Open Table Session Report (#18) - Kadmacho the Sorcerer
Player Characters
Bob (Fighter 1)
OK/KO (Dwarf 1)
Poppy Tumbletop (Halfling 1)
Robin Redwood (Magic-User 3)
Wynn (Cleric 3), accompanied by a heavy footman.
Prep
New trap - the spa room showers on the 1st level now spewed acid instead of scented water. Wynn hired a heavy footman mercenary (50sp) and created a Detect Magic scroll (100sp) during downtime. Robin bought a jug of wine (2sp). Poppy stashed 150' of rope.
Wynn was elected Captain of the delve. Poppy took on mapping duties. Robin acted as Quartermaster.
The party chose to explore the first level in search of Kadmacho's domain, with investigating the hooting growths on the second level a secondary goal.
Events
The party headed towards the spa room, forcing doors as they went. Upon arriving they smelt the sharp tang of acid and realised that the pleasant scented water spouts were now much more hazardous. They collected old shields from the nearby armoury and prepared a plan - Wynn, Robin, and Wynn's henchman (who demanded a double wage) would run to the far side of the room and attempt to force the door while shielding themselves as best they could and the rest would follow, plugging the spouts with cloths and rags from the end of a 10' pole. Wynn and Robin were both splashed by acid but the henchman was fine, and the door was forced without issue - the others crossed by plugging up the spouts.
The party proceeded to the ape dojo and caught up with White Pelt, who asked after Balgor. He mentioned Kadmacho was in fine spirits after a recent breakthrough so the party had chosen a good time to visit him, and gave them directions to meet Kadmacho and also to the Great Lift, which was broken but could be accessed through a nearby secret door. The party handed over a quantity of cheese and left the apes to their fondue-making.
Heading north to the corridor of lights, the party found a burned out torch and some dried rations spilled over the floor. OK threw a piece of dried meat through one of the light orbs, which dimmed the light and left a greasy, unpleasant sheen on the meat. The party heard the grunting and hooting of Swine nearby and readied themselves for a battle, only to run into an ape patrol horsing around and making noise. The apes left to attend the fondue party and the party continued to the room with the evil cloning mirror, which was slowly regrowing. OK picked up a shard and saw his evil twin scowling back. The party returned to the corridor of lights with some shards, reflecting the light around for a bit.
They then continued into Kadmacho's domain proper. A raised dais sunk down which opened a portcullis and the sorcerer welcomed them into his lab. He struck a peculiar, drawn figure of great age beneath a dark cowl bearing arcane symbols and wandered around proclaiming his intelligence in a self-congratulatory tone. Several brass automata were performing various tasks around a wide silver scrying pool, within which several evil reflections could be seen - the sorcerer informed them that he used these reflections to power his minions. Robin presented Kadmacho with the cracked horn he had recovered from the Minotaur's lair, which the sorcerer identified as the Horn of Agamemnos. The sorcerer offered to train the young Magic-User if he procured the grimoire of Pada, who the party had heard of. She apparently was a magician of no small skill herself.
Agreeing, the party exfiltrated the dungeon without incident and plotted their next move.
Outcomes
Treasure retrieved: 0sp
Combat XP: 0XP
Feats of Exploration:
Apply lore in a useful or flavourful manner (2%)
Uncover additional information about a lead, or open a new lead ('Steal Pada's grimoire', 'Kadmacho is creating an army of automata', 'The Great Lift is broken and its crystals must be returned') (6%)
Make creative use of equipment or abilities (2%)
Overcome a trap (acid trap) (2%)
Discover a secret (2%)
Beneficially resolve a high-stakes encounter with an important NPC (5%)
Discover an important location (5%)
Total: 24% required for next level, plus bonuses for player roles.
Thoughts
This was a fun session, with two new players who had a great time. We tried running the dungeon doors as all stuck this session, with a failed forcing roll making noise. It went ok, but also I'll implement a system whereby the party gets the knack of doors in frequently explored areas, just to elide out the parts where they're commonly covering old ground.
Also I realised I've probably been doing encounter omens wrong the whole time. I've just treated them as flavour and to give the party clues about possible encounters, but on reflection I think they're supposed to 'lock in' the next encounter but give the party a grace period to prepare. As it stands, having Swine noises and then rolling an ape encounter provided a really fun opportunity for a bit of light-heartedness and the players loved the apes joking around. I'm quite pleased with using the party's conversation with White Pelt to roll Kadmacho's reaction and give them a heads up on his likely mood from there.
The party's plan for the acid trap was a bit bizarre, as several of them rushed to try and force the door while also agreeing to a slow and methodical plugging approach, but they didn't take much damage from their failed Breath saves anyway. Once again the strange lamps in the corridor of light seemed to fascinate them in a way I didn't expect, thankfully the Captain was able to get their attention back on track and moving towards their objective. Also they were very happy to surrender a powerful magic item for... nothing, really? I'll never understand their mindset. Previous Next