B/X Stonehell Dungeon, Session 8. March 6, 2021

Dramatis Personae:

Benji Boggins, a halfling who apparently drinks poisons for fun

Isabella Disarono: a thief who has become strangely risk averse, in contrast to her ego

Captain Jane Bridgers, Weilder of the Holy Q-tip, the divine staff of bonk-healing 

NPCs:

Buffalo Head, Minotaur fighter

Lindt, fighter

The party made the obligatory offering to Coal, the Black Bear of the Valley,  garnering a re-roll for each character before braving the depths of Stonehell. 

Despite Izzie’s record haul from delving into the second level, she cautioned against the party delving there this session, so they ventured into the Quiet Halls, secure in Jane’s ability to Turn Undead to keep them from a TPK. 

They opened one crypt, which had a good number of skeletons in it. Jane Turned most of them, and the party started to take them down one by one. All did not go according to plan, as Benji decided to play ro sham bo with one of them, and was knocked out with a natural 20 (full damage). Fortunately, Jane was within range with the Holy Q-tip, and healed him. I ruled that if you can hit with a spear from two squares away, a staff of healing can work from that range too. However, since Benji has been brought to zero HP, the staff only restored him to 1 HP. Never the one to let the threat of imminent death dissuade him from making bad decisions (does he make any other kind?), Benji charged back into the fray, pulverizing a skelly into dust. However, that upset the skele-buddies, and he was promptly dropped to -5, with his foes trying to pummel him down to -10 HP and final death. Apparently, Benji is hard to hit when he’s sprawled upon the cold stone of a dungeon floor, as they were unable to administer a coup de gras. Jane was screaming at Benji to not go to the light, and Izzie ran up to him and poured a healing potion down his gullet, brining him back up to 1 HP. Benji probably felt like a yo-yo at this point. 

While this was going on, a curmudgeonly Ghoul was awakened in the neighbouring crypt, and he joined the fray in order to get these kids off his lawn. It silently crept up on Lindt, damaging him, but missing with its paralyzing attack. Jane threw herself into the breach, going toe to toe with the foul abomination. 

The rest of the party de-animated the skellies, and then ganged up on the ghoul, smashing it into undead pâté. Gross. 

The party also found some giant rats in a crypt and utterly destroyed them. I hand-waved the combat, since the rats would not have been able to do more than a few points of damage, so I just had everyone toll a d20, with a 1 indicating catching a disease from a rat bite. No one was infected, unfortunately. 

Next, they came upon a desecrated temple: all the wall tapestries were burned, and the altar smashed into rubble. Nesting in the ceiling were a group of Stirges (a cross between a vampire bat and a mosquito) who attacked the party. Two latched onto Izzie, draining her blood. The ensuing melee resembled a Tarantino movie, as killing a Stirge is like smashing a balloon filled with blood in my campaign, just because I like smearing blood icons all over the screen on Roll20. Benji yanked one of the Stirges off of Izzie, causing more damage to the intrepid thief. He then twisted it to death, spraying blood (most of it Izzie’s) while shaking it like a rubber bat from a C-grade (not even a B grade) horror film. Jane baseball batted one, causing it to hit the ground, leaving a skid mark of blood as it crashed into the statue in the centre of the chamber. 

Eventually, the party prevailed, spattered with an Evil Dead-worthy amount of blood. Izzie found some expensive incense in a hidden compartment in the statue. She felt bad for the god whose temple had been desecrated, so she lit a stick of incense in the remains of the altar. The lighting of the incense caught a facet of a large gem hidden in the rubble of the altar, and Izzie was blessed with a +1d6 damage to a future roll in this delve. 

Harassing south, they came across a stone bridge over a fetid trough of brackish water and detritus. It collapsed under the weight of Benji and Jane, who were unceremoniously dumped into the drink, taking damage, and infecting Benji with disease... I actually rolled the 05%! So good. Unfortunately, the disease was minor and Jane was able to cure him. However, Jane and Benji were now covered in Stirge blood and fetid, nasty water, so I offered them 50 XP from the “experience” of walking back to town line that at the end of the session. 

They then came upon a room that was an encampment of some Acolytes. They informed the party that they were from a far away temple and were looking for a man in the dungeon named Malfreces, who had been blessed by their god, but  who is unwilling to accompany the Acolytes back to their temple. They promised a substantial reward for assisting in his apprehension/persuasion. 

Another chamber appeared to be a coffin making workshop. Benji, being himself, started rooting around in the rotting wood, and was surprised by  7 giant centipedes. He was bitten three times, and had to Save vs. Poison for each bite or die. Since Benji always rolls well vs. Poison, he emerged unscathed, and the party smushed the centipedes in a couple of rounds. 

They found some more empty crypts, and one apparently full of insects which they left alone. Deciding that Level 1 was not where the loot was at, they headed down the stairs to Level 2.

Level 2 smells like a swamp. They found a table covered in silver coins, which Izzie easily determined was a trap that triggered a scythe trap in the adjoining corridor. The coins were of course, glued down, but they used the alcohol from Jane’s healing kit to dissolve the adhesive in order to take the coins. 

Another room contained a pit trap for animals, baited with a hunk of rotting meat. 

They then came across some Giant toads feeding on beetles which paid them no mind, and a room full of sleeping gas which knocked out the NPCs. It was supposed to be Save or Die gas, but I misread it. Lucky for the NPC’s, as both Buffalo and Lindt failed their saves. 

By this point, it was late and we called it. No one levelled, but all are close. They should all level after their next session.