Run through Tower of the Stargazer

Just a short writeup of my group's experience with Tower of the Stargazer, plenty of spoilers.  I used it to kickstart a new campaign.  It was simply great!  As  an intro for your players I can only recommend it.  What worked:  the non-linear structure, the traps and the thread of the story/situation.

The Wilds of Cymry

2/2/12
Session 1: Aza, Ben & Damon
Tower of the Stargazer

So we kicked off a new journey after a 3 year campaign which got bogged down in 4th ed combat slogfest.  As a DM I was keen to move to something completely different so persuaded my players to try some old school style play using LotFP rules.  They are all experienced roleplayers but not that familiar with old school style play.

This was my campaign intro:

It is 1108.  You are mercenaries (routiers).  Outsiders.

You have arrived in the mist clung valleys and verdant pastures of Cyrmry, hired to do a job the Anglo-Saxons could not stomach, but you were born to. 

A foul smelling cog docked at Pembroke where a motte and bailey clifftop castle guards a stinking town, hemmed in by the sea on three sides.   The Earl of Pembroke, Arnulf de Montgomery is travelling but he has designated an experienced Flemish mercenary captain to lead a company of routiers into the vastness of this strange land. 

Some hardy Flemish settlers are scratching a living in small villages (Dolders, Mechelen, Leuven, Haverford West, Tienen) in the protective lee of the castle.  Beyond that fringe lies the mystical wildnerness of Cymry including the hidden fastnesses where barbaric Welsh tribesmen rut, worshipping savage deities.  Nearly a generation ago they rebelled against your overlord but were cut down at the castle walls and burnt in great pyres.  Nothing grows on those black mounds ‘ere to this day.

Tancred de Kassel is your captain, a red bearded veteran of the Welsh uprising, his grim scarfaced countenance showing a hundred skirmishes since.  His small command is gathered in a rough cut palisade barracks at Haverford West, a 2 day march of some 14 miles from the security of Pembroke Castle.  The village is a collection of turf roofed huts and lean-tos.  If this is civilization it could only just be termed such.

After a rough breakfast of fried turnip cakes the players then introduced their characters to each other.  Each character had two henchmen for a party of 9 level 1s.  They rolled them 3d6 straight down the page.

The Norse (Aza)
Freya Magic User with her brother Heimdall (Fighter) and a specialist named Pickiwickes.  Freya was unusually intelligent, 18 a natural roll the highest of any of the 9 party members, but with an arrogant demeanour Charisma of 5.

The Flemish from Limburg (Ben)
Punchie Blathint (Fighter) a man with a fondness for fighting and scars (a real brawler toting a greatsword and chainmail) with his offsider Takie Heylyn (specialist) a gambling addict and Snow White an albino Dwarf who was shunned by his people and considered unlucky.

The Flemish from Gent (Damon)
Clarence a Cleric of the God Kushiel (a deity invented by the player with an emphasis on Discipline, Toughness and Punishment).  He had already acquired two followers, Finbar (Fighter) and Myfanwy (Magic User) who were a struggling couple until they saw the light of Clarence’s preaching.

Tancred basically gave them a dodgy map and told them to investigate some unusual phenomena occurring in a hilly region to the north.  Thus we introduced the Tower of the Stargazer.  After an uneventful march of two days they arrived at the blackened area around the structure and quickly discovered the dead thief, who was identified by Pickiwickes.  They spent some time rifling the body and musing on his fate.  Eventually they gathered around the steps and debated the knocker versus the handles.  Everyone agreed that the knocker was some kind of trap and Takie reached his hand, touched the serpent handle, was bitten, failed a save and then died.  The reaction from the players was fantastic – up until now this was some sort of Fantasy romp but the character death rocked them totally!  A perfect start.

They moved into the foyer and in a grisly reminder of old school play, redistributed Takie’s equipment to the remaining characters.  The first level was quickly explored and they uncovered the trapdoor under the boxes.  They were now much more cautious and several times the henchmen refused to just go in there and take a look!  After finding the locked door to the workshop, they decided they needed a key, went back upstairs discovered the servant’s quarters, a key and the diary, sitting down to learn some information concerning the tower. This gave them a heads up on the wizard encounter later.

With the key they descended down the trapdoor stairs opened the door into the Workshop.  They ignored most of the goodies, and found the levitation shaft and quickly got it into operation.  They then sent someone to the bottom floor with a lantern and his report of Treasure chests filled them joy.  They all descended but were horrified by the force fields and decided they must search for the “code” to unlock the treasure.  Back up to the workshop, Freya could not resist the gold thread and the cadaver burst open attacking and choking her neck.  The party exploded into action and in 2 rounds, cut the cadaver to pieces, Freya suffering only a welt on her neck.

The norse fighter Heimdall and the albino Dwarf looked into the mirrors, Heimdall received some stat boosts and was granted a favour.  Snow white gained extra hit points and some stat boosts.  After this they decided to head down to the Treasure level, and Heimdall used his favour to be granted the “code”, I made out that the strange voice in Heimdall’s head was mocking, laughing that he had sold himself so cheaply.  After manipulating the levers to the correct configuration, and using an old body part from a crate they realized the force fields were deactivated and filled their sacks with all the silver and precious items leaving the copper coins behind.  They then reactivated the force fields and cleverly considered using this as their bank!

Back to the workshop, they heard the moans and fought and killed the ghostly attackers in the jail.  Freya opened a blood vial and nearly died when her henchmen burnt her arm in killing it.  Clarence the cleric bravely probed the fresh cadaver, dodged the brain leech which then disappeared down the drain.  Clarence used this as an example of his deity’s power and his two henchmen promptly fell on their knees in fervent obeisance.

After this the party ascended via the levitation shaft to the Wizard’s bedroom.  I portrayed Calcidius as a slightly bumbling, eccentric fool who welcomed everyone and after some introductions asked politely to be freed.  He offered a reward when the party looked a little reluctant.  They continued to hem and haw and Calcidius began to demand his release and accused them of being thieves.  The party openly taunted him and he went mad, casting spells and cursing.  After stealing the crystal they waved goodbye and ascended to the library level. 

The library level was quickly surveyed, they destroyed a few of the old books by touching them, entered into a game with the spirit (Freya once again proving her worth) easily bested him (we played Bluff a game involving up to 3 coins in your right hand guess the combined total) and gained access to the more valuable section of the library.  Freya found the spellbook, and they uncovered the spell scrolls splitting them 2 to each magic user.

The party then investigated the observatory.  The party was split here, Punchie was extremely reluctant to mess around with the telescope.  They decided to do nothing, returned to the workshop with mirrors in order to gain another “favour” in order to unlock the telescope’s secrets.  Finbar failed to learn any wisdom, as did Snowwhite, Pickwickes looked in the northern mirror and was blasted by a ray of light.  Snowwhite then checked out the most dangerous of the mirrors, failed his magical device save and was sucked into the mirror.  The party’s confidence levels again drooped like a young sapling in summer heat.

Freya then insisted on going back to operate the telescope.  In what can only be described as a slow motion train wreck, she pushed the switches in the correct order, figured out the black powder fuel, shoveled it in and switched it on.  Freya disappeared into the warp to be eaten by some alien plant things!  The other players shook their heads but Aaron answered, “I knew it might have been a bad idea, but it was absolutely worth it!”

Summary: 3 character deaths, due to the telescope, mirror and the front door.  One of the henchmen nearly died from the ray of light.  Total char gen time 25 minutes, as each player had to roll up 3 characters, adventure time 3 hours.  Plenty of fun had.  The campaign will now shift to a sandbox format.