Saturday afternoon, Calfgrit7 asked if we could have a camp out in our backyard. (We’ve set up our tent in our backyard before, and I thought I had blogged about it, but I can’t find the post now.) Well, I had already cut the grass, trimmed the edge, and raked everything up, so I didn’t really feel like doing the work of putting up the tent then. I told him we’d do it Sunday night, since Monday was a holiday.

Well, Sunday afternoon, when we were going to set up the tent, it started raining pretty heavily. So, as a consolation, we decided to have a camp out in the den. We got out the boys’ sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets, and we spread everything out on the floor downstairs. Wifegrit was going to sleep in bed, like normal, (wuss), and I was going to sleep on the sofa.

Calfgrit11 got in his sleeping bag, but Calfgrit7 curled up on his beanbag chair with a blanket over him. Then after about 20 minutes past bedtime, he decided he couldn’t sleep and asked to go on up to his bed. I told him, “Sure, go on up,” and he left his brother and me to be the lone “campers.”

After CG11 fell asleep, I got up off the couch and snuck up to get in my bed. When I opened the door to my bedroom, I found CG7 asleep in my spot next to Wifegrit. I gave a big sigh and turned around and went back downstairs to sleep the night on the couch.

So much for any kind of “camp out.”

Bullgrit

I think the next time my boys go outside to play, I’m going to lock the doors behind them. And close the blinds and curtains.

They go outside for 10 minutes, and then come back inside to get a toy.

They go outside for 10 minutes, and then come back inside to get a drink of water.

They go outside for 10 minutes, and then come back inside to tell me something they just did.

They go outside for 10 minutes, and then come back inside to get another toy.

They go outside for 10 minutes, and then come back inside to get a snack.

They go outside for 10 minutes, and then come back inside to let me know they’re going to ride their scooters in the cul de sac. (I don’t know why they tell me that — I can see them right out the front window — but they fail to tell me that they’re going down the street to a neighbor’s backyard.)

They go outside for 10 minutes, and then come back inside to check on the guinea pig.

They go outside for 10 minutes, and then come back inside to “cool off.”

Repeat till I can’t stand the sound of an opening and closing door. Over and over and over. And every time they go back out, I yell, “Don’t  slam <BLAM!> … the door.” Sigh.

Why can’t they just stay outside? Would it be cruel, bad parenting for me to seriously lock the damn door?

Bullgrit

Continued from Part 1.

The two fighters who separated from the main group walked relatively quietly down the corridor, (compared to the cacophony of voices yammering in the main group). They made a couple of choices in directions when they came to crossroads, and ended up they knew not where. Rounding one corner, they came face to face with a giant spider, big as a horse.

The spider attacked, the fighters fought. One of the fighters was killed, and the other managed to mortally wound the spider, and it fled. The surviving fighter hustled back the way they had come in hopes of catching back up with the main group. He learned why splitting the party is always a bad idea in D&D.

The main group found a set of double doors to the north and immediately kicked them open.

[This is the gray area of the map above. As DM, I pulled this room and it’s contents pretty much out of thin air, so it’s not actually on the official map. But you can see it drawn on the battle map in the below picture.]

Beyond the doors was a large room with a burning fireplace in the left and right walls, and another set of double doors in the far wall. One of the fighters immediately walked from the entrance to the fireplace on the right, while another walked to the left fireplace. As soon as the fighters stood in front of the fireplaces, the fires flashed and a flaming imp-like creature jumped out and attacked them. During the ensuing battle, one of the other fighters walked from the doorway straight across the room towards the other doors. In the center of the room, a hidden pit trap, (not drawn on the battle map yet, as it looks in the picture above), fell open and dumped the fighter into a 10′-deep pit full of fire.

The falling fighter took damage from the plummet, and from the fire. Another fighter quickly pulled out a rope and tossed one end down to the trapped and burning friend. The trapped fighter climbed/was pulled up to safety, but he had to drop his spear and shield to grab the rope. A few moments after the fighter escaped the burning pit, the trap door closed back up.

The fighters battling the imps finished their enemies with no harm to themselves. But then the cleric approached one of the fireplaces to search it, and when he got near it, another fire-imp burst forth. Another short fight ended with no friendly injuries. But they figured out that approaching the fireplaces would continue to produce the fire-imps, so they made sure to stay away.

They went to the double doors on the other side of the room, (carefully avoiding the center pit trap), and kicked them open. Beyond was a smaller room with some boxes, a large table, and shelves along two walls. The table and shelves were lined with glass and pottery containers full of various materials. The explorers began searching through all the scattered stuff, hoping to find treasure.

On the big table, one of the fighters found a large, sealed glass jar with what looked like a black cat suspended in a liquid. He opened the seal, and out came a gas in his face. He made his saving throw versus paralyzation, so nothing happened to him, but he did drop the bottle, and up jumped the cat, with wings. The cat flew up to the shelf on the back wall, looked over the crew, and then flew past them all and out the door. The fighter who freed it dashed off after the flying cat, and stepped on the pit trap.

There was a scramble to rescue the fighter, (who took damage from the fall and the fire), and then the pit door closed again. The fighter was disappointed that the cat got away, and he was very interested in finding it again and making it a pet. While standing in the first doorway, thinking about how to find where the cat went, the fighter heard the sound of battle down the hall, towards the kitchen. He called to the others back in the cluttered room, and they all moved forward to find out what was going on.

What they found was one of the fighters who had earlier separated from the main group, and he was engaged in a fight with four goblins. The main group rushed to his aid, and the goblins were easily defeated. After the battle, the main group learned what happened to the other fighter.

So now, with the remaining fighters (and the cleric) all reunited, they decided, (read: I suggested), to head back out of the dungeon to re-equip supplies and pick up a replacement fighter for the one who died. Once back outside, one of the fighter-boys asked about buying new equipment. This boy had played last year, and he had treasure still written on his character sheet from then — several hundred gold pieces worth of treasure. So he bought plate mail armor for himself and the cleric, (the boy’s dad), and a bow and a quiver of arrows. When the other boys heard about this, they asked him to set them up with better armor. So, within a few minutes, all the fighters had better armor and new shields and spears, (to replace those lost in the dungeon fights and traps).

Then they headed back into the dungeon, and I handwaved their trek back to the cluttered room so they could continue their search for loot. As they entered the first room, (with the fireplaces), the new fighter walked in first and right into the pit trap. Another scramble got him out before the doors closed. Then they had the idea of using chalk to draw a circle around the trap so no one else would step on it. [Note: three different fighter-boys fell in that simple trap.]

Then a couple of the boys were getting a little fidgety, so they went to one of the fireplaces to prompt another fight with a fire-imp. The fight was quick and easy, like the previous ones. (As DM, I was disappointed that the fire-imps didn’t get to show off setting someone on fire. But, luck of the dice failed to impress.)

The fighter who was wanting to find the flying cat went back out of the room and into the hall to stand guard and look for and think about the cat. Two other fighters joined him. I’m not real sure what they were thinking, whether they thought the cat was just going to come flying back to them.

The other two fighters and the cleric went back into the cluttered room and began going through the boxes. The cleric found a bunch of silver bowls, plates, and other serving utensils packed away in the boxes. One of the fighters found some loose gold, a shiny magic shield (with a flame painted on the front), and a magic dagger that talked! This fighter took the new shield in place of his old, and sheathed the dagger on his belt. He then went out to the hall to get the other fighters’ assistance in collecting the other loot.

The other fighters were impressed with the new shield and dagger, but the one fighter was still lamenting the escape of the flying cat. Again, a couple of the fighters went to a fireplace and summoned out another fire-imp. During the battle, the fighter with the shield noticed that he didn’t feel any heat from the fireplace or the imp. He concluded that the shield was somehow protecting him. They summoned another fire-imp, and this fighter killed it with the new dagger, and found that the imp’s fire seemed sucked into the blade. Everyone was impressed, but no one really knew what that meant.

By this time, it was time to wrap up the adventure, as parents were starting  to show up to pick up our guests. So I handwaved the party’s exit from the dungeon.

Like last time, all the boys had a great time. I was thrilled that the game was such a success, and I was exhausted from the mental work.

Bullgrit

Calfgrit11 asked a few weeks ago if I’d run another session of Dungeons & Dragons for him and his friends. So I sent out emails to all the boys and dads from the previous game session, and to a couple of boys who hadn’t played last time. This past Saturday was the adventure day.

There were six boys again, (including Calfgrit7 this time), but only one other dad. Two of the boys had never played before, so I explained how the game works as I passed out their character sheets. All the boys had the same human fighters from last time, but I bumped them all up to level 2, (even the ones who hadn’t played before). The dad who was playing again, had played the 3rd-level cleric last time, so I bumped him up to level 4 for this game.

I used the same classic adventure module and premise as last time, for a continuation of the previous quest:
The cleric was wanting to explore the dungeon to find a lost magic stone, and he needed the fighters as bodyguards. The dungeon was an old, abandoned fortress built into and under a hill in the wilderness. The original owners were long gone, and what might be left in the place was unknown. Monsters, treasure, magic, traps? All to be expected.

The group entered the dungeon through a 10′ high and wide tunnel carved into the hillside. They opened the first door, lit a torch for light, and marched in.

Down that entrance hall, (moving north, up on the map below), they came to a pair of alcoves on either side of the hall. They took time for a couple of the fighter-boys to search them, but they found nothing. One boy came up with the idea to use a hammer to tap on the walls to see if they sounded different. Calfgrit7 was excited to find a hammer listed in the equipment section on his character sheet, so he did the honor of tapping. But the walls all sounded like solid stone. So they marched further down the corridor until they came to another pair of alcoves on either side.

Tapping with a hammer on the walls in this second set of alcoves revealed the wall to be thinner than solid rock. So one of the boys began searching the wall while the others stood guard. They didn’t remember it, (from a year ago), but this was the same secret door they discovered and went through the last time they invaded this dungeon.

A couple of the fighter-boys moved forward, further north, stretching the group out over about 60 feet of the corridor. And the whole group was making such a racket with talking and shouting that they attracted the attention of some nearby goblins and hobgoblins. These viscous creatures came out of the dark to the north and immediately engaged the separated fighters. During the turns of fighting, most of the fighters had moved north to enter the fight at the front. One of the fighters, though, had continued his searching of the alcove, and much to his surprise, the secret door opened. Beyond were several goblins prepared to rush through.

Yes, the goblins were better prepared for these invaders this time. The adventurers suddenly found themselves being attacked from front and back, and the back was just a lone fighter. It didn’t look good for that rear guard.

The fighters up front were doing well holding off the first goblin attackers, and the rear fighter was managing to survive despite being badly outnumbered. Some goblins were getting around the rear fighter, and closing in on the cleric. Then some of the front fighters broke away and charged the rear enemy force. All in all, it was a grand battle, with a total of about a dozen goblins and three hobgoblins, all slain. No fighter was killed, though a couple were badly injured. The rear fighter managed to slay three goblins before he fell unconscious, mortally wounded. But his allies made a path through the enemies between the party cleric and their friend, so the cleric was able to heal him just in time. The rear fighter recovered after a few minutes of magical administrations.

After gathering themselves from the massive fight, the party moved north to the crossroads and the couple of doors. One of the hobgoblins had tried to escape the battle by going through the left door, but one of the fighters had stopped him with a spear throw.

At this point, the group began debating what to do and where to go. Some wanted to go through the left door, some wanted to go down the right hall. After a while, they decided to split the group. Most went through the door, but two went off by themselves down the right hall.

The group going through the door found that room was a kitchen of sorts. They looked around in it a bit, until a couple of small gargoyle-like creatures came to the door and snarled at them. The fighters charged up and attacked, and drove the creatures away. The fighters followed the creatures around the corner and to the back door of the kitchen, where they found a total of four of the creatures. The battle was short and relatively easy. So the main group moved further north into the dungeon.

The two fighters who separated from the main group found a crossroads of corridors, and had to choose a direction . . .

To be continued.

Bullgrit