NIGHTWICK ABBEY: The Purple Eater of People Session 71 FAILURE!

Session 71. What. A. Nightmare.

Tonight, on a very special Weeknights in Nightwick, the party learns that despite having felled giants with fireballs and possessing the sword of Father Winter and a shard of the God of Law-- you still might have to run like cowards. But still living cowards nonetheless! And living stands in contrast to the poor fates of the 3 brave souls we hired that morning. Two of which were horribly incinerated by once-man-now-monster created, no doubt, by a concoction of hubris and satanism. The third was literally torn in half by a group of #3d6+1 Blind Dead.

For previous excursions, please check out Mycelium Mischef

THE PARTY

Mayfly (MU 4)
Verinka (Ch 3)
Ulf (MU 3)
Liminal Space (Ch 3)
Bluegum (Ch 1)
Mechtilde (F 4)
Hirelings: Gutteral Noises, 2 other hirelings

...DOWN IN NIGHTWICK ABBEY...

LEVEL TWO: The intent of the party in this delve was to "simply" sojourn down into the Abbey (1). Finish mapping the second level and hopefully make it back with ~500-1000 XP each. Instead, when we hit Level 2 and turned south, we ran smack into a horrible radioactive abomination.  The party ran through a series of ill-formed plans hindered by a simple door that we could only see the eldrich light shining through.

(PC NOTE 1: Return to the Dungeon: Megadungeon campaigns, I think, have a wonderful strength in that the dungeon is the thing. This provides a convenient, well-known, easily understood "(5') square one" to always return to. This is especially advantageous in an open-table format where you might have different players, different competing interests, and PCs of different levels. There is less reliance on everyone or at least a core group to make every session in order to advance the "plot". Rather, if the party that week has the needed capabilities then you can run the delve you want. Or easily change the goal of the delve)

Should we fire up spells now and kick the door in, then fireball? Maybe we could phantasmal force? Maybe we could phantasmal force and then fireball? But what if we can't see the target, do we wait? Who would go first? Whoever does, MUs should move next- but wait then they can't cast spells and we might lose a round of combat initiative-- so what now? Our DM starts moving 1-by-1 and asking: "What is YOUR character doing?"(2)

(PC NOTE 2: Plans Are Especially Exciting When Occasionally Poorly Executed: With a totality of information and cross-table talk, its easy for players to dither and/or recursively make plans. Good plans are key in old-school D&D. However, this can sap excitement and tension. So when Miranda started asking for what each PC is doing without cross-checking with everyone else-- it really brings me into the game world. The tension returns. The stakes get raised especially when it comes to an important battle. The confusion, while one part frustrating, also adds realism- sometimes plans don't come together perfectly.)

The door is kicked open- SUPRISE MOTHERF****R! - to an empty hallway...green light streaming out of a doorway further south on the east wall. One hireling is ordered down the hallway to verify the target- a once-man-now-monster created, no doubt, by a concoction of hubris and satanism. Yup, its there. Mayfly slings a fireball into the sliver of the room he can see and lets the blast radius do the work-- 19 points of damage! (solid). But with a wail, the first hireling is reduced to an ash-coated skeleton. Disintegration is not what we are craving. The party runs, beating another hireling to the door, and therefore creates a second ash-coated hiring skeleton in the process (3). We make it out and up to Level 1, then out of the Abbey to circle around to the crypt level.

(PC NOTE 3: Second Level- Still Scary: I still like that there are things that can insta-kill, especially when combined plans gone awry as in (2) it creates great tension. It adds to the horror vibe of Nightwick. Our party has 4th and 5th-level characters, powerful magic swords, and equally powerful magic, it is nice to still have something on Level 2 (!) that can potentially kick our ass. It also is something that helps keep the level in a perennial state. And these perennial elements of Nightwick's three levels combine to create an environment that has kept a party playing weekly going for 2 years now. No sorta of 400-page Aduin Vul situation is needed; three levels with ~250+ rooms total. Not trying to say there should not be more, but hopefully demonstrating a DM needs far less than one might think before kicking off a campaign.)

LEVEL THREE: The party regroups to try Level 3, which we have a solid map of, and know that in an unexplored area there is a set of stairs back to a different room of Level 2. Okay, good plan B. Down to Level 3, up to Level 2, find some loot and scoot (4). The party turns north then east to hit this set of stairs and just as they are discussing what to do-- a hireling is torn in half by two skeletal figures! 

(PC NOTE 4: I still think mapping is great. For me it is a form of exerting control over a space that initially seems sprawling. As the unknown is revealed, you can take better action and anticipate outcomes- survival becomes easier. Maps function as a sort of emergent quest log due to its record of hallways, doors, portals, and areas unexplored. And at least in Nightwick, creating a map allows a form of fast travel in that we don't have to crawl square by square, but the DM will just roll the required encounter checks from point A to B and zip us to our goal if nothing pops up.)

Stretching before us is a long column of skeletal dead. F**K. The party re-forms ranks. Mectilde, with the sword of Father Winter, cuts down 4 of the things, but fearing wading into the mass given the rend ability that was just one display. A quick vote is taken among the PCs: Let's leave.

The party leaves Level 3 and the dungeon as a whole. DM calls it a night as that was the second route (5).

(PC NOTE 5: These two delves are about as close to a "loss" as one can have in D&D, short of losing a character or a TPK. We were run out twice, lost 3 hirelings, gained no treasure, little XP, and didn't kill the "boss" monster. I am disappointed but only as much as I would be losing a game of Halo or Catan. It spurs me to do better next game. Bitter defeat helps enhance the flavor of sweet victory. Our windfalls are all that move meaningfully because we have 0xp sessions like this one. In the vein of Farfhd and Grey Mouser, my character, and I as well, experiences the boom-bust cycle of adventure. I think these defeats or setbacks also help ground an otherwise fantastical setting & game realistically-- each adventure does not guarantee a happy ending. And that is also not the fault (or responsibility) of the DM; Miranda runs a great game of D&D.)

Total Play Time: 2 hrs
Total New Rooms Explored: 0.5
Hirelings Dead: 3
Hirelings Left Behind to Haunt Us Again: 3
Enemies Defeated: 4

Damn you Nightwick.

Our fearless scribe has also chronicled the terrible result of this ill-fated outing.

...BACK TO THE MEDUSA'S HEAD