I provided all of the diegetic information from the setup.
Play started per the module with players approaching the campsite from the West.
Raining and the players arrived at 2PM (they asked to arrive at Midday but the die of fate ruled against them).
I tried to wait on explaining the results of any actions until both players had told me their intentions. Most of the time I succeeded.
The players spent a long time exploring around the campsite. I opted to not roll the Dungeon Event dice until they entered the cavern proper.
When looking for tracks near the blankets in C1, I was torn on how to rule. My initial thought was that the rain would have washed the shoe prints away, but all that would do is remove a piece of actionable information. So I opted for a middle ground where there were grooves in the ground instead.
No torches lit yet, so they did not discover the methane gas sign in C2. In fact, the player spent little time in C2 beyond taking in the landmark description.
In C1, they found the sole fruit that had not rotted away. The player cut off a small part of it and ate it. Since they had full STR already, were not deprived, and were only eating a part of it, I described it as being delicious and giving them energy. Not sure that communicated enough of the use of the fruit.
They tested the pitons around the tunnel in C1. Since it was raining heavily, I described them as somewhat loosened. They decided to take the ladder (one-at-a-time) anyways, so I rolled a die of fate to see if the ladder held. It came up against the players, however one of the players was spread eagled on the ground ready to grab and support the pitons. With that, I let them stabilize the ladder without a roll. If that had not been the case, I had been planning a DEX save for the player trying to grab the ladder fast enough. Although reflecting now, the player on the ladder is most at risk there and should have had to roll. After that, the player at the top still secured the pitons more before descending themself.
In C5, I got a chance to explain the inventory system and what happens to your HP if your slots are full (side-note: Kettlewright automatically sets HP to 0 in that scenario, but, while I knew it existed, I couldn’t seem to find that rule in the 2E core rules, procedures, or marketplace – probably just missed it). With that in mind, the players did not take anything from the iron box.
From C5, there was a Sign Dungeon Event. I described a clicking noise from the North. In retrospect, that didn’t really make sense for the heat-sensing Olms, but we went with it. They went on to C6 to seek out the source of the sound.
In C6, instead of simply saying there was guano on the floor. I described the sight and the smell. Along with the sound of the chirping and rustling bats (disturbed by the torch-light), one of the players made the connection. Going forward, any other guano they spotted would be identified immediately rather than described in detail.
One of the players wanted to take a closer look at and a sample of the fungus. The other player watched their back while they did so. And good thing too, as there was an Encounter Dungeon Event. One of the Blood Olms approached curiously through the Eastern tunnel.
If I ran this again, I think I would roll 1d3 to see how many of the Blood Olms were encountered. Having one at a time made it easier to fight them and felt a little forced.
Despite its lack of immediate hostility, one of the players decided to shoot it with their crossbow. Still unsure if it was the right call, but I let them have that one attack as a surprise round before combat proper. I forgot to describe what happened to the torch when the player took out their bulky crossbow. In the next round, we retconned that the player had stuck it in the mud beforehand.
With the commotion, the bats began to swarm. At first I ruled this that ranged attacks would need a die of fate to see if they hit. But the next round I amended that to them being impaired.
Next, we rolled DEX to see who could act in the true first round. Both players succeeded. One continued shooting with the crossbow while the other moved to engage in melee with their dagger. They were able to damage it but it passed its critical damage save. It then mauled the player in melee, who failed their critical damage save, had a chunk of flesh taken out of their side (luckily only a 1 on the d6), and fell to the ground.
The other player shot the Blood Olm again, hoping to down it. It again passed its save. Here, given the heat-vision of the Blood Olm, I rolled a die of fate to see if it would attack the player or the torch stuck in the ground. It went for the torch. Perhaps I should have just had it attack the player – not sure.
Finally, they killed it. Due to the noise, I rolled a Dungeon Event again: Exhaustion. I allowed them to tend to the downed player before resting. They did not have bandages, but I ruled (perhaps too generously) that the Hexenbane’s Blessed Tinctures could stabilize them.
The party rested, consumed rations, and the Dungeon Event rolled Encounter again… I tried to justify it as they’re still recovering from the fray. One of the players wanted to move to a different room without all the guano for resting, but I told them they would have to take a fatigue if that was what they wanted. In the end, they remained in C6 to rest.
Again a Dungeon Event was rolled (a vicious cycle), this time another Encounter. A Blood Olm approached warily. The players did not go straight to violence this time. I played it as the Blood Olm cautiously approaching and asking the players what they do as it gets closer.
A couple of times the players asked me if they had knowledge about something: the fruit, the fungus in C6, and the tree in C7. Given their backgrounds, I said that they had not seen anything like these before. But that felt a little unsatisfying. I tried to make up for that in descriptions of the things themselves as they inspected them. Honestly, I wasn’t really sure how to play the Blood Olms in a non-hostile manner. The players watched and waited.
The Blood Olm jumped up, grabbed a bat to munch on, and landed in the guano pile. At that point, one of the players threw a torch into the guano igniting it. I wasn’t sure how to rule the damage from the flames. I settled on d8 damage, although I’m not sure that was the right call. We then had DEX saves for initiative. One of the players was able to act and threw a knife at the creature for a whopping 6 damage! Then, at the start of the creature’s turn it took more fire damage, failed its critical damage save and died. The player wanted their dagger back, but they did not have any idea of how to get it out of the flames safely.
The players quickly headed out of the room through the Eastern passage to C7. If they had lingered, I would have them start to get faint as the fire consumed the oxygen in the area (and roll a save to stay conscious if they continued lingering after that). If they return, I’ll roll a die of fate to see if the fire is still burning. It will also have burned up the fungus, exposing the passage to C11.
In C7, the players were confused about whether the tree was there originally or had been moved. I indicated that the tree was growing into the (intact) ceiling and did not appear to have been transplanted or moved. They investigated the corpses and the water pool.
I was mostly reading the module as we went, and I think C7 could have used a note about the smell in the description since there is rotting fruit in the room. As it is, I described the smell as they got closer to the source.
The now pyromaniac Hexenbane wanted to burn the tree, but their partner convinced them not to destroy such an ancient living thing. The Hexenbane remarked out-of-character that they loved finding their character through play – a success for the Cairn playstyle!
They then tried to find a source for the water. I indicated a trickle and increased mud from the Northern passage. They decided to pursue that lead.
In C9, the Blood Olm got a kind reaction. Again, this was not clear to me. I played it as pitiable, fighting off (at least temporarily) the madness that had taken hold of it. The Hexenbane kept his crossbow trained on it, while the Rill Runner went to investigate the Northern wall. They saw a trickle of water and, upon placing their ear against the mud, could hear more water on the other side. I rolled another reaction for the Blood Olm and got curious. It decided to head toward the wall as well and mimic the listening gesture.
At this point, we were all getting tired. We cut off the session there and plan to return to it.
Conclusions
As a general note, I think more encounter variety, offering either opportunity for social roleplay or more than just what is likely a combat encounter with a Blood Olm, would have been nice. Although perhaps this is a failing on my part or the players.
The module was very easy to run, even without familiarizing myself beforehand.
I would have liked more connection info in the key, indicating direction, description of space, and sensory clues. I tried to work some of that in myself on the fly.
I forgot to roll morale for the individual enemies. Somehow missed where that part was in the rules!
The players have yet to find the Mud Sieve. I should remind them that is the job.