[D&D v1.0] Expedition to Barrier Peaks II

[Bill Cook]

Last session.

This session was a lot of fun for me. We had a lot of concurrent split-party action going on. Each player (myself and Cory) had multiple characters to run. I had Enron (Magic-User) and Anderson (Thief), and Cory had Stan "The Man" (Fighter), Ambrose (Paladin) and Samuel (Fighter). Kevin did not attend, so Jason ran Malyyx (Cleric).

A veg-head pygmie sprang Anderson from a holding cell. I had him attempt to befriend the thing, which led to some consternation on his part. He crossed me to his tribe and I had to take him hostage down a zero-G tube. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Ambrose, Enron and Co. had found an operational zero-G tube and were attacked by doppelgangers. After Malyyx and Enron emerged from inspecting the tube, it was quite confusing trying to sort out which who was which. After dispatching the evil copies, they arrived at a vast atrium. Enron magic-mouthed the exit for Anderson, feather-fell Stan off a vine ladder from the skyway that came alive and commanded a fire elemental to burn through a vine wall blocking the entry on the ground level.

Meanwhile, Sam (the veg-head pygmie) caught a spear--Anderson was using him for a shield as they drifted down the tube--fleeing his would-be rescuers. The mouth spoke up and they got off in time to see the fire elemental, ass-patting the party as they entered the atrium. Anderson tied a 60' rope onto a viewing scope and flung it over the rail. He swung Sam over the rail who desperately grabbed the rope. Anderson followed, kicking Sam's head with his boot, prompting him to jump the last 30'. Sam got pissed and pulled out a pocket knife. Anderson panicked and hauled ass back up the rope. Once Sam got back up to the top, Anderson collected the spear and came down after him. Sam sheepishly slid back down the rope. Enron levitated up and grabbed Sam by the heel, setting him down and ending the cartoonish escalation.

We split the party into three groups, taking three paths to explore the atrium. Anderson was bowing over fiery orange blossoms on one side while Enron brazenly waded between razor-sharp, eight-foot palm fronds to harvest golden berries. Anderson was poison-attacked by protruding tendrils and Enron got Venus fly-trapped and ankle-sawed as Stan dove into the waving, planty blades with burning arcs of his flame tongue. Sam was aghast at the plight of the mage who had befriended him.

Meanwhile, Ambrose knelt in the grass at the bank of the pond surrounding the island in the center of the atrium, filling cantines. Horrified, he saw grass stalks, burrowing out the tops of his feet. In absolute terror, he tore himself free and ran. The grass caught his legs as he passed. He toppled, disbursing uncapped catines in a pile. Glug, glug, their bodies half emptied. Ambrose was consumed.

Then the damn lights went out. Enron cast continual light on his +2 dagger. Stan lit up his sword. Anderson & Co. groped through the dark, something slithering past a leg. Shit! While they tried to build a fire ("No one has a tinderbox?"), Enron, Stan and Sam made it to the opposite end. Stan continued counterclockwise in search of Anderson, Samuel and Malyyx. Enron and Sam went down the middle, looking for Ambrose. Voices called in the dark. No reply. Stan finally joined Anderson and lit the leaf pile Samuel had amassed. Together, Enron and Sam drug Ambrose's body across the bridge to the island. Then Enron did something utterly insane. He walked to the apex of the bridge and dove headlong into the pond ..

.. nearly colliding with the lurking mass of Frog-Oroth! The monster snatched up Enron with its barbed tongue and drew the hapless mage into its maw of death. Enron froze the snaking organ, his legs tucked down into its throat. F-O gnawed through numbing ice at the resilient mage while ensnaring him with tentacle limbs. Enron blasted the thing again and again. It flung him to the far bank and crashed beneath the black waters. Enron dove back into the pond and pursued the beast unto its depths, tying blocks of ice to its quivering bulk. Desperately, F-O turned about, tentacles lashing out in a final attempt to end the battle. A last volley passed between them. F-O ceased its struggles, frozen in rage and fear, bobbing at the surface. Enron's hands went limp, his wand and shining dagger slipping away, sinking into the startlingly deep water. Sploosh! A small, pineapple-headed form entered the water and drew the lifeless mage to the island's bank. He sat in the dark, his back to a feast of plants and over his lap, a half-drowned man.

That's the second time I've taken on a mondo HD monster solo and finished at 0 hp.

Other things: Cory rolled at least six natural twenties across ten consecutive rolls; all three of us had to share the same d20 since no one else brought dice.