MORE WINE! PART 4: Actual Play of the Dungeon Session 6

 

MORE WINE!: Session 6

The general setup is here. But I have not recorded the first 3 sessions; previously... I have skipped session 5 where the party has completed 2/3 of the requirements for the next party: Find 3 types of wine, 2 types already recovered, plus a new type. Unlike Nightwick, I have to DM this game so its harder for me to write down what is going on.

Returning once more to Aeolos' cellar are the following:

Captain Buffet Dwarf 1
Rogon Fighter 1
Issac Cleric 1
Abraham follower 1

Captain Buffer is obligated to the dwarven god of the underworld Tartarus. And the party is still obligated to find one additional amphora type.

DOWN THE STAIRS to the STONE SATYR...

The party this time consists of Captain Buffet, Rogon, and Issac plus his follower Abraham. Garret has taken leave as thieves want to do. The party is joined by Thomas the Carpenter- an NPC of the house of Aeolos who has heard of the PC's exploits and wants to join.

DECORATIVE VINEYARD: They find once again each door is marked by a grape motif: north is white, east is green, and west is red. The PCs choose "East" as it is the least explored. Through a winding hallway, the PCs are confronted with a ruined font of a crying nun- foul purple water pouring from her eyes. In the middle of the hallway some distance there are two doors: one north and one south.

FALSE BRIDGE TOWERS: The party checks north and confirms it is the same room they found the son of Aeolos and a signet ring. Captain Buffet rallies the party to a dangerous objective: "Through that headless knight on the bridge!"

THE HEADLESS CAVALIER: The party kicks the door in and quickly organizes into formation. Captin Buffet in the lead with a spear set for a charge! The knight comes barreling down the bridge and slams into the line, narrowly missing Buffet and Issac- but impaled on Buffet's set spear! Thomas screams and bolts! In the next round the party counterattacks- but can't pierce the armor of the knight. The foul horseman drops the lance and draws a sword, stabbing downward into Issac for a savage blow (DM NOTE: Down to 1hp)! With a cry Buffet and Abraham rain blows but still can't break through the armor. But Rogon with a roar, swings his blade through the undead soldier (DM NOTE: Nat 20! And 7+1 dmg).

Armor and barding fall to the floor with a clatter and ringing out with a high pitch whine is a suspicious sword, faintly glowing purple (sword +1) with a unique hilt and bleeding heart pommel.

CROSSROADS TAVERN: The party peered over the side of the bridge but chose not to determine the nature of the inky void below. As such the party travels south until they reach a wooden door with a sign that reads: WELCOME TO THE INDOOR INN" and has a simple map drawn below. At this point, the party smells a pickled scent wafting through the air. After finding a case of SPIRITS in the back of the inn the party proceeds out of east door. 

THE STONE FOREST (of the Sea King): The party's attention is drawn by loud revelry and boasts. The sound of shattering clay jars just adds justification to the approach. They hail the guards who are dressed like pirates from a terrible play. These guards drunkenly assume they are lost members of the group and invite them in to see the "SEA-KING!". Inside is a columned room that is carved in the style of an oak forest which clashes with the shoddy decore of blue fabric, green pillows, and a ragged ladder+sheet combination designed to look like a sail. The "king" declares "taxes" that need to be brought forward on knees. The PCs elect to present one of the bottles of spirits they found in the inn...which they subsequently drop. Oops. "OUT!" yells the king who also demands more taxes.

THE MAKE-SHIFT CLASSROOM: Traveling south again the party kicks open a door with a loud BANG! The first thing they notice is a central figure in red with a snake staff lecturing four other people kneeling- with their heads shaved: "You're late for class, so hurry up and sit down here!" The red-robbed figure says (DM NOTE: Reaction roll was "11"). Issac and Abraham take their seat, while Rogon and Captin try to woo the more suspicious guards with another bottle of recovered booze.

Time slides by as the robbed figure explain an arcane theory about dungeon deformations, makes a cat's cradle with some string to demonstrate a principle or two, and then reverts to more lecturing all while standing near a large grinning green jar. Before the PCs realize what is going on, Issac and Abraham along with the guards and the entire classroom are shrouded in green smoke emanating from the jar and then disappear! Poof! 

"Well $*%^&!" Captain Buffet mutters. Fortunately, the classroom material was covering up some amphorae featuring swallows on the sides. Buffet and Rogon collect those and make it back to the surface unmolested.

... AND BACK UP OUT OF THE CELLAR

The head steward is pleased! And they even found the carpenter cowering near the stairs to the cellar. The PCs in total gained ~500XP each got paid for wine recovery and got a magic sword (which could be cursed). Not bad. But what will happen to the cleric Issac? Will the god AZLN guild his return?

JAQUAYSING THE LOOP: All that is Jaquaysed is looped, but not all loops are Jaquaysed

 

Over on Discord, I got into a discussion about the link in this older post that discussed the power of loops to make dungeons interesting. And I generally still think that is true. Given 6 rooms, you create a more interesting arrangement if you just loop them in a ring versus a line. More so if you arrange those rooms so you get double or triple loops and place a feature at hallway intersections. This article further explains how the creators of Unexplored use loops and the program behind it.

But the specific discussion on Discord we touched on if there was a difference between "Jaquaysing" the dungeon vs using "gated circles" as often found in Metroidvania and other video games. I think there is an important difference which I distinguish them this way:  

• Jaquaysing the dungeon, to me, is about PC choice and multiple alternative routes that could be taken provided you have the right equipment/class/mindset/risk tolerance. Its goal is to increase the potential for exploration because areas can be gotten to by multiple avenues. A player's goal is set by their own desires.
  
  
• Gated circles are more about GM control of environmental reveal and ensuring that PCs experience 90% of the environment as often PCs need 2-3 "keys" (which could be actual keys, items, or abilities) in order to unlock various areas of the dungeon. This requires them to traverse most of the dungeon in order to get these keys. A player's goal is set by the designer's desires.

For me, the former is better for RPGs while the latter is better for video games. However, in the discussion, there was disagreement on this. I posited that gated circles are important in video games because they ensure that the player will explore X% of the content of each level and thus, I reason, walk away feeling like they are getting maximum value out of their dollar.

The counterargument proposed was that in fact, RPGs can benefit from gated circles in the same way too: gated circles ensure X% of content is encountered by the PCs and therefore prep is not wasted. Again, I think it is a matter of viewpoint so two things still stick out at me.

One: Prep really is never wasted to me because it can be repurposed. I don't mean in a "Quantum Ogre" manner where all roads lead to prep not initially explored, but they can be folded into a larger effort, redesigned, or the players could return to the content at a later date. Once created, the material is ever ready. But unlike a single DM who can change large swaths of the world in a single night, a team of videogame designers can not do the same. So the bolus of initial content must be utilized in order for the player to experience the value* of their purchase.

Two: Gated circles, while they might loop, are experientially linear. You can investigate them in any manner you please, but you can only eventually progress by following a specific order. That is because certain "keys" are needed to be collected to open a series of "locks". And those locked are nested behind each key-lock pairing. This creates a linear hierarchy in progression order. Even if you are allowed to investigate a lock without the key, it often becomes a trap. You can't get through the blue door at the bottom of the pit because you don't have a blue key and they is no way back up- the lava kills you or you have to just start over. This, by design, is a restriction of player choice.

So while the dungeon might be a loop, its is not Jaquaysed. Progression through that loop is not determined by the rate of exploration and/or risk, but instead by the number of key-lock pairs that have been accumulated. The only way to go deeper is to find the blue key in a gated circle. However, to go deeper in a Jaquaysed dungeon is to make a choice to keep going.

Perhaps I might need to justify why choice is so high value over % of the dungeon experience, but maybe I'll stop here, for now, to keep this think-piece somewhat punchy.

Some nice additional thoughts by Sean McCoy of Mothership:

YOU DID THIS TO ME! Dead PCs Return To Mence The Living & Other Dungeon Headaches

You did this to me!

One of the neatest mechanics from InPlacesDeep's Nightwick Abbey that I have experienced is that PCs who are killed and left in the dungeon tend to return as wights.

This spurred me to think about the death of PCs more for my own dungeons. If the mythic underworld can infect the mundane to make it mystic, why not PCs' corpses as well? I think this effect could help make PC death a little more impactful and add a natural ritual to the game-- honoring the dead.

And also by impactful, I think below is a simple way to add a significant change to the dungeon personalized to the players' actions. I think whether consciously stated or not, players love to see the impact they have on the world.

So how would the mythic underworld affect dead players? Well, of course, all arise as undead with all the associated pros/cons. All HD are now d8s. And they hate the PCs- no negotiation. May instead of needing silver to-hit, silver weapons do +1 dmg (e.g a silver dagger does 1d4+1 dmg)

UPON RETURN TO THE DUNGEON, THE PARTY FINDS THOSE LEFT BEHIND...

• FIGHTERS: Blood lusted and battle-hardened! Returns as fast rage zombies, now can charge 30 feet and inflict 2d6 dmg while thrown objects do 1d8 damage.
• WIZARDS: The body dies, the head lives! The head pops off and floats around. Now can cast one spell known in life out of each eye. May grow more eyes & cast more spells- behold.
• CLERICS: Faith inverted! The corpse rises, talks backward, and is now an anti-cleric; will lair in the nearest grave, crypt, mausoleum ect. and raise the dead from anything the PC recently killed.
• THIEVES: Sulk in the shadows eternal! A piece of their soul is molded into a rat/crow-like thing an omen of bad luck, invisible but can be seen in a mirror or appears right when a PC does something dangerous; increases the saving throw by +2.
• ELFS: A cold but exquisite corpse! Travels out of the dungeon seeking the warmth of home and adoration; radiates Charm Person requesting the affected to continually build and add to fires resulting in the dwelling burning down and all in it- save the elf. 
• DWARFS: Endless toil, endless trouble! Everything left behind except a pick; make new tunnels, collapse old ones, leave traps, and they don't know when, but they'll dig to (a) hell eventually.
• HALFLINGS: Harth and hive! The corpse spontaneously generates a walking nest home to stinging, biting insects; double the number of vermin on the encounter table even if you have to increase the die size to do so.

HOW TO PROTECT AGAINST SUCH DESECRATION

• REMOVE THE BODY: Take the corpse out of the dungeon and give a proper burial
• Gus L of All Dead Generations has suggested: (1) hauling a corpse is encumbering; (2) if given a successful burial of at least 100gp, replacement character gets a 1/2 share of XP
• SALT CIRCLE: Take salt with you. If someone dies, make a salt circle around them. Works until the circle is broken, but should last a week but longer than that? Eh...
• CAST BLESS ON THE BODY: It will send the soul to the proper place or at least the afterlife of the cleric's devotion which might not be the dead person's preference but...eh...

TO SUN SATURATED ISLES 02: Adventuring in Cuccagna

We return to the isles of Cuccagna where Skleras (C3) and the party are exploring Serpentona.

• Upon arrival, we found a town devoid of inhabitants except for women
• Skleras offers some healing in exchange for information earning the party some insight
  
• We learn that the many had been taken to a temple to one of the pagan gods- the women by force and the men by enchanted singing
•  Reasoning that a temple full of women would loath to not help a poor cat, we send in Lord Skarr in cat form to scout
• The sum total of these efforts was a vicious attack by the temple's guards with Skleras barely surviving the assault [♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♥︎]
• But the party gained a captive!

 

MORE WINE! PART 3: Actual Play of the Dungeon

MORE WINE!: Session 4

The general setup is here. But I have not recorded the first 3 sessions.

Returning once more to Aeolos' cellar are the following:

Captain Buffet Dwarf 1
Garret Thief 1
Rogon Fighter 1
Issac Cleric 1
Abraham follower 1

Despite the death of Shade (MU 1, bats), the hideous injury to Hela (MU 1, cavalier), and failure to return with any wine, the party gathers its remaining members 24 hours later to return to the fabled cellars. Aeolos' current demands are 4 amphorae of any type, except the same wine as Week 1 (where they previously discovered SITTING PRIESTESS wine). 

(DM NOTE: Since it was 24 hours later in-game time, the party does not get a week's rest so instead have to roll a CON check, and if they pass, gain 1d4 HP)

DOWN THE STAIRS to the STONE SATYR...

The party passes the leering statue without incident. Issac covers the eyes of the chaste Abraham to guard against the accuracy of the nymph statues. The satyr's cup goes unfilled. Traveling through the north archway the party is surprised to find the corpse of the Iron Hand missing.

DECORATIVE VINEYARD: They find once again each door is marked by a grape motif: north is white, east is green, and west is red. The PCs choose "west".

GRAND LOUNGE: The Party finds a long rug and many sitting chairs, loveseats, and chaise loungers all mixed. No strange creatures in cloth-covered heads this time. The party remembers that through the west door in this room is a singing fountain that put them under its thrall. The party turns north heading toward the CHECKERED CHURCH a known wine cellar.

(DM NOTE: In that session, all the PC failed their saves so it was time to break out one of those popular Escape the Dungeon d20 tables; might need to tone down the singing fountain- maybe...)

THE CHECKERED CHURCH: Slamming the stuck door open, the PCs survey the room: black and white columns, pomegranate motif, nymph being carried off by a saytr on the east wall. Captain Buffet goes over to inspect that mural and finds that the mural depicts a sorta trail of eaten pomegranates dropped from the nymph to the west wall. And Garret joins him. With a keen dwarven eye and a thief's instinct, a secret door if found where all the pomegranates have been "eaten" off the tree.

But before the secret room could be explored, the north door bursts open and in sways 5 very drunk humans wearing poorly made-up costumes in a "sea-king" motif. They shout a greeting and keep wanting to take on the PCs are additional party(ing) members: "Come-on have a swig, have a swig!"

Garret the thief steps forward to take a swig while Captain Buffet partakes of his own bottle. The clerics abstain. Garret is able to keep the soured wine down to loud exclamation by the intoxicated group. They grab him by the shoulders and push him through the north door.

THE ROOT CELLAR: Stumbling through the dark after the drunken revealers, the party notices they have no difficulty navigating the dark and moving through doors...hmmm. The turn west and are halted in their tracks by more inebriated hollering of another group of shabbily dressed humans- this time as nymphs.

The Nymphs refuse to let anyone pass and the leader demands a champion. The "Sea-Kings" push Garret forward as their champion. Garret wheels around and demands that the king of the "Sea-Kings" steps up to this challenge. His request is met with a skull-cracking blow to the face (DM NOTE: 12 rounds until dead). Melee ensues to the delight of the Nymphs, but Captain Buffet and Rogon dispatch filet the "Kings" causing them to lose their morale and run-- Nymphs giving chase with high cackles.

(DM NOTE: Dig the death and dismemberment tables. Been using them in Nightwick, so I grabbed one from Necropraxis for this dungeon; previously I've just done save vs. Death)

But before tears can be shed over Garret and pockets turned out (+24sp), Slip the thief drops out of the large root in the ceiling claiming to have been chased by a giant centipede and seeking to get a message from the thieves guild to Garret.

The party turns south in search of more wine.

SINGING FOUNTAIN: Not hearing anything through the door, the PCs open it with a bang! Nothing. They scope the fountain found here of a nymph balancing on 3 amphorae reaching for a bright orb. Slip scales the statue and is able to dislodge a crystal hummingbird that continually emits light (+200sp). The party realizes going east in this room links them back to the GRAND LOUNGE. They turn south instead.

THE DRAGON'S FOREST: Players enter a room with a basrelief forest carved into the walls. They notice the basrelief dragon on the floor with a gaping hole where its mouth is- something glints there. Issac also notices that there is an image of a kneeling satyr on the north wall with a speech bubble "Please pray with me"

(DM NOTE: Its actually quite useful to know if a PC is literate or not, which is found in BX, because the written word is a puzzle)

Slip and Abraham devise a way to tie a rope around Slip and lower him into the dragon's mouth to retrieve the shiny objects (DM NOTE no encounter check...lucky) and the nimble thief is able to retrieve a thing metal wand and a necklace (400sp + a wand). Issac chooses to kneel with the satyr and when he does so he hears a "click"... and a secret door opens...

TABERNACLE OF THE ELEPHANT... revealing a large desiccated green corpse with the body of a man but the massive head of an elephant. And WINE! Large amphorae are lined up and labeled The Green Hierophant. The PCs grab amphorae for each person and leg it back to the cellar door.

... AND BACK UP OUT OF THE CELLAR

The head steward is very pleased! The party is rewarded with silver (and xp) for the recovery. And as agreed, invite the party members to attend the festivities at the end of the week (staying to the side of course) if they would like. Captain Buffet, Rogon, and Issac agree. Slip slips out the door to head into the city to sell the found items and drink in the relative "safety" of the city bars. As a result:

• Issac, restrainedly sipping at the delicious wine, makes little impact at the party
• Rogon, fooled by the soft civil nature of the minor nobility, is taken for all he is worth in a game of dice! By Crom!
• Captain Buffet, in the middle of a wine-fueled recounting of his time battling on the underground rivers, receives a painful flash in his mind knocking him flat on the table! The dwarven gods demand servitude and send him a quest!
• Slip manages to sell a lot the goods and goes in search of rumors in the city.

Until the next time when all is drunk dry.

  

MORE WINE! PART 2: 30 NPCs With Help From To Distant Lands

 

Parnassus by H. Siemiradzki

For a dungeon that I am writing, I need about 30 NPCs. Most likely that is too many, but it represents each major position in a roughly medieval household (or at least what was identified about 1 hour of reading on the internet). 

My main philosophy about NPCs is that they mainly need 3 things: a want, a give, and an archetypical personality descriptor. Really they don't need much more. If you want stats just make them a level of [insert appropriate class] and if you really need them to be important make it a domain level.

And with the dungeon I am writing, I really want to make it a sorta "quilt campaign" meaning that I stitch it together from existing pieces of resources- blog posts, useful tables, other adventures I have, ect. And to that end, To Distant Lands has created a wonderful set of tables for NPC generation. 

Here are my 30 NPCs from the House of Aeolos. We will exclude the first two as they are more plot-centric, so what about the others: 

NPC (want)(goal)(attitude to PCs)

1. Master Aeolos
2. Mistress Persephone
3. Marshal (A special trinket or gadget) (Sheer curiosity) (Baffled)
4. Steward (A dangerous location or local landmark) (mistakenly believe it will get them revenge) (Envious)
5. Clerk (A portent or omen) (To topple some local authority)(Furious)
6. Cook (Another NPC’s activities) (To get revenge on someone(a ward)) (Lackadaisical)
7. Blacksmith (A pet or species of animal)(To be left alone) (Baffled)
8. Carpenter (A local game or custom) (To rescue someone or something dear to them) (Fawning)
9. Mason (A special trinket or gadget) (To get revenge on someone)=Chaplin) (Mistakes them for someone else who they are (baffled)
10. Groom (A location no one else knows about)(To clear their name)(Fawning)
11. Messenger (A magic item not in their possession)(To prove someone wrong)(Doesn’t seem to notice them)
12. Huntsmen (arguing with the Mason about the Candlestick Maker)(To be left alone)(Scamming)
13. Astronomer (A local custom)(To expose their rival)(Furious)
14. Chamberlin (A dangerous location or local landmark)(To clear their name)( Baffled)
15. Herdsmen (A legendary monster) (To topple some local authority) (Lackadaisical)
16. Mill workers (gossiping about the huntsmen) (To get revenge on someone) (mistake the PCs for someone else who they find amusing)
17. Wood-cutters (A missing belonging) (To topple some local authority) (Skeptical)
18. Butcher (gossiping bout Ward 1) (To become rich) (Lackadaisical)
19. Baker (A household malfunction happening right in front of you) (To impress their crush) (ignore)
20. Candlestick Maker (Another NPC’s activity Mason) (To expose their rival Ward MU 3) (Fawning)
21. Minstral (A local custom) (To get revenge on someone) (Baffled)
22. Cupbearer (A location no one else knows about) (To impress their crush (you)) (Lackadaisical)
23. ChambermaidA household malfunction happening right in front of you) (To get revenge on someone) (mistakes you for the guard who they are skeptical of)
24. Gardener (Heard an extremely inaccurate rumor) (To rescue someone dear to them) (Furious)
25. Fisher (A portent or omen) (To clear their name) (Baffled)
26. Chaplin (Fixated on the activities of the Steward)(To become rich) (Desperate)
27. Ward (MU 1) (The latest fad) (Mistakenly believe it will help then rescue a loved one) (Envious)
28. Ward (MU 1) (Craving a specific kind of food) (To impress their crush) (Baffled)
29. Ward (MU 2) (A magic item not in their possession) (To be left alone) (Scamming)
30. Ward (MU 3) (Collects something rare but not necessarily valuable) (To prove someone wrong) (Obsequious)

For a "give", which was not in the tables, I think mostly it will be something the NPC can make or research for the PCs.

To really polish this off, I should turn these into sentences as demonstrated in the original post. But I'm not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good (enough). So, I'll just print the above off, punch holes in it, and put it in the campaign binder.

MORE WINE! PART 1: What Happens When A Wine Cellar Goes Bad?

 "The Wine Dungeon"

A dungeon resulting from having a morning cup of coffee, a random dungeon room/hall roller, and a single sheet of graph paper. I ended up with about 50 rooms. And I liked it so much I wanted to try and run something with it that was more "off-the-cuff D&D". Kinda in the same vein as how I imagine the Tonisborg dungeon came together.

What leaped into my head is a little bit of the mythic underworld mixed with a non-crypt underground structure (wine cellar) and populated by some of my dreamland monsters to sorta kick myself out of the more typical dungeon molds.

And in addition to just trying to ensure its a fun dungeon, I am trying to do two other things: 

(1) organically grow out the world as my players require. I sorta did this a little bit with the "Super Cleric Bros." campaign. Trying not to exhaust myself with prep, but more just throw potentially useful KNOCK! articles, blog posts, and favored tables into a binder

(2) use the actual play of the dungeon to guide the development of it instead of agonizing over it. Did the group have fun? Yes. Well, play it again. Is this little random dungeon I found seem cool? Great. Let's say one of the fountains has dried out and now there are stairs leading to it.

Peter Paul Rubens "Two Satyrs"

The Setup

Master Aeolos has returned from a long voyage to Banquet Season in The City Under The Veridian Moon.

But horror! His fabled wine cellar has gone rancid and turned into a dungeon. A few servants have died, the house guards won't go down there, and things have moved in.

With the season arriving quickly and several parties to be hosted this month,  Aeolos has hired you to delve into this cellar and retrieve casks and bottles of spirits. Oh, and maybe bring back some notable "dungeon meats" ("I did have a wonderful pond down there").

"And keep quiet! We can't have a word of such neglect spread!" (Behind the scenes, the cellar is where Aeolos has buried some of the more unsavory elements of the past- which have also grown in his absence)

1 Wine Amphora can hold about 82 pints of wine or 164 cups; each amphora recovery is ~200sp & 200 xp. Plus whatever else the player can hide on their person and avoid discovery. Afterall dungeon or not, the cellar is still owned by Aeolos.

I'd also want the players to have to recover differnt types of wine for different parties during the season. That way there is a reason to hit up more than the first cellar they find.

If they recover wine, then they can carouse at the party for no money. If they fail to recover the wine, then out into the streets they go due to Aeolos' frustration and anger. Maybe there is a night-on-the-streets table to roll on, but opportunity to be approached by other groups looking for dirt on Aeolos.

"Cask" of Characters:

• Master Aeolos- concerned with present society; want to keep the past just that; hates being inconvenienced
• Mistress Persephone- seeks her own power behind the scenes
• Castellan Cerebrus- suspicious of PCs; hold to a strict protocol in the absence of Master & Mistress
• Captain Hauberk- considers the PCs slightly better than feral dogs and less useful than the hunting dogs; quick to punish
• Several other household staff who can give players equipment, be a source of rumors, and potentially be hired to join them.

Just The Wine Dungeon?

Off the top of my head, here might be some modules I'd throw in or module parts I'd use:

• Through Ultan's Door
• Desiccated Temple of Locha
• Incandescent Grottoes
• the NPCs from B2: Keep on the Borderlands by Gary Gygax
• The manor layout from The Waking of Willowby Hall by Ben Milton