The Ever Expanding Dungeon: Session 16, Part 2

The party made their way into Room 1. Lo those many days ago, a giant gecko had lived here, the last time  they passed through the room, it wasn't there.

[Is the gecko here – 50/50 Extreme no. No, but something else is:

1-2 giant spider
3-4 zombies
5 –6 giant centipedes


5,  giant centipedes. Roll on my Is the Monster in Here table: 5 No but, roll warning – incidental

Next giant centipede encounter roll on the Is Monster in Here at -2]

The party notices dark brown chitinous shells, the molting of giant bugs of some sort. It also appears the door to the stairs leading up has been repaired.

[That was a Mythic decision. Has the door been repaired 50/50 Mythic, 37, yes]

Kroyden checked the door for traps and failed to find any. Lucky for him, there wasn't one and in fact, the door opened easily. [ I used the method I detailed in this post]

Perceval forced the door open and the party moved up steps into a long room with no other visible doors.

[Roll for room contents using Basic Fantasy RPG stocking table: 55 – monster

Rolled gnomes, then checked Is the Monster in Here: 6, then 5. Next time gnomes encountered  -1 on roll on Is the Monster in Here table]

Scattered about the room are several casks, and the remains of a fire pit. Someone or something used this space.  While Kroyden searched the casks, Perceval examined the fire pit and Dleggit searched the south wall for a secret door. Sister Linkat guarded the steps.

[is there anything in the casks? 50/50, yes. Is there writing on the casks? 50/50 Mythic, no.]

The casks had a reddish purple residue on them and smelled of wine -there was no writing on the casks to give away where they came from. 

[Has the fire pit been used recently. Mythic, 50/50, exceptional no.]

Perceval notices  the ashes are cold and probably have been for days, if not weeks, judging by the rat tracks through the ashes.

Unfortunately Dleggit also came up empty handed on the search for a secret door, The party opted to try to find one as it seemed odd there was a stairway up to one small room, but it was for naught. Disappointed, they descended back to Room 1.

[Here there was some debate on where to go. An adjacent room has stairs up and stairs down.

I used the group decision making method again, and rolled that the the party agreed to continue the attempt to search the level above this one.

I then checked to see if the door to the room leading to the other stairs had been repaired:

Is door to 3 repaired? 1-3 yes 4-6 no, 5, no

This room also housed a room trap previously.

Has the trap been reset ? Since door not repaired, unlikely. Mythic: No

Is there anything new in here? 50/50 Yes. Roll on Basic Fantasy RPG stocking table: Monster

I rolled Bandits . 

Is the Monster in Here? 5, No, I then rolled Tracks,]

Although the room was empty it was clear someone had made their way through here since the party last visited. Muddy boot prints suggested that someone made a thorough search of this room

Perceval suggested they probably came in from the entrance near the old ogre cave. [Which only Sister Linkat was there for.]

Perceval examined the tracks while the others stood guard. 

[Can he determine the direction they exited? Roll a test vs Int (his int is 9, he rolls a 6) 

Can he tell the age? Test Int again, this time I roll a 4. Yes. Are they recent? Mythic. 50/50 Yes,] 

He discerns that they went up the steps and they were made within the last few days or so.

[Has the door to stairs repaired? 1-3 yes, 4-6 no. No.

Do they still want to go up knowing they might encounter someone else? Group decision time.

Sister Linkat – Down

Perceval – 50/50, yes

Dleggit – up

Kroyden 50/50 exceptional yes, up

The modified result of the check was a 49. Just barely a yes, but  they will go up.]

Sister Linkat conceded and the party prepared to go up – Perceval listened at the door and he hears something [I rule that the party can't be surprised if is something is there]. They prepared themselves for combat, Waldu lit a new torch.

They force the door open and advance up the steps to see a 4 way intersection ahead.

[Are the tracks visible up here?No.]

Perceval noticed that the tracks seemed to have disappeared.

The party opted to hang back, while Kroyden scouted the four directions and then let the party know what their options were.

Kroyden lit another torch and moved cautiously towards the intersection.

He found a set of steps going down [I decided that I needed to allow for more than 1 level traversing. So:

1-3 1 level

4 - 5 2 levels

6 - 3+ levels

On a 6 roll 1d6

1-3 3 levels

4-5 4 levels

6 - 5+ levels

On a 6, roll 1d6, etc.

I rolled a 4.]

and they seem to go way down, not just down to the next level.

He also finds a door down one branch of the intersection, while the other proceeds to yet another intersection.

The party chose the door – Kroyden  listened first, but didn't hear anything and then he checked for traps.

[ Check for traps  04, he found one if it's there!

Per my trap post door is locked  - 14, lock is trapped  - 03, type Physical - 32.

Disarm it – 100 (nope) He in fact, sets off the lock trap.

Use Rory Store Action Cube to determine specific trap – I roll a person with blindfold feeling a face and decide that means the trap is explosive flash powder – Save vs Death Ray or go blind for 1d4 turns. He  rolls a 4 for his save and  then a 3 on the 1d4. Blind for three turns!]

Suddenly, there was a popping sound and a bright flash. Kroyden fell backwards, swearing up  a storm. He was blinded. 

Sister Linkat does her best to calm him down He was furious with himself and told them to go in, after all, there might be something good in there given the trap.

Perceval smashed the door open [Roll on dungeon stocking table in Basic Fantasy RPG: Monster with treasure.

Is the Monster in Here? 6, No, 1 – waste. Rolled monster: carrion climber (sounds a lot like the carrion crawler if you ask me). I decide the floor is littered with bones, dung, and slime.

I roll 1000 gold in treasure. Is it all in coins? Mythic: unlikely No.

Rolled a Rory story cube got magic wand, since no magic item was indicated I decide it's an ornate scepter of gold and silver, and roll a 1d10, 8. It's worth 800gp.

200 more gp to go.

I then roll a Voyages cube and get Music notes. I decided it's a gold decorated harp worth 100gp.

With still 100 gp left, I roll another Voyages cube: laser pistol.  I interpreted that to mean it's a presentation longbow (no string) of a kind sometimes given away in tournaments, worth 100gp]

After rummaging around in the debris and rubbish, the party decided the harp was too unwieldy and left it behind. But the scepter and bow were loaded up onto the mule.

[I also decided that the other door in this room is unlocked and easy to open since the carrion crawler needs to be able to come and go from here. It may still be trapped, but Kroyden is still blind (2^nd turn of blindness) and can't check for them.]

Waiting here didn't seem like a good idea and the party moved back into the hallway.

[Unfortunately, it had grown very late and so, I did something I usually try to avoid: I left the characters in the middle of the dungeon. They aren't resting They are frozen in time until I can play again]

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Hopefully the changes in tense in this post aren't too painful. I just copied and pasted my notes and edited them - the action I put in the past tense and the game mechanics in present, for the most part.

I'm very happy with how the Is Monster in Here? tables worked. I think they added interesting narrative possibilities and gave a feel not unlike playing with a GM. It made the environment more alive than it has been in most of my solo sessions. Continued use will determine whether or not they stand as is or if the need modification.

Oh, who am I kidding, continued use means I'll modify them!

The traps method seems to work but it also felt a little cumbersome. I may have to rethink it. 

I did like rolling to see what kind of trap, poison, physical or magic/other it was - it easily allowed me to move away from all poison all the time without feeling like I was munchkin-ing it. 

Using the Rory's Story Cubes: Actions made the specific trap generation extremely easy. It was just a matter of tying the image pictured to the damage type rolled.