Sunday, March 12, 2023

Campaign Journal: B2 "Keep on the Borderlands! The Shunned Cavern...

 This is the next part of our campaign journal, discussing B2.  You should be able to use the tags to find previous posts about B1.  For those just joining us, we are adventuring with three heroes:  Dragonwing (F3), Magic Hands (MU3), and Flowing River (Druid 3).  The players are all kids, pre-k through early elementary, and they're doing great.

We've had a few sessions so I will just hit the highlights.

SPOILERS FOR B2 AHEAD

PAPERS AND PAYCHECKS

The players arrived at the keep and spend much of a session exploring the outer bailey.  They were flush with loot from B1 so they upgraded armor, paid a travelling witch to learn a new wizard spell or two, and paid taxes (scutage to avoid 40 days of service to the keep).  They secured lodging and heard a few lurid tales of danger and wealth at the keep.  The kids had never interacted with NPCs like this so it was worth dragging out a bit.

Of course, a friendly jovial priest staying in an apartment had breakfast with the new folks in town and sized them up.  The merchants and sergeant at arms complained of raids on caravans and patrols and suggested starting with some of the caves near the mouth of the canyon.

FIRST EXPEDITION -- OWLBEARS, OH MY!

The players ignored the suggestion to start with the caves near the front of the canyon and instead went straight down the middle, all the way to the back.  Despite several fairly ominous warning descriptions, they ventured into the owlbear cave.  Oh my!

Luckily, the players had faced an Owlbear in Hero Kids, a simpler fantasy RPG, so they were familiar with the trope and recognized they had a dangerous foe on their hands once they blundered into the nest.  Dragonwing landed a few lucky max damage hits which quickly whittled the monster's HP down.  Magic Hands threw up Shield which saved him from a few nasty hits, drawing attacks from the creature.  When Dragon Wing went down, Flowing River was able to throw a timely Cure Wounds on the warrior, getting him back in the fight...  Flowing River then went down and needed a Healing Potion.  After a tough fight that used up most of the resourced, the Owl Bear was defeated!  Huzzah!

The players continued exploring the shunned cavern.  They found the room with the pool and slimes.  Magic Hands, wearing no armor, boldy dove right into the pool and snagged the treasure without hesitation.  I used a 2d6+STR roll for swimming and he rolled boxcars -- sounds like a great dive to recover the loot!  Dragon Wing and Flowing River got "glopped" by some slime, drew them off for a round, enabling Magic Hands to escape with the loot.  All three heroes beat a hasty retreat, not bothering to stick around to fight the slow moving slimes.

Not a bad start to B2!