentials system).  Partly this is down to my decision to start typing up my game notes - I just had too many bits of paper and last month lost one of my characters by (I think) throwing his character sheet out while I was trying to rationalise my file.

Not the session in question, but here I am leaping into action...

We're a year into the campaign, so this will contain spoilers.  The message is that if you're going to delve in the Barrowmaze, don't take advantage of them.  They're called spoilers because they spoil the fun.  DON'T BE A DICK!

This is an Old School game, and while I would deny that we're murder hobos, we are a little light on the role-play.

Game Played 24 March 2019

Player	Character	Class	Henchmen	Notes
Lizzie	Natalia	Acrobat (Level 4)	Lorthak Grintag Dirkirk (man-at-arms)
Stephen	Moonwhisper	Magic User (Level 2)		Levelled up.
Anna	Egila	Magic User (Level 1)	Wythray Luma (non-combatant follower)	First delve. Killed by skeletons.
Edwin	C’Loxi	Elf (Level 1)	Mantagorn Dreggar (man-at-arms)	First delve. Killed by skeletons.

 Pre-Delve

Midsummer had passed.  Rains seem to have come early this year, but the thunderstorms that harbinger the rainy season haven’t yet happened.  The Wicker Man Festival had been poorly attended, partly due to the weather, but also as Fr Othar had been actively campaigning against it.  It's is not known how the money Gerran has been contributing to the preparations for the festival had been spent.

Egila and C’Loxi joined the party at Galmar’s house, having seen the notice calling for more adventurers.  Hirelings were also recruited.  Two lots of 10gp were paid to the village bellman.  On the first day Wythray Luma was hired as a lantern-carrier; on the second, Grintog Dirkirk and Mantagorn Dreggar as men-at-arms.

The pre-delve plan was to return to the site of the last delve, defeat the ghouls, collect treasure and then play by ear.

The Delve

The journey out to the Barrowmoor was uneventful.  Due to deterioration in the weather, it took four hours.

We entered by the Back Door and made our way to the Crossroads of Death, where we found a corpse.  As C’loxi went to examine the body, the party was surprised by a giant scorpion.  During this initial attack, the scorpion killed Grintag.  C’Loxi promptly cast Sleep and Natalia dispatched the scorpion with her dagger.  C’Loxi resumed his search of the corpse and retrieved an ornate, silver-embossed scabbard.

We proceeded to the Octagonal Room as per the plan, where we found the scene of a massacre.  We remained in the doorway, waiting to see if whatever creatures present would reveal themselves.  These turned out to be two large stone warriors, able to fire magma from their hands.  One was killed with ranged weapons and a hasty debate was held as whether to shut the door, cast Hold Portal and retreat.  Moonwhisper cast Protect from Evil.  We decided to fight and eventually defeated the remaining living statue. 

On searching the corpses of the other adventuring party, the only thing of interest found was a silver goblet, everything else being too mashed or burnt.

We then went through the east door to the room with the portcullis.  The plan was to use meat on a rope to draw the ghouls out and then to make an overwhelming ranged attack.  However,  C’Loxi jumped the gun and deployed the lure before the rest of the party was set up.  As a result, much of the combat took place at the portcullis with the ghouls able to fight back.  Fighting through the grating also proved to be more difficult than anticipated.  In a hard-fought combat the last ghoul managed to injure both Natalia and C’Loxi.

We now entered unexplored territory for the first time.

In examining the room, we found that the portcullis mechanism was broken.  There were two doors in the west wall.  The southernmost of the two was ajar.  In moving to examine the northern door, Natalia triggered a pit-trap but was able to get herself out without injury.

Going through the southern door, we found two open sarcophagi containing decomposed bodies.  Natalia and C’Loxi searched the sarcophagi, but found nothing.

Swinging around the pit-trap, Natalia entered the other room.  This was plastered and decorated with a mural of foot-race.  Suddenly three crab spiders on the ceiling attacked Natalia.  Though she was injured, they were killed.  A search of the room uncovered 37cp.

The party crossed the Octagonal Room and went though the west door.  This led to a wide corridor, with narrow passages off it (similar to the room on the east).  As with the other room, the passages had alcoves containing alcoves.  The party divided.  C’Loxi and Mantagorn moved into the centre of the room; the others split into two to examine two of the passages.

The skellies rise...

Simultaneously, Mantagorn fell into a pit-trap and the skeletons revived.  Egila, Wythray, C’Loxi and Lorthak were soon overpowered.  Natalia and Moonwhisper managed to escape from the room and withdrew to the north door of the Octagonal Room, which they shut behind them.

C'Loxi is Last Elf Standing as Natalia and Moonwhisper make for the exit...

They made their way to the Back Door and safely exited the Barrowmaze.

An hour out of Helix, Natalia and Moonwhisper spotted five Giant Toads in their path.  Moonwhisper killed three with his wand of lightening.  The other two fled.

Post-Delve

In possibly the least profitable delve ever, there were no items to be identified or valued.

Natalia healed up.

Natalia sought out Krothos Ironguard to further her plans to have a house built during the rainy season.  She found him in the Drunken Pheasant and played a game of chance with him.  However, she was warned off doing any business with him by his minder, Ollis Blackfell.  The next day Natalia, Moonwhisper and Gerran attended Blackfell’s office.  There, on payment of 200gp, she was given a plot of land and planning permission.  Unlike Galmar’s arrangement with Krothos, this was officially recorded and title deeds issued.  These were deposited at Huffenpuff’s.

Group Funds

	Expenditure	Income
Recruitment	20gp
Hirelings’ pay	16gp
Equipment	12gp

Encounters

	Location	Casualties	Notes
Giant Scorpion (x1)	Crossroads of Death	Grintag Dourkirk killed.	C’Loxi cast Sleep and Natalia dispatched the scorpion with her dagger.
Living Stone Statues (x2)	Octagonal Room		One killed by ranged weapons, the other in mêlée.
Ghouls (x2)	Portcullis Room	Natalia and C’Loxi both injured.	Plan went off half-cocked and fighting through the grating proved to be more difficult than anticipated. An unexpectedly hard-fought combat.
Crab Spiders (x3)	Race Room	Natalia injured.
Skeletons (x24)	Skeleton Room	Egila, C’Loxi, Lorthak and Wythray killed.	No skeletons were harmed (though two fell into the pit).
Giant Toads (x5)	Wilderness		Three killed by Moonwhisper with his Lightening Wand. The other two fled.

Treasure

	Where and how acquired	Value	Notes
Ornate, silver-embossed scabbard.	On corpse at the Crossroads of Death.	n/k	Lost when C’Loxi was killed.
Silver goblet	On corpses in Octagonal Room.	n/k	Lost when C’Loxi was killed.
37cp	In Race Room	37cp

Score: 1292 (two survivors)

Scene of today's action