Timekeeping
This session took place on 20/03/2025, and the PCs adventured for 2 days.
Introduction
This is something like the 15th session in the PSoD! The players have laboriously pushed forward against all opposition, and recently have engaged some of the creatures the Old Ones who run the place have created. Essentially though, this week is another 'dungeon restocking question' and I answered it with something radical; the rulers of the dungeon have finally had enough of the meddling PCs and have laid an ambush for them, using all of their resources in an attempt to stamp out the interlopers once and for all!
Player Characters Present
Slippery Pete (Level 9 Thief, wearer of the Hat of Disguise and wielder of the Black Dagger)Sever the Wrathful (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) with henchmen Rabbit (F/M/T) & Thomas (C2)Sheamus (Level 7 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) with henchman McScales (Lizardman F4)Gurt the Green (Level 6 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Liberator+3, bearer of the Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, rider of Artax) with henchman Solaire (F3) and Anri (M3)Karshe (Level 6 Fighter, bearer of the Military Trident) with henchmen Harlan (F/T 3/3) and Isaac (C4)
Downtime
Session Report
The group sat out a day of rain and prepared for the following day, which was clear. The newly refurbished lift platform at the volcano, now with chains instead of rope, lifted them into position without incident.
The party descended into the PSoD and retraced their steps through the maintenance level, now strangely devoid of life, until they reached the doors of cyclopean stone that led two level two.
They looked at their map of the next level and started giving orders for what they would do when they reached the toxic waste room and the door there that was their goal. However, they never made it that far. The enemy had set up an ambush at the first T-intersection, which the party stumbled onto and were surprised for 1 segment. This was the worst possible start for them and the best for the enemy.
In real time this was probably the longest surprise segment ever, as I had to lay out the full series of events that constituted the ambush. Firstly, at the head of the corridor, just out of sight on the left, was a Shoggoth (the one they had wounded last week, fully recovered and looking for revenge). On their right was another Shoggoth that had been invisible, it became visible as the Old One that was riding it used the Psionic Discipline Mass Domination.
Also in place was a sentry droid, the kind they had seen before that could create a curtain in reality that physically connected two places. Now the robot did so again, in this case the connected spaces were the lair of the Old Ones and the area directly behind the party, there was no escape!
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| "Battle map" |
Instead of the passage they had just traversed, what they could now see behind their formation was a large cyclopean stone room; with some few corridors zig zagging out of it giving the impression the room sat at the center of a maze. They recalled that McScales had told them of the maze when they first met him. The 50' square room was dominated by a huge cube of latticed cyclopean stone. Within this cube was an Old One working at a large control panel 10 feet high (though to make things even more confusing, some characters thought they could see two Old Ones in there! [One of these enemies was using the Psionic version of Invisibility, which can only effect so many levels and creatures at one time]). Outside of the cube were four Mutant Hawkmen, hovering near a large number of metal skull caps connected by cables; some of these held dead Kenku or Hawkmen still strapped into them. At the base of the cube a conjunction of this cabling connected to a much larger Giant Mutant Hawkman standing all of 18' tall!
Now for the Mass Domination: the party were in four ranks of 3, so 12 possible targets for it. As an Old One is an enigmatic eldritch intelligence, I decided to determine targets randomly and abduct the reasoning later. With the psionic point cost being 10 plus the level of the target, targeting lower level characters was both more efficient and more likely to be successful; but on the other hand getting the party's big guns would be more expensive, only slightly less likely, but much more devastating to their chances of victory. The dice came down and the entire rear rank, henchmen Thomas and Rabbit, and also Slippery Pete were effected; along with Karshe from the front rank and Solaire from the second rank. Those effected were ordered to walk through the energy curtain and connect themselves to the skull caps on the other side. They all failed their saving throws and moved to comply. Unknown to anyone at this stage, the third Old One had targeted Sever with Molecular Agitation, this would take a while to get going but would eventually be as bad as a Druid's Heat Metal spell.
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| imagine the one on the left riding the one on the right |
The first proper round saw the party members who could do so moving to react, with the spell casters Anri and I.T in the (now) rear rank opting to cast Stinking Cloud and Spiritual Hammer respectively, and this would have been a very effective combination - had they not been immediately accosted by the flying mutant Hawkmen. Three of these swooped down to grapple the entire rear rank, only Harlan had a weapon ready to attempt to fend them off. However I also allowed I.T. a chance to fend off the grapple attack since the component for his spell is a real War Hammer. Both failed to fend and so all three were successfully grappled and immediately brought back by the hulking creatures, strapped in, and connected to the skull cap contraptions.
Sheamus and McScales took on the Shoggoth on the left, while Gurt took on the one to the right, and Sever activated his Wings of Flying and flew up to take on the Old One riding the right Shoggoth. This Old One was trying to go invisible again and sure didn't expect anyone to reach him up on his mount. The ranger chopped the eldritch monster in half, but then started to feel a little itch from his armour. The Psionic Domination ceased, however the damage was done, by the end of that round eight characters had been connected to the weird skull caps, and their life forces were being messed with. Some found they lost hit points while others gained them, others gained constitution or lost wisdom. Karshe and Paladin Henchman Solaire even had their alignments swapped! Not only were abilities being exchanged, clearly some part of the energy generated was being siphoned off into the Giant Mutant Hawkman, whose closed eyes above twitching tentacles where its mouth should be, began to open.
The fourth mutant Hawkman went after the flying Sever, and Gurt declared that he had been keeping a Potion of Speed ready to be used at a moment's notice. He wanted to use it and then attack. This flummoxed me, since most of the time players hoard potions or use them out of combat, I felt that doing both was not allowed; but when put on the spot I couldn't see a RAW that clearly says so. I allowed it at the time, and of course the next round someone wanted do the same with a Potion of Healing. There's a lesson there.
Those tied to the skull cap contraptions could now try and break free, but the mutant Hawkmen nearby tried to stop them escaping while the machines recharged. One of these was caught up by the Giant Mutant Hawkman and smashed into the floor with tremendous power; rushed into action by the Old Ones, was the huge creature was out of control?
The slug fest continued on the other side of the battle with a fortunate initiative win for the party; the extra attacks of Sever and Sheamus trumping the Shoggoths and taking them down to a level that they were soon finished off before they could return attacks. Gurt and Sever immediate made for the Giant Mutant Hawkman, incidentally crossing the energy curtain to do so, and just in time before the giant started on the henchmen near him. However the now heavily wounded Sheamus and McScales hung back at the T-intersection, with the former plying his bow (though to little effect).
The big hitters of Karshe (who had freed himself), Sever, and Gurt kept the GMH busy while the others tried to make themselves useful. The most successful of these was I.T. who Karshe ordered to try and do something with the conduits running to and from the cube. Well he did something alright, he disabled the cobbled together power system altogether! The robot sentry head deactivated and crashed to the ground, not incidentally ceasing to project the energy curtain before it did so. To Sheamus' and MsScales' dismay, the rest of the party was now trapped in what ever location the curtain had been connected to. With nothing else to do, the pair grabbed up the nearby loot (including the robot head) and pulled out.
Sever's armour finally became too hot for him to be able to continue the fight. Thinking quickly, and using his super strength, he began tearing the platemail from their supporting straps and hurling it away piece by piece. He now took on the GMH within nothing but his sword and harsh language!
Meanwhile, the Old One with the Molecular Agitation chose a new target and now it was Karshe who started to feel the heat.
Gurt went down to 0 hp after a GMH claw/claw/bite routine hit, but a miraculously low damage roll prevented it from being worse. Sever and Karshe were able to finish the job and the misunderstood monster that was the GMH collapsed with an enigmatic look on its face, and died in front of them.
Slippery Pete, having wriggled his small body out of the restraints attached to the skull caps, climbed up the cube and began searching for a way in. He found one in time to disrupt the Old Ones in there (he could see the other monsters that was not able to include the thief in the effect of its Psionic Discipline Invisibility). Though the thief's backstab failed to hit, the eldritch creatures soon decided that this was not the time to stick around and fight hand to hand, one utilising Probability Travel for them to escape.
Later, when Sever was back at the Pegasus Tower in Minas Mandalf some loose ends were tied up:You receive a message from Scout Regiment Commander Erwin."Thought you'd be interested in this. Machodor Psi Corps detected two signals entering the astral plane from the Bandit Mountains, squads 1 & 2 were sent to intercept. They report two 'Old Ones' destroyed, no casualties."
Session Statistics:
Wilderness travel: 6 Miles
Combats: 1
Combat rounds: 8
Treasure & Items
Chunks of metal of the following kinds and values:
Copper 8000cpSilver 6000sp
Gold 6000gp
Platinum 200pp
1 floating head robot sentinel (inoperative) 500xp
2 “Rooka Pistol” Hawkman hand-crossbows 1200xp
1 Hawkman Bracer of Invisibility? 1500xp
1 Huge White Gem 2000xp
4 Rings in a box 1000xp
1. Gold crown set with gems (6000 gp)
2. Gold necklace set with gems (4000 gp)
3. Gold necklace set with gems (5000 gp)
4. Gold necklace set with gems (8000 gp)
5. 2 x Gold pendant set with gems (6000 gp)
6. Gold ring set with gems (5000 gp)
7. Ivory bracelet (200 gp)
8. Ivory brooch (700 gp)
9. Ivory crown (200 gp)
10. Ivory pendant (200 gp)
11. Platinum brooch set with gems (11000 gp)
12. Platinum crown set with gems (6000 gp)
13. Platinum crown set with gems (8000 gp)
14. Platinum ring set with gems (5000 gp)
15. 2 x Silver earrings set with gems (3000 gp)
16. Silver ring set with gems (5000 gp)
17. Wrought gold bracelet (600 gp)
18. Wrought gold necklace (700 gp)
19. Wrought silver and gold earrings (300 gp)
20. Wrought silver and gold earrings (800 gp)
21. Gold brooch set with gems (5000 gp)
Total value = 89,700 gp
Total (not counting magic items) 97,320gp
4 Mutant Hawkmen 8200 XP
2 Shoggoth 18,910 XP
1 Old One 1000 XP
Total Monster XP 43960
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