Cauldron 24: Gunther Must Die (Team 2)

Note: This blog-entry is in English, as Cauldron 24 attracted an international audience!

At Cauldron 24, I ran Gunther Must Die, my introductory adventure (Sterben muss Gunther, not available in German) twice. The other play report is available here.

Situation: The giantess Lodinga has kidnapped King Gunther, vowing to "slay him within seven days" (which is a softened version of her vow, included as an option in the adventure).

Players: Ash, Johannes, Patrick and Viktoria (age 10) played a witch, priest, valkyrie and huntress, respectively. They got their number to seven - as required for travelling in the fairy realm - with two men-at-arms and one hound.

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I established that Viktoria's huntress had once saved a fairy who had promised to teleport her out of danger in the nick of time in return. Hence, no lethal danger for this character (as is my standard procedure with my own kids, 8 and 11). 

After successfully fishing for various rumours at the last, tiny village in the Odenwald forest, they encountered a troll, demanding an item each to let them pass. The party decided to flee and the huntress' superior woodcraft allowed them to shake off the troll.

At the giantess' grotto, they made a beeline for the chimney -- but the priest had the right instincts when he searched the area above the grotto some more, finding a hole above a room with a well.

The valkyrie blocked the chimney with a large boulder and when the smoke accumulated below, the giantess came to remove the obstruction. Cue the party rappelling down to the well. They found Gunther's cell almost immediately and broke down its door with a two-handed hammer brought for just such an occasion. The noise caused the giantess to use her amulet of teleportation, but fortunately it was merely keyed to a nearby location, so the party made it up the rope just in time, losing only one man-at-arms.

I did not tone down the difficulty -- the players fully earned their victory, being only the second group to create a diversion, and the first with a diversion to actually get the giantess out of her grotto and up on the cliffs.

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Congratulations on a remarkably bloodless victory: Gunther saved, only one man-at-arms lost, no treasures retrieved, no monsters killed. A clean 10,000 XP for a middling spot (rank #4 of 7) in the adventure's hall of fame.