Following on from Stonehell Summer was the second part of my with multiple adventuring parties.
Chapter 2: The Hobgoblin War
I took a break between playing Stonehell in the summer and taking it back up in the winter. Breaks are good to get back perspective and maximum enthusiasm!
This chapter saw a few adventuring groups and other factions at war with the Hobgoblins of level 2. The hobgoblins were reinforced at the end of Chapter 1 by legionaries, wizards and a couple of fire giants (to my own surprise!). A couple adventuring parties ignored the war and delved down to levels 4 and 5.
Over the course of 20ish expeditions by different parties, many adventurer deaths, takeover of the Kobold Market, assassination of the hobgoblin leader, expulsion of the lizardfolk (by hobgoblins) and a few running battles through the halls. One adventuring party had a TPK (total party kill), another hunkered down (becoming a faction, but hiring out members to others) and another called it quits to find easier trials.
In the end, the hobgoblins were forced from the halls, with a few left with new aims. Several parties are still active, and ready to descend into the lower parts of the Dungeon for Chapter 3.
As this was the second chapter of an ongoing campaign, I was far more comfortable on the rules, procedures of OSE, Stone Hell and dungeon crawling. I had my system in place for crawls by different adventuring parties.
Onto Dolmenwood Rules
I've been playing (and running) a fair amount of Dolmenwood recently, and I like the slightly updated rules from Old School Essentials. Especially more combat options, the d6 ability checks and class progressions.
So I started using the Dolmenwood rules for my Stonehell crawls. I kept the classes and spells (and monsters) from OSE, with a few updates such as cleric progression and the Fighter options.
It's been working well, A house-ruled amalgamation of things I'm used to.
Megadungeon Tools and Lessons
I've been using the Feats of Exploration from 3d6 Down the Line, Which I've been a fan of since hearing them used in their Arden Vul delves. They are ways of earning xp by exploring, dealing with factions and poking around in all the corners.
These are integrated into the Dolmenwood game, and give another way of playing that too.
I've also been making my own tables for Factions, Dungeons, some dungeon procedures and Inns. I'll share some of these at some point and may publish them too. I've also been using my own Chaos Solo Engine - Fantasy Basic as my emulator. The tables you've made are always the ones most tailored to the experience you want!
One lesson learned was the importance of a safe haven to retreat to within the dungeon. The parties without safe havens struggled to go on deeper or more perilous expeditions, as resources were whittled away.
Two of the parties made alliances with factions in Stonehell, arranging somewhere secure to stay. A couple missed having the Kobold Market as an option (due to the hobgoblins taking over). Another made a secured haven on Level 3 and used it several times.
I also drew a map of the area around Stonehell. Even though most play occurs in Stonehell Dungeon, this helped envisage activities and bases adventurers and factions. And brought up a few possible adventure sites.
Faction Play
The factions were deeply involved in this chapter, as it became important for the ongoing conflict with the hobgoblins, safe havens and other plot threads.
Although the campaign is focused on Stonehell, some factions were dragged in from places nearby. Nobles and thieves from a nearby city, dwarf holds and cults with an interest in new discoveries.
As the groups delved down, they discovered new factions / NPCs too. A few factions left the scene (one left, a couple destroyed or amalgamated)
For each faction I have only a few details. A primary goal, a secondary goal (or two), who their allies and foes are, their leadership and a few other notes.
My current factions in Stonehell are...
- The Lizardfolk, restored to their sacred halls and heavily allied to one of the adventuring parties
- Kobolds of the Kobold Market, using a former adventuring party (now a faction) as their protection
- The Chartered Company of Squire Bone. An adventuring party turned faction, no longer actively adventuring. They've established the bandit caves as the main entrance and are giving protection to the Kobold Market in return for a cut
- Bonecrusher Ogres, undisputed rules of their caves after adventurers destroyed the berserkers.
- Spinners of Silver. A sinister necromantic cult based in the dungeon, searching for places of serpent cult and god. Sponsored an unreliable adventuring party.
- Lachesis and Servants. Information broker doing well for herself.
- Grove of Rampant Green. A surprise faction allied to one of the adventuring parties. Mushroom-folk and their ruling dryad seeking to expand their realm
- Gargoyles. Former servants of an area of the Plated Mage, who have made an area for themselves.
- Fire League. A pair of fire giants and their servants, backed by a family of pyromancers from a nearby city. Seeking a few items of fire in Stonehell (came about after a few random encounters with fire-creatures and fire giants left employ of hobgoblins)
And then there are a few factions outside of Stonehell, such as the Hobgoblin Remnants, Wizard Families (of nearby city), Emerald Isles Company (thieves guild), Dwarf Thanes of the Ironhills and Inhabitants of the Demon Cow (inn a few hours trek from Stonehell).
This might seem like many factions, but these are all fairly minor factions (currently). They mostly keep to their areas and most adventuring groups deal with 2 or 3 of them. The factions don't get their own turns, but a random 1-2 will take actions or have events each week.
And...Into the Heart of Hell
After another break, next up is going deeper into the halls. Levels 1-4 are mostly explored, with some of 5 too. Level 6 goes into the second book (Into the Heart of Hell) and also many more dangerous foes. One group is probably going to be tangling with a dragon soon.
I've got a couple themes I want to push in Chapter 3, and a major change. The themes are Fungi and Chaos. The major change is replacing the Vrilya (a species specific to Stonehell) with snakekin. I'll just don't like the faction and I'm not excited about encountering them or exploring them. But snake-kin have a long history in my game world, and I can use the stat blocks mostly unchanged.
The Fungi theme is from personal interest and a particular random Fungoid adventurer. It will manifest through an expanding faction, fungi in new areas (connected to Stonehell), a fungi area replacing one area (on Level 8) and lots of tables. Plus fungi from Dolmenwood rules!
The Chaos theme will represent distortions in reality due to one of the central features of Stonehell (you'll find out if you run or play it). There may be rifts, strange extraplanar creatures, unexplained events and other surprises. And possibly a threat to the entire region as things get unstable.
I'll be reducing the number of adventuring parties I run, focusing on the groups and delves I'm most interested in. The others I'll run a Delving Procedure for with a few table rolls, determining success, treasures, alliances and possibly if they all die.
Finishing Up
Soloing Stonehell is a lot of fun, and giving me lots of ideas for future dungeons to run for others. Plus updates to my own mega-dungeon.
Happy Gaming!
Duncan
