Much like my Monsters Encountered So Far post, I thought I'd do a roundup of entrances the PCs have heard of or confirmed the existence of for Felltower.
So here they are, as of 12/14/2014:
Bugbear Tunnels - a narrow entrance requiring crawling, from the surface ruins on top of Felltower. Current status: Unknown, known to the orcs, believed guarded or trapped.
Dragon Cave Mouth - a mouth-shaped cave on the west side of the mountain, leads to the cavern warren roughly 100' or so below the first level of tunnels. Originally guarded by a fierce dragon. Current Status: Occasionally used by orcs, otherwise unguarded.
Main Entrance - fortified main entrance under the castle (pictured above). Current status: Guarded by orcs.
Orc Entrance - unknown location, but it's known the orcs enter the tunnels under Felltower via a tunnel, possibly from a cave-riddled canyon to the north.
Underwater Entrance - an underground inlet to the Silver River believed to reach deep into Felltower.
Tower Entrance - there is a "hatchway" entrance under the collapsed ruined tower knocked down by the PCs. Current Status: Often locked from within, guarded by orcs, and inside the restored fortress of Castle Felltower.
Well Entrance - a secret entrance at the bottom of a dry well. Current Status: Inside the orc-guarded restored fortress of Castle Felltower, possibly blocked up.
There are rumors of other ways in, too, but they may have been identified already:
- the well. (almost certainly ID'ed.)
- the second surface entrance in the castle. (Probably the tower "hatch" or the bugbear tunnels.)
- possible entrances from other dungeons or caves far, far from Felltower. (In other words, find another dungeon, clear the sucker, and then march underground a long way, not even remotely identified.)
But so far, that's it. In case you are wondering why the PCs keep hitting the same well-traveled areas, you might understand a bit better. Many entrances are orc-guarded, and it's unclear how to effectively utilize the more difficult ones (the underwater entrance, say.)
Is it the inability to get all of the primary movers and shakers at the table at once that has kept them from annihilating the orcs? I know there are plenty of orcs, but enough to daunt this powerful party?
ReplyDeleteThat's a big part of it. The PCs want to avoid a fight with the orcs until they can attack with enough force to really smash them, and without any concerns about getting their retreat cut off if things go badly. So they need a safe way in behind the orc fortifications and a lot of PCs. After all, there are hundreds of orcs with magical support and a willingness to really unload on the PCs.
DeleteCould you share the current player map? It would help following along.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea from Jon--it would be a good post.
DeleteI keep meaning to take pictures of "the map." However, "the map" is a whole series of huge sheets of graph paper drawn in pencil. I'll see what I can do though, but you'll need to wait for next session (12/28, so far) before I can post up what the players think the dungeon looks like.
DeleteAlso worth noting that most of my maps are on 8.5 x 11 or 11 x 17 pages with 8 squares to the inch paper, and my players use either 4 or 5 squares to the inch. That makes their bigger. I also know what "level changes" are on the same paper, which sub-sections are partly under (or over) other sections and thus are better off on a new piece of paper, and which ones are just slight height changes without changing to an entirely new level. They know almost none of that - I don't tell them, I let them decide. It's a deliberate part of the challenge of this particular game.
DeleteWell to us it doesnt matter if their map is 100% correct
DeleteIt just be really, really hard to photograph well enough to post. I think they've got one that covers most of the table but only covers part of my actual map of that particular area. But if they're okay with it, I'll take some snaps.
DeleteI bet our mapmaker wouldn't mind. I think it would be cool, personally, but my vote doesn't count until I get another session in ;)
DeleteAnnnnd bookmarked.
ReplyDelete