Shadowdark Thracia 5
Players: Pharmarkis Arete Issakra Strabon Akakius Flint (DEAD)
Recap:
Session began with introductions to new members of the Thracian Expedition: Flint the Fighter, Pharmarkis the Witch and Arete the Thief. Arete is a student of Zema Zafat and daughter to the drunken carpenter Elmer, who taught Zema Ancient Thracian.
The party heard fighting from the west as they entered the jungle. They decided the main entrance to the dungeon must be unguarded and made a dash for it.
While inside the dungeon, the new characters got oriented with the general map of Areas 1-1 - 1-3. They explored the alcove of Area 1-3 and using a crowbar were able to successfully open the swollen door to area 1-4. Inside Area 1-4 they saw the centipede nest and the broken statue of the Thracian goddess Nikke.
Deciding not to investigate the rubble, the party chose instead to access the northern hallway via the shortcut in room 1-5. They explored the long hallway uninterrupted. When they reached the stairs at the end they instead turned and entered the secret door to the south (discovered last session) which took them into 1-27A.
In 1-27A, the party chose to primarily investigate the great chasm. Using their lantern they were able to shine a light to the floor below and saw all the rubble. They also saw that at some points along the chasm there is only a 10ft gap to the other side. Making a running start, Flint tried to jump across but failed to clear the distance, falling to his death.
The others decided to not risk the jump and tied a rope across two pillars. Using the rope they climbed over the gap and made it across. They did not stoke the ire of the cave creeper feasting on the dead bodies piling the floor. Instead the party focused their attention on the stone chest. Arete, carefully approaching, deduced from the static in the air and the smell of ozone that the chest was magically electrified. After some experimenting, the party found a way to ground the electricity, using Issakra's staff and a crowbar tied to each other.
Arete was then able to easily pick the lock. Inside the chest they found a heavy, bejeweled statue of Athena (over 500lbs and worth 200gp). They also found a note from a former cultist describing the crypt of the old one and a cultist map detailing the holiest of holies.
Deciding to leave the statue they made their way to the south of the hall in search of an exit. However once the last pillar was crossed, the dead began to wake. First it was four. As the players moved to leave 3 more awoke. Finally just before they made it to the exit another rose from the corpse pile. At the exit the dead did not follow the party. However, something in the stairway behind them took notice.
A Cultist Priest and a Ceremonial Guardsman came down to investigate. When they showed up the Priest saw Arete's silver skull pendant and was surprised. She played into it, giving backstory that her mother was a cultist. This priest did not recognize her mother, but did not look to start a fight either. He guided her and the party out of the dungeon. They were able to chart a vague course to where The Cult's secret entrance was.
Thoughts: Weird vibes in this session. I had a new player join and I felt from the moment this guy first messaged me that he had a weird vibe about him. I still want to give the benefit of the doubt here, I think the guy might just be like that and there isn't any malice here. I think he means well overall.
And on reflection, I maybe made the wrong call asking for a roll to clear the chasm, when I said it was only 10ft wide at the end. I mean it is, on the map. Flint was an orc soldier. He said he would get a running start, and I still did not give him advantage. I just didn't think it would be that easy, but also I am not an athlete, also this player was legitimately in the army. Maybe he would have known better. Maybe I'm overthinking it. I did telegraph that it was dangerous. He knew the risks.
I do think his reaction was a bit weird though. I have a rule I quite like where dead players can come back as level 0s. I think this is a neat way to keep playing the game while having a fun twist to the replacement PC. In other old school games you would end up as a hireling. I also like that it gives that 0 level experience to players who can treat it like a funnel. When you die, you get to play the meat-shield.
This guy did not want to keep playing. He didn't quit the campaign (edit: yes he did), he just refused to play a level 0. I'm a bit torn. I don't want to force this guy into playing a zero if he doesn't want to, but it did kind of kill my vibe for him to just dip from the call.
This game went pretty well overall though. Some good looting was done. Players got to have their skeleton room moment. That was very close to turning very bad, a great reaction roll saved the day here.
Last session I felt like the 1in6 random encounter checks led to quite a deadly delve, but this time the same amount of checks were rolled but it didn't amount to any encounters. I think the game felt a bit stale for me as a result, for players it may have been a different sentiment towards that.
My takeaway after running five of these sessions by now is that 6 player games just aren't as fun for me as the games with smaller parties. 4-3 person games feel fantastic. 5 players is pushing it. 6 players feels like work. I'm constantly trying to speed along decisions because EVERYTHING has to be a group discussion. Meanwhile time is ticking away. Torches grow dim.
Maybe it's Shadowdark's real-time torch mechanic and always on initiative pressuring the game to feel this way. Maybe I should embrace the slower pace, but I just don't feel like a lot of ground gets covered in the 6 player games. With smaller parties I can really get a feel for the pace. So much more gets done. The game feels way more rewarding. I guess I'm just really scared of a game being cancelled (past trauma) when I take precious time out of my week to run one.