Rappan Athuk Session 25 Open Game Sat Noon PST GMT-8

[Griogre]

Rappan Athuk is a con open gaming room style campaign. Object is just to “sit down” and have fun exploring a huge old style dungeon. This is a dungeon crawl with “pick up” characters and players. Different character every session? Fine. Can only commit to one session? Great.

I’m looking for 4-6 players a session. If you are free and just want to play some D&D this Saturday come join in the fun at the "granddaddy of all dungeons". The current character level is 7th.

If you want to play jump on over here to my forum at Four Ugly Monsters for character creation and campaign details. If you are not a member of the forums at Four Ugly Monsters you will need to register to see the forums.

[Griogre]

FUM is changing hosts so the forum linked above may not be active. Please try to signup there first but if you can't you may sign up here below. I will post FG alias and TS server address here shortly before the game starts. I'm also going to include the background material here in case the FUM forum is not reachable.

[Griogre]

Rappan Athuk is a con open gaming room style campaign. Object is just to “sit down” and have fun exploring a huge old style dungeon. This is a dungeon crawl with “pick up” characters and players. Different character every session? Fine. Can only commit to one session? Great.

This campaign is really about a bunch of adventurers going in knowing the odds are good they will not come walking out again - but going in anyway and maybe eventually pulling down a great evil.

This is like the King in Lord of the Rings riding up and down the line touching his sword to the lances of the Riders of Rohan before the charge down the hill because they knew they were going in - and the odds said – many or all would not be coming back.

I’m looking for 4-6 players a session. Occasionally, I might go with three players but this is dungeon is really a tribute to some of the very old dungeons that came out in D&D in the beginning – so it is fairly lethal – and an unbalance party could easily die. Don’t mistake me, a balance party can die too, and some probably will – the odds of not dieing (or at least having some survivors) are just better with a balanced one.

To play you need Fantasy Grounds, a working set of speakers, and Teamspeak. If you wish to talk you will need a working head set or mic and headset. The voice is entirely optional on the player’s side, but you must be able to hear me. I am going to use Teamspeak to tell you to roll initiative, etc - and probably some narration. The players can use Teamspeak for out of character conversation or quick clarification. “In character” conversation will be done in FG chat. Emotes and use of “mood” is strongly encouraged for fun factor. Voice speeds things, sometimes at the expense of roleplaying. Speed is a consideration because each group of characters will be out of the dungeon after each session. Each session needs to stand on its own.

Sessions will be TBD. I will probably continue to run on Saturdays mostly. I will run at least four and half hours with up to the first half hour dedicated to character input into FG, hot key set up, getting voice to work, etc. Should seats become scarce, I will give priority to anyone who played in the prior session and RSVP, then by RSVP time, then “walk ons”.

[Griogre]

Game Rules
The Rappan Athuk campaign will use the D&D 3.5 core rules only (or 3.5 SRD revised – but not anything not also in the core rules, i.e. no psionics). I may eventually allow the new characters out of the PH2, also. I am only going to use these “House Rules” at the start:

1) Characters must be good (the dungeon doesn’t need help).
2) 3.0 weapon size rules (to help the small sized races).
3) Take up to 8 lbs off the weight of clothes (to help the weak - no negative values).

Character Generation
1) Use Standard 25 Point Buy (per DMG pg 169) for generating stats.
2) Your character gets Max Hit Points at 1st Level, and Fixed Hit Points (per DMG pg 198 for all other levels).

Equipment
1) Use the standard wealth table (DMG pg 135).
2) You may only buy items from the DMG or PH.
3) You may spend no more than 50% of your wealth on any one magic or special material item. There is no limit for masterwork or mundane items not made of special materials, i.e. armor.
4) You may buy no more than one “item” of each special material – i.e. no more than 1 mithral item and 1 cold iron item and 1 adamantine item, etc. For the purposes of this rule, up to 50 arrows, crossbow bolts, sling bullets or other types of ammunition are considered one “item”.
5) Characters 1st to 6th level may buy only “minor” (per DMG Magic Tables) magic items. 7th to 11th may buy minor or medium magic items. 12+ level characters may buy minor, medium or major magic items.
6) Before you can purchase a "medium" or "major" magic item you must have a "pyramid" of lesser items. To buy a medium item you must first buy two permanent (non-charged) minor items. To buy a second medium you would need to first buy two more permanent minor magic items. To buy a major magic item would require buying two permanent medium items and four permanent minor items.
7) Wands must be bought fully charged.

If game time is approaching and you don’t have time for buying equipment like above you may always use the NPC list of equipment in the PH2 (pg 217-219). Then take your remaining wealth, split it in two and buy two useful expensive things for you class – i.e. a Wand, Rod, Shield, extra/secondary Weapon, Ring, Cloak.

Fantasy Grounds Ruleset
I will be using the default d20 ruleset that came with fantasy grounds. I'm doing this to avoid any ruleset download. This also means you can make a local character with the d20 ruleset ahead of time and it *should* import fine. This seemed to work well at the first session and I encourage you set up local characters ahead of time. This will cut down on in game data input time and give us a little more time to just play.

Important Note: Your character can not get into the dungeon if he does not have his level x 5 gp in some form of liquid wealth. Keep a little cash.

I probably forgot something. If you have a question - ask.

[Griogre]

The Story of Rappan Athuk

One hundred years ago, the forces of good allied to destroy the main Temple of Orcus in the ancient city of Tsar. With their temple in ruins, the surviving high priests of this accursed demon-god fled the city with an army of enemies on their trail - an army of heroic fighters, clerics and paladins – led by Zelkor, a powerful wizard. The exact fate of these evil priests was then unknown, for not only did the remnants of the followers of Orcus disappear from all human reckoning, but so did the army of light that followed after them disappear as well. Some said that in the eternal scales, the loss of so many good men was a fair price to pay to rid the world of so much evil.

The evil cult, however, had not been destroyed. The surviving priests and their followers instead settled on a hill near the Forest of Hope, a sylvan woodland near the Coast Road. Beneath the hill they found a vast underground complex of caverns and mazes, riddling a volcanic intrusion beneath the hill. There, the priests of Orcus found the perfect lair to continue their vile rituals. They expanded and connected the caverns. For many years, they carried on in secret, hidden from the light and from the knowledge of men.

A decade later, their underground delving completed, the evil priests erected a hideous mausoleum and a sunken graveyard atop the hill. It is believed that these graves are in fact the final resting place of the pursuing army of heroes that had been destroyed to a man. Soon after the mausoleum was erected the peaceful creatures of the wood began to disappear. Though many rangers and druids investigated these happenings, the cause of the creatures’ disappearance was not immediately determined. Some years later, a powerful group of adventurers, led by Bofred, a high priest of Cuthbert, investigated the evil happenings and found the sunken graveyard leading to a labyrinthine complex. Bofred and his companions found great hordes of evil creatures in the complex. Though some of his companions returned from their expedition, telling tales of fantastic treasure and ferocious monsters, Bofred was never seen again—lost in the catacombs beneath the cursed mausoleum.

For two years, ranks of adventurers swarmed to the newfound dungeon. Many fell prey to bandits and monsters in the surrounding wilderness. Of those who survived to reach the mausoleum and the sunken graveyard, rumors suggest that most were slain by graveyard guardians before they even entered the dungeon or perished on the very first level. Those rare few who return from deeper treks speak of horrible undead and creatures that cannot be slain – and they would universally offer new adventurers one piece of advice: “Don’t go down the Well.”

After two years, something changed. Rappan Athuk could no longer be found on the remote hilltop near the Forest of Hope. Adventurers claimed the entire hilltop was blacken and deserted with no sign of the graveyard or complex. Adventurers stopped coming to Tsar to look for the dungeon. Tsar, whose population had never recovered from the loss of so many when the army of light vanished, withered. The outer walls were no longer manned, the city’s few remaining citizens moved to within the inner walls of the city abandoning the districts other than the city core and Tsar became a forgotten backwater.

There are those who had not forgotten how Tsar had once hosted an army of light and had driven them from the city. Fifty years later and two months ago to the day the foul priests were driven from the city, horrible creatures began appearing in the outer abandoned districts at night, seeking a way into the inner city. So far the creatures vanish with the each new dawn. Divinations revealed that these creatures were somehow connected to now infamous Rappan Athuk. The city’s remaining population prayed to their gods for aid and courage and their prayers were not unheard.

Messengers dispatched to nearby cities call for a new generation of heroes because Tsar has somehow found a way to strike back at its tormentor. Somehow, the good people of Tsar have found a divine passage to Rappan Athuk and they call on all good heroes to rid the world - once and for all - of this legendary dungeon.

You have answered the call, and with old friends and companions you have met along the road, you now stand before Tsar’s cracked and unmanned outer gate hoping to be one of the first groups to join in on this generations’ assault on Rappan Athuk.

Entering the city, you walk past the ruined and abandoned outer wards, and feel as if you are under the gaze of some malevolent being. This feeling does not pass until you enter the manned inner gates of the center ward. There you hear outrageous tales about Rappan Athuk, most obviously false. You also hear tales that ring true of whole groups of adventures who entered the legendary dungeon within the last month that did not return; and of groups laden with treasure walking from the shine back in through the inner gates. You hear the tale of a dwarf sole survivor so laden with bulging bloody backpacks and carrying a full armful of blood soaked and incrusted weapons that he could barely move.

Once you mentioned you wish to enter the Rappan Athuk you are offered free room and board at one of the city’s inns. There you find others who in bright shiny armors talk a fine talk of daring do; and, you notice others who ignore the boasting and talk quietly among themselves who have hard used armor and well honed weapons and contempt in their eyes for the fine talkers. Come tomorrow, will you be in one of the groups that stays at the inn or one that walks out of the gate and into the shrine to face Rappan Athuk?

[Griogre]

Boros, Grelk Halfblood, Bersi, Kal and Albert head to the shrine and on into Rappan Athuk. Heading down a new set of stairs, the party viciously defeats both a secret door and a portcullis. The group squeezes and crawls through various small passageways. They also destroy a group of Ogres and recover some treasure and bodies and body parts, include the intact body of a mage. The two dwarves save a cask of brandy from the foul pallets of the Ogres.

* * *

Another good run by the party though I had some problems shifting modules back and forth. I had a computer delivered right before game time and that messed up some of my last minute preparations. [XP 7th level characters 945, XP 8th 720; treasure 5,641 gp each except Albert who got Boots of the Frog.] Congrats to Grelk on "going green".