The New Old Campaign - Part 4 (July Sessions)

After a long break we discover that our party of novice adventurers has moved north and west to Falcon Keep, located on the borders of human-dominated lands near the Kingdom of the Iron Crown. Our heroes are:

Apollo the Elf

Thaddeus the Fighter

Steven the Thief

Horus Bloodaxe the Dwarf

Isidore the Cleric

Skullduggery II the Magic-User

We begin as they approach the keep and are learning a bit of background on the area from the merchant they are traveling with to the Keep. At the front gate they are asked to state their names and their business, after which they are admitted to the interior of the fort.

Inside they arrange for rooms and supplies and inquire about horses. They pick up a few rumors from traders and in the tavern then settle in for the night. The next morning the heroes head out for the local tourist attraction known as the Caves of Chaos.

Taking a shortcut through the woods (instead of taking the road) they begin to encounter webs, become more and more dense as they move deeper into the forest. Pressing on they encounter 3 giant (large) spiders and quickly dispatch them. They then push forward and soon come upon the Caves of Chaos.

DM Notes:

I know this doesn't seem like a lot but this took two hours of getting back in the groove time - looking for characters, picking out mini's, hearing the background of the region, refreshing a bit on the combat rules and just generally getting back into the game, even for me. Also, the Apprentices have become a bit argumentative during their time together this summer and this will show up more in subsequent session reports. However, this was the restart session and it was good.

Quote of the night: (after being told the party was approaching the Keep) "Shouldn't we get to decide where our characters go?" DM Repsonse: "Later, yes, right now, no." They said they were done with the starter dungeon...

Things I learned:

• Horses are not in the Moldvay Basic Book. They're in the Expert book but not Basic.
• Travel times to and from the Keep and the Caves are not what I remember
• No wandering monster list! I was sure there should be some wandering monsters but there are none. If you camp overnight near one of the numbered encounter areas there is a chance you will encounter  some of those creatures but that's it.