Diary of Pain #2
Justisaur
Dianne: “Check the door.”
The slight Elf removed her helm revealing a shock of weird blue-green
hair, and stuck her ear up to the door, then looked around the door
jam, and declared “Looks clear. It’s open.” After donning her helm
she stood aside and holding her hands out toward the door she said
“After you, Pain.” Tapping her foot impatiently.
I opened the door, and there was another room, again filled with
shit. “I hope we make enough to pay for some disease cures, we’re
going to need it with all this shit.” I said softly.
Again we searched finding nothing this time, although one of the
sorceresses started digging some of the shit up and dumping it in a
pouch. Cora said to her “Eugh, why are you doing that?”
“Bat guano, extremely valuable to mages.”
“Oh!” said the Elf, with a grin from ear-to ear and started in digging
the stuff up too. I shrugged and dug in. After we dug up what we
could Dianne said “Well, we’ve got more than we can carry, lets at
least go and get some more equipment for this. We’d got about a
hundred pounds of the stuff after scraping up what we could.
After returning to the city above and selling our loot of shit to the
mages’ guild I was terribly surprised how much we’d come out with,
well over 200 gold crowns a piece.
The Elf thanked the sorceress “Thank you so much, what a wonderful
amount of money Janries!”
There was a party held in her honor, and I wouldn’t forget her name
after that. Jane.
Unfortunately I woke up the next morning with my eyes burning, and a
high fever. I don’t remember much for awhile, but after the fever had
passed it was two weeks of forced bed rest. Cora tended to me
tenderly, but was quite forceful at keeping me in bed
“You must rest, if you don’t you might lose your sight!”
I’d picked up a bad case of pink-eye from the shit. Youlookin’ and
Lora had picked up something too; I hadn’t connected names to faces
yet, but was able to get out of Cora that was the Elf and the other
Sorceress. A month of quarantine had put a good dent in our new-
found funds. 63 Gold Crowns of my share!
“It’s far less than the thousand it would have cost to cure you at the
temple!” Cora let me know.
A bit sullen, but I was recovered, and everyone was itching to recover
some funds we returned to the crypt.
Our Elf looked at the door out of the room last found and again found
nothing there.
I opened the door, entering a small room; it didn’t look like anything
there and no other exits. It would be a tight fit to get everyone
in. After half of us were in, I could tell something was wrong, and
started to raise my hand, it was too late though, bullets and spears
came through the left wall at us, one dropped Youlookin’, another hit
Meathook he let out a yelp and blood splattered on me from him. Four
goblins followed the barrage, all attacking me, I was lost
consciousness as they slammed into me. As I dropped into and out of
consciousness I could see Cora & Meathook taking it back to the
goblins savagely, One dropped before Meathook.
Diane took over, yelling out to holly to protect me and Laura to aid
me and Jane to aid Youlookin’ while taking up position beside
Meathook. They took out another goblin, then a couple more as more
streamed through the wall. Meathook wen’t down, and Dianne took a bad
cut, but kept fighting.
Laura took up position over Meathook while Jane aided him. Laura
took a hit from a morning star, but still stood, pretty tough for a
Sorceress. Dianne took blow after blow and finally went down below
the onslaught, Goblins went down but more came, when there were only
two left they surrendered. I finally passed out at that point.
I woke up again a little later, being stripped down. They were doing
that to Dianne too. “Wha, what’s going on?”
“I healed you. You’ll be too weak to do much besides move yourself for
awhile, so we’re stripping you and Diane down. We’ll have to carry
Youlookin’ and Meathook out, I didn’t have enough healing for them
too.”
“Oh.. Thanks again” I smiled weakly at her. I didn’t see the
surrendered goblins, I wondered what had happened, but didn’t think
it’d be a good idea to ask.
It took another week of rest before I felt better. We didn’t get much
off of the goblins, and after another week of rest we were down 17
more gold crowns a piece.
We returned to the crypt, a bit more sour after that last trip, but
more careful.
Shortly after we’d entered and started retracing our steps we were set
upon by Hobgoblins in the first hall. Their blows fell on my armor,
eventually one got through, and I went down again, I was still
somewhat conscious, but couldn’t move on my own. Holly stepped over me
and hit one of the front hobgoblins, while Diane pulled me back and
started to aid me.
Holly went down, Cora moved up to take her place, while Laura pulled
Holly back. Jane threw a molitov at the back row, but hit the wall
to the right, at least some of the fire splashed on them though, they
shouted something in Hobgoblin as the first rank one on the right went
down from the fire. They exchanged blows, Cora was hurt. Diane
cast a spell that outlined one of the Hobgoblins in a green fiery
glow.
Jane threw another molitov at them, but it didn’t break, and Cora
healed herself with a spell just in time to get hit again. Meathook
took one more of them down at last. The remaining 2 turned tail and
tried to flee, but an arrow from Youlookin took one out while the
other Cora bashed down as he turned.
I woke up awhile later again in the same predicament, armor being
removed
“You’re starting to make a habit of getting badly hurt, do try to
stop.” Cora said.
Justisaur
> “Oh!” said the Elf, with a grin from ear-to ear and started in digging
> the stuff up too. I shrugged and dug in. After we dug up what we
> could Dianne said “Well, we’ve got more than we can carry, lets at
> least go and get some more equipment for this. We’d got about a
> hundred pounds of the stuff after scraping up what we could.
Rolled Guano for dungeon dressing, I just made a guess as to how much
there was, since there wasn't any indication of how much, it was way
too much in retrospect on the one hand, on the other AD&D is extremely
expensive.
> After returning to the city above and selling our loot of shit to the
> mages’ guild I was terribly surprised how much we’d come out with,
> well over 200 gold crowns a piece.
Found a dragon article rating it at 10gp per oz, sold it at 1/5.
Selling at 1/5 might be a bit low for 1e though, maybe I'll switch to
1/2
> Unfortunately I woke up the next morning with my eyes burning, and a
> high fever. I don’t remember much for awhile, but after the fever had
> passed it was two weeks of forced bed rest. Cora tended to me
> tenderly, but was quite forceful at keeping me in bed
/sarcasm
Yea for 1e diseases!
/sarcasm off
> I’d picked up a bad case of pink-eye from the shit. Youlookin’ and
> Lora had picked up something too; I hadn’t connected names to faces
> yet, but was able to get out of Cora that was the Elf and the other
> Sorceress. A month of quarantine had put a good dent in our new-
> found funds. 63 Gold Crowns of my share!
Couldn't find info on Inn stay costs for 1e so used the 3e version, I
only accounted for 1 meal though, oops. I fixed that later... good
thing there was all that money from the guano. The DM giveth, the DM
taketh away.
>
> “It’s far less than the thousand it would have cost to cure you at the
> temple!” Cora let me know.
Yeah, that.
> I opened the door, entering a small room; it didn’t look like anything
> there and no other exits. It would be a tight fit to get everyone
> in. After half of us were in, I could tell something was wrong, and
> started to raise my hand, it was too late though, bullets and spears
> came through the left wall at us, one dropped Youlookin’, another hit
> Meathook he let out a yelp and blood splattered on me from him. Four
> goblins followed the barrage, all attacking me, I was lost
> consciousness as they slammed into me. As I dropped into and out of
> consciousness I could see Cora & Meathook taking it back to the
> goblins savagely, One dropped before Meathook.
Illusionary Wall with 12 Goblins behind it. I wasn't really sure how
to handle the surprise btb but it looked like neither side was
surprised, and PCs won initiative but had failed the listen check and
there wasn't anything for them to react to until the goblins acted.
> It took another week of rest before I felt better. We didn’t get much
> off of the goblins, and after another week of rest we were down 17
> more gold crowns a piece.
Yea, so much for no 1 encounter days, actually it's worse, it's 1
encounter weeks since you need a week of rest after going to 0 or
below.
> Shortly after we’d entered and started retracing our steps we were set
> upon by Hobgoblins in the first hall. Their blows fell on my armor,
> eventually one got through, and I went down again, I was still
> somewhat conscious, but couldn’t move on my own. Holly stepped over me
> and hit one of the front hobgoblins, while Diane pulled me back and
> started to aid me.
2 effective rounds of surprise on the PCs. But Holly & Diane's Dex was
high enough to act in the second segment.
> Holly went down, Cora moved up to take her place, while Laura pulled
> Holly back. Jane threw a molitov at the back row, but hit the wall
> to the right, at least some of the fire splashed on them though, they
> shouted something in Hobgoblin as the first rank one on the right went
> down from the fire. They exchanged blows, Cora was hurt. Diane
> cast a spell that outlined one of the Hobgoblins in a green fiery
> glow.
I'm not sure I'm doing the oil right either, but it was still
dangerous.
> Jane threw another molitov at them, but it didn’t break, and Cora
> healed herself with a spell just in time to get hit again. Meathook
> took one more of them down at last. The remaining 2 turned tail and
> tried to flee, but an arrow from Youlookin took one out while the
> other Cora bashed down as he turned.
The oil vial made it's save of 19 to avoid breakage, it actually would
have been worse for the party as it came up short.
> I woke up awhile later again in the same predicament, armor being
> removed
>
> “You’re starting to make a habit of getting badly hurt, do try to
> stop.” Cora said.
Yeah, another week of Inn costs ahead, I think the Inkeep is the only
one profiting from this adventure.
I'm not caring too much for 1e btb, definitely feeling like it was
nostalgia, I know I can't go back to this edition permanently at this
point. The basic play was much better, I might be able to manage
BECMI or something similar (like my modified Swords & Wizardry which
still needs a lot of work, if not too much) though.
Multiclassing isn't as bad as I remember. I don't like ability score
minimums for races & classes, I don't like the crappy spells magic-
users start out with, there's not really been any point for any of the
3 magic users to cast any of their spells so far. The tables aren't
as good as I remember, and there's some basic stuff missing I'm
surprised isn't there like the cost of inn stays. Everything feels
very clunky, I forgot to use the weapon vs. armor table which might
have helped the PCs. You need a large party just to barely survive a
couple small encounters, and time passes very quickly in comparison.
Setup time is pretty bad for monsters & characters.
4e is looking pretty good in respect to this. I was mentally
complaining about not being able to run a small party in 4e, but look
I had to make a party of 7 to have a decent chance in 1e, and they
don't feel like real characters to me compared to the ones I made in
the 4e solo run, or even the ones in Basic!
- Justisaur
tussock
> Found a dragon article rating it at 10gp per oz, sold it at 1/5.
> Selling at 1/5 might be a bit low for 1e though, maybe I'll switch
> to 1/2
Uh, no. Everything in 1e is sale price. DMG 90 suggests taxes both
ways of up to 10% for foreigners, ontop of 5% for compulsory money
changing. But basically, if you find a few ton of guano, you're supposed
to go up a level and be /really/ rich.
It's not like it matters, you can't buy anything of real use, and the
training rules eat money like crazy (it's barely possible for a strait
rogue to train at all for the first few levels). Oh, and PC expenses are
a minimum of 100gp per level per month, DMG 25.
> Illusionary Wall with 12 Goblins behind it. I wasn't really sure how
> to handle the surprise btb but it looked like neither side was
> surprised, and PCs won initiative but had failed the listen check and
> there wasn't anything for them to react to until the goblins acted.
1e ambushes have no listen rolls, the goblins just get an increased
chance of causing surprise by being in a favorable position. If the PC's
weren't surprised and won initiative, the game's implying that they know
where the goblins are coming from and hit them first.
> [...] I was mentally complaining about not being able to run a small
> party in 4e, but look had to make a party of 7 to have a decent chance
> in 1e, and they don't feel like real characters to me compared to the
> ones I made in the 4e solo run, or even the ones in Basic!
If you want to compare to 4e, start them at 4000 XP. AD&D is /hard/
at low levels, though that 18/9x Str will destroy everything in your path
if you ever survive the surprise round. Two-Handed swords *rock* using
the weapon vs armour tables, BTW, although you'll want a proper tin
opener if you ever face someone in plate (unless you just net them).
I would suggest grappling vs plate, but, well, even the later
versions are pretty hardcore.
Oh, and you don't use 7 PCs, you use 4 PCs with 3 henchmen and a
dozen mercenaries and hirelings, plus dogs, mounts, and beasts of burden;
and so your side gets to use the morale rules. At least, you do once you
have that guano mine set up and can afford it all.
Expect the price of guano to collapse locally, setting up the need
for a protected trade route, and then you're off playing AD&D.
--
tussock
Justisaur
> Justisaur wrote:
> > Found a dragon article rating it at 10gp per oz, sold it at 1/5.
> > Selling at 1/5 might be a bit low for 1e though, maybe I'll switch
> > to 1/2
>
> Uh, no. Everything in 1e is sale price. DMG 90 suggests taxes both
> ways of up to 10% for foreigners, ontop of 5% for compulsory money
> changing. But basically, if you find a few ton of guano, you're supposed
> to go up a level and be /really/ rich.
O.K. I did seem to remember the sale prices being not much different,
but it's been a long time.
> It's not like it matters, you can't buy anything of real use, and the
> training rules eat money like crazy (it's barely possible for a strait
> rogue to train at all for the first few levels). Oh, and PC expenses are
> a minimum of 100gp per level per month, DMG 25.
Interesting. That's pretty close to the 3.5 per day I came up with
from 3e at least at 1st level. Strange that costs go up as you level,
I suppose I can see it though. If they hadn't found all that guano
they'd be destitute, not sure what happens if you can't afford your
upkeep. Low level is rough!
> > Illusionary Wall with 12 Goblins behind it. I wasn't really sure how
> > to handle the surprise btb but it looked like neither side was
> > surprised, and PCs won initiative but had failed the listen check and
> > there wasn't anything for them to react to until the goblins acted.
>
> 1e ambushes have no listen rolls, the goblins just get an increased
> chance of causing surprise by being in a favorable position. If the PC's
> weren't surprised and won initiative, the game's implying that they know
> where the goblins are coming from and hit them first.
>
Sorry, "Hear Noise" at the door. So I probably should have assigned
at 5 in 6 surprise chance (which appears to be max in 1e), and they
would have acted first anyway.
> I would suggest grappling vs plate, but, well, even the later
> versions are pretty hardcore.
I thought about having the goblins grapple, I'm not sure it would have
done them any good since both had reasonably high numbers. Plus I
would have had to figure out grappling.
>
> Oh, and you don't use 7 PCs, you use 4 PCs with 3 henchmen and a
> dozen mercenaries and hirelings, plus dogs, mounts, and beasts of burden;
> and so your side gets to use the morale rules. At least, you do once you
> have that guano mine set up and can afford it all.
Yeah, I looked a the cost of finding henchmen and it was pretty high.
> Expect the price of guano to collapse locally, setting up the need
> for a protected trade route, and then you're off playing AD&D.
:)
Well I did bring along one dog for the Druid (MM has war dog & dog,
while PHB has guard dog and hunting dog with no stats). 1e really has
a feel of gaming the system just to survive with all that vs. later
editions.
- Justisaur