Youth DnD: Back into the Dungeon of the Mad Mage

So we finally managed to get everybody together for the youth DnD game again, and this time it went pretty well.

OOC, we've started enforcing the Don't All Talk At Once rule, and it really does seem to be helping. Unfortunately the crown that I ordered still hasn't come in, so we had the Roman Gladius of Talking instead. I also talked a bit about playing their characters so that they can work together, and told them that Lord Aldenmier gave them a lecture on the need for teamwork the following morning. So, with that hammered out (hopefully) they headed back into the dungeon.

The first thing they wanted to do was finish exploring in the area where they'd encountered the orcs last time. So they headed back there, and the Dragonborn Sorcerer used Mage Hand to open one door from a good, safe distance. Which was an excellent plan, really, since there was a spear-throwing trap behind it. He then did the same with the door on the opposite side of the corridor, which opened onto a room with three zombies in it.

I need to pause here, because this campaign book has one really major weakness: a distinct (and occasionally glaring) lack of proofreading. The monster description says very clearly that there are three zombies. The room description says equally clearly that there are ten zombies. So the group ended up destroying three zombies, but I warned them OOC that next time there would probably be the full ten. Metagame knowledge, but under the circumstances I felt like they deserved the warning.

So they finished the zombies and found a silver coffer on the floor behind them, containing 50 PP (platinum piece, so worth a total of 500 GP), 3 rubies worth 100 GP each, and a bottle of extremely nice perfume which they plan to sell. The coffer itself is worth 200 GP. Overall, it's a very nice hall (and a good argument for the idea that there should have been more zombies).

They then proceeded past the orcs and on to the next room down the hall, opening the door to find... more orcs, and even more evidence that this is some sort of permanent camp, and not something that the Dungeon is generating. One of the orcs was a guard the last time the group encountered them, and he looks up when the door opens. "You change mind? We fight this time?"

The Mousefolk cleric assures him that none of them have changed their minds and promptly closes the door again. The Elf monk opens the door again, and asks if he can buy some food because he's hungry; the orcs, it turns out, are willing to trade for weapons, so the monk passes over the spear from the spear-launching trap. At this point everybody comes inside, and the Dragonborn Sorcerer uses his Alchemy Jug to pour out a full four gallons of beer, and suddenly these orcs are the party's lifelong friends.

So they're eating and chatting when suddenly the door opens again and this really large orc walks in, looks around the suddenly-silent room, and demands: "Who these people? You no guard no more? You kill them--" One of the other orc quickly steps over, whispers something in the big guy's ear, and presses a mug of beer into his hands. The large orc takes a long drink, lowers the mug, and glowers around the room again: "Why you no tell me our friends were here?!"

This is the Orc chieftain Ghazat.

So it turns out that the orcs wandered into the dungeon somehow -- they can't find the passage that brought them in anymore -- and have been stuck here ever since. This sounds remarkably familiar to the Mousefolk cleric, but when they ask about other Mousefolk the Orcs don't know anything.

We stopped at that point (which doesn't sound like a lot, but we spent more than a little bit of the game time ironing out how we were going to play so everybody could enjoy it). I told the players to think about what they wanted to do with the orcs for next time -- and suggested that they might want to consult with Aldenmier before just trying to walk the whole tribe of them out the main entrance. The group seems to agree with trying to help them out, not least because it may give them really helpful information when they try to extract Aspen's people later on.

Treasure they're carrying from this adventure:
-silver coffer (worth 200 gp)
-3 rubies (100 gp each)
-50 PP
-Bottle of perfume

Current Party Treasure:
They sold off everything they didn't need (and I finally did the math) with the following exceptions:
-Everyone received a Ring of Protection +2; the rest of those went to Lord Aldenmier.
-The bronze shortsword also went to Aldenmier because nobody in town is buying non-steel weapons at present.

Current party treasure by my count is 25 PP, 1217 GP, and 31 SP.

There are also two griffin eggs being cared for at the Aldenmier estate; but we'll get back to those.