[CYOA] D&D - The Ghost of Lion Castle

[petapan]

just 2 damage, not too bad

our attack

Original Roll String: 1d20+1

1 20-Sided Dice: (12)+1 = 13

[petapan]

we hit, dealing

Original Roll String: 1d8+1 (STATIC)

1 8-Sided Dice: (8)+1 = 9

which will be enough to slay the gnoll! we get 20 xp and 1 gp for our troubles

[Bell]

Victory, is there anything sweeter?

[petapan]

C24.

You are standing before the outer gatehouse. A raised portcullis rests over the gatehouse opening. Beyond the portcullis, two sets of thick wooden doors stand open. A path winds inward from the gatehouse and leads through patches of undergrowth toward the back of Lion Castle.
If you have the proper spells or magic items, you may go through the gatehouse by
becoming

invisible

(entry

C25

)
turning gaseous (entry

C27

)
walking visibly (entry

C26

)
If you want to find another way into the castle, read entry

C8

.

C26.

The portcullis falls as you pass under it. Make a saving throw vs. wands. If your saving throw succeeds, you take no damage. If your saving throw fails, you take 1d4 points of damage.
You may jump forward as the portcullis falls (entry

C28

), or you may jump backward (entry

C29

).

Our roll for a save vs wands is a 13. we do not have a ring of protection this time.

Original Roll String: 1d20

1 20-Sided Dice: (16) = 16

[petapan]

we take

Original Roll String: 1d4

1 4-Sided Dice: (4) = 4

damage

[petapan]

Hit Points:

9/14

C28.

You are inside the gatehouse. You cannot lift the portcullis behind you. You cannot levitate, turn gaseous, become invisible, or use a rope of climbing here. Murder holes pierce the ceiling between the two sets of wooden doors that stand ahead.

If you	read entry
sneak under the holes	C32
run under the holes	C33

HP:

6/9

C33.

The second set of wooden doors slams shut behind you. You cannot open the doors. You cannot levitate, turn gaseous, become invisible, or use a rope of climbing here. A winding path leads through patches of undergrowth into the castle's outer ward. Read entry

C61

.

C61.

A narrow path winds from the gatehouse and leads through the outer ward underbrush to an opening in the lion's chest.

If you follow the	read entry
path to the lion's south flank	C64
path to the lion's front paws	C65
path to the outer gatehouse	C63

If you leave the path, read entry

C59

. If you decide to retreat over the outer curtain wall, read entry

C54

.

C65.

You are standing in front of Lion Castle. Arrow slits are cut into the spaces between the claws of the lion's forepaws. Two small holes pierce the lion's muzzle. A patch of lead lies on the path below the holes.
An opening is cut into the lion's chest. A raised portcullis rests over the opening. Beyond the portcullis, two sets of wooden doors stand open.
If you have the proper spells or magic items, you may

levitate

to the lion's mouth (entry

C69

)
turn gaseous (entry

C70

)
use a

rope of climbing

to reach the lion's mouth (entry

C69

)

If you want to go through the opening in the lion's chest, read entry

C75

.
If you have the proper spell or item, you may also become

invisible

at the same time you use one of the listed options.
If you want to find another way into the castle, read entry

C62

.

[Bell]

C69

[petapan]

finally, progre-uh oh

C69.

If you are invisible, read entry

C84

. If not, read entry

C74

.

[Bell]

Opps.

[petapan]

C74.

Two scorching streams of molten lead pour from the lion's nostrils. Make a saving throw vs. wands. If the saving throw succeeds, you take no damage from the lead. If the saving throw fails, you take Id6 points of damage from the lead. From here, you see that murder holes pierce the roof of the lion's mouth.

If you	read entry
advance	C84
stop climbing	C80
retreat	C65

magic journal note:

You may want to make notes about what you encounter at a specific entry.

Original Roll String: 1d20 (STATIC)

1 20-Sided Dice: (19) = 19

we are hoping for a 13 or higher here

[petapan]

we're okay! what do we do??

[Bell]

84

I thought we were just gunna die there tbh.

[Charles510]

C84

[OkaPoka]

what is going on wtf is this

first run i felt like we progressed too quickly and hit a difficulty wall but apparently uhhhhhhhhhhhh

84 advance ig

[Bell]

This is like dark souls.
I love it.

[Bell]

That was a joke. But D&D (from what limited experience I have with it) doesn't really encourage grinding. So I suspect the issue here is that we're not going about this dungeon correctly. It's possible that we're being punished for trying to go through the "wrong" way.
For example crawling on top of the lion or using magic to just fly up to its mouth near what is probably the end room. Skipping all the content that the DM intended sometimes does end up with a meteorite landing on your party.

It's also possible that this is a *little* like dark souls in that if we had gone invisible while climbing up we would've been fine and you can think of it as a ladder you only get to use if you've advanced enough (i.e., if you've failed once and made a new character to try again, since I don't think any of the characters have a rope and a means of invisibility combined) to avoid retracing. Maybe even both. But I very much doubt we're going to get a ring of +10 AC or something and trivialize the content.

[OkaPoka]

hmm, fuck items just use em as we go maybe? i guess grinding out goblin fights is pretty bad and we should avoid as much combat as possible

[Bell]

Oh yeah, grinding goblins would *not* work.

[Bell]

Then again I've only played dnd 5e and only like, 5 games sessions now. So who knows what the original was like.

[Bell]

*blink* @Peta, can we take short rests?

[petapan]

short rests are not a mechanic in this game, no. that was introduced in 5th edition, iirc

[petapan]

C84.

You are at the mouth of the lion. If you used magic to get here, the magic effect stops. Read entry

C88

.

magic journal note:

A castle's inner curtain is the fortification or embankment that protects the castle entrance.

C88.

You are inside the lion's mouth! The entire ceiling of this chamber is pierced by murder holes. A raised portcullis stands ahead. Beyond the portcullis, two sets of wooden doors stand open. A pool of lead lies on the ground 10 feet below the opening of the lion's mouth. You cannot levitate, turn gaseous, become invisible, or use a rope of climbing here. Suddenly, huge stones rain down from the murder holes. Make a saving throw vs. wands. If your saving throw succeeds, you take no damage. If your saving throw fails, you take 1d4 points of damage.

If you	read entry
flee inward	C97
stand still	C96
jump 10 feet down from lion's mouth	C112
climb down a rope from lion's mouth	C113

save vs wands (13 good):

Original Roll String: 1d20

1 20-Sided Dice: (16) = 16

[petapan]

we take

Original Roll String: 1d4

1 4-Sided Dice: (1) = 1

damage

[Bell]

C97

[Charles510]

C97