Dungeon & Dragons Through the Versions: Part 12

Recap: The party spent some time in Hommlet healing and Gort made a level in Fighter! They badgered the villagers for financial aid, but found that they were barking up the wrong tree. They settled for some clerical assistance instead, as well as a discount on holy water. They quickly returned to the moathouse for some more mayhem but spent most of their time just getting back to where they had left off - the lower dungeons!

WARNING: This adventure was run on a hot July night, with all participants being particularly ornery. It did not end well....

Once the party got down the stairs they headed back to the gnoll chamber and the charred door (which they had burned with the oil pool). The dead gnolls had been gnawed upon (likely by the ghouls) and were dragged into the northeast corner of the chamber. The party decided to look behind the other doors on the south wall - they had trouble opening them. They discovered the southwestern door led to another 10' x 10' cubicle (empty) and did not want to set off the portcullis trap so they avoided the central door (assuming correctly that it was just like the bugbear chamber).

The party headed down the corridor to the southeast. There were some sooty footprints at the northwest end of the passage, but not much else. At the end of the passage they found a closed door. Trixalix listened at the door but heard nothing. The party opened the door to reveal a dark tunnel heading due east and another door immediately to the north. Trixalix listened at this door also, but heard nothing. The party strong guys (Elmo and Gort) attempted to open the door (both failed), but it was Elana who finally got the door open! The party was not surprised by the guards waiting on the other side (the guards were well aware of the intruders and had time to alert their companions down the hall).

So began the longest combat I think I have ever run in AD&D (taking about 4 hours real time). It was definitely the most exasperating combat I ever ran. Without surprise we moved right on to initiative. I feel the need to reveal exactly what happened in a round-by-round breakdown, to give you readers the sense of what transpired. Each round description lists the initiative rolled, with the party's die before the slash and the monsters' after the slash. The initial encounter is with the 6 guards (armed with crossbow, sword, and dagger) and 1 sergeant (armed with shield, morningstar, hammer, and dagger). A like force resided in the adjoining chamber, along with the Master's Lieutenant (a 4th level fighter). All guards began in their starting positions except the three in the north chamber which moved into the hall to see what the commotion was about at the door.

• ROUND 1: 3/3 Guard moves out and swings sword, misses Elana; Elmo hits and wounds the guard then Gort finishes him off; a crossbow shot misses Gort.
• ROUND 2: 5/1 Gort stumbled over the body while trying to charge; Elana moved into position for spellcasting; Elmo crossed to the next guard; Trix moved over to drag the fallen body out of the doorway; one crossbowman switched to his sword, the other missed firing at Gort.
• ROUND 3: 1/2 Crosbowman misses Gort yet again; Elmo slays guard in corridor; Elana casts hold person on crossbowman who fails save (7 rounds duration).
• ROUND 4: 1/1 Gort slays the held guard; everyone else moves into position.
• ROUND 5: 5/1 three crossbow shots miss the party; party moves up.
• ROUND 6: 6/2 Gort and Elmo miss; front rank guards switch to swords.
• ROUND 7: 4/5 Gort is struck for 4 hp damage; Elana casts hold person (7 rounds) and holds the rear crossbowman and sergeant.
• ROUND 8: 4/4 Both guards miss; Elmo slays one guard.
• ROUND 9: 4/6 Last standing guard fails morale and surrenders.
• ROUND 10: Guard is told to run away; he runs into Spugnoir in the outer hallway who stabs him!
• ROUND 11: Other guards are coming into north room and Elmo warns the others.
• ROUND 12: 1/1 everyone moves into position to take on the new guards.
• ROUND 13: 1/6 crossbows all miss their shots; Gort hits one guard for 5 points, wounding him.
• ROUND 14: 6/3 Spugnoir casts sleep and catches 4 guards (2 guards, 2 sgts.); Gort slays one guard, Elmo misses; crossbowmen miss Elmo; guard in front .
• ROUND 15: 6/5 Guard #7 killed by Mort; Guard #12 heads back to warn the others.
• ROUND 16: 4/6 Guard hits Gort for 1 hp; Gort kills Guard #9
• ROUND 17: 1/3 Guards withdraw to the room and summon help; Party moves in to attack and Trix and Spugnoir start killing sleeping guards.
• ROUND 18: 3/6 Guard strikes Mort for 7 points of damage; Elmo and Mort kill the guard; guard #12 summons the others; Trix and Spugnoir kill the sleeping guards.
• ROUND 19: 5/6 Guards move into the room and party takes positions for a grand melee.
• ROUND 20: 4/3 Elmo kills one guard and Gort kills one as well, Trix and Elana miss; Guard strikes down Trixalix with one blow! (5 points).
• ROUND 21: 4/5 Spugnoir casts sleep and affects 2 guards, 1 sgt, and lieutenant; Elana withdrew to get to Trix; Guard hits Gort for 1 hp; Gort slays the guard who hit Trix; Trix bleeds for one point.
• ROUND 22: 5/6 Elana heals Trix for 5 hp (back to 2 hp); Gort and Elmo miss.
• ROUND 23: 6/4 Gort hit one guard; everyone else missed; Lareth comes out to play (after casting protective spells on himself); Trix crawls to Kevin.
• ROUND 24: 6/4 Gort slays guard # 16; Elana wounds guard #13; Lareth wakes up the lieutenant with a kick.
• ROUND 25: 1/3 Gort kills sleeping guard #18; Elmo slays guard #13
• ROUND 26: 3/3 party withdraws a bit and the last sleeping guards are kicked awake; Gort quickly casts cure light wounds on himself for 8 hp.
• ROUND 27: 4/1 Party and commanders cross to engage each other.
• ROUND 28: 6/2 Everyone misses each other.
• ROUND 29: 6/5 No one hits.
• ROUND 30: 2/1 No one hits.
• ROUND 31: 5/1 Everyone misses again. Sounds of rattling can be heard in the distance (can you believe I rolled a random encounter?).
• ROUND 32: 1/3 Everyone misses again. Spugnoir dumps oil in the southern corridor.
• ROUND 33: 6/1 Party misses; bad guys miss; Spugnoir lights the oil. 
• ROUND 34: 2/2 Elana is hit by the staff of striking for 9 hp damage; party misses.
• ROUND 35: 4/4 Everyone misses each other.
• ROUND 36: 4/4 Party withdraws as Lareth calls for their surrender.
• ROUND 37: 2/2 Lareth casts command on Elana but fails to affect her; party continues to withdraw.
• ROUND 38: 5/5 Party starts to escape but they are pursued.
• ROUND 39: 1/6 Gort is hit for 6 hp; withdraw continues
• ROUND 40: 1/5 Lareth succeeds at hold person on Gort and Elana; Elmo succeeds in his save.

This is where the night (and this session, as well as the module) ends. The players were completely disheartened. The end of the combat was basically rolling to see who could get a 20 (and no one was really able to) because AC values were too low on both sides. I rolled up bugbears on the wandering monster roll, so they were coming down the tunnel from the outside and would have kept Spugnoir and Trix from escaping. I ruled that Elmo would protect his companions with his life - a noble if misguided attempt to do good. Lareth, being a heartless bastard, would have kept one of the captured PCs alive for interrogation while torturing and killing the others. Instead of role-playing that, I decided to simply end that dogma campaign.

AD&D played by-the-book is no joke! A party has to be very careful how it proceeds, use the utmost caution when getting into a battle, and keep track of lots of little details (like making sure the exit is clear in case of a hasty retreat). Trix suffered from very low hit points, and it was only a matter of time before my dice ended his life. He was the first to fall in battle, and almost died had it not been for the party cleric. I found this party to be well balanced (except for the gnome illusionist/thief). Lack of magic items in the module, and ridiculously large amounts of opponents in the lower dungeons, ended the career of this intrepid bunch. Keep in mind that this was a party of roughly level 2-4 instead of the 1st level characters recommended. As I've stated in past posts, this module is a "meatgrinder," unsuitable for novice level characters (unless the DM is trying to show that the game is merciless and wants new players to get the hang of rolling new characters every session).

Dogma AD&D is even more brutal than I anticipated. It also short-changes characters on Experience Points, thus slowing advancement and keeping them weak. Maybe this is the reason it was so fun to play! Danger lurks around every corner! Those who make it to 3rd level become beloved characters! I thoroughly enjoyed this run, even if it ended rather gloomily. I think the players also enjoyed this version - we're still talking about the characters and the situations they found themselves in.

What I've learned is that the modules are too deadly as written. Gygax was great at killing off characters apparently. If I were to do this experiment with dogma AD&D again, I would likely use pre-made characters on a tournament module like C2: Ghost Tower of Inverness or G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King (Level 1) to get a better feel for how it all plays at higher levels.