Grendel's Stepdad

Play Report Oct 14 2025 - DCC Keep on the Borderlands Open Table (IRL)

Introduction

I recently picked up Tome of Adventure vol. 1 with some Barnes and Noble gift cards I’d forgotten about, and was thinking about how I had run very few DCC adventures themselves. I had originally run Hole to the Sky as our funnel. Someone on the LGBTQ+ Brazilian Communist OSR server had noted that a lot of the modules are railroady funhouses, which after leafing through the book seemed largely true. That said, both Doom of the Savage Kings and Sailors on the Starless Sea seemed like good potential fits to plunk down into my B2+T1+Mike’s World campaign as site-based adventures.

Here, Hirot becomes Glenfarne, a Woodfolk palisade village between the southwestern forests of the Borderlands, just up against the marshland. The party was sent to convince the jarl–here the chieftain–to join forces with the growing woodfolk nation. In order to ensure he complies with his promises to do so, the band will deal with this whole unpleasant curse business.

The good–the players loved the module. It’s light and tight, easy to run out of the book but with plenty of intrigue and heavy atmosphere. The group was drawn into the despair of Hirot/Glenfarne and were really clever, using the liquid empathy from &&&&&&&Treasure recovered previously to try and rule out a fifth column in the town. This led them to the Old Widow Ymae, who several players argued over promising to marry. Hey, power to 'em.

Some not so good things–not sure if it was an off night, but the communication at the table wasn’t great this time out. Had a lot of people clamoring to talk and not coordinating with one another, which led to a lot of repeated information and people missing key details about the plan. Next session, given that the group will be continue to be quite large I’m going to to probably implement a caller for out-of-dungeon activities or maybe go around the table, one at a time during roleplay/town activities.

While I was thrilled the gang absolutely murderized the Hound at the standing stones, perhaps it was because I also completely forgot to use the Hound’s demon traits per the book! Demons of hit dice 1-4 can cast darkness at +4 and take half damage from mundane weapons. When the group next meets the Hound, it’ll be a good excuse to take off the kid gloves–the demon won’t tolerate a repeat of such an embarrassment!

In-game, we reached day 91 since the first venture into the Caves of Chaos. I plan to begin turning up the heat a bit, as that’s a long time for the forces of evil to consolidate power. Sowed some rumors of emboldened monsters and the groundwork for Sailors.

A new player reached out to me specifically to play DCC, so once again the table is maxed out! Looking forward to some new blood. The store has also offered me some monthly store credit to keep running the game, so it’s nice to get some recognition that way. We’ll pick up in the middle of things with no time passing again here, but I’m not sure if I want to do that too much more often. I feel that the time skip and downtime is kind of essential to the open table, West Marches loop I’ve been cultivating.

Next up I’ll be committing some of my downtime activities to blog posts!

Report

Recovering from the last deadly trip to Quasqueton, the Ogre-whelming Force’s woodfolk ally Roisin approached them. She and some others were seeking to unite the scattered forest peoples to better stand against the forces of Chaos, as well as negotiate with those of Law. To that end, she asked them to approach the Chieftain of Glenfarne and remind him to honor his promises to support the other woodfolk clans in the Borderlands.

Before leaving, the griffon egg retrieved from the mother’s nest some weeks ago finally hatched! Overjoyed, Kalimdar hired Murder Mike, a tongueless master of exotic beasts, to assist in rearing the creature. Some sticker shock ensued when the sheer amount of horsemeat required to feed the little blighter became clear.

The band came to the town of Glenfarne just as the sun had begun to set. The palisade town was seemingly empty, until the band stumbled across a macabre scene–the townsfolk leading a bound girl toward the fens!

Valorous Carrick attempted to intervene, but the chieftain, his wise man, and thaneswarned the band to stand back–this was a necessary evil to appease the curse that had befallen Glenfarne! Some months ago, a hellhound had begun massacring townsfolk, and only a regular offering of blood could stave it off. Saoirse Haverson was only the latest sacrifice, chosen fairly by lottery.

When the sun finally dipped completely behind the horizon, the Hound came stalking out of the mists toward the ostensible sacrifice. Only canine in shape and fur, the scaled demon seemed to walk on air. It was poised to devour Saoirse, but for the intervention of the Ogre-whelming Force! Rudy struck a blow that would be fatal, but before his axe could part the Hound’s head from its shoulders, the Chaos spirit evaporated into an oily black mist and vanished.

Saoirse was returned to her father Broegan, proprietor of the Wolfspear Inn. Overjoyed, the innkeeper pledged a life debt to the Ogre-whelming Force. Llore, the local minstrel at the Wolfspear, explained to the party that the sacrifices were becoming more frequent. The Haversons voiced their suspicion that the chieftain and his wise man were rigging the lottery to dispose of political enemies or settle petty scores–the wise man himself had been spurned by Saoirse not long ago. The band began to suspect the wise man was behind the Hound. Kalimdar attempted to inflame the townsfolk against the chieftain, but there was little appetite for revolution in this despairing populace.

The next morning, the band received a frosty audience at the chieftain’s, though his thanes offered attaboys for besting the Hound the night before. The chieftain advised the band to stay out of their business, and to tell Roisin that more dire matters faced Glenfarne–issues the chieftain and the wise man could solve themselves. While words were bandied and drinks were downed, Glenn quaffed the liquid empathy elixir the band had recovered from Quasqueton the week prior.

With their mind altered by the draught, Glenn realized that the chieftain and wise man both were innocent of commanding the Hound, though both men were a long way from lifting the curse. In particular, the wise man was painfully aware he was not enough of a sorcerer to stop the Hound. The band then hastily excused themselves at Glenn’s request, who was heavily under the influence of the draft and unable to continue conversation.

Waiting for the liquid empathy to wear off, Glenn’s attention settled on the one house in Glenfarne not ruled by fear–the hovel of the old widow, Ymae. When they called upon the old widow, they found a witch spinning thread from flame, who noted that the curse had returned when three lads of Glenfarne set out for places best left forgotten–the serpent mound to the north. Ymae also offered a boon to stop the hound, requiring a corpse’s hair and of one of the force’s hands in marriage. Winifrede eagerly pledged herself to the widow, and the band set out for the sign of the serpent.

By now, the Ogre-whelming Force’s hirelings had begun to have misgivings about the whole adventure, having signed up to fight bandits and goblins, and not tangle with chaos spirits. Mutiny was averted when Rudy offered to pay wages in gold instead, but the issues of morale lingered...

The path led to an old barrow shaped like a serpent, nestled in a vale between two streams. As the group attempted to breach the cyclopean stone door, they were attacked by a guardian spirit, a mighty serpent of water that emerged from the junction of streams! Kalimdar was nearly drowned, but the spirit was quelled by the band’s magic arms. The yawning mouth of the barrow beckoned, though the band had the feeling of being watched…

#b2 #dcc #doom of the savage kings #play reports