Let's Play Tomb of Horrors (AD&D 1E)

[Father Walker]

True, but going to a swamp with an army of 50 retainers is like asking for trouble

 

[Lord Rocket]

Andrzej, you're aware that this dungeon is regarded as the most ridiculous, arbitrary and generally cuntish dungeon ever created by TSR, right? I'm not too worried about having to split the proceeds between lots of people, since they're all going to die. We're all going to die as well, but hopefully after they do.

 

[Father Walker]

I know. I'm just trying to RP it properly This bro I'm impersonating doesn't know that he's going to die in the most annoying dungeon ever released by TSR.

So, Sir Victor would say:
"I understand your concerns, friend. Yet this isn't a war expedition. If we are to succeed, we should proceed with caution. A large party will surely disturb wicked denizens of the swamps. Sometimes wits are more important than swords and I'm sure that down in the Tomb, our halfling companion is going to be worth more than an army of sellswords. Now, if you excuse me, I need to finish my prayers."

Fap fap, let the LARPing begin.

 

[Kz3r0]

I am working on it, I will complete it later.


Kz3r0
Half-Elf
Multi-Class Cleric-Ranger-Mage (5, 7, 6)
Str: 18/62, Int: 15, Wis: 17, Dex: 16, Con: 16, Cha: 12
+2 Chain Mail, +1 Shield, Levitation Boots, +1 Mace

Name: Terence Ethan
Sex: Male
Race:Half-Elf
Age: 45
Alignment: Lawful Good
HP: 33

Cleric spells:

Create Water
Cure Light Wounds
Detect Evil
Protection From Evil
Purify Food and Drink

Find Traps
Hold Person
Resist Fire
Silence 15’ Radius
Slow Poison

Create Food and Water
Cure Disease

Mage spells Learned:
First Level

Affect Normal Fires
Burning Hands
Comprehend Languages
Dancing Lights
Detect Magic
Enlarge
Find Familiar
Friends
Identify
Light
Magic Aura

Second level:
Audible Glamour
Continual Light
Darkness 15 ft Radius
Detect Invisibility
ESP
Fool’s Gold
Forget
Invisibility
Levitate
Locate Object

Third Level:
Blink
Clairvoyance
Dispel Magic
Explosive Runes
Feign Death
Flame Arrow
Fly
Gust of Wind
Haste
Hold Person
Monster Summoning I

 

[Pussycat669]

Sometimes wits are more important than swords and I'm sure that down in the Tomb, our halfling companion is going to be worth more than an army of sellswords.

Don't remind me. I'm not really familiar with the module but I've skimmed through an old copy ages ago and the one thing I remember is that you better don't touch freaking anything until you really have to, so it's less a matter of wits than healthy paranoia.

Anyway, had to do some extra workload which got in the way so no shopping tonight, sorry for the delay. I'll get back to it as soon as time allows.

 

[Lord Rocket]

I'm LARPing too; Cuntstable Randy Campbell, member of Dungeon SWAT and Dwarfdom's Greatest Daredevil Stuntman needs his retinue - who else will feed his massive ego?

Are there any particularly useful magical items we should be looking into pooling our funds for? And what does everyone else think about the big retinue vs. fast travel thing? I know what I want but it's all fairly expensive so I can change it if we're going to be pooling our funds for whatever reason.
(In any case I'd like to keep the dogs)

 

[Alex]

Hey Kz3r0, how did you get all those mage spells? I bought a few for my character by buying scrolls (at a whooping 450 gp per level) and got 1 per level like the book says you can do. Did I miss some cheaper option? Also, any spell that I have taken you may consider that I shared with you, so don't spend your picks with those. I hope the favor will be mutual, right?

 

[Kz3r0]

Hey Kz3r0, how did you get all those mage spells? I bought a few for my character by buying scrolls (at a whooping 450 gp per level) and got 1 per level like the book says you can do. Did I miss some cheaper option?

Probably I made some mistake, I just looked at my INT, see that I can learn from 7 to 11 spells per level, then I saw that as a six level mage I can use 4 level 1 spells , 3 level 2 , 2 level 3 and 1 level 4.
For the rolls I used a d20, having a 65% probability to learn the spell I have considered every result above 7 as a success.

Also, any spell that I have taken you may consider that I shared with you, so don't spend your picks with those. I hope the favor will be mutual, right?

Of course, considering that I still have to make my picks.

 

[Alex]

Ah, ok, so those are the spells you are able to write down? Sorry, I thought they were the ones you had already learned.

Anyway, the ones I picked are marked with a * on my sheet. you get 4 spells at first level (read magic and three other ones), and you can write down 1 spell per level (so you would start with 9 M.U. spells). Besides those, Elzair let us buy magic items for 1.5 times their price. the g.p. value of a scroll is 300gp per level. So you can buy any one spell for 450gp per level.

I like the big retinue idea. After you get to a certain level in AD&D, you are not supposed to be destitute scrappers trying to make the ends meet. This is a high level expedition and must be treated like so.

 

[Kz3r0]

Ah, ok, so those are the spells you are able to write down? Sorry, I thought they were the ones you had already learned.

Anyway, the ones I picked are marked with a * on my sheet. you get 4 spells at first level (read magic and three other ones), and you can write down 1 spell per level (so you would start with 9 M.U. spells). Besides those, Elzair let us buy magic items for 1.5 times their price. the g.p. value of a scroll is 300gp per level. So you can buy any one spell for 450gp per level.

I am not quite sure if spending money on scrolls is wise, I have Cleric spells too, without mentioning that I am a Ranger, on this subject, my THAC0 is based on the best one of my classes right?

 

[Alex]

Yeah, that is right. I spent money on some scrolls already, as I saw them as key spells for the expedition. Feel free to conserve your expenses to other stuff though!

 

[Alex]

Oh, I just realized I spent 1350 gp on lightning bolt, and maybe spending 1800 instead on dig might be a better idea.

 

[Pussycat669]

Ok, still under time pressure, but here's my first draft. I'm using the equipment list from OSRIC by the way, hope that's alright.

Name: Puck
Sex: Male
Race: Halfling
Age: 47
Alignment: Chaotic Good
HP: 55

Shopping list:
Shortbow (23GP)
5 dozen arrows (15GP)
Backpack (2GP)
Small sack (1GP)
Bullseye lamp (18GP)
10 pins of oil (2GP)
Gloves (5GP)
Shoes (1GP)
Crowbar (3GP)
Blanket (1GP)
Waterskin (2GP)
7 standard rations (21GP)
Pony (18GP)
Saddle (15GP)
100 pieces of chalk (2GP)
2 dozen rocks (0GP) [I'll treat them like sling stones, if that's ok with you]
Pole (2GP) [I'll leave the size up to you, Elzair. Just a little tool to poke at things]

Total cost: 131 GP

That's everything from the top of my head. I might buy some scrolls if I find some good ones. There are also some minor things I would like to buy but which I couldn't find on the list: rope (10 ft. should be enough), several reels of string (preferably of different colour) and a canary in a cage for those nasty poisonous gases.

 

[Pussycat669]

Darn, forgot a tent and the thieves' tools of course and there is actually twine there, so I'll take 2GP worth of that (should be about 2500 feet, a bit of an overkill but oh well) plus a signal whistle and a steel mirror. I'll add a pack mule to that to carry all the junk. Overall cost are then about 266GP.

EDIT: Overlooked silk rope as well. Added to the final price.

 

[Pussycat669]

So, are we still going to do this? I should have time to spare during the weekend and my char is (mostly) ready when you are.

We should probably decide how we're going to approach this adventure, either by trying to break it (with henchmen and digging and whatnot) or honest with just us five people going in (I would still suggest that the other character choices follow us around as companions in the background. That way if someone dies he can get quickly replaced and it makes it easier if someone else wants to jump into the game as well). I would be more inclined to follow the adventure as intended, speak no extra henchmen, at least not outside reasonable bounds.

Can someone point out to me where I can find prices for scrolls in OSRIC btw?

 

[Alex]

Yeah, I am stoked for finally playing this module. I would prefer to take lots of npcs to the dungeon, but if it means the game will be less fun for other players, I will gladly play only with my character.

About the scrolls, I found the price in DMG (Sorry, I don't have OSRIC) as 3 times the experience for finding them. The experience was 100xp per level of spell inside, so the total is 300gp per level. Unfortunately, magic items are being bought at an inflated price of 1.5 the selling value. So, it totals into 450gp per level.

 

[Pussycat669]

I would be cool with the NPC army option too, if it should win the popular vote, but I'm at the same time curious how long we could survive on our own until TPK. If we include all PCs from the roster, we should have enough meat to clog the grinder, I hope.

Thanks for clearing things up about scroll prices. Still haven't found one that gets you out of an instant death situation though

 

[Elzair]

Yeah, I would kinda prefer no NPC army. I am ready whenever.

 

[Elzair]

Sorry I have been somewhat lax in getting around to starting this. I can post the opening tonight.

 

[Alex]

No problems, man, looking forward to the game!

 

[Father Walker]

No problems, man, looking forward to the game!