OSE Play Report: Temple of the Lizard God

I've had this one in my drafts for a month or two. This is a game I played in (as the Wizard) rather than ran.

The town council of Elgard Valley was concerned about lizardmen sneaking around the ruined temple outside of town. They hired four adventurers to check the place out.

• Faldo the Fighter
• Robert the Wizard
• Seva the Cleric
• Varik the Dwarf

The adventurers negotiated partial payment up front and investigated local rumors about the temple. They heard it was dedicated to prehistoric gods, that clerics weren't allowed inside, that it was a portal for prehistoric spirits, and it was full of jade jewelry.

It was a five hour hike from the village to the temple. An enormous viper attacked Varik during the hike, but was hacked to pieces by the rest of the gang before it could bite him. The temple was a huge basalt structure. Varik scouted ahead, finding a tapestry of the Snake God Dyniss depicted as a frilled lizard with a trident. The temple interior held statues and a window looking out on an adjacent outdoor area. The outdoor space had another statue with an offering bowl. The rest of the gang stood watch while Varik probed the statue with his 10' pole and it shot a random bolt of lightning, narrowly missing him.

A group of lizardmen rushed out of the temple and attacked the party, savaging Faldo. Robert cast Sleep and knocked out the lizards. The gang took potions and trinkets off the unconscious reptiles, dispatched most of them and tied one up for interrogation. The bound lizard immediately spat poison in Robert's face, temporarily blinding him. He no-sold the attack, acting like he could still see. That combined with his rudimentary grasp of the lizard language was enough to persuade it to explain the master plan: the lizard chief had died and the Shaman Thuth was going to take over the tribe. He'd bring back the old ones and the humans would cower before them.

The adventurers entered the temple and found a handful of jade carvings, plus a staircase leading down. The Dwarf led the way and was rushed by a group of lizards, who Robert set ablaze using flasks of oil. Faldo pushed forward and alongside Varik he hacked through the lizardmen. The potions dropped by the tribesmen had healing properties, letting the gang continue forward. There were two dead villagers in the temple undercroft, whose corpses yielded a few trinkets and coins.

The adventurers crept up on the final room of the temple, a crypt where a lizard priest chanted and danced frantically in front of an altar. Ominious shapes squirmed in wall alcoves. The Cleric Seva cast Light and blinded the Shaman, momentarily enrapturing him with religious ecstacy as he believed the Old Gods had returned. The adventurers focused him down with a volley of flaming flasks and crossbow bolts. He died on the altar before the enormous lizard mummies in the wall alcoves could wake up.

Satisfied that they had fulfilled the terms of the contract, the adventurers took the Priest's Death Whistle and Staff of Snakes, burned the Lizards' bodies and religious objects at the behest of the Cleric, and hauled the two dead farmers back to the village with them to collect the rest of their fee.