Attending the Old School, Part 6

Here ends the story that began with two brothers inheriting the burial mound of Sir Chyde (Winter's Daughter) and continued with multiple expeditions to some nearby caves (Incandescent Grottoes) that would ultimately claim their short lives as well as the lives of their three companions.

That's right ... a TOTAL PARTY KILL. Here's what happened ...

A bystander captures the moments before a party meets its end

NOTE - Yes, there is a bit of a gap between my last Attending the Old School post and this one. The sessions ended up taking place primarily in town, dealing with the fallout of some carousing, and I didn't really have much of substance for a post. This was their first session heading back to the dungeon.

Dramatis Personae

Flynn, Level 3 Thief

Ancin, Level 2 Magic-User

Chadwick, Level 3 Cleric (NPC Follower)

Jaq, Level 1 Elf

Russell, Level 3 Fighter

Notable Events

• Returning to the crystal caves, the party headed through the troglodyte spy tunnel in the first room. There they encountered two imperial soldiers searching for Marjoram, the fugitive illusionist. The soldiers got testy and Russell intervened, and the party agreed to go back the way they came.
• Changing plans, the party ate some bubble moss and descended to the bottom of the pond in the first room. The water dumped them out into an underground river flowing north. Once they got their bearings, they found a sandy shore and climbed out of the water.
• First, they followed some tunnels north, where Ancin, Flynn, and Jaq all got themselves blinded by some sort of magic device. Still blind, Flynn and Ancin decided to feel around the walls of the room. They found an exit, as well as two incorporeal creatures that chilled them to the bone. They fled, but Ancin fell to the icy touch, dead.
• Jaq and Flynn regained their eyesight. Looking for a way out, the party all headed in the other direction, following tunnels south. They stumbled upon a crazy dreamscape. Jaq tossed a rock at the illusions, which interrupted the dream and awoke a dragon.
• The dream dragon put Flynn to sleep with its breath. The party ran back to the beach. Russell took a few slashes from the dragon's talons as he brought up the rear, hauling Flynn in his heavy armor. The dragon pursued them around the corner, caught them all together on the beach, and with another mighty breath put them all into a deep sleep.

Referee Insights

Things went south quickly for our intrepid band of adventurers. But, I don't think it had to end this way.

We make so much out of the deadliness of old school pen-and-paper RPGs. "Combat is a fail state" is a common refrain. Newcomers worry that their players - perhaps more attuned to contemporary "heroic" games - will get into fight after fight out of habit, and die in the process.

One of the first adventures that I ran with this group in the old school vein was the Lair of the Lamb (using Into the Odd). It can be fairly brutal, and I impressed that brutality upon my players: you're groping in the dark while someone beside you gets crushed to death by a monstrous lamb-beast. You don't have much more than a single dagger between all of you. Your best choice is to run.

Well, after eight sessions of Old-School Essentials, I can certainly say that I must have made an impression. This party never resorted to combat unless it was forced upon them. Take this anecdote: Russell the fighter obtained Sir Chyde's +2 sword at the beginning of the third session. He did not swing it once before he died at the end of session eight. He never even knew what he had.

The thing is, they had two chances in this final session to benefit from standing and fighting. First, with the imperial soldiers. Second, with the dragon itself.

The party - five members strong at the time - encountered two imperial guards right off the bat. They outnumbered them more than 2 to 1. The guards had an unfavorable reaction roll (a theme for the night) and ended up being quite pompous. However, the party was hesitant to kill two "official" soldiers, so they fell back and avoided a fight.

I believe they could have leveraged their superior numbers, even if they decided not to fight to kill. Wrestle them down and toss them in the water. Tie them up. Or even just call their bluff - would the soldiers really attack if the party pushed past them?

I have conditioned them to avoid fighting at all costs. I see now that maybe I should not have been so heavy-handed with my message!

The dragon fight actually started well for the party. They didn't know exactly what they were up against, but I gave them a few hints that it was something big. When they interrupted the dragon's dream and awoke it, they rolled initiative and won. But, they didn't really decide what to do. They all ran into the room, took up positions, and waited (the dragon had not yet come around the corner). I think they were waiting to see if it wanted to talk.

In the moment, it made some sense. But, of course, they stayed bunched up near the entrance. So when the dragon appears, they're all sitting ducks for it's sleep breath.

But, they get lucky with their saves! 3/4 of the party made it, with only Flynn succumbing. At this point, I admit things aren't looking great for them. However, this dragon has 20 hp. I think, for them, they see a dragon and their minds go to 80, 90, or 100 hp. They've never really been in an OSE fight against anything with more than one hit die. I don't think it occurred to them that a dragon would be under 50 hp, let alone something like 20.

If they split up and start attacking after the dragon's first attack, I think they could have forced a morale check. They only needed 10 damage, and Russell is sporting a +2 sword. But, again, here their lack of experience in OSE combat hurts them. The concept of a morale check is still a bit foreign - to them, it's either they kill it or it kills all of them, with no middle ground.

As it was, they ran. Russell in his plate armor taking up the rear. He scoops up Flynn and gets mauled from behind. But, he only ends up taking five damage in total. So, here they have another round where they could have attacked the dragon. That's three rounds where 3 out of 4 party members could have attacked. It's entirely plausible that three rounds of attacks would have slayed this dragon!

Instead, they run back to the beach by the underground river. Here is where I think they made their only true tactical error of the fight (as opposed to misjudgment). No one tried to split up, or push themselves up against the wall to hide from eyes in the other room, or jump into the rushing river. They stood on the beach and the dragon came around the corner and put them all to sleep.

I'm sad to lose this party. We will continue in the Grottoes, rolling up a new party and getting back to it, but I plan to end this series of blog posts here for now.

My journey into by-the-book Old-School Essentials was enlightening and enjoyable. It helps that Necrotic Gnome's OSE modules are top notch. There is still a lot to learn from this set of rules 40 years later. Most notably, the procedures (and the idea of procedural play) will forever change the way I run traditional fantasy pen-and-paper RPGs. I highly recommend giving it a try.