The Shadowmaze Campaign on Old School Gamers

Shadowmaze -- Session 61 - Bancroft

Tue, 12 May 2026 21:00:00 -0600

The last twenty minutes of the dig went like the first three hours had gone, which was to say it went slow and steady and without anyone dying. Bancroft worked the trench with Irulan. Anister kept the watch above. Clarice was not with them today. The note she had left in the morning had only said gone south, back in a week or two, and the part of Bancroft that liked to know things had asked Bolo whether he knew more, and Bolo had shaken his head with the careful look of a man who knew exactly what he was not telling, and Bancroft had let the matter drop. People came and went on the moor. You did not pry.

Shadowmaze -- Session 60 - Bancroft

Tue, 05 May 2026 21:00:00 -0600

Bancroft came up the moor road late, a half-hour after the others, because the cobbler in Helix had needed an extra hour to put the new sole on the left boot and Bancroft was not going to dig in a wet boot if he could help it. By the time he came around the long shoulder of the ridge that hid the dig from the road, the others had already finished some short business of their own. He saw it in the trampled grass and in the streak of blood drying on Anister’s pickaxe handle and in the way Clarice was wiping her dagger on a strip of moss. He did not ask. The kind of business that left grass trampled and dagger blades wet was the kind of business he was glad to have missed.

Shadowmaze -- Session 59 - Bancroft

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 21:00:00 -0600

They went back in the morning because no one could think of anything else to do.

Bancroft was the one who wouldn’t let it go. Anister had said, at breakfast, in the flat voice he used when he was trying to be kind, that there wasn’t anything to go back for. She’s behind a wall we can’t move, Bancroft. She’s been behind it all night. Whatever’s happened has happened. And Bancroft had looked at his bowl of porridge and said, then at least we owe her the work of trying. Which was the kind of sentence that ended conversations rather than winning them, and so by the time the sun was properly up they were on the moor road again, Anister with a pickaxe over one shoulder, Bancroft with a sledgehammer across his own, and a new hireling walking behind them with a torch in either hand.

Shadowmaze -- Session 58 - Bancroft

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 21:00:00 -0600

🎲

The first thing Riyou did was throw fire.

She had a flask of jellied oil – the kind of thing you carried for weeks without thinking about and then needed in one specific second – and she lit it and chucked it underhand at the man at the front of the wedge. It caught him across the chest. The flame went up his shirt and onto his face and the two men flanking him took the splash and started slapping at their own arms. The lead man started screaming and didn’t stop.

Shadowmaze -- Session 57 - Bancroft

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 21:00:00 -0600

🎲

Bancroft got to Helix three days behind the others. The disease from the Huecuva had taken longer to shake than the priests of St. Ygg had promised, and by the time he walked through the gates he was light on coin, heavy on fatigue, and already behind on what mattered.

Shadowmaze -- Session 56 - Bancroft

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 21:00:00 -0600

🎲

Four new faces at the entrance to the barrow. Bancroft sized them up the way his father had sized up hired hands at harvest – which ones would last the day, which ones would wander off, which ones would break something expensive. The halfling was interesting. Small, careful hands, a crossbow that looked recently oiled, and a leather case of bottles and powders that marked him as an apothecary. The others were what they were: bodies. Warm ones, for now.

Shadowmaze -- March 24 - Irulan

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:00:00 -0600

We headed out to the skull door barrow (D10). As soon as I opened the door, a stack of skeleton heads tumbled loudly down the stairs. Somebody’s homemade alarm. I saw torch light at the bottom of the stairs, and let the others know. Nobody went through the door, so I closed it. It was raining out, so we just hung out, to see if they came out. After 20 minutes, I opened the door again. The light was gone and it was quiet, so we decided to give it a try. All was quiet until we got to the mongrel den, and there was the usual wolf growls and old lady yelling asking for help. We ignored them and went to listen at the doors to the west.

Shadowmaze -- Session 55 - Bancroft

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:00:00 -0600

🎲

The necromancer fled north through the barrow, and the cleric followed.

The cleric had been dizzy since the last fight. He felt as if his head were filled with something thin and wrong, like air that had been breathed too many times. The barrow would occasionally shimmer at the edges of his vision, the walls going soft and then hard again, and he could not tell if it was the blood loss or the dark or just the way this place worked on a man after long enough inside it. His faith felt like a well that someone had drawn from too often. Once, not so long ago, it had answered every prayer. Now it was the barrow, where nothing answered but the dead.

Shadowmaze -- March 17 - Irulan

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 17:00:00 -0600

Bancroft and I chased the necromancer up the hallway to the north. Then Bancroft’s light spell died and I heard the necromancer cast a spell to the south, then it hit me. I yelled at Bancroft that this was his damned mission from god I was being injured for, and he walked right by the necromancer. I heard the necromancer grunt, so I figured he jumped over the pit trap down the west hallway. Lerwin came up the hallway and I lit a torch off of his. He said Seacrock was dead.

Shadowmaze -- Session 54 - Bancroft

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 21:00:00 -0600

Nine of them at the skull door. Four who had been here before, five who hadn’t. The five were men from the Gray Company – Gallo, Larwyn, Tolm, Tarsil, and Kholix the torchbearer – and they stood at the entrance with the expression of people who had been told what was down there but hadn’t believed it yet.

Irulan braced the crowbar into the stone frame and pulled. The door gave with a grinding protest and wanted to close again, heavy and slow, like something that didn’t want to be opened and would fix the problem on its own if you let it. Inside, the mechanism had been packed with rocks. Someone had been here since last time. Rocks, and at the center of the pile, a dead rat arranged with its teeth bared at whoever reached in – taxidermied, posed, someone’s idea of a joke.

Shadowmaze -- March 10 - Irulan

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:00:00 -0600

We went through the no longer secret door, which is now disabled, by levering it open with a crowbar. We checked the statue room to the south, now blessedly rat free. Bancroft insisted in climbing down the pit for some reason, and found a dagger under the bones. We headed north. As we were checking previously looted burial alcoves, we were accosted by two gem skeletons. Sylvanus abandoned Bancroft, and he wasn’t able to turn them. Riyou downed one with two mighty bowshots from ten feet up, clinging to the burial alcoves with her feet. I wasn’t able to hit the gem to crush it, too small a target on the ground.

Shadowmaze -- Session 53 - Vrak

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:00:00 -0600

Vrak
#

The sword was right there. You could see it glowing from across the room – white, steady, the kind of light that says valuable in a language anyone can read. All we had to do was cross a room full of animated stone lizardmen, climb a ten-foot statue, and swap it for a different sword before anything went wrong.

Shadowmaze -- March 9 - Morrigan

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 17:00:00 -0600

The next day, I got together with a new group from the Grey Company after getting myself checked out by a St. Ygg priest for piece of mind. An elf mage, Serie, and four newbies: Pippin (halfling), Thrain (dwarf), Caleb (human), and Vrak (half orc). I quizzed them all on their dedication to be adventurers, and warned them that it was not a walk in the park. They insisted they were prepared. I oped for an easy start, and we went to the barrow (D9) with the golems and stairs down to an altar. We can check out the stairs and see if we can find a way to drain the water.

Shadowmaze -- Session 52

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 21:00:00 -0600

Bancroft was lying on the stone floor.

He had been lying there since the spider. He knew this in the abstract – the spider bite, the paralysis, Irulan cutting him down from the web, the floor coming up. He hadn’t planned to land face-first. That was just how things went.

The stone was cold against his cheek. He could see the grain of it – the fossil-something embedded in the limestone, the dust settled into the low spots over a few hundred years of quiet. The skeleton’s bag was two feet from his outstretched right hand. He’d been staring at that bag since Irulan cut him down. It hadn’t moved.

Shadowmaze -- March 3 - Irulan

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:00:00 -0600

Seacrock and I rounded the corner, charging after Riyou’s kidnappers. Seacrock was unable to put the necromancer or the mongrel to sleep. The mongrel ran off carrying Riyou, who started to struggle. As the mongrel ran out of sight, I saw Riyou heroically stab the mongrel. The necromancer ran off, and I followed him into a small room, where he’d turned into three of himself. I shot, and one of the images disappeared. Seacrock cast magic missile, and the other image disappeared. The necromancer actually walked by me instead of attacking me, and failed to cast a spell at Seacrock. I dropped the bow and swung my sword at him, wounding him. Then the coward ran into the dark. We pursued. I hoped the dropped bow would show Bancroft where we went.

Shadowmaze -- Feb 24 - irulan

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 21:00:00 -0600

On the way out the barrow, we were confronted by another adventuring group of 9 people with slings, insinuating we were wounded and had treasure to steal. Bancroft gave them the demanded 5 gold and urged us to listen to wisdom. Seacrock and I reluctantly threw 5 gold each down in the dirt, both vowing if we saw them again, we’d murder them. Riyou refused, and got a mess of slingshots aimed at her. She went down unconscious, Bancroft picked her up, and we left, me growling while I memorized their faces.

Shadowmaze -- Session 51

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 21:00:00 -0600

Bancroft
#

Four people walked into the Brazen Strumpet the night before. A human, a dwarf, a half-orc, and a halfling – new to town, down on their luck, the kind of people who end up in Helix when the road runs out somewhere else. They arrived separately and ended up at the same table, which might have been luck or might have been that people with empty pockets recognize each other without having to ask.

Shadowmaze -- Feb 23 - Morrigan

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:00:00 -0600

Roderick gave me a dagger to pop the door open before the acid burned the mechanism out. I yelled at Vorn and Cade to help open the door the rest of the way, after I got it open 6 inches by ratcheting the gears with the dagger. They whined about light, so Roderick lit the end of a piece of rope from the lantern and and stuck the end through the door, so they could light a torch. They tried to shove, but didn’t move the door. I pushed and shoved, and got the door open. Apparently, I have to do everything. The door won’t stay, though, so I used Roderick’s shovel to brace the door open. He’s the only one with useful gear.

Shadowmaze -- Session 50

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:00:00 -0600

Vorn
#

Cade and I had been standing outside the barrow for a while. Which, strictly speaking, put us on the right side of things – fresh air, no immediate monsters, exit readily accessible. Our employers were on the other side of a sealed stone door doing something complicated with mechanisms, which is where the dead things are. We could hear them but not help. Standard arrangement, really.

Shadowmaze - Irulan - Session 49

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 21:02:42 -0600

I drew the 8 of swords this morning: all tangled up, unable to see clearly. Now I have to figure out what we’re tangled up in that we’re not seeing clearly. Riyou wandered off again, so we inspected the hirelings presenting themselves. We’ll need the extra help because Bancroft insisted he had a mission from his god, and he wouldn’t heal us unless we helped. I’m amazed the farmer even knew what extortion was. We hired all but one torch bearer that had a wet sack with flies buzzing around it and a dead smell following him. We saw a bunch of giant frogs in a pond on the way, but they didn’t look hungry, so we edged around them.

Shadowmaze -- Session 49

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 21:00:00 -0600

Bancroft
#

The morning was cold and gray in Helix. Bancroft woke early, already thinking about the barrows.

They had hired five henchmen from the Gray Company – a local band who took on lesser jobs while their better-equipped brethren sought greater treasures. Nine gold for the lot. Bancroft hoped it would be money well spent.

Gillix and Ragnar were both mute – Gillix with a spear and a battered Viking helmet and a habit of gesturing at people’s crotches that Bancroft decided not to ask about, Ragnar with a crossbow and a quiet devotion to St. Ygg. Hengest was the torchbearer, a big man who talked enough for all of them. Landersooth carried a club and smelled of fish and kept looking over his shoulder. “They can’t find you in there, right?” he said, when asked why he was coming. And Mordu – burned badly down his left side, the skin still raw. When someone offered him a torch, he told them where to put it. The nerves were too close. Bancroft understood that.

Shadowmaze - Irulan - Session 48

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:02:42 -0600

One scorpion tried to hit a statue, but just scraped it. Bancroft ran to the slab and threw the other bowl of gems on top of the first scorpion. The statue next to me hit me. The other statue went for Bancroft, not the scorpion with the gems on it, but it missed. Then the light went out. I could hear the scorpions scraping against the statues, but it didn’t sound like they were doing any damage. Bancroft yelled to grab the gem and run, then threw something towards the entrance. I heard something shatter, presumably the vase. I lit a torch, and moved to put it on the slab. Bancroft and I watched the statues and scorpions go at each other. With all the scorpions in the barrow, the stairs were clear.

Shadowmaze -- Session 48

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:00:00 -0600

Bancroft
#

🎲

Two barrow guardians. Three giant scorpions. One doorway, blocked by a wall of chitin and stone. Bancroft’s mind raced through the options the way a drowning man’s hands search for something to grab.

“The gems!” he shouted. His mama had always told him to focus on the important things in life, and right now the important thing was this: the guardians had come alive to protect the treasure. Maybe they’d chase it. And if the scorpions wanted to eat something, maybe they would settle for fighting stone instead of flesh.

Shadowmaze -- Session 47

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 17:48:57 -0600

Vorn
#

Look, I’m not an adventurer. I want to be clear about that up front. I dig holes, I carry things, and I try very hard not to die. The pay is decent when you factor in the hazard, which is the only reason I keep signing up for these jobs.

Shadowmaze - Morrigan - Session 47

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Aura and I discussed our brilliant plan to shoot the book with an arrow with a rope attached, and pull the rope with gloves on, so we weren’t actually touching the book or anything attached to the book. Pulling the book on the rope worked, but the arrow loosened when I gently pulled it to the stairs. As we started, Knutella and five new adventurers from our group wandered in. Aura kept shooting it, I kept pulling the rope. We couldn’t get it up the stairs. We needed a ramp. Roderick suggested shoveling dirt on the stairs to make a ramp. We shot two arrows in, pulled with the rope. At the top of the stairs, we tugged the book onto my cloak, tied an end of the rope to the cloak, and pulled the book back to town on the cloak. It was unstable and took forever, and on the way, three giant toads appeared. We sidled around them, adding to our time.

Shadowmaze -- Session 46

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 21:00:51 -0600

Bancroft
#

The news had reached Helix three days prior: Wyz the goblin wizard, along with Alandor and Perch, had vanished into that accursed book in the barrows. Touched it together, holding hands like children afraid of the dark, and one by one they had been swallowed by shadows. Morrigan and Aura had watched it happen, helpless.

Shadowmaze -- Session 46

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 21:00:51 -0600

Today’s card was the Queen of Swords, wisdom, clearness, determination. Wisdom isn’t my strong point. After a day of cards with Bancroft, the next day we decided to go dig (D23). We heard frogs in the distance, and two showed up about an hour into digging. I think they wanted the dog for lunch. The dog dodged their tongues. I one-shot one of them. The other one hopped away, finding lunch wasn’t so easy as it thought. We got back to digging, and thought we were close to finding the entrance when we were accosted by six zombies. They were sniffing, so they probably wanted to eat the dead frog. We went back to town and left them to it.

Shadowmaze -- Session 45

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 21:02:42 -0600

Bancroft
#

The screaming started with the dog.

Bancroft was deep in a dreamless sleep when the sound reached him–a frantic, high-pitched barking from down the hall, followed by the crash of something heavy hitting a door. Then came Seacrock’s voice, raw with panic, echoing through the thin walls of the inn.

Shadowmaze -- Session 44

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 17:00:58 -0600

Before setting out, Alandor tucked his precious “gryphon egg” beneath his bed, hiding it among the dust and shadows where prying eyes wouldn’t think to look. The old man had grown attached to the thing, whatever it truly was.

The trouble began at the village gates. Two guards in the livery of St. Ygg blocked Alandor’s path, their eyes fixed on his shield.

Shadowmaze -- Session 43

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 20:58:36 -0600

Bancroft
#

The jingle of coins in his purse was a happy, heavy sound, a promise of steel and safety. Bancroft, his mind as clear and simple as a summer sky, had a singular purpose. “I have enough,” he’d declared to his friends, his voice booming with the certainty of a man who has counted his treasure and found it sufficient. “We go to Ironguard Motte. I’m getting my plate mail!”

Shadowmaze -- Session 42

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 19:29:25 -0600

The morning after their return from the shadowmaze, Wyz gathered his companions in his cramped room at the inn. The goblin’s scarred fingers trembled slightly as he worked the clasp on the scrollcase they had recovered from the rats’ nest–whether from anticipation or exhaustion, none could say.

“Stand back,” Wyz commanded. “And try not to breathe too heavily. You’ll contaminate the arcane residue.”

Shadowmaze -- Session 41

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 20:46:35 -0600

Bancroft
#

The first blow that day came with the ordinary violence of the barrowmaze–bloody, sudden, and oddly intimate. Bancroft planted his feet, cursing his missing shield, and brought his sword down across a shambling zombie’s shoulder. The thing snarled with a voice like dry leaves and spun, its filthy claws raking the cleric’s forearm.

“By Sylvanus,” Bancroft gasped, tasting iron, but he kept his footing. Irulan stepped forward without hesitation, her blade ringing true as it bit into rotten tendon. Riyou’s arrow sang from the shadows and struck the creature between its shoulder and chest, driving it to its knees.

Shadowmaze -- Session 40

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 20:46:35 -0600

The morning sun cast long shadows across Helix as Bancroft made his way through the town’s winding streets, his mind turning over an intriguing conversation from the previous evening. He had encountered a small goblin wizard–scarred and bearing himself with the cold authority of one who had gazed beyond death’s veil–who spoke of an animated serpent trapped near the rats’ nest in the shadowmaze.

“An animated snake, you say?” Bancroft had mused, his farmer’s practicality already working through the possibilities. “Made of brass and steel?”

Shadowmaze -- Session 39

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 19:29:25 -0600

The shadowmaze beckoned once more, and Wyz–still bearing the wicked scar across his belly from his previous near-death experience–gathered his “recalcitrant minions” for another descent into darkness. The goblin wizard’s eyes held that same cold fire that had burned there since his miraculous return from the depths, and his companions could sense that something fundamental had changed in their diminutive leader.

“We return to the chamber with the statues,” Wyz announced, his voice carrying an authority that brooked no argument. “There is a rat infestation that requires… methodical attention.”

Shadowmaze -- Session 38

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 20:54:20 -0600

The morning after their devastating encounter with the mimics found the survivors nursing both wounds and wounded pride. Druidly’s absence hung over them like a shroud, but the barrowmaze waited for no one’s grief. Bancroft had managed to recruit four new souls willing to risk their lives for treasure–though their qualifications remained questionable at best.

“Right then,” Bancroft announced with his characteristic optimism, shouldering a shovel alongside his sword. “Fresh start, fresh barrow. Sylvanus teaches us that from death comes new growth.”

Shadowmaze -- Session 37

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 20:44:39 -0600

The morning found their company diminished but determined. Druidly, the half-orc wizard whose arcane studies had served them well, shouldered his pack with the quiet confidence of one who had mastered the mysteries of sleep and flame. “The swamp barrow,” he declared, adjusting his spell components. “Those frogs won’t catch us unprepared again.”

Bancroft nodded with the simple enthusiasm that marked all his endeavors. Despite his farmer’s origins–or perhaps because of them–he approached each challenge with the same methodical care he had once given to planting seasons. “Sylvanus teaches us that all creatures have their place,” he said, hefting his sword. “Even giant frogs.”

Shadowmaze -- Session 36

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 21:19:44 -0600

Bancroft staggered through Helix’s gates like a man touched by plague, his once-proud bearing reduced to a shambling gait. Yellow mold clung to his skin in sickly patches, and his head bore fresh dents from their harrowing escape. Most telling of all, his jeweled sword–the blade that had marked him as more than a simple farmer–was gone, lost to the maze’s hungry darkness.

One by one, his companions limped back to town, each bearing their own wounds and disappointments. Irulan clutched the elvish longsword they had claimed from the statue at such terrible cost, but her face was grim. “The magic’s gone,” she reported, watching the blade’s ornate surface catch the lamplight without so much as a glimmer. “Pretty enough still, but no more than decoration now.”

Shadowmaze -- Session 35

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 17:06:42 -0600

The shadowmaze had claimed its victims, and now it hungered for more.

After the chaos of the previous session–where skeletal warriors had burst from concealment and Wyz’s own caltrops had become a treacherous obstacle course–the survivors found themselves scattered and desperate. The cunning goblin wizard’s plan to destroy the reforming skeleton had failed spectacularly, leaving him face-to-face with his undead nemesis as torchlight flickered and died around them.

Shadowmaze -- Session 34

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 20:39:18 -0600

The stone walls of the Barrowmaze pressed close around Bancroft and his companions, their only known exit sealed shut by mechanisms beyond their understanding. Behind them, the chittering of giant rats grew louder, echoing through the narrow passages like the whispers of death itself. With nowhere to retreat, Bancroft hefted his sword and shield, calling upon Sylvanus for strength as the party formed a defensive line. The rats, however, seemed to sense their desperation. As the adventurers stood ready for battle, the vermin’s courage faltered. One by one, they melted back into the shadows, leaving only the sound of distant scurrying and the party’s ragged breathing.

Characters

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 21:09:20 -0600

Monday Group
#

Wyz (2nd level goblin wizard): A cunning but inexperienced goblin wizard, he considers his party to be recalcitrant minions.
Knutella: A member of the Monday group who has proven resilient in the face of the barrowmaze’s dangers.
Morrigan (1st level thief): Originally from Threshold, she is in Helix hiding from her family and the law, not necessarily in that order. Now a member of the thieves’ guild in Ironguard Motte.

Shadowmaze -- Session 33

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 20:42:57 -0600

The weight of debt pressed upon Bancroft’s shoulders like a funeral shroud. The church of St Ygg had demanded payment for their divine intervention–the Cure Disease that had saved him from the festering rot of a rat’s bite. Now penniless, the former farmer trudged through the rain-slicked streets to the soup kitchens, his chainmail gleaming incongruously among the ragged masses. His jeweled sword marked him as a man fallen from grace, a warrior reduced to begging for scraps.

Shadowmaze -- Session 32

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 17:18:17 -0600

The party found themselves in yet another chamber of the accursed shadowmaze, their nerves already frayed from countless encounters with the dungeon’s malevolent inhabitants. Wyz, ever the cautious scout, pressed his pointed ear against the southeastern door, straining to catch any telltale sounds beyond. Meanwhile, his companions busied themselves searching the room for hidden treasures or traps, their movements creating a soft symphony of rustling gear and whispered observations.

Shadowmaze -- Session 31

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 20:31:00 -0600

Just as the party thought their situation couldn’t grow more desperate, the northern door burst open and two terrified townsfolk stumbled into their chamber–Ibri and Itchi, their faces pale with fear and their clothes torn from their own flight through the rat-infested passages. These were clearly not adventurers; their wide eyes and trembling hands spoke of ordinary folk who had somehow found themselves trapped in this nightmare maze. What business could have possibly brought them into these deadly depths?

Shadowmaze -- Session 30

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 20:42:17 -0500

The session began with an unexpected moment of levity as Irulan found herself locked in a battle of wits with Keelgo, a gruff dwarf from the Outriders of Uleck. What started as casual tavern banter quickly escalated into an elaborate exchange of “yo momma” insults that had the entire common room in stitches. By the end of their verbal sparring match, the two had developed a mutual respect and genuine friendship, proving that sometimes the best bonds are forged through good-natured mockery.

Shadowmaze -- Session 29

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 19:44:02 -0500

We lowered ourselves into the barrowmaze on a block and tackle – slow, steady, and sensible. The lamps swung and the ropes creaked while the sound of the surface faded. When our boots finally touched the packed earth below, the air was cold and smelled of old things. We pressed forward into unexplored corridors, careful to mark our path and avoid needless rushing.

Shadowmaze -- Session 28

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 01:57:30 -0500

Bancroft and his friends searched the area once the strangers had left. One of the nearby rooms had a table with three polished skulls sitting on top – very strange decor. Druidly thought they might be magical, so the party kept them. A few minutes after they finished searching, a group of adventurers came from a door to the south. There was a tense moment, with Druidly moving his hand toward his pouch of spell components, but the newcomers left without a fight.

Shadowmaze -- Session 27

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 21:55:18 -0500

Bancroft contemplated the holes in his gloves from handling gold coins over the past few days and the heavy weight of almost 400 silver coins in his backpack. After some thought he spent 200 sp to buy a chest and a master lock, put his remaining silver in the locked chest, and left it in his room at the inn.

Shadowmaze -- Session 26

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 17:49:26 -0500

Wyz grumbled and groaned. His minions refused to obey him and return to the tomb with the tome. They insisted on opening a new barrow! And of course it was filled with ghouls hiding behind a tapestry. The undead creatures swarmed, striking Lessa and Wyz. Perch blocked the blow with his shield, but the creatures ripped it off of his arm. Wyz fell unconscious, and Lessa just stared into space, paralyzed with horror. Perch grabbed Wyz and fled with his unconscious body, leaving Lessa with a frozen look of horror on her face. After a moment the small halfling vanished from sight, confusing the ghouls, but they quickly followed the rest of the group.

Shadowmaze -- Session 25

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 21:45:59 -0500

The scorpion grabbed at the sleeping toad with its pincer, but the claw splashed uselessly in the water. The stinger followed but was deflected by the toad’s tough hide. Somehow the toad slept on.

Bancroft stepped in to swing at the scorpion but missed as the magical light from the last of Helfa’s stones faded. Lacking other options he moved toward the barrow entrance.

Shadowmaze -- Session 24

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 21:00:54 -0500

Bancroft stepped forward with his sling and delivered a rock into a vulnerable point in the scorpion’s chitin, which oozed greyish ichor. Furious at losing its meal and the injury, the scorpion advanced back into the barrow. Bruzra claimed the sling and bag of stones from Bancroft to use in ranged attacks while he prepared to defend with sword and shield.

Shadowmaze -- Session 23

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 18:58:16 -0500

Wyz studied his spells while his friends caroused. Then, he studied his spells while they slept it off, pausing occasionally to try to kick them awake. Finally, they woke up, complaining of hangovers, and the group blearily set off for the barrowmaze.

Before even reaching the barrows, four giant frogs hopped to the attack from ambush. The rest of the group were surprised, but Wyz had his goblin wariness to protect him, and reacted quickly. Two of the four frogs fell into enchanted slumber, but four of his party did too.

Shadowmaze -- Session 22

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 12:27:47 -0500

This time the plan came from Druidly: lure rats to the entrance one by one, put them to sleep with a spell, then finish them. The idea worked for precisely one rat; the rest fled deeper into the barrow.

A few steps farther in they found more rats. Druidly’s attempts at communication were wasted – the party suspected the rats did not understand Common. He cast a magical missile to strike a sleeping rat he found, killing it. Two rats down and so far no party wounds.

Shadowmaze -- Session 21

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 21:21:26 -0500

The squad of risen skeletons advanced upon Bancroft. Two bore sword and shield, closing to melee, while the rest took up positions with bows. Bancroft once again called upon the power of nature to turn them back. One of the sword-wielders fled, but the others remained intent, and their arrows struck from the darkness. Bancroft staggered back up the stairs; their aim would suffer in the light of day.

Shadowmaze -- Session 20

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 19:25:54 -0500

Wyz stabbed the skeleton next to him in the back and fled out the entrance of the barrow. Wizards have no business on the front lines of a fight and he was too smart to die. Let his minions face the skeletons.

El Vis stepped up promptly, matching action to thought. His great sword struck the skeleton that Wyz had already stabbed and shattered it into bone fragments.

Shadowmaze -- Session 19

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 05:41:04 -0500

One day of carousing quickly turned into two. Bancroft woke the next morning with his head lying on the dirt, a tuft of grass for a pillow. Despite the alcohol he felt surprisingly refreshed; a deeper sense of connection to the earth filled him. A night spent outside of town had done him good.

The fog of alcohol blurred his memories of the prior night, but he had been separated from his companions earlier in the evening. It did not take long to find them: they were occupying the stocks in the center of town next to Druidly, who had attempted to burn down the wizard Mazzah’s tower the night before. Apparently further adventure would have to wait.

Shadowmaze -- Session 18

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 05:41:04 -0500

Somehow Druidly dodged the bandit’s blows long enough to put half a dozen of them into a magical sleep. Those left promptly returned the favor and he fell unconscious. While the bandit leader shouted, rats crept up from behind. He screamed as they swarmed him but lived long enough to flee toward the stairs, ordering his followers to keep Druidly inside the barrow.

Shadowmaze -- Session 17

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 02:25:15 -0500

From the top of one barrow, a small green figure cursed and wrung his hands as he watched distant figures crawled around the entrance to another. “My book, my book. My book. Those bastards are going to steal my book!” Hanging from his belt were the implements of a wizard. Especially a new looking scroll case, ink jar, quill pen, rare items worth gold in a town the size of Helix. The adventurers at the distant borough had been their first that day, and laid their claim. The small goblin knew that discretion was the better part of valor. They would have no better chance than he To make use of the book. Indeed, they were likely to disappear themselves trying to take it. For now, there was nothing to do but wait and investigate the next barrow. Wiz fingered the small bone hilted dagger he had claimed as part of his treasure hoard, at least until it could be identified properly.

Shadowmaze -- Session 16

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 21:45:29 -0500

Bancroft held the door closed until the sounds of fighting died down. It didn’t take long, just enough time for a quick prayer to Sylvanus to heal Gravelgnasher and relight some torches. The fighting had ended, but there were still rats outside from the sounds, just not trying to open the secret door. In the relative quiet, Bancroft heard a metallic clanking and scraping coming from further into the room, below the floor. Suspecting a pit trap, he poked and prodded at the floor nearby, finding a section in the center of the room that pivoted. There was something moving in the pit.

Shadowmaze -- Session 15

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 22:34:40 -0500

Bancroft and his friends returned to the barrowmaze and inspected two barrows to the far north. Each burial mound had a pair of bronze doors. One set was ornate, bearing symbols of Nergal that matched those on a freestanding pillar to the south; those doors resisted their attempts to open them. Careful inspection revealed a pentagram that could be shifted to reveal a keyhole, but they had no key and any attempts to force the doors resulted in magical repair.

Shadowmaze -- Session 14

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 20:26:25 -0500

Wyz paced back and forth in his room at the inn, keeping himself awake and annoying El Vis who was sharing the room. The book of magic haunted his dreams and waking thoughts alike. Who could say what secrets might lurk within? Yet, it was hardly safe to brave the barrowmaze alone. When the others were finally ready to return, they weren’t interested in going after the book. Instead, the barrow with the ooze was chosen for a return visit. Humans say humans smart, but Wyz knows better. Humans are dumb.

Shadowmaze -- Session 13

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 01:38:25 -0500

Bancroft stood atop the barrow and looked down upon the tilled earth with satisfaction. Weeks of effort to uncover a fresh barrow had finally paid off: the door had been uncovered, revealing a chamber with four sarcophagi and many giant centipedes. The initial expedition had slain several of the centipedes but not enough, so the entryway had been buried again to keep other parties away. Now it would be dug up, the thin coating of earth removed, the centipedes slain if they were lucky, and whatever treasures the sarcophagi held reclaimed.

Shadowmaze -- Session 12

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 21:42:15 -0500

Bancroft stood atop the barrow and watched his friends dig. Someone had borrowed his shovel and there were not enough to go around, so he kept watch. It was almost like watching crops grow – slow and steady. Occasionally a frog, scorpion, or skeleton wandered in the distance, but the dig continued until, at last, the clink of shovel on stone resounded: the diggers had uncovered a door.

The sound attracted attention. Two frogs hopped up to investigate. Tohru squinted at them, then stepped forward and performed the improvised mating dance she had used before; astonishingly, one frog paused and watched, while Bancroft threw his pitchfork and struck the other in the eye. The rest of the party rained blows on it, and it died. The remaining frog lost interest and fled.

Shadowmaze -- Session 11

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 23:33:14 -0500

Wyz the smart goblin and a dozen of his closest friends lined up for the barrowmaze, enduring the cold rain. In point of fact, only two of them were very close, the rest were near strangers. But he’d been watching them; choosing them carefully, selecting those who seemed the most competent. One in particular, a dwarven cleric of Fortuna, seemed to have actual supernatural powers. The rest would do for cannon fodder.

Shadowmaze -- Session 10

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 23:33:14 -0500

Bancroft and his companions returned to the barrowmaze, where they began their investigation with a barrow sealed by a stone door. The party examined the heavy stone barrier, but quickly realized their crowbars would be insufficient to force it open - they would need sledgehammers or similar heavy tools that none of them had brought along.

The group proceeded to the next barrow, where Bancroft observed stone doors inlaid with bronze highlights. A wax seal suggested the contents were still intact. After much discussion among the party, Ovarf broke the seal, which melted to the floor. The moment they wrenched the doors open, a hideous moan emerged from the barrow, and Bancroft fled with the rest of his companions.

Shadowmaze -- Session 9

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 23:33:14 -0500

Wyz the goblin waited by the side of the road, wringing his hands. His friends had left for the barrowmaze that morning as many aspiring adventurers did. That was hours ago. Now the slow trudge of discouraged feet returning to town rang loudly in his ears. There had been no sign of his friends. As each new group returned. Wyz clutched at sleeves, asked for news, collected whatever tales he could of the horrors that lay beneath the earth. From any that would indulge him, he collected details, facts. Specific barrows, specific creatures, partial tales of treasures found.

Shadowmaze -- Session 8

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 03:42:07 -0500

The adventuring party continued their exploration of the barrowmaze, beginning by excavating a barrow while discussing the construction of a rope ladder for safer descent into the main complex. Using their makeshift ladder, they discovered both old and fresh corpses near the entrance, stripped of gear and flesh except for bone fragments. Their search yielded only a modest pouch containing ten copper pieces.

Shadowmaze -- Session 7

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 21:42:22 -0500

Our group went out to the barrowmaze. Two of my friends, Sidney and Khezzean, stayed to dig; Xanrion the haberdasher and I went to take a closer look at a tomb where others had found a pair of nice vases. That tomb contained a wicker frame surrounding a decaying body. One of the others, actually with a sword and armor, cut off its head. I expected it to rise up and kill us, but the body remained dead. We found nothing of any value, though.

Shadowmaze -- Session 6

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 03:26:52 -0500

Finally! Having saved a perfect round number of 100 silver coins as seed money, it was time to seek my fortune in the barrowmaze.

Three of my friends were ready to stake their lives on the chance for fortune as well. One of them, a haberdasher, managed to sell two of his fancy hats on the open market and had even more gold burning a hole in his pocket than my silvers worth of savings. Even pooling our money would not be enough to obtain real armor or weapons, but we could afford small luxuries: extra torches, a sling for all four of us, rope, crowbars. Rumor had it that crowbars worked well for prying open the shallow barrows likely to hold untapped treasures near the surface. My group of friends and some other newish adventurers decided we would try that.

Shadowmaze -- Session 5

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 00:29:44 -0500

Bancroft and Darmek queued for the barrowmaze with about eight in their group. The day began poorly: they were ambushed by six giant frogs before reaching the barrows. The party ran; three frogs pursued, then only one. They managed to kill that frog, but the group was exhausted and retreated to Helix with nothing to show.

The next day they returned and retrieved the possessions of a fallen companion, then selected a barrow to open. Halfway through removing the slab blocking the entrance they were attacked by several giant scorpions; Darmek and Uthlynk fell during the retreat. They escaped, disheartened and empty‑handed.

Shadowmaze -- Session 4

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 01:09:36 -0500

I was right. That absurd cloak the halfling had turned out to be worth several gold. Which I promptly turned into equipment. I picked up a Lantern and some oil crowbars. The rope and grappling hook from one of the other dead men Completed the additional loadout. We recruited a few new fellows to replace the Fallen and went back out to the Barrow maze the next day.

Shadowmaze -- Death Toll

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 12:19:56 -0500

Orin got a scorpion tail through the chest
Whoodelf the halfling died from the scorpions
Knutsachson is no more. The noble line of Knutsach is dead…
Brak Odo was killed by a skeleton with a gem in its forehead.
So was Cronuk
… and Jiiib
Steelf the dwarf died when the gem skelly reanimated the first time (mission not accomplished)
Jaggo died to his deceased zombie wife Ethel, by strangulation, a practice the two had enjoyed consensually in life
Vinrin the Halfling was strangled by Ethel the Zombie, non-consensually
Borgo dies to a disembodied zombie hand he took with him while running from the rest of the zombie
Darmek dies to a giant scorpion
Ushlynk died to the same one
Becca falls to a skeleton archer on the way to the barrowmaze
Asa dies to a skeleton archer and leaves Rex bereft
Cami died to a pit trap with spikes and yellow mold
Deira dies to the skeleton archer
Xanrion and another member of our crew both die to a cursed book
Megumi died to yellow mold.
Merrythane almost but not quite avoids dying to the same book
Sidney died to a horde of skeletons
Khezzean died to the same horde
Ovarf died to a water weird
Salazar the gravedigger is consumed by a grey ooze
Sylas got et by the wizard of ooze
Elec got elected from the island by the ooze
Selfa died to a giant rat.
Gravelgnasher almost died to a giant scorpion.
Faolain fell to the rat horde. It’s all so Whong, who did too.
Druidly was almost killed by bandits, but was saved by two golden tickets.
Gemma fell to 5 skeletons because she was alone. The party recovered her body, and Bancroft held a funeral service.
Hannah fell to a skeleton’s arrow, and drowned before El Viz could rescue her.
El Viz died to the skeleton’s next arrow.
Squinch followed them faithfully into the afterlife.
Kethry died to four giant toads. She will rest in peace, even though Wiz was careful not to catch her in his spell effect.
Druidly’s dog, Mike, was killed by a giant scorpion.
Jaenelle drowns, crying out with her dying breath, “I have 33 gold in my purse… glugglugglug”
Ibri fell from a rope and dies. Her final words are “Please sell my hats to the highest bidder… don’t take less than 20gp.”
Theowyn was swallowed by a giant snake.
Fu falls to a skeleton, dropping her torch.
Indivian dies, all alone in the dark.
Ali dies by giant centipede. Her last words were “There’s some kind of corpse in the rubble…” She fucked around and found out.
Itchi is ambushed by two centipedes who woke from their slumber and dies.
Bruzra is ambushed by the same two centipedes a moment later and dies. She learned not to take naps in the dungeon.
Tohru fell to a blow from a stone statue. Her duck survived.
Mira falls to a sapphire skeleton, targeted for holding a torch.
Lessa falls to a sapphire skeleton, alone in the dark.
Druidly is eaten by a pack of mimics.
Luxsley got stoned.
Mirumi joined a rock band.
Wyz, Alandor, and Perch died to an infernal book.
Vorn, Cade and Roderick died to carnivorous horseflies and robed skeletons.
Pippin, Thrain, and Caleb fell to lizard-man statues.
Riyou squeezed through a wall of rubble, fell into a pit, and was poisoned to death by giant scorpions. Her body lies somewhere the rest of the party cannot reach.

Shadowmaze -- Session 3

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 20:57:47 -0500

The trip to the barrowmaze began on a solemn note: the party had lost friends in one of the barrows and needed to retrieve valuables from their bodies. The bodies themselves were not where the friends had fallen; something had dragged them into the barrow and a blood trail led the group onward.

Two of the party, those closest to the fallen, lit a torch and entered the barrow to search for remains and valuables. Nothing was simple. A zombie wandered near the entrance and then entered the barrow; the party’s archer failed to stop it and the creature surprised those inside.

Shadowmaze -- Session 2

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:40:33 -0500

Digging is boring. As a dwarf, I know that in my blood. I know that in my bones. I do it anyway because I’m a dwarf. And I stick to it even when other people wander off. When my group of would be adventurers started to dig open a Barrow they thought looked more likely than others to hold treasure. I kept at it. Before long, the halfling Vinrin got bored and wandered off to look into an open doorway. Bancroft, the farmer, followed him. I’m already wondering if I will ever see them again. The barrowmaze is known for swallowing people without a trace.

Shadowmaze -- Session 1

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 00:40:39 -0500

The barrowmaze opened today. Friends said to come help, get rich, and buy lots of drinks. Good friends. Bancroft followed. There was a line like a race, or like the market. When they reached the barrows, giant scorpions blocked the way; one of Bancroft’s friends was killed and the group fled. Afterward the party handed Bancroft a shovel and told him to dig. It was boring, like farming. He was used to farming, but had not signed up for adventures to dig holes. Still, someone must dig to search for treasure, and at least he was good at it.

The Shadowmaze Campaign on Old School Gamers

Shadowmaze -- Session 61 - Bancroft

Shadowmaze -- Session 60 - Bancroft

Shadowmaze -- Session 59 - Bancroft

Shadowmaze -- Session 58 - Bancroft

Shadowmaze -- Session 57 - Bancroft

Shadowmaze -- Session 56 - Bancroft

Shadowmaze -- March 24 - Irulan

Shadowmaze -- Session 55 - Bancroft

Shadowmaze -- March 17 - Irulan

Shadowmaze -- Session 54 - Bancroft

Shadowmaze -- March 10 - Irulan

Shadowmaze -- Session 53 - Vrak

Vrak #

Shadowmaze -- March 9 - Morrigan

Shadowmaze -- Session 52

Shadowmaze -- March 3 - Irulan

Shadowmaze -- Feb 24 - irulan

Shadowmaze -- Session 51

Bancroft #

Shadowmaze -- Feb 23 - Morrigan

Shadowmaze -- Session 50

Vorn #

Shadowmaze - Irulan - Session 49

Shadowmaze -- Session 49

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Shadowmaze - Irulan - Session 48

Shadowmaze -- Session 48

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Shadowmaze -- Session 47

Vorn #

Shadowmaze - Morrigan - Session 47

Shadowmaze -- Session 46

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Shadowmaze -- Session 46

Shadowmaze -- Session 45

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Shadowmaze -- Session 44

Shadowmaze -- Session 43

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Shadowmaze -- Session 42

Shadowmaze -- Session 41

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Shadowmaze -- Session 40

Shadowmaze -- Session 39

Shadowmaze -- Session 38

Shadowmaze -- Session 37

Shadowmaze -- Session 36

Shadowmaze -- Session 35

Shadowmaze -- Session 34

Characters

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Shadowmaze -- Session 33

Shadowmaze -- Session 32

Shadowmaze -- Session 31

Shadowmaze -- Session 30

Shadowmaze -- Session 29

Shadowmaze -- Session 28

Shadowmaze -- Session 27

Shadowmaze -- Session 26

Shadowmaze -- Session 25

Shadowmaze -- Session 24

Shadowmaze -- Session 23

Shadowmaze -- Session 22

Shadowmaze -- Session 21

Shadowmaze -- Session 20

Shadowmaze -- Session 19

Shadowmaze -- Session 18

Shadowmaze -- Session 17

Shadowmaze -- Session 16

Shadowmaze -- Session 15

Shadowmaze -- Session 14

Shadowmaze -- Session 13

Shadowmaze -- Session 12

Shadowmaze -- Session 11

Shadowmaze -- Session 10

Shadowmaze -- Session 9

Shadowmaze -- Session 8

Shadowmaze -- Session 7

Shadowmaze -- Session 6

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