My group finally hit the lower level of the Sodden Hold this week. They cleared out the top level the week before, then paused to rest in the well room. This sparked a 39-reply email string where they argued, in character, over whether they should camp or “retreat to a warm, cozy inn with lots of liquor.” (One of the PCs enjoys his spirits, and broke his flask when he fell into the stagnant pool while fighting the stalker).
I had recruited the party rogue back in June to be replaced by the “dopp”, as they call them. He was really geeked up about it, and had his code word picked out so the guards wouldn’t attack him (“inconceivable”), and had been supplied with maps of the rooms that had traps in them. The code word was used four times and no one ever caught on to it. They also never commented on the fact that the rogue was never hit by the bad guys, and missed repeatedly when he attacked (they even got Spot checks to notice this, and a couple times they were told things like “oddly enough, his rapier bends against his opponent’s belt buckle” and BS like that.
The rogue and the head-strong fighter continued the camping debate with the other two once the game started. This included the fighter accusing the mage of being a dopp, and finally the fighter declared, "If I roll a one, we get to stay" which the others agreed with. He proceeded to do just that and you'd have thought he killed Kyuss.
I seriously thought about having a couple of the dopps come up the elevator while they were resting, but I was afraid it would start a riot and we’d never get on with the actual adventure, so that night went by uneventfully.
They entered the long hallway and got jumped by the six dopps. I had one of them retreat to the edge of the pit, where the fake rogue engaged him, crying “Flank him, flank him, somebody get behind him!” That didn’t work (the hallway was too narrow to avoid AoOs and the dopps went down quickly), so the rogue eventually started to pick the lock to room 14. I asked the players, “what are the rest of you doing?” and the fighter picked up his mini and sat it right on the trap door :).
I handed him a note that both described the trap and told him to roll 6d6, 4d20, and 4d4, all in one batch, without saying anything. Priceless looks from the other players, but all the attacks missed so he wasn’t hurt badly.
Eventually, they cleaned that all up and came to room 15, the one we’d been leading up to for two months. I had told the rogue player ahead of time that he would probably want to go after the party warmage since he was a halfling and the other two PCs were heavy-duty fighter types. He picked the lock on the door, then yanked it open, shouting “Go, go!”, and just like in the movies, in they went.
Pandemonium. The fighter charged right into the middle of the fake party, going after a stray dopp who was holding a knife to the real rogue’s throat. The favored soul also charged in, going after his body double. The fakes all escape and swarm the fighters, except the warmage fake who runs, screaming that his opposite was an impostor. This made the real warmage stop, right in the doorway, with his back to the rogue. I just looked at the other three and said, “Now.”
Halfling voice: “I stab the mage in the back!” Near-critical hit.
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Dead silence. All-time, hall of fame slack-jawed yokel looks.
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High-fives all around, and more pandemonium. Eventual easy victory, with Ixixian being captured. We closed the night with the warmage guarding his prisoner in one of the dopp apartments, the favored soul standing in the planning room, trying to see the warmage to the east and the rogue/fighter combo to the south, who have found the secret door and entered the maze together, separate from the rest.
(*Sigh* - when will they ever learn?).
As they turn the furthest-south corner and head for the door they’ve spotted, the favored soul notices a furtive figure entering the hallway, quietly sneaking after the fighter…