Dwimmermount - Session 3-6

I suppose it is time to update my blog with the most recent events of our face-to-face campaign; fortunately, my players have been keeping quite a detailed log of deaths, accomplishments, and all sorts of things related to this game, so this shouldn't be too taxing on me.

The party have explored most of the first level (Path of Mavors), including the kobold lair - where Éöpl cut a sweet deal with the forces that secretly lead these poor creatures -, the orc-controlled parts of the Laboratory, and most recently a good chunk of the Reliquary, where they met strong undead creatures, and a strange room of forgotten technology guarded by hobgoblins.

 Our current roster of characters is the following:

• Amélia (Cleric 3) was one of the first replacement characters; not to make the same mistake again, she wears plate armour, has a shield, and always keeps an extra helmet around. Also, her Command Undead ability has already made significant difference a few times, so I'd better get to used its being spammed. Currently the highest level character (with Finwe having insanely high XP requirements).
• dr. Éöpl (Magic-User 2) got his name by accident, pushing some random keys while messing with his character sheet in Excel. He cut a secret deal with the true leader of the kobolds; he was able to cast a suspiciously dark spell last time, so there might be some internal conflicts coming up.
• Erin (Fighter 1) is on hiatus due to her player being back in the US; we hope to have her join again soon.
• Father Pox (Cleric 2) has also missed a couple sessions, but he still managed to make the impression of a crazy chaotic cleric; still, he's been more useful to the party than self-destructive - so far.
• Finwe (Elf 2) the only character remaining from the original crew; never missed a single session. Still, the ridiculous amount of XP needed for him to level up makes advancement painfully slow. To entertain himself, he's been hiring all sorts of shady figures to do his dirty work.
• Gnackwatschn (Fighter 1) a scholar of perverse interests, writing a book about sexual fetishes. His fascination with the exact dimensions of a stalagmite accidentally led the party to some treasure, though.
• Ha-Thalom (Halfling 2) and his loyal follower, Chi-Chka (pronounced as the Hungarian words for "power" and "minion/servant", respectively). His slingshots are deadly to the enemy, and so are his elven cocktails (i.e. flaming oils) to his allies.
• Katrine (Fighter 2) is also on hiatus due to her player currently studying abroad; as a replacement character of the original crew, she still has some XP advantage despite having missed half the sessions so far.
• Kron (Fighter 2) risen from the ashes of a former player character, Kron is a god of masculinity and some sexual stuff I don't think this blog should commemorate. His random starting item was a colourful ribbon, and the players went nuts with it.

Here's a list of those who aren't with us anymore:

• Dargor (Bard 1) died in the very first random encounter of the game; those crab spiders were vicious! Even my dice don't like bards, it appears.
• Arwald (Fighter 1) same session, same player's character; death attributed to an orc's blow. Specialists claim a helmet could've saved his life...
• Szigfrida (Fighter 2) another casualty of the first session; killed by a metallic skeleton (also known as an Eldritch Bone).
• Farandisz (Bladedancer 2) she was a cleric variant from ACKS (basically a lightly armoured Cleric who uses blades instead of maces); died during the second session; Amélia stepped in her place and - totally not because of her plate armour, shield, and helmet - she's been doing fine since.
• Aresius (Cleric 2) the second random green slime falling on his head in the course of a single session; how unlucky. But from his gooey corpse burnt to ashes has risen Kron, a fighter with a colourful personality.
• Batár Bartosz (Dwarf 2) a dozen or so kobolds ambushed the party, killing him and a bunch of henchmen (Frederik, Hans, and good old Parkins). Was on the track of creating a son, which would involve a statute of a dwarf carved from stone, lots of jewels and gems to decorate it, and a sacred ritual that breathes life into the stone. The details of the ritual were never shared, but his mates were disgusted by the idea, nevertheless.
• Also, four followers who gave their lives for the party:
• Red Kent (Thief 1) loyal follower of Finwe halfway to reaching second level; died to a poisonous dart trap
• "Burning" Archie (Thief 1) was originally a simple torchbearer (hence his epithet); no one would expect him to die to Ha-Thalom's misfired elven cocktail (called flaming oil in other parts of the world).
• Kyndwald (Cleric 1) was Aresius's dear henchman, on the verge of depression as he saw his master die a horrible death, but once Kron rose from the ashes, he immediately swore loyalty to him. Another great person killed by a metallic skeleton.
• Dunken McLoad (Fighter 2) walked into a gelatinous cube. Literally. It was the very last random encounter in our last session as the party were trying to haul out the treasures found. Poor Dunken.

The exact number of henchmen used during the earliest sessions is somewhat unclear to me at this point (especially with the frequent roster changes), but considering player characters only, the campaign has a lethality rate of 187.5 mW.

My players keep a detailed account of events broken down to individual encounters since the third session, so here are some highlights including a bunch of numbers, because why not:

• The third session consisted of 4 individual delves into Dwimmermount, spending 48 turns down there in total. They found no treasure whatsoever, but fought a bunch of giant rats, kobolds, angry dwarves, and green slimes. Miraculously, they only lost 2 of their members. All the fighting was worth a measly 474 XP shared among 7 players.
• One of the random encounters occurred with a bunch of adventurers, one of which later joined the party as a torchbearer, only to be killed by some kobolds during the next session.
• The fourth session saw 2 relatively short delves (14 and 13 turns, respectively). During the first one, they lost 3 henchmen and Batár Bartosz to a random encounter with kobolds, killed two dwarves for their loot (turned out they had squat), and burnt some screaming mushrooms.
• The second delve was much more successful: they killed a bunch of orcs and made them retreat, leaving their treasures behind. That was worth a total of 2,496 XP shared among 5 adventurers.
• The fifth session consisted of a single delve of impressive length: the party was exploring the depths of Dwimmermount for 41 turns - and they lost none of their members! They finished off the remaining orcs and systematically explored the areas around their base for secret rooms and hidden treasures. All in all, it was worth 10,590 XP shared among 6 players.
• The sixth session consisted of 2 delves, one of 23 turns and one of 11 turns. The party decided to reach the second level via a different set of stairs (leading them to the Reliquary instead of the Laboratory). They fought strong creatures (such as eldritch bones, a gargoyle, shadows, zombies, and a wight). It was definitely the most action-packed session so far. The two delves were worth a total of 6340 XP shared among 4 players.