Coffins, Crypts & Catacombs: Chapter Four

A curious thing happened on the way to the dungeon...(bonus points if anyone understand that reference).

So, last we had checked in on our Hero Party they had fled the dungeon, Rosalie having been slain by a Spider Queen.  The ominous remaining rooms of the dungeon had proved too much and they departed, Curious Creature in tow.

Rosalie has returned to the party, but she's lost a few items and all of her crowns - though a fellow Adventurer has given her a small amount (Heroes can only spend crowns in their Zone so having some wealth on hand can be important!)

A new dungeon for Quest 4...the Heroes begin in the center and must locate the Quest Room which also serves as the exit.

 

The Quest Room is shuffled into five Chamber cards which have been placed around the dungeon.

 

The Hero Party is on the last 'White' location...about to step into 'Yellow', where all Creatures become more numerous and more active.  A bad first room could likely kill the Party off or cause it to flee.  Fleeing or losing Quests further increases the Saga Scale - so too many failures and the dungeon will become 'Red' and the party will eventually collapse!

The Hero Party steps into the first chamber...

A lucky break!  No increase...so the Saga Scale is still in White.

The Hero Party violates all protocols and goes to check two doors at once - risking an Unexpected Encounter...but needing to expedite the discovery of the Quest Room.

Holy crap...two cards in a row with no encounters and no increase to the Saga, and this is one of the five rooms which could have been the Quest Room.  One down, four to go!

 The incredibly lucky streak continues!  A reduction in the Saga Scale is tremendously good luck.  Sadly two Encounters must be faced...but two rooms down, three to go!

The Heroes discover a Treasure! (the best kind of Encounter!) and a Troll.  The Warrior Rosalie fumbles in her pouches for crowns...before the Dwarf shows up and begrudgingly pays off the Troll!  No violence yet...how long can this continue?

The Heroes can barely believe it when they pass through yet another room which generates only a trap!  The Curious Creature is shot in the leg with a dart...but is otherwise alive.  The Saga reduces further!  We're rapidly exhausting the good fortune...

Room three of five is a small broom closet at the end of a hallway...

 

It's the Quest Room!  Sadly it's filled with Ghouls and Verminkind...but they can be dealth with!

 

Well this was by far the easiest and most unexpected dungeon I've yet run in CCC.  The handful of cards in the deck which allow for avoiding conflict all seemed to turn up early!  I was quite ready to dispose of this Hero Party if a difficult Chamber popped up and we hit Yellow in the Saga Scale...but alas we ended up escaping, dropping the Saga by a further two!  

The Hero Party is now situated just above the starting position on the Saga Scale.  Somehow, incredibly they managed to slink down the scale and avoid slipping into Yellow.  The one combat was quick and efficient, with the table and cabinets narrowing the Creatures ability to attack. The Heroes killed them off, claimed two rewards (including firing the Curious Creature and replacing him with a Lost Squire!).

Overall...unexpected but nice to see that with the right happenstance the party can teeter on the edge of the disaster and claw its way back!

 

 

Caverns, Crypts & Catacombs: Chapter...three?

Having succeeded in their last adventure, our Hero Party was riding high on enthusiasm and a healthy dose of crowns (having escaped with two significant treasures!).

They set off into a larger dungeon for Quest three.  Their goal was to find the Quest Room (one of the last three Chambers in the deck of eight cards).

The new deadly dungeon awaits...

 

The first Chamber is empty, and a small curious creature joins the party, ally to Rosalie the Warrior.

 

This small creature leads the party as they venture into the next Chamber.

 

In the dark Chamber the Heroes can make out the snarling and gnashing of Ghouls teeth...

 

The Heroes back up to keep the Ghouls at bay for an extra turn...

 

 

As the Ghouls approach, Brulf falls flat on his face...and is about to be devoured.

 

Rosalie the Warrior advances, playing 'Bulwark' and preventing the Ghouls from passing her, bravely taking numerous attacks.  Remarkably Rosalie then slays four of the Ghouls, while the others are dispatched by the other Heroes.  Rosalie stands triumphant!

 

Kicking open the door behind them, the Heroes encounter a skulking Vampire, and a Cave Spider Queen which descends behind them, trapping the party!

 

Brave Rosalie is slowly devoured by a nigh unkillable Spider Queen (the Queen 'traps' heroes and they cannot move from her!)  The Vampire is slain, and eventually the party turns on the Cave Spider Queen.

With Rosalie fallen (losing her items and all of her crowns!), the Heroes kill the Vampire and eventually slay the Spider Queen...

 Wounded and missing a great Hero the party decides they cannot face the next five Chambers...

The Hero Party flees the dungeon back through the entrance...failing the Quest, but at least escaping with their lives.  Rosalie is saved (since the party escaped!).  The only loss was the failure of the Quest and the loss of Rosalie's items and crowns.

This was a rough Quest.  The Spider Queen rolled nothing lower than a 7 for several consecutive turns, devouring Rosalie and wounding Hreimdi. The location (top of the staircase) kept the other Heroes from getting involved, though Layra the Elf got in a few random bow shots.

The Hero Party is now sitting one spot from Yellow on the Saga Scale - where all of the creatures and encounters become more difficult.  They've acquired a variety of items, traits and a few actions...but I don't know if it's enough to survive a Yellow level.

We shall see in Chapter Four...

 

 

Caverns, Crypts & Catacombs: Chapter Two

It's a boring, damp Saturday so I figured I'd bust out the CCC again and get in a few games (at least one!).

When last we departed, our Hero Party had just made it through a five-room dungeon and escaped the clutches of a horde of angry Zombies.

In the second playtest we find the Heroes arrayed again for a six-room dungeon which must be cleared and then exited through the starting door (meaning a long travel back!).

The Hero Party enters the dungeon on the viewer's right (wooden staircase).  They must clear each room of any encounters and then exit via the same staircase.  There are a few cards which create additional exits, but you can't count on them!

 

 Between adventures I use some small cheap coin bags, and some parchment envelopes to keep heroes money/cards from adventure to adventure.

 

 Unlike last Quest, the first Chamber finds only a small group of Goblins, fighting over some treasure nearby...

 

 The Heroes move in and dispatch the Goblins with relative ease.  An arrow shot by the Elf made the last two Goblins flee.

 

Entering the second Chamber, it turns out to be the Guard Room, granting its occupants 'Ambush'!  Luckily one of the Encounters drawn is a treasure.  The Zombies fall upon the party from the collapsing roof!

 

The Zombies are dispatched rather quickly, with one of the better Hero Phases of the game - the Barbarian and Warrior finally doing what they advertise!  Bashing everything to bits.  The Heroes spread out and check out the room, acquiring some goods.  The treasure (bottom of the picture) is left alone.  It's worth a lot of crowns, but it injures the Hero carrying it...better not to risk it.

The Heroes kick in a door, and a trap narrowly misses them.  Luckily this old kitchen seems abandoned...

Heading into the next Chamber they discover a gruesome Torture Chamber (a room which harms all Adventurers!).  Furthermore, a group of angry Verminkind are present...the Heroes decide to fall back and fight in the hallway!

The Heroes fall into the hallway.  This prevents them from being wounded by the malicious Chamber, and forces the Verminkind to fight one-on-one, meaning the Heroes can survive more easily.  Slowly but surely they eliminate the angry ratmen.

Now...a hiccup.  The Chamber inflicts wounds on Heroes who end their Hero Phase inside.  There is a single door leading to the rest of the dungeon.  If it's locked it could trap the group in the room for several turns.  Hreimdi the brave Dwarf decides he'll risk it and takes a wound running through the chamber.  Luckily he finds the door unlocked and opens it, escaping further harm.  He whistles for his companions.

 Brave Hreimdi kicks open the door, avoiding more injuries in the deadly Torture Chamber.

Unfortunately the room is home to some Skeletons.  Now Hreimdi has to hold out until the rest of the Hero Party gets there!

On the way to aid Hreimdi the Skeletons charge, and the Heroes suffer a few wounds as the Elf trips while running through the Torture Chamber.  Luckily she is able to kill enough Skeletons to run into the safety of the next Chamber.  The Heroes burn a lot of Luck dice here to make sure they crush the Skeletons quickly!

 The Heroes reach the final room and kick open the door...only to find it empty.  A poisonous fog lays on the room...injuring the Heroes.  They withdraw.

Another injurious trap was drawn in the final Chamber as well.  Maybe this is what slew any Creatures nearby...

On the way out of the dungeon, the Heroes suffer more wounds in the Torture Chamber.  However, the brave Warrior, Rosalie...grabs the deadly Treasure item on the way out of the dungeon and survives (just!).

 In the middle of the game, the Barbarian is suffering heavily...he ends the Quest on two-dice.

 The Elf nearly got herself killed with this roll...

 The end of Quest two, the Heroes have acquired more skills, traits and some items!

Rosalie, our intrepid Warrior escapes the dungeon carrying the most valuable (and deadly) Treasure.  The reward is suitable!  (Gold = 25 crowns, Silver = 5 crowns, Copper = 1 crown).

 

 

Caverns, Crypts & Catacombs: Playtest walkthrough...

Being bored on a cold evening here, I decided to try to showcase a little more clearly a playtest for Caverns, Crypts & Catacombs (CCC).  I set up one of the first simple Quests and randomly drew four of the six available heroes.

One of the first available Quests is a simple 5-room dungeon.  Heroes must enter one side and exit the other.

 

 I drew four Heroes at random (you have six available).

I drew a difficult starting set.  I did not draw the Wizard (whose Fireball is invaluable early in the game), nor the Thief (whose speed and versatility is extremely useful).

 I drew a small handful of fantasy coins to determine my party's starting crowns.  Gold = 25 crowns, Silver = 5 crowns, and Copper = 1 crown.

 The Hero Party for this playtest Campaign consists of: Layra the Elf, Rosalie the Warrior, Brulf the Barbarian, and Hreimdi the Dwarf.

Necessary decks and the Saga Scale are set-up and shuffled.

 The Hero Party readies for adventure!

 And...shit.  What a first room.  Immediately jumped by Cave Spiders with Skeletons ready to close in...

The Hero Party completely falls apart immediately, failing 15-20 attack rolls vs. the Cave Spiders.  The Heroes take 30-50% wounds almost immediately.  Cave Spiders trap heroes, not allowing them to move or flee...

 Eventually the Heroes stop rolling like complete crap and dispatch the Cave Spiders, falling back slightly to prepare for the Skeletons.  They clear them out quite easily within two turns, and move on, licking their wounds.

 The next Chamber holds merely Goblins, and the Dwarf runs in head first.  The Dwarf possesses an innate bonus when fighting Goblins or Orcs.

After clearing the Goblins (killing enough that they ran away due to cowardice!) the Heroes explore but find nothing, and then turn to battering down the locked door...

 A glance at the characters mid-game.  A few tokens located, some wounds taken, etc.

After breaking down the door and entering the third room, the Heroes encounter Brigands and choose to pay a bribe to avoid fighting them (one of the uses of having a nice stack of crowns in your pocket).  Unfortunately one of the rooms rewards places an Encounter behind the Hero Party.

In CCC, a Hero Party can always abandon a Quest, but they must exit the dungeon in order to survive.  This means that turning back and fleeing through the entrance is always an option...but now an Encounter is behind the party - making that exit less appealing.

 Entering the fourth of five rooms, the Saga Scale is creeping dangerously close toward Yellow, or the second level (wherein Creatures become more dangerous and more numerous)

The Hero Party encounters Orcs.  This fight nearly kills the Heroes, and they're forced to expend all of their Items and available Luck (bonus dice) to win the fight.

 Having defeated the Orcs, the Barbarian plays an Item to reduce the Saga Scale, hoping the next Chamber doesn't push the dungeon into Yellow.

The Heroes kick open the door to the final Chamber and prepare for...

 Zombies!  This is good news.  They're slow and easy to kill...but they multiply.

 The Heroes opt for a fighting withdrawal, running toward the staircase.  By fleeing the dungeon they'll win the Quest but will not gain any rewards from the fifth Chamber.  The party is struggling with wounds so they opt to fight and run...

More Zombies appear from the Staircase entrance and the Heroes risk being overrun if they can't smash some heads in...

The Heroes slay enough Zombies to escape, but the Barbarian is left alone.  He's tough and manages to bash his way through a few Zombies and escape one turn later.

The Heroes are successful in this simple quest, though it started out quite badly.  The Hero Party ended up with a handful of quality rewards (some bonus traits, some Eelskin boots, etc.).  Most importantly, everyone made it out alive - a rare occurrence in CCC so far.

I'll stow these Heroes and set up another game in the next day or two...see how far this party can make it before they're slain.