The God That Crawls Play Report

~~~Warning! Spoilers!~~~

    I finally ran The God That Crawls with 4 of my friends tonight (D&D and Pathfinder players).

    The party started as level 2 characters simply to get a stronger feel for the class differences as this was their first time with LotFP, and because I assumed this would just be a one-shot. A Magic-User, a Cleric, a Specialist, and a Fighter walked into the little agrarian town, with the intent of purchasing the last of their goods before making the trek into the foothills to investigate a tower that had long since been abandoned. (Yes, I did have Tower of the Stargazer up and ready if they went there).

    After gathering the rest of the supplies, the Specialist said he was done with this town, had no interest in its people, and wanted to begin the journey to the tower they'd heard so much about. However, the Magic-User chose, instead, to press his luck with the friendly but fairly private locals and ask around for info at the inn (as Pathfinder players are wont to do).

    What really began the events of the session were an unlucky encounter with an agitated elderly man (that the Magic-User should have seen coming from a mile away), followed by some very obvious shutting-up of said elderly man by the locals and PR done by an all-too-friendly young female (that the MU also was not suspicious of), and the drugged soup "on the house" that he gobbled down without question. He failed the Save vs Poison.

    Meanwhile, the Specialist followed the small party dragging the elderly man away. The Fighter and Cleric followed behind at a distance.

    They ended up in the church, uncovered the conspiracy, and decided to head back to get their MU friend from the inn, but lo and behold, three bulky townsfolk were dragging him into the church to be thrown down into the pit, with Father Bacon close behind.

    The Players hid in the room with the pit, waiting to ambush. The Fighter took down the first thug with a slash to the gut, but didn't do enough damage to kill him. The Specialist who'd been hiding behind the door thrust his sword straight through the second's heart. Father Bacon turned to run, screaming for the boys to ring the bell and gather the rest of the townsfolk. Thug number three tried to grab his wounded friend and drag him out of the chapel. He tried in vain. After dodging one sword slash and a shield bash, his pitiful cries of terror were cut short by a second slash to the throat. His friend was likewise executed.

    The church bell is ringing out its alarm. The Fighter is doing his best to barricade the entrance as the other two inspect the remaining rooms. Why they didn't decide to cut their losses and run while they had the chance, I'll never know. They did, however find the storeroom with food and weaponry. This only cemented their determination to bunker in. After fully exploring (but never finding the secret door into the maze below or up to the belltower above) the Players decided it was time to set the Bibles ablaze, and go into full panic mode.

    The Cleric had seen the creature in the pit, but only momentarily. The villagers had brought in a wooden beam to use as a battering ram and the door was cracking apart. In desperation, the Fighter and the Cleric descended into the pit with a rope to hide. The MU and Specialist stayed up top to fight the mob.

    They were chased back into separate store rooms, apprehended, and brought to the pit. The total villager death count was 6.

    Never once did the villagers take a player's belongings from him. Never once did they use weapons. The players were fully aware that there were children and elderly in the crowd.

    The gong had been removed from its stand and thrown into the pit previously. Instead, the villagers simply sang to call to the god.

    Everything up to this point had been intense. The players were fully engaged and playing their roles. Now that there was a moment without instinctual direction, and with a nigh-incomprehensible maze before them, things quickly devolved into madness.

    The Specialist took his torch and ran with reckless abandon through the maze to find the exit. He ended up looping back to the pit multiple times.

    The other three took a slower pace, encountered the three fertility idols, touched one, then decided they weren't touching anything else. Of course, they did catch onto the Chi Ro symbol and treasure caches. It became almost leisurely as they quietly strolled along, avoiding anything that might've been dangerous. The d12 kept rolling far far away from any number that would summon the god to their location.

    At this point, we were 4 1/2 hours in, everyone was mentally exhausted, frustrated with the labyrinth (none of them bothered to map the exact dimensions I was giving), and so pre-occupied with getting out and murdering some more villagers that the interesting bits they encountered were mostly ignored.

    I called the session here. In the end, I'm happy to say that the situations they found themselves in were their own faults. Things that were obviously bad omens were welcomed with open arms, and rather than fleeing when they got the chance or taking advantage of what information I gave them, they confidently made horrible decisions in their excited panic.

    The Fighter had quite a few things to say about the elegance of LotFP's rules and mechanics. The others had a blast with the events leading up to their descent, and are begging me to let them fast forward to the escape so they can avenge their wounded pride on a town full of morally gray Christians. The system, they loved. But I think the slower paced dungeon crawl shook up the mood too much and the mapping especially didn't click with a group of people high on adrenaline.

    They'll most likely try to get to the Tower next time we play. That is, if their blood lust doesn't get them into more trouble before then.

    I'd call this session a success. A bloody, panicked, near 5 hour success.