Last Saturday’s old school D&D game was a big success! The player’s characters made their first foray into the dungeon beneath the old monastery and most of them returned to town at the end of the evening…

While it had looked like we might have a very large group, a few last minute cancellations which left us with a modest (by old school standards) 4 players: Ryan and Aron, two old friends from my high-school days, plus Rob and Rob – two new friends who I met online and finally got to meet face to face. Most of the group hadn’t played D&D in at least 10 years, and it was Aron’s first time playing any RPG at all!

The players started by rolling up their 1st level characters. 3d6 for each of the six ability scores – rolled in order – created some interesting but certainly not epic stats. Characters with below average Intelligence or Dexterity were as common as those with slightly above average Strength or Charisma. A couple of the players changed their original character ideas as their ability scores weren’t well suited to those classes. Rob’s first character had below average stats in all abilities and was deemed too weak to adventure. Anyone rolling 1 for their hitpoints was also allowed a re-roll, but otherwise the players did a great job of working with what the dice gave them.

After selecting their equipment the players rolled to see which retainers were available to hire in the town. These were based on Robert Lion’s excellent Random Hireling Generator from Knockspell Magazine #1. Most of the players also chose to roll on a random table for names that I’d created on the off-chance someone wanted to use it. Brother Giles the Cleric, B’narby the Elf, Grundy the Thief and Max the Fighter were joined by the hired Mercenaries: Finn, Mort, Castou, Erlang and Hogbert, plus two local men: Figgin and Scrogs. The group decided to leave at first light on the 4 hour hike from the town of Thorn to the Ancient Academy. The players wanted to get in as much time exploring the dungeon before nightfall.

Once in the dungeon the players soon realized the importance of lamp oil and torches, and were glad they had brought along a good supply. Ryan took on the roll of mapper, and the group was careful to establish a marching order to protect the weaker party members from surprise attacks. The players were careful to keep the morale of their men up by not discussing some topics in front of them and having the Charismatic Cleric give them pep-talks from time to time.

My dungeon was an original map that I created in Adobe Illustrator based on the 30×30 grid suggested by Chgowiz’s One Page Dungeon Level Template. The room contents, monsters and treature were based on the results from rolling on the random tables in the Moldvay edition D&D rulebook. I also borrowed a few of the descriptive elements for rooms from Michael Curtis’ Stonehell dungeon.

As the party explored the underworld and began to encounter monstrous creatures, they soon had their first casualty. “Loyal” Castou met his end when a pair of Robber Flies attacked the group in the desecrated temple. The players decided to bury him in the rubble of the ruined altar before moving on.

When the party found the door to an ancient Crypt, B’narby the Elf and his retainers elected to remain outside while the other characters went on in search of treasure. After a crypt door was disturbed and a half-dozen undead arose to deal with the intruders the party beat a hasty retreat leaving behind the body of Mort the Mercenary.

Late in the evening, after briefly allying themselves with a group of Dwarves to fight some Goblins, the party suffered their greatest loss yet when Max the Fighter was attacked by a Giant Crab Spider that was hiding in an old lounge. Only wandering monster checks and rolls to find traps were done behind the Referee’s screen and all the damage rolls from monsters during the evening were very high… and fatal for the characters! We let the dice fall where they may, and 8 damage was more than enough to finish off Max.

After defeating the Spider, and Max failing a house-ruled Saving throw to avoid death, the party agreed that they would head back to town with their fallen comrade. Fortunately they also returned with some coins, gems, an old spellbook, and a mysterious potion they found in an old laboratory!

A good time was had by all, and everyone has said they’d like to return to the Ancient Academy sometime soon. I have a handful of other players who couldn’t make this week’s game but would like to join the group – so we may see a rotating roster of characters braving the depths below the old monastery in weeks to come.