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Bumi's recurring dream: a Gray lady with red veins - "He's in prison, save him! Hurry!" Presumably this has something to do with the vision in the Grotto.
Sehanine - at the end of the Emerald Grotto, where Bumi found the Gem of Three Prayers.

We all had this vision (including our "rivals"):
The light around the pedestal fades as a spectral figure in the form of a male human rises from the amulet. He is dressed in leather armor and a tattered red cape and wears a shield. His face is framed by curly brown hair and bears a melancholic expression. He pleads, “I am imprisoned. Please help me.”
Suddenly, the ground vanishes beneath your feet, and you fall, tumbling through a vortex of golden light. You fall deeper, deeper, deeper, then suddenly stop. The golden light subsides, and you find yourself suspended in a pitch-black expanse. You feel water buoying you. A vermilion light appears in the distance, illuminating the melancholy warrior, who is shackled to the ground by disgusting strands of a fleshy, crimson substance.
He raises his gaze to the heavens and, sobbing, chokes out, “Moon Weaver, I beg of you. Guide those with the power to save me to the site where first I prayed to you.” He looks around, and his eyes settle on you. “Oh, gods, there you are! My name is Alyxian. I am lost in darkness. Long ago, I prayed to the Change Bringer in the heart of a temple of evil. I beg you, take my jewel and…”
You feel consciousness leaving you, as if the pressure of the water were crushing the life out of you. Alyxian’s voice is the last thing you hear before you pass out. “Save me. Please.”

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We had found a secret passage leading into the lighthouse, and were making our way inside. We thought we had found a corpse, but it turned out to be a live Human, old, tall and gangly. He had been long struggling against the ghouls, and was apparently the only non-undead left in the town.

He was apparently a political official in the town, and told us the story of how, six years ago, Lord Ventwerhoffen's son was killed. Subsequently, his wife died in childbirth, and it was thought that the abominable child died as well, although that might be wishful thinking. The father lost his sanity.

Around this time, the Maiden's Tears (the spring that supplied the town's water) went bad, and that's when the trouble with the undead started.

The apparent leader of the ghouls, an aquatic elf named Elioss, continually tries to capture the old man, perhaps to gain access to the lord's manor, in the center of the isle.

We decided to investigate the manor, but found the way made somewhat more difficult by a flooded fen. Someone had built a dam in the center plateau of the isle. We soon found out why, as undead things rose from the water. They gained strength by putting sucking leeches on us! Eeew! We managed to dispatch them, but the memory of a swamp-soaked undead thing vomiting leeches all over me is one I shall carry for a long time.

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From the journal of Alfonznot, warrior of the dwarves:

The carrock blew off course to the east. The human sailors seemed unable to deal with the weather. Some sort of swimming lizard -- long-necked things, with rows of fanged teeth! Their bites were most unwelcome. Fortunately, they were pretty cowardly, but even so, I was nearly bit in two and knew no more until one of my companions healed me.

Apparently, while I was out, my friends had quite the time navigating the shoals. We finally landed at Adama's Tooth. Ahh, to be on land again, trusting my own feet rather than the ramshackle craft and skill of the human sailors.

Our mission was to investigate an assassination ... done by a toy! We'd destroyed the toymaker, but his deadly minions had already been sent out.

We found Pyritar, the town, largely deserted, though we saw some old footprints, as well as a small amount of cash. The town inn's ledger entries ended abruptly three years ago. Something bad happened here.

We found mention of one Nicola -- a frequent guest at the inn, who would show up every few months on a small boat. She once met a local noble, name of Ilona, which the ledger-keeper thought unusual enough to make a special note of it. It was unclear if this had any significance to the mystery of the town's desertion, but it was all we found.

Water-ghouls! Nasty things, but they could not withstand our cleric's power. (What was his name again? I should probably make some effort to get to know these people, since it looks like we're going to be spending some time together.)

Ah, some more clues. A fisherman's journal ... "water going bad," "townsfolk going to the sea." Hmm... some sort of necromantic plague?

We found a lighthouse at the top of the cliff. On approaching, a chamberpot greeted Barley on the top of his head. An unfriendly voice asked us to get a book.

We found a secret passage into the lighthouse. Now we shall get some answers....

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Published on 2 Comments on Dungeon Crawl Classics?

Dungeon Crawl Classics cover via Goodman Games' website
Dungeon Crawl Classics cover via Goodman Games' website

So, I've begun looking at Dungeon Crawl Classics from Goodman Games and the various settings and adventures they have created for it. There's a Kickstarter right now for a Lankhmar setting and adventures thanks to a partnership with Fritz Leiber's estate.

I happen to be an old-school role-playing guy with probably too much nostalgia for my lost youth of the 1980s. I know role-playing game systems are generally way different now but sometimes I long for a more simpler time when players smashed the monster to get the treasure and game masters had to make sense of a mishmash of rules. When a fighter was a fighter and a magic user was a magic user and you couldn't hop between classes like a sumo wrestler at an all-you-can-eat buffet. I am not sure the DCC rule set is what I'm looking for as a mix between the old and the new but I wonder if anyone else has experience with it? Let me know in the comments below.