All things considered, this is what passes for a happy ending in your campaign!
That was both awesome and hilarious. What a blow to lose that Thrassian! I'm sure the player wept bitter tears, as stats like that don't come along very often...
EDIT: Hm. This was supposed to be a reply to the first session.
Don't worry, comments about losing Thrassians are almost perpetually relevant to this campaign.
Session XIV
The cast:
- Conan O'Brien, a Barbarian
- Regular-Sized Rudy, a Dwarven Fury
- Pilo Filo, a Paladin
- Borborygmos (“Borb”), a Cleric of Ammonar
- Buddy, an Elven Ranger
- Robin, a Warlock
- Batmanuel, his familiar, a bat
“We had no inkling of what it was we did… My men have sacrificed themselves to contain the Evil… From what I have seen here today, I cannot believe this world is the creation of any loving gods.” What had the Tenebrous Hand done? Rather than consider that, Borb focused on something more interesting: what did all the various keys the dead man had been carrying open? He pocketed all of them, and the party continued their exploration of the complex. One of the keys turned out to be able to open almost any building's door; Borb was delighted. In the common room of the complex's tavern, the adventurers came across an incoherent man who had been living for too long on spoiled food. From him the adventurers learned that the complex had a hidden basement. “They're down there, probably watching me… My friends. First they were normal, and then… they weren't.” It fell to Borb to ask the question that was on everyone's mind: “So, you got any more keys?” The man did not.
The adventurers continued their explorations. In a cupboard under the potter's stairs, Buddy noticed a secret door leading downward. Was this the hidden basement? A quick peek suggested it was. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, its depths were left unplumbed. (For now at least.) Instead, in the complex's butcher shop, the group came across a monstrous being. It had once been a dog, but corpulent pustules burst from all over its scabrous head, and a long narrow tentacle snaked out of what had once been a mouth. It was not friendly.
After overcoming their initial revulsion, the adventurers managed to put an end to the mutated beast. But in its last moments, its tentacle snaked out and brushed against Borb's face. His friends looked on in horror: was Borb about to become a monster? But nothing happened. Next the party applied their considerable collective medical expertise and attempted to heal his unknown malady. Nothing they did had any apparent effect. Was this a good sign or a bad one? They decided to take no chances and left the complex to go to the Temple of Ammonar. On Borb's suggestion, they bound him up tightly. Yet night had long since fallen, and the priests were unwilling to stir themselves from their rest. The only person awake was the acolyte tasked with ensuring that Ammonar's flame stayed lit throughout the hours of darkness. And she was not swayed by the adventurers' pleas. The party resolved themselves to waiting until the morning. Hopefully Borborgymos would last the night.
The Sad Story of Borborgymos
He almost did. A few hours before dawn, Buddy noticed that the dreaded pustules had begun to sprout from the cleric's face. Once again, the party rushed to the temple. Perhaps with proof the priests would prove more amenable. Yet this time the same acolyte revealed that the priests had already exhausted their daily portion of divine power. The party waited and considered their options. As dawn began to break, Borb let loose a tremendous screech and began shaking uncontrollably. In a few moments, it was over. He had become one of the mutated beasts. Only a quick sleep spell by Robin prevented him from attacking his former fellows. This commotion at last drew the priests from their rest. They looked on in horror at the thing lying in their temple. Fortified by the promise of a double donation, one of them approached the unconscious mutant and applied his divine powers. Yet he was unsuccessful. Finally, Pilo Filo realized what he had to do. He stepped forward, picked up what had once been his brother, and carried it outside into an alley. Then he took out his sword and drew it across the unconscious creature's throat. When it had stopped twitching, he cut off its head. He blessed the remnants and begged for the beneficence of the Empyreans.
And here Ammonar shined on his fallen servant. When his meditations had finished, the head priest's prayers restored Borb to life. The mutation was dispelled from his body, save for a lingering remnant in one of his hands. As their cleric recovered, the adventurers considered whether they should return to the complex. Rudy was in favor of going back immediately. “Do we really need a cleric? We got this, guys!” The others were more reluctant. They shared their discoveries with Finn, who agreed that caution was warranted. In disgust, Rudy returned to substitute teaching.
Yet the day came when Borb was again hale and hearty. The adventurers trundled back to the complex. As they expected, the crazy man had long since died of some combination of starvation of nutrition. He was carrying no keys. Inevitably, the basement beckoned. It had been the site of some mighty battle, and it was strewn with decaying body parts, blood, and other bits of gore. Upon entering, most of the adventurers could not retain their stomachs' current contents. Some of the basement's passageways led to other parts of the complex. Other led deeper into the sewers. One did not. It was blocked by heavy pieces of furniture. In addition to requiring two separate keys, opening it also required a special pass-word: “Lucretia”, the woman to whom the first dead man's letter had been addressed. This door led to the treasure vault of the Tenebrous Hand.
The adventurers moved through slowly, looking at the assorted riches in mild awe. Yet before the treasure could be counted and cataloged, a rustling and moaning was heard from the vault's depths. More than twenty of the mutants rushed out of the darkness. Each adventurer grabbed the nearest piece of booty and ran desperately away. They closed the door in time, but only barely. How could the vault be emptied, first of its mutants and then (more importantly) of its treasure? Robin's initial idea was to send his berserkers in to clear some of the chaff. It was a good idea, but the abominations must have somehow been aware of the impermanence of the heavenly warriors. As they ran though the vault, screaming and bumping into each other, not a single mutant appeared from its hiding place. More sophisticated techniques would have to be used. But what might those be?
Death Count:
- Borborygmos (later restored)
Tampering with Mortality Count:
- Borborygmos, possessed hand
It seems like the adventurers are doing better these days! Or at least less bad.
You say that though...
Session XV
The cast:
- Conan O'Brien, a Barbarian
- Regular-Sized Rudy, a Dwarven Fury
- Pilo Filo, a Paladin
- Borborygmos (“Borb”), a Cleric of Ammonar
- Buddy, an Elven Ranger
- Robin, a Warlock
- Batmanuel, his familiar, a bat
The party put their heads together. How could they retrieve the treasure of the Tenebrous Hand without risking their safety and that of Cyfaraun? (Or at least without risking their safety.) Finally, after long discussion, Robin looked up. “I have a plan”, he said. His plan required a large rug and a decent amount of oil, so the group returned to the house of Finn McCarr. Luckily, their venturer friend was able to furnish the group with their desired items. Then Pilo decided that, if he were about to die, he would rather that he have lips and a tongue. This warranted a trip to the temple of Ammonar.
While waiting for the paladin to recover, the adventurers remembered that a particular house in a nicer part of the city had been circled on one of the maps they had found in the complex. Perhaps this house would yield further information regarding the mutants. The party found the house, and Rudy and Borb walked up to it. Rudy put on his most cheerful face and knocked. When a slot in the door opened, he said “Have you heard the sacred word of Ammonar? The only god capable of protecting the Empire from the Chthonic powers that dwell beneath us?” The person inside had, and they were not particularly desirous of further conversation.
Some time later, Pilo had recovered, and the group returned to the complex's hidden cellar. Robin's plan might be summarized as follows:
- Cover the pit in the passage leading into the treasure room with Finn McCarr's rug.
- Send Rudy in to the treasure room to draw the mutants' attention, accompanied by Batmanuel to provide healing support.
- Lure them out of the room, where, treading on Finn McCarr's rug, many would surely fall into the pit and be trapped.
- Blockade the passageway with furniture once Rudy was safe, set the oil on fire, and rain death upon the trapped mutants with arrows and spells.
It was not a bad plan, and Robin was quite pleased with it. The party put it into action. Would it work?
It may have worked; but, alas, it did not survive contact with the enemy. Its implicit, important, requirement was for Rudy to outpace the mutants out of the treasure room. This did not happen, and he was completely swarmed by mutants in a matter of heartbeats. When his fellows realized how helpless they were, they let out cries of shame and despair. As he was enveloped by the unnatural, Rudy's last conscious thought was to enter his berserker rage. Sobbing, Pilo closed the door. Moments later, Robin felt a jolt of pain as Batmanuel ceased to live.
What could be done now? Another frantic debate was held. The safest course of action would be to leave this place and never come back. But was it the proper course? Wracked with uncertainty, it fell to Conan to decide the fate of the party (and of Cyfaraun). He had lost his tongue and lips some time ago and could not talk. So in the dirt on the ground he scratched out the letters “W – W – B – D”. What would Borgnar do?
Pilo and Borb advanced into the treasure room, while the others held back to provide covering fire. The cleric and the paladin soon saw Rudy's mutilated corpse, surrounded by dead mutants. In dying, the berserker had certainly visited his fury upon the aberrations. Had his vengeance sufficiently weakened the abominations?
It had not. When the surviving mutants made themselves known, they cunningly separated Pilo and Borb from the others with their mass of mutated flesh. Although the party fought well, they were outmatched. After some time, only Robin remained alive. He dashed out of the cellar. If his friends could not be saved, perhaps he could seal away this complex and prevent its horrors from tainting civilization.
He could not: Cyfaraun was doomed. When the party had visited the house that had been circled on the thieves' map, they had attracted the attention of some of the surviving members of the Brotherhood of Pus. Four brethren of disease had followed the party back to the complex, and they stood at the entrance to the cellar, waiting for Robin. They offered him a chance to join their new world of eternal flesh. When he refused, they ended him and let loose the mutant horde.
Death Count:
- The entire party
- Most of the inhabitants of Cyfaraun
- Probably a decent portion of Southern Argölle
As with the previous TPKs, the players took the death of their characters and the destruction of their favored city remarkably well. I do not know if I could have been that gung-ho were I in their place. It was decided that their major tactical errors were probably:
- Splitting up when they went back into the treasure room
- Using burning hands instead of summon berserkers against the mutants.
I think that Rudy had at least a 50% chance to beat the mutants' initiative and allow the plan to continue, so losing that check was a tragic moment.
We did not realize it when we played this session, but this campaign is essentially over, as two of the players are moving away. So I guess it at least ended on a note consistent with the previous tone. The players remain quite enthusiastic about ACKS as a system, so we might try to get an online game going at some point.
Absolutely savage.
What was the module you were running in the sewers with the mutants?
If you need players for the online game, please let us know!
Sounded like a LotFP module to me. Particular since it just ended much of civilization in Southern Argölle. Forgive Us, maybe?
That would be a correct deduction.
The room of mutants that killed everyone was not meant to be something to be fought, really. The intention is that everyone grabs an item or two, and then the party runs away and shuts the door forever. The players were fully aware of this fact. This did not stop them from going back in, amusingly..
My group of players ended up finding a few more people we know from the meatspace who wanted to join in, so we are kind of full now. I will try to let the forum know if there are any dropouts, though. Thank you for the interest!