A Tale Of Two TPKs!

To lose one party in an evening is unfortunate, but to lose two is downright irresponsible!

After an unavoidable break of almost two months, I have to confess I wasn't entirely enthusiastic about returning to our Labyrinth Lord game; a lot of my "old school" enthusiasm having been dampened in recent weeks by the incessant navel gazing, bickering and Edition Wars raging in some quarters of the Interwebs that have previously fueled my resurgent passion for old fashioned role-playing.

However, as soon as The Tuesday Knights (Nick, Clare and Pete) appeared, it felt like only yesterday that we had last rolled dice in anger and their enthusiasm for the game swept me along.

After a particularly filling meal, provided by Rachel, of the usual pizzas, but supplemented by left-over salad from Sunday's party, we got back down to the action of exploring the dungeons beneath White Rabbit Castle.

The brave trio made their way into the subterranean world, revisiting areas previously cleared out and eventually stumbling upon an incredibly long passageway that appeared to twist around the outside of the castle's cellars and - possibly - lead back to some of the further rooms they had previously visited.

Unfortunately the passageway was so long that they lulled themselves into a false of security and when they found a final pair of doors, and opened one into a thirty foot corridor to another door, they blundered straight in - setting off a deadly series of traps. The doors bolted shut and Nick's dwarf and Pete's archer were both immediately felled by poison gas while Clare's cleric took a blow from a scything blade.

Pete's character was the only one left standing and tried to force the doors at either of the corridor, but clearly the gas was getting to him as he failed both strength checks and eventually sagged to the floor.

With no-one left to rescue them (had Pete forced either of the doors - and he only missed one of the rolls on a d6 by one - fresh air would have got in and they might have lived a bit longer), it was time to roll up new characters.

Nobody was at all upset about the loss, in fact the Dungeon Master (moi!) was congratulated for not fudging the dice rolls and allowing them a "miraculous escape".

Passing round the Labyrinth Lord rulebook, it took about 20 minutes for Clare to generate a warrior woman from the steppes, Nick a rambunctious priest and Pete a top-hat wearing child thief (in the style of the Artful Dodger or Oliver Twist).

Quite impressively the highest Intelligence in the party was seven with Nick's Old Testament "priest of smiting" barely able to make a sensible decision with an Intelligence of five!

This new party cautiously made their way through the ground level of White Rabbit Castle before attempting the underground. They again passed through earlier cleared rooms that hadn't yet been repopulated, before venturing off into a side room where a chest was discovered.

Pete's boy thief went to pick the lock and took a zap of magical energy from the lock (knocking him out until the priest cured his wounds); unfortunately - after debating alternate methods of opening the chest - Pete tried to pick it again, forgetting that the lock was still trapped. Although he actually did open the lock (revealing a golden key inside, which Clare pocketed), Pete was rendered unconscious again by the trap.

Nick and Clare then decided rest was the order of the day, but couldn't decide the safest place. Certainly not in the dungeon, but the debate alternated between the buildings on the ground level of the castle or the surrounding countryside.

Eventually they decided to visit the ruins of the tavern in the castle, which no-one had explored before. Rootling around in there, making camp, they disturbed a giant carnivorous beetle and, instead of running away, took it head on in combat. Nick's priest fell first and Clare's fighter was actually making headway, landing a series of quite successful blows (sadly with a tiny club that did little actual damage) until her arm was snipped off by the beetle and the evening's second Total Party Kill was declared!

And the thing is - all the player's loved it! They weren't trying to die and I wasn't trying to kill them (in fact there had been strong hints that the castle's chapel looked a safe place to rest, but Nick's priest was no fan of the god it was dedicated to and there were murmurings that I might be coaxing them towards a trap!), but everyone agreed - for the second time that evening - that, by letting the dice fall where they may, the game was sticking true to its "Old School" inspiration.

Pete, Nick and Clare have now been trusted to generate new characters in time for our September game. Meanwhile, the reputation of White Rabbit Castle grows!

The "in-character" report of yesterday's antics can be found over at The Chronicles of Tekralh.