FrankenFourth: Grotto of the Sunken God

Cast

• 1st-level human fighter (sword & board combo)
• 1st-level human fighter (big-ass maul)
• 1st-level human wizard (evoker and abjurer)

Summary

We got in a Dwarven Forge water cavern set last week, and the kids wanted to play with it (as they are wont to do every time we get a new set), so after quickly painting it (looked pretty drab in "dungeon grey", but that's easy enough to remedy) I cobbled a dungeon together.

The general idea was the hideout for a sort of water cult: they'd abducted some villagers, probably to sacrifice them to some sort of water god (didn't decide at the time, but going with something like Father Dagon and/or Mother Hydra since I got a lot of awesome Cthulhu Wars minis to use), so the characters were hired to rescue them and wipe out the cult if possible.

Lacking any sort of lock picking skill, the characters opted to simply bash their way in. While effective, they attracted the attention of several guards.

In the next room they came across an acolyte, which summoned a water elemental to support the lone bodyguard before fleeing, presumably to warn the rest of the cult.

After quickly bashing, hacking, and blasting their way through the bodyguard and elemental, they chased the acolyte into the mess hall, which was unfortunately occupied by another trio of guards.

While the fighters and guards clashed, the wizard (who was out of both Mana and Vitality anyway) ran back around to try and cut the acolyte off (and ideally cut him down).

The acolyte almost made it, but the wizard took him out with a nat 20 dagger throw (at max range even, not that it matters with the almighty nat 20).

(NOTE: Many spells can end up eating through your Vitality and Wounds if you aren't careful: if the acolyte hadn't summoned the elemental, he would have survived just a bit longer, maybe long enough to escape!)

Thanks to the key they found on one of the guards, they didn't have to bash in the door on the prison. First objective complete!

Despite a lack of armor and only a handful of Vitality and Wounds, these acolytes still managed to inflict a decent amount of damage with their magic before going down.

While looting the room the characters found several much needed mending potions, and after knocking back a few found a hidden passage in a nearby chamber. It led to a grotto, which was inhabited by another acolyte and...

...a wereshark. I think. Could have just been a big-ass, mutated shark-person. I dunno: didn't give it any silver vulnerability or regeneration, not that therianthropes are necessarily vulnerable to silver or could rapidly heal.

The cult's high priest was also there, and while the party was busy fighting shark-thing he hopped onto the altar and began summoning a large water elemental...

...which, fortunately for them, appeared right after they defeated shark-thing.

On a whim Melissa had her character go after the priest, and after she cut him down the water elemental vanished. Good thing, too, because it downed the other fighter during the previous round.

The wizard discovered that the altar could open a portal to another linked location, so next time they're gonna step on through and see what's on the other side!

Announcements

DriveThru is currently running a GM's Day sale, so for the next 8 or so days you can snag any PDF in our store for 30% off.

A Sundered World is out (and also available in dead-tree format)! If you for some reason don't want the entire setting, you can just snag the races and classes.

The Ghost has manifested!

By fan demand, we've mashed all of our 10+ Treasure volumes into one big magic item book, making it cheaper and more convenient to buy in print.

Lichfield is available for public consumption. If you want a concise adventure with a Silent Hill feel, be sure to check it out! Primordial Machine is also out, so if you want to catch a glimpse of A Sundered World, now's your chance! Finally, we've updated If These Stones Could Scream.