Deep Carbon Observatory Adventure log - Introduction

I'm currently running Patric Stuart's Deep Carbon Observatory for my in-person group in Dundee, Scotland - see my review here.

We're using the Dolmenwood ruleset with a handful of house tweaks; you can find our House Rules document here.

Our table has seven regular players plus an additional intermittent player. Of the eight, two are new to OSR gaming, and one is completely new to TTRPGs.

Before diving into DCO, we ran four sessions of a slightly hacked version of Tomb of the Serpent Kings, an excellent introductory module you can download here. This helped the group learn the system and pick up a level before the main adventure.

We've just completed session 11.

I'll be posting write-ups of the earlier sessions here, with new entries published as we continue playing.

At the start of session 05 - our first session inside Deep Carbon Observatory - the party consisted of:

Players & Characters

• Ash - North, Elf (Level 1)
• Calum - Hogrid, Human Cleric (Level 2)
• Deryn - Oobl, Mossling (Level 2)
• Freddy - Trunchkin, Human Friar (Level 2)
• Marcus - Melysee, Human Knight (Level 2)
• Peter - Sahra, Human Mage (Level 2)
• Tomkin - Human Hunter (Level 2)
• Ythan - Clement, Human Enchanter (Level 2)

Retainers

Fiona, Fenrich, and Finn — three siblings from Broken Huts who accompanied the group from their previous adventure.

• Fiona and Fenrich: Level 1 Human Fighters
• Finn: a 13-year-old level 0 torchbearer. The Elf and the Enchanter have discovered he has an aptitude for fairy magic and have begun teaching him the basics.
  
  

Instigating incident:

A wealthy antiquarian bought most of the artefacts you recovered in the Copper Coils tomb (TotSK). The objects caught the eye of one of his customers, who made contact and shared with you a strange tale.

Once there was an Empire of unspeakable wealth that traded in secrets, dark wonders, and death, and many of the strange things now on earth were theirs. They drew their power and magic from a gate within the earth. The Copper Coils were just one of the many weird people they traded with. But, as their kingdom was destroyed by a new faith, their treasure was locked away in a lake, with sleepless and indestructible guards. The lake on the Lock, upriver of Carrowmore. No-one who went there has never come back.

With the promise of a huge treasure, the company decides to travel to Carrowmore to investigate.  In addition to this party-level goal, some more personal hooks seem to push all of you in the same direction.

Clement - Enchanter One of your more boring expatriate kin has died, and through a complex series of deaths or legally invalidated uncles, the death for a country hacienda in Pollnagollum village, upriver from the distant town of Carrowmore has come down to you. All you need to do is have it validated by the local authorities, and the land is yours.

North Pinecone - Elf Plenty of travelers and deep-country oddities have stories of vanishing treasure palaces and impossible worlds. After listening to a bunch of these, you have begun to piece together a pattern in the tales and to think that there may really, actually, be the entry to some kind of supernatural Otherworld, somewhere in the lake upriver of Carrowmore. That sounds like Fairyland. That sounds like home!

Sahra - Mage You slept with one of a party of Adventurers called the Eagles on their way to Carrowmore. When you woke up, you found them gone. One of your important bags, carrying a valued item, was actually their important bag, carrying their important item. The bags looked the same, and they were in a rush, so it was probably a mistake. You just want to swap them back.

Melysee - Knight Several months ago, a particularly brilliant and monstrous serial killer hit your hometown. It took a long time to catch them, and they were killed in the chase. The strange thing was, they grew up there and were widely known to be a good person. Their family says that after they went upriver from Carrowmore, they came back different. You are determined to find out what happened.

Hogrid Burl- Cleric You were interrupted by a random passer-by who seemed to know you by sight, but whom you have never met. They were amazed at your appearance and said they had been prophesied to meet you by The Seer Sorla Ghyll, who described you exactly and gave them secret, but accurate information about your personal dealings. Ghyll gave them a message to give to you; she will meet you in Carrowmore.

Oobl - Mosling Somebody Literally Tried To Eat You. That didn't work out too well for them, and when you searched their corpses, you found nothing in their pockets but child bones and change. Someone told you they saw this person coming from Carrowmore, and there are rumors of more. Now you've got a bad bite mark, a potential tetanus infection, and a serious grudge with these freaks.

Tomkin - Hunter Day and night, one image haunts your mind. The Lost Gigantic Platypus. The sad, meandering lies of “Natural Philosophers” tell you that such wonders have passed from the world, but you will prove them wrong! Rumors have reached your ears of an enormous 'Duck Beast' in the lands upriver of Carrowmore….

Turchkin - Friar You have nightmares every night. These many-layered visions of inventive and personal horror have ruined your existence. You always assumed you were a little mad, but, recently, in your visions, a strange woman with skin like layered shadow and hair like moonlight, holding a book, has been speaking to you. She tells you to find her and release her, promising that you will be free. The visions have led you here.



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All the details about Deep Carbon Observatory belong to Patrick Stuart - Buy the module - His Blog - My Review - Video Review

All the art belongs to Scap Princess - Buy her stuff - Her Blog

All the elements of Dolmenwood belong to Gavin Norman - Buy the system - Video Review