I wasn’t meant to be running AD&D this week, but a lack of players for Paul’s 4E campaign saw me volunteering my services for some more AD&D play. Unfortunately, it also transpired that although I had the campaign notes, I didn’t have the dungeon maps. As the maps are a fair sight more important than the notes, it looked like the Caverns of the Oracle would be off-limits this session.

Unfortunately for my players, I had brought in my newly-arrived copy of Rappan Athuk, in the Swords & Wizardry edition. And so that’s where I sent them, with the explanation that the Oracle had revealed that one of the keys they were seeking was in the infamous Dungeon of Graves.

At the time Rappan Athuk was first published in the early days of the 3E-era, I was relatively poor, and was never able to obtain a copy, despite my interest in the work. I later picked up a pdf-version of the 3.5E version, but at the time didn’t need such a work in my games. This AD&D campaign I’ve now been running for more than a year, in contrast, is the perfect place for such a dungeon to exist. And so, sitting on the coast of Ratik, I’ve placed the Dungeon of Graves and that was where the group travelled for this week’s adventure.

We had five players this session:

·         Paul, playing Grak, the half-orc fighter 6 who owns a vorpal sword.

·         Clayton, who didn’t have his character sheet with him from last week, so created a new elven fighter 1/thief 1.

·         Reece, playing Xury, his Halfling thief 7

·         Shane, playing Edward, his human magic-user 7, and

·         Jesse, playing his human magic-user 7

The first thing they did upon reaching the graveyard, underneath which the dungeon is located, was to investigate the well. (As of yet, they haven’t heard tales of what happens to adventurers who disappear down its shaft). Upon discovering there were large clawmarks on the interior of the well, they wisely decided to investigate elsewhere.

A few grim chuckles were gained from the players upon inspecting a few headstones, and the group investigated the two smaller mausoleums. They were quite unable to enter one of the buildings, but the other’s lock was unpicked by Xury and its contents, such as they were, were investigated. Nothing but rubble, thoroughly looted, awaited the group.

 

The group paid scant attention to the dwarf statue, taking its inscription as a warning to be paid heed to, which makes a lot of sense given their location, and instead they went towards the main mausoleum, with Latud flying up on his broom of flying for some early reconnaissance. Alas, the gargoyles perched about the top of the building were not purely decorative. Latud was unable to recite the words of a fireball spell on his unstable perch, so flew back down. It was up to the other magic-user in the party. Edward cast a magic missile spell from his staff, dealing a puny 3 damage to one gargoyle.

I couldn’t believe it: no fireball? As a result, the combat turned against the party. Xury was able to use his cloak of elvenkind to hide from the gargoyles, Edward used invisibility, but Latud was swarmed by gargoyles and knocked unconscious, Clayton’s elf was slain, and what was left was Grak with his vorpal sword, which proved enough for the group’s eventual victory.

The group, hurt and in need of healing, packed up and returned to the nearby town of Zelkor’s Ferry to seek a replacement for Clayton’s thief. We persuaded Clayton to create a cleric, Sigtrygg, and after everyone was healed, the group headed back.

Along the way, we ascertained that Shane had actually forgotten to prepare the fireball spell. He fixed that for the next trip, and the gargoyles – which had been replaced – were no match for both Latud and Edward casting the spell on them, although a couple survived long enough to give Xury and Grak a few nasty scratches. Now the main mausoleum was open to the group, as long as they could pick the lock, which Xury could.

The group saw a sarcophagus, and decided to loop a rope around the top to pull it off. After I explained the problem with that (nowhere to attack the rope), the doors slammed shut and locked. Xury opened the lock again, but the doors wouldn’t swing open… and either they were getting shorter or the floor was getting higher! That it was a death-trap was soon ascertained by the party, and they began frantically searching for a way out, as Grak threw the lid off the sarcophagus to be greeted by the sight of a Black Skeleton. He fought it in single combat as the rest of the group searched, and a good hit from his vorpal sword decapitated it as Clayton’s cleric discovered a trapdoor in the floor. The group quickly escaped down that before it too was blocked.

There now was no way out of the dungeon. They had to go forward, and that they did. This first level was mostly abandoned, though with a number of features to examine, and a horrible smell filling the air. After exploring a few rooms – and taking note of the large holes in the walls – they group became aware of a strange shimmering in the air coming up the stairs, inside which was held bones and coins. In fact, it was a gelatinous cube, and it managed to paralyse Latud before it was slain by everyone else.

The stairs proved to be trapped, with Latud springing the trap (fourth to step on the stair, unlucky guy!), and found his foot caught by poisoned spikes: if he tried to extricate himself, he’d poison himself! Luckily for him, Xury is very, very good at removing traps and was able to do so.

Avoiding the next trap to come their way, Xury took a deck of cards from a grinning skeleton, and Grak discovered yet another trap – a pit trap! – as he went to investigate the source of a tapping noise, which proved to be water dripping into a bowl. The party was now properly paranoid, and low on healing.

Heading onwards, they came to a large cavern in which were many rats and a young half-elven woman being menaced by them. The woman ran out of the chamber as the rats turned on the party, but the rats were no match for this group. They went to reassure the woman that they were safe, but discovered that she had led them into a trap; she and her four companions all turning into rat-human hybrids and attacking! Unfortunately for the rats, they were caught in a stinking cloud spell and were then able to be slain by the group – though not before Sigtrygg foolishly ran into the cloud and was likewise nauseated.

 

The group were able to gain the rats’ treasure: a set of boots of elvenkind and a scroll with anti-magic shell on it. Xury took the boots, very happy to have both the boots and the cloak. He was also able to find a dwarf’s skeleton and its treasure, guarded by more rats, which Grak was easily able to dispatch.

Going back northwards, the group managed to find the dung monster, which began to chase them through the dungeon. Luckily for the group, they had enough time and space to outrun this strange oozy creature, and Xury lucked upon a rat tunnel that was wide enough for them to squeeze through, and which eventually led to the surface.

Feeling somewhat lucky to be alive, and wanting nothing more to do with the dungeon for now, the group headed back to Zelkor’s Ferry for a hot bath.