This will be a play report of Magical Murder Mansion by Skerples. If we end up covering a significant part of this fun-house dungeon I will write a short review and my opinions on it (because, what might seem brilliant when reading could blatantly fail at the table, and vice-versa). We use play online, with Roll20 and Discord as the tools of choice.
The rules are based on Knave, with a few light additions and modifications (including Ancestries, but no Knacks this time). We start at PCs at Level 4, as the module recommends seasoned murderhobos. 400 gp each at start to boot, to allow some purchases and hirelings. Let's revise the characters first.
| 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. Starting Hirelings - 3 Man-at-arms (Billy, Lois, Olaf) and a Laborer (Farmer). New Hirelings - man-at-arms (Soupy) |
Session 1
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Group takes the quest by Hubert Nibsley's nephew Heinrich P'flem, to go to his uncle's abandoned mansion 1 hour outside of town, and try to recover an old secret journal by the (in)famed magician. Anything else you find in there "you can find and keep for yourselves". With the promise of riches, the group gathers some hired hands and sets off to the old Mansion.
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| Heinrich P'flem |
- Group has a peek from the outside, and refuses to make a perimeter check, instead deciding to go attempt their luck at the obvious main entrance.
- The entrance has 8 iron hooks for the coats. Greeted by the ghost butler Albert "Your coats, Sirs". They fall to the ground, Albert retreats frustrated and sad. The cloths lie on the floor, so.... they try to us the iron hooks. Several garments get scorched in the process of the party trying to connect the colored columns with the hooks (since they are the same number!).
- Frustrated at the lack of effect, they decide to go left "Always going left is known as the best strategy, right?", Wendell suggests.
- The Lever Alcove's description makes it too enticing for the players, who know something bad's about to come but WANT to pull at the lever.
- Wendell instructs his hireling Olaf to pull the lever, whilst everybody else cautiously awaits in the entrance room. He does so... and the octarine light fills the entrance room! Lois and Billy get ignited immediately. Billy dies paifully, the smell of cooking bacon in everyone's nostrils.
- Next, the group decides to go left. There's the red carpet in front, and as is common for now, Olaf takes the front. Wendell is very convincing (even passing a Charisma save), so the hired muscle peaks around the corner. Without further precautions, he walks over the red carpet, springing the pit trap. Quick enough to grab the end of the pit, his leg takes a toll. They quickly pull him up.
- Moving forward (and jumping across the pit), the group moves towards the Trophy Room. There's also a purple-lighted portal in sight. After noticing that the heads on display aren't taxidermy, but just paper replicas, they start smashing some of them to see if they contain any hidden treasure.
- After getting the unicorn's horn, and ignoring the glass eyes, the decide to give the portal a try (after much experimentation, throwing some of the taxidermy heads, poking at it with a spear, etc.).
- We get a random encounter with a Giant Spider, that surprises Olaf and reduces the hireling "Mama? Milk? Food?" and swiftly kills the charred Lois to boot. An exchange after, Grem finally kills the arachnid (the irony? he's a Spiderling).
- Now with time to take in the area behind the "portal", the realization kicks in that this is a coffin storage room, with mist. The group quickly loots the coffins, with sacks of gold and small trinkets in them (20 of them).
- They then take the door to the West, to the Kiln room. It's hotter here (the oven is on), and there's an operational table with servo-mechanical arms. Quickly, the group decides to experiment by putting the corpse of poor Olaf, the man-at-arms, on the operating table. Servos activate, and start operating and injecting at incredible speed. Modified body is tossed into the kiln, and there's some interaction with the temperature (danger is avoided though... after the kiln started shaking).
Session 2
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- Group decides to go back to town, cash in their recovered treasure, and resupply.
- Wendell hires a new man-at-arms, Soupy.
- They also get some new gear: lockpicks, rations, 10ft pole, etc.
- Back at the mansion, they let Soupy open the door, just in case, and then he's washed by the octarine magical light from the entrance/lowered metallic column. Having a strong mind, he's unaffected by it.
- Moving directly to unlock and diligently explore the Record Room, the lights inside the mansion suddenly turn off, so the Laborer has to light the lantern.
- The group spends 1 hour investigating the numerous coded papers in the records. Find out their names, and those who entered the dungeon before them, as well as their character sheets. They ask clever questions, to which neither I nor the module have the answer. Disappointing results.
- Wanting to ascend to the tower via the spiral staircase, Wendell in front notices the "TURN BACK" sign in front of it. They cleverly decide to use a non-literal interpretation of the message, and ascend walking backwards. To avoid mishaps or surprises, Wendell uses two helmets as improvised rear mirrors. Improvised solution, doesn't help him seeing the glyphs on the last steps of the stairs! Fortunately he makes his save, and warns the others.
- Once above, the group finds itself in an Art Gallery with 8 big (and expensive looking) paintings. Having a cursory look at them, a nude of Hubert Nibsley himself, and one of a young woman wearing a far-off-the-shoulder red dress, catch the group's attention.
- Gilda goes too close to Nibsley's naked painting.
- Grem, keen on exploring this level of the tower a bit more, decides to check the next area. An alcove with 3 statues of Nibsley, covering different parts of his face. A small metal box on a pedestal, and a brass plaque reading "BE NICE".
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| This, but with Mr. Nibsley |
- Too tempted, Grem decides to go for the box. The statues, as somewhat expected, animate and protect the box as best they can, smashing left and right at Grem. He does avoid the first blunt of the attacks.
- At the same time, Gilda notices what she needs to do to be able to move again: she has to compliment Hubert! A cocky magical effect of sorts. After that, the statues stop their offense, but are still "awake".
- Fearing another pummeling by the stone statues, the group circles around the tower to see what else is here. They discover a lounge area with 3 couches, a zombie with sunglasses and a floral shirt snoring on one of them. They also find an elevator, with buttons going "UP" and "DOWN".
- Too fearful to touch anything and potentially activate new hazards and traps, the adventurers are queasy on what their next action should be. Finally, they decide to circle back to the paintings, focusing on The Fallen Madonna.
- Gilda explores the painting, together with Wendell and Soupy. "Hands off!", the lady on the painting protests. "I'm warning you!", as Wendell tries to pry it from where it's hanging. Gilda tries to cover it with a coat (they got new ones in town after having the old ones burnt at the entrance). "You asked for it...". The lady on the painting pulls out a magical wand, quickly produces a lightning that fills the room.
- Soupy turns to ash on the spot. Gilda manages to duck away and avoids the blunt of it, and Wendell is hurt but still walking.
Referee Commentary / Things I Learned
- It is capital to remember rolling for random encounters every turn of exploration. It keeps things moving and players on their toes, especially when exploring rather "static" rooms. And there are a fair share of those in here. Our rolls showed only one of them, and at some point I forgot to throw an encounter (for example after they spent the hour in the Record Room).
- The best traps are the ones that are obvious, and the players facepalm themselves "How did we fall into that one?!"
- Criticism on 47: Record Room
- This room seems like a pun or gimmick, but a bad thought out one. After finding their character sheets my players tried to do all sorts of clever things, but aren't rewarded by them "I try to write 100 on my HP".
- Or also asking clever questions, like "Who was the last person who entered here", "When is the last time Hubert entered here"
- It is very loose, extremely powerful, and a gimmick, that I think didn't see a lot of playtest. It left a sour taste on my mouth, and I think my players were quite disappointed by the room.
- Criticism on 54: Art Gallery
- There is a LOT to describe here. 8 paintings, where the players are not really sure what is relevant and what not.
- The lack of doors between rooms 54 and 55, and 54 and 57, made the players believe that the whole floor-plan was a complicated puzzle, including the statues. And frankly there's no way to discourage them of that suspicion.
Find out what happened in session 3 HERE
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