Month: March 2022

Review: Castles & Crusades Adventurers Spellbook and Spell Cards

/ PhilosopherZ / 2 Comments

Troll Lord Games (TLG) has in recent months come out with new printings of their Castles Keepers Guide, Players Handbook and as part of that Kickstarter created a Players Archive which brings together most C&C character class options from previous products and the Adventurers Spellbook (AS) which brings together most of the spells from their previous products. This review will focus on the AS and TLG’s first release of spell card decks.

Castles and Crusades (C&C) has been around for nearly 20 years and in that time a lot of spells have appeared in their publications. According to the title page of the AS, the AS brings together spells from “The Players Handbook, Adventurers Backpack, Players Guide to Aihrde, Elemental Spell Book, Rune Lore, Amazing Adventures Companion, Hallowed Oracle Players Guide and Other Sources.” Spells that seem to be missing from this book include spells from the Haunted Highlands campaign setting, the Mythos series of Codexes and Of Gods & Monsters.

As for what is in the book and what it looks like, well, you get nearly 260 pages of spells! These spells work in C&C and can be used in any D&D or OSR game with minimal-to-no changes necessary. So if you are looking for an array of new spells, this is a great resource to expand your spell options!

There is nothing flashy or over-the-top with this book. The format of the book is clean and easily readable white pages, with only a few pieces of black and white art inside (I like this, I wish more books stuck with a clean, easy-to-read product).

The first 27 pages are just chart breakdowns of cleric, druid, wizard, and illusionist spells by spell level – great for a quick reference. Pages 27-188 provide spell descriptions in alphabetical order (see the picture below for an example). Pages 189-245 details Runic Magic tied to the Rune Mark class presented in the Adventurers Backpack. Although that optional class has been around for years, it has never had a full set of runes. This book rectifies that with 56 pages worth of rune magic! So if you want an alternative type of magic in your fantasy RPG, you might want to take a look at what is offered here. Pages 246-250 cover the unique take on magic in the Hallowed Oracle campaign setting (another option for those seeking alternative spell systems). Finally, pages 251-255 present some sample spellbooks.

Example of the Adventurers Spellbook interior

The Kickstarter that funded the 8th printing of the C&C Players Handbook also resulted in two decks of spell cards. One deck covers Wizard spells from 0-2nd level, and the other includes cleric spells from 0-4th level. I think it is a bit odd that you would make decks of cards for only low-level wizards (1st-3rd level) and for low-to-medium level clerics (1st-7th), but perhaps they had more decks planned as stretch goals that weren’t reached in the Kickstarter, or they just wanted to test the market first. At any rate, if you want spells for those two classes for beginning adventurers, these spell cards might work for you.

But how do they look and how functional are they?

I decided to compare what TLG has done with the spell cards that Frog God Games (FGG) have for their OD&D retroclone Swords & Wizardry (S&W), and the D&D 5E spell cards put out by Wizards of the Coast (WotC).

You can see with the example of the invisibility spell that the S&W version has no bells and whistles, just a simple and to-the-point explanation of the spell. I think that works well for S&W. TLG has, I believe, gone with a similar font and background used in their 8th printing of the Players Handbook. That may work for an A4 book, but it doesn’t translate well to card deck size. The background dilutes the font and the font is not the best choice for a card even if the background wasn’t there. If you then look at the D&D 5E card you get a glimpse at the best layout of the three. I am not the biggest fan of the D&D 5E aesthetic, but there is no doubt that when it comes to seeking out information on a spell card and being able to read it, WotC wins. With concise use of words and well-thought-out organization you always know where to look and can read the information easily on a D&D 5E spell card.

TLG has also apparently tried to place all the spell information from the relevant rule book onto the card, which in some instances shrinks the already small font to the point of unreadability (the wall of text for invisibility shown above is an example). When the situation of a complicated spell has arisen with some 5E spells WotC simply provides a few sentence description and then directs the reader to consult the appropriate book for more information. TLG should’ve done that as well. I kind of wish TLG had either gone with a more simple approach like FGG’s S&W spell deck or with a clean and precise layout like WotC.

Several of my players supported the Kickstarter that produced the AS and these spell decks. They like the AS, but when I asked if they’d use the spell cards, they said “no” due to the formatting (Keep in mind that the majority of my players are in their teens to early 20s and came to C&C from D&D 5E where they had WotC character folders that held spell cards so they could track their character’s spells. The TLG spell cards are something they would have used if they had been better laid out for that purpose).

Example of how the description for the C&C Hallow spell was shrunk down to an even smaller font than the other spell cards in order to fit on the card. I’ve placed the Hallow card on the AS and next to a WotC spell card for purposes of scale and formatting comparison. You can also notice how the WotC card could’ve had more spell description wordage, but instead directed the reader to the book for more information after providing the essentials.

What is Missing from the AS?

Spells from the Haunted Highlands campaign setting, the Mythos series of Codexes and Of Gods & Monsters seem to be missing from the book. My C&C games revolve around highly detailed pantheons – which uses the now out-of-print Of Gods & Monsters – and the Codex books, so having those spells would’ve been nice (although admittedly not many spells have appeared in the Codexes).

Some Errors in Spell Descriptions Coming from Different PHB Printings.

The new 8th printing of the Players Handbook has perhaps seen the greatest changes to the book and its content since C&C was first published in 2004. Material from the Castle Keepers Guide for high-level play was added to the PHB and errata from previous printings were meant to be corrected and some spells were altered. It appears that the Adventurers Spellbook is a victim of material copied and pasted from the new 8th printing as it was being updated as well as from the 7th printing. This is going to cause confusion at the table for long-term dedicated C&C players.

Here is an example of the spell First Aid (8th PHB printing on the left, 7th printing in the middle, and AS on the right:

For the spell First Aid, the 8th printing changes what the spell does, but the AS description still comes from the 7th printing of the PHB (which includes the error that the recipient of the illusionist attempting to heal has to make the save and not the illusionist as well as not including the game stat changes made for the 8th printing.

Secondly, the cure spells (e.g. cure light wounds, cure serious sounds, cure critical wounds) in the AS all retain the erroneous information from the PHB 7th printing regarding the illusionist having to make the intelligence saving throw to heal (by the way, if you want to understand the C&C illusionist and healing, you can read this post).

There might be more errors in the AS when it comes to retaining 7th PHB spell descriptions versus changes made for the 8th printing, but I’ve only just scratched the surface with this book since I received it a few days ago.

Final Thoughts and Summary

If you want a book of D&D compatible spells, this is a GREAT book! There are 260 pages worth of spells here to expand your game in marvelous ways. Sometimes you’ll find anywhere between 6-8 spells per page, giving you probably over 1,250 spells. There is a LOT of fun content to spur the imagination of your players!

The spell cards can be useful if you want some low-level wizard and cleric spells. My players may have chosen not to use them, but when their characters come across a dead adventurer in a dungeon or in a forest, I might randomly pull a card from these decks to represent a spell scroll they find on the body or a spellbook in the dead adventurer’s backpack and read the name out to them and they can look it up in their books.

If you are a dedicated and long-term C&C player/GM then you will encounter a few conflicting spell descriptions from the last two PHB printings in the Adventurers Spellbook, so be on the lookout for that.

Overall, this is a great buy for those seeking new spells and new takes on old ones!

Castles & Crusades Diary: Barrowmaze, Session 102

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Summary:
Recovering from the battle last session, the group attempt to collect loot and head home, but encounters a dozen challenging Eyewings and a Fachan!

PC’s:
Gnoosh, Gnome Rogue 11/Illusionist 9 of Baravar Cloakshadow
Rolando, Hobbit Rogue 6/Pacer 5 of Brandobaris Fleetfoot
Remi, Gnome Rogue 6/Illusionist 6 of Hermes
Kiaria, Seeker 7 of Bast
Tiberius, Cleric 7/Paladin 3 of St. Ingrid
Sagira, Cleric 6 of Horus
Balthazar, Elf Wizard 8 of Arcanus
Clara, Dwarf Cleric/Fighter 2 of Sif
Rosaline, Half-Elf (Elf lineage) Druid 9 of The Daghda
Arthur, Oathsworn 9 of Celestian
Roulf, Drachentöten (Dragonslayer) 7 of Crom

Game Diary:
The adventure began with the group resting in a secured part of the Barrowmaze and then attempting to enter the ruins they created to collect Nathalas the Despicable’s magic items (spellbook, staff, wand of magic missiles, and a potion and scroll. They thought it would be easy doing clean up, but while in the chamber which was now open to the sky from their previous adventure caving in the ceiling to the Barrowmoor above, horrific eyewings came in from the sky above. Quite a few of the characters did not have ranged weapons and one player rolled a critical fail and his bow broke! The non-ranged characters tried to lure the eyewings in for melee combat but the eyewings only attacked one character who had cast fly with their clawed wings and a vicious blue tear that burned the character. The rest of the eyewings chose to project their tear attacks onto the characters below and the splash damage from all the eyewings was proving to be devastating with several characters crumbling to unconsciousness and nearing death as other characters tried to move through the difficult terrain to get a heal on them before they expired!

Eyewing art by the-murdellicious (DeviantArt)

As most of the characters were battling the eyewings another was surprised by a Fachan that emerged from the rubble and began its attack. It was killed, but what was thought to be a simple treasure collecting exercise nearly took some characters out!

Eyewings and Fachan are very peculiar-looking creatures indeed, but finding them in a place like the Barrowmaze/Barrowmoor makes sense considering the hundreds of years of Chaos that had seeped into the surrounding lands either creating or attracting such malformed monsters.

Fachan art by Brian Froud

Arriving back at Ironguard Motte several characters leveled up and were going to take several months off to acquire new Advantages from the Castle Keepers Guide, or raise other abilities (Tiberius is focusing a lot on healing and wanted a healing spell that is between cure light wounds (1d8 healing) and cure serious wounds (3d8 healing), of course, D&D 3E had cure moderate wounds (2d8) so this was a perfect spell for the character to research and then be able to cast after their time off.

Next session we will see whether the group returns to the Barrowmaze to take on the next challenge within, or whether they want to do a sidetrek. After their return to Ironguard Motte they did discover a piece of parchment nailed to the door of their headquarters with the message “Orcus will wipe the tears from your eyes”, clearly indicating that the eyewings were tied to the Acolytes of Orcus. The Army of the Light may have taken care of the organized Necromancers of Nergal, but the Orcus cult clearly has been building up their abilities as the group has been focused on the Nergal necromancers!

Castles & Crusades Diary: Barrowmaze, Session 101

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Summary:
The Army of the Light destroys the last resting place of the Necromancers of Nergal by defeating a 30-foot tall bronze golem and Nathalas the Despicable. An entire cavern collapsed from the berserking golem, two fireballs, a lightning bolt, an ice storm, call lightning, and a sinkhole! With the Barrowmoor above ground pouring into the collapsed chamber below, it was the most destruction I’ve experienced in a game session!

PC’s:
Gnoosh, Gnome Rogue 11/Illusionist 8 of Baravar Cloakshadow
Rolando, Hobbit Rogue 6/Pacer 5 of Brandobaris Fleetfoot
Remi, Gnome Rogue 6/Illusionist 6 of Hermes
Kiaria, Seeker 7 of Bast
Tiberius, Cleric 6/Paladin 5 of St. Ingrid
Sagira, Cleric 6 of Horus
Balthazar, Elf Wizard 8 of Arcanus
Clara, Dwarf Cleric/Fighter 1 of Sif
Rosaline, Half-Elf (Elf lineage) Druid 8 of The Daghda
Arthur, Oathsworn 9 of Celestian
Roulf, Drachentöten (Dragonslayer) 7 of Crom

NPC:
Dhekeon “the Disgraced,” fallen skeletal paladin of St. Justus (seeking redemption)

Game Diary:
The last session ended on a cliffhanger as the Army of the Light entered a chamber 80 x 100 feet and 40 feet high with a 30-foot tall bronze statue of Nergal in the center. All around were massive pillars that had the appearance of warriors carrying weapons and shields, and there were nearly 70 sarcophagi located between the columns. The players came to this location to what they hoped would be the last of the Nergal necromancers and destroy them once and for all and they appeared to have guessed correctly! So without hesitation, they launched two fireballs at the center point of the bronze statue (the rope belt if you look at the piece of art below). The session ended when its eyes began to glow with molten metal and it roared in fury!

This session began with everyone declaring their actions and then rolling initiative. I knew this could be a chaotic battle and it would be a fight for their lives, so by going around the table and having them declare actions everyone was able to organize their thoughts and actions. Yes, rolling initiative might cause some players to have to choose something else if they rolled too high or too low, but it all worked well.

art from Barrowmaze Complete

As the combat began I pointed out that the fireballs did no damage and maybe even enhanced the creature! So the spellcasters responded by casting ice storm and patch of frost. These spells were not quite as effective due to the extra energy the fireballs provided but they did slow the creature down. Rosaline, the druid, caused stalactites to reach down from the ceiling 20 feet to block its vision and prevent movement. Gnoosh cast fog cloud to obscure its vision at the level below the stalactites allowing the PCs to move about unseen. Balthazar had convinced some gargoyles to assist him and summoned three more and sent them off to battle the Nergal golem. The two gargoyles that weren’t summoned took one look at the bronze giant and decided to just try and grab Balthazar’s magic items and fly off, but they didn’t get far.

The chamber of the bronze golem of Nergal (each square is 10 feet).

With all the spells in place to block the golem’s vision and movement and getting attacked by gargoyles, it swung its massive staff around and knocked down a pillar.

Roulf leaped in using his boots of striding and heard the familiar voice of the Nergal high-mage Nathalas the Despicable (he guessed that Nathalas was hiding in the far north-east part of the chamber). Roulf began to attack the golem and Dhekeon also moved up to take it on. Meanwhile, Rosaline, Rolando, and Gnoosh began to skirt around the golem to the north staying within the fog cloud and hiding behind the pillars and sarcophagi for cover. Gnoosh has a hat of telepathy and once he moved far enough north and got within range of Nathalas’s thoughts he knew spellcasting was going to happen.

The patch of frost is a very effective spell for reducing movement and causing damage or falling, so Nathalas cast dispel magic and got rid of it! The golem by now began entering a berserk rage from its inability to move or see and swung its staff around in a fury and toppled the remaining three pillars that surrounded it and they, in turn, all tumbled in different directions and the pillars and stalactites in the entire chamber began to crumble and fall to the ground. It was massive damage and everyone had to make Dexterity saves. The damage was going to be enough to kill several characters and render a few more unconscious. The Army of the Light was heading for a TPK. Luckily, they had a card from the Deck of Dirty Tricks that said “all damage this round is nullified for both sides.” They used it and they all “miraculously” managed to avoid the tons of stone that fell to the chamber floor.

The chamber now had several feet of stone lying on the ground – it was now difficult terrain to move through. Wanting to exact revenge for the sinkhole Rosaline created above the barracks of his necromancer acolytes several sessions back, Nathalas launched a lightning bolt on the ceiling above the west doors where some of the group still stood – more saving throws were needed! Those at the west entrance survived, and now several members of the group were able to tell where Nathalas was located and he arose confidently with a minor globe of invulnerability surrounding him! More spells were launched by the wizards and druid. With all the worked stone no longer being held up by the pillars, along with the previous damage from fireballs and lightning bolts, now a sinkhole was placed above Nathalas. There was now too much structural damage. The entire north-east section of the chamber caved in and Nathalas was buried under rock, mud, and peat. Rosaline could now look up to the open sky above and noticed it was raining heavily (which caused the flooded Barromoor above to dump tons of water into the chamber). She cast call lightning, and due to a special globe she has, she can accelerate the speed of her weather spells and immediately launched a lightning bolt down from the open sky above.

As for the bronze golem, Roulf, Dhekeon, Arthur, and others had been battling it in melee. It did get some good blows in on a few people, but with the collapse of the chamber and all the spells that were being hurled back and forth and from above Nathalas and the bronze golem perished in battle.

Rolando was buried but alive in the rubble and a few people managed to conjure up a fly spell, and they dug out and retrieved the wee hobbit, and others that were buried in the rubble were freed and everyone left the chamber and flown to safety over the deadly terrain below, for at this point the walls were caving in from the north, east, and west, and there was a storm raging above them. They took refuge in nearby rooms to the west. Clerics cast consecrate in these smaller rooms and everyone got a good rest and recovered.

This was one heck of a battle! With the Necomancers of Nergal as an organization seemingly destroyed, what else can the Army of the Light expect? Well, they know there are some Barrow harpies in the Barrowmaze, they even discovered a letter nailed to the door of their headquarters in Ironguard Motte with a message that said “thanks for making our lives easier” and it was signed with a demon goat figure – the symbol of Orcus – so it seems the Acolytes of Orcus are grateful that their nearest competition is now gone! We will find out next time what the Army of the Light wants to do next.

Castles & Crusades Diary: Barrowmaze, Session 100

/ PhilosopherZ / 2 Comments

Summary:
Session 100 in the Barrowmaze (400 hours over 3 years)! In this diary entry, I look at what they’ve done in those 100 games, what is left to do, and I discuss what it is that makes this the best and most enjoyable megadungeon I’ve run in my 30+ years of GMing.

PC’s:
Gnoosh, Gnome Rogue 11/Illusionist 8 of Baravar Cloakshadow
Rolando, Hobbit Rogue 6/Pacer 5 of Brandobaris Fleetfoot
Remi, Gnome Rogue 6/Illusionist 6 of Hermes
Kiaria, Seeker 7 of Bast
Tiberius, Cleric 6/Paladin 5 of St. Ingrid
Sagira, Cleric 6 of Horus
Balthazar, Elf Wizard 8 of Arcanus
Clara, Dwarf Cleric/Fighter 1 of Sif
Rosaline, Half-Elf (Elf lineage) Druid 8 of The Daghda
Arthur, Oathsworn 9 of Celestian
Roulf, Drachentöten (Dragonslayer) 7 of Crom

NPC:
Dhekeon “the Disgraced,” fallen skeletal paladin of St. Justus (seeking redemption)

Game Diary:
The game diary for this session is being put off until next time since the players mostly prepared themselves for a new foray into the dungeon and after an encounter in the Barrowmoor with a Barrow Ghast and other ghasts/ghouls, they arrived in a chamber where a 30-foot tall bronze statue of Nergal came to life after they launched 2 fireballs at it “just to play it safe and destroy it before it can destroy us.” Unfortunately, the statue was immune to the fireballs and is now awake! But again, that battle will take place next session (it is a great cliffhanger!).

Reflections on Barrowmaze after 100 Game Sessions:
So, on to some reflections on Barrowmaze. We just completed our 100th session in the Barrowmaze. At four hours each, that is 400 hours the players have spent in this campaign. Not all of it, admittedly, has been in the dungeon, for players do need to take a break from a megadungeon from time to time. Running a megadungeon can become monotonous and most people I know may begin a megadungeon and then at some point the campaign loses steam and the players want to do something else. I ran the Forgotten Realms for 25 years and I put my players into Undermountain several times during the 2nd edition through the 5E eras, but they never lasted more than six months.

What is different with the way I run Barrowmaze compared to when I ran Underoumountain? A few things come to mind.

– Tie People and Events in the Campaign with Specific Characters.
You have to continually hold onto the player’s interest for a long-term dungeon crawl that will last hundreds of sessions over several years. One way to do that is to make it personal. Tie subplots in with certain characters.

In 2019 when the group entered the Barrowmaze, Cobalt, the paladin was a clear symbolic leader of the group. Cobalt had a Saint’s Mace and a lot of the initial subplots circled around him in 2019 and 2020. In 2021 he died but he made his mark and the group still carries the legacy of Cobalt’s contribution and influence.

Gimli, the dwarf berserker of Odin entered the campaign in 2020. He acquired a rotting disease from the Pit of Chaos and in a side adventure became a werewolf. There was a whole Viking subplot around him that kept the other players engaged as they had to respond to his afflictions and the effect they had on others. Gimli also died in 2021 but his legacy in the group lives on.

The rogue Martin and the rogue/illusionist Gnoosh have been around since 2019 and although they have kept a low profile (they are rogues, after all, you have to keep your secrets!), their presence has continued to create small background changes in the campaign.

Kiaria arrived in 2020 and discovered a Griffon egg in a side adventure. It has now hatched and she is training it during off time. Flying mounts are exceedingly rare in my campaign, so this could very well lead to large campaign changes.

Gorgat, the barbarian, arrived in 2020 and is the proud owner of the Spear Predestined. Since 2021 he has become the leader of the cave people in the southern Barrowmoor. The cave people try to keep the Bogtown folk away from their peat and there have been many conflicts between the Boggers and cave people over the years, but now with Gorgat working as chief negotiator, the economic commerce of peat in the Duchy of Aerik will be changing.

Rosaline is a druid that entered the campaign in 2020 and after defeating a Slavic witch in the Moon Peaks in 2021 is converting it into her druid grove when she turns 9th level. Druids are an underutilized class and the player of this character has truly made her shine and she has played a pivotal role in the campaign using sinkholes to collapse the Pit of Chaos as well as the main housing chambers of the Necromancers of Nergal.

Kyron was a cleric of Charon who joined the Army of the Light in 2020 and was forcibly converted to Zuul in 2021. The last several months of play caused substantial challenges for the group as his connection with Zuul caused a several-month drought in the Duchy of Aerik and factions were forming in the Duchy and within the group as to what they were going to do with him. This culminated in a catastrophic flood within the region. Although he has converted back to Charon, the results of the drought and flood are still with the people of the Duchy of Aerik and there is an assassin that has a contract to kill him. Kyron was put on trial in Ironguard Motte in the hope of resolving some of these issues and getting the people to move on. We will see what will happen.

– Keep the Players Continually Engaged
The above summary of a few characters just scratches the surface with what has happened in the 400 hours of gaming that has occurred since 2019. The Army of the Light has over 30 members (with five current players in this game, this averages out to 6 characters per player, although it is not an even spread amongst them). Since characters have to relax for one week for every undead encounter (a PC can deal with a number of undead encounters equal to their Wisdom score before going insane) this allows players to try out a lot of new characters while others rest (and acquire level up abilities like learning new professions, languages, taking an Advantage from the Castle Keepers Guide, or picking out a Mystical Companion). When players have multiple characters with new abilities, mystical companions, etc., there is always something going on, to keep track of, and manage, even when the character is out of action for several game sessions. I think the players like using different characters for a particular game session but know that when the other characters return they will have something new they can do. It helps make everything feel worth the wait.

Barrowmaze is also lethal. There may currently be over 30 characters in the Army of the Light, but I think the group previously lost about a dozen characters in the last three years. I suspect that would end most campaigns (it would if it had happened in my Undermountain games back in the day!). Many of the deaths were 1st-2nd level and hadn’t gotten very far, however, Cobalt and Gimli, were main characters with plots swirling around them and then they suddenly died. New characters had to take their place. Nothing is certain. It keeps you on your toes.

– Keep Focus on the Campaign
The players in my game use two characters in each adventure and although the characters may get tied into a campaign subplot (as described above), or the players get caught up in managing their character’s level-ups and downtime activities, everything they do is tied to moving the campaign forward. I think that is key. Even with characters like Cobalt and Gimli gone, they left their mark, others speak about them. They have left a legacy, and that legacy involves the younger protégés in the group and in the region (some players bring in a new character and say they were inspired by the stories of the character that had died or even one that is still alive and active in the group). Although we’ve been gaming for three years in real life, the game world has also moved forward several years and we are seeing power rise and fall in the region. As new adventurers join the group or encounter the group, they speak of what the other characters and the Army of the Light have done (or are still doing).

– Final Thoughts
So the approach I have taken is to balance tying characters into subplots, keep them engaged on as many levels as possible, and even when something tragic happens the focus is still on the larger campaign picture. At least that is what I think is working for this campaign. This is now the longest campaign I’ve run in my 30+years and it is the most successful. The Barrowmaze is beautifully designed and Greg Gillespie has accounted for a lot of variables. If there is something my players do Gillespie has a response to many of them. Still, as any GM knows, even the most seasoned GM can’t predict everything and that is why you need a game that is flexible. The Barromaze/Labyrinth Lord approach allows for flexibility, and of course, I run it on the fly using Castles & Crusades, which is the best of old and new D&D and allows you the freedom to go with the flow and live in the moment and not get bogged down too much in oppressive rules. I am now using a lot of optional rules and house rules and I do worry that it is getting too complicated, but when I’ve brought it up with my players they don’t seem to have those concerns, so I think everything is still on track.

The group is more than three-quarters of the way through the Barrowmaze. On average they take one game session off for a side quest or character development for every 4-5 that take place in the Barrowmaze, but the players need some variety and I use those adventures (that I design myself) to further build up their character subplots and the campaign making it more personal.

The players have nearly ended the reign of the Necromancers of Nergal. They have destroyed the Pit of Chaos. They have destroyed the Gargoyle faction in the Barrowmze. But they are aware of Barrow Harpies still lurking within the halls, Acolytes of Orcus, a dragon name Ossithrax, and the Tablet of Chaos. They now have enough map fragments of the Barrowmaze where they are speculating where these things might be and in what order they wish to do it. With this information and purpose in hand, they are getting more control over their environment and what happens to them, but this is to be expected, for the key members are now entering high level.

I can’t wait to see what they do next!

art from Barrowmaze Complete

Castles & Crusades Diary: Barrowmaze, Session 99

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Summary:
The Army of the Light takes on a Black Dragon in the Barrowmoor and under threat of an insect plague, flooding, breath weapon, and five attacks per round the Drachentöten (Dragonslayer) managed to defeat it!

PC’s:
Gnoosh, Gnome Rogue 10/Illusionist 8 of Baravar Cloakshadow
Llewelyn, Elf Cleric 8/Wizard 7 of Sehanine Moonbow
Remi, Gnome Rogue 6/Illusionist 6 of Hermes
Kiaria, Seeker 7 of Bast
Kyron, Cleric 9 of Charon
Balthazar, Elf Wizard 8 of Arcanus
Zen, Human Monk 8 of St. Agathos
Rosaline, Half-Elf (Elf lineage) Druid 8 of The Daghda
Arthur, Oathsworn 9 of Celestian
Roulf, Drachentöten (Dragonslayer) 7 of Crom

Game Diary:
The players were planning on returning to the Barrowmaze to try and find the Necromancers of Nergal and their leader Nathalas “the Despicable” before they could re-establish themselves in the aftermath of the destruction of their headquarters. However, the player who has Roulf, the Dragonslayer, was excitedly talking before the session (as we waited for some players to arrive) about how he wanted to fight a dragon, get some dragon parts and begin crafting some dragon scale items. I listened attentively to the player (you should always listen to your players, they have wonderful ideas!). So, once all the players arrived and the session began I mentioned that Roulf had a dream where a black serpent was burrowing into the Barrowmoor in the aftermath of the recent floods (drachentötens can sense the presence of dragons and sometimes their minds touch). The player got more excited and the group changed their minds, swapped in some different characters, and went hunting for the dragon that Roulf sensed.

Roulf had a general idea where the newly arrived black dragon might be lurking and Gnoosh had his hat of telepathy and could sense thoughts when they got closer. Upon entering the Barrowmoor they saw to their left an area of swampy land that had been built up in such a way as to create a small lake (earthen walls had been built up and the water was high within it, thus the lake was above the level of their heads). There was also an acidic presence in the air that burned the hairs in their nose and Roulf knew that meant the presence of a black dragon and its acid breath weaponry. To their right, they saw insects beginning to assemble in an unusual way and Rosaline, the druid, sensed that an insect plague was forming. Gnoosh picked up the thoughts of a creature (“hmmm, this group has a large collection of magic items that I really want!”). Ripples began to appear on the artificial lake causing some of the water to spill over the earthen walls toward them raising the water level up to ankle level for the humans and waist level for the gnomes.

The group pulled out their weapons and the spellcasters began to prep spells, it was time for initiative! The insect plague formed quickly, encircling them. All the spell casters had to make concentration checks to get their spells off, and even though I allowed the wizards to use intelligence and clerics to use wisdom (thus increasing the likelihood of success for them), the insect plague did reduce visibility to just the 10-foot thick swarm of flies and they were surrounding them, so PC favorites like fireball and lightning bolt were not going to work!

To make matters worse, the earthen wall holding back the artificial lake was being broken down from the other side and massive amounts of water were now cascading down toward them requiring Strength/ Constitution/ Dexterity checks for the PCs to remain upright, otherwise, they were going to get knocked prone and washed away in a random direction and into the insect plague! Dragons are clever so anything they can do to prevent their foes from succeeding with their melee or spells increases their chances of destroying the feeble bipedal mortals!

However, this is the Army of the Light we are talking about! Yes, some spells were lost with failed concentration checks, and a few characters failed their physical saves and were getting pushed away in different directions by the steady outpouring of water, but most passed their saves.

A successful dispel magic dispersed the insect plague, another weather-controlling spell diverted the outpour of water around them keeping the water at their feet to just a few inches deep and protecting them from the heavy flow, and in a matter of just a couple of rounds, the players were able to look up toward the artificial lake to their left and saw a black dragon with a 30-foot wingspan rising up to blast them with its acid breath weapon!

Black Dragon (from D&D 5E Monster Manual)

Having foiled my plans thus far (err, I, of course, mean the dragon’s plans!) it thought that its breath weapon should surely humble them all before its might! But from the random cards from the Deck of Dirty Tricks that they pull from before every adventure, one player chose to use the “Target stands idle for 1 round” and so the black dragon, instead of blasting them with acid taunted them and said that if they leave their magic items now and flee it will let them live. The players laughed. Some who had failed their saves and were getting washed away used this free round to stop themselves and prepare to return to battle. Llewellyn pulled out his mirror of opposition and out sprang a black dragon to attack my black dragon!

The following round the dragon recovered and attacked its mirror duplicate with claws, bite, wing, and tail attacks. The dragon from the mirror was propelled back from the onslaught of draconic power on top of the PCs. More physical saves were required else the PCs were going to get pinned to the ground from its huge fallen body.

Roulf managed to make his Dexterity save and then used his boots of striding and springing to leap into the air onto the body of the black dragon foe and then used his Baldr’s Strike class ability to do maximum damage, but he rolled a bloody 20 which for the Drachentöten means he does DOUBLE maximum damage! He had slain the dragon! In a situation like this, you say to the player “describe to me how you kill the dragon with your mighty blow.” The player was overjoyed and relished the opportunity to describe the epic success.

They harvested the dragon’s parts (a clean, efficient, single blow that cut off its head ensured that there was a lot of parts that could get harvested), they then gathered the 20,000+ gold pieces that were at the bottom of the drained lake and the game session came to an end!

It was a whole lot of fun. I thought I had some great dragon tactics in play when it came to spells and environmental hazards to wear down the PCs and put them on the back foot, but this group of players is just too creative and clever!