Reflections on a Session: 6 November 2016

• Time spent: ~4 hours
• Prepping NPC stats: 0.5 hours
• Presession henchmen and markets and whatnot: ~0.5 hours
• Running game: ~3 hours
• No new areas mapped
• No rooms restocked
• Dungeon areas explored in 3 hours of play:
• 1 lair (giant rats), cleared
• 2 monsters (cultists and manspiders)
• 2 empty
• Game-time elapsed in dungeon: 5 hours
• Random encounters: 2
• Expected random encounters: ~2.5 (not including checks from loud actions like Magical Music)
• Party composition:
• Clarence of the Stone, Craftpriest 2
• Wilgeva, L0 woman
• The Wardog With No Name
• Mule with repeating light ballista
• Scarth, MU 3
• Slagathor, Chaotic Cleric 2
• Thancharat, Elven Enchanter 1
• Rheingold, Cleric 1
• Chathis the Lizardman, Thrassian Gladiator 2
• Ascila the Assonant, Bard 1
• Dogeater, Ratman 1
•  Mortal wounds taken: 1
• Chathis took an injury to his hips and spine while cleaving through a block of cultists with polearms who used the preemptive-hit ability to attack him even though he'd won initiative.  His charge did prevent them from charging the party, though.  Chathis can no longer forced-march, but hasn't gotten the injury fixed yet because that's more of a wilderness-level concern.
• Loot recovered:
• 733 gp in silver, trinkets, and small gems from the giant rats' nest
• Three cultists captured and sold into slavery to the manspiders in exchange for a promise of silk next expedition
• Traded twenty ballista bolts this session, and a promise of ten more next session, to Scabies' ratmen for information about a trap
•  Traps triggered: 2?
• Bear-traps at the foot of a bridge were triggered and then relocated to cover a fork that the party didn't want to explore yet, where they caught a skeleton random encounter.  Considering adding bear-traps to my equipment tables.
• XP from monsters: 416
• Frankly this was somewhat generous
• Well under the 4:1 ratio, but maybe the silks next time will help balance that out.
• Exploration session avoiding humanoid lairs -> low yield

Other notes:

I forgot my map today, which delayed our start by ~20 minutes.  Derp.

The party's three clerics were very excited to see 10 skeletons come around the corner as they were trying to rest.  Maybe I should use undead more often.

Party definitely felt time pressure today exploring a moderately-distant area.  Proposed solutions included bribing the guards to keep the portal open longer, setting up a secure base-camp, and working out lodgings in Scabies' camp.

I didn't really expect them to go for the "sell your enemies to us as slaves and we'll supply you with silk" deal.  That was silly of me.  Chathis' player seems open to alliance with manspiders after discovering that they're also not from this sewer-realm, but come from Spiderworld via a dungeon portal.  Chathis got slandered again while trying to recruit henchmen, so he can no longer recruit humans and must rely purely to beasthenchmen.  Rest of party somewhat less sure about dealing with manspiders.

Plan for next session: receive silks, capture more cultists.  Plans after that include securing a staging area and going after the section of their map that the ratmen told them is inhabited by "fire demons".  Party is optimistic about their prospects there because they have an ice sword and a ring of fire resistance.  Plans to go after Bone-gnawer seem to be on hold, as Scabies' tribe are holding their ground against the ratmen to the north.

I definitely need to prep for next session.  They were right up against the stocked-unstocked boundary today.