A Dungeon Runs Through It - Palasé Dungeon Crawl 2015, Part 2

This is a continuation of last week's post. 

Having found their way down the waterfall, Lady Clothilde and the rest of her band made their way around the side of the lake and into a room cloaked in magical mist. They found what appeared to be a small urn constantly filling with some sort of red liquid...

The Imperial troops found a large pile of gold and a magical portal. They began to debate the merits (and dangers) of passing through. 

One of the adventuring parties (and apologies, but their name has unfortauntely slipped my mind) lost a man to a giant face in the wall. He walked in of his own choice - heavily weighted by his fellows, of course - and failed to reappear. Not wanting to lose more of her men, the player sent her warband to investigate a pile of treasure on the other side of a rickety-looking bridge. Unexpectedly for one of Bob's games, it wasn't trapped.

The pirate goblins drifted closer towards my Salvage Company, but managed to anger a tribe of troglodytes. Their poisoned darts killed one of the crew members, who fell overboard and sunk into the murky depths. 

A second Wall of Flame sent pirates into the drink, along with a few of the other goblin gang who had crawled their way onboard. The magical boat kept drifting towards the dock, albeit with a few new passengers. 

Senator Rudiger and his men found a magical talking door that posed to them a riddle. They solved it quite handily - the answer was "Thirst" - and inside they found a magical orb. Quite the find!

The pirate captain and his first mate struggled to get over to the edge of the water, where there was a small ledge they could stand on. Deciding to investigate a small alcove, they found the nesting site of the troglodytes, including a mass of slimy eggs! This angered the dungeon dwellers, and the two goblins were swiftly turned into poison-filled pincushions. 

The dwarves had managed to find a Ring of Teleportation (that would only short out on a roll of 1 or 2 on a d20) so they started to hop around the dungeon in search of treasure. One of their finds, a large chest, acted like a portable mega-flashlight.

As it turned out, the 'Brian' I found was actually Brian van Hoose, of Knights of the Dinner Table fame, who decided to break character and offer me help in the form of a loophole or cheat with the rules. This was just at the moment when the magical boat drifted over the dock, and the goblins attacked. Brian's cheat came in handy, and for a few moments the goblins took damage from their own infighting. Unfortunately my archer took a goblin dagger to the stomach and died. 

Still curious about the man-eating face, the remaining adventures decided to go back and enter. They were transported to another section of the dungeon and reunited with the previously lost member, who had been quite worried after sitting in the dark all by himself for some time. 

One of the surviving goblins, clutching at a pillar of rocks rising from the water, was astonished to find a blue-skinned woman looking down at him. She asked him to retrieve a certain scroll from another area in the dungeon, and offered a reward. 

In a somewhat nostalgic moment, the dwarves used their Scroll of Fireball (remember that from last time?) to attack another warband, managing to kill four of them. Unfortunately, one of the dwarves had activated a trap, and had been killed when a giant bear-trap closed on him.  

An unfortunately timed 'Plot Card' - you'll remember them from some of Bob's other games - caused the magical boat to sink. The remaining goblins and the thief and fighter from my party end up in the water. 

One of the remaining goblins from the non-pirate crew saw the commotion involving the dwarves and decided that he wanted to get in on the action against his race's ancient enemies. Looking over his spell list, he decided to summon a swarm of spiders. What he got instead was a sea monster! 'Nessie' quickly laid into the dwarves, who hadn't been expecting an attack from the lake. 

Remarkably, another toot on the horn at the dock brought the magical ship back up from the depths of the lake. My men clambered back on, leaving the goblins behind. 

Lady Clothilde's group emerged from the mist - after battling a undead horror that had killed a large part of their party - only to find one of their party members had been murdered by goblins while guarding a raft. They decided to attack!

The last remaining goblin swam over to the other side of the lake and discovered a discarded urn on a pile of rocks. This urn contained a genie, who promised the goblin three wishes, and then his destruction. For the first wish, the goblin asked for the genie to disappear after the second wish. There was a moment of silence, then laughter as everyone realized this meant no third wish. 

So for his second wish, the goblin asked for his crew to be returned to life, and to have their boat back. Apparently feeling magnanimous, the genie did so without any twists. It then disappeared, taking the surprised goblin with him. I expect we'll see the two in some other game.

Another player forced his way into the sealed room in the picture above and found that it contained ghostly hounds and a pyramidal crystal. A mad dash for the crystal revealed that it, like other features in the dungeon, sent the touching party member... somewhere else. He wasn't seen again.

The last struggle of the game was between the Empire warband and the summoned lake monster. I also threw my remaining party members into the fight, but it seemed as though Nessie had the upper hand. 

At the conclusion of the game, it was determined that the dwarves had gathered the most loot, thanks in large part to the ring of teleportation they had found. 

Like all of Bob's community game, this dungeon crawl was full on unexpected surprises and some pretty funny moments. I'm eagerly waiting for the next level of the dungeon to be found, hopefully sometime next year. 

A Dungeon Runs Through It - Palasé Dungeon Crawl 2015, Part 1

Hello, and happy new year! I'm hoping everybody had a great holiday season.

Just as an aside, By Brush and Sword is now two years old! Hooray!

Almost a year ago, I wrote a blog post detailing one of Bob's community games. It was a massive dungeon crawl, filled to the brim with dangerous monsters, deadly traps, and plenty of backstabbing (and frontstabbing) from the players. 

Well, the time came once again when, thanks to the drunken exclamations of a pair of men in a local tavern, word got out that another level of the infamous Palasé Dungeon had been discovered. With the dungeon's predilection to somehow accumulating fantastic amounts of wealth in coins, jewels, important artifacts and magical items, it didn't take long for a number of dungeon-delving salvage crews to make their way down to the newest level. 

The stage was set for another rumble in the dungeon!

Last year's game featured a dungeon with plenty of rooms and constructed hallways. This year's offering was vastly different, and was fairly eye-catching from across the game store. A large part of the level of the dungeon was covered in murky water, whose depths swirled with both currents and things best unseen, flowing from left to right. While the left half of the table did have some of the classical dungeon features, the right side was dominated by a small lake. The level was dotted with a number of boats, whose use would be critical during the game. Bob also had a number of areas hidden from view, which could only have meant they contained important treasures. 

All the familiar faces from last year's game made a return, and now the goblins were options as playable characters.

Both goblin groups began the game afloat, with the pirate crew showing off a rather imposing cannon...

The other groups started in scattered locations all around the right side of the table, some uncomfortably close for comfort.  My Salvage Company Squad began the game close to the shore of the underground lake. 

The game began in a usual chaotic fashion with Lady Clothilde's party opening a grate in the sewer floor. What emerged was a pack (or a lobe?) of grells! The monsters were swiftly dispatched, although now without dealing out a few scratches to the adventurers. 

The dwarves of the Elderberg Expedition used their innate senses (and their eyes, as it was placed right in front of them) to find a pile of treasure near their entrance. However, a ghastly ghost - or a ghostly ghast - appeared and the dwarves fled. 

The Salvage Company Squad found what appeared to be a dock on the edge of the massive lake, with several odd features - a magical rune, a trapdoor and a horn. My mage sensed that some sort of powerful magic waited just around the corner. But not wanting to get his robes wet, he sent one of his lackeys. 

The source of the magic turned out to be a flying shield! Not only was it worth 5,000 gold pieces, but it also hovered around a person, giving him a defensive boost in combat. 

A warband from the Imperial Army had also descended into the dungeon, and their leader's eye was quickly caught by a strange looking fountain that burbled quietly in a dark recess. 

One of Clothilde's men - the Torchbearer, in fact - thought to make his way down the slimy waterfall to reach the lower depths of the dungeon level. Unfortunately, staring at his torch for so long meant the man's vision in the sudden darkness was rather rubbish, and he slipped and fell to his death. Luckily he had passed his torch on to another member of his party, so it wasn't extinguished when his body hit the shallow pool at the bottom. Senator Rudiger and his men watched on. 

The goblins decided to announce their presence by launching a cannonball and a fireball at the Salvage Company, killing their torchbearer! Luckily, his body was useful as a larger torch. 

The goblin's victory was short lived when the Salvage Company's mage cast a Wall of Fire directly on top of one of their ships. While the goblins managed to make it into the water, slight singed, their boat was less lucky. It caught fire and started to sink. Meanwhile, another boat appeared from the darkness, apparently summoned from the horn on the dock. The goblins, sputtering and splashing, couldn't believe their luck - another boat had appeared, ready to be boarded. 

And decided that now was better than never, the Salve Company thief opened up the trapdoor to reveal and man named Brian!

Yes, I know. Bob said he couldn't believe the coincidence either.

Well, that it's for part 1. Part 2 will be up next week, and we'll see how the exploration of the dungeons goes on.

The British Are Here! - The Battle of Concord, Part 2

This is a continuation of last week's post, which covered the beginning of Bob's Battle of Concord. Last week, we left off with a rolling battle north of Concord between the British Regulars and Colonial Militia units, a defense force in Concord, and my Light Infantry moving back into town.  

Carl and Frank had their hands full north of the river as they kept trying to push towards the final stores of colonial supplies. Unfortunately, while they did manage to push the colonial forces back several times, they could never make a decisive thrust. They were ultimately repelled. Carl and Frank decided to cut their losses and start marching their troops back to town so we could regroup and head back to Lexington. 

It soon became apparent that our escape plan was about to become much harder. A unit from Sudbury arrived and took up position on a rise watching over the path the British would need to use. 

As an aside, the line of lichen clumps represents a small (and rather scummy) stream. 

The battered British detachment made its way back over the river and into Concord, harried by colonial units. The militia were forced back by grenadier units across the water. 

The British rearguard made preparations to begin marching out of town. 

The above picture shows the British positions as the game entered its later turns. My light infantry detachment finally got back into town (without seeing a single bit of combat so far). A combined force of light and grenadier units started to engage with the Sudbury militia that had a vantage point over the British exit route. And the rearguard continued to form up.

A exchange of fire saw the Sudbury unit chased off. Luckily for the colonists, the only place the militia could retreat to was in the same direction as the British were heading! 

More colonial units kept marching onto the board, placing themselves between the oncoming British. My Light Infantry was tasked with leading the British column out of Concord, so it was up to me to break up the oncoming Americans. 

Another overhead shot. British flankers have been sent out to chase the Sudbury unit away. The small, single-man militia units that can be seen are blinds working in pairs - one is the actual unit, one isn't. Only by getting British units close enough could these blinds be revealed. 

The colonists started coming on so thick that they were blocking each others movement. Of course, this also meant that a unit retreating from a charge would stop immediately. My light infantry was stuck in the face of a colonial horde, either firing or charging to try and force them back. 

While the British were able to force the American units back, more kept appearing on our flanks, which meant we had to send out our own flankers to keep them away. Our march was quickly becoming bogged down. 

Concord was almost abandoned, with the colonial militia supplies still burning. What British companies still remained in town prepared to hold back the colonial units threatening the rear. 

Finally, we reached the game's last turn (with the sun finally setting outside the store's window. We decided to call the game a draw. While the British had managed to destroy 3 out of the 4 supply locations, they weren't going to get back to Lexington without getting absolutely mauled. There were 5 large units of colonials between the British and the exit off the table, with more coming from behind and from the side. Bob decided that the result was much like the historical outcome, with the British arriving at Lexington battered and bloodied, have not expected such fierce resistance from colonial militia.

And that was the game! Another great effort by Bob with his fantastically painted miniatures and great terrain. 

The British Are Here! - The Battle of Concord, Part 1

It's beginning to feel as though this blog would be completely dead if it weren't for Bob and his big community games. Maybe I should give the man a byline?

Nevertheless, Bob once again ran a session at 7th Dimension Games. This time it was the Battle of Concord - no Lexington. In the wake of a night full of distress calls, alarms, and lit candles in windows signalling the approach of the British, the Redcoats had arrived in force to investigate certain rumors of possible colonial supply and arms stores in the area. The British would have to move quickly - hordes of militia and Minutemen were converging on Concord, and the small force would quickly be outnumbered. 

I would be commanding the British along with two other players - Carl and Frank. We decided to split our force into three groups. Carl and I would both take detachments of light infantry and make a quick march to the supply stores, investigate them, destroy whatever we found, and then quickly return. Frank took the bulk of the detachment - made up of grenadiers - and would use them to both secure and investigate the town. Bob pointed out, to our amusement, that this was essentially the same plan the British used. 

We hoped that the result would be more in our favor. 

The above picture shows the beginning positions of the British. Light infantry lead the column, followed by the grenadiers. Another group of light infantry was waiting just off the road. Mounted officers stood atop the hill, while those on foot were mixed into the column. Wagons waited to cart off the wounded.

For the British, each grouping of two stands formed a company. The Americans would differ in that their 'groups' could consist of as many as twelve stands! However, the British officers would allow 'detachments' of stands to all take the same action at once, such as moving, charging, or firing. 

Carl's light infantry headed north over the bridge to one of the objectives. Grenadiers moved in behind them to secure the bridge, and both groups were watched carefully by the first groups of milita. Both sides were reluctant to open fire first, so the beginning turns of the game consisted mostly of movement.

Since units couldn't move through one another, Frank had to get a company of grenadiers out of the way of my light infantry. Hoping to deter another group of colonists, he put them in line just off the road. 

And my boys were off and down the road, their boots kicking up dirt into the early April air. 

Unfortunately, they were followed by the group of colonial militia, who quickly set up on the only bridge that my men could cross back to Concord. The colonials celebrated this early, minor victory. 

North of Concord, a large group of militia had gathered to stymie British progress. Again, as neither side wanted to be the one to fire the first shot and thus be labelled the aggressors, the British prepared to fix bayonets to see the colonists off. 

Frank decided that leaving the bridge in the hands of the militia wasn't a good idea - especially so early in the game, when we knew more militia would be arriving later - so his grenadiers fixed their bayonets and charged. They forced the militia off the bridge and sent them running into Concord with many dead and wounded at their feet. They unexpectedly took casualties of their own, however, and the shock of the militia's ferocity sent the redcoats in a brief retreat. 

Bob determined that some shots - famously heard 'round the world - had been fired in the melee south of Concord, and so the militia on the north side of the river, already on edge, opened fire on the approaching British. 

Taken by surprise, the light infantry fell back and regrouped with some grenadiers that Frank had sent across the bridge. The larger British detachment then attempted to move back into battle with the militia. 

Thus began a rolling fight between a combined force of British light infantry and grenadiers, and an ever-increasing amount of colonists. American units broke several times, but their greater numbers meant that there was always another unit to either fill the gap or threaten a British flank. 

My detachment of light infantry had a relatively easy time. They made it to the forge and discovered that the colonists had hidden a few cannons. They were destroyed, but in the process the forge was accidentally set alight. Deciding not to risk any of my men putting it out, I had my column about face and prepare to march back. 

And while the fighting raged across the river north of Concord, fires blazed in the town as Frank's grenadiers discovered and destroyed supplies meant to aid colonial resistance. 

And so we leave the battle for now. Part 2 will come out next week with the game's conclusion.