Our adventurers play an arcade game (part 1)

Getting started

Fresh out of an exciting game of laser tag, our party heads to the row of fantastical gaming machines. They find themselves transported into a familiar game: Mario Bros. Our party of brave adventurers is:

• Toad (B)
• Yoshi (W)
• Mario (L)
• Luigi (P)

M is the dungeon master for this campaign.

Today’s adventure

Our adventurers find themselves in a strange stone dungeon. Ahead is some sort of turtle monster. Mario yeets his cap (Cappy) at the Koopa Troopa and successfully charms it; Koopa joins the party.

Toad (today’s leader) navigates the party through hallways and rooms. They encounter several more Koopa Troopas and Goombas and dispense with them easily.

The party stumbles into a large cavernous room and meets their first major obstacle: Darth Vader. A creative battle ensues, including our charmed Koopa Troopa and ultimately Mario and Luigi offer sufficient resistance to defeat their foe. All present attempt to recover the villain’s light saber, but only Toad manages to control it (it pierces enemies with 1D8 damage).

On their way to the next room, Yoshi eats a Goomba and Toad sneak-attacks with his new light saber to slice one in half. In the next room they find a formidable adversary: the Oracle of Trophonius. During the lengthy battle, the Oracle is able to anticipate the parties’ actions and counter their attacks. Ultimately, though, the adventurers prove strong. Toad deals the final strikes and the Oracle is no more. Yoshi recovers a crystal ball and in doing so gains the Oracle’s ability to counter others’ attacks. He also recovers the Oracle’s cloak, granting +2 AC. Cappy is damaged during the battle.

While traveling down the hallway, the party is surprised by a Koopa Troopa, who deals a sharp punch to the faces of Yoshi and Toad. Luigi responds in kind and defeats the Koopa Troopa with one swing. However, Luigi then loses track of his surroundings as he chases the newly freed turtle shell into a large room and receives a stunning hit from a gargantuan monster: Bowser. The group exchanges fireballs, slashes, and punches. It’s a bit of give and go and ultimately Bowser succumbs to attacks from Toad and Yoshi. Mario recovers Bowser’s spiked shell and uses it to repair and improve Cappy with a new attack that deals 1D8 piercing damage.

The party then quickly attends to a few remaining Goombas, and in defeating them discover that these Goombas yield some lucky abilities:

• Luigi gains +1 AC
• Mario gains +1 attack
• Yoshi gains -1 AC (not all lucky things are good 😭)

Our friends take a rest.

Until next time…

Homework

None.