Tales of the City Within, Session 2, Part 1

Last Friday we sat down for another session of our Summer mini-campaign set in our homegrown setting of the City Within the Dungeon.  See the reports of the last session here and here.

The Myth Debunked.

Franky: “Phil, based on some comments we’ve read, many of your readers seem to think that we’re this kind of super awesome group that roleplays like gods and ace all combat encounters.  You don’t really  write about all the horsing around we do at the table”

Chatty: “That’s the joys of being a writer, I’m free to spin it in whatever way I feel like”

Yan:”You’re also free to get the facts wrong…”

Chatty: Huh… Shouldn’t we start playing already?

Our gaming group, probably like most, is prone to distraction, juvenile humour and geeky digressions about the latest version of Windows or the decline of good Sci-Fi on TV.   It becomes especially true with the advent of the summer months as we are more laid back and care more about hanging out than game.

This last session was very much characterized by very high social energies.  We didn’t accomplish all that much, but that’s fine, we had fun all the same.

Ret Con for Great Justice!

I started the session by telling the players that a slight revision was to be done to the story so far.  In order to add more breathing space for the PCs (and the DM), I explained that the Lava filled fissure that appeared on the lowest level of the City would not progressively flood the whole city with lava.  Instead, if by the end of the 5th day the customary payment/sacrifice had not been done, a volcanic eruption would destroy the city and a portal would open and send the city’s ruins to the Elemental Chaos.

Yan:  That’s sounds fun, let’s do that!

Sigh… Anyway, I felt the PCs were rushed enough by the other storylines, thus they could now focus on other plots without having to weigh every decision vs how many thousand people would be killed.  Now I know that it would have made for great drama and difficult choices but I didn’t really want to destroy my beautiful city just yet.

I usually wait for the final session of a campaign to do that.

Pushing a moral quandary too far

I don’t know if it’s the geek in me but sometimes I latch on to a point of view and don’t let go of it until it’s too late.  At a certain point in the evening  PCs discussing what to do with the Drow elves they had captured.  They learned from them that they had a group of Buddies sitting in a Cavern outside of the city, maintaining a grand illusion that thousands of Spiders and Drow Infantry were waiting for the order to invade.

The PCs had gotten their hands on a pair artifacts that could imbue up to 5 bodies with a sliver of the 5 original souls that created the City (and the first 5 souls that joined the Dungeon).  They had also gleaned from ancient texts that a sacrifice of the 5 original souls would prevent the Volcano’s eruption and bring back the Nexus.

The players started arguing about the relative merits of using the 5 captured Drow as the sacrificial vessels.  The debate was polarized by Franky’s PCs who was against and Math’s who was for. That’s when I committed the sin of DM interference.

I don’t know why I did it, maybe because I was annoyed about how callously people were talking or maybe I was worried that players would solve the adventure in a few minutes. I don’t know, but I butted in the debate in a passive aggressive manner and said “Not that I care about what your PCs do but you’re seriously considering sacrificing those 5 drow?”  When Math said ‘Sure, I mean they’re freaking Drow right?”, instead of letting it drop I went on “But come on, these guys are just Hustlers that got caught!”  I kept returning to the argument instead of shutting up.

Then Math launched into a tirade about moral justification and how unaligned heroes in a fantasy world have have no trouble doing such an act, etc etc

I realized that I had gone too far, this kind of debate should have been between the Players as they roleplayed PCs with me as moderator.  Instead it became an argument between DM and player about things likely to revert to defensive justification.  I freaking hate those.

Needless to say that this exchange affected my perception of the game and I played the rest of the game in defensive mode, saying ‘no’ instead of ‘yes’ and pushing the players toward a pre-destined path instead of letting them choose.  i.e. I reverted to my natural, instinctive style of DMing.

And even today I remain unsatisfied about the game session because of that.  Not the actual argument, that’s irrelevant, but the fact that I allowed it to disturb my emotional balance.

Yeah, that whole ‘being human’ is annoying sometimes.

Zombie Sit Rep

As the PCs were arguing about the Drow, I once again pulled on Franky’s sleeve and started wiping my nose.

Snotty kid: Sir? Sir? (Snort) When are you goin’ to check with mah Papa?

Franky: WTF man!  He’s supposed to be under constant guard!  That’s why there are zombies all over the place, he’s the one spreading the plague!

Shortly after, an out of breath Sergent came, apologized profusely and took the child back to the shed he had been confined to.  That’s when the PCs decided to check on the Tavern.  They learned that the town’s militia  had managed to contain all zombies within by barring all windows and doors of the Tavern.

Then, the officer in charge gave Jaiel (Deva Avenger) a message.  It was a summon for the whole party, at the Jaiel’s convenience, to the hidden headquarters of the Foundation (a secretive pro-city faction).

Before heeding that summon, the party swung by the University Burg which had been run-over with Zombies (and into which one of the Original 5 devas Jaiel was looking for was).  The whole burg was being contained by the Sunless Knights, the city’s equivalent to an elite police force.

Content that everything was under control, the PCs made thier way to the city’s central park where the Nexus (a huge floating piece of Crystal) was located. (While the Crystal was still there, the energy within it, the actual essence of Erathis the Goddess of Civilization, was gone).

A Dry surprise

Jaiel led the party to a secret entrance under the Nexus that opened onto a Temple of Erathis filled with scholars and agents working fervently.  A vault door, akin to the one seen in the first Harry Potter movie stood half-opened in the middle of the complex. (It was usually held close by the energies of the absent Nexus)  The PCs were ushered in it and got to meet someone sitting at a desk, deciphering various prophecies stored all around his cluttered desk.

The PCs reached the desk and saw that the person sitting there was a Dwarven Lich,  the city’s founder.

“Ahhh Jaiel, so good to see you.  Your present form becomes you.  I finally managed to decipher the final passage of the prophecy, you and your friends will be the one to destroy the Dungeon once and for all…if you can manage to break this tedious 200 year cycle that keeps interupting my studies”

Up next: Players “rebel” and decide to fail a skill challenge on purpose (It wasn’t as bad as it sounds)

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