The gang braved unseasonable PNW heat to continue their delve into the Tomb of Horrors.
More whoopsies were realized and retconned (the earlier altar explosion had destroyed two rows of pews, leaving thousands of coins scattered among the viscera, and the door to the hall of spheres is one-way! I hope no one needs to leave…), but progress was made. Shenanigans ensued!
I struggled to keep up with the notes this time, but that’s always been a weakness of mine, and it had been a few weeks. This session was heavy on chatting with Peisinoe, investigating previously explored areas, and other less mechanical interactions, which means more notes and fewer uses of specific event types.
Tomb of Horrors
Session: 2026-06-13:
Turn 80—Day 2 @ 2:40 AM (Late night)
- Morbida came under the effect of Idiocy, which will last 9999 turns.
- Frank came under the effect of Idiocy, which will last 9999 turns.
Notes:
Frank tossed a torch into the cavern and it was swallowed by the mist. Frank and Morbida roped up, Frank held the rope and Morbida tied it around her waist. They left Theodora behind as the anchor, to pull them back if anything went wrong.
The mist dulled their wits and numbed their minds, and they both forgot what was going on.
Frank dropped the rope and Morbida was confused by its presence. Frank continued walking onward since he’d been doing so. When he reached the torch he’d thrown he picked it up, believing he’d been going to retrieve it.
Turn 81—Day 2 @ 2:50 AM (Late night)
- Idiocy was removed from Frank.
- Idiocy was removed from Morbida.
Notes:
The captive siren (Peisinoe) was drawn out of the grotto (wait, was the grotto itself her prison? I ran it as her being imprisoned within the cavern. All’s well that ends well) by the sounds of Frank‘s footsteps. She cured him of his condition and they backtracked to Morbida who Peisinoe also cured.
Turn 82—Day 2 @ 3:00 AM (Late night)
Notes:
Morbida and Frank exited the cavern to get Theodora, who resisted the mist’s effects. After returning to the grotto they had a brief discussion with Peisinoe. Small talk and evasive responses, mostly. Then Theodora asked Peisinoe, “Why don’t you come with us?” and the curse was lifted.
Turn 83—Day 2 @ 3:10 AM (Late night)
Notes:
With the party surrounded by dead ends, Frank turns his attention from the doors and instead scans the walls north and south of the intersection for mechanisms similar to past secret doors, but finds none.
… 2 turns passed …
Turn 85—Day 2 @ 3:30 AM (Late night / Early morning)
- Nate lit a new torch.
- Dover lit a new torch.
Notes:
The party decided to bring Peisinoe to the surface while they considered how to proceed. They reached the hall of spheres and realized the door they had entered through is gone (the one-way door I copped to running incorrectly previously).
… 3 turns passed …
Turn 88—Day 2 @ 4:00 AM (Early morning)
Notes:
Unable to return to the surface, they followed the only obvious path they had not explored: The corridor beyond the third pit trap with its secret door. They move slowly, checking the floor, walls and ceiling for any signs of traps.
Peisinoe was not entirely unhappy to get to remain with her saviors.
Turn 89—Day 2 @ 4:10 AM (Early morning)
Notes:
They arrived at the iron-bound oak door, and Frank unsuccessfully attempted to pick one of the locks.
… 2 turns passed …
Turn 91—Day 2 @ 4:30 AM (Early morning)
- Nate lit a new torch.
- Dover lit a new torch.
Notes:
Theodora borrowed Morbida‘s mace and broke the door down. They heard a song go silent then the sounds of people fleeing. They spotted torchlight down the corridor and rushed to follow, but slid to a halt and backpedaled when the counter-weighted floor lurched beneath their feet, threatening to dump them into a glowing lava pit.
Morbida lost her footing and began sliding while the others retreated. Theodora, wearing boots of speed, rushed to her aid. Theodora was able to keep her balance and pulled Morbida to safety.
Turn 92—Day 2 @ 4:40 AM (Early morning)
Notes:
Fearing they might be trapped, the party returned to the fear gas hallway with the plan for Frank to try holding his breath.
Turn 93—Day 2 @ 4:50 AM (Early morning)
Notes:
Frank held his breath and entered. He felt along the wall and found the door in the hallway. He began picking the lock but hurriedly threw it open when he realized it was already unlocked, to be stymied by the thick webs. The gas cleared, but Frank‘s 10-foot pole became irretrievably entangled in the seemingly fireproof webs.
Turn 94—Day 2 @ 5:00 AM (Early morning)
Notes:
Turning back, Frank checked the walls in the now degassed hallway but found nothing.
Turn 95—Day 2 @ 5:10 AM (Early morning)
Notes:
Theodora suggested they investigate the misty archway in the temple, and the party headed that way.
Turn 96—Day 2 @ 5:20 AM (Early morning)
- Frank’s lantern went out.
Notes:
Frank tied a rope around his waist and stepped through the arch. For his trouble he found himself standing in a another dead-end with clothes that suddenly felt ill-fitted he’d also felt an odd tug at his moral center but it faded quickly (alignment: Neutral. There is no opposite). He returned, and his companions saw that Frank was now a woman. We learned that Frank was once a short man, and is now a slightly shorter woman.
He went through the mist again and felt a sharp pain, but no other effects. Morbida immediately followed. Her gender and chaotic alignment changed as well, and she quickly made another circuit, suffering the same pain Frank had, and regaining her original alignment.
Turn 97—Day 2 @ 5:30 AM (Early morning)
- Nate lit a new torch.
- Dover lit a new torch.
Notes:
The party returned to the mummification laboratory.
Turn 98—Day 2 @ 5:40 AM (Early morning)
Notes:
Theodora tested the vats one-by-one by dropping in sprigs of dried wolfsbane. It floated normally in the dirty water, fizzed and was slowly dissolved in the acid, and set the gray liquid wriggling.
Turn 99—Day 2 @ 5:50 AM (Early morning)
- Combat: A massive gray ochre jelly rose from one of the vats and attacked.
Notes:
The gray liquid lurched toward Theodora—half of a gold key unsticking from its mass and clanking to the floor. The experienced adventurers left blades sheathed and dowsed the jelly with several flasks of oil which Dover lit while retreating. The jelly pursued Theodora, cracking and bursting through the burnt skin of jelly and lashing out wildly, unable to land any of its attacks. It finally shed enough burnt jelly to extinguish the flames, but Theodora shot it with a flaming arrow which Frank doused with another oil flask, killing it.
Turn 100—Day 2 @ 6:00 AM (Early morning)
Notes:
Needing to retrieve a key from a vat of acid, and being deprived of their 10-foot pole, it was decided that they would break through the stone vats to drain them, starting with acid—which they had tested and determined to be weak. They had *also* confirmed that the room had floor drainage, which was important for the mummy business. This turned into exhausting, time consuming work, but they broke through and the acid began to drain.
… 2 turns passed …
Turn 102—Day 2 @ 6:20 AM (Early morning)
Notes:
They continued on to the vat of dirty water, taking turns. The fetid water diluted what remained of the acid.
Turn 103—Day 2 @ 6:30 AM (Early morning)
- Nate lit a new torch.
- Dover lit a new torch.
Turn 104—Day 2 @ 6:40 AM (Early morning)
- Treasure: Gold key (both halves). Total 0 GP.
Notes:
Morbida combined the two key halves into a large gold key.
They freed the siren (who I named Peisinoe [‘affecting-the-mind’] as a dickishly obscure “hint” about her true nature) and found the first key! My only concern now is that they are absolutely convinced 23. FALSE/TRUE DOOR is a true dead end.
By the end of the night, the heat and general exhaustion at the table paralleled the in-character exhaustion. These characters have been at it for over 10 hours now, and explored straight through the night. They went from waiting their turn in camp in perpetual daylight (it’s the summer solstice and they are very far north) to being entirely cut off underground. That’s enough to mess with anyone’s perception of time. Hopefully they were resting in the bullpen.
I previously wrote they would likely need at least two more sessions to close this one out, and it looks like the “at least” phrase was load-bearing. I’d give that same estimate after this session, but everyone seems to be having fun. If they spin their wheels in the next session I might gently nudge them with a comment about many things in the dungeon not being what they appear to be at first glance.
If this does stop being fun for them, I suggested an easy out: They can walk away from this module for any reason, and we could say the tournament canonically ended in failure. The empire was embarrassed and sealed the site, and now it’s a landmark on the map if they ever want to pursue it. Which actually sounds cool to me. The plan was already to have these characters’ names show up in graffiti in other dungeons, and for the Tomb to reset itself like normal. Their characters could have participated/died in a historic event with ripples felt all over the place. Or they could have managed a costly success. In which case, what became of the lich’s spellbook? What about the rumors of demons retrieving the lich’s treasures from the survivors1This is assuming they take the crown and/or scepter, but I’d take that bet. . They’re exaggerated and mistold and debated. However it goes, it fleshes out another corner of the world, introduces characters and threads to reference later, and creates ✨Lore✨, so it’s all great to me.
Final Thoughts (aka bedtime)
If there’s one thing I’m enjoying from this game that didn’t come through during my pre-read, it’s that, sure, the creator of this meat grinder is a S-tier evil guy. The worst. But—and I’m thinking this is more relevant to players—he’s also a total dickhead.