Attending

Clockwise round the table, starting with the GM:

• T.K.B. — GM
• B.MC. — playing Azrulektos, a Kraken warrior/wizard
• C.A.H. — playing Karl Kroc, a Masaquani treasure hunter and navigator
• M.A.H. — playing Moorumah, a charming but rather dim Grael

Introduction

C.A.H. contributed the (lightly formatted) actual play report for this session.

Actual Play

After an extensive recap of what their previous adventures had been 8 months earlier, the party set out to make their fortune by any and all ways (at least the mostly legal ways). The overall plan was to sail north from port to port, making enough profit as a merchant to keep themselves fed, and hopefully purchase a salvage license before heading to the Whip Islands where vast wealth can be found.

But first we had to await boat repairs in Swindon. Moorumah decided it was best to wait in the shade, or perhaps underwater, so she set out to find the "shadiest dive" she could. While she found shade there, there was no swimming, only beer. There was also apparently no arm wrestling allowed. Disappointed, she left the bar, but shortly afterwards a young Doreen girl challenged her to a wrestling match for the contents of her purse. Unsuprisingly, the Doreen was no match for a Grael. Defeated, the Doreen ran off to the docks and disappeared into the water (apparently she enjoyed dives, even if they are not shady). Azrulektos decided that he would like to help the Doreen out. After a few rounds of catch with Moorumah's net, he hid by the docks to wait for her to emerge from the water. When she eventually emerged, he presented her an employment opportunity (and decided that using a fishing net was perhaps not the best recruitment tool when seeking crew). We learned the Doreen's name is Trix. We took her on as a lookout.

A few days later we topped off our provisions ($56) and finally set sail. Karl and Azrulektos worked out a merchant plan to maximize profit while sailing up the coast. Our first destination was the fishing village of Bristo where we planned to take on food cargo. However, 1 day out, our new lookout proved profitable when she spotted a possible ruin 80 yards down. We stopped, and set up a diving operation with Azrulektos, Moorumah, Karl, Trix, and Mongrel. Eight hours later we had found $625 in coins and treasure, and decided to keep working. This proved to be a good decision, as we found a mansion containing lots of loot -- $5625 and a sealed vial containing a yellow liquid. Miguel continued to display hidden talents, and directed us to the ship's hidey hole to store our newfound wealth. We continued on to Bristo without further incident.

In Bristo we had no difficulty finding and securing 4 cargo spaces worth of food from the harbor master Thomas Crane for $440. We did not stay over, as there was nothing much to do (other than clean up Moorumah's rat hunting), and the crew was eager to get to a large port (Baltimus) to spend their earnings (our first big profit since our original shipwreck nearly a month ago). However it was not to be an uneventful trip.

Three days out we cleared a fog bank to find ourselves on the scene of a very recent act of piracy. Indeed the pirates had not yet vacated the area, as they seemed to be engaging in a drunken revelry over their recent profit. Moorumah followed her usual course upon encountering a battle scene and cannon-balled into water and began to swim to the nearest boat. The pirates were so engaged in their festivities that they failed to notice her, or even our ship (until it was too late). We loaded the cannon with grapeshot, and "crossed the T", killing nearly half of them outright. We then pulled along side them and prepared to board, while Moorumah climbed up from the other side. Partying pirates were no match for a partying Grael, who began pulverising them one by one, howling with victory after each kill. Azrulektos's water bolts and Karl's pistols and rapier were equally deadly, and the combat was over in three rounds.

We now find ourselves in possession of a black sloop, 4 storage units of iron, $1700, and a whole lot of guns. As well as two seriously injured victims of the pirates (whom we healed to the best of our abilities). We decide the best course of action is to leave half the guns and money (kept $800) on the pirate ship to reduce suspicion of looting, and sail it behind our own boat into Baltimus. Just out of site of the port Azrulektos hides our salvaged goods in a chest underwater. Upon arriving in port, we are greeted by many soldiers and cannon, who are suspicious of the known pirate vessel (The Black Falcon). We convince them we are not pirates and that we have killed the pirate captain Patrick Triloni [Patrik Trelawany, to be precise — GM] (Moorumah helpfully displays his corpse). We express interest in aquiring a Letter of Marque, and also in upgrading from our boat to the captured boat. The harbormaster tells us there are some legal issues to work out, and it will take a few days, we decide we will use the time to take a cargo of Goods up to Calib's Rock, and then return with another load of Food. But first we sell our current load for $1200, pay the crew their long awaited wages of $350, buy a salvage license for $1000, a compass for $500, and spend $70 restocking our rations. As well as some time and money carousing.

Aftermath

Each PC each got +2 XP, and Karl Kroc got a bonus +1 XP for C.A.H. writing up an actual play report.

(Azrulektos: 9 XP, Karl Kroc: 9 XP, Moorumah: 9 XP.)

Privateers

When the PCs brought in their capture, I wasn't sure how to handle it. The 50 Fathoms rules, on p. 35, essentially say that privateers must first buy a letter of marque for $15,000, and then they get a 25% bounty on captured ships. That commission is much, much lower than typical historical amounts. Moreover, if someone captures a pirate ship without a letter of marque they get a token bounty of 10%. I decided that I'd look into the historical values, and decide what to do before the next session, and in the meantime the authorities told the PCs there were some legal details to work out.

Reflections

It was interesting to see that even with Karl Kroc's d10 Knowledge (Navigation) there were at least two occasions where C.A.H. had to resort to bennies to keep from running off course.

Attending

• T.K.B. — Labyrinth Lord
• T.A played Arlow (an Elf) and Grimmin (a Dwarf), and also played Hermes (A Magic User) and James (a Thief), who were created by D.B.
• M.A. played John (a Cleric) and Zedd (a Magic User), and also played Elsie (an Elf) and Leanna (a Dwarf), who were created by E.A.

Actual Play

1st day: They found the crypt doors locked again. Pick Locks failed, so they went back to the Temple. Hermes: Red Stone. James: Key, so /bite (he immediately dropped the key, so was only bitten once), then Blue Stone. Zedd: Gray Stone. John: Key, so Bite (and dropped the key). Arlow: Gold Stone. Elsie: Green Stone. Grimmin: Key. Since some were injured they went back to Mad Sammy's, go thealed, and slept.

2nd day: Back to crypt. Door in room 2 was locked again and when they opened it they surprised 8 giant rats. R1 rats surprised, Leanna and Grimmin step forward and attack, killing 3 rats, while the rest of the party falls back and takes position in room 2. R2 Hermes casts sleep, sending the remaining 5 rats off to their last slumber, then the rest of the party coup-de-graced the rats. They decided to pick them up on the way back out to smoke-dry for rations. Off to area 4, the pit. Wandering Monster: 4 skeletons in the pit. They animate when James starts down into the pit. John turns 5 HD, so all the skeletons tried to flee over the north edge of the pit, which repeatedly dumps them back into the pit. It takes the party 6 rounds to destroy the skeletons, but James took 4 wounds and fell unconscious. Zedd had the Green Rod Key. He put it in the green-daubed hole and pulls upward. Everybody hears the click. He takes the key out. The party members in the pit climb out on the north side, which now doesn't dump them back in the pit, and the rest of the party steps around the corner from the west site of the pit. Leanna picks up James and carries him, and they all head off to the door to room 11.

They had reached the doors when they noticed, coming up the hallway behind them, a rather surly looking dwarf. After an exchange where the dwarf insisted they shouldn't be here and tried to intimidate them into leaving, he turned and left. T.A. immediately has Arlow (?) agitating for the party to attack the retreating dwarf. Upon learning that the dwarf is wearing plate mail, Grimmin and Leanna fire their crossbows at the dwarf, and Arlow joins in. They score one hit, but the dwarf steps round the corner over the pit, and Arlow, Grimmin, and Leanna chase after him. They chase him in the dark until he vanishes out of their range of sight at the bottom of the stairs in room 10. They hesitate at the top of the stairs, Leanna retreating to find the others, and Grimmin and Arlow hear a scream in the room below, then sounds of struggle, then silence. They wait, listening, and then Grimmin is surprised by the shadow and taken to –1 HP in the first attack. Arlow picks up Grimmin and flees to room 2, where they paused. The others (carrying James) are already in room 2. Here they are all surprised again when 2 shadows attack! The shadows attacked Arlow (and missed) and Zedd (and hit). In the second round the shadows attacked Hermes (and missed) and Leanna (and hit). Party fled and left crypt door open.

They spent two days just resting and healing. Every night they had wolves howling outside and clawing at the Mad Sammy's cellar door. Mad Sammy shrieked and howled, babbling that they had offended “the eye”. On the third day some of them hunted, because their supplies were gone and Mad Sammy's supplies were running low. They found enough to feed four people for the day. On the fourth day they found enough food to feed three people for the day. On the fifth day John was able to heal Leanna of the last of her wounds, and the party was finally completely healed. On the sixth day they found enough rations for 12 people, and after eating had 3 days rations to smoke dry that evening.

On the seventh day they headed back to the crypt. They went directly to room 11, where they were surprised by 2 ghouls hidden in the loose dirt near a ¾ buried chest. Grimmin was paralyzed on the first round (for 7 rounds), but the rest of the party was able to kill the ghouls in three more rounds. John cast cure light wounds on Grimmin, which also cured his paralysis. Leanna took the magic flail, and Hermes took both scrolls. Back to mad Sam's, where there were still wolves at the door every night.

Reflections

I made an effort this time to follow the Labyrinth Lord Labyrinth Play Sequence, Time and Movement, Rest, Monster Reaction, Wandering Monsters, and Morale Checks rules more closely than I have hitherto.[1] The dwarf was a wandering monster roll, straight from the Level 1 column on the Wandering Monster Table on p. 104 of Labyrinth Lord, with everything after that improvised on the fly — I decided he was another treasure hunter, upset at finding competition, and once he started to flee the PCs it seemed inevitable that he end up in the room with the shadow, and get killed and turned into a shadow himself. I thought it added a lot to the game, and made me look on wandering monsters with much more approval. I do think that I ought to make location-specific wandering monster tables, though.