# Random OD&D Dungeon Solo Play Report #4 - The Adventures of Graf the Warrior

In our last session [1], Graf the Veteran got lucky and left the
dungeon with a 6,000gp jewel, more than enough to level up. Back in
town, he upgraded his armor to plate, purchased a short bow, a
lantern and some oil, and set about trying to hire some help.

In OD&D, retainers are classed and leveled help that a PC can hire
to accompany them on adventures, for a share of the loot. The rules
stipulate some expenses, but "the referee must determine
expenditures". However, in the section on hiring specialists and
mercenaries, a guide of 100-600gp is given for advertising expenses,
so I used that to make it easy.

Graf spent 100gp and had two potential hires present themselves - a
Cleric and a Magic-User. Graf offered 200gp up-front to each and a
1/3-share of any treasure. The Cleric was insulted by Graf's offer,
but the MU reacted favorably, and agreed to accompany him back to
the dungeon. Total expenses for Graf: 417gp.

I perused my stash of index card characters, and pulled out Shal the
Medium, with a 15 INT, giving her an extra 1st-level spell under my
house rules. She memorized sleep and hold-portal, and headed out to
the dungeon with Graf. For this I was using the Monster & Treasure
assortment and the AD&D 1e DMG random dungeon generation tables.

## Back to the Dungeon

Shal lit a lantern and the duo descended the entry stairs, which
went down 20' to an empty chamber with several exits. They chose to
go down an eastern tunnel, which after a short while opened into a
dusty, 40'x40' room. It was also empty, save for a leather sack on
the floor against the south wall, next to an exit. Graf approached
the sack and cautiously prodded it with his spear. Satisfied it was
safe, he picked up the sack and peered inside - gems! But at that
moment a wave of nausea overtook him and he stumbled back, dropping
the sack and spilling the gems. Shal helped Graf move away from the
sack, and he examined his hands. There was a slimy, greenish
substance on his fingertips (**ref note:** contact poison on the
sack, but Graf easily made his saving throw). He quickly wiped his
hands on the floor, and after a minute he felt better. Shal gathered
up the gems, being careful not to touch the sack, and the duo
proceeded south.

## Spiders!

Graf and Shal were in a longer tunnel, with a side tunnel to the
west half way down and an open archway directly ahead, at the limit
of Shal's lantern light. As they started down the tunnel, a trio of
giant spiders emerged from the west and skittered towards them!

Graf was able to bring his spear to bear on one of the spiders and
wound it. That spider and one other attacked Graf, one of them
biting him. He backed away as Shal cast a sleep spell which put all
three spiders to sleep. They quickly killed the spiders, but poor
Graf started to feel the affects of the poison bite, so they decided
to head out of the dungeon. Shal helped Graf back to the entrance
and up the stairs, but he never made it back to town. RIP Graf the
Warrior. Shal buried him under a nearby tree and headed back with
the gems, 620gp worth.

# Referee notes

## Hiring Retainers

Even giving a +2 bonus for the 200gp up-front offer, I rolled first
"uncertain" and then "hostile" for the Cleric's hiring reaction. The
MU roll was much better.

## Contact Poison

Unattended treasure should always be trapped or hidden in some
way. I used the M&T Assortment tables for this and came up with the
sack and contact poison.

## Spiders

The spiders were crab spiders, rolled as a wandering encounter in
the M&T Assortment. Crab spiders first appear in Moldvay Basic, and
according to those rules, crab spider poison is deadly in 1d4
turns - Graf failed his save (even with +2 for the weak poison) and
I rolled a 4, meaning he died four turns later, on the way back to
town.

For the combat with the spiders, initial reaction was hostile.
Neither party was surprised, and the crab spiders won initiative.
However, Graf had a spear ready and I ruled he would be able to stab
at the spiders before they could move close enough to attack. So he
went first, followed by the spiders (I allowed two to attack him at
once in the 10' wide tunnel), then Shal's sleep spell went off.

[1]: gopher://gopher.smolderingwizard.com/0/phlog/2021-07-10-riches-of-graf-veteran.md