OSR: Magical Murder Mansion 3

This session took place a long while ago, and since then the game disbanded and has been cancelled. I still wanted to put these notes here for completeness sake.

We picked things up where we left them running through Magical Murder Mansion (report to sessions 1 and 2 here). The party has explored a good portion of the mansion already, mainly on the North-West tower area. They get an interesting breakthrough during Session 3, and seem motivated to carry on exploring.

Let's revise the characters again:

Wendell - a Human Fighter type, former butcher. Carries a Battleaxe, Bow and arrows. Likes to boss his underlings around. Gelda Cleanwater - curious Halfling Wizard dabbling in the arcane arts. Also carries a staff.  Grem - a Spiderling Fighter with two spears and a shield. Likes to poke at things, no matter how big. Starting Hirelings - Hammerhead (a dwarf with a short-lived career)

Session 3

Rooms covered: 16: Coal Storage, 15: Boiler Room, 75: Workshop Door, 14: Storeroom, 13: Kitchen Exploration Time: 1h40 (excluding their visit back in town) Session Length: 3h Fatalities: Hammerhead (dwarf man-at-arms)

• Battered from the Art Gallery room, Grem decides to grab a painting (the one shedding light), and the group decides to return to town to lick their wounds.
• There, Grem puts the painting for search of a potential buyer (will take 1-2 weeks, 1000gp potential reward, the Halfling Jeweler will take 15% of the sell).
• Wendell takes his chances to hire yet another man-at-arms
• The mercenary guild grows weary, and he only finds a dwarf fool enough to be willing to follow them to the estate, but demands double price, and 2 days pay up front. 23 gp settles it.
• Back at the mansion, they decide to take in the perimeter, and about 20 minutes walking around the mansion clock-wise they find 1/ stone fence 2/ iron door with coal
• Gilda opens the door, revealing a room filled calf-deep into coal
• Wendell makes an interesting argument to Hammerhead to go and 
• Coal golem fight!
• Hammerhead perishes on the spot
• Grem courageously (stupidly?) charges ahead.
• Gilda casts the Upwell spell. The spring of seawater corrodes the coal and causes significant damage.
• Wendell fires arrows and they in general damage the golem greatly.
• They're able to "kite" and lure the dump construct out of the room, to then dart inside and shut the door.
• The party made it in!
• Inside, they quickly move to the Boiler room, filled with pipes, knobs, and other handles.
• Wendell spins a wheel, the mansion shakes a bit, but there's no other effect.
• Gilda seems keen on a 10 foot pole, and pulls a pipe out.
• A ghost comes out of the steaming water, and puts its hand on her brain! She ages 29 years, now instead of a young adventurer she's a mid-aged lady.
• They move north along the corridor, Gilda and her pole at the front.
• Find door to workshop with 4 key-holes and riddle/clues.
• Before moving to Storeroom, Gilda uses skirt to avoid slimy handle. Acid exposure saved!
• Group moves to Storeroom, and decides to take some sledgehammers, crickets, and teeth. 

• Random encounter: bunch veggie-mites, 17 of them, coming from the eastern corridor! 
• Like minions, they are chaotic and unruly, but willing to "talk" this time around.
• They make it clear that they're after fertilizer and soil.
• Party tosses them the dead crickets, to where they retire happily! Two of them fight for the prize, and one of the Veggie-Mites remains unconscious on the floor.
• Next party goes to kitchen
• Wendell gets smashed by flying knives.
• They explore the kitchen and decide to play "anatomy" with the dead Veggie-Mite, thinking of carving it into a key.
• The tap of water is open in the sink, with a flowing of magical water. (Note: is the water colored differently, octarine? does it have odor? does it give an electrostatic charge?).

Referee Commentary / Things I Learned

• Session 3 went smooth as butter. There were a few interesting interactions and encounters, and the players used negotiation and clever tactics.
• USE REACTION ROLLS!
• The Veggie-Mites could have been a boring hack&slash, but instead the party tossed the dead crickets to calm them down.
• Ditto with the Ghost coming out of the pipes.
• The 4-keys workshop door riddle is nice. Might feel "video-gamey", but it's very fitting for a fun-house dungeon like this. The players greatly appreciated the hints and clues, and see a more focused purpose and approach to the whole thing. Putting that big room in the center was a deliberate good choice. Brilliant.