[Tiny sleeps in, but Lars joins the group and the Three Investigators look into a case of stolen crops.]
[This game uses a modified version of the first ever roleplaying game. These rules will be released as Adventures in the Green RPG in the (far) future. Game session happen once a month. This is the first half of the session that happened October 19, 2019.]
Player Characters:
Lars – male halfling Apprentice thief
Bigz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – female goblin Adept
Porkins – male human Medium
Not appearing this episode:
Tiny – male minotaur Veteran
Sunday, Sextilis 17th, 523rd year of the Aegean Kingdom
Tiny slept in this day. Unable to awaken the sleeping minotaur [they sleep very soundly], Bigz and Porkins wandered the town market, where they ran across Lars, a halfling acquaintance of Bigz who recently completed his apprenticeship training. Lars was looking for some quick income, as were Bigz and Porkins. The trio scoped out the mostly empty market square [the next Market Day was not until Freysday] and decided maybe they should check the job board.
The job board had several job listings, but the only three that paid enough to interest the trio were:
While going after the feral goblins in the Watch Tower would have been emotionally satisfying, Bigz was of the opinion that the group was still not strong enough to try that again, especially with Tiny sleeping the day off. The ferret tail job was promising, but did not pay enough. The crop investigation seemed to have the best pay for the least danger, so they decided to pursue that job.
Eggstetten was a farming village about a two hours walk from Smolberg. The trio went to the docks and took the ferry across the Jeetzel River and set south on the River Road. Bigz was a bit nervous as they passed the Watch Tower Ruins, but nothing happened and they continued past. At Kaidorf, some riverside wharfs and support buildings that acted as the river landing for Eggstetten, they turned west, away from the river. Eggstetten itself was about half a mile from the river along a glen that opened onto fertile plains.
When the trio approached the village gate they were challenged by some guards asking their business. Bigz explained they were there to investigate the missing crops and looking for the mayor’s office. The guards sounded somewhat dubious about the truth of that statement, but the lead guard pointed the trio at a slightly larger house inside the village walls as the mayor's. Bigz thanked the guards and the trio headed to the indicated house.
The group found a door with a sign that indicated it was the mayor’s office and walked in. The mayor’s office was a single, somewhat large room that occupied the front half of the building’s ground floor. A three-foot tall railing separated the area immediately around the door from the rest of the room. A large man with an impressive handlebar mustache looked up from some paperwork on his desk [on the other side of the railing] and asked what they wanted. Bigz explained [again] that they were there to investigate the missing crops.
Mayor Adolphus got up and opened a low door in the railing and invited the trio to seats over in the front corner of the room. Once everyone was seated, the mayor explained the job. Crops had been stolen from three different farms out on the north fringe of the croplands Eggstetten farmers worked. The three farms were
Mayor Adolphus had sent some of his village guard to investigate, but they came back slightly beat up by the farmers. The mayor admitted he may have sent the wrong people, but he didn’t have many people available, hence the job posting. Bigz agreed to take the job and asked for directions and something as proof they were working for the mayor. The mayor called in a scribe and dictated a letter authorizing the trio to investigate the crops under his authority, said authority to last until Freysday, Sextilus 21st [the end of the week]. Market day was on Cromsday [the day before] and the heads of the farms would be in. If the trio had no answers by then, he wouldn’t need them any more – he’d send for soldiers from Smolberg. Further, pay was contingent upon the adventurers either stopping the raids or providing proof of what or whom was stealing the crops so he could send soldiers after them. He then gave the trio instructions on how to get to each farm and the trio left.
The trio left the village and followed the mayor’s directions north to the Kuhlefishe stead. The dirt road they followed passed through croplands with occasional copses of trees. After a half an hour of walking they arrived at the Kuhlefishe Stead. The stead was a mixture of crops and orchards. Across the road was another farmer [his name was Torr] weeding a field and they stopped to talk with him a bit [he wasn’t particularly helpful] before approaching the gate to the Kuhlefishe Stead.
The head of the steading was Godric, a farmer in his forties who was wearing a heavy leather apron over his clothes and carrying a crossbow. Once the trio of adventurers showed him their authorization letter, Godric walked the them over to his apple orchard. Six of the trees on the edge of the orchard had been picked clean of cider apples.
The adventurers looked over the area for clues. The ground was tracked all over as the soldiers the mayor sent previously walked all over everywhere. There did not seem to be any sign of ladders. Lars and Bigz climbed up into trees and immediately found scuffs and rope burns on the tree branches indicating inexperienced climbers had been up in the trees and used ropes to haul themselves up and/or shake the apples from the tree limbs. Porkins found an iron spike with saw teeth along one edge out beyond the edge of the orchard. He brought it to Godric’s attention, which caused some tension with Bigz as she recognized the spike as one of hers that the goblins of the Watch Tower had taken [see Session 1, Part 2].
The adventurers suggested that it was likely that feral goblins had stolen the apples. Godric asked where there were any feral goblins, the trio confidently informed him that feral goblins had taken up residence in the ruins of the Watch Tower along the River Road. Godric walked over a couple of steps, pointed southeast, and ask, “You mean that watch tower over there?” Looking where he was pointing, the adventurers realized they were just under a half mile from the Watch Tower and could clearly see the ruins on the hill from here.
Bigz told Godric they didn’t want to draw any immediate conclusions and needed to see the other two farms before reporting back to the mayor. Godric asked where else they were going and Bigz told him the Tosyaski farm and Maks Elderwood’s grove. Godric warned them that Vanechka Tosyaski, the owner of the farm, was of the shoot first school of thought and gave them advice on how to approach the farm safely. The adventurers thanked him.
On the walk over to Vanechka’s farm, the adventurers discussed what they had found. The iron spike was definitely one of the ones taken from Bigz a couple weeks ago and she reclaimed it. She also let Porkins know she did not appreciate him bringing it to Godric’s attention and she would like it very much if he did not repeat that at Vanechka’s. Bigz didn’t want to get shot by the cranky farmer.
As they approached the gate to Vanechka’s farm they walked along part of the front fence of the property. There were numerous signs warning that trespassers would be shot and the split rail fence noticeably provided little cover. The front gate to the farm had several signs of its own and was in clear line of fire from the front porch of the house. There was a bell hanging from the gate post and Bigz started ringing it loudly and calling out the group’s presence.
Eventually a large human peasant woman came out the front door of the house, carrying a loaded heavy crossbow. She called out to Bigz to stop making that racket and what did they want. Bigz yelled back that the mayor had sent them to investigate the missing crops and they had a letter authorizing them to do so. The woman thought about it and then told them they might as well come in then.
The woman introduced herself as Vanechka Tosyaski and walked the trio around the right side of her sturdy farmhouse to some crop fields near the back edge of her property. The thieves had stolen tomatos, potatos, and goats, clearing out about a half a field of the vegetables, plants and all. Vanechka pulled out some rails from the fence she had set aside after fixing the fence. They all showed signs of being sawn through [poorly]. The ground was churned with the passage of many feet. Out past the fence the adventurers found some goblin-sized footprints, goat tracks, and wheelbarrow tracks that led off to a nearby copse of trees. They lost the trail among the trees but were satisfied the tracks generally headed towards the Watch Tower. The adventurers told Vanechka what they suspected and that they still needed to go over to Maks Elderwood’s place before reporting back to the mayor and made their good-byes.
The adventurers followed the road around to the southeast, turned off the road where the mayor’s instructions indicated, and followed a small stream to a large grove of trees. Maks Elderwood was a nut farmer with hickory, hazelnut, and walnut trees making up large sections of the grove. His low house was flanked by two enormous oak trees and Maks was sitting on his porch, smoking something aromatic from a pipe.
Bigz introduced the group and displayed the letter of authorization from the mayor. She asked what crops he was missing. He responded with, “Better I show you.” He then walked the group back through the grove to a far edge. There he displayed three tree stumps and a lot of sawdust. He told Bigz that he had been away for several days making religious observances and came back to discover that someone had cut down three of his walnut trees and dragged them away.
The adventurers looked around. There was a lot of sawdust in three areas near where the trees had been and furrows in the ground. It looked like the tree limbs had been cut off to make it easier to drag the trunks away. None of the limbs and very few of the twigs from the fallen trees seemed to be left behind. The ground had been walked all over, but there were a few goblin tracks still visible and what might have been hobgoblin tracks as well where the tree trunks were dragged away. The adventurers thanked Maks for showing them the site and told him they were going to follow the drag marks. They expected the marks led to the Watch Tower, where feral goblins were known to be squatting.
After they were away from Maks’ grove, the trio discussed their findings while following the obvious drag marks. They were very certain that the goblins of the Tower were responsible and concerned that the goblins were fortifying or repairing the tower. This suggested the goblins were planning on staying for a while.
The tracks did lead to the hill the Watch Tower was on. The tracks circled around the edge of the hill to the north. Lars suggested the team go around the other way in case the goblins were watching the approach. As they circled around to the south of the hill they discovered a cave entrance into the hill itself in the southwest "corner" of the hill. The entrance was partially concealed by some trees and bushes and could not be seen from the Tower itself. The adventurers made note of this and kept circling the hill. When they reached the southeastern corner of the hill they ran out of cover and stopped. They could see the front of the Tower from here and Lars took his first detailed look at the tower. The trio could see that the front entrance now had both doors, the left one obviously new, and that the doors were closed. There did not appear to be any other noticeable fortifications or repairs to the Tower or the few other ruins on the hill.
End of Part 1
Behind the Greens
[This is where we paused playing for a dinner break. The rest of the session will be covered in Session 2, Part 2. Foreshadowing: they finally explore that cave!]
[Tiny's player could not join us for this session, but Lars' player, who missed Session 1, could, so the group size stayed stable. Next session should have all four players, which they will need.]
[Part 1 of this session was a lot of investigation and talking to folks to get information. The players had to do the talking as OD&D doesn’t have skills for them to roll against. I like this as it makes for a more organic role-playing experience.]
Outcasts
Session 01, Part 1
Session 01, Part 2
Session 02, Part 2
[This game uses a modified version of the first ever roleplaying game. These rules will be released as Adventures in the Green RPG in the (far) future. Game session happen once a month. This is the first half of the session that happened October 19, 2019.]
Player Characters:
Lars – male halfling Apprentice thief
Bigz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – female goblin Adept
Porkins – male human Medium
Not appearing this episode:
Tiny – male minotaur Veteran
Sunday, Sextilis 17th, 523rd year of the Aegean Kingdom
Tiny slept in this day. Unable to awaken the sleeping minotaur [they sleep very soundly], Bigz and Porkins wandered the town market, where they ran across Lars, a halfling acquaintance of Bigz who recently completed his apprenticeship training. Lars was looking for some quick income, as were Bigz and Porkins. The trio scoped out the mostly empty market square [the next Market Day was not until Freysday] and decided maybe they should check the job board.
The job board had several job listings, but the only three that paid enough to interest the trio were:
- A reward of 150 gold coin for convincing the feral goblin squatters in the Watch Tower Ruins to leave. There was also a disclaimer that the sheriff will not pay burial expenses for those who try and fail.
- A 10 gold coin reward from Adolphus Osricsson, the mayor of Eggstetten, for investigating missing crops and putting a stop to the theft.
- A notice that the Burgwindheim steading was having troubles with giant ferrets and now pays a 5 silver coin bounty on giant ferret tails. Bounties could be claimed from Thord Grizzlykiller in Burgwindheim.
While going after the feral goblins in the Watch Tower would have been emotionally satisfying, Bigz was of the opinion that the group was still not strong enough to try that again, especially with Tiny sleeping the day off. The ferret tail job was promising, but did not pay enough. The crop investigation seemed to have the best pay for the least danger, so they decided to pursue that job.
Eggstetten was a farming village about a two hours walk from Smolberg. The trio went to the docks and took the ferry across the Jeetzel River and set south on the River Road. Bigz was a bit nervous as they passed the Watch Tower Ruins, but nothing happened and they continued past. At Kaidorf, some riverside wharfs and support buildings that acted as the river landing for Eggstetten, they turned west, away from the river. Eggstetten itself was about half a mile from the river along a glen that opened onto fertile plains.
When the trio approached the village gate they were challenged by some guards asking their business. Bigz explained they were there to investigate the missing crops and looking for the mayor’s office. The guards sounded somewhat dubious about the truth of that statement, but the lead guard pointed the trio at a slightly larger house inside the village walls as the mayor's. Bigz thanked the guards and the trio headed to the indicated house.
The group found a door with a sign that indicated it was the mayor’s office and walked in. The mayor’s office was a single, somewhat large room that occupied the front half of the building’s ground floor. A three-foot tall railing separated the area immediately around the door from the rest of the room. A large man with an impressive handlebar mustache looked up from some paperwork on his desk [on the other side of the railing] and asked what they wanted. Bigz explained [again] that they were there to investigate the missing crops.
Mayor Adolphus got up and opened a low door in the railing and invited the trio to seats over in the front corner of the room. Once everyone was seated, the mayor explained the job. Crops had been stolen from three different farms out on the north fringe of the croplands Eggstetten farmers worked. The three farms were
- The Kuhlefische steading run by Godric Kuhlefische
- Vanechka Tosyaski’s farm
- Maks Elderwood’s grove
Mayor Adolphus had sent some of his village guard to investigate, but they came back slightly beat up by the farmers. The mayor admitted he may have sent the wrong people, but he didn’t have many people available, hence the job posting. Bigz agreed to take the job and asked for directions and something as proof they were working for the mayor. The mayor called in a scribe and dictated a letter authorizing the trio to investigate the crops under his authority, said authority to last until Freysday, Sextilus 21st [the end of the week]. Market day was on Cromsday [the day before] and the heads of the farms would be in. If the trio had no answers by then, he wouldn’t need them any more – he’d send for soldiers from Smolberg. Further, pay was contingent upon the adventurers either stopping the raids or providing proof of what or whom was stealing the crops so he could send soldiers after them. He then gave the trio instructions on how to get to each farm and the trio left.
The trio left the village and followed the mayor’s directions north to the Kuhlefishe stead. The dirt road they followed passed through croplands with occasional copses of trees. After a half an hour of walking they arrived at the Kuhlefishe Stead. The stead was a mixture of crops and orchards. Across the road was another farmer [his name was Torr] weeding a field and they stopped to talk with him a bit [he wasn’t particularly helpful] before approaching the gate to the Kuhlefishe Stead.
The head of the steading was Godric, a farmer in his forties who was wearing a heavy leather apron over his clothes and carrying a crossbow. Once the trio of adventurers showed him their authorization letter, Godric walked the them over to his apple orchard. Six of the trees on the edge of the orchard had been picked clean of cider apples.
The adventurers looked over the area for clues. The ground was tracked all over as the soldiers the mayor sent previously walked all over everywhere. There did not seem to be any sign of ladders. Lars and Bigz climbed up into trees and immediately found scuffs and rope burns on the tree branches indicating inexperienced climbers had been up in the trees and used ropes to haul themselves up and/or shake the apples from the tree limbs. Porkins found an iron spike with saw teeth along one edge out beyond the edge of the orchard. He brought it to Godric’s attention, which caused some tension with Bigz as she recognized the spike as one of hers that the goblins of the Watch Tower had taken [see Session 1, Part 2].
The adventurers suggested that it was likely that feral goblins had stolen the apples. Godric asked where there were any feral goblins, the trio confidently informed him that feral goblins had taken up residence in the ruins of the Watch Tower along the River Road. Godric walked over a couple of steps, pointed southeast, and ask, “You mean that watch tower over there?” Looking where he was pointing, the adventurers realized they were just under a half mile from the Watch Tower and could clearly see the ruins on the hill from here.
Bigz told Godric they didn’t want to draw any immediate conclusions and needed to see the other two farms before reporting back to the mayor. Godric asked where else they were going and Bigz told him the Tosyaski farm and Maks Elderwood’s grove. Godric warned them that Vanechka Tosyaski, the owner of the farm, was of the shoot first school of thought and gave them advice on how to approach the farm safely. The adventurers thanked him.
On the walk over to Vanechka’s farm, the adventurers discussed what they had found. The iron spike was definitely one of the ones taken from Bigz a couple weeks ago and she reclaimed it. She also let Porkins know she did not appreciate him bringing it to Godric’s attention and she would like it very much if he did not repeat that at Vanechka’s. Bigz didn’t want to get shot by the cranky farmer.
As they approached the gate to Vanechka’s farm they walked along part of the front fence of the property. There were numerous signs warning that trespassers would be shot and the split rail fence noticeably provided little cover. The front gate to the farm had several signs of its own and was in clear line of fire from the front porch of the house. There was a bell hanging from the gate post and Bigz started ringing it loudly and calling out the group’s presence.
Eventually a large human peasant woman came out the front door of the house, carrying a loaded heavy crossbow. She called out to Bigz to stop making that racket and what did they want. Bigz yelled back that the mayor had sent them to investigate the missing crops and they had a letter authorizing them to do so. The woman thought about it and then told them they might as well come in then.
The woman introduced herself as Vanechka Tosyaski and walked the trio around the right side of her sturdy farmhouse to some crop fields near the back edge of her property. The thieves had stolen tomatos, potatos, and goats, clearing out about a half a field of the vegetables, plants and all. Vanechka pulled out some rails from the fence she had set aside after fixing the fence. They all showed signs of being sawn through [poorly]. The ground was churned with the passage of many feet. Out past the fence the adventurers found some goblin-sized footprints, goat tracks, and wheelbarrow tracks that led off to a nearby copse of trees. They lost the trail among the trees but were satisfied the tracks generally headed towards the Watch Tower. The adventurers told Vanechka what they suspected and that they still needed to go over to Maks Elderwood’s place before reporting back to the mayor and made their good-byes.
The adventurers followed the road around to the southeast, turned off the road where the mayor’s instructions indicated, and followed a small stream to a large grove of trees. Maks Elderwood was a nut farmer with hickory, hazelnut, and walnut trees making up large sections of the grove. His low house was flanked by two enormous oak trees and Maks was sitting on his porch, smoking something aromatic from a pipe.
Bigz introduced the group and displayed the letter of authorization from the mayor. She asked what crops he was missing. He responded with, “Better I show you.” He then walked the group back through the grove to a far edge. There he displayed three tree stumps and a lot of sawdust. He told Bigz that he had been away for several days making religious observances and came back to discover that someone had cut down three of his walnut trees and dragged them away.
The adventurers looked around. There was a lot of sawdust in three areas near where the trees had been and furrows in the ground. It looked like the tree limbs had been cut off to make it easier to drag the trunks away. None of the limbs and very few of the twigs from the fallen trees seemed to be left behind. The ground had been walked all over, but there were a few goblin tracks still visible and what might have been hobgoblin tracks as well where the tree trunks were dragged away. The adventurers thanked Maks for showing them the site and told him they were going to follow the drag marks. They expected the marks led to the Watch Tower, where feral goblins were known to be squatting.
After they were away from Maks’ grove, the trio discussed their findings while following the obvious drag marks. They were very certain that the goblins of the Tower were responsible and concerned that the goblins were fortifying or repairing the tower. This suggested the goblins were planning on staying for a while.
The tracks did lead to the hill the Watch Tower was on. The tracks circled around the edge of the hill to the north. Lars suggested the team go around the other way in case the goblins were watching the approach. As they circled around to the south of the hill they discovered a cave entrance into the hill itself in the southwest "corner" of the hill. The entrance was partially concealed by some trees and bushes and could not be seen from the Tower itself. The adventurers made note of this and kept circling the hill. When they reached the southeastern corner of the hill they ran out of cover and stopped. They could see the front of the Tower from here and Lars took his first detailed look at the tower. The trio could see that the front entrance now had both doors, the left one obviously new, and that the doors were closed. There did not appear to be any other noticeable fortifications or repairs to the Tower or the few other ruins on the hill.
End of Part 1
Behind the Greens
[This is where we paused playing for a dinner break. The rest of the session will be covered in Session 2, Part 2. Foreshadowing: they finally explore that cave!]
[Tiny's player could not join us for this session, but Lars' player, who missed Session 1, could, so the group size stayed stable. Next session should have all four players, which they will need.]
[Part 1 of this session was a lot of investigation and talking to folks to get information. The players had to do the talking as OD&D doesn’t have skills for them to roll against. I like this as it makes for a more organic role-playing experience.]
Outcasts
Session 01, Part 1
Session 01, Part 2
Session 02, Part 2
