The penultimate AD&D session of this year had six players in attendance, with characters ranging from first level to ninth level, and another trip into the depths of the Caverns of the Oracle. It turned out to be quite dangerous, as a number of hellhounds attacked the party as they got closer to the levels that Hextor’s followers hold in sway. The party consisted of a thief, a wizard, a low-level assassin and a number of clerics, and they were having trouble hitting the monsters – and the hellhounds were having little trouble hitting them!
One of the interesting things about the hellhounds is that they got to breathe fire every turn in addition to their regular attack – either 7 or 4 hit points per turn (depending on whether the player’s saving throw failed or was successful), and this stripped away the hit points very quickly. A number of characters went down and needed to be healed, and – in the end – Lee’s seventh level cleric was killed!
A quick trip to the capital and the high priest of his faith cost a little time and money, but it was all in vain, as Lee’s resurrection survival check failed! (A 98% on the dice!) Lee proceeded to roll well and created a new human ranger. I allow maximum hit points at first level, so Lee’s new character has 20 hit points.
Apart from that, the group faced orcs and ogres (which they retreated from), hobgoblins and trolls (which they slew, but didn’t press on as they were quite hurt) and found a door that summoned ghasts. Not really a problem for the group as they had three clerics at the time, but the clerics chose to stand in the centre of the room where the ghasts appeared! They were fortunate to not be surprised or to lose initiative… although then a few moved into melee with the turned ghasts only to be attacked (the assassin, one of the few bow-wielding characters, was paralysed for the rest of the combat!)
Another important part of the session was when the 7th level magic-users and clerics discovering they could now scribe scrolls – something that gave me some trouble in adjudicating as the AD&D DMG is somewhat vague about the costs involved. Time and success chances? No problem! How much it costs to make the ink? No idea!
The suggested cost for a scroll of protection from petrification includes a number of odd ingredients and likely 1,000 gold pieces worth of crushed gems. Possibly. Such a scroll sells on the open market for 10,000 gold pieces. Meanwhile, spell scrolls sell for 300 gp per spell level inscribed on the scroll. At the time, I assessed that the ink for one scroll would cost 1,000 gold pieces – and could be used for up to seven spells on that scroll.
Of course, getting home I wanted to research as to if there are any better costs in any of the supplemental materials, particularly FR4 The Magister, but though it has a section on creating magic items, it doesn’t really expand on the rules that much. The original game books list 100 gold pieces/spell level, so I will likely go with that for future scribing, although their time (1 week per spell level) will be discarded for the 1 day for spell level suggested in AD&D!
So, armed with scrolls of neutralise poison and knock, the group will be better equipped for their next descent into the dungeon. I do need to keep better track of time, and I need to consider what other penalties there are for the magic-users sitting out scribing – do the other characters go down without them? It may be best to let the group decide.
Lee’s new ranger managed to get a few experience points before the session came to an end. We’d started at about 5.30 pm, had a break for dinner, and it was 10.30 pm when I ended everything as it was really obvious that everyone was tired. At least, it was obvious that I was tired (as I was experiencing it), and the others had been arguing about how to deal with a trick stairwell. For twenty minutes. When the group loses the ability to make decisions, it’s time to call it a night!
I think I need to make a copy of the advice in the Players Handbook to give out to each of the players; in particular, the section on setting goals for each expedition. This is a very old-fashioned sort of mega-dungeon game (with a lot of funhouse encounters, because that’s the sort of DM I am), and the older advice still applies.
Actually, it’s very nice to see how many players at the table have copies of the Players Handbook – I think there were three or four copies there in addition to mine. (All Gygax Memorial editions. So is mine, though I have originals). The campaign is now over two years old, and I’ve switched back to running weekly sessions. Long may it continue!