Meatheads Play Report 3

  Meatheads Play Report 3, DM notes at bottom.

– Meatheads is a hack of OD&D; a fighter only playstyle with additional XP gained through feats of strength. –

Damn.

(Joining this session are the Player Characters Maxima, Querma and Mutton, a new player character. Session date: 05/06/23)

Last session we left the meatheads covered in an itching powder after opening a trapped chest. Undeterred, the party crept deeper into the halls eastwards. Passing through an empty room lined with wood steles, the party learned briefly the history of the hobbit migration to the coast from the southern lands centuries ago. The next room they entered was bare save for a desiccated human-sized arm severed at the shoulder that lay inert in the room’s center.

Nasty!

The party decided to not move forward, but to backtrack previous paths. Reoriented, the group ventured further east, coming to a large hall of stone where the likeness of important hobbit folk-heroes had been carved into standing pillars.

A few of note included Dorkus, a brawny hobbit who carried the massive boundary stone 70 meters from the town’s edge, altering the borders of Killnerd. Dyldo was another hobbit, a peat farmer like many of Killnerd’s current denizens, yet he possessed a magic wheelbarrow that could move mounds of peat with ease. Four passages lead out from the hall of heroes; a northeast and southeast passage, the passage to the west they came from, and a passage to the south that descended downwards. The party was sure they found the entrance into the second level with the southern passage, yet turned their attention to crawling further east. Querma heaved the northeastern door off its hinges even before discovering it had been locked. This room would be the tomb of several party members, as from the darkness of a looping hallway, six goblins charged out from the darkness, catching the party by surprise.

The skirmish was quick and brutal. The goblins ganked Maxima, Mutton (a new meathead) , George Puller, Trunko and Spynt. In the confusion, the hobbit hireling Rodd Pearose ran away into the dungeon halls carrying with him one of the party’s lit torches. The other torch lay smoldering on the ground, illuminating the bloody scuffle. Querma slew two goblins before scooping up the unconscious body of Spynt and ran towards the dungeon’s exit. She started to regret heaving every door off its hinges as she could no longer shut any behind her to slow the pursuers. By memory she passed through the dark rooms with the goblins nipping at her heels.   

Tony DiTerlizzi 

With one arm holding Spynt, and despite the itching blisters all over her body, she climbed the rope leading outside. Sparing no moment she ran back to town, bringing Spynt to Danny’s Barrow, where Danny and the Old Man Club watched in horror and confusion as the hobbit youth was laid upon the bar counter. 

Spynt near death, Rodd and Trunko nowhere to be seen, the hobbit adults in the tavern started to take into consideration the gravity of the fact that 3 of the village children had been led astray by brawny strangers.

Tony DiTerlizzi 

To the dwarven brokers Querma went, informing Ardmoc Underbust about the blunder. A knock at the door interrupted their talk, awaiting outside stood a grim, long-faced elf. Sheriff Hate asked for Querma to surrender herself into his custody, and with a pleading look towards Ardmoc, she was encouraged by him to go quietly. Querma went with Sheriff Hate soon to find herself at the mercy of Killnerd, her trial forthcoming.

~Session End~

~GM notes~

~Meathead Players Halt!~

Wowwee! Good to get some deaths in, barging into goblin turf will certainly do that. These goblins had the particular advantage of catching the party by surprise, I’m certain if the roles were reversed the party would have a few more living characters with some juicy XP.

Before this session I revised several rooms and encounters, but of course the players would veer into the direction where I had yet to flesh out. The hall of heroes was severely under prepped in terms of dressing and lore, but should have more to show next time they venture through. It pleased me to hear the players surmise the southern passage leading down was the entrance to level 2. They are mistaken, as that passage is purely a trap.

I was interested to see just how long the hobbit hireling would last, which is to answer not that long. More so, considering the state of the three hobbit teens, this is burgeoning on a village tragedy. It was always my intent to give attention to the social bonds of the village and how they impact on the party’s dungeoneering. From here I am eager to run a village trial, something that is always fun to do. I could introduce new player characters fresh off the boat as impartial judges, or offer the task of finding Rodd as penance. There is still hope for Rodd being alive, and villagers would be key to note this. Safe to say, Querma will be making no friends with the hobbits. To the dwarves however, this could provide an opportunity to further their grip. Ardmoc obviously does not want Querma, a retainer of his, to be executed or exiled. He will throw his weight behind her being tasked with finding Rodd. I can’t help but find this to be an opportunity to introduce another potential retainer, Friar Calhoun, a human cleric stricken with a myasthenia of the body, himself seeking penance from his god, Ur-Nald, deep within the dungeon. Him arriving as a weakly champion to the mighty Querma could create a fun dynamic, her feeling indebted to him. There’s a number of ideas obviously and we won’t know what happens until it is played out next session.

Querma considered running to grab the withered arm in the room encountered earlier before fleeing the dungeon. Least to say, it was fortunate that she did not.