Warhammer Quest: Shadows Over Hammerhal - Session Two - Ancient Halls!

 This past Sunday we got in the second game of our Warhammer Quest: Shadows Over Hammerhal campaign. 

We had to move to Sundays, as it was really the only day that worked for John and Maygan... Unfortunately, Finnegan now plays D&D on Sundays (in addition to running games of his own on Saturday and Monday evenings!?), so he's had to drop out of the game (though we talked about running a separate campaign - either just him and me, or with some other people...?) 

In the previous game, the group had discovered a secret door with steeps leading down, deeper into the catacombs beneath the Cinderfall District of Hammerhal Aqsha!

Heading down these steps they ended at a long passage with a narrow bridge over a hot magma! Alnaryn made not to lodge a complaint with OHS for the lack of handrails on the bridge! 

Crossing it two had a slip, but both passed their agility check and made their way across without harm. 

Golnir Coalbeard, the Duardin Cogsmith, was the first to make it across and had enough actions to get to the door at the far end of the passage, and open it. 

Alnaryn went next and made it across and through the door into the dark room beyond the door that Coalbeard had opened 

As she entered, ghostly apparitions appeared!!

Alnaryn backed out! 

Lord-Castellant Arvios Sunhelm of the Hammers of Sigmar charged in and lit up the room with the Light of Azyr in his lantern, which stunned the Chainrasps. 

Everyone piled back in and destroyed the Chainrasps. Alnaryn was the most effective at destroying them as she had MAGIC! The weapons of others weren't as effective against the Chainrasps. 

(This room was meant to be haunted and the whole encounter was written to be dealt with by a single dice roll that either dealt some d3 damage... or gave up TREASURE?! I happened to have found stats for Chainrasps online and have a bunch from the Thorns of the Briar Queen, so I made it an actual encounter AND game them some treasure at the end of it!) 

Next they explored some rooms to the East - one with a pit full of magma and some Flame Elementals that would dart out and deal damage to anyone that got too close! Also there was an ancient empty room with four plates in the four corners that if stood upon by all four characters, flushed away the magma in the next room and the Fire Elementals with it! 

At some point while exploring these, I rolled an "ambush" which was just two Kairic Acolytes coming down the stairs. Clearly they were tasked with looking for the murderers who had massacred their brethren upstairs! When it was their turn to go, I rolled a result that said if there were more than double the number of adventurers than hostiles, they FLEE! 

So the Acolytes wandered down the stairs complaining to each other talking about the massacre upstairs, got to the bottom of the stairs, spotted the Adventurers, looked at each other and immediately ran back upstairs. 

I decided this would increase the chances of more showing up (5+ for ambush rolls - which are normally only on 6s) 

After the characters had dealt with the Magma, a second group of Kairic Acolytes showed up - the two that had shown up earlier, and two more powerful Adepts... 

Unfortunately one of the Adepts slipped on that bridge and failed his Agility roll to recover and took a bunch of damage... so he was easily finished off and the others were likewise dealt with... and Sunhelm didn't even need to help out... he just kept exploring... 

They found the final room a which was a hall littered with bodies (obvioulsy slain by brutal traps!) and at the far end was a plinth with a crude iron ring, pulsating with power. 

Getting across the room required a special action; Brave Traps (4+). Both Vizrin Kyre an Coalbeard made attempts at it, and were both injured and had to retreat. 

The Sunhelm, with Mighty Sigmar looking down upon him successfully passed through the corridor with deadly traps unscathed. He gathered up the Ring of the Slumbering King and retreated out of there. 

At this point it was decided that all should make their way back up to Cinderfall - if for no other reason but to ditch some of the gold they'd collected, as most were at their carrying capacity!

So that is where we will start the next session - Back in Cinderfall - before returning to the Catacombs to explore further. 

I love this game. I am so stoked to play more of it. Serioulsy wish we could play longer than a few hours on Sunday evenings. 

I think this would be a great game to try and play through in a marathon gaming weekend!