Barrow Maze with Labyrinth Lord

gandalf_scion

*eyeroll*
Fellow Travelers, we're forming a new LL campaign in Arlington, Virginia. If you live nearby and want to join feel free to drop me a line. We'll start with Gillespie's Barrow Maze on November 17.
 

gandalf_scion

*eyeroll*
While preparing to referee for Barrowmaze, I created the following alternative for table 2 - tavern patrons. The original table calls for 34 percentile dice rolls to determine who is present - one of the adventure's few flaws. My redesign requires 12 rolls at most, usually less.
 

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The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
Helpful, thanks! My only concern is there's still a really high probability of a 'rare' guest. I used the original tables ahead of time per the author's recommendations and it ended up a real mess and a not very realistic mix at the bar, so this is definitely an improvement!
 

gandalf_scion

*eyeroll*
Right, I changed the "Rare" table so there's a 25% chance none of them show. One could increase the "no show" chance by using a bigger die and having more of the outlier results fall under the "none" rule.

Rare Visitors, roll d8-1 to select one or none as present.
0 None
1 Mazzahs the Magnificent
2 Yusef, second son of Hendon
3 Alzo Danuth (50% in disguise)
4 Renata the Robber in disguise
5 Urnst Gunter (50% in disguise)
6 Lord Krell Ironguard
7 None
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
Someone helpfully mapped Barrowmaze out for VTT btw. Sorry, I can't find the link right now, it's out there, I swear!
 

gandalf_scion

*eyeroll*
Just wrapped up our first adventure in Barrowmaze Complete by Greg Gillespie with Labyrinth Lord rules; here’s how it went.

We started at noon with four players between the ages of 30-50, three old schoolers and one 5e guy. They made an elf (race as class), a dwarf, (race as class), a dwarf fighter, and a dwarf fighter cleric. Therefore, a letter from Karg Barrelgut (the NPC dwarf in the adventure) was the logical hook. He asked his companions (the PC dwarves) to come and “scare straight” his young apprentice dwarf, Gern, who was thinking of adventure among the Barrow Mounds. Barrelgut wanted his PC companions to bring Gern along, as mule handler, on a foray to scare the wander lust out of him so he would instead focus on smithing.

After conversations in Helix with Karg the Smith, Taycee the Barmaid, and Urnst Gunther (the assassin from Bogtown) players learned something about the journey ahead. Taycee liked the big tippers and laughed when they called her “tasty” (true old school) so she revealed rumors about alters, runic tablets, and the need to bring along digging tools. Urnst reinforced the call for stone breaking tools (to crack those stone seals) while taking notes for future reference when he might ambush treasure-laden players returning from a foray. Karg noted that Gern could guide players to the mounds, but should be left with the mule (carrying the big gear) and then return home scarred stiff so that he would never “adventure” again. The precocious Gern made his own side deal with the PCs for 5% of their haul in return for his guide service.

Off the party went with Gern and gear mule in tow. They bolted back to town at the first sight of skeletons in the swamp! After a full day of “recovery” they went back out. Thanks to a longbow, they dispatched three giant frogs on their way to the mounds. On the Barrow Mounds Map, they checked out areas 9, 10, 11, 12, 1, and 2 in that order. Since 9 was covered, they left it alone and moved on. From 10 they recovered eight valuable amphorae, four of which later broke during combat. At 11, the Elf PC cursed his failure to learn the spell comprehend languages (he failed his 70% chance to learn roll) when confronted with runes in Black Tongue! They understood 12 was an entrance to the “dungeon” and wisely decided to come back later. From 1 they recovered 50 gold and twice as much in amphorae. They easily defeated the lone Zombie at 2 before taking his magic ring and valuable necklace. Along the way, via random encounters (wandering monsters), they defeated three toads, six skeletons, and slipped past four frogmen. The toad fight was dangerous, two players suffered several hit points of damage each. Thankfully, the dwarven cleric worked his magic to plus them up with cure light wounds.

We wrapped up at 3 PM (three hours total playing time, but it felt like 30 minutes) with 270 XP and about as much gold to each player. It was a blast. We hope to gather again in two weeks! If you are in the Arlington, VA area and want to join, let me know.

Thirty years ago, I had to put all this aside to go to college. Since then, career and family have consumed most of my time. The fact that I can come back and have so much fun says something very positive about the genius of Mr. Gygax. Hail to the Chief!
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
Our Gern is currently missing presumed dead among the mounds. Barrelgut is dragging his heals on armour commissions until that mystery is solved. They spotted the Miller's boy trying to escape the company of bandits in a wilderness ambush; presumably press-ganged. Some really bad rolling allowed the bandit leader to escape into the marshes with the young scout in tow.

The PC's did the CRPG thing and talked to every NPC in town before heading out for adventure so I thought 'what the hell' and gave them ALL the hooks lol.
 

Serensius

A FreshHell to Contend With
Sounds like a great session!

From 10 they recovered eight valuable amphorae, four of which later broke during combat
A fun little detail. Is that a rule in LL, or a ruling you made on the spot?
 

gandalf_scion

*eyeroll*
Sounds like a great session!

A fun little detail. Is that a rule in LL, or a ruling you made on the spot?
That's a rule from the Barrow Maze module itself. As a I recall, any amphorae has a 50% chance of breaking if carried/worn during combat.

Stay tuned, next session is this Sunday, more to follow...
 

gandalf_scion

*eyeroll*
Just finished Barrowmaze session two in 2.5 hours, here’s how it went.

The party of three dwarves and an elf rallied in Helix. They parted with Gern and hired an experienced animal handler to manage two pack mules and a war dog. This combined team stayed in the village for several days to reequip and build bonds. The PCs visited Mazzahs in his tower to have their magic ring (+1 protection) identified and share stories of their foray. He invited them to come back with more treasure for sale/evaluation after future expeditions. The PCs again turned a blind eye to another adventuring party in the Brazen Strumpet.

Our dwarves, elf, handler, mules, and war dog then set off determined to explore the tunnels they found last time under mound 12. On the way, they dispatched a wild boar (my replacement for the prescribed crocodiles) and warded off some pterodactyls. They left the handler, war dog, and mules in the “cover” of mound 12 while they delved into the dungeon.

The PCs explored these barrowmaze rooms in the order indicated: 1, 2, 3, 4, 20 (D1 and Q2), 5, 6, 11, 9 and 10. Players used the melee mat and miniatures to leverage ad-hoc tactics without cumbersome rules. They employed forward movement and fighting retreats to position themselves at doorways through which only a limited number of foes could attack them. In this way, they fought numerically superior forces in series, only two at a time, and so prevailed under difficult circumstances. Similarly, mapping on the melee mat facilitated visualization for better exploration.

Some highlights follow. Two PCs (the front rank) battled the seven skeletons in area 2 while their comrades scrambled to raise the stone slab that split the party; see attached pic. They succeeded so that the fab four reunited to finish the skeletons. At 20 D1 they defeated four zombies. In the crypt beyond, 20Q2, they puzzled over the four black velvet funerary boxes. Opening all four at once was a thought in the right direction, but the PCs failed to search under the boxes to find the lever compartments. So the secret door beyond remained hidden. The skulls on the table in 6 baffled the team. They found the secret door in 9 to enter 10 where a should-have-worked turn attempt against zombies failed! There the elf fell in combat, but lived due to my house rule allowing those who fall to 0 to escape death, and merely fall unconscious, with a successful d100 system shock check. After defeating the zombies, they searched 145 octagonal burial alcoves to find the silver bracelet and coins. Along the way, the dungeon dressing and graffiti tables yielded a mysterious trail of flesh and bone along with “Cannot get out!” scribbled on one wall.

Depleted, the party returned to the surface where they found the mules and dog dead with the handler missing. Wandering zombies and a coffer corpse had finished them off! Still, the party made it back to Helix, by sidestepping some crocs, to heal and prepare for their third foray two weeks from today.
 

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gandalf_scion

*eyeroll*
Barrowmaze is a very good product and well worth the price, but it does have some blemishes that require attention. Although it gets most things right most of the time, there are some issues with too many tables, some of which are odd, as well as some “slips” in encounter descriptions.

After much preparation and two sessions I can attest that the proliferation of tables requires a lot of page flipping during play – even after I printed additional copies – which could be addressed by simply reducing the number of tables. For example, the Barrow Moors, the Barrow Mounds, and the dungeon all have separate tables for random encounters. I know that “sounds” great, but in practice it’s too much to manage along with dungeon dressing and graffiti tables! I don’t think better layout can fix this as with my added prints I could view four tables at once and still struggled. A better solution would be fewer tables; but apply modifiers for different conditions. For example, why not have one “outside” table for the moor and mounds and one “underground” table for the dungeon. The tables could include modifiers for different locations, character levels, etc. Similarly, dungeon dressing and graffiti could be combined into a single table.

And some tables are just impractical. You’ve already seen how I addressed the Brazen Strumpet Random Patron Generator; the original table requires WAY TOO MUCH dice rolling, even if one does it before play. Here again, the solution is consolidation, but this time within a single table. For example, rather than roll for the 95% presence of each bar staffer, just assume most are present and randomly determine which one is absent with a single die roll. Also, does anyone spend 95% of their time at work? When do these people sleep, tend to personal business, or just go AWOL? At work, I’m overjoyed if my staff is present 95% of the time between 9-5, and I have zero expectation of seeing them outside of those hours. Similarly, some of the “rare” visitors have a 1% chance of showing. Why roll for that? Just put all the “rare” visitors on one roster, assume most are absent, and determine which one is present with a single die roll; and that same single roll can include the possibility that none are present.

For the most part, Barrowmaze encounter descriptions are top notch and avoid so many common flaws, but not always. Here’s a (rare) example of a booby trap that could trip the DM during play.

6. This room is empty. Three polished skulls sit on a dusty table. The secret door leads to a small area where a tomb-robber crawled away from combat and died. He wears a dark yellow striped tunic. In his boney hands he still holds a torch stub and a bag with 15pp.

OK, this room is NOT empty, so why begin with that sentence? “Three polished skulls sit on a dusty table,” should be the first sentence. Then some sort of break should follow so the DM does not accidentally blurt about the “secret door.” This “comingling” of public and private text always bothers me; it was way too common in early D&D and somehow persists even in better products today. This is a great argument for boxed text! I don’t want a boxed dissertation, but if “Three polished skulls…” was boxed, or set off in some other way, and that was done consistently in all descriptions then we could routinely distinguish between “classified” material and public facing stuff at a glance.

I also detect a couple of faux pas on the Barrow Mounds map. The starting point is in the southwest corner, but the players are coming from the north (Helix). So, they’d have to walk a big fishhook pattern in the moors for that to be spatially consistent. Not a big deal, that’s why I called it a faux pas. Also, the Barrow Mounds use an indoor distance scale on an outdoor map. The listed scale is one hex = 50 feet, but Labyrinth Lord (and 1e) both use yards outside. I really like that old conversion, it makes a lot of sense, so I notice these “scale” issues that others often overlook.

In sum, Barrowmaze is an accomplishment to be proud of and well worth the price, but not flawless. Good thing the hiccups are easy to fix.
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
After much preparation and two sessions I can attest that the proliferation of tables requires a lot of page flipping during play – even after I printed additional copies – which could be addressed by simply reducing the number of tables.
Agreed. I printed out all the tables, NPC's and NPC parties, maps, illustrations etc and stuffed them in a well-tagged binder for ready reference at the table... and STILL by the end of every session I end up with loose sheets lying about the place while I hunt desperately for the graffiti table or the Barrow MARSH rather than the Barrow MOOR random encounter table... It's a headache.
When the adventure is underway though, it's a beauty. So much to interact with!
 

gandalf_scion

*eyeroll*
Barrowmaze Session Three played in three hours...

Only two of the usual four players attended today, so the participants hired three men-at-arms from the mercenary guild to bolster their strength. To speed things up, I reasoned their past battles in the bog had so thinned the “wandering monster” population along their well-worn path that they need not check this time. My players, both lifelong role-players, welcomed the expedient and didn’t bother to socialize in the town or examine other mounds; they just wanted to get back “into the dungeon.” We had a blast!

Once underground, they retraced their steps to area 20 and jumped off from there to explore these areas in the order indicated: 23b, 19c, 19d, 23a, 23c, 23d, 23, 26, 26Q3, 26D2, 26Q1, 22, 24, 25, 19, 19a, 19b, 14, 18, 16, 59c, 39 pit trap, 74g, 72, 71, and 70.

The action started with fighting six mongrel men in 23b. One player and one man-at-arms went down (0 hit points), unconscious vice dead since they made their death saves (house rule). The team, however, managed to defeat the mongrels and followed the one who fled to find the secret passage to 19c and d where they recovered the spider silk cloak and +1 cudgel from Hildras Forestgreen’s crypt. They pressed on only to meet six more mongrels via a random encounter. That second showdown killed a man-at-arms and brought the still-conscious players dangerously close to zero hit points; so, the dwarven cleric dished out some cure light wounds and the party went back to town for recovery. That’s when the elf kicked himself for forgetting to use his sleep spell!

After recovery in town, and hiring another meat shield, the party returned to where they had left off. They pried the gems from the ceiling in 26 and recovered the loot, including a potion of strength, in 26q1, before defeating the crypt shades in 26d2. Nobody uttered “Demetra” in 26q3 so they skipped the “final conversation” replay, but found the dead tomb robbers and understood what happened anyway. A surprise attack by grey ooze in 24 missed a man-at-arms so the team quickly dispatched that threat, found the cheap diamond, and opted to pass on the hard-to-pry silver patterns. Breaking down the bricked-up wall to 25 yielded a gold holy symbol, silver earnings, and small topaz for some much needed monetary treasure! By transiting 19a and b the party closed the loop and realized they had made a big U turn to rediscover their earlier path. Somewhere in there, can’t remember exactly where, they found and read a runic tablet that revealed the history of the Tablet of Chaos so the party now understands the deeper plot behind the dungeon.

Then on to unexplored tunnels. They explored empty 18, but came back and the elf accidentally (1 in 6) found the secret door to 16 where they recovered the magic arrows and two potions of healing. After a brief probe into the rubble of 59c, they backtracked and broke down the barrier to 39. A quick jaunt down the hallway saw one man-at-arms fall into a pit of teleportation that sent him to 74g. Shocked by his sudden disappearance the party dangled a rope down there and quickly deduced what had happened. So, the dwarf passed through the portal to get his charge and the elf followed. That put everyone in 74g.

The skeleton at 74g killed the man-at-arms (first on the scene), but later fell to the players who scooped up his magic chainmail and sword. Although victorious, the players were greatly alarmed since they were now “somewhere” in the dungeon and did not know how to get out. They tacked east and south in search of their former path, avoiding burial alcoves and detours along the way. They eventually found the statue of Nergal at 70, and one of them stumbled into the green slime pit. Quick thinking and team work meant his magic chain mail was the only casualty to the green menace. They searched one burial alcove to recover a single +1 spear head along with some more monetary treasure. That’s where we left off with the team stranded without knowledge of how to get back out.

They immediately started talking about the next session, a good sign that this one went well. Alas the holidays are upon us so that might change the usual pattern.
 

marksable

*eyeroll*
Hey Gandalf, I've started to run Forbidden Caverns of Archaia (with Barrowmaze as an option for players to go to) and I was hoping you could answer a couple questions:

Do you give gold out for monsters killed (like looking in a monster manual and seeing what they might be carrying), or do you just go by what the book says?

What table do you use for hirelings?
 

gandalf_scion

*eyeroll*
"Do you give gold out for monsters killed (like looking in a monster manual and seeing what they might be carrying), or do you just go by what the book says?"

Just go by what's written in the text of the adventure. If I was writing my own adventure, then I'd refer to the MM for info on how much treasure should accompany, but the author has already done that for us. In either case, wandering monsters usually have little or none.

Hirelings appear on the Brazen Strumpet Random Patron Generator (and my remake of it). They are listed there by a few job/role titles like torch bearer and men-at-arms. They're quit common, likely to be there sooner or later.
 
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