AD&D Session 3: The Order of the Perfect Circle

In the last session, the party continued their delve in Stonehell, explored more of the first level and ventured briefly to the second, accidentally started a cult, and recovered great treasure. Will their luck continue? What more awaits beneath the earth? Join them in this week's journey to find out...

The Party

Sonari, elf mage/thief with a wimple, played by Jada

Norbeth Yelfiel, elf mage/thief with a periwinkle wide-brimmed floppy hat, played by Finn

Akiva ben Moshe, beetlefolk fighter with a short ponytail, played by Ali

Occam, goblin fighter with a greathelm, played by Anne

Innus Entus, goblin cleric/fighter with a bishop's mitre, played by Cao Linh

Ingvar Duram, human cleric with an extravagant tricorn hat, played by Jackson

Eileen Longtail, human soldier

Tork Longtail, ratling scoundrel

Precious, domesticated rat

Casualties

Tork (left for home)

Loot

12000cp

6000sp

50gp amethyst

1100gp jeweled circlet

3000+gp assorted jewelry

Kobold fan club

Appreciation of President Sniv

A name

Enmity of Salomon of the Ultraviolet Flame

Enmity of Slep, kobold guard captain

Lachesis' iron ring

The Game

24 Plantings 1113

• When last we left off, the party had returned to Stonehell, explored the natural caverns west of the entrance, and looted a mausoleum complex, which rewarded them with a great haul. As they were identifying the items within the room of the skull altar, another group of explorers came upon the long-shut mausoleum door, now hanging ajar...
• Luckily for the party, this group was the beetlefolk explorers they had met previously. Even better, their compatriot Ingvar Duram was still with them, hale and healthy, and rejoined the group. They had quite a lot to tell him about since they parted ways.

Party: There will probably be a schism in the Acolytes of the Perfect Circle when they realize the sun isn't perfectly round. 

Ingvar: The what

• After Norbeth positively identified the bag of holding, the party discovered that it was not empty, but contained a treasure map. The sketched map clearly showed the region of the kingdom some distance to the east of Stonehell, but the text on the opposite side was a mystery. Luckily for the party, Ingvar was well educated and knew both Khaldean, the language of poetry and sophistication, as well as High Cascabel, the archaic language of the old nobility. The message was written in Khaldean script but using the High Cascabel language. 
• It was a letter, written by the last heir of the Clifton family as he lay dying in Stonehell, addressed to two people named Jacinth and Simar. It urged them to escape Cascabel, retrieve a key secreted away with a selkie clan to the east, and recover the treasure he had hidden from the Potentate. 
• The party decided to check it out after they were done with the current delve. In their continued explorations, they fled poison smoke that billowed from an ancient fountain, gambled on their lives with an esoteric stone wheel (Sonari got a permanent +1 to dexterity, Akiva was cursed for a day), Sonari and Innus Entus were both struck with the poison of a giant centipede, the party narrowly avoided a swarm of glowing-red fire beetles, and they established friendly contact with the kobolds of Stonehell (Ingvar's talent for languages came in handy yet again!). 

(Noting the kobolds' rickety ladders and equipment as they repaired traps)

Party: What's going on here? Where is KOSHA in all this?

• While Sonari decided to head back to the surface to seek treatment for the poison in town, the rest elected to remain underground. But past the stairway chamber, they encountered yet another patrol of Festering Wound goblins! 
• Unlike the ones they met in the past, these were on alert. One outpost and another patrol had been destroyed without warning in the north quadrant, where their enemies, the Wolf Gang, were not active. The goblin in front revealed the black, rotting wound on her ear, and demanded to see the same on the party's goblinoids to prove their identities. 

Occam: Mine's in an... unmentionable place.

• The party braced for combat... until Innus Entus took off his shirt and showed them the untreated centipede bite on his shoulder.

• The goblins were convinced, and informed the 'reinforcements' that in light of their missing patrols and the kobolds' continued support of the Wolf Gang, the Festering Wound was badly in need of funds to turn the tide. In their desperation, they had plucked up the courage to seek out 'Da Dragon' of which the kobolds were so terrified, and take its hoard. 
• The party had passed through the caverns in which 'Da Dragon' was supposed to lair, and did not encounter it, though their contact with the kobolds, who were periodically assaulted by it, convinced them it did exist. They concluded that the Festering Wound were fools, but decided to take advantage of that foolishness. 
• The two groups joined together, the non-goblin characters once again passing themselves off as war-slaves, and marched to the cave where 'Da Dragon' dwelt. The party convinced the goblins that since two of their war slaves, Ingvar and Norbeth, spoke the dragon language, they should go in first to declare the Festering Wound supremacy and act as meat shields. Of course, these two actually planned to ask leniency of the dragon and promise to aid it in killing the goblins. 
• However, as the huge, reptilian figure dragged itself out of the pool at the far end of its cave, they found that 'Da Dragon'... was in fact a colossal, overgrown gecko. Which immediately charged forward. 
• A great melee began, with Festering Wound goblins and 'war slaves' crossing blades with the lizard's talons as arrows and javelins flew from behind. Innus Entus covertly commanded some goblins to charge forward and enter melee, improving the odds for the PCs in close quarters. Ironically, the most serious blow dealt during the fight was Norbeth's stray arrow hitting Akiva for max damage (though only half his health, that guy is extremely tough), and the party had much better success than the goblins did in piercing the gecko's scales. 
• The fight concluded with Akiva chopping off 'Da Dragon's head with a great overhead slash of his greatsword (the variant weapon damage against large creatures coming into play!). Against numerous and organized opponents, the lizard had dealt no casualties. 
• As the goblins celebrated, Akiva retreated to Innus Entus and received the cleric's healing power. That was when one of the goblins nearby realized they had been had.

'Surface-worlders! Deceivers!'

• The fight was joined anew, but most of the goblins were spread out, and those in the back of the tunnel were surrounded and quickly dispatched by the party. One was struck with Innus Entus' fear-inducing slap, and fled into the depths of the cave. Occam chased down and slew this one, and the rest were summarily slaughtered with arrow fire.
•  In the quiet of the cave, the party discovered that the false dragon did in fact have a hoard. Though large in quantity, most was not especially valuable, but a valuable jeweled circlet more than justified the expedition.
• They took Da Dragon's hoard and head, and returned with both to the nearby kobolds. They were overjoyed that this monster, that had eaten so many of their brethren, was finally defeated. They kobolds led the party straightaway to their home in the dungeon, too quickly for the party to make accurate maps, leading them without incident through the Festering Wound's territory to the south, past a set of barred passageways, and into kobold territory.
• Along the way, Eileen alone heard an alluring call in the darkness, to which the kobolds responded by covering her eyes and ears and double-timing it in the other direction.
• As they passed the guard post and traps, they attracted a snowballing crowd of kobold who all wanted to see the decapitated head and meet kobolds' benefactors. They were conducted swiftly into the kobold market, where the party resupplied and relaxed, and saw that it other visitors, goblins of both the Wolf Gang, Festering Wound, and a yet-unfamiliar group called the Obsidian Legion, surface humans, hyena-men, violet-robed cultists and more were present here in a tense peace. 
• In response to questions about the dungeon, the party was conveyed to the 'tavern' where a woman covered in a black veil, Lachesis, flanked by huge humanoids an a robed man, brokered a negotiation between the Festering Wound, Obsidian Legion, and surface bandits. When their turn came, the party got various questions about the dungeon answered, including learning more about the history of the dungeon and the fate of the vizier, who did not die during the revolution but fled to the City of Vultures. They also learned the story of a far off land, the Isle of Flowers and received an iron ring with her name on the outside of the band, a sort of calling card. They also noticed a number of snakes periodically poking out of her veil, to which she fed small rats. 

Innus Entus: Maybe she's just snakes in a trench coat?

• Afterwards, the party met briefly with the kobold leader, President Sniv, who threw a feast in their honor and offered them privileged status within the kobold-controlled tunnels. During said feast, however, Akiva offended Slep, the kobold captain of the guard, who was humiliated by the ability of outsiders to destroy this longstanding threat to the kobold. At the same time, Innus Entus got into an argument and nearly a fight with a violet-cloaked human, later identified as a member of the Cult of the Ultraviolet Flame, the priesthood of the faraway Undying Witch King. And to top it off, Occam got into a disagreement with Tork, which caused the ratling to leave the party's service and return to the surface, escorted by a pair of kobold. Eileen stayed with the party, but said she would return to see Tork once they finished this expedition. 
• In the course of the night, the party settled on an official name for themselves. No longer were they the Architecture Enthusiasts, but the...

Order of the Perfect Circle!

25 Plantings 1113

• They stayed the night in the dungeon without ill effects, and the next morning they asked President Sniv to open the danse macabre door (the kobold having their own in their territory). The kobolds already perform that duty for the Cult of the Ultraviolet Flame, and agreed. The Order was escorted there by Captain Slep, and noted the great effort the kobolds went to keep the door shut. 
• But after they passed through, the way closed behind them, and Captain Slep did not respond to banging on the door. The Order was stuck, and had to find another way out. 
• They explored the halls beyond, which they had already gathered was a tomb complex built early on in Stonehell's existence. But as they dodged swooping bat-things and cautiously made their way over crumbling bridges, they were ambushed. 
• Just as they came upon a door, it swung open and a mace whizzed past Akiva's head. It was Salomon, the Ultraviolet Flame cultist that Innus Entus had nearly fought the night before. 
• Though the surprise attack failed, there were over a half dozen violet-robed cultists beyond. As both groups prepared for battle, a mellifluous voice came from beyond the door. The leader of the cultists, his face hidden in shadow and holding a great staff with the head of a serpent, urged the Order to forgive Salomon, and to depart this region of Stonehell for the next two weeks, in order that the business of the two groups not coincide. Intimidated, the Order agreed and retreated, now looking for a way out.

The symbol of the Cult of the Ultraviolet Flame: 
a broken circle and flame on a purple field
The Ultraviolet Flame and the Perfect Circle are natural enemies!

• That didn't mean they weren't still looking for loot. When they located a mausoleum complex, they set about looting it systematically.  That system was rudely interrupted by the appearance of a sentient mound of bone fragments that burst from its tomb to assault the party with ferocious speed!
• Nevertheless, the party took the monster down, and from its lair recovered an impressive array of jewelry and coinage, only somewhat covered in bonemeal. 
• With that victory and some more good loot, the session ended in high spirits. Will the party be able to escape the quiet halls of Stonehell? Will they exact their revenge upon Salomon and Captain Slep? What will happen to Tork? Join us for next week's session of Cascabel!

Takeaways

This is the first time a session went for the desired four hours. The first session was spent half in character creation, and another hour was spent in the second session getting Sonari made. I still felt like we got a lot done in those, and even more got done in this one! 

The feast in the kobold territory was the party's first carousing opportunity. Normally carousing takes a week, but I decided that this time they could do it in a single night thanks to the kobolds throwing them a party. As a result, the party is now 600gp poorer, (that's a month of living expenses between them!) and have 600xp in a communal pot for future characters. They're doing carousing xp collectively, since Norbeth's player has been keeping track of finances thus far. I include my carousing rules below. 

I need to keep better track of xp gain during the session. It's no more difficult than in Castle Xyntillan, but that was an online game and I was accustomed to tallying up the xp between sessions, while here I try to do so at the end of sessions. Tallying up xp for custom monsters takes a little while. 

The players have gotten quite attached to Eileen and Tork. This is not unexpected; I know this group and calculated those two to play on their heartstrings. Still, some players want the henchmen to have more presence in the session. Right now, they largely only show up during combat, and otherwise fade into the background. Maybe it's time to create a fashionable little construct: call it the NPC Clock or something. Or maybe I'll just add 'an NPC in the party says/does something' to the encounter roll: 1 in 6 encounter, 1 in 6 NPC activates. I think I'll test it out this coming session. 

In between the last session and the time of writing, I picked up Anthony Huso's Castle of the Silver Prince. Expect a preliminary review soon. I'm already integrating it into my campaign, and starting this coming session will make Wicke Descendants a character option. Anne has already made one, and rolled up a paladin with obscenely high strength. I look forward to seeing that play out.

Carousing

When in a civilized area, the characters may spend a week of downtime to Carouse. They roll 1d6 (explodes with no limit), and multiply by their level and location modifier. That much gp is spent from the character's inventory with no benefit to the character. The same amount of xp is now available in a pot which the player may use when creating a new character in the future. 

Alternate rule: carousing spending and the xp pot may be shared collectively. 

Location modifier

100: large city

50: notable town

25: small settlement

Each player then has a 50% chance to roll of the following table. The roll of 1d20 is modified by the character's reaction adjustment (5% = 1 point)

Carousing Table

Roll	Result
-4	Driven out of town, gain no xp
-3	As 15, but the person is secretly a powerful evil creature getting into your good graces to make your life terrible
-2	Gain the enmity of a local authority figure, who will try to make things worse for you
-1	Gain a bad reputation in this area
0	Lose mount or other valuable thing to thievery
1	Spend time as a prisoner of the local authorities/a crime kingpin/a sorcerer, for 1d6 weeks unless a bribe of 200*level gp is paid. Maybe
2	Roll on the disease table
3	Gain the enmity of someone, roll for influence, no class levels, relationship determined by DM
4	The Dreadful Hours: Experience ennui, wind up listening to the discourse of some old farts. Maybe get an adventure hook
5	Sudden loss of 1d6*level*100gp exploding
6	Got into a brawl, roll a save vs death or start next session with a black eye and -1d4hp. Gain 1d6*100*level xp either way
7	Disagreement with a henchman/hireling, they leave your service for 1d6 weeks, may reconcile afterwards
8	Doppelganger: Someone matching your description nearly exactly except for some notable feature has been acting up, doing odd, criminal, or notable stuff
9	Accused of a crime, may or may not be guilty
10	Unusual gift! d6: 1 baby, 2 taxidermied pegasus, 3 slave, 4 pet cat, 5 obviously cursed item, 6 tavern
11	Involved in a duel with a haughty arisocrat/daring warrior/misguided innocent
12	Someone tasked you with guarding the contents of a package, and not to look inside. 4:6 they actually come back in 1d6 (exploding) weeks, 3:6 someone else comes looking in that time
13	Invited to join a secret society? 1d6 for influence, 1d6 for harmlessness
14	Gain the services of a 1st level henchman of random class that shares your alignment
15	Gain a beneficial relationship with someone, the sort of relationship is up to the player, the person is up to the DM. Roll 1d6 for overall influence, no class levels
16	You have a vision of a saint/angel/etc, and are now geased to go on a pilgrimage/perform some holy act. A great reward awaits should you succeed
17	Sudden gain of 1d6 (exploding) *100*level gp
18	Gain an exotic mount, such as a riding lizard or axebeak
19	Gain a good reputation in this area
20	Gain a favor from a local authority figure
21	Gifted a wagon of valuable merchandise and/or an animal companion of unusual intelligence
22	As 15, but the person is actually powerful, good magic creature
23	Gain a really exotic mount (like a pegasus or nightmare) or a cool magic item
24	A famous and powerful worthy approaches you with a task: succeed, and you will gain great reward
25	Offer of the cushiest marriage/job/retirement you can think of. If you accept, the this PC leaves play, but all current xp can be transferred to replacement character. Even if you turn it down, the offer remains open
26	A miraculous opportunity falls into your lap. A major clue or aid to the current adventure, a potent magic item, or perhaps a powerful elixir which can resolve a character's ill state, is yours with no strings attached
27	???
20/20	Wake with a splitting headache. Touching your forehead you discover a new, invisible third eye. Reroll psionics with a 20% bonus (even if you did not originally qualify)