With the last elf dead, the party began looting the bodies. The adventurer elves had a small chest of goodies; too bad for them, they could have used it during the fight, had they thought to divvy out their healing potions before entering the dungeon. Their loss was our party’s gain.

Our heroes immediately passed out the magic items according to need.

Previously: 

Elf Loot

The party found:

  • lembas bread
  • magic ring
  • masterwork gear all
  • Healing Potions [3 Greater Healing. 1 Superior Healing.]
  • 1 Potion of Heal [restores 100% hp. Very flashy. A blinding pillar of light.] 
  • 1 Potion of Speed
  • more lembas bread

Quarion examined the magic ring [and succeeded on an Arcana check…] opining that it appeared like a Ring of Protection of some sort. The party was wary of “trying it on” given Orgrush’s unhappiness with his cursed platemail armor. But Emlyn the warlock decided to give it a go anyway.

Stoneskin was cast on the half-orc ranger, indirectly neutralizing the effect of the cursed armor for the duration of the spell.

After taking a short breather, the party continued on to the last wing of the dungeon, still unexplored.

Gynosphinx

They passed by the gynosphinx, still holding her position at the junction of all the corridors. She was grateful to the party for draining the dungeon, so at least she didn’t have to stand in shallow water for the time being. Still, she was under geas by the mad wizard Keraptis, so there was only so much help she could offer.

The party asked her if anybody had gone up the NE passage. She said not for three months. Orgrush confirmed this, using his tracking ability.

They asked for any clues she could offer, regarding the third and final legendary weapon they must recover. The gynosphinx reminded them of the note they’d received from Keraptis before even stepping foot in White Plume Mountain.

The party identified the relevant portion:

“Crost cavern vast where chain-links rattle

Lies Whelm, past water spouts double.”

Indecision

Continuing up the NE passage, the party found a hall heading north, and one heading south.

They picked South.

They were quite wary of the door ahead for some reason.

Their intuition was correct, as Emlyn cast Detect Magic, discovering the door had a dweomer cast upon it.

Quarion cast Dispel Magic on the door. The magic was snuffed out…

… and returned after a few moments.

They decided to skip this direction for the moment, instead exploring the north passage.

Going north…

The party discovered what had happened to the green slime they’d encountered early on. It’d disappeared in a crevice in the wall.

They found yet another door to the north. Emlyn cast Detect Magic once again, but the door was mundane.

[The usual comedy of failed door-opening rolls proceeded. The doors in this dungeon are hard to open. DC15 STR check.]

Frankensteins Five

Five flesh golems are clustered against the north wall. Each has a number on its chest: 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. Number 5 says, “One of us does not belong with the others. If you can pick it out, it will serve you, and the others will allow you passage. If you pick the wrong one, we will kill you. You have sixty seconds.”

[I did indeed set a timer for 60 seconds, but I’d scarcely finished reading the canned text…]

Gimlet the dwarf stepped forward and correctly answered “9” as being the only non-prime number.

Turnstile

There was a door in the north of the room. The party proceeded through, but was soon stymied by a turnstile blocking the hallway. It only allowed passage from the other direction. A couple of attempts were made to force it, including Gimlet’s new pet flesh golem, but no luck.

They returned south again to the magic-infused door that foiled them earlier.

During this time, Wave began humming a tune in Orgrush’s head. Some song of the sea. He knew the intelligent trident was getting restless again. Aloud, he said, “I must convert souls,” and began proselytizing Quarion once again to the greatness of Xerbo.

Another telepathic voice was heard by All. “Souls? Yes! I must have souls…“ Blackrazor was restless too.

Gimlet quipped, “In that rolled up carpet you will remain!”

Orgrush begain humming along with Wave. To his surprise, this seemed to soothe the magic trident.

The party set aside their unease, returning to the magic door. This time, they had the golem open the door, and…

…Nothing Happened.

They saw a room with suspended globes. Given that it was not mentioned in Keraptis’ note, they noped out of there.

Returning north once again, the turnstile continued to give them headaches. Gimlet cast Stoneshape, and carved a bypass in the hallway around the turnstile.

They spotted another door at the end of the corridor. This portal was smaller than all the others, creeping out the party. They mustered up their courage, and forced it open.

Geysers and Chains

The door opens onto a stone platform in a large natural cave. Opposite the entrance in the distance is another stone platform. Between them, a series of wooden disks is suspended from the ceiling by massive steel chains. The cave floor seems to be covered by a pool of boiling mud.

Emlyn sent her imp flying across the hazardous cavern. She commanded it to open the door on the far side, but it was impossible of course. While the creature was on the far side, a geyser erupted! And then another!

So not only did they have to contend with slippery disks to cross the chamber, boiling mud below… but twin geysers menaced the party as well.

Sir Valler began timing the geysers and determined their eruptions were predictable: Every 5th turn for the northern spout, and every 3rd turn for the south.

Some rules I used to adjudicate the task of crossing the room. 5e D&D got me halfway there, with rules for standing jumps and difficult terrain. The rest I cooked up.

Difficult Terrain = ½ move

Standing Long Jump distance = ½ STR score

When you land in Difficult Terrain, you must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to land on your feet. Otherwise, you land prone. [Here roll a DC 10 Dexterity save or fall off of disk into mud below]

If their jump distance won’t take them to the center chain of the next disk, they do this check at Disadvantage.

Quarion cast Haste on Orgrush, who volunteered to cross the room.

He began jumping from disk to disk, stringing a rope from chain to chain to ease the task for the rest of the party. He had a few close calls, but recovered.

For whatever reason, Orgrush felt compelled to open the door at the far overhang.

Inky black magical Darkness lay beyond. He left the door open. Quarion the mage made his way across the boiling cavern.

Suddenly, a vampire spawn reached out of the darkness to grapple with Orgrush. The ranger was almost pulled back into the darkness, but managed to barely wrestle free. The undead withdrew back into the darkness, and Orgrush slammed the door shut.

When Quarion arrived, Orgrush opened the door, and the wizard cast Dispel Magic on the Darkness. With their cover gone, both vampire spawns attacked!

With most of the party on the far side of the chamber, it was a tough fight. Orgrush was twice bitten. [Decrementing his max hp both times!]

Gimlet cast Guiding Bolt across the distance, striking one vampire spawn harshly [Radiant damage]. Another spell from Emlyn, and a blow from Orgrush, and that foul undead was slain.

One remained.

NEXT:

WHITE PLUME MOUNTAIN: Session 10 – The Vampire Ctenmiir

Resources

I hope y’all enjoyed this session recap / walkthrough. Here’s what I used for this adventure.

White Plume Mountain (S2). The original 1979 AD&D adventure by Lawrence Schick, long out of print but available in the used market or PDF / Paperback reprint at DriveThruRPG (currently $6.50 at this writing). Great art by old school RPG artists.

Check Wayne’s Books Inventory

DriveThruRPG

Tales From the Yawning Portal (2017). The White Plume Mountain adventure is included in this D&D 5e hardcover – unabridged and essentially unchanged from the original. One of several classic modules converted to 5e tabletop play. New art, which is also quite good. The map looks great for VTT play.

Amazon