AD&D Session 17: Dealing with the Gnomes

This session our heroes decided that they didn't like the Gnomes to the north and that they would very much like their treasure. Since Sir Goldborn's player couldn't make it, they didn't have anyone stopping them from exercising some gray morality. In the party were Kai the Druid, Soldier Number One, and Kleptos the thief plus his bodyguard. In Borgogazze, the party again hanged around the barracks borough to search for some hirelings. They manage to find a sizable company of crossbowmen and hire a few of them to their service.

The party now make their way through mostly hilly terrain and come at the ruined village where the entrance to the Gnomes' lair was. They warily make camp and wait for the next day to come. This time there are no monsters in the night.

Next morning, the party goes into the dungeon. They move quickly toward the room where they remember the shrieking giant mushrooms being, being careful to hold their light back as much as possible.

As many ranged fighters as possible are let into the room and take position in the dark. Then a light is lit, a Faerie Fire goes off from Kai, and the silouettes of four giant mushrooms come into view! The mushrooms start shrieking! Everyone starts firing! While this happens, the thief checks the exits of the room to make sure no-one is coming, eventually hearing steps coming from the north. He alerts the party, who are just finishing off the last giant mushroom with missiles.

Tipped off about the enemies coming from the north, the party position themselves into the corridor and prepare for a fight there. They get charged by 8 angry Gnomes! A melee ensues. The party employ rank-based hit and retreat tactics: when the fighters in the front take damage, they get swapped with fresh characters.

An Insect Swarm spell goes off, which is relatively ineffective. But Gnomes are dropping left and right, with no casualties for our heros. The Gnomes make their first morale check at 75% strength, morale is good. The fight goes on and a second morale check is triggered. At this point, the Gnomes completely surrender.

The druid can speak Gnomish, so he mediates. He gets the Gnomes to hand over all their treasure: 100 p.p. and 750 e.p. Also they are questioned about who else is inhabiting this dungeon and how big the Gnome colony is. The Gnomes answer that there are some marauding Orcs this dungeon level. The Gnomes are just the vanguard of a much larger Gnome community of about 250-300 individuals (DM filling in here... I didn't have a cogent answer at the time of the session) spread throughout the lower levels of the dungeon. The Gnomes are primarily fungi-cultivators.

The party decides to not harass the Gnomes further and goes home with their treasure.