Castle Xyntillan Campaign

[Starmenter]

System: OSE
House Rules

1. Classes restricted to Dwarf, Elf, Fighter, Thief, Magic-User, and the Acolyte class from Carcass Crawler #2. Acolytes are restricted to clubs and staves.
2. Players were allowed to port in one character from our previous OSE campaign.
3. New characters start with max HP.
   1. Magic-User players choose between rolling for their spell or rolling for their hit points.
4. The item-based encumbrance system from Carcass Crawler #3 is in play.
5. d6 Thief skills from Carcass Crawler #1 is in play.
6. Fighters get a cleave ability, one bonus attack per level when landing a killing blow.
7. Magic-Users use the Beginning Spells table from Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy: Genre Rules
8. A slightly modified version of Jeff Rients’ carousing table is in play.
9. Silver standard is in play. All values are adjusted accordingly.

The Crew
Aloysius - Acolyte 5
Sturdy monk and studious mapper.
Éclair - Elf 3
Chaotic elfin shieldmaiden. Prodigiously strong, highly intelligent, and possessing two magic blades.
Marcel - Fighter 4
Flamboyant, chaotic mercenary who wields the Chaotic blade Darkslayer.
Giuseppe - Fighter 3
Jovial condottiere.
Maledoigt - Thief 1
Chaotic burglar.

The Ranks of the Fallen
Léon - Paladin 2
Last of the holy paladins, driven by his blazing hatred of the undead. Choked to death by creeping vines.
Schmidt - Acolyte 5
Holy man with a great deal of experience in matters adventurous and arcane. Transformer into a pillar of salt in the cursed Grand Bath of Castle Xyntillan.

 

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June 20: The Gardens

Brother Aloysius - Acolyte 4
Monsignor Schmidt - Acolyte 4
Éclair - Elf 1

A strange party, two clerics and an elf. Brother Aloysius had been sent to investigate rumors that Aristide Malévol the Patrician had conquered death itself through unholy means, while Monsignor Schmidt had come to search for the priceless Malévol heirlooms. As for Éclair, she simply sought treasure. Meeting on the road, they threw in together.

As the three adventurers made their way down the winding mountain road, they glimpsed the picturesque towers and gables of Tours-en-Savoy. They split ways as they entered the alpine town, with the two clerics paying homage to the Church of Saint Boniface of the Three Testaments. Aloysius and Schmidt inquired about the eponymous saint, but the young priest Father Bertrand professed ignorance: the former priest Father Chlodowig has vanished without a trace months ago and Bertrand was yet unlearned about his diocese’s history. He also warned them away from Castle Xyntillan, saying it was an place of great evil.

Éclair meanwhile wandered the curling streets until she came upon a ramshackle, slouching old building with a sign saying “Curios & Antiques”. Curiosity piqued, she entered into a dusty room full of old tchotchkes and furnishings. An old man entered and introduced himself as Ben Mordechai. Upon hearing she intended to visit Xyntillan, he offered to sell her a rare item he had only recently acquired: a magical dueling dagger in a red leather sheath! It certainly seemed to be a fine blade, but Éclair could not afford his asking price. He agreed to hold it for her for one week so that she might gather the funds.

Upon hearing rumors that the fourth expected companion, the fighting-man Marcel, had been delayed at a mountain pass, they decided to set off as a party of three and exercise extreme caution. After a full day’s travel on horseback, the crested the final mountain pass and looked down upon the Valley of Three Rainbows and the crumbling parapets and overgrown courtyards of Castle Xyntillan.

They cautiously entered the eastern gate and were unnerved by the huge flocks of ravens milling about. Hearing a rhythmic clanging from stables to the south, they investigated and discovered a hammer beating on an anvil - with no blacksmith attached! Monsignor Schmidt tried to investigate an iron flask in the room and barely avoided being struck in the head as the magical hammer hurled itself at him! Beating a hasty retreat, they investigated the stables and found fallen beams, rotten hay crawling with fist-sized bugs… and a flask of wine hidden in the hayloft. Schmidt took a sip and felt reinvigorated by the fiery vintage. He tucked it away for a future emergency and the party moved to the west door, where they heard a clattering. Entering they found seven skeletons in Malévol livery using an eighth, inanimate skeleton as target practice! Schmidt turned back the undead with the cross, while Aloysius and Éclair grabbed a banner depicting a Turk’s head and few wanted posters for a fellow named Claude Malévol. Seeing nothing else of interest, they pulled back and Éclair barred the door behind them with one of the fallen beams from the stables.

Further exploration of the gardens revealed the tomb of a certain Tristano Malévol the Love-Lost, a pair of old skeletons in the guard posts, and an overgrown rose garden. Smelling one of the roses, Éclair felt quite sleepy and Aloysius detected the malign influence of sorcery about the red and white flowers. An investigation of the northern wall led them to a garden shed where Éclair discovered a bag of jumping beans and a door to the rose beds. She leaned down and noticed what looked like human bones amongst the soil the roses grew in! Recalling that she had seen an apothecary, she cut a few roses and tucked them away in her bag.

Further penetration into the grounds led them into an entrance passage to the inner courtyards. Seeing signs of old battles and the arrowslits lining the walls, they decided to retreat and look at the southern entrance.

What they found was a massive double door flanked by two statues: a sphinx and a devil. Again Aloysius felt the presence of sorcery, but could not determine more. Feeling they lacked the numbers for an expedition into the castle interior, the party made its way back to Tours-en-Savoy.

Aloysius paid a visit to the prefect, Richard Justin Saint-Égréve, to inquire about the banner and wanted posters, but found the prefect to be an ignorant and unimpressive man. Schmidt and Éclair had better luck at the apothecary, where the rather uptight Jaques Valt agreed to purchase the roses. Éclair went straightaway to Ben Mordechai and purchased the magic dagger.

The Score
Flask of healing wine
Banner depicting a Turk’s severed head
Wanted posters × 2
Enchanted roses × 2
Éclair’s Red Dagger +1

 

[Starmenter]

June 24: The Barracks

Monsignor Schmidt - Acolyte 4
Éclair - Elf 1
Marcel - Fighter 2

Brother Aloysius departed Tours-En-Savoy to make a survey of regional landmarks, but mere hours after he left Éclair’s old companion Marcel arrived in town. The three went to the local tavern, The Black Comedian, to plan their next expedition to Xyntillan. The proprietor Fernand Bonnel recognized Claude Malévol from Éclair’s wanted poster and mentioned that he had seen the man himself in the Black Comedian. He also passed on a rumor that the hero Roland was buried under the Castle with a great relic. While Éclair and Schmidt talked with Bonnel, Marcel bought a pair of purple pantaloons from a local merchant. The next morning they set off.

After a day’s travel the small party arrived at Castle Xyntillan. After discussing the possible ways of entering, they decided to try the south door in the entrance passage they had discovered previously. It opened into a long, dark hallway with doors to their immediate east and west. The party agreed to try and move along the walls of the castle and went left through the east door into a hallway clogged with cobwebs. They quickly found the source of the webbing: a room filled with fresh spiderwebs and crawling with little brown spiders. Fearing the spiders’ poison, they continued checking the rooms to the east, discovering nothing but simple barracks furniture and an empty chest labeled “Type VI Treasure.”

Moving south they found an old storeroom filled with empty barrels, dusty crockery, and a very stale side of jerky hanging from a meathook. Going through a door to the west, the adventurers encountered a mess hall filled with dozens of skeletal swordsmen… who were still singing, drinking, and toasting to old battles! The undead veterans fell silent and stared at the intruders with empty sockets, but Marcel was able to impress them with boasts of his own valorous deeds and the skeletons let the party pass. The adventurers went for a passageway leading north in hopes of finding a second route to the entrance.

While moving northward, the companions checked out a door leading to the east and found a bedroom decorated with wooden panels depicting knights and weapons. While Marcel looted a flask of acid and pieces of armor, Éclair’s elven senses picked up the presence of a hidden door. Pushing one of the panels revealed a small room with sacks of silver and gems, and a shaft leading downward. They grabbed the loot and continued exploring north, discovering a creepy statue and the door to the entrance passage.

Seeking to finish their survey of that section of the castle, they struck east once more and were met by four headless manservants waiting for them in one the empty rooms they had passed through before. Schmidt turned the wretches back with his holy symbol and they shambled away. Nothing more was found except another shaft leading upward and the party moved west.

The party found another servants’ room, this time inhabited by four maids with ghastly, pale skin and a wardrobe with muffled movement coming from within. The sign of Schmidt’s golden cross turned back three of the undead maids into the corner, while Éclair stuck down the fourth with a mighty blow of her sword. While Schmidt held the remaining zombies at bay, Éclair and Marcel hacked down the wardrobe door to find a tied up youth inside. He claimed to be a servant of the Malévols who had been punished by being bound and thrown into the wardrobe. When asked when this had happened, he gave a date from hundreds of years in the past! Fearing whatever curse had been laid upon the lad, they did not untie him but instead brought the lad to the hospital in Tours-En-Savoy. Sister Geraldina ordered him to be unbound, but when they cut the ropes the youth crumbled into dust, leaving nothing but ragged livery and a very fine golden hand mirror.

After ministering to the sick at Sister Geraldina’s hospital, Schmidt rejoined his companions and they celebrated the success of their expedition at the Black Comedian.

The Score
Plumed helmet
Greaves × 2
Gauntlets × 2
Flask of acid
250 silver pieces
Gemstones × 2 (50gp)
Golden hand mirror (90gp)

 

[Starmenter]

July 7: The Kitchens

Brother Aloysius - Acolyte 4
Monsignor Schmidt - Acolyte 4
Marcel - Fighter 2
Leon - Paladin 1

Schmidt, Marcel, and Éclair spent the week partying at The Black Comedian. Schmidt gave himself a hangover and Éclair vanished (as Chaotic elves are wont to do). However, Aloysius returned from his trip and with him arrived a knight in shining plate who introduced himself as Leon. The armored crusader had come to Tours-en-Savoy following rumors of bandits and undead lurking in the old Malévol stronghold. The four of them agreed to return to Xyntillan and continue exploring the servant’s quarters. Marcel brought a pair of chickens in the hopes that they would eat the spiders infesting the unexplored barracks.

• They entered again through the side door in the entrance passage.
• Marcel dropped his chickens off at the spider-infested room.
• They continued on to a laundry room full of dead bodies! No treasure though.
• After finding the laundry, they found a kitchen with five ghouls hacking away at a corpse inside! Schmidt turned them back with his cross and the party pursued them into the stables before turning back to investigate the kitchen. After disabling a guillotine trap in one of the pantries they discovered a large pile of silverware that Aloysius threw in his sack.
• The brave companions continued into the bakery, where they discovered an old matron kneading a lump of dough. She shrieked and charged at them, wildly swinging her rolling pin. Only Leon seemed to be able to hit the vicious old bag, although his sword seemed to pass right through her! Just when the party’s morale was at the breaking point did he land the final blow, dissipating the baker into a smear of ectoplasm.
• As they explored the bakery, the oven spewed out a brick and a few charred bones. Schmidt, feeling the irresistible urge to bake that lump of dough, used a paddle to very carefully slide it into the oven. A busted up table was gingerly set alight to get the oven hot and adventurers left to continue their exploration of Xyntillan.
• Moving north they found a room full of dead flowers and floral tapestries. Right after entering the shade of a bloody woman ran through the room, stumbled into the northwest corner and disappeared! Noticing that the flagstones in that corner seemed to have been disturbed, they made a note to return to this room with crowbars or shovels.
• Moving back south, they discovered a spiral staircase leading upwards. With great caution they went up to discover a library. Wandering amongst the stacks, Aloysius discovered a mysterious booklet containing the wild symphonies of the mad composer Ludwig von Schreck… as well as a cryptic riddle about a hunter with a stone heart and page of magical writing.
• Rather than continuing through the upper stories, the party returned to the bakery, waited for another thirty minutes, carefully removed the bread, and enjoyed it with some wine.
• Finally they returned to the spider room, only to discover two chicken-sized lumps ensnared amongst the webbing! Once again, they beat a hasty retreat and left Xyntillan with a decent score.

The Score
Silverware (175 sp)
Bread baked in a haunted oven

Notes
The players got lucky, not a single random encounter. However, they were also very cautious, successfully avoiding the guillotine and oven traps. The fight with the ghostly baker was funny, she repeatedly rolled 1s while everyone besides Leon kept missing against her high AC. An auspicious start for the only paladin (???).

 

[Maynard]

This is rad thank you for this detailed play report. I've always wanted to run this.

 

[Melan]

Always a lot of fun reading these. Thanks!

 

[Starmenter]

This is rad thank you for this detailed play report. I've always wanted to run this.

Thank you! I highly recommend, it's an excellent dungeon.

Always a lot of fun reading these. Thanks!

You're welcome! Thank you for writing Castle Xyntillan. My players are having a great time adventuring in it.

 

[Starmenter]

July 12, Part I: Uncut Gems

The Crew

Brother Aloysius - Acolyte 4
Monsignor Schmidt - Acolyte 4
Éclair - Elf 1
Marcel - Fighter 2
Knight-Paladin Léon - Paladin 1 [1]

Schmidt paid a visit to Ben Mordechai to have the mysterious folio examined. Ben Mordechai charged a small fee and asked Schmidt to return in a day. When he came back, the old shopkeeper informed him that it was Fireball, a powerful spell [2]. Meanwhile, Marcel purchased some spades to dig up the floor of the floral room and Éclair returned from wherever she had been off too. Now the party was in full force and ready to return to Xyntillan.

They returned to the floral chamber and pulled up the loose stones in the northeast corner, uncovering a wooden coffin. Léon pried the lid off to reveal a ghastly-looking corpse of a woman in a torn white gown clutching a small leather bag. She seemed quite dead until Leon reached for the bag. Then, the dead woman's eyelids opened to reveal two mucus-colored orbs and her lips parted to reveal rows of jagged, brown teeth! The reeking horror leapt out of the coffin, paralyzing Léon and Aloysius with slashes from her claws before succumbing to Marcel and Éclair’s blades. A healing prayer from Schmidt put Léon and Aloysius back on their feet while Marcel examined the bag. It was full of large, uncut gemstones, a small fortune for the lucky adventurers.

The party continued north, investigating the outer courtyard where they discovered the Blind Beast of Xyntillan, a talking statue who offered to trade one riddle for another. Marcel repeated the riddle they had discovered in the library for a new one: “The prison beyond the prison is beneath the prison.”

Éclair used her prodigious strength to partially pull up the stone plug covering the well and Marcel thrust his spade into the gap to keep it cracked open. It was too dark to see down the well, but the faint sound of bubbling and a whiff of methane dissuaded them from investigating the well further.

Entering one of the doors in the courtyard led them to the room north of the entrance hall and another hallway going deeper into the castle, where they discovered recent signs of battle - three dead adventurers with stab wounds from behind. As the front line inspected the dead bodies, Schmidt and Aloysius heard a slight creaking of joints from behind and turned to find four masked assassins approaching! Their ambush foiled, the masked killers charged but were cut down by their more heavily armored opponents. Feeling weary after two fierce battles, the adventurers decided to return to Tours-en-Savoy.

The gems fetched a fine price and they all caroused at The Black Comedian, where everyone but Léon was able to hold their wine. The paladin, no doubt unused to drinking, had a small misunderstanding with the local authorities and had to pay a fine. Afterwards, he solemnly swore to never engage in such bawdy revelry again, lest he violate his vows and lose God’s favor. [3]

The Score
Uncut gemstones (750 gp)

Notes

1. I finally got all my players together!
2. The spell in von Schreck’s papers is Irresistible Rondeau, but since that’s not a B/X spell and I couldn’t figure out if there was an AD&D equivalent, I just had Schmidt’s player roll on the table of Level 3 spells. Fireball was a lucky roll, but not a very thematic one. Disparate documents can often be found together in old libraries. We’ll see if Éclair can live long enough to make use of it.
3. Between the big haul and the carousing, everyone but Brother Aloysius went up a level. Éclair decided to take max HP and rolled for her spell, getting Floating Disk in addition to her starting spell, Protection from Evil.

 

[Starmenter]

July 12, Part II: Going Down

The Crew
Brother Aloysius - Acolyte 4
Monsignor Schmidt - Acolyte 5
Éclair - Elf 2
Marcel - Fighter 2
Knight-Paladin Léon - Paladin 2

Feeling flush, Marcel decided to pay a visit to Ben Mordechai and spend some of his silver. First he purchased a pair of fancy slippers and a quiver of magic arrows, despite not owning a bow. Then Ben Mordechai brought out something special: a wooden puppet animated by a dead thief’s spirit. He warned Marcel that the puppet might be dangerous, but the foppish mercenary bought it anyway and put it in his pack.

Back at The Black Comedian, Schmidt declared that they would return to Xyntillan and venture down the secret shaft Éclair had found previously. And so they set off.

They entered the castle, arrived at the secret chamber with no difficulty and descended one by one into an empty room beneath the earth. From there they wandered a series of long hallways until Marcel spotted a spiral staircase with thick vines growing along the sides. When he began to ascend, the mass of vegetation unpeeled itself from the wall and lashed out. The party started chopping away at the vines and got a nasty surprise when tendrils thick as arms wrapped around Léon’s neck and began to crush. Within a round he was dead. Thus passed the last of the noble paladins.

The party fell back and Marcel let out his killer puppet, which drew the attention of the vines while the rest pulled back. The vines tore “Marcel Jr.” from limb to limb before Éclair hacked apart the last of the carnivorous, ambulatory plants. The saddened party went up the stairs, only to find themselves at the end of the hallway they had been exploring the previous expedition. Back in known territory, they retreated with Léon’s body to Tours-en-Savoy.

The Score
-

The Cost
Knight-Paladin Léon - Paladin 2
Marcel Jr. - Murderous puppet

 

[Starmenter]

July 19: Rats and Pigs

The Crew
Brother Aloysius - Acolyte 4
Monsignor Schmidt - Acolyte 5
Éclair - Elf 2
Giuseppe - Fighter 1
Marcel - Fighter 2

Another expedition into the treacherous halls of Castle Xyntillan, this time accompanied by Marcel’s old war buddy Giuseppe.

• The party discovered the Grand Bath, but were too paranoid to test the waters.
• Another room contained a pair of doorways decorated with red devils and titled “The Doors of Good & Bad Fortune.” Before they could investigate further, the room seemed to lurch sideways and the faint smell of rot appeared. The fortune-seekers beat a hasty retreat before something else weird happened.
• They moved on to one of the garden sheds, where they discovered a pack of ghouls. Aloysius was able to turn back the wretched undead, who cowered in a corner while the rest looted the room. Éclair discovered a large sack of turnips and a bag of something called “Miracle Formula.” [1]
• At this point the party made a serious error and tried to finish off the defeated ghouls. After expending a flask of burning oil and all of Marcel’s magic oil, only half the ghouls were dead. Attempting to finish them in melee resulted in both fighters getting wounded. The party fell back, having expended irreplaceable resources on an already defeated foe.
• They entered another small room, which contained nothing but a simple bed and a chest. Éclair rushed forward to investigate the chest and immediately crashed through rotten floorboards into a hidden rat colony. She endured many painful bites as her companions slew the vicious rodents. Marcel dug through the chest and found a gem-studded silver goblet beneath the neatly-folded maids’ uniforms. [2]
• An investigation of the Inner Courtyard found statues of a one-handed knight and a comely maiden. Marcel kissed the maiden and was terribly surprised when it turned into a hideous troll, which lunged forth to strike him! The warriors fell upon the uncomely brute and after a short battle it crashed to ground, shattering into stone chunks.
• Descending into the dungeons, the adventurers encountered the ghost of Médard Malévol the Mighty, who admonished Schmidt to refocus on his lawful quest to recover the holy Malévol heirlooms before vanishing.
• Moving south, the party heard the sounds of grunting and snorting. Coming into a large room they found a horde of swine presided over by a particularly large specimen wearing a crown of laurels and sitting on a mound of treasure. Éclair stepped forward and offered her bag of turnips as tribute to the porcine princeps, who rewarded her with a large gemstone.
• Satisfied with the jeweled goblet and the precious stone, the adventurers left Xyntillan to celebrate their success. During their revelry, Giuseppe got in trouble with the constabulary but was able to bribe his way out of trouble, Éclair invested her remaining silver in a sketchy merchant’s scheme, and Schmidt got a back tattoo of a giant cross. Sick.

The Score:
Miracle Formula: ?
Jeweled goblet: 100gp
Large gemstone: 100gp

Notes:
1. She never actually looked into the bag of Miracle Formula, so nobody knows that it’s full of gold.
2. If they had figured out that the turnips were magical and could be grown into giant turnips, they would have turned a larger profit by farming them. But since everyone was pleased with the serendipity of finding a clever use for the tubers, I consider this to have been a great success.

 

[Alexander Moonbeam]

This campaign sounds like a blast to play in, honestly.

 

[Starmenter]

This campaign sounds like a blast to play in, honestly.

Thank you, everyone has been having a great time. More play reports incoming!

 

[Starmenter]

July 26: The Entrance Halls and Dungeons

The Crew
Brother Aloysius - Acolyte 4
Monsignor Schmidt - Acolyte 5
Éclair - Elf 2
Giuseppe - Fighter 1
Marcel - Fighter 2

Once again our intrepid heroes enter the hoary halls of Castle Xyntillan.

• They entered through the stables and explored towards the west. They passed through several empty rooms and into the vestibule of the Grand Entrance, where they encountered the weeping ghost of a well-dressed servant.
• The adventurers interrogated the spirit, who introduced himself as James. He told them tales of Xyntillan’s history, but seemed to be heartbroken over the disrepair the entrance halls had fallen into.
• The party moved on to the portrait gallery, inspected the mysterious talking portraits, and Schmidt retrieved a potion of heroism from the mouth of a statue titled “Courage Vindicated.”
• Pushing past a mass of cobwebs beneath the grand stair revealed the door to a clerk’s room full of yellowed papers and a mysterious bricked-up entrance.
• They continued north, discovering another mess hall full of singing skeletons and a torture chamber, where they stole a golden crown off a statue of Justice, dispelled the spirit of a phantasmal prisoner, and lowered Marcel down into the dungeons through a central shaft.
• Finding himself in a circular chamber full of rats and old bones, Marcel poked around and found a number of odd items, including a gold belt buckle, a gold snuff box, a skull with a glass eye, and a love letter from Tristano Malévol.
• Here they decided to return to Tours-en-Savoy, but before they did they stopped by the gardens and Éclair cut some more roses to bring to Jaques Valt so that he might create a sleeping potion.
• Upon returning to town, they got an unpleasant surprise when they discovered the crown was merely a cheap imitation. Éclair decided to make the best of the situation and now wears it herself as a style accessory.

The Score:
Tin crown
Tristano Malévol’s love letter
Skull with glass eyeball
Ivory fan
Belt buckle (10 gp)
Snuff box (25 gp)
Potion of heroism

Notes:
The party was lucky to encounter no hostiles besides a magical portrait that fired an arrow at them. Compare with the next expedition…

 

[Starmenter]

August 7: The Hordes of the Living Dead

The Crew:
Brother Aloysius - Acolyte 4
Éclair - Elf 2
Marcel - Fighter 2

The explorers venture into Xyntillan once more, this time without Schmidt and Giuseppe.

• The expedition began uneventfully, with the explorers venturing into the Servant’s Wing once more. They discovered a jar of some thick sludge in the servant’s baths (as well as a friendly giant toad that Marcel fed some rations) and an empty bottle labeled “Spirits.”
• Further into the castle they found a deathly still, pale-faced woman looking into a mirror. Desiring the jeweled diadem on her head but fearing that she might be a vampire they moved on to a maid’s room, where Marcel discovered a fine green cloak and Éclair took a strange mirror that reflected her and her companions as strange, shadowy figures.
• Remembering that the grand entrance hall had sunlight shining through cracks in the ceiling, they came up with a plan to use the mirrors they had found to reflect a beam of light down the hallway if the pale lady was a vampire and pursued them if they took the diadem.
• Here is where everything went to hell. While trying to set up their mirrors, a pack of wheezing, desiccated bog mummies that tried to wrench the adventurers from limb to limb! When they tried to retreat through a previously empty room, they were blocked by a horde of skeletal noblemen. Fleeing into an unexplored part of the dungeon, they found a chapel which was immediately invaded by a mob of skeletal monks.
• At this point they were being pursued by a small army of undead and had three avenues of retreat: through ghoul-occupied kitchen, through the skeleton-occupied mess hall, and upstairs into the library. They chose the last option, going up the spiral staircase and wedging the door behind them shut.
• Rather than taking the stairs further up to the third floor, Marcel swung his grappling hook onto the baluster and climbed onto the second, unexplored level of the library. As Aloysius and Éclair climbed up behind him, he discovered a statue of the Grim Reaper holding an open book. Looking into the book, he saw his own name written on the pages and felt a cold presence behind him. Spinning around he saw the reaper and narrowly blocked the swing of its scythe. When Éclair ran to help him another reaper appeared out of thin air, and when Aloysius tried to turn it back with his cross, a third reaper attacked.
• Marcel and Éclair slew their reapers, but when Éclair tried to help Aloysius a new reaper appeared and attacked her. At this point Aloysius grabbed the rope and leapt over the edge of the balcony, no longer wishing to fight against the grim spectre. The reaper sliced the rope and sent him plummeting to the floor. Éclair jumped onto the top of a bookshelf and Marcel took the book and ran down the stairs. They fled back downwards and out of the dungeon, eventually losing the reapers outside the castle grounds.
• Back in Tours-en-Savoy, they met with Jaques Valt. Éclair paid him to identify the jar of unguents and was going to have him identify the miracle formula she had found a couple expeditions ago, but when she opened it she found that it was a bag of gold crumbs!
• Afterwards they went to Curios & Antiques, where Ben Mordechai offered to take Éclair as his apprentice in exchange for the mysterious book of the dead Marcel had stolen. He begrudgingly gave up his book so that the mysterious shopkeeper could initiate his friend into the mysteries of the occult.

The Score:
Empty liquor bottle
Jar of greasy unguents
Green felt cloak
Haunted mirror
Cursed book

Notes:
The horde of undead attacking was the result of unlucky wandering monster checks and blundering into the wrong rooms. It probably could have all been avoided if they had just yanked the diadem of the dead lady’s head and split, but they were too paranoid for their own good this time. As for the reapers, I found the encounter tricky to adjudicate, with many possible interpretations of the description.

“This is a one-on-one fight, and those who try to help will get their own reapers. If the character is victorious, his or her name will be struck from the book, avoiding death the next 1d3 times.”

I decided that even if a character kills their reaper, further interfering will summon a new reaper. I also decided that the PCs could outrun the reapers. Marcel and Éclair have one and three death avoidances respectively, but I decided that if Éclair killed her second reaper, she would not get this benefit again. The reapers are tough enough to cause a TPK, but I rolled hit once and the players hit almost every time.

 

[AussieGlenn]

I love reading your play reports! How long is a typical session, and how much pre game prep do you do?

 

[Starmenter]

I love reading your play reports! How long is a typical session, and how much pre game prep do you do?

Thank you! I have been remiss in updating this thread, I will correct soon! As for your questions, a typical session for me and my crew is about four hours, once a week. Game prep is minimal, this thing runs itself. Between the town and the megadungeon, Castle Xyntillan is its own little world. The little prep I do is generating hirelings beforehand to save time, although even that's not necessary.

 

[Starmenter]

Tall Tales Heard in Tours-En-Savoy

When the weary traveler crests that last mountain pass and looks upon the picturesque town of Tours-En-Savoy, he may wish to rest for a bit and empty a glass (or three) at one of the taverns frequented by other restless men. And there he might hear some of the strange tales of sorcery and mayhem in the half-legendary Castle Xyntillan.

• The silver-haired mercenary Étienne may be found sipping wine at The Black Comedian, and he may mention a band of crossbowmen and a light footman named “Truffle” who never came back from Xyntillan. He will warn the curious off from joining one of these expeditions, for that old castle is crawling with ghosts, devils and madmen.

• Anyone who drinks the wine at The Black Comedian will notice that it is an extraordinary vintage, much finer than what is found at other taprooms in the region. If one inquires as to where it came from, he might hear that a number of casks were recovered from the Malévols' own cellars, and that Fernand Bonnel paid dearly for them.

• One may hear the many strange tales of Xyntillan's statues, which are known to speak, to laugh, and even stalk its hoary halls. One may even hear the story of the only statue in Xyntillan that doesn't come alive, a figure of Justice which bore a golden crown upon its head. When looters came upon it, they manacled its legs together before they stole its crown, only to find that the gold was paint and the gems glass. But the mighty elf Éclair still wears it as a trophy, and some say she casts a spell of continual light upon the crown so that it guides her way in darkness.

• “Here, let me tell another story about that wicked elf Éclair. When exploring the Malévol portrait hall, she came upon the portrait of Philoméne Malévol, which animated and invited the explorer to her chambers. But when Éclair and her companions ventured upstairs, they did not find a noblewoman’s suite but a storage room full of crates and a coffin. When those fools opened the coffin, there was Philoméne: a headless ghoul that moved faster than lighting! Éclair’s comrades fled in terror, but she stayed behind to protect their retreat. The last thing she remembers was being embraced by the gurgling horror before everything went black… she stumbled back into Tours-En-Savoy days later, white as a sheet!”

• If one asks what else there is to do in town besides drinking wine, one may be directed to Curious & Antiques, where various marvels recovered from Castle Xyntillan are sold. And if one does go, he will be met by the effusive proprietor, a certain Ben Mordechai, who is rumored to be a master of the occult. He will attempt to sell such strange items as a chess set with living pieces or the golden pocket watch bearing the Malévol coat of arms. He may even mention in passing his apprentice, a certain elven maiden of Amazonian proportions…

• The god-fearing man or curious antiquarian may pay a visit to the Church of Saint Boniface of the Three Testaments and meet the young priest Father Brenard. But he may also notice Fr. Brenard conferring with a second priest, a man old in body but possessing the vigor of one much younger than himself. It is said that he has arrived in Tours-En-Savoy to recover the great relics of Christendom that the Malévols hid away in Xyntillan. And perhaps he has already found one, for some have overheard him speaking of the legendary Heart of Roland and carrying around a mysterious lead box from which a faint beating sound emits.

• “That old priest, Monsignor Herr Schmidt is his name, he has always been a vigorous fellow, but of late he seems to be acting like a crusader of old. I even once overheard him shout “DEUS VULT” as he headed off to the Valley of the Three Rainbows. And here is something even stranger: he returned a few days later wearing a fur loincloth instead of his usual vestments. And I glimpsed on his back a crucifix tattoo that covered his entire back!”

• The local wags may also mention that Marcel, a fighting-man of great repute, returned from Xyntillan in a fur loincloth and with a jester’s cap upon his head. There is much speculation about this, for Marcel is known to buy any flashy garment he comes across and he would certainly not give up his purple pantaloons and plumed hat willingly!

• One may also hear funny stories about Marcel’s brother in arms, the condottiere Giuseppe. That man is a great carouser and has been known to get into trouble upon imbibing too much wine. Once he was outside Madame Polidori’s cathouse in the middle of the night, calling her all sorts of terrible names. In the morning he was quite embarrassed but she graciously accepted his apologies (and monetary compensation). Another time he got a tattoo of a rose intertwined with his greatsword. It would have been most impressive, had the artist not been drinking too!

• One who pays a visit to Madame Polidori’s might overhear the girls chatting about a certain “Chardonnay”, who quit her dubious profession at the cathouse for one just as dubious, but much more lucrative… and dangerous! She will be going to Xyntillan soon - the girls and their customers are already taking bets on how long she makes it.

• “My sister’s husband is a leatherworker, and a very good one too if you would like to have that tear in your boot fixed. But anyway, he told me that a monk arrived at his shop with a most curious request: that he craft a harness so that the monk, Aloysius was his name I believe, might carry a glass jar upon his chest. My brother-in-law asked to see the jar, which the monk then produced. To his shock, the jar contained a horrid little homunculus! The monk assured him that the creature was good-natured, and said that he had named it “Jaribaldi.” Well my brother-in-law is a god-fearing man and wants little to do with such things, but the monk cajoled him and in the end he built the harness. He ended up donating the old silver coins the monk gave him to Madame Geraldina’s hospital a few days later. Jaribaldi indeed!”

• The light footman Hans may be seen at The Tap on the outskirts of town drinking his silver and sorrows away. And if one buys him a stein of lager, he may relate a strange tale of finding a portal to a forested realm in the bowels of Xyntillan’s dungeons and a devilish satyr…

 

[AussieGlenn]

Tall Tales Heard in Tours-En-Savoy

When the weary traveler crests that last mountain pass and looks upon the picturesque town of Tours-En-Savoy, he may wish to rest for a bit and empty a glass (or three) at one of the taverns frequented by other restless men. And there he might hear some of the strange tales of sorcery and mayhem in the half-legendary Castle Xyntillan.

• The silver-haired mercenary Étienne may be found sipping wine at The Black Comedian, and he may mention a band of crossbowmen and a light footman named “Truffle” who never came back from Xyntillan. He will warn the curious off from joining one of these expeditions, for that old castle is crawling with ghosts, devils and madmen.

• Anyone who drinks the wine at The Black Comedian will notice that it is an extraordinary vintage, much finer than what is found at other taprooms in the region. If one inquires as to where it came from, he might hear that a number of casks were recovered from the Malévols' own cellars, and that Fernand Bonnel paid dearly for them.

• One may hear the many strange tales of Xyntillan's statues, which are known to speak, to laugh, and even stalk its hoary halls. One may even hear the story of the only statue in Xyntillan that doesn't come alive, a figure of Justice which bore a golden crown upon its head. When looters came upon it, they manacled its legs together before they stole its crown, only to find that the gold was paint and the gems glass. But the mighty elf Éclair still wears it as a trophy, and some say she casts a spell of continual light upon the crown so that it guides her way in darkness.

• “Here, let me tell another story about that wicked elf Éclair. When exploring the Malévol portrait hall, she came upon the portrait of Philoméne Malévol, which animated and invited the explorer to her chambers. But when Éclair and her companions ventured upstairs, they did not find a noblewoman’s suite but a storage room full of crates and a coffin. When those fools opened the coffin, there was Philoméne: a headless ghoul that moved faster than lighting! Éclair’s comrades fled in terror, but she stayed behind to protect their retreat. The last thing she remembers was being embraced by the gurgling horror before everything went black… she stumbled back into Tours-En-Savoy days later, white as a sheet!”

• If one asks what else there is to do in town besides drinking wine, one may be directed to Curious & Antiques, where various marvels recovered from Castle Xyntillan are sold. And if one does go, he will be met by the effusive proprietor, a certain Ben Mordechai, who is rumored to be a master of the occult. He will attempt to sell such strange items as a chess set with living pieces or the golden pocket watch bearing the Malévol coat of arms. He may even mention in passing his apprentice, a certain elven maiden of Amazonian proportions…

• The god-fearing man or curious antiquarian may pay a visit to the Church of Saint Boniface of the Three Testaments and meet the young priest Father Brenard. But he may also notice Fr. Brenard conferring with a second priest, a man old in body but possessing the vigor of one much younger than himself. It is said that he has arrived in Tours-En-Savoy to recover the great relics of Christendom that the Malévols hid away in Xyntillan. And perhaps he has already found one, for some have overheard him speaking of the legendary Heart of Roland and carrying around a mysterious lead box from which a faint beating sound emits.

• “That old priest, Monsignor Herr Schmidt is his name, he has always been a vigorous fellow, but of late he seems to be acting like a crusader of old. I even once overheard him shout “DEUS VULT” as he headed off to the Valley of the Three Rainbows. And here is something even stranger: he returned a few days later wearing a fur loincloth instead of his usual vestments. And I glimpsed on his back a crucifix tattoo that covered his entire back!”

• The local wags may also mention that Marcel, a fighting-man of great repute, returned from Xyntillan in a fur loincloth and with a jester’s cap upon his head. There is much speculation about this, for Marcel is known to buy any flashy garment he comes across and he would certainly not give up his purple pantaloons and plumed hat willingly!

• One may also hear funny stories about Marcel’s brother in arms, the condottiere Giuseppe. That man is a great carouser and has been known to get into trouble upon imbibing too much wine. Once he was outside Madame Polidori’s cathouse in the middle of the night, calling her all sorts of terrible names. In the morning he was quite embarrassed but she graciously accepted his apologies (and monetary compensation). Another time he got a tattoo of a rose intertwined with his greatsword. It would have been most impressive, had the artist not been drinking too!

• One who pays a visit to Madame Polidori’s might overhear the girls chatting about a certain “Chardonnay”, who quit her dubious profession at the cathouse for one just as dubious, but much more lucrative… and dangerous! She will be going to Xyntillan soon - the girls and their customers are already taking bets on how long she makes it.

• “My sister’s husband is a leatherworker, and a very good one too if you would like to have that tear in your boot fixed. But anyway, he told me that a monk arrived at his shop with a most curious request: that he craft a harness so that the monk, Aloysius was his name I believe, might carry a glass jar upon his chest. My brother-in-law asked to see the jar, which the monk then produced. To his shock, the jar contained a horrid little homunculus! The monk assured him that the creature was good-natured, and said that he had named it “Jaribaldi.” Well my brother-in-law is a god-fearing man and wants little to do with such things, but the monk cajoled him and in the end he built the harness. He ended up donating the old silver coins the monk gave him to Madame Geraldina’s hospital a few days later. Jaribaldi indeed!”

• The light footman Hans may be seen at The Tap on the outskirts of town drinking his silver and sorrows away. And if one buys him a stein of lager, he may relate a strange tale of finding a portal to a forested realm in the bowels of Xyntillan’s dungeons and a devilish satyr…

 

[AussieGlenn]

I love that Narnia makes an appearance.

 

[Starmenter]

Memorable Quotes
“I think the missing word actually is ‘shit!’”
-Marcel, about five minutes after walking away from the caveman statue in the Gothic Wing

”My pride is broken, my body weak. I want to go home.”
-Schmidt, after swapping his vestments for a fur loincloth and jester’s cap in a magical hallway

“Ragazzi!”
-Giuseppe, every time he addresses anyone