Play report - Rise of the Blood Olms
TLDR; Almost died to the Blood Olms. Blew up the rope. Struck a deal with Geteli. Convinced Jhel to follow them and exited through the underground river. Kept the Mud Sieve in despise of the Order of Nine.
I wrote this play report in hope to help others who wants to run this great adventure by pointing out what stood out for us when we played it. That means I have omitted some part of the exploration as they pretty much went as written. If you haven't already, I highly suggest you give Rise of the Blood Olms a read, it's free!
About the adventure
CAS-2: Rise of the Blood Olms is a starting adventure for Cairn Second Edition designed for new and experienced Wardens alike. The party must explore a newly discovered cave system in search of a lost expedition and their prized relic, the Mud Sieve. But beware, for all is not as it appears! — Taken from the adventure itch.io page.
Context
This game was played with Cairn. The party consisted of three player characters: a trendy barber-surgeon named Pinkbeard, a cutpurse and aspiring banker named Ivy, and a war torn kettlewright named Aredir. The adventure took place over 5 hours, or 2 sessions of roughly 2 hours and 30 minutes each, including character creation.
Of course, there is spoilers past this point.
Getting to the Camp
As we began play, I offered them two ways to get to the dungeon, without really expecting to play them out. The choices were either by boat on the river (which led to the entrance on C2)—faster but more expensive—or by road (which led to the camp), longer but cheaper. They decided to take the road, so I immediately said, "You arrive at this camp..." but right then the kettlewright player stopped me.
"Woah, woah, on the road, do we meet anybody interesting?"
Well, great question, isn’t it? So I rolled up an NPC. I ended up with someone named Edith, whom I played as a gossipy but slightly worried, aunt-like person. She was with her husband, and I figured they were on their way to do some business. Anyway, she ended up telling them about the expedition, the dried-up river, and how Jhel had joined them.
That was a fun but unintended way to squeeze in some rumors about the adventure. It added time to the game, so I wouldn’t do it like that for a one-shot, but in this case, it was a fun way to set the tone for the kind of play I enjoy.
The first part of the adventure went pretty much as written. They went down the hole after inspecting the camp and the other possible entrance, and they headed north into the cave system, exploring the rooms until they met the Blood Olms.
Meeting the Blood Olms
They first noticed the carcasses littering the floor, then the creatures standing in the middle of the room. I rolled a reaction and got "curious," so I decided they had just fed and were not immediately hostile. The players decided to carefully inspect the contents of the room. After I gave more detail about the remains on the floor and the dripping wall behind the creatures, I upped the tension by saying the creatures seemed to be looking more at their torch than at their bodies.
Aredir, the kettlewright, decided to throw his lute, hoping the sound would distract them, thinking they might have sensitive ears since they didn’t have any eyes. That didn’t work, and the creatures began walking toward them. Ivy the cutpurse, in a desperate attempt, threw his torch to the back of the room. Somehow, it stayed lit (thanks to a favorable die-of-fate roll), but one of the Blood Olms quickly stepped on it.
In the complete darkness with possibly hostile creatures, I had the characters make WIL saves for panic. Ivy and Pinkbeard froze, having failed. Aredir thought fast: he pulled his cat out of his bag (a cat I was not aware of!) and asked it to lead them in the dark. The cat started meowing, and the kettlewright followed it, pushing his two friends in front of him, urging them to follow the sounds. The barber-surgeon ended up in front, the cutpurse in the middle. I rolled randomly to see in which direction the cat went. Fortunately, it led them back the way they had come.
At this point, the panicked characters rolled WIL saves again to see if they recovered. Pinkbeard succeeded, but Ivy didn’t. I asked him to roll a DEX save to avoid slipping in the hallway while half-aware of his surroundings. He failed. He fell face-down, and Aredir, running behind him, got caught in the fall. A Blood Olm behind them tried to pull the kettlewright in the other direction, but the kettlewright managed to hold onto a root with a successful STR save.
The Blood Olms, with full bellies and satisfied of the current outcome, decided to leave. As Pinkbeard lit a torch, the characters were able to see their dark silhouettes leaving down the opposite hallway.
Blowing Up the Rope
After escaping, they decided to backtrack, exit, and go to the other entrance I had described earlier: the cave in the dried-up river leading into C2. Because of the noise during the encounter with the Blood Olms, I rolled a dungeon event and got "environment." I decided that gas from C3 started leaking out, filling adjacent rooms in (I rolled a d6) 3 turns.
One turn was spent returning to the room they had come from. Once there, the Ivy began climbing the rope while the barber-surgeon’s torch started flickering. Pinkbeard became obsessed with the effect, convinced it was magical, and walked toward the hallway. Aredir, unsure, stayed below, trying to convince the barber-surgeon to leave. That marked the end of the second turn. Eventually, the barber-surgeon came to his senses, turned back, and began climbing the rope, torch in mouth. Unfortunately, it was too late, as the gas concentration reached a tipping point. The gas ignited in an explosion, blowing up his well-maintained hair, beard, and face for 6 STR damage. The rope was also destroyed. Aredir, further away, was spared. With no more rope, they were cut off from the surface. Not wanting to split the party, Ivy jumped back down, plunging his daggers into the muddy wall to slow his fall.
The Crazed - but Kind of Useful - High Lector Geteli
Now that the gas had cleared, they pressed eastward. Carefully inspecting the tight hallway, the cutpurse decided to have a look at the exit on the other side, noticing the rocks at somewhat been moved in their place. While investigating, he heard a grinding noise above, which was a heavy rock being pushed by Geteli, and managed to dodge it with a successful DEX save.
After his initial plan failed, I wasn’t sure how to roleplay High Lector Geteli. I went with an annoying and crazed personality, but not immediately dangerous. I think he served the adventure well. I don't remember if I rolled for reaction, but if I did not, I should've!
Geteli, after a failed ambush attempt and stuck in the crevices of the hallway, tried to strike a deal with the party. He ended up giving information about what had happened in exchange for being escorted back to the Order of Nine headquarters. As the players debated what to do, he started throwing rocks at them—and eventually a piece of dried, rubbery meat. They accepted the deal (with no real intention of honoring it). Before leaving, the kettlewright fed the dried meat to his cat.
Saving Jhel and Getting Out
Armed with new information and seeing that the next room was filled with the same explosive gas, they backtracked once again. On their way to Jhel—or at least where Geteli had said she was hiding—the cat began acting strangely. They found Jhel and convinced her to escape with them. By this point, the cat not only acted erratically but had red eyes and started becoming aggressive (yep, the dried rubbery meat was tube worm flesh). They stuffed him in a bag and tied it shut.
I decided that if I rolled a “loss” event, the cat would escape. But it didn't happen.
Not wanting to continue south—the direction the Blood Olms had gone—they made a small hole in the dam in C9 and hid among the tree roots. The dam, under pressure, eventually broke. I rolled a dungeon event: “encounter.” I decided it was the regular olms, swimming in the water. I described them as acting happy and playful. At that point, the players realized that the Blood Olms had probably eaten the same thing the cat had, though they weren’t exactly sure what it was.
When the current calmed, they decide to follow the underground river until they reached the surface. As they started to leave, a voice behind them joyfully screamed: “Yes, the balance will be back and these damn bats will leave my home!” The characters did not go back to see who it was.
Bribing Jhel and Keeping the Mud Sieve
After escaping, Jhel offered them the Mud Sieve, seeing what kind of relic it was and what it had caused. The party gladly accepted but chose not to bring it back to the Order of Nine after seeing the outcome of the expedition and deciding the Order were careless assholes. They gave Jhel some coins in hopes she would keep their time in the caves secret in case the Order sent more men.
Conclusion
After that adventure, the group decided they would now be relic hunters. They headed back to the city for some downtime. They healed, cured the cat, found more about the Mud Sieve and located their next adventure. I'll try to report more precisely on the downtime when I get a chance!