Back for another game of Four Against Darkness!
One of the things I noted after last game is that they recommend what is effectively a half-page of graph paper as the maximum size for a dungeon (whereas the Temple of the Jade Gorgon took up most of a full page). The reduced page size makes for a more dense feeling dungeon, and also means you run out of room faster thus precipitating the battle with the final boss monster.
Crypt of the Queen of Bones
This session involved fighting a LOT of undead – skeletons, zombies, skeletal rats, more skeletons… and the final encounter was once again the terrifying Medusa. This time she only managed to petrify two party members, and I’ve armed myself with insurance against future medusa encounters as I’ve found two blessing scrolls throughout the dungeon – so the elf and the rogue both carry one in case the cleric gets petrified.
The crypts also included my first run with a secret door and a puzzle/trap that we easily defeated. I used my methodology from running many games using the AD&D random dungeon generation tables to mash areas together when they collide, so the dungeon layout has more loops in the overall design – if a room comes really close to another doorway, just link them together and make it easy on yourself.
At the end of this session, the party was a mix of levels 2 & 3, so we’ll need to head down again and try to even things out. Or I could just keep emphasis on the Jale Man Barbarian to make him a slaughtering machine – his rage attack killed the Medusa in this dungeon in a single round of mashing and smashing.