Running The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (greater caverns) went so well in January that I DMed Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (first edition) again in February. This time around, I kicked off a new campaign using the adventure collection of Against the Slave Lords. World building works so well when using AD&D.
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Several Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks are available as print on demand from DriveThruRPG: Players Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, Monster Manual, Unearthed Arcana, along with Against the Slave Lords. In addition, there are two digital copies of Dungeon Magazine with adventures that support the series: Dungeon #221 (Lowdown in Highport) and Dungeon #215 (The Last Slave Lord).
A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry
This adventure introduces new player characters to the World of Greyhawk and the kingdom of Nyrond as well as bringing in the lowest level of the slaver’s organization. However, rather than start with brand new PCs, I took the characters from the Greater Caverns of Tsojcanth and recreated them at first level. I then treated that adventure as if they had completed the Caves of Chaos from The Keep on the Borderlands and had earned 2,000 XP.
Closing in on the Quarry
Seven player characters descended into the caverns tunneled beneath the quarry. A good mix of races (humans, a dwarf, and elves) and classes. The players ranged from players with a handful of adventures under their belts to veterans with decades of play experience. The PCs were 1st or 2nd level.
The PCs asked around in the village of Darkshelf to learn as much as they could about recent problems and the challenges in the quarry. In addition to slavers and pirates kidnapping villagers, there was also a monster or monsters roaming the nearby river, attacking and ripping local fishermen apart. The local overlord filled them in on his missing agent as well, likely in the quarry somewhere, and they negotiated payment.
Intel gathered and payment offered, the party headed for a hidden entrance to the caves near the quarry. They wanted to avoid the guards they’d spied guarding both the quarry entrance and the quarry itself.
Caller and Kicking in Doors
When I was thirteen, I was running my halfling thief, who was probably at best second level. My brother Tim, my DM, made me caller. Caller is a role for a player. The caller directs what the party does and relays it to the DM. This speeds up the game if the party cooperates with the caller and can lead to random encounters if instead they bicker and can’t move forward carefully, quietly, and quickly.
First thing up was kicking in a door in a dungeon. Stuckman, playing a human fighter, made his open doors roll successfully. The heavy iron-banded oak door banged open into a stinking room filled with slovenly bunks and a large handful of confused goblins.
As a player, I panicked and yelled to yank the door shut. The game was working. I felt for a moment as if I were there, and the adrenaline surged. But my character had made the wrong choice.
Or did he? My teenage brother made a call as DM to explain to me that the goblins were sleeping and that we had the advantage. My thief would know this, and furthermore, he would know he would likely get a backstab in if we attacked. He let me play it like this had run through my character’s mind to slam the door and flee, but his training kicked in, and he did what? Tim let me choose again.
Stuckman’s fighter kicked in the door. We saw the enemy in disarray. We attacked. We won.
I have never forgotten this early lesson and many like it. Press the attack where your enemy is weak. Charge and attack into an ambush. Don’t split the party (until you should). Be very careful before firing into melee. Watch your party’s six. And many more.
Also, DMs are vital even if they are human and don’t always act at their best. But when they do, they install a lifelong love of adventure and gaming in their players. Well done, Tim.
Creeping in the Quarry
The party went in the hidden chute (an air vent) to get into the caves. I didn’t need to have seven players roll for stealth. The party has a chance to surprise monsters based on a die six roll and this chance improved because they had a ranger with them. When they sent the stealthy characters ahead to scout, the chance went up even more. They were able to determine the main level was just a quarry with nothing nefarious going on but a strangely large presence of guards.
When the PCs confronted a guard the caller, Phil, got suspicious that the guy was lying and likely a slaver. His character, the ranger, asked the paladin to detect evil. The paladin did and determined that the guard was actually evil and up to no good. The guard didn’t survive the combat that quickly followed.
Combat in the Quarry
Combat flows quickly and with interesting options in AD&D. Possible surprise and initiative happen fast (one roll for each side each). And tactics become clear.
The party was fighting goblins they had found (a clear indicator that the quarry housed evil, not just quartz) in a dead-end corridor. Phil, the caller, made sure part of the party watched the six, a t-junction in which the sounds of combat echoed and bounced.
Sure enough, the sound of conflict brought two groups of fresh enemies into the fray. A cleric and his elemental pet came from the west; more goblins from the east.
The paladin, on watch, immediately charged the elemental. With her protection from evil, the monster couldn’t physically attack her (the lightning was different, but her intent was sound and locked down the monster). Marty, playing the monk, climbed walls above the conflict so he could drop down next to the cleric and lock down his spellcasting.
The party handled this conflict like a well-oiled machine. They didn’t panic, they identified threats, and they worked together to win a difficult battle and break out of a possible ambush from behind. And all the characters were only first or second level.
As a DM, it is thrilling to watch skilled players handle AD&D combat. Level matters much less than skilled player knowledge and teamwork. It flows fast, and every decision had weight and could possibly turn the tide of battle.
Next Steps
More AD&D to follow. There is so much more to explore and experience again with this grandaddy and masterfully made tabletop roleplaying game.
Picture credit: Nature Landscape Clouds
