Tillam's Thoughts 3

[This post, the previous one and the next soon to follow contains over 2 months worth of play reports summed up. For more details on our adventures follow the live tweets for mmaranda, or check out the compilations made from those tweets here]

I woke up early. And went to see if Alexi had made it to the drop point we were interested in. It was a brothel, how exciting. I later learned this was the brothel Alexi grew up in and still calls home. More to the point Alexi wasn’t anywhere, but drunk and waiting, was Banacek. I was able to defuse him, not that he needed that much defusing. It seems he kidnapped or unkidnapped or rekidnapped the girl. That made him happy but loosing the box was a bit of a sore spot. He agreed to pay me half of what was owed, on top of that he’d take off the other half if I do a new job. He left me with details about where to meet the team I’d be working with. I wasn’t thrilled with the proposition, but if the house came calling on my debt I couldn’t pay it off so I had to do it. Yet another mess dad left for me.

Regardless I’d had a meeting to attend with Kiin, Hrothgar, Caleb, and Nero assuming the later bothered showing up. Upon arriving it was apparent Kiin had been busy. He met with some people last night including a representative of Yan Liao working as a middle man for House Taiapetra, the same people that put me and onto the path that got me here. They wanted to have a chat with Ingrid because they know she sold information to House Dandolo, as Dandolo is a house that deals in information I think Taiapetra is upset they almost got scooped. I was also able to guess that I could get a good deal this way. Kiin wants me on his team and Taiaptra through Banacek was going to remove my debt. While getting paid twice would be unthinkably grand getting a higher than average premium for my skills. The crew was the same as last night. Alexi, me, Hrothgar, Nero, Kiin, Hu, and Caleb.

Speaking of Hu, it seems he did very well for himself a the game last night. gaining a title as a minor baron of Vrolens  and partial ownership of the Stabientia Blues.

Now we had to get down to business. We needed details about where Ingrid might have gone to ground. Hrothgar and I checked in with a fence of mine, Skjelmund, to see if he had heard of anything recently or if he might have known any of the old hidey-holes. He wasn’t able to provide us much. But Alexi and Nero discovered the gang might have come from the theater district. While Caleb believed they were from somewhere else. After regrouping we decided to split into three teams. Alexi and I would snoop around the theater district. Caleb, Hu, and Kiin would go check their sources, and Hrothgar and Nero would return to the Wyvern’s Sting to see if any stragglers came by or survivors returned.

Alexi and I took a private gondola to the theater district. Ovidio, our gondolier, was able to give us a good idea of the theater district; he also thought it was charming that Alexi should his son out to the theater. We noticed we had picked up a tail and decided to loose it. The easiest method was to duck into a show. We happened into a one man Bruthalese how in High Salumar and the resulting scholarly discourse. Fortunately I was able to understand it and could navigate the groups leading us safely to the back entrance. In case of the tail having followed us in I also helped start a debate that came to blows.

Ducking out the back we realized how close we were to the bordello side of the district. Given the natures of the house/people we were looking for, it seemed a reasonable place to continue looking for leads. We checked out two brothels with little luck, and while going to a third and final spot fort the evening ran into a pack of Varonian Marines. I was able to out talk them before things got terribly violent and sent them off to wreak havoc on little Shan-Li town. Our last spot of the night was fruitful. Using my stature and good nature as a distraction, Alexi got a name the name Tulio. Apparently he’s a small operator around here, that has been hiring a lot of girls and flashing coin around like he had just pulled off a big job. Amber, a slight young Salumar girl, was most talkative to me. I was able to ply her well and learn where Tulio’s place was, the nature of the back door the girls and wine had been brought through and a layout of the area. 2+ floors, 12+ guys and there were groups. Varonian and Skraeling there. It also seemed Tulio wasn’t in charge of the Skraeling and took orders from them.

With that info we went to regroup at the Swinging Claymore. I decided to grab some sleep and went to a room we had rented out.  Before crashing I got the report of what the others did. Hrothgar and Nero went back to the Wyvern’s sting. There were was a Varonian gang looking for Scraeling. They evaded them and took up position in a nearby inn to watch for other stragglers, unfortunately they were tailed and a group of Varonians attacked them. They took out thier attackers and beat a hasty retreat. Caleb and company had a similar incident. Unfortunately Mr. Hu, took the brunt of the attack. However, they grabbed one of their assailants. and brought him back here. Kiin is going to interrogate him and wanted Alexi’s help.  

That was when we heard a commotion accompanied by what sounded like squeaking rats. Just then Alexi burst in an letting us know of trouble. Rushing down stairs we find a standoff between Kiin and a gang. He seemed to have shot a girl in the head, and was psoturing to scare thje group off. With us rushing downstairs the Shan Li gang beat feet dragging the girl with them. After that we planned our assault. We had to move quickly. With a few more details provided by Kiin captive we were ready to move.

We came to the decision to go in through the back using Hrothgar’s race and gang knowledge to get us in. That worked until Hrothgar was ushered off and our cover was blown. I’m not really sure of the details after that. A Skraeling rushed me with an axe. I was able to get inside his guard which resulted in the blade missing me. But a kick to the head was good enough to knock me out.

When I regained consciousness I learned that when the rest of the group began looking for Hrothgar and Ingrid, they found the place abandoned. There was an escape route used and the token resistance gave anyone else around enough time to escape. We were able to take one captive a weaselly rat faced punk, unable to provide us with much information. The safehouse also had a dragon roosting in the roof some treasure was able to be pulled out but once Momma dragon returned we left the safe house. The only other thing of note was a safe. I found a poison needle trap on the safe and deactivated it. However, I didn’t have time to unlock it and had to bring it home with me. With some potential powerful enemies it seemed best if we split up and went to our respective homes. We agreed to meet again in the morning and regroup on how to find Ingrid.

After sleeping, I woke up early and woke Ping up as well. I introduced him to the safe and taught him how it could be cracked. He was interested and will hopefully be a quick study. Inside was little of interest other than a map of the city of Varo with 9 locations picked out and some Scraeling script. My guess this shows all the safe houses. I also found a necklace made of dragon teeth. Locking them both up I decided to rejoin the team.

With that Tillam and the crew were alerted that Tendyra was insight.

In Defense of the Dungeon

In Defense of the Dungeon:

I know this blog seemed to be geared towards 2^nd Ed. But I’ve noticed a trend within some of the 4E community, a version of D&D I also play. This trend has been the idea of rethinking the dungeon or abandoning it altogether. While they have some good or at least interesting points here and here I feel a need to defend the dungeon and what it is. I also know my argument is incomplete but I felt it was important to say the words while people are still interested rather than refine them until after the point people. care. If you have comments please leave them.

In D&D the Moldvay Basic Set the basic definition of dungeon as this: "A place, underground and often among ruins, where the players adventure."

I feel that is a good description but can be expanded just a little more. A dungeon is any confined place or places an adventure happens. It is where the PCs believe their goal lies, or at least treasure and monsters. It need not be underground and it need not be abandoned.

By my definition a dungeon can be many things. It can be sewers the PCs retreat into after benig chased by the guards because a local accused on of them to be a Witch. Or it could be warehouse the PCs break into to rescue an abducted merchant prince. Or it could be a series of caves the goblins raiding local farmsteads have holed up in. In any case it is likely to be the place battles will happen in and a map will be drawn for. However, the confusion/disapointment most people are railing against is the traditional dungeon. Like those found here.

These traditional dungeons are confined spaces. They help new DMs because it limits the options they can expect PCs to make and reduces the amount of space a DM must flesh out when creating something new. They can be very elaborate or simple in design, but allow a creative DM to tell a story if that is the type of game he or it can simple be a series of rooms that interconnect to create several combat encounters.

D&D is a fantasy game. And Gary Gygax writes in the 1st Edition AD&D DMG  "Wealth abounds; it is simply awaiting the hand bold and strong enough to take it! This is a basic precept to fantasy adventure gaming ... And are not there dragons with great hoards? Tombs with fantastic wealth and fell guardians? Rapacious giants with spoils? Dwaven mines brimming with gems? ... Why the list goes on and on!" All of this is a typical pulp fantasy milieu.  The common folk are too afraid and ill equipped to take the treasure lying around. This treasure and others can be found on the fringes of civilization while people continue to explore further and further out, the world grows older and darker and eventually what once was found is lost again and the cycle repeats.



To frame it in a 4E points of light perspective. Every time a light goes out new dungeons are beginning to form as castles topple and the land takes back what is hers. As the land fills in around a fallen fortress it is forgotten except in myth and legends. Eventually something happens and an opening is revealed. The creatures that are not part of civilization but instead prey upon it find these openings and begin using them to again plague local townships.
But the above doesn't need to happen it could be something that has never ceased being populated but is far enough from civilization that most have forgotten about it if they ever knew it once existed. The type of dungeon is partly dependent on the location and the locations can vary greatly. And also on the type and variety of monsters inside as well as the relationships between those monsters. Sometimes it can be confrontational like the the cults in the T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil and other times it can be helpfully symbiotic like the Orcs and Basilisks in A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity
A secret temple built by a religion to keep an ancient and powerful artifact safe. Might have humans guards on the first level. A few wandering deeper in to keep the monstrous guardians fed. But as you go deeper the wards get stronger and immortal representatives of the cult keep this artifact safe.
A tower created by a mad wizard might have several areas where food can be scraped from walls or conjured via magical portals. Creatures once used for experimentation have broken free and formed small communities after the wizard disappeared. Lines of influence have been drawn and with the exception of small raiding parties these creatures cannot get further in or out from what they have staked out. The creatures have been struggling so long for mere survival the knowledge of the magical items that surround them have been lost to generations.
Above are just two ways in which diverse dungeons can be populated and be seemingly maintainable without stretching too far the veil of suspended disbelief.

As the PCs enter and explore these areas it is up to their creativity to determine how they interact with it. If the DM restricts the space they can adventure in, he or she is not only limiting the creativity of the players by saying you cannot pass until you do complete this task he is also breaking the fragile suspension of disbelief and thin veil of pseudo reality created by the above. This is most notable by limiting the interaction of the dungeon as an ecosystem and creating that sense of pre-generated stagnancy of a dungeon awaiting in suspended animation awaiting adventurers to solve its problems. It also enforces the feeling of safety players get that the DM will only dispense level appropriate challenges and level appropriate times that can always be over come by level appropriate applications of violence.

This is why the traditional dungeon is something that should still be preserved and considered as a fundamental element of the D&D game in this generation and in the future. It is a place where strange things happen. It is the reason not everyone is an adventurer and rich beyond their dreams. It is also the reason we can have a world that "works" in our imaginations but also has monsters that can tear most things to shreds and yet the frail humanoid races without levels can still survive.