Grendel's Stepdad

Play Report Sep 23 2025 - DCC Keep on the Borderlands Open Table (IRL)

Introduction

Had a few faces old and new this session, with Bohl’s player returning and bringing his wife, and another walk-in joining up. The vibe around the table was truly excellent; the delve moved fairly quickly and they spent a lot of time experimenting with the pools. Cheers, gasps, and clapping, which was both really new and super gratifying. Winifred's player, one of the young adults from a previous table I ran at the store, has really come into their own, gritting their teeth and pushing their thief's luck to the limit.

Another feather in my cap–the backstory of Quasqueton, a riff on the OAR #1 material meets the Aragorn and Arwen tale was easily identified by the party. They also quickly put together that the Minotaur was Rogahn, even before claiming his blade and rings.

On the topic of Rogahn-Minotaur, I experienced firsthand how swingy DCC can be here. I was anticipating the Minotaur to be a long-term, almost environmental hazard, with the party eventually killing him via pluck and guile. In contrast to my expectation of a PC death a round, when the party stood their ground, a natural 20 from the cleric’s Paralysis led to a no-holds-barred beatdown!

Some things that weren’t so great: volume was an issue. The store is pretty wide open, being in the mall, and there were other groups of 3-6 players throughout. The table was also large enough that one soft-spoken player had trouble being heard. I also ended up letting the cleric offset disapproval by dispatching the fallen as sacrifices, which was a quick judgment I ended up regretting.

Easy fixes though, and with regards to the Minotaur I love letting my players have their wins. Besides, it sure has been a long time since they’ve been to the Caves of Chaos...

Report

Being the continued delve into Quasqueton by the Ogre-whelming Force:

Joined by new comrades, Aura the elf and Storm the warrior!

Sirs Not-Appearing-In-This-Session, Glenn the warrior and Zig the dwarf.

The Ogre-whelming Force pressed forward in their raid of the abandoned fortress, Quasqueton! From Zelligar’s chambers where they killed the orc amalgam, they crept through the darkened halls. One of the mercenary hirelings spotted deep gouges in the passage walls, almost twelve feet above the floor. Opting to move in the opposite direction of the gouges, the party pressed on. Kalimdar was able to attend to Winifred’s paralyzed arm by means of clerical miracles.

In a side passage, the group was beset by a number of fanatic warriors of Chaos! The motley-clad berserkers all bore distinctive the compass symbol of the Chaos Star painted on their faces. The Ogre-whelming Force felled six of them in the living quarters of the old Quasqueton garrison, before taking one hostage. The captive warrior seemed oddly educated, and hinted at their leader’s identity, referring to one named “Old Bearskin.” The hostage eventually expired once the adrenaline of battle wore off.

The party then heard heavy mailed footfalls resounding throughout the hall, and veered off back toward the vicinity of the throne room. Down the hall, the corpse of one of the wizard-triplets' guards was found cloven from groin to crown. A winding side passage led to a locked door, which Winifred expertly popped with the restored use of both hands.

Inside was a room containing over a dozen pools of different colors. The group quickly identified a pool of red liquid that seemed to have restorative properties, which Rudy’s hireling Brother Bludgeon opined tasted like spiced cherry. Seeking the glint of treasure at the bottom of another pool, Storm was pulled in by a water spirit and nearly drowned, but for his comrades’ rescue efforts. Winifred carefully collected samples of an iridescent green pool, which made her drowsy upon tasting.

As the party turned to leave, Aura the elf discovered yet another hidden passage, this time leading to the office of Maravine, the elf advisor who now dwelled at the Keep. Behind the desk was a portrait depicting Maravine and Rogahn’s lover Melissa–the latter as an elf, in contrast to prior depictions of her observed in the fortress. An opened letter in Maravine’s desk told a tale of disapproval and disowning, whereas an unopened letter of acceptance hinted at reconciliation that never came to pass. With these in mind, the band decided they had a great many questions for Maravine and that it was time to depart–not before taking the portrait, however! The men-at-arms were tasked with hauling it out.

As the party made their way back toward the portal out, a great snuffling and clanking was heard from the throne room where the portal lay–a great Minotaur, clad in mail and carrying a swordstaff, was picking over the remnants of the wizard-triplets’ camp! Though the band tried to hide in the secret passage between Rogahn and Melissa’s rooms and view him through a peephole, they came face-to-face with the mighty monster in Rogahn’s room, where Bohl realized that the blade atop the swordstaff was the same one carried by Rogahn in the room’s tapestries. Birdy stood his ground while Carrick went to activate the portal and escape, but it was clear to Rudy that there was no way past the Minotaur without bloodshed. The men-at-arms turned art handlers were sitting ducks, and the Minotaur's wake of carnage proved his mettle.

Kalimdar beseeched the Horned God and a miracle was wrought! The Minotaur froze like a surprised deer, allowing the Ogre-whelming Force to bring him down with a thousand cuts. After the Minotaur fell, the party took the swordstaff and realized that it was indeed the Blade of Rogahn, a magic silver sword forged by elves. From the Rogahn-Minotaur's still form were taken a starry ring and the hero's wedding band.

The band bade farewell to the dead hero, so violently and mysteriously transformed. Now, they had much to discuss with his erstwhile advisoress..

#B2 #DCC #play reports