W ith eyes like smoldering green embers, the towering gorgoneion peered through a churning purple mist from within the shimmering magical barrier of her prison. Her upper body was that of a beautiful woman with hair of hissing snakes, but from her waist down, a scaly serpent’s tail coiled to the ground. Luckily for the players, the curse of her petrifying visage posed no threat while she languished behind the translucent dome . . . But, how secure was her prison? What purpose did the strange pedestals in the four corners of the dungeon serve? Were the scowling gargoyles mere statues, or were they monsters hiding in plain sight, ready to pounce? The Dec. 20, 2015 session was fun if largely uneventful. We began a little late, just before 1 p.m., and finished with rules questions, introductions and recaps at about 2 p.m. Near the end of the session at 4:30 p.m., I predicted our group will probably run on a tick-tock schedule—a first session to prime us for an action-packed second, if our Nov. 8 and 15 sessions are any indication. The Nov. 8 session was good, but the Nov. 15 session was my favorite yet. This session reminded me of the Nov. 8 session, and if that’s any indication of the future, I expect a really powerful performance when we next meet. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen for a while considering next weekend is Christmas and the one after that is New Years . . . A list of Gorefest Dungeon characters and respective players: Archie playing Leuwyn Tailorson, a Human Wizard (257 points). Chris playing Legitimate Hobbes, a human Holy Warrior (259 points) and his ally Culain (259 points). Brandon playing Solaire Kazmonov, human Cleric (251 Points) and his ally Terezi Pyrope (251 points). Luke playing Kritty, catfolk Swashbuckler (261 points). W e began in Brecconary, or “Town,” capital ‘T’, and spent a fair amount of real-time there haggling and buying and selling and brewing potions and scrounging and, oh yeah, that’s also when Solaire, our human Cleric played by Brandon, who claims to be evil “but isn’t very good at it,” decided to gamble with no money and received a 6-hp injury for the cheat when he lost. So, he started the dungeon with a couple black eyes and a fat lip. Quest-finding rolls were successful. We’ve got more of them now that the Yellow Robe Wizard, played by Archie, has Carousing. A maze serving as a prison for a gorgoneion was found. There’s treasure in it and monsters for slaying, so of course the PC’s decide to enter. We retconned forgotten Research rolls, which told the players that the effects of the gogoneion’s petrifying visage cannot penetrate the layers of magical protection surrounding her. She’s trapped inside a combination of Force and Utter Domes and Walls of the same as well as a hidden Pentegram spell. Her prison is either permanent or perpetual (via a long-lasting Maintain Spell or somesuch enchantment). In any case, she’s not getting out and the players aren’t getting in, and nothing physical, magical or supernatural will penetrate the forcefield other than some light. The Research rolls also determined that her affliction is metabolic in nature. All of the divine and elemental servitors (Culain, Terezi, and Lou’s fire elemental) are immune. However, the PC’s most certainly aren’t impervious! When facing the menacing gorgoneion, the delvers risk a Quick Contest of Wills, with the PC’s at -5. Failure means being suddenly turned to statues! Luckily, Sol has Stone to Flesh spell, which reverses the curse, but that won’t help him if he’s the one petrified, and it won’t be fun to use in battle due to a lengthy casting time and high energy cost. Could we be risking a total party kill? I hope so! Muwahaha! W hen the party arrived in the open-air maze, they saw no monsters other than the gorgoneion on a circular dais in the very center, trapped within a magical forcefield. They also saw waist-high pedestals in center of each of the rooms at the four corners of the labyrinth. Later, a closer look revealed a bronze wheel atop the pedestals—perhaps a valve of some sort? Treasure chests also sit on the ground in each of the rooms, but the delvers were much less interested in those than they were in the grotesque statues all around. “Captain” Kritty, the catfolk Swashbuckler played by Luke—who claims to be a pirate captain though no one has seen his crew or ship—was the first to start exploring. Carefully, he made his way toward the room to the east, before he heard a faint click and the rush of air—a trap! With a back-flipping handspring (a.k.a., an acrobatic retreating dodge), he narrowly avoided the slash of a scything blade. The massive edge cut through the concealing ivy draped over the walls like it wasn’t even there. A slip of the GM’s tongue revealed the 5d cutting damage(!) it threatened—were it not for his keen hearing, Kritty may have died on the first turn taken in the dungeon. Got your attention yet? Yikes! What other traps might lie waiting to be triggered in this deadly dungeon? No active monsters on the map doesn’t mean no threats! S laying monsters gets all the glory, but in Gorefest Dungeon , that’s often only half the battle. Traps that deal huge amounts of damage are every bit as lethal as a monster swinging a weapon, the PC’s just don’t defeat traps with combat rolls; rather, rolls to identify, avoid, and in some cases, disarm become crucial for survival. Those rolls are no less important than rolls to attack and defend! I can’t stress enough how vital the role of trap detector is in Gorefest. That role is normally filled by a Scout or Thief—not to mention sacrificial summoned creatures or abused henchmen—but we've also allowed the Rouge template from Pyramid #3/64 . None of those templates are in play here . . . The party reached the south-east corner of the dungeon, ducking under the swinging blade once they knew it was there. No way was discovered to disarm it or even find the triggering mechanism, so they crouched under its arc. With no combat the entire session, our Yellow-Robe Wizard, Lou, played by Archie, didn’t get much of the spotlight. He was able to determine that the chest was enchanted, though. Sol the Cleric, played by Brandon, didn't see much action either considering Kritty managed to escape a mortal wound, but his winged ally Terezi flew up above the maze's twenty-feet-tall walls and scoped around from above, which is how the players know there are pedestals like the ones they've seen in all four corners. Hobbes, our Holy Warrior played by Chris, did like Lou and Sol and followed Kritty. His ally, a barrow hound named Culain, used his keen senses to detect . . . that there was little, if anything, to detect. No creature other than natural wildlife had trod the barren ground between the walls for a long, long time. Once in the room, we ended the session early due to computer issues, but it was a good place to stop. We left on Kritty’s turn, who goes first in the sequence, and he’s ready to attack the nearest gargoyle “statue” with his sword. Prior experience in this dungeon suggests that will make it come alive . . . All fielded characters receive 1 character point for this session. Our next regularly-scheduled session is Jan. 3, 2016 at noon Central Time. Medusa background artwork by Rob Shields .