The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 - Session 10 - Dragon Fire and Prune Juice

Good Evening! I am itching to paint some figures, but I also don't want to let this series go. Please excuse the unpainted and half-painted figures.  

Our party was surprised by a well-armed band of adventurers wandering the valley of the Caves of Chaos. They were more surprised that their mule had escaped the kobolds for several days running and had become a regular denizen of the Caves. 

Norin spotted the new group first and alerted everyone. The two Knights blocked up the secret entrance to the ogre cave with the stone treads and met the rest of the party at the main entrance. Rety and Celia wormed their way under the chain and wheel contraption for a better look. 

Rety, I think.

"The first one is a Thief," whispers Rety. "They have two Fighters and two Magic-Users." 

"Right," answered Celia. "And the skinny lady has to be a Cleric. Look at that holy water sprinkler."

Rety hissed in amusement. The "sprinkler" was studded with large metal knobs, and the woman appeared like she watered it with blood, frequently. 

Celia crawled back to explain the situation before Rety made a decision to call to the newcomers. They looked mean. She never got the chance. 

The other party turned away, looking to the kobold caves. 12 of the little beasties came out in formation. 6 held large shields with large spikes on the bottom. In their tiny hands, they looked like mantlets, a piece of siege equipment the Castlian brought to the Keep. The other six lugged crossbows, two each. They only ventured 20 feet out of their cave, and the shield bearers drove the spike of each shield into the ground. 

One of the women, a Magic-User, waved her arms, and an eye-bending shimmer of light appeared between the groups. Three bolts shattered against the shield spell, but a fourth winged the Cleric who was too wide of the barrier. 

As the newcomers took refuge behind their shield spell, Rety dragged her belly on the floor to get back to her team. 

He looks like a Punch. 

"Punch and Lefty, open the secret door! Slammer and Solvo, get your bows ready, but wait for my signal. Dorian, back them up, but don't expose yourself. Bel, give them a shield," she ordered. The men ran off to comply. 

"Thomas, I want you here with Dorin and Celia. I want you to lift the chains and wheels when I call." 

They nodded and took up the rope Dorin had rigged to his contraption.  

"Come on, Sybil. On your belly, with me," said Rety.

Sybil took a crossbow, a quiver of arrows, and another of bolts with her as she slid on her back. She was ever non-compliant. Rety kissed her magic ring of protection and wiggled her way back to the entrance. 

The newcomers and the kobolds hunkered down behind their respective shields, exchanging missiles. It was clear the newcomers were considering the caves to the south with trepidation. The kobold crossbowmen were working with their shieldbearers. The bearers reloaded for them, allowing them to fire every round instead of every other round. 

I deemed this effective but slow. The kobolds always lose initiative when doing this and also fire last. I also deemed the prior two sentences should have been one sentence with a semicolon connector, but no one but AI uses semicolons in 2025. Goddamn AI, bane of my existence. This is why I use a 1999 iBook for writing. 

It gave me a semicolon like I wanted. However, it left the redundant "but". 

I thought Bel would be younger.

The one thing that AI does do well is track characters and locations, so long as those locations are well labeled. Bel, Dorian, Lefty, Punch, Solvo, and Slammer were in room 22, removing the stone treads they had just put there. Punch and Lefty, trying to be true Knights, didn't swear too much. Rety and Sybil were in the cave mouth while Dorin, Celia, and Thomas were holding the rope to let them back in quickly. The 3 mules were munching breakfast quietly in the L-shaped hall, left of the intersection to the cave mouth. 

And in room 17, 3 giant rats wiggled their way out of the debris blocking the stairs. They snuck up on and surprised Dorin, Celia, and Thomas. Instead of attacking, all three went through the motions of washing their faces with their paws. A small necklace fell from each rat's neck before they fled back to room 17, with Thomas in pursuit. Dorin inspected the necklaces; each was a simple piece of twine with copper coins strung on it. 

A very militant-looking Cleric. 

Thomas entered room 17 in time to see the rats disappear back into the pile of debris clogging the stairs. He couldn't stop them. He also couldn't think of a single reason why they would enter and then flee. Cursing, he retreated back to the cave mouth. 

"I'll do the missiles, you do the shield," Rety said to Sybil. 

Sybil nodded. All of the action was happening to the left of the cave mouth. Rety moved to the right to get a better angle and waited for the fighters to appear from the ogre cave. 

In the meantime, the new Fighters unleashed arrows on the kobolds, and the Cleric and the Thief pelted them with bullets. It was a stalemate. The kobolds wore chain armor and had a plus 2 bonus from the giant shields they hid behind. Relatively speaking, they had a wall rather than individual shields. 

Rety edged to the right of the cave mouth, trading range for a better angle. When the fighting men stepped out, she struck one kobold dead with an arrow. The fighting men knew a signal when they saw one. Punch and Lefty charged, Solvo and Slammer arching arrows over their heads. 

And the trap was sprung. 

From above, 6 bolts whistled overhead, striking both of the new Fighters and one of the Magic-Users. Mercifully, it wasn't the Magic-User controlling the shield spell. 

At my table, once a spell is in effect, except if the description says otherwise, it will not fall. Unless the caster died, that is. If a caster is getting ready to prep a spell and gets hit, I declare the action is prevented. They don't lose it; they just can't cast it now and have to start over in the next round. If they have completely prepped the spell, then get hit, that hit foils the spell and results in losing it. I am semi-generous because of the relatively few spells low-level casters have. In AD&D, this is a common thing. Due to the way B/X works, it is far less common.      

The newcomers are under serious threat, but not completely screwed, yet.

Slammer. The name was taken from the book
What is Dungeons and Dragons?

In the next round, Solvo, Slammer, and Dorian fired at the hobgoblins to break up their reloading, while Lefty and Punch advanced on the Kobolds. Slammer rolls a luck 20 and 6 combo, killing one hobgoblin. The other Magic-User and Sybil threw up shield spells. Bel hung back since the team was doing well. 

The hobgoblins retreated back out of sight to finish their reload. Rety downs another kobold with a good roll. The kobolds fire furiously, 11 shots that all miss because the heroes have bunched together behind the shield spell. 

There is a difference between crossbows and arrows, one part training and one part mechanics. Arrows obviously can arch through the air to hit targets at greater ranges. Crossbows can also arch, but they lose effectiveness fast. It's harder to do and not obvious to do unless one is also an archer. The hobgoblins aren't great crossbowmen or archers. 

Elves, like Solvo, look better without helms. 

Solvo and Slammer loosed two arrows over the ridge where the hobgoblins are hiding. They missed, but the arrows gave the hobgoblins pause, and they took cover. Rety and Dorian took potshots at the kobolds. In the momentary break, the newcomers begin to move to the orge's door and safety. 

The heroes won the initiative and began moving, while Rety's team discouraged the enemy with additional missile fire. The problem with winning initiative is that you go first. There were no easy targets, and all of the party's missiles were wasted before the hobgoblins popped out to respond. 5 of the kobolds do the same. The effect was devastating. The only newcomers not hit were the mages behind their shield spells. Punch slung his shield to pick up the Thief while Lefty assisted the Cleric in a hobbled run to the orge cave. 

The party lost initiative, but only had to fend off the kobolds for the round as the hobgoblins reloaded. Rety struck another kobold, causing it to leap behind a shield. 

Back inside, Celia noticed an odd noise, a gurgling sound. She checked the water barrel and shrugged. Thomas sends her to check the other barrels in 17 and 18. Celia dashed to room 17 first, as room 18 had ready guards. 

Celia discovered the water barrel in room 17 was also intact, but an odd smell permeated the room, like oil, alcohol, and strangely, prunes. Outside, above the mouth of Rety's cave, a mixed group of goblinoids rained bolts down on the newcomers and the Knights. Rety was grazed by a spear from above, and Sybil found herself hemmed in the entrance, her shield spell protecting only her. 

"Lift!" yelled Sybil. 

The two heroes pulled the chain and wheels out of the way. The escaping party, the Cleric, Thief, Fighter, and Knights, bore the brunt of the missile fire. The Thief was killed instantly, and Lefty threw the unconscious Cleric over his shoulder. 

Celia searched around the room for the source of the smell and gurgling. It came from the clogged stairway. A fluid ran down the slope from under the debris. The smell of prune brandy*, oil, and other vile and volatile liquids accompanied it. A blue flame licked over the surface.

"DRAGON FIRE!" yelled Celia. 

A massive whomp shook the Caves of Chaos, stunning everyone near room 17. 

Sybil.

Lefty and Punch deposited their charges in the orge cave and took up a rear guard as the other retreated with the dead and wounded. . Thomas flailed, clutching his ears as smoke wafted from room 17. Dorin lay still. 

Rety and Sybil emerged from under the wildly swaying chain of wheels. Sybil ran off, following the smoke, while Rety collided with Bel coming from the other direction, seeking answers or at least orders. Rety motioned for him to tend the wound and dashed to the western rooms to see what other trouble she could find. 

Bell tended to Thomas, knowing the Cleric could help Dorin. Rety continued on to the room with the secret door.  

The scorecard looks very bad. Rety, Thomas, Punch, Lefty, the two Magic-Users, and the new Fighter were all wounded. The new Cleric, a Fighter, and the Thief were dead. So were two of the three mules. Celia was missing, and Dorin lay dying. The new Magic-Users only have one 1st-level spell left each. Bel, Thomas, and Dorian have all of their spells available, while Sybil has expended one first-level spell.  

Lefty matches Punch.

Outside, the orcs came down from their perch as the kobolds, goblins, rats, and hobgoblins advanced on the main entrance to the heroes' home. Sybil and the Knights argued about blocking up the secret door. 

Under all of the shouting, Punch muttered, "If I live through this, I'll start using my real name." 

Lefty and Rety looked askance at him before continuing their bickering about honor vs. hiding.  

In Session 11, we will learn what the Caves of Chaos have in store for the heroes and how they will react to this loss.  

*Prune brandy is just the sort of stuff that I would think goblins would drink. In the real world, as near as I can tell, no one makes actual prune brandy. Plum brandy is unaged brandy, while what is called prune brandy is aged plum brandy. That is aging in barrels, not aging the plums or prunes. I would think there would be a difference. 

I am throwing an ad here for very little reason. I strongly suggest reading "What is Dungeons and Dragons" by John Butterfield, Philip Parker, and David Honigmann. I have seen several covers, but I don't know if they were different runs or different covers for different markets. As always, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The first link leads to my 2020 review (below the picture), and this link leads to an Amazon page for the book. 

As always, thank you for reading along and supporting me. 

The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 - Session 9 - The Battle of Too Many Armies

Session nine starts 36 hours after the end of the last session. It is daybreak on day three of the taking of the goblin caves. 

The previous night, the party's watch saw a pair of kobolds leaving the hobgoblin cave. They were surprised as they didn't detect them entering the hobgoblin cave. This was concerning. It was now pretty obvious there was a connection between cave A and F. 

I need a mule as a mascot.

The whole party awoke to the braying of a mule in the valley. The mule was cropping the grass in the middle of the valley. 

"Perhaps a tunnel," Rety said. 

This isn't true; the party simply didn't see them creep around the perimeter of the valley.  

As they decide what to do about the mule, the kobolds, and the giant rats emerge from their cave. A couple of goblins and hobgoblins also exit their cave but turn back quickly. The mule evades the kobolds by loping west, near cave G. The kobolds retreat before gathering reinforcements with ropes and set off after the mule. 

While the party watches, Norin makes himself busy in room 17. After much swearing and hammering, he asked the fighters to help him. He removed the treads from the stairs and wanted them stacked by the secret door to the ogre cave. This left a ragged slope instead of proper stairs at the bottom of the stairway, and allowed the party to block up the secret door as needed. The fighters struggled to move the heavy stone treads into place. 

In the meantime, the mule has attracted too much attention. A full dozen kobolds were stalking the mule. It seemed that the goblinoids decided they wanted it more and came out with an equal force of crossbow-armed troops. 

Rety decided to pull the sniper card and had the party ready bows and slings in the mouth of cave E. Before the party could act, two more groups appeared. A full 22 orcs appear, in two equal groups. Each was led by a particularly large and nasty leader. The party backed into the gloom of their cave to study the situation. 

They knew there were caves on the north face of the valley, but couldn't see them due to the trees. Rety cursed herself for not investigating those, but also knew she didn't have the manpower. She should have used the Eyes of the Eagle. In fact, she forgot who had them, so she asked for one to get a better look.

The goblinoid gave a challenging war cry before rushing the kobolds. Midcharge, the orcs gave a challenging war cry and charged the goblinoid horde. The noise of imminent battle brought the stirges out of their lair. 

This is the Cave of Chaos at its finest. 

Rety redeploys the party to guard the entrances. Punch, Thomas, and Slammer took cave E, while Lefty, Solvo, and Dorian took the back of the hallway from cave D. Sybil, Celia, and Jake the Dog were sent to room 17, and Bel and Norin guarded room 21. Norin had rigged a rope to the middle of the chain of cart wheels so the party could lift them a bit to make passage less difficult. 

Why is the dog named Jake? Name another famous magic dog? Sure, Joshua is cheating, though. 

Barrels make everything better.

Rety left herself the task of running between the groups. If worse came to worst, they would seal up cave E with the stone treads and maybe a Wizard Lock, then defend only the mouth of cave D. She began dragging crossbows to the intersection of cave D's tunnel. Next, she brought spears, then a barrel of water, and some rations. She wanted to ask Celia to help, but she didn't want the wily Sybil on her own. 

In fact, Sybil was anxiously flipping through her spellbook, deciding if she wanted to magically defend one of the entrances instead of following orders. Celia wisely offered her a cup of wine to settle her down. Bel had an easier time, as Norin just wanted to double-check his work. Norin muttered about not knowing there was a tunnel between the hobgoblin cave and the kobolds' cave. He was pretty sure that it had to be an underground river, as the rock was too tough to mine through. 

Again, Norin was also wrong, but trusted Rety's insight. Which happens to be very wrong in this case. 

The party watched the orc and goblinoid formations close and decided to wait rather than engage in combat. They can't help but notice that there are very few goblins left, and some have been replaced by women. The warrior-women are much better armored and armed than the traditional goblinoid troops. They wore chainmail and shields, plus they carried both axes and crossbows. The shields have ground spikes; the women prop them up when using the crossbows.  

The mule galloped off to the western end of the valley. 

This is not a stirge.

The stirges were the deciding factor in what happened next. They swept over the orcs before descending on the goblinoids. The two fighting formations focus on the stirges, a bane to all who live in the valley. Being monsters, they do occasionally take potshots at each other, but not as much as they would have liked and enjoyed. Both sides want to rid the Caves of Chaos of the vermin that harass them. 

The order of priority was the stirges, then the tricky party, and finally, perhaps the kobolds. The kobolds used to be everyone's main annoyance, but the party changed that by stirring up the Caves.  

As the final stirge falls, an odd thing happens. The goblins broke into two groups. One group left with the hobgoblins, and the other, led by the chieftain and his guards, went with the orcs. 

Rety has taken a count. Her party could take any one group of monsters with difficulty, but all of them together were overwhelming. It turns out that Solvo, Celia, and Norin could identify the function of the forces arrayed against them than Rety could. Those three also speak some of the languages they heard, making them excellent observers. She assigned the Knights to guard them as they spied from the cave mouth. She did this because she didn't want one of her archers or mages attacking, as they were wont to do.  

Rety tasked Slammer with inventorying their weapons and ammunition stores, and he took to the task with gusto. The Clerics patrol the cave network, looking for any problem they might have missed. The two Magic-Users took care of the mules and cooking tasks, while Rety used Norin's tools to disassemble what was left of the cart and sorted the lumber and gear they brought. 

Just before dinner, Jake barked at the contingent of goblins exiting the orc lair. Ominously, they entered the kobold's den. Before dinner was over, a group of kobolds crept to cave G and disappeared. Not long after, the gobin chieftain and his guard carefully walked upslope back to the hobgoblin caves. 

No one slept well that night. They knew they were 3 days from resupply and possible escape. 

That evening, a great white form moved from the mouth of the valley to Cave G. Solvo swore it looked like a white bear. 

Although there was no combat, I assigned 150 exp to each character for their efforts in planning, cooperation, and defense. 

The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 - Session 8 - Chaotic Assault

The next session or three will be a little bit different. In the last post, I only explained what the party could see. This will continue for a while. 

At sundown, Rety had Sybil cast a spell for her before the Magic-User went to bed. Belaphon, Rety, and Solvo crept out of the cave mout
h and up to the overwatch post that the goblinoids used to the party's cave. Finding no one about, Rety placed a pot against a tree and tied a string to the lid. They unwound the string 40 feet to the east before retreating. Lefty and Punch traded places with them, lying in the brush with the end of the string.   

In the meantime, Norin, Thomas, and Doian placed a heavy spike in the ground at the mouth of cave D. Norin attached a heavy chain to the spike, and the Cleric dismantled the carts' four wheels. They strung the wheels on the chain and affixed the chain to the ceiling of the cave, 30 feet back from the entrance. While not an impenetrable barrier, the wheels and chain will slow any attackers. 

The Knights took turns resting and watching for enemies in the brush. Back at the cave, Solvo, Slammer, and Sybil slept. A couple of hours into the Knight's watch, 6 goblins ventured into view and did their best to hide themselves from the cave mouth. Unfortunately for them, that was done in full view of the Knights. 

At midnight, Rety, Celia, and Belaphon took Slammer and Solvo's place. The dog followed Celia rather than Sybil, as he knew where the food came from. Thomas, Dorian, and the Dwarf were taking turns resting between the mule's makeshift stable and the hall leading to the mouth of cave D.  The Elf and Fighter crept to the mouth of the Ogre's cave. After a moment, they strolled out in plain view. The goblins spotted them immediately and gave a warning call like a strige, the only bird-like thing they've heard in a while. 

The six hobgoblins with crossbows readied their weapons and exited their cave. 

Lefty pulled the string, lifting the lid off the pot. The Sybil had cast continual light on its interior. The goblins spun around and were dazzled by the bright light. They were also silhouetted by the spell. Two of them were struck by arrows and fell dead. The Knights charged and took another goblin down. 

The hobgoblins were expecting enemies on the valley floor, but were distracted by the melee to their east and missed seeing the Elf and Fighter. They advanced toward the obvious fight. Punch took down another goblin as Lefty danced back and forth with the last two. Slammer and Solvo unleashed another pair of arrows, this time at the hobgoblins for 3 and 5 points of damage. The two struck hobgoblins shot back, hitting Slammer for 4 points of damage and Solvo for one. 

There are six targets.

Lefty was hit for 3 points of damage but downed his opponent. Punch and the last goblin exchanged a series of parries and feints. The four hobgoblins continued their advance on the Knights while the other two exchanged missile fire with the bowmen below. All four missiles hit. The hobgoblins struck first for 2 and 3 points against the Elf and Fighter, but died moments later. 

Lefty covered the pot, plunging everyone into darkness again. Punch splits the last goblin in two. Confused, the hobgoblins open fire. Lefty was hit, but the other three bolts found nothing but air. Solvo injured one, but a second was killed. 

Punch dropped the pot on the ground, freeing himself to melee the hobgoblins. Again, the hobgoblins are dazzled and confused, and they drew swords. Punch and Lefy slew two, and Solvo got the third. Unfortunately, Slammer's arrow whistled by Lefty's head, nearly hitting him. Slammer rolled 5 against the hob and a 9 against Lefty, which was also a miss. 

If you read the comment from Ruprecht, (here) this is how I handle missile fire in melee. First, all even-numbered misses occur because the shooters held their fire, knowing they would miss. They are that good. Since the roll was 5, Slammer loosed an arrow. He was then forced to roll against Lefty's AC of 3. The arrow was already in the air, no even number roll would protect the second target in this case. I played this up a bit for drama, as 9 isn't remotely close to a hit. 

In the next round, Lefty and Punch overwhelmed the last hobgoblin standing. The four fighting men beat a quick retreat back to their respective hiding places. 

An hour or so later, a lone goblin was sent to check on the guards. The hobgoblins can only surmise that something went horribly wrong, as no one reported back in. Concerned, they sent 2 more crossbow-armed hobgoblins as overwatch for the lone goblin. The pot trick works again. Solvo and Slammer dispatched the three guards while the Knights stayed out of sight. This time, Lefty and Punch collect the pot, weapons, and change purses before retreating with Solvo and Slammer into the ogre cave. 

The party heard a ruckus from the hobgoblin caves as the two chieftains exchanged words and maybe blows. In response to the noise, 4 kobolds and 4 rats ventured outside to see what was happening. Solvo and Slammer took a shot at them. They missed by a mile, but the kobold heard the arrows go by and dropped to the ground. Over the next three rounds, a pair of kobolds and one rat were killed as they first advanced on the fighter's location, then fled on their bellies back to the cave. 

At dawn, all four fighting men and Clerics retired. Celia and Norin set about their daily tasks with strict instructions not to expose themselves to the enemy. As the others ate and slept, Sybil and Belaphon took to silently studying in room 21. They heard the guards on the other side of the secret door moving about. Sybil silently pointed to two spells Belaphon should study for the day. 

If I painted these,
I'd have proper pictures for you. 

Once they were done learning their spells for the day, Sybil stood up and let out a theatrical yawn, right in front of the secret door. It looks like Sybil is way more chaotic than the party. The shuffling of gob and hob feet stopped. 

She cast a spell on the door, making it turn invisible. Her dog barked at the goblinoids. The four hobgoblin crossbowmen fired on her, but the bolts stopped dead as they hit the invisible, but still stone door. Sybil lifted the digitus impudicus at them. The goblin spearmen charged. The invisible door shook, as dust roiled from the edges with the impact. 

The Magic-Users laughed at the guards. "Bel, goblins. Just goblins." 

He nodded at her. 

It took the four stunned goblins two rounds to get reorganized, and by that time, all four were charmed. The Magic-Users gave the dread signal of finger to throat, as Sybil released the invisibility spell and the door faded back into view. 

(I dislike low-level spells that give a permanent effect. I have no particular answer to them, other than to allow the spell caster to end them at will. The first link is to the SRD for OSE. Old School Essentials is by Necrotic Gnome. They have a wide array of products. You can view and purchase them here.) 

Although they didn't know it, everything happened simultaneously on the other side of the door. Over the next 3 rounds, they heard the deathrattle of 4 hobgoblins and 2 goblins. The bewitched goblins killed one more goblin and injured several others before they fell. 

Rety was peeved when she learned her spellcasters had used up almost all of their spells in one go, but couldn't complain about the results. In her mind, the Fighters combined were as strong as the Magic-Users, and the Clerics plus Rety formed a third powerful group. Now, with the fighting men sleeping and the magic users out of spells, it was only Rety, the heirlings, the Clerics, and a dog to defend them for a whole day. 

For the rest of the day, they heard alternating bouts of activity and silence from the hobgoblin caves. At nightfall, the goblinoids recovered their dead. Rety quietly watched them from the mouth of the cave. They saw her, too, but had no response. 

For this session, the party killed or caused the deaths of 12 goblins, 12 hobgoblins, 2 kobolds, and 1 giant rat. This, with the treasure and a 10% bonus, equals 651 total experience. I also give each a bonus of 150 exp for planning and creativity. 

At this point, several characters level up again. I should scan their sheets in and walk thru who has what. 

The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 - Session 7 - Divide and Conquer

It's session 7, and the party is ready for a fight. They left the Keep before sunrise, leaving the drovers behind. In six days, the drovers will come to see what befell the party. 

Rety and the Knights lead the group, followed by the mule-drawn wagon and everyone else strung out behind them. They used the Eyes of the Eagle from the treeline and spotted some changes in the valley of the caves. 

From Session 4.5 and Session 5, the kobolds completed their improved defenses. Good-sized mounts for the giant rats ring their cave entrance while spear-armed guards patrolled the slope. Also, several kobolds were working with axes to clear away the debris of the burned trees. A new barrier of brush covered the approach to the kobold cave. 

Rety wasn't worried. Originally, her plan was to hit the kobolds' cave, as they were the weakest creatures in the caves. Now that the goblins have been swept out of several rooms of their cave complex, Rety believes they are weaker. She was unaware that the goblins and hobgoblins were in cahoots. 

Solvo the Elf reported seeing motion up the slope above cave B and cave F. On further inspection and a couple of die rolls with OSR Solo, the party decides that everyone in front of cave F has moved to the slope above cave B. They were totally wrong. There were two separate groups of watchers.  

The party makes a dash to cave D. They were immediately spotted by the combined group of goblins and hobgoblins, but the hobgoblins waited for the goblins to return from the slope above cave B before doing anything. The kobolds retreated inside their warren. 

The cart entered the caves, and the mules refused to move more than 30 feet down the hall. Norin the dwarf, and Celia wedged the wheels while the party split up. Belaphon, the two clerics, and Solvo drag timbers to the east. Sybil, Slammer, and Rety ran ahead of Punch and Lefty, who escorted Norin. Rety and Slammer readied their bows. Punch and Lefty marched with polearms. 

There was a hell of a racket throughout the Caves of Chaos. The goblins and hobgoblins raced through the halls. In the confusion, the other guards rushed to the entrance, where a heated conversation ensued. 

The eastern party reached room 17 and discovered the barricade. Flommox, they dropped their lumber and ran westward, screaming their alarm. 

Rety's team had the goal of finding and blocking the hidden door in room 21. In their last foray, they saw too many goblins disappear in that direction, so they correctly guessed there must be a door. They just didn't know where. They set out 4 lanterns to assist them in the search.

The western team heard the ruckus behind them from Solvo's team, but didn't know what it meant, as it was not a part of the plan. The goblins and hobgoblins also heard the yells of alarm and quickly came to the conclusion that the party was in room 21 searching for the secret door. The six spearmen and the 8 crossbow-armed guards run for the secret door in a disorganized horde. 

Norin, Sybil, and Rety spread out to search for the door, under the cover of the Knights and Slammer's bow. To everybody's horror, but no one's surprise, the secret door went "Clunk!" and swung open. 

I rolled for which way the door opened against the table in OSR Solo. I asked myself, "Does this door open outward?" The result was "no and..." The next question I asked was, "Does the guard's order make sense?" The answer was "no", so I determined that 4 crossbow men are in front of and behind the spearmen. 

I took this scenario from real life. I used to work in a hardware store, and you'd be surprised how many people purchase doors without considering which way they open and swing. Nothing is more funny than seeing someone mount the hinges on the same side of the door as the doorknob. Extensive consumer testing has shown this does not work. 

I rolled initiative. Since the party won, I determined that Rety could pull her bow, which is the "no and..." result. One of the crossbowmen takes an arrow to the face and drops. Slammer hits a second one for 3 points of damage. Sybil unleashes charm on an exposed spearman. One crossbow bolt whistles over Slammer's head, and a second bounces off Punch's armor for just a single point of damage. Punch and Lefty can't or won't advance due to the missile fire as Norin stays out of sight in the corner, ending the combat round. 

Two things happen at nearly the same time. The guards lose their morale check and decide to close the door. They missed by one, so they are fairly sensible and reasonably choose to close the door. The party wins initiative. 

Rety shouts, "Lantern!" and Lefty and Punch look around, confused. 

Slammer was not confused and picked up a lantern and hurled it into the crowd of monsters. I decided that two of the crossbowmen are unhitable because of the door, but the third was spattered, as was the dead one. They fall into room 21, very dead. I forgot oil does 1d8 until it burns out. 

Through the crack of the closing door, the charmed goblin saw Sybil make a slashing gesture across her throat and smiled. 

Sybil doesn't speak goblin or hobgoblin, but the message was heard, loud and clear. The charmed goblin killed one of the hobgoblins holding the door in his surprise round. He managed to wound the other hobgoblin at the door before a flurry of spearpoints dropped him. 

The five remaining goblins held the door closed, conveniently helping Norin and Rety hammer in spikes. As they worked, Sybil Wizard Locked the door. Norin complained as he thought he would be securing a door that swung the other way. He returns to the wagon for more lumber and tools. 

He grumbled, "Magic is good, but mechanics is better." 

The eastern party explained the blocked stairway, which raised eyebrows. The two Clerics returned to Celia and set watch on the cave mouth, while Rety plans a formal search of the complex. Solvo, Slammer, Punch, and Lefty are ordered to guard Norin's back as he works his dwarven skills on the first secret door, then the second secret door leading to the Ogre's lair. 

The party is tired, and it is not even midday. Rety pushed on, with the Magic-Users and Elf in tow, searching every wall for more secret doors. Celia served a cold lunch. Rety asked the rest of the party to help with the search, and after about 10 minutes, determined the Knights were unsuited for the job and sent them to secure the mules in one of the dead-end tunnels. 

This presented a few problems for Punch and Lefty. One mule refused to calm down, and the decision was made to run it out of the cave. Slammer wanted to eat it, but EVERYONE ELSE objected. The mule delivered a couple of bites and one brutal kick to the Knights before galloping off in the direction of the road and presumably the Keep. 

By nightfall, the party convinced itself that there were no more secret doors or traps in the area they claimed. 

Norin declared, "Those stairs are blocked, well and completely. Nothing short of dragon fire or prune juice can unblock that!" 

Everyone had a good chuckle. They set their quarters in the Chieftain's quarters. It was nicely appointed, although slightly smelly. The party rested in shifts as they knew the night would be long and the coming days longer. 

The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 - Session 6.5 - Book Keeping, Guards, and Wards

Session 6 went sideways. Hardly anything was said about the party. So we have session 6.5. The party spends the week in the Keep. Hender and Sonny depart the party. They both had near-death experiences, plus Hender can get his job at the tavern back, and Sonny can court the drover girls. Who wouldn't want that? 

Rety takes 3 days to interview several replacements for Hender and Sonny and brings on Sybil for a fair cut of the treasure. Rety also makes sure she is good with the drover team, Hender, and Sonny, distributing a few more silvers to all. She charges the drovers with obtaining 2 or 4 mules and a long, slim cart. 

Using OSR Solo, the drovers can get the cart and mules, but it takes an extra day. Rety obtains some mundane but odd material for the cart. She has water barrels and tons of food, plus lumber and tools packed into it. Unfortunately, the party is not able to obtain more healing potions. 

Rety advances Sybil and Belaphon some coins to do herself and them a favor. They spend the next couple of days examining each other's spellbooks. This means the party spends the full week in the Keep.  

Let's take a "My Table Tradition" detour. I have special rules for spell casters with spellbooks. Each Magic-User can memorize a specific number of spells per day. In OSE, the MU sleeps for 8 hours and studies their spells for 1 hour. That seems fair and easy. 

In a scenario like what we have here, the party retreated to town early and has tons of free time. I have a special rule for this non-combat case. 

What if Belophon, with two 1st-level spells, studied Magic Missile twice but really needs Detect Magic today? Since he has access to his spellbook and is not in combat, he can spend 1d6 rounds reviewing the spell in his book and swap the memorized spell for one they have in their book. Having cast that new spell, he does not get to study again. That daily spell is spent. This is only good for non-combat situations, like the example of sitting in town for a week. 

This scenario doesn't really matter much. It saves time and paperwork. 

There is a second scenario that is much less friendly. Let's say you have access to an enemy's spellbook. A Magic-User can use Read Magic to decipher a spell and cast it right from the spellbook. This works just like a scroll, meaning the Magic-User doesn't use his memorized spells. It also means the spell is deleted from the book. This cannot be done with one's own spellbook. 

What Rety has asked both mages to do is share spells. Sybil has both first and second-level spells; Belophon can only copy the ones he can cast. He knows what the second-level spells are because Sybil can explain them, but can't scribe them. Sybil could scribe a second-level spell into her book, but not in Belophon's book. Sybil can scribe any spell from Belophon's spellbook as they are all 1st-level. 

Rety also hires two additional heirlings. OSR Solo provided the yes-no answers. I simply rolled 2 twenty-siders, comparing each roll to the NPC chart in B2. She hires one Dwarf and one Halfling. They are 1st-level characters. Norin the Dwarf is brought on as a mining and construction advisor, while Celia the Halfling will cook. They do not receive a share of the treasure, only a salary. They are not expected to undertake dangerous or combat duties.

Back in the Caves, the agents of Chaos are also taking action because they have a week to prepare for the next invasion. The hobgoblins and goblins have integrated. Room 27, the Storeroom, has been consolidated with the Armory in room 28. The goblins are now using Room 27 as quarters for the 10 males and 14 females. Six guards with spears, shields, and daggers are in the hallway to cover the stairs and secret door. 

The stairs leading to Room 23 have been completely clogged up with whatever trash and rubble the goblins and hobgoblins could find. The one section of stairs is packed floor to ceiling, with only a ten-foot area outside the door so spear-armed goblins can get in to defend the entryway.  

Outside, just north of Room 23, sit 3 goblins. They are instructed to quietly watch the entrance to D. They are not to engage in a fight; instead, they are to report any intruders. These are some of the adult golbins who are not included in the guard. They are not inclined to fight, but they do have spears. 

Near cave entrance F, 6 hobgoblins patrol outside. Two of the six have moved down to the floor of the valley to watch entrance E, while the other 4 stand watch. All of them are armed with crossbows. Even though the ogre is dead, they will not enter his abandoned cave. Why tempt fate?  

When the party returns, the denizens of the Caves will have some surprises for them. 

Observations from The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 All Sessions - Part 2

Here is part of my observations on all sessions to date for B2 Keep on the Borderlands. I really hope you bought a copy, so I can stop posting the link to DriveThruRPG. 

I have mentioned the map scale several times and the headache that it gives. The valley for the Caves of Chaos is far too small, and the distance from the Keep is tiny. The module gives travel times as 1 square (100 yards) per hour when searching, which seems fine, but then gives non-searching speeds of 300 yards per hour. That's 0.17 miles per hour or less than 6 hours to cover one mile. 

I'm a little chubby and I walk much faster than that. 

Keep on the Borderlands was published a year before the Basic and Expert sets. These sets combine to codify indoor and outdoor travel speeds. It was a welcome choice and a great option. I politely ignore the travel times in the module, and as a consequence, I don't let much happen on the road. 

The next issue with scale is the sheer number of people inside the Keep itself. I counted 239 fighting men and 47 non-fighter types. I will not die on these numbers. I am probably wrong because I counted quickly. Gary Gygax's writing can be obscure or unclear, to say the least. But I did my best. If I had read it more slowly, I would have gotten it right because I'm sure it is all there. 

A castle similar to Bodiam Castle

This population fits my historical thinking. In keeping with my quick, back-of-the-envelope calculations, the Keep is roughly 3 times bigger than Bodiam Castle. This "castle" is more of a fortified estate, a family home over fortification. Much of its defences revolve around big walls and surrounding features instead of manpower. The walls and moat were two defences, but it also had satellite ponds designed to slow someone down and force them to take in the grandeur of the site. That was the intent: to slow an attacker so everyone got a look at everyone else. Sometimes, that is all you need to stop an opposing force. 

I found a notation that Bodiam Castle was 1/3 the size of the Keep in B2 and that it could support up to 80 people for a limited time. Those would have been guests and merchants, not fighting men, most of the time. If the Keep is 3 times bigger, the number of troops is perfect. The Keep is not overpopulated; it's overmanned by soldiers. I tend to describe it as an up-and-coming Keep, where the 47 non-fighting types are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to population. They are the people the characters notice, not all of the people. I often introduce several huts, a few camping fishermen by the river, a small farm, and a woodsman's shack near the Keep. This is flavoring and landmarks for the party, so they know roughly where they are. 

This also gives me something to do with the raiders and spies south of the Keep. They sit near the road, the only road to the Keep. This road has to bring in thousands of gold pieces of cash and goods to the Keep, because the Keep has no means of support in the surrounding empty territory. The raiders could actually steal a wagon or bribe the caravan guards and do serious harm to the Keep, even if they only stole food. That's a really good plot point. One quick raid hands the Castellian a big loss. 

Better yet, the raiders already have something in their description that hints at a possible avenue of profit and, in a way, an economic attack. Since they hunt the forests, they have fresh game meat to trade. They don't want to walk into the Keep to do this; they sell it to the caravan, which in turn sells it to the people in the Keep at a good profit. Everyone knows what is happening. There is no real surprise that the Castellian doesn't try to remove them if he discovers them, because everyone loves fresh food. 

As spies, they don't have to do too much. I would imagine the captain and lieutenant would try to spy and make contacts in the Keep itself. There is not much to keep them out. The rest of the "raiders" would also venture to the Keep for major news. They wouldn't do anything nefarious. They simply want to know if something "big" is happening in the Keep so they don't surprise themselves. 

As described, the raiders do represent a minor threat to a party of about equal size. They can't really get a TPK, but they can brain-drain a party by wiping out Magic-Users, Clerics, and Thieves. 

One thing that WILL cause a TPK is giving the raiders horses if the party is on foot. Those spearmen become very deadly on horseback. The same happens if more than 2 guys have bows or crossbows. Gary Gygax must have thought this out with the intent of a fair, but tough fight. 

I'll need to create a plotline for the raiders in one of the upcoming sessions.  

The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 - Session 6 - Book Keeping and Wishes

I had planned on doing a longer session today, but my blood sugar bounced. It tends to put me in a reflective mode. 

My main goal was to update the character sheets for Rety and the Clerics. Rety is level 2, finally, and the Clerics are level three. I had planned to have Rety hire a second Magic-User and something funny happened. 

I used the OSE NPC Generator. It is super easy. I must have clicked on "create" 2 dozen times, looking for the right combo of stats, spells, and magic items. As per normal, I wanted this character to have a Bag of Holding or a Ring of Protection. 

This is what I got: 

Wow. A ring of wishes on a second-level character. That is fun! Since I am in charge here, I decided to change that to 2-4 wishes instead of the original 1-2. 

Why? 

It's my game, plus I am the referee AND the player characters. Who wouldn't want a ring of 4 wishes? I have every intention of swapping this character's Wisdom and Dexterity before he starts making wishes. 

Additionally, it gives me a chance to tell a really offbeat story. 

I had a bunch of players who refused every adventure hook, running around town doing everything they wanted and nothing that I planned. Because: PLAYER CHARACTERS!

They were having the time of their lives, and I was going out of my skull planning stuff that would never be used. I came up with a great idea that I stole from Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures. You can purchase this book on Amazon.com with this link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Someone offered to sell them a great mansion in a nice location. The party declined and selected a smaller place in a horrible part of town. Since I was reading a lot of Robert Asprin, this town was a lot like Sanctuary in the Thieves World books. 

(Again, you can purchase this book on Amazon.com with this link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.) 

Basically, the town was hell on earth, and the party decided to move into the worst circle of that hell. Of course, since this was a railroad, I used the same floor plan as the original house I had thought of, with all the tricks and secrets I had originally planned. 

This house had doors and cubbies that led to other places like mines, and dungeons, and a castle in the sky. Somehow, the party avoided investigating them all. It wasn't like they were trying; they were having too much fun doing their own thing to look in cabinets and cubbies. 

Instead of trying to trick them or kill the party off, I spent most of my time gentrifying the neighborhood. Sanctuary is a hard city to have fun in, and it really didn't fit with what the party was doing. 

I threw in a gag where the party was robbed, but the robbers noticed the cleric, and covered their ill-deeds with an offering to the priest. Then, it happened again right after they spent all of their cash on workmen to clean up the house. The thieves took pity on their lack of funds a second time and gave them a few coins for soup. 

Once the house was in order, I decided to inflict a comical plague on them. Their neighbors were the Bumpuses from A Christmas Story, complete with the pack of hounds. The hounds and thieves became minor backing characters in the party's wild rumpus throughout my wrecked campaign. 

I'm sorry, I get overly wordy and ramble when my blood sugar drops and bounces back. 

We are finally at the part where the party gets a ring of wishes. It was a random treasure roll, nothing I had planned, but I foolishly let it happen anyway. And comedy gold ensued. 

Two different characters wished for two very useful and interesting things. I wish I could tell what those exact wishes were, but besides being well thought out and sincere, I can't remember because the third wish blew them right out of my memory. 

Forever.

The Fighter snatched up the ring and wished for: "A Magic Dog!" 

No stipulations, no modifying phrases or clauses, and no explanation at all. Just "A Magic Dog!" at a time when the party was surrounded by dogs. 

What the hell, Fighter! 

So, obviously, our new Magic User character will burn that fourth wish on "A Magic Dog!" 

I will be back when I feel better and explain what happened once the party rejoins the adventure at The Keep on the Borderlands. I am sick of posting this link to DriveThruRPG, so why don't you try Return to Keep on the Borderlands for 2e? 

Observations from The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 All Sessions - Part 1

We are five sessions into this mess. The party has returned to the Keep after suffering several losses that were not evidenced in the last session. Run as two parties, they suffered the deaths of Duskin and Pavel, the 3 drover characters stepping away, and from session 5, Sonny and Hender were hurt badly. NPCs and characters run in a solo campaign can act in very meta ways. 

There is nothing meta about dying, but the 3 drover characters were offered a huge paycheck to take a supporting role. Simon and his daughters are very aware of how far 300 gps goes in life and realized it was much safer to stay in the background. Hender is Sonny's (Henderson) father. Having watched his son almost die, you know he is thinking about taking that secondary role, too. 

My rationale for taking these steps is to increase the types of characters while reducing the amount of paperwork to keep this project going. 

Back to looking at this series, I am assuming that you play the way I do. My campaigns are very high magic. Magic is concerning, but not a source of terror. In some cases, magic is a consumer product. Rety wanted a bag of holding, so she bought one. The challenges she has in making the purchase are that the Keep is a wayward outpost with fewer resources than normal. This might be the normal state of affairs in your campaign, but not having a magic shop is very weird for me. 

In playing through B2 Keep on the Borderlands, you may notice that the monsters come in either singletons or groups of 6-8. I think this harkens back to the Dungeons and Dragons connection to Chainmail. (That is a link to DTRPG for purchasing.) It is almost like Gary Gygax selected figurines and assembled them in unit-sized groups and stat'd them up. You'll notice that the party is 6-9 player characters of levels 1-3, against groups of monsters in 4, 6, and 8. Those are tiny units, but units nonetheless. And they are almost on part with each other. 

This messes with time and space. In session 3, I mentioned how small the valley floor is when tripling movement and ranges. I know that this was done for artistic reasons; the scale indoors was imparted to the scale outdoors, so one did not have a giant map of empty, uninteresting exterior space. It works, until it doesn't. 

A round is 10 seconds. An unencumbered player normally moves 40' a round or 120' at a sprint. That is 4 feet or 12 feet a second indoors. Outdoors, that cranks up to 12 feet or 36 feet a second. Whew!  

People are fast, and monsters are faster. Here is a clip of a football player going endzone to endzone. The clip is a little longer than 10 seconds for clarity. This guy is dodging tackles and perhaps not running flat out the whole time.  

 

Because people are so fast, as a general rule, combat is abstract. The 6 points of damage a character or monster probably isn't a single hit. Here is a 10-second clip of a fat, old ninja swinging nunchucks. 

While I only make one slashing attack transition towards the end, notice how slow I am moving and how unfocused my eyes are. I am not even trying. This is also a very confined space; my feet are rooted, and I couldn't extend my arms. It's kind of like being in a dungeon. But it is still quick. Any one of those spins could have been a slash. Imagine how fast a fencer would move and how lethal a sword point is vs. a slap from a nunchuck.  

(This is an unedited video; you should see the outtake where I hit a pipe and made the house ring.) 

In light of these observations and many more, characters and monsters can get in and out of combat or trouble quickly. By the rules, characters are limited to a fighting retreat at no penalty or worse, giving up attacks to run for it. The first doesn't allow a character to exit combat if his or her attacker presses the attack. The second is an invitation to get hit in the back. As a DM, I choose a sort of middle ground where someone can do a fighting retreat as per the rules, or choose to forgo an attack to disengage, and of course, the disastrous spin and run. Disengagement requires A) space to move back a good distance and B) remain facing your opponent. Being faster than an enemy is good enough. Having someone available to tag in or threaten a flank or rear is best. And players intuitively handle these scenarios very well when asked.  

You see this a couple of times in session 3. When Belaphon outruns the owlbear with Pavel chasing both; then again, when the chase swaps Belaphon and Pavel; and finally, when Slammer tries to pull Pavel's body away while the Knights cover him. Monsters under threat aren't going to ignore an obvious threat, giving PC's extra time to do extra things. Slammer's attempt to pull a body from a creature isn't wise, but it makes sense. He traded an attack for a grab, but failed. 

In sessions 3 and 5, the characters experience blocking. Many of the missile-armed characters find themselves behind their friends engaged in melee. They can't shoot. Oddly, Belaphon does shoot. It is one of the joys of Magic Missile - you can't miss. Rety, the Clerics, or Sonny could have tried to shoot into melee, but friendly fire sucks.  

Being blocked is a give-and-take. You can't be hit, but you also can't hit back. 

I've forshadowed events in session 6, given my rationale for certain events, and explained how I use certain rules. There will be a part two where I get into alignment and motivation, plus hit points.

The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 - Session 5 Beak, Bone and Stone

Welcome back to The Keep on the Borderlands. There is your link to DrivethruRPG. I hope you click through and purchase this classic module. 

Camp

The party left the Keep at dawn to arrive in the Valley early. As Rety promised, Simon, his daughters, and their guard detail are left to set up camp near the road. The party was armed for a war, with all of the fighting men wielding spears, in addition to their regular weapons. They march west into the valley. 

A quick look around surprised everyone. The kobolds' trees were gone, their cave entrance clogged with branches. Several mean-looking giant rats were sunning themselves. Mud was churned up in front of D and F caves. Scattered bones surrounded a fire pit in the middle of the valley. 

"The goblins," muttered Punch. He is assuming the folks in Cave F were also goblins. 

As much as she wanted the owlbear's beak, Rety decided to enter Cave D to secure a flank. The party was organized into 3 groups: Rety, Sonny, and Belphon took the lead to scout; Slammer, Punch, Lefty, and Solvo, with spears ready, brought up the rear, with Dorian, Hender, and Thomas guarding the cave entrance. They move quietly with no lights. 

I have marked these teams as R, L, and T, for Rety, Lefty, and Thomas.  

I used OSR Solo to determine that the party saw no one in the east and west rooms. They saw candlelight from both rooms, and they heard voices to the east. Rety motion for Lefty's team to move eastward, while her group moved west. 

Yeah, I made this hard on myself. Lefty's team is moving to the right, and Rety's team moves left.  

As each team creeps down the hall, all hell breaks loose. Rety spotted two goblins running away. Lefty's team was confronted with 5 of 6 goblins advancing with spears leveled. By previous arrangement, the clerics and barbarians lit torches but held their position. 

Ladies first, round 1. Rety and Sonny loose arrows, one per goblin. One was killed instantly, while the other struggled on, dragging a bag. 

The fighting men and the goblins struck simultaneously, like miniature phalanxes colliding. Four goblins go down, while Solvo and Slammer were hit for 1 and 3 hp damage. 

Next round. 4 goblins sprang from the western room. Arrows flew, and a goblin fell. The attempt to close the gap, but they won't arrive until the next round, as they are moving in formation. Solvo and the goblin exchanged blows, and the last goblin went down. The four men turn to help Rety's team. 

Punch and Lefty wear armor

Round 3, chaos ensues. The party won initiative. Rety, Sonny, and Belaphon manage to slide through the fighting men's formation, and the four men met the goblin's spears. A goblin was killed. Punch took a slash to the face. Belaphon was struck from behind by the last eastern goblin's spear. 

Round 4. The eastern goblin ran back to the room for another spear while Rety and Sonny stalked after it. Two more goblins were killed, and Slammer took a good hit. Arrows clatter against walls as the archers miss. The clerics and barbarians move down the tunnel, torches lighting up the area. 

Round 5. The phalanx took empty room 18. Rety and Sonny killed the last eastern goblin with arrows. Combat ends because the party swapped sides. No one in room 18 knew the last goblin escaped through the secret door. 

This provoked an "Oh, shit!" moment for the ogre and goblin. The goblin wasn't supposed to enter the orge's cave, and it killed him. The ogre's "Oh, shit!" moment was when the bag of gold hit the ground. He took a moment to decide what to do with the body. 

In the meantime, the whole party met up in room 17. While the party searches the room, the Clerics attend to Belaphon and Solvo, who were the most injured. 

Combat sequence 2. No was surprised, but the ogre won initiative. This beast has AC 4, HD 4+1 for 25 hp, and does 1d10+2. This is above average for an OSE ogre. I decide the rule of funny is in effect. The ogre makes two missile attacks; the bag of gold and the body of the goblin become projectiles. Punch was struck by the gold, and Lefty by the body for 5 and 3 hp damage. 

Lefty struck for 2 points of damage while Punch missed. A magic missile hit for 4 points of damage. Sonny, Solvo, Hender, and Slammer melee. Hender and Solvo did 10 points of damage. Rety and Clerics can't strike due to the wild melee.   

Round 2, combat is simultaneous, except for Belaphon, who unleashed another magic missile for 6 hp first. The ogre was down to 3 hp. It pounded Sonny to the ground, while the ogre was cut down. Punch and Lefty get back up. All of the noise brought the roving band of goblins to the party. They came from the western doorway. 

Round 3 was again simultaneous. The Clerics snatch up Sonny and pour a healing potion down his throat, restoring him 2 hp. Six goblins exchange blows with Solvo, Slammer, Hender, Punch, Rety, and Lefty. Two goblins were felled, Hender was knocked down to 5 hp, and Sonny was KO'ed. 

Rety's prize

Rounds 4 and 5 were the party's time to shine. Thomas grabbed Sonny while the party attacked. In round 4, all but one goblin were killed. It did not survive round 5. There was a flurry of flight as the chieftain led his remaining people out of the cave mouth and up to the hobgoblin caves, taking all the treasure they could carry. Everything not in the rooms the players entered was taken. 

The party divided again. The Hender runs off to the camp for the drover cart. It will be needed. Rety and Belaphon gather up Rety's owlbear beak and bones. She offers a salute to the goblins and hobgoblins watching her. The rest of the party found the ogre's treasure. In the mouth of cave D, the treasure piles up. 

Ogre

Sonny was loaded in the cart before all the other treasures. The drovers declined to help, as it was beyond their contract, but they sent one of the crossbowmen to help. Quietly and grusomely, Rety claimed the orge's teeth. 

Back at camp, Rety wisely declares victory and prepares the team to move back to the Keep. She explains that healing would be faster in a warm bed. The drovers were somewhat put out, as they had set the camp for a week. Rety pays them an additional 10 gp each, including the crossbowmen. The drovers let Rety and the crossbowmen do most of the work. 

Rety humbly works her butt off to get everyone out of camp and back on the road to the Keep. The players earn 1500 exp from this adventure. I need to total up Experience because I think a couple of characters may be leveling up.  

One more link. The image I have labeled as Ogre is a Cyclops drawn by Jeremy Hart. He has a massive collection of paper minis and Stock Art on DrivethruRPG, all reasonably priced. I have a ton of them.