Grodog's New Greyhawk Campaign

The PCs initially caught a break in that I rolled that the 6 giant frogs were off hunting and weren't present in the pool outside the moathouse (I've always given a 25% chance they weren't present; if so, they would return within 4d6 turns, 12 in today's roll).

They elected to explore the giant spider tower, and surprised and fought, but did not kill the spider. They recovered the loot, then moved into the great room. After some exploration there---including the discovery of the well-repaired door leading into the tower and hearing the chittering of rats at the western stairwell---the druid and monk wandered south down the open corridor. Stevvyn completely surprised the snake, but was alone (Briskus was checking out the doors in the corridor), so he attacked it once (and missed; he missed every single attack roll today), and then ran away back to the others, leaving the monk at the point man for the fight. The PCs defeated the giant snake with no major losses, although they did expend most of their healing afterward, and the half-elf was out of offensive MU spells. The jeweled dagger was on the body of a slain human in the snake's room.

The PCs decided to head back to town to rest and recooperate, but Briskus wanted to finish off the spider, so he re-entered the spider's lair, accompanied by the MU/Cleric. Azaroth kept watch, while Stevvyn decided they were idiots for trying to provoke the spider again and remained outside the tower, refusing to participate in such idiocy. The monk used feign death to try to lure the spider out again (it had retreated to the 2nd floor again after being reduced to 4 hp), and given how badly they'd beaten on it, I only gave them a 1 in 6 chance of success; up comes a 1, so the spider re-pounced the monk and half-elf MU/Cleric, who together finished it off in two rounds. After the spider died, Briskus and Scythewind began to search the room further, and the half-elf collected some giant spider body parts (eyes, pinchers, some legs), while the ranger continued to scan/guard, and the druid started off to get the horses (who were staked out a 1/4 mile back, on the way path to Hommlet).

The PCs had been in the moathouse for about 4+ hours by then, so Stevvyn was attacked alone by all 6 giant frogs! Neither side was surprised, and the initiative was simultaneous (tied on 6s). The frogs went to town on the AC7 druid, who lost 7 hp in the first round; Azaroth started shooting at the frogs (missed), while the other two moved out of the tower to see what was going on. It looked bad for Stevvyn, but he managed to retreat fighting toward the other PCs, while the ranger continued to fire arrows (wounding the largest giant frog), and the other two hurled spears (to little effect). Unfortunately the druid wasn't able to escape the melee---he was hit by the wounded 2HD frog with a natural 20 tongue grab, and took 8 more hp damage. The ranger meleed and killed a 1HD frog, as did Scythewind. The next round, Stevvyn successfully healed himself for 2hp, the Cleric/MU attacked the giant frog's tongue, and the ranger killed another 1HD frog. Unfortunately for the druid, the other 2HD frog dropped him to -4 hp and unconsciousness with a big chomp, but by the end of that round, that frog was the only one standing. The next round, it missed, and Azaroth killed it in one hit with a 14 hp longsword attack (I rolled a 10 on the d12).

The conscious party members bound Stevvyn's wounds, recovered the horses (who miraculously didn't get found by the frogs or any other wandering monsters), and took him back to town for healing (at Jaroo's grove, for 100 gp). He'll need bedrest for a week before he can adventure again.

That's where things stand at present. I think the PCs were a bit spooked, not expecting to get thrashed by frogs, a spider, and snake so thoroughly. They had briefly considered camping in the snake's lair, but when I said they'd have to overnight it before being able to pray for spells again, they didn't like the sound of "sleeping in enemy territory" so that's what lead to their initial decision to leave.

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