Into The Random Dungeon

Last night, another test session was held for Heroes of the Dungeon Crawl. By the way, you can get a copy of the pdf for the Basic Charts Edition or order a copy of the book at Lulu. We've had five downloads so far, which is cool considering this blog is the only place we've hyped it at. For this test, a random dungeon was used. This one doesn't have a plot to it that is being considered as HotDC cannon at this time.

Basically, it was a random encounter, 20 room dungeon that allowed me to check random treasure rolls and other stuff. Most of the charts were tested at one point or another. I had to create a chart on the fly for determining what might be in a room, using the rd1 method as described below:

1 Empty
2-5 Creature
6 1 Treasure Chart roll

As you can see, I wanted combat to happen. I wanted to see how much death the party would have to deal with. Only four rooms were empty, and two had unguarded treasure. No party members died, but we had some close calls. Now, I want there to be a chance at death, but it is not my intention to have a boat load of deaths for beginning characters. How did I attempt to deal with it in the rules?

1-If you look at the Creature Charts for 0 Degree, you'll notice that most won't do more than 1-3 points damage per hit, though on some Creatures I have an option for more damage. This means that it will take at least two hits to kill a character at 0 Degree, even a Mage or Rogue.

2-Bandaging is introduced as an option in the game. This means that if a GC gets down to 0 Life Points, they can be stabilized by bandaging them, though there is still a chance at death according to a roll of the dice.

3-Priests get Incantations at 0 Degree, and Band Aid is an option. I know the red book doesn't have that option, but we part ways on a few things.

4-Potion of Healing Touch is on the chart for purchasing. As it turns out, the party had enough change left over to buy two of these.

We'll get to know the party involved in a moment, but let me just say I like the Attack-Defense System for combat. It worked as hoped for this test. The Hero Guide must keep an eye on game balance at all times with this system, but it works. I have another combat system option that may get introduced in the Danger in the Dwarven Dungeon Adventure book.

Anyway, the party was:

Alcoe (al-co-ay) the Elven Applicant Mage
Harlin the Human Applicant Warrior
Marlin the Human Applicant Warrior
Nimble the Dwarven Applicant Rogue
Talwyn the Halfling Applicant Priest

One of the first tests of the party was putting Nimble on the front line with the Warriors and Priest in combat with more than three Creatures. He got smacked early on and reduced to 2 Life Points. After that, it was decided to let him stand back and fire arrows from a safer distance. The Mage had four daggers for throwing and did the same thing. Both scored hits doing that.

This reminds me of another rule option that may get introduced at the back of the first Adventure book. That is, what happens if an arrow or dagger misses the intended target? Could it hit a party member by mistake? I don't want to get too heavy on rules, but this seems like something to consider. I'm looking at introducing this and a few other options in the Adventure book, and they may make the First Edition HotDC Rulebook from there.

Being on the front line meant Harlin & Marlin got hit. On fact, Harlin got hit a couple times in two battles and still lived. Now, this may seem a little easy on the party, but I don't believe it is. You want people to get a feel for things, and that's rather difficult if they are rolling up a new character every five minutes. Believe me, death will happen in this game. It's not safe out there, and lessons will be learned by the fool hearty.

At the end of the dungeon, in the 20th room, I rolled a Creature from 1st Degree and got two gnomes. This was a bigger challenge, and Harlin got smacked again. However, the party lived. I believe you can have 1st Degree Creatures in a 0 Degree Adventure, but too many can prove lethal if you are using the Attack-Defense System.

The unguarded treasure was another opportunity to check out an aspect of this game, Rogue Abilities. Similar to the red book, doing some tasks is not easy for a Rogue, and failure will occur. I tested the trap detect & removal ability, but the Rogue failed on the first check. This led to him being put to sleep. The party did not encounter any Roaming Creatures while he was taking his nap.

The next trap was a poison needle, but he was successful in his Resistance Roll. Choosing a Dwarf as a Rogue was a good option as they have a slightly better tolerance for poison.

I didn't get to check the Repel Living Dead ability for the Priest (I knew I'd forget something), but having two 0 Degree Incantations available for the Priest was very useful. These aren't super powerful Incantations, but two Band Aid Incantations are important for a 0 Degree party.

The Mage was good at slinging a dagger, but not equipped well enough for the front line. This is as it should be. He had four 0 Degree Incantations to start with and used Short Nap to bail the party out on two occasions. He considered Stinging Mist, but backed off as it could have done 1-3 LP's of damage to each party member in the area as well.

At times, combat was a challenge. I rolled 3 Giant Bees in one encounter, but the party managed to take them out before being stung. I was using Creature Reaction Charts to get reactions. A Hero Guide can and will use his judgement as they get comfortable, but I wanted to see what would happen. It was about 50-50, as it should be. The Bees attacked, but victory gave the party healing honey from the Bees.

5 Grunt Goblins, 6 Grunt Orcs (twice), 5 Grunt Orcs and 5 Ratlings were among the bigger battles encountered. Short Nap was only used once, on the goblins. Everybody who stood on the front line took damage, and Harlin and Marlin were both reduced from 6 to 2 Life Points on more than one occasion.

The Priest Band Aid Incantations, a dose of Bee honey and one of the Healing Touch Potions were used, and the party rested twice with posted guards. Roaming Creatures were rolled for three times both nights, but nothing happened.

Treasure. In HotDC, you don't get Adventure (experience) Points for gold. At least, this is the way I want it to be, because with only 10 Degrees, it could go by rather quickly. When treasure was rolled for, it totaled in at about 3,600 gold pieces. Most of it was in silver, but the party walked out with 730 gold a piece and one standard dagger of +1 enchantment.

It might seem a touch high for a 20 room dungeon with 14 rooms of fights, but the chart did it's job. There is a clause in there about awarding in the 100's instead of the 1000's based on Creature count in an encounter.

Plus, early on, there are things to spend that money on.

Better weapons

Better armor

Healing Touch Potions

0 Degree Incantation scrolls

And so on...

As has been pointed out in the book, you don't have to roll for everything anyway. If you think 3,650 in gold and a dagger of +1 is too much for a party of 5 0 Degree adventurers is too much, you can adjust it yourself. It's all in what you want from he game.

The Creatures overcome (not all were killed, but they were overcome) resulted in 111 AP's for each party member, plus 200 a piece for clearing the dungeon as per the book's rules on Quest Completion. An HG would have had several opportunities during the adventure to make notes of individual bonuses as they see fit. I chose not to, but showing mercy when it was begged for, successfully making that first kill, taking the hit for another party member and other deeds might be considered. It depends on what you want from the game.

What I also learned from this is that it will take three Adventures to advance a party from 0 to 1st Degree this way, which is fine with me. The Danger in the Dwarven Dungeon Adventure is being designed to possibly get the party to 1st Degree in just that Adventure, or at least very close.

All in all, I'm liking what we've got so far with the Heroes of the Dungeon Crawl Basic Charts Edition, and we will continue to add to it with new Adventures and other good stuff. Stay tuned