llot session 5-8 - cracking the code

Sessions #5-8 of the Lorn Labyrinth of Tsathoggus, an OD&D 3LBB megadungeon campaign run over at the OD&D Discussion Board Discord Server.

Rules Clarifications

Several discussions as to the use of the Helm of Telepathy as described in Monsters & Treasure have been had among the members of the OD&D Discussion Board Discord Server. Several interpretations were considered, but ultimately most came to the understanding proposed by Diogenes.

First, the text of the magical item:

Helm of Telepathy: This allows the wearer to read the thoughts of any creature within 9”. If his intelligence rating is greater than that of human or humanoid creatures within the range of the helm, the wearer may attempt to control their mind with suggestions implanted telepathically. Such suggestions will have a +2 effect on their likelihood of being carried out (see Vol. III for random actions by monsters). For characters in the game, roll percentile dice, adding 10% to the helm’s wearer, and if the character fails to beat this score, he will follow the suggestion. (The referee must use judgment here, for a suggestion to kill oneself would not be likely to be carried out in any event.) Treat as non-protective helm if worn into melee.

Next, the explanation:

• Reading the thoughts of any creature within 9" is fairly straightforward. Generally, this was interpreted to mean any creature whose thoughts were capable of being read, meaning unintelligent creatures can't be detected.
• A creature of lesser intelligence than the wearer may have their mind controlled with suggestions. This specific phrase has been the source of confusion in using the helmet for the past several sessions. Initially, I thought the intent of the helmet was to be used as a charm-like magic item, but the qualifier "with suggestions" makes the world of difference here.
• The user gets a +2 on their reaction roll on the likelihood of their suggestion being carried out. As you can see, this isn't an attempt to see if a monster will fall under the sway of the helmet user, but rather if they will follow a suggestion provided by the helmet wearer.
• The next part specifying "for characters" was also a large point of confusion. Initially, I thought this to mean PCs or NPCs, but if you look at what the mechanic is doing, it is essentially giving the referee a separate adjudication system for when the helmet is used against a player who doesn't use the reaction roll table as described in the previous rule. This means that the player will never make an opposed roll using the helmet, only if it is used against them.

This all ironed out, the helmet has become significantly weaker but has maintained a high level of usefulness. I ruled that Eless, the magic-user who has the helm, is able to keep her two "mind slaves," as we can assume at some point she used a charm person spell to bring them under her command, but going forward, the charm person spell will be the only way to take control of monsters/NPC's in the same way.

The Surface

The party has spent several weeks of real time and several thousand gold repairing the ruins on the surface of the dungeon. This has resulted in some interesting discoveries:

1. The statue head was rolled back into position and restored. From its yawning maw, a cold, inky black portal was found. Experimentation revealed the portal to annihilate anything placed inside.
2. The sulferous hot springs were restored. Athona discovered these springs tax the body in exchange for a boost to the experience earned inside the labyrith. A risky but profitable gambit.
3. The restoration of two of the catacomb chambers has revealed inert stone gateways. What could these do? Only time will tell.

Explorations in the Labyrinth

Several delves were made on these sessions of varying success. The core group, as detailed in the previous posts, has maintained their adventure frequency while also bringing along several more adventurers with them. Some of their ilk include the following: Frank the Elf, Munto, Bargo, One-Step, and Arazal.

The party spent several expeditions getting the hang of mapping and made a breakthrough in their understanding of the functioning of the dungeon. Evidently, it rotates based on the use of in-dungeon machines. Once this was understood, the party began mapping and identifying patterns that they could use to reorient themselves quickly between delves.

This time, the party cleared some major areas in the dungeon. A spider's lair was filled with man-sized spiders and a mother spider the size of a large cart, which they slayed with clever use of oil and flame. Within its lair, they uncovered the charred corpse of a slain adventurer. His inventory had been scorched by their stratagem, but an ivory tusk survived, which they looted, netting them a heavy chunk of coin (several thousand).

The party returned to Glugark the Ogre's cave and found him to be missing. They found some grisly evidence; perhaps the frogmen had invaded his lair and defeated him, although no hard proof was found.

The party uncovered some strange machines that they discovered were reorienting the dungeon. One was a capstan, which, when turned, spun the dungeon in the direction the capstan was turned. The details of whether the dungeon turned in part or in whole were unclear. Another machine found was a sliding block that, when pushed, slid the dungeon on an x/y axis, again the details of which are unclear. The party determined there must be an entity operating these machines and intentionally controlling the positions of the dungeons.

In the last session, the party uncovered a passage that led them down after meeting a group of nine dwarves whom they kidnapped and pressed into service with magical assistance. Below was a cavernous subterranean lake and hobgoblin creatures. The party spent a few minutes investigating, then returned to the surface with newfound excitement for future delves.

The Return

On the surface, the party found that the first chamber in the catacombs was making a strange noise. Inside, the gateway appeared to have a portal that had been activated.

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