Part Three: The Starless Sea

[cailano]

Sorry guys, just realized I never finished the Behind the Screen section for this game

Part Three of this adventure started at the shores of the Starless Sea and continued to the Temple of Chaos.

I loved the visual of the Starless Sea. I love great locations in general, and finding an entire underground sea in a dungeon definitely qualifies in my book. The menhir and the Dragon Ship were great additions to it, and your group did a good job solving the puzzles involved based on the clues found earlier in the dungeon.

And Molly went beserk and tried to kill everyone. That was fun.

But the big find on the shore was the group of prisoners, which included our dear Alphie.

This was, of course, an add on my part, based on @Malkavian Grin's excellent role-playing. While the module does specify that groups of prisoners can be found throughout the dungeon (they were meant as replacement characters) there was no Alphie NPC in the game until Malkavian created him via RP. Since Malkavian had already lost a PC in the game, Alphie joined your ranks.

The Leviathan

This was a high-stakes puzzle. The Leviathan was a potential TPK and there were a bunch of ways a less cautious group could have fallen into that trap. Attacking the Leviathan was the easiest one. There was a slim (very, very slim) chance that you could have defeated it in combat, but who are we kidding? You all would have died.

Attempting to swim the rest of the way to the island was also likely to get you all killed, although its possible a few of you might have escaped.

There were a few possible paths to success, but the best way to deal with it was with the censer and the incense you'd found, and luckily you figured that out. Well done.

The Temple of Chaos

And at last, we came to our adventure's finale. You stealthed your way to the top of the temple using the cultist robes you'd discovered earlier, which was good because attempting to fight your way to the top would have been rough. Once there, however, the shaman saw through your disguise and it was time for the boss fight.

And check out that battle map!

[cailano]

The Temple of Chaos (cont.)

As if all those beastmen and cultists weren't enough, you also had to face the partially resurrected Chaos Lord, Molan. He was in a weakened state but still very dangerous to a zero-level group, and for a bit there, I thought it would be too much.

But your ground stood against the odds, and gods damn it, you earned those character classes and that first level. What an epic battle. Seriously. That was a heroic stand as only a group of underdogs can make. If you ever want something to do while you're waiting for a game to update, go back and read it.

The Death of Alphonse

And then Alphonse went for the fallen Molan's gear. As soon as he did, I knew what the dice results would be. The irony was just too painful. I rolled and hoped for a better result, but it was not to be, and the tragic story of Tabitha's origin was written.

Not as Lethal as it Could Have Been

Molan and his minions dropped several members of your group during the final battle, but DCC allows that "checking the body" roll, and you guys rolled well. You had more characters than players at the end, which allowed you to select which ones you wanted to carry on with. Not too bad for a funnel!


The Collapse of the Temple and the Phlogiston

The collapse of the temple made for an exciting escape scene. The way you guys tried to take Alphie's body with you by tossing it over the edge of the Ziggurat's tiers was a little macabre, but luckily, it didn't last too long. It was actually possible to have another TPK if you dallied during the collapse of the temple, but you guys stayed focused and got the heck out of Dodge before the ceiling caved in.

The game offered up a lot of treasure in this scene, which was, of course, a trap. You did a good job grabbing the most important loot and not wasting too much time.

It is written into the module that the Dragon Ship gets swept away to the far end of the Starless Sea, away from the entrance. It is left for the GM to decide what happens from there, but I knew from the beginning I'd be sending you far away from home if you survived to see the end of the funnel. Your new lives as adventurers were about to begin!

And so off you went, falling through light and sound in a trippy, Doctor Strange, 70's-occult-comic inspired scene.

And that was it! You completed your funnel, earned your classes and new abilities, and the fun continued in Doom of the Savage Kings.

The GM's Review

I really enjoyed Sailors on the Starless Sea. The module itself was a fantastic dungeon crawl. The location had a story to tell and multiple mysteries to unravel. The boss battle was beyond epic, and there were terrifying monsters and wonderous locations alike. I can see why this adventure is so well respected.

I thought all of you did a great job role-playing your characters, and I thought the characters you selected as your PCs at the end made for a really interesting group. In DCC, the funnel is basically the method of character creation, and I have to say that was the most exciting character creation method I've ever been part of.

I hope everyone enjoyed playing in the game as much as I enjoyed running it for you guys.





 

[Excior]

I really enjoyed playing in it, at some point I would like for my other 0 level character to maybe come back to the keep to see if he can discover what befell the group.