The Maztica Campaign: Waste Management

"Now I know what they mean when they say 'Forbidden Wastes'!"

(What Has Gone Before...)

Early the next day found João Afonso Villalobos, Ranger and Esparelda Ragosa, cranky Gnome Fighter/Thief, opening a storm drain access grate with a key given to them by Voil Guldi, merchant and member of the committee on public work for the local Jeweler's Association. The faint reek of stagnant water grew stronger as they descended the sweaty stone stairs, accompanied by the vague odor of urine.

"Someone likes to pee down their drains..." said João Afonso.

"Eww!" said Esparelda, "Filthy humans..."

They both paused on the stairs. Below, they could see a stone-flagged chamber, about 30' wide, with a 10' wide channel, running down the centre. The channel was brimming to over-flowing with frothy, brownish water.

"There's got to be a better way to get some gold." muttered the Gnome, as she prepared to light the lantern Guldi had provided. She fidgeted with her flint and steel, awkwardly holding her sword beneath her arm.

"Maybe put your sword down?" remarked João Afonso, helpfully.

"I'm not putting anything down..." said Esperelda crankily. "All we need is for my sword to get dropped in that pool o'shite..." She jerked her elbow toward the effluvium below them. 

"Anyway, the wick's alight" she said, as the sputtering flame caught and grew brighter.

"That's your sleeve..." remarked João Afonso, again helpfully.

"Fornication!" yelled Esperelda, batting at her flaming sleeve with a leather-clad hand, simultaneously dropping the lantern, which João Afonso deftly caught.

(DM's Note: Esperelda's player, Megan, had rolled a 1 on her Dex check, while João Afonso's player, Derek, had rolled a 20 on his. The suggestion to put down the sword, and the rejection, was genuine. The impulse to protect the lantern, the loss of which to be taken from their wages, would grow in importance as the game progressed. Players are funny.)


Descending the stone stairs, both characters were able to step over the dreadful grey-water and alight with a wet slap upon the walkway, which ran on either side of the channel. Both assessed their situation. The channel sluggishly flowed to a "T" intersection, then diverted both left and right, before each arm passed around an elbow curve and then underneath a large metal gate on either side.

"We have ourselves a pair of floaters..." said João Afonso, indicating with his spear three brown, foot-and-a-half long torpedo shapes in the water.

"They're moving against the tide.." Esperelda said, "and coming straight for us!"

Three "waterbugs" attacked, trying to latch hold of soft leather while attempting to burrow into the tasty pink meat beneath. João Afonso stabbed the first one as it clambered out of the water, looking aghast as the skewered insect hissed at him from the end of his spear.

Esperalda hacked at another with her sword, missed with a clang and another curse. "That's gonna leave a ding..." The beetle bit her ankle, partially penetrating the thick leather boot. "Ow!" she howled. "So is that!"

The Beetle Battle

João Afonso had meanwhile driven his spear down into the water at the edge of the walkway, trying to dislodge the dying "waterbug". The spear lodged in a crack, left his hands with a wrench, and stuck shaft up, a foot or two out of the water. A third "waterbug" bit at him, but gained no purchase. João Afonso unlimbered his halberd from his back, and cut the thing in half.

Esperalda had been busying herself by cutting the legs off her own personal insect opponent, and as it ran about in a semi-circle, she stabbed it behind the head. It died with a hiss.

(DM's note: Basically, three Fire-beetles from MM1. I made them a bit small, with fewer hit points. I wanted a small challenge, but nothing too dangerous. The PC's also harvested the glowing glands, to sell, and made themselves vomit whilst doing so. Gad, they're desperate for money...)

A short while later...

Esparelda is surveying the steel doors on the left-hand channel.  "These can't be picked from this side. There's no lock to pick."

"Maybe there's a lever..." remarked João Afonso, helpfully tapping with his recovered spear.

Esparelda began to tap with her sword-pommel along the wall by the base of the entry steps. "If I were a Civic Engineer, I would put my lever behind a secret door, as close to the entryway as possible..." she stopped. "Nothing" she said. "Maybe the other side."

João Afonso reached past her shoulder and pressed a stone that looked out of place, helpfully. A section of wall about 3' across swung inward, a darkened recess beckoned.

"Presto!" he said.

Post Game Observations
Nothing particularly earth-shattering happened during this encounter. Just before the beetle attack, I made some "bubbling" noises, which caught the PCs attention and had them tense up a bit. Most players are a bit pessimistic, so it usually pays to let them sweat for a moment, fearing the worst, while the unknown approaches...

To be continued...

The Maztica Campaign: Pre-Season Training

Our first session of AD&D 1E was hosted this past Saturday. Only half of the intended party was included, as only half of the party hadn't played in at least a decade and, like the DM, were sorely in need of a refresher.

The Characters
João Afonso Villalobos: 1st Level Human Ranger, the younger son of a poor-but-proud Imnescar landowner.  Chaotic Good adherent of Tymora.





Esparelda Ragosa: 1st Level Gnomish Fighter/Thief. Second daughter of an itinerant Gnomish tinsmith. Neither of her names is particularly Gnomish, suggesting she's using an alias. Chaotic Neutral and Tymora will do. A bit shifty...



Part 1: Introductions

The scene opens at the capital city of Amn, Athkatla. The PCs have been conducted there by commissioned recruiters, to join the company of reinforcements, gathered for service in Maztica (The Nu World).
Unfortunately, the company they were supposed to rendevous with had already sailed (several days ago) and the PCs were forced to take lodging in the city to await the next levy.

Prices in Athkatla are high, even in the poor River District, rents are nearly double the book rate, and the PCs have spent most of their starting money on their armour, weapons and other kit (one player decided to buy a spear to save money, rather than the sexier sword).

With resources dwindling,  the PCs decide to look for work. Visiting the Shrine of Tymora, after making a donation ("When a coin to Tymora drops in the coffer, a seven-fold return she will surely offer.." the dæconess assured) they were rewarded with a referral to speak with Voil Guldi, a Dwarven merchant in the Jeweler's District.

After a short, confused interval, when Heer Guldi mistakenly assumed the PCs where there to wash down the coal cellar, the Dwarf, reading the clerical referral, offered a job: inspect the stormsewers beneath the market plaza and determine what's blocking the street drains from properly draining. The job pays 50 gp each.

Despite their financial straits, the PCs decided to haggle.

João Afonso: "It sounds dirty..."
Voil Guldi: "It IS dirty. That's why I'm hiring scallywags like yourselves."
Esperalda: "I'd hate to ruin my good clothes..."
Voil Guldi: "Just as well you're not wearing them, yes?"

Both parties finally arrived at a final sum of 75 gp each, plus two scrips, each redeemable for a Cure Disease casting, should either of the PCs need one upon return. Also included were some rope and a lantern - Guldi also threw in an old set of boots the Gnome could use as hip-waders.

"Of course, you may keep whatever loot you may find."

The PCs then asked for an advance, which after some more haggling, the Dwarf agreed to advance 25 gp, providing they left some articles as security. João Afonso's Tymora medallion and Esperalda's good boots were left behind, to be reclaimed on return.

That evening, as the PCs retired to the upper garret of their jointly rented shack, having dined on some roast poultry, purchased by their advance, Esperelda was melting tallow candles to waterproof Guldi's old boots.

"Are we missing some candles?" she asked João.

"Well, we've been frying bread in them..." he remarked, removing a chicken leg from his pocket as a pre-bedtime snack.


Post Game Observations
I haven't run AD&D in 30 years, Call of Cthulhu and Traveller having dominated my RPG world. It was rather amusing how these other games informed my decision-making: Starting the PCs off at near-penury (as Derek phrased it) is an old Traveller device, making doing a job a higher priority than simple "adventuring". The PCs are believably "pushed" where the DM wants them to go.

Also, the PCs knew each other, albeit casually, for some years - Esperalda's father would occasionally sharpen the pruning bill hooks on João Afonso's father's farm. I can't stand when new PCs awkwardly tiptoe around each other on first meeting - there's something to be said for piling your PCs onto a boat and then wrecking them onto a strange shore, "Lost" aside.

Dangling the conspicuous commercialism above their heads also seemed to drive home the message that the PCs were running out of money, and therefore time.

For some reason, I couldn't find the data on stat checks (the 1E books, while chock full of data, are atrociously organised (speaking as a former Technical Writer - EGG's kids should have bought him an Index for Father's Day) so I fell back on Chaosium's mechanic for Call of Cthulhu - multiple the stat by five to obtain the percentile range of success, 96-100 being a critical failure, anything under 20% of the necessary amount indicates a critical success.

Next time: Descent into the Depths of Waste-Water Management...

Welcome, Adventurers

This is the newest of several gaming-oriented blogs I have, which are listed in the sidebar. My general blog "Tempests in a Teapot" is mainly for Sci-Fi and Modern gaming, while "The Burning Sands of Syrtis Major" is dedicated to Space: 1889 and Victorian Gaming. Finally, "Dagorath Arthedain" is dedicated to Middle-Earth gaming, and that's very much it's own niche as well.

Dungeons and Dragons was my first RPG. As a young lad, the Basic D&D Rules fell into my hands, and a new hobby was borne. AD&D would follow, but I didn't stay with it for long, lured as I was with promises of more "authenticity" by Chivalry and Sorcery.  Factors and calculators and matrices, oh my!

Traveller soon followed (along side flirtations with Space Opera) and then Call of Cthulhu (which became and remains my favourite game, due in part to atmosphere and the ability to scare the pants off adults).

As time goes by, one becomes aware of how little time is left, and a desire for something simply fun becomes important. So, some 30 years later, I've come back to (inter alia) Dungeons and Dragons.