Session 34: The Ever Expanding Dungeon

We rejoin our party on their way out of the dungeon. You will recall that last episode ended with the following

Do they encounter anything on their way out? 1, wandering monster ,

5 Dwarves.
Room 3 RED HERRING/RESOURCE DRAIN

The following was played on 9/5/14

Chaos 6
Are these the same dwarves from Session 29? LIkely, 13, exceptional yes

Setup: Approaching from the direction of room 31 came 5 dwarves marching two abreast, with one in the rear. As they entered the party’s torch light, one of the dwarves in the front rank immediately recognized the party and hollered out to the others. Although Maglom understood what they were saying, it was Eomond who understood their anger.

“It’s those dwarves Lykidas dropped with his Sleep spell!”
Dwarves surprised? No, Party? Yes
Does the setup hold? 1, No, Altered
Is it that the dwarves don’t recognize them? 69, No.
Is it that the dwarves have other issues?10, exceptional yes, Attainment information

New setup: Approaching from the direction of room 31 came 5 dwarves marching two abreast, with one in the rear. As they entered the party’s torch light, one of the dwarves in the front rank immediately recognized the party and hollered out to the party in Dwarvish.

Maglom translated, “He said they are hunting the green-skins, a band of them.” 

Upon noticing the bodies, the leader of the Dwarven warband added, "Where are the rest?”

After explaining that this is all the party had encountered, the Dwarven leader entreated the party to join them, and offered that all will be forgiven in the matter of the ring and their unknowing aid to the thieves.

Does the party want to go?

Leegand and Maglom are badly wounded  Both of them strongly want to go back to town to heal.

Zilliniy and Eomond are injured but less so
Runolf is all for going - he needs the money and perhaps there’s some to gain by joining with these fellows.
Maglom is torn between helping the dwarves and healing
Lykidas doesn't have a horse in this race. His remaining spell is Hold Portal.
Ygg can see reasons for both sides and is playing the classic fence sitter.

The values below are the Charisma plus the shift away from 50/50. If someone starts at 50/50, I rolled to see which side of the Yes/No divide they fell on.

Leegand- Impossible 12+5
Maglom - Very unlikely 15+2
Eomond - Unilikely 12 +1
Zilliniy - 50/50, yes. 7+1
Lykidas - 50/50, Yes 12+1
Runolf - Very Likely - 11+2
Ygg - Neutral

No- 47
Yes - 35
+12 to roll (to shift it towards No)

I rolled a 21 and then add the 12 = 33, which is a Yes result.

Convinced that the added number of the Dwarves will offset their injuries, the party agreed to go with them.


Room 4: Big Bad , Chaos 5
Listen(Leegand and Eomond both fail with 3 and 4 respectively)

Setup: The party approached the door the dwarves suspected as the direction of the orcs, and after taking a listen, move out of the way for the dwarves to open the door. As they kicked in the door and the light from the party’s torch shone into the room, the eyes of many green skin orcs met theirs.

Does the setup hold? 5, Modified- altered

Setup: The door kicked open and the party’s light flooded a room empty save for some chains hanging on the wall [an owl bear was hear once i think]

The party and dwarves pressed onward. Listening to the various doors out of the room, noises were heard coming from the east door..

Do the orcs burst in?50/50, 43, Yes
How many? 14 orcs (2 abreast)!!!!!!!!!!

The door suddenly smashed open and 2 large orcs barreled into the room followed by more.

Party and dwarves are surprised (rollled a 1)

The front orcs attack the dwarves immediately in their way, swinging battle axes. One of the brutes liberated the head of a dwarf from the attached shoulders.

[Here all hell broke loose. This is a LONG combat - the longest I have ever played. It isn't the most prosaic thing I've ever written, but I don't think I could do it justice without the round by round summary. Names next to rounds are the initiative order.]

Round 1 - Orcs, Party + Dwarves

4 more orcs entered the room but their attacks were blocked and parried. Ditto for the Dwarves. Runolf was the first of the party to dive into the fray.

Round 2- Party + Dwarves, Orcs

Again the Dwarves managed to do nothing.

Runolf slashed an orc with his hand axe (4 HP), but it just sneered at him.

Ygg raced up to meet the orc tide.

Lykidas, Eomond and Zilliniy begin preparing an escape route and check the west door:and hear nothing

Round 3 - Party2 (Lykidas, Eomond, Zilliniy), Party 1(Runolf and Ygg)

+Dwarves, Orcs, Party 3(Maglom and Leegand)

Eomond kicked open the west door, and Zilliniy charged in to secure the space.

Ygg crashes his war hammer into an orc (5 hp) but it shakes off the blow.

The dwarves fare better this round and drop two orcs but more rushed in.

Round 4 - Party 3, Party 2, Party 1, Orcs

Confident it's unoccupied, Zilliniy signaled the all clear. Lykidas followed her in, and Eomond signaled to Maglom and Leegand. He held the door as the latter two dove into the room beyond.

Runolf crashed his axe into the orc in front of him again and this time it collapsed into a butchered heap

A dwarf near Ygg ganged up on the orc the cleric had wounded previously and sent it to the abyss.

More orcs spilled into the room. (It's like a freaking clown car of orcs!)

Round 5 - Party 2 (everyone but Runolf and Ygg), Party+Dwarves, Orcs

Eomond hollered for party and dwarves to fall back before ducking in the room

Zilliniy's elven senses go crazy and she detects a secret door (in S&W: Whitebox, elves auto-detect on a 1-2)

Lykidas runs to listen to the north door while Maglom runs to the east

Ygg falls back towards the door.

will the dwarves fall back? 50/50, 70, no

Will Runolf? unikely 43, NO (chaos is 5 remember)

Runolf attacked and wounded another orc (5 HP damage) but the injury is not enough to end its existence.
A nearby dwarven ally goes for the same target, and the orc succumbs to its wounds.

In the far corner of the room, a dwarf drops another orc.

Do the orcs keep fighting? 29, yes

Orcs move in (yes, more)

One of the dwarves in that far corner is skewered on an orc's sword.

Round 6 - Party 2, Orcs, Party 1+ Dwarves

Over the din of battle from the other room, neither Maglom nor Lykidas could hear anything.

Ygg called Zilliniy over to use her bow and hollered for Runolf and the dwarves to fall back.

Zilliniy ran over, knocking an arrow as she did.

Meanwhile, two more dwarves met their end at the hands of the green-skinned orcs. Only one dwarf remains.

Do runolf and dwarf fall back? Likely, 95, no

Runolf and the dwarf were in a blood-fueld rage and unleashed blow upon blow on the nearest orc, but to no avail.

Round 7 - Orcs, Party 2, Runolf/Dwarf

Do the orcs charge Ygg and Zilliniy? Very likely 41, yes

Several of the beastly horde rush toward the party in the adjacent room as the final dwarf meets his maker.

Runolf, in blood splattered armor amidst a sea of red and bodies, is now cut off from the party. Without missing a beat, he lopped the head off the orc in front of him.

Round 8 - Runolf, Party, Orcs

I realized I had misread the rules for fighters, and found that Runolf attacks TWICE per round because he's 2nd level and the orcs have only 1 HD.

Swinging both axes now, he hit two different orcs (scoring 4 and 5 damage) but both stand.

Finally the orcs have hit a log jam and can't press onward, their numbers having reached the doorway for the party 

Due to the close range, Zilliniy dropped her bow in favor of her sword.

Runolf's good fortune breaks for a moment, and he takes painful slash on his arm (3 HP, he's down to 8)

Ygg is nearly run through (5 HP damage, and dropped to 1). The amount of blood spraying from his side is sickening.

Round 9 - Runolf, Party, Orcs

Runolf swings but his blows are blocked.

Ygg fell back and Eomond, arguably in better shape, moved up to face the crushing horde.

Zilliniy let loose a warrior cry and the last thing the orc saw was the look of hate in her violet eyes.

Lykidas pulled out an oil flask and set about lighting in to throw.

Meanwhile, Runolf was struck again (3 HP, down to 5) and Eomond took a piercing wound to his thigh (down to 7 HP).

Round 10 - Runolf, Orcs, party
Runolf, hoping to survive a bit longer and to gain a tactical advantage (right now, he can be surrounded on all sides) crashes out into the hallway,hoping the use the doorway to limit the effectiveness of the orcs.

do any orcs pursue? likely 77, nope

The orcs facing Zilliniy snarl and roar as they each deliver terrible blows upon the party members (Zilliniy hit for 3, Eomond hit for 3 (down to 1))

Eomond fell back but Zilliniy chose to stand and fight. Unfortunately, in her rage she lodged the blade of her sword into the door frame. (she rolled a 1)

Nothing like hoping a one-eyed man hurling a flaming liquid is on target, but Lykidas took the chance (with a chance of hitting Z.) and his oil  landed true on the orc directly in front of Zilliniy, igniting the orc, though not killing him quite yet.

Round 11 - Orcs, Party, Runolf

The flaming orc fell backwards into the rest to die, while the one that had been in front of Eomond, rushed in to face Ygg.

Another pushed past the burning orc to take its place.

With all her might, Zilliniy succeeded in wrenching her sword free of the frame.

Lykidas ran to her side with plans to slam the door shut (but that can't happen until next round).

Runolf, seeing he wasn't followed, threw an axe at the mass of orcs, but the blood caused it to slip out of his hand, ruining his chance of hitting one.

Round 12 - Runolf, Party, Orcs

In no shape to rush back into the fray, Runolf pulled his dagger and threw it, piercing some vital organ of one of the orcs opposite. It dropped to the ground dead a few moments later.

Lykidas slamed the door shut and yelled at Zilliniy to hold it so that he could cast Hold Portal.

Ygg and Eomond and the orc engaged in a scrum, but no victor could be declared.

The orcs outside the door attempted to force it open again. Do they succeed?22 yes. Sigh. Of course, they do.

The door flew open and knocked both Zilliniy and Lykidas back.

Round 13 - Runolf, Orcs, Party

Knowing the party was in bad shape and that his chance of survival was dwindling, Runolf raced in swinging.

The orc facing Eomond and Ygg slipped under the force of his swing and crashed to the ground.

Two orcs charged Zilliniy and Lykidas.

Zilliniy (rolled a 20 and did 6 damage) - cleaves her attackers head in two, and then kicked his body back towards the throng of orcs trying to surge forward.

Do the orcs retreat (down over 50%)? 100, exceptional no, Nope, they’ll fight to the the death.

Round 14 Orcs, Party, Runolf
The orc on the ground struggled to his feet.

The orc attacking Lykidas hit the unarmored one-eyed man for 3 points of damage (not to belittle the orc's accomplishment, but come on. one eye? no armor? a freakin' dagger?)

Another orc moved up to attack Zilliniy.
Meanwhile, two ganged up on Runolf and he was gravely wounded (down to 1 hp).

Zilliniy, with orc blood streaming in rivulets down her blade and over her hands, lost her grip and her sword flew from her hand (another 1 rolled)

Before the orc in front of him could stand, Eomond struck downward with a mighty blow that ended the foul creature's life.

Lykidas, pissed off no doubt at being attacked, deftly sliced into his opponent with the blade of his dagger (for 2 hp)

Runolf has the heart of a fighter, and giving up was not an option; he struck and killed one of his attackers.

Round 15 - Party, Runolf, Orcs

Zilliniy grabbed her dagger and stabbed the orc in front of her (for 2 HP) but he still stood.

Eomond rushed over to assist.

Ygg joined Lykidas.

Meanwhile, Leegand, who had been severely injured (1 HP) by the orcs on the steps, mustered his strength to whip a sling stone at the orc attacking Lykidas but missed.

Maglom, sensing an imminent end to her recently found friends, charged into battle (she has 2 HP).

Runolf, meanwhile, dealt blow after blow to his opponent (5 HP) and it still stood.

Fortunately, the orcs were completely ineffective this round although Runolf would now face two.

Round 16- Runolf, Orcs, Party
An orc attacked Eomond but missed in his rage and managed to drive the sword into the stone floor (he rolled a 1)

Ygg's warhammer connected with the thick skull of the orc before him, but it just shook it off.

Eomond's blade cut into orc meat but it STILL stood.

Round 17 - Party, Runolf, Orcs
Eomond struck the orc again and this time sent it back to its maker.
Runolf, a whirl of blades and blood, mowed down another orc.

Another orc charged up to Eomond, this one was bigger and scarier than the rest.

Round 18 - Orcs, Party Runolf.

An orc attacked Runolf, and this time the fighter's defenses failed (He's at -1 and will die in 2 more rounds from bleeding out without someone to bandage his wounds)

Eomond suffered the same fate!

Leegand, seeing his comrade in danger, charged to grab Eomond and drag him away.

Round 19 - Orcs, Party
Zilliniy was struck with a devastating blow (for 5 hp she’s down to 2). She staggered as her own blood streamed down her face.

Leegand, despite his own injuries dragged Eomond out of harms way, the thick black red trail revealing the gravity of Eomond's woundsl

Zilliniy, with a fury like no other, impaled her assailant with her sword and wasted no time to look for her next target.

Lykidas, making a good show for a magic user, tries to stab an orc but trips on his own robe (rolled a 1)

The orc, distracted by the sight, meets his end as Ygg's warhammer crashs into the side of his face.

Runolf is down to -2, he dies next round without attending

Eomond is down to -2 he dies next round if leegand doesn't stabalize him

Round 20 - Party, Orcs, Runolf

[I held my breath rolling initiative]

Picture this in slow motion if you will. The floors are a river of blood. Not one member of the party is free of the red goop. It pours out of them and their opponents. The sounds of yelling, of weapons clanging drone and drown out even your own screaming.

Ygg saw Runolf's body on the ground and realized he must act; he charged to get past the orcs to reach Runolf and stop his bleed out.

[i rule he has to roll 2 successful attacks to force his way through AND HE DOES. I pretty much cheered outloud

BUT I also rule that Runolf will have to make a save to stay on longer though since technically Ygg is only allowed one action per round. I figure the save adjudicates whether Ygg is able to do enough this round or not. ]

Zilliniy sliced into the orc in front of her, but it only stopped for an instant (4 hp damage)

Maglom charged to face the head orc.

Lykidas taking advantage of Maglom's stature, threw a dart over her head at the orc but missed in the chaos of the moment.

Runolf rolls his save HE ROLLS 18!!!! HE SAVES!!!! And stabilizes at -2 HP.

Round 21 - Ygg, Party, Orcs

Ygg tended to Runolf's wounds, tying bandages and applying pressure.

Inside the room, Leegand did the same for Eomond.

Of course, all of this would be for naught if the defense at the door collapsed.

Speaking of which, Maglom was struck hard and flirted with a loss of consciousness (she's down to 1 hp)

Zilliniy hoping to end this madness, stabbed furiously for the orc's heart but, it was ready, (she rolled a 1) and her dagger jammed in the orc's wooden shield.

Round 22 - Party, Orcs

Picture if you will, amidst the spraying gore, the smell of death, the sounds of violence, a small, but solidly built elf with braids of white hair matted with blood, leaping up to throw her fist into the face of her large, brutish, green-skinned orc antagonist. 

And missing.

Meanwhile, despite the Crouching Tiger style action going on to his left, Lykidas lets loose another dart and his aim was true (3 HP). 
Maglom got in on the fun, and struck the orc (for 3HP), causing it to momentarily say a prayer to its deity of choice.

Laughing the hearty laugh of the evil, Zilliniy's orc attempted to run her through, but only managed to catch her side (still, she's down to 1)

I felt terrible that people might think I fudged to give Runolf a chance to live. I decide he needs to make another saving throw. He does!!! i stopped feeling guilty.

Round 23 - Party, Orcs

With unmitigated fury, the elf hauled back and unleashed a fist like iron into the face of the orc, collapsing its snout and driving the head back with such rapidity that its neck snapped. A BARE-HANDED KILL!

Round 24 (I thought it was 23, but i misnumbered this round) Orcs, Party

Maglom is struck and dropped unconscious (she’s unconscious at -1)

This is looking like a very close run thing indeed.

Zilliniy, feeling her oats, punched the leader, and sole remaining orc, repeatedly in the ribs until one of them cracked and pierced something vital (2 HP damage but combined with the Lykidas's dart and Maglom's sword it's enough)

After the last orc fell to the ground:

Lykidas quickly bound Maglom's wounds (she rulls 4 and is back up to 3.
Leegand bound Eomond's wounds, but he only recovers enough to still be unconscious at 0

Ygg finished binding Runolf’s wounds and he’s at 1 and conscious but badly wounded

Ygg bound his own wounds and is back up to 3

Lykidas does his own and back to full

Zilliniy bound her own and is up to 5 (gained 4)

Leegand isn’t elligible as he suffered no damage in this combat.

The party agreed to get the hell out but not before searching ALL of the bodies

Any coin on the orcs? Very likely since this could be seen 5 the treasure 47 yes
Using the S&W: Whitebox treasure rules, I roll a die, and get 6 for my multiplier.

210 xp * 6 = total value 1260 gp

Scene 5 TREASURE!!!! Chaos 6 [I ruled that it won't go up since the party was victorious but it certainly isn't going to go down with a near TPK]

Looting the dead dwarves and orcs, the party found ten 100 gp gems and four 60 gp gems, which made sense since the orcs were just wandering around.

party exits dungeon any encounters?no THANK HEAVENS!!!!