DCC Recap #7

This week equilibrium is restored in more ways than one. The party had just defeated Birmzy the Trixter, half-formed demilich with a penchant for traps and possession. I’d like to think he’s the kind of comic horror you’d find in a Sam Raimi film. It was a fun session, one which was less about dungeon crawling and more about the glory of a quest fulfilled.

Dramatis Personae

PCs

* Calvert, smasher of foes
* Stacia, healer of friends... some of the time
* Nick, caster of spells, popular at rodeos
* Poundfoolish, uh, halfer of lings?
* þordis, opener of locked things, the latest addition to the party

NPCs
* Sizneros, the Vorpal One, Bearer of Om's Oath the Balancer, the Rectifier of Weedia, wizard of the Dragonaut. Man of many titles and faces
* Gabbro the Giant, camel enthusiast
* Livingstone and Jackson, dwarf craftsmen with a business plan
* Jicc, simpleton

Calvert got to know his new magic sword, freshly looted from Birmzy and presenting the kind of cosmic horror that would also again fit in just fine in a Sam Raimi film.

Wrought from an unearthly green metal, it tells Calvert via a telepathic link its name is Kthüü. It tells him of its special purposes:

• Seek the Void
• Break all allegiances
• Slay one lawful creature for every chaotic creature slain, and vice versa

It is a neutral sword, and is a reminder that neutral-aligned entities are probably the most disturbing. It also told Calvert it has a bane against wizards and elves (who doesn’t, amirite?) that causes 1d4 INT loss per hit as well as its normal damage. Needless to say, Umbobo needs to stay clear the hell away from that thing. And speaking of INT, it has one of 11, which isn’t too shabby. And last but not least, it is a +2 short sword. It may be some time before the party finds a +2 anything. But then again, the magic sword generation tables are too much fun and maybe I won’t be able to help myself.

After Calvert finished mumbling to this strange blade, the party moved on to more pressing matters- loot recuperation. Namely, retrieving the possessions of one dead Knave. Chandler’s corpse was still in the spider pit, although he was all but covered in spider webs. In spite of this, a couple of glints of steel poked out of his cocoon, a prong from a grappling hook and the blade of The Cure,
Chandler’s +1 Long Sword. This also presented with the party with the following conundrum: how does one get the body of a dead compatriot out of a pit filled with webs and giant spiders?

First, you do the sensible thing and try to fish that corpse out with a grappling hook. And when a few abysmal rolls later that doesn’t work, you put a halfling in that pit and hope for the best. Poundfoolish was lowered down, and the initial attempt proved mostly unsuccessful, with the poor halfling getting bit and but managing to free The Cure before making a hasty escape.

The party was starting to second guess their corpse recovery plans when a final go was made. The halfling, who has faced down death enough not to be discouraged by a couple dozen venomous spiders, was lowered again. This time he went for broke and full body hugged the webbing that wrapped Chandler. This time when he got bit (and temporarily paralyzed by venom) he was secured tightly to the corpse and was lifted out by the party. The corpse was then promptly looted and the party made for the exit.

Beyond the outer door to the dungeon they came upon a disturbing sight- giant tracks. Given the party’s recent encounter with Gabbro the Stone Giant, it was an ill omen indeed. As the camera panned over to the horizon, the giant could be seen sitting cross legged across from the Vorpal One. The party soon discovered that Sizneroz had brokered a peace treaty with the giant and the party. Both giant and wizard have a calling towards balance, and Sizneros knew that the greater balance the party was unintentionally bringing would mean something to Gabbro. Of course, greater balance was also achieved through the exchange of some camels. Since the party had some anonymous camels to spare, all was forgiven.

This was also where the party met its newest member, þordis, who has an old English character that just took me about 5 minutes to figure out how to find on my keyboard. þ is the thorn character and it is a way to pronounce “th” that my American mouth will never be able to. But it is a good looking letter. Anyway, she is a “locksmith” (or “locksmiþ” if you’re nasty). She is also the proud owner of not one, but two camels. It appears locksmiþing pays well.

Perhaps the highlight of the night was the Vorpal One fulfilling his end of the bargain- new limbs and spells! Worth noting is Gabbro was sipping rather daintily from a metal tea cup. It was cast from a proprietary blend of metals by Jackson and Livingstsone, materials originally intended to be used for Poundfoolish’s prosthetic leg. Was this the GM trying to force his will on a player to roll on a custom table he poured his soul into? I suppose we’ll never know.

Sizneros began his ritual, first setting bodies of the slain wizzards on fire and placing a caudlron on the blaze. He threw the circlets, including the one pulled off the head of Birmzy, into the cauldron. This caused a supernatural geyser of fire to erupt, and for a moment a hazy manifestation of the Dragonaut appeared bestrode a mighty dragon and faded away almost as fast as it appeared. It was then time for some dice to be rolled as the Vorpal One’s spell for limb regeneration was ready.

Before we get to the results, let’s look at the table. I created it after a brief chat on the DCC Discord about handling PC dismemberment. One response I received was the idea of going on a quest for a wizard who could potentially heal the PC. This idea, and my recently purchased Grimtooth’s Old School Traps book, was the inspiration for this most recent homebrewed adventure. Also Rolland’s wound table, a fun and appropriately brutal alternative to the normal rules for players who hit 0 hit points, was also an inspiration. We’ll have to get that chart on the site here for others to peruse- I think its pretty great. Here are the tables I created for this adventures limb regeneration:

Effect (1d6)	description	bonuses/special abilities
1. Spectral Smoke	The limb is restored to normal use, but it now is composed of a faintly pungent smoke.	The limb can become either fully or partially incorporeal at will. Shenanigans ensue.
2. Draconian	The limb is now reptilian, with scales and a claw.	Bonus claw attack; 1d3 dmg and extra 1d16 action.
3. Gorilla	The limb is longer than before and covered in hair.	+1 str bonus; if its a leg replacement, the foot is now prehensile.
4. Clockwork	The limb is now made of metal with intricate gears in place of muscle.	It its a leg, +5′ movement speed; double speed for 1d4 rounds but will need 1d4 rounds to wind the limb back to use- -10′ until wound. If its an arm, can be used as a shield (including shield bash if a player has that ability) and can double the number of attacks if holding a weapon for 1d4 rounds; like the leg, must be wound afterwards for 1d4 rounds- arm is useless until then.
5. Tentacle	1d3+1 tentacles replace the limb.	Each tentacle can hold a different item. While this does not give any extra actions, it does mean a player can alternate between different weapons and even hold two handed weapons if enough tentacles are available. If replacing a leg, one tentacle needs to be reserved for movement.
6. Skeletal	Limb is just creepy bleached bone that glows a faint green.	Chill touch, like the level 1 Wizard spell, can be cast 3 times a day. Spell attach is +2 + CL on a d20.

And since nothing comes for free when playing with the magic, the player must roll on the following table as well:

1d100	Result
1 – 50	minor corruption
51 – 64	major corruption
65 – 74	greater corruption
75 – 90	no corruption- the Dragonaut smiles on you
91 – 100	roll again twice

Poundfoolish rolled first. He rolled a 1 and his leg is now a spectral smoky one! He also rolled a minor corruption, giving him some nasty poxy skin and a -1 to his Personality, which was low to begin with. Sean is the kind of player that will make the most of the incorporeal-at-will power, which I look forward to.

Calvert rolled a 3, and now has an unusually long ape arm to go along with his human-sized leg. He also rolled no corruptions, which is a stroke of luck for David as a player since he normally rolls all the corruptions.

The Vorpal One also shared with Nick a tome full of spells to chose from. Nick picked Scorching Ray, one of his first ranged attack spells. Now who’s making jokes about him be a street magician!

As the session was winding down, Sizneros and Gabbro agreed to journey with the players to the outskirts of Mitra’s Fist. Which is where we will pick up the adventure next time. Which is also going to mark the first session of the actual Dark Tower campaign! Its been a long and winding road to get there, but boy is it going to be worth it.