Adventures in the Green: Smolberg

Showing posts with label Smolberg. Show all posts

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Biggz Troop – Session 25 – Part 2

[Junius 20th to Quintillus 5th – Triggering Tapestries and Triggered Traps!]

[This game uses Adventures in the Green, a RPG based on the original rules for the world’s most popular roleplaying game. These rules are under development with Draft C available here. Game sessions happen an average of once a month. This is Part 2 of the session that happened October 9, 2021.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC (Chartered Adventuring Company):

Biggz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – gender neutral goblin Temple Priest (7th level Cleric)

Tiny – male minotaur Champion (7th level Fighter)

Porkins – male human Enchanter (6th level Magic-User)

Pio Vento of Piccolo – male human Veteran (1st level Fighter)

Mannin Darkshield – male dwarf Burglar (4th level Thief)

Kunigunde Gruber – NPC female goblin Cutpurse/Acolyte (5th level Thief/4th level Cleric)

Hirelings:

Larn the Linkboy – male human hireling linkboy

Isidoros of Delphis – male Tolk hireling translator [specifically, German to Mü]

Deniska – female human hireling Warrior bodyguard (2nd level Fighter) [for Larn]

Ivan – male human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Bernagi – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Hardkira – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Spring

Hernesday, Junius 20, 524th year of the Empire

Morning

With all members of the Troop healed and recovered from the near disaster in the Stralbruck dungeon [see Session 24], the adventurers packed their gear and left Smolberg. Their route took them down the Jeetzel River to the confluence with the much larger Wasser River. From there they would slowly move upstream to Wittingen. From the small landing at Wittingen they would travel over land for two and a half days to Stralbruk, a total of two weeks of travel.

Summer

Hernesday, Quintilis 4, 524th year of the Empire

Late Afternoon

Biggz’s Troop arrived at Stralbruck and made their way to The Brass Dog, the only inn in the village. They secured rooms and settled in for the night.

Magusday, Quintilis 5, 524th year of the Empire

9:00 AM

After a quick breakfast in town, the Troop arrived at the ruins an hour’s walk from Stralbruck and made their way down into the dungeon below the ruins. Having remembered a treasure map the group looted, er, “found” in the gnole Greater Treasury, they decided to follow the map and recover the two magic items it claimed were in the dungeon.

The map led them south to the second intersection [just before the Octagon Room], where they turned right. This corridor went to a set of stairs that descended 10 feet into a partially flooded area. The water in the corridor was two feet deep and murky. As the adventurers progressed they came upon an area where the wall on their left was visibly sweating beads of water that trickled down to the flooded floor. They chose to not mess with it and moved on.

The came to a T-intersection, where they needed to turn left according to the map. On the wall in front of them hung a purple tapestry. In the center of the tapestry was a black sun in the center with rays zig-zagging away from it in geometric patterns. The adventurers carefully prodded the bedraggled tapestry to determine if anything was behind it. They found the wall. [The players immediately suspected ghouls or something nasty were hiding behind it due to previous adventure experiences. See my downloads section for Barrowmaze in ACKS, Book 1 for details, specifically the ending.]

After verifying only the wall was behind the tapestry, the adventurers took the left-hand corridor from the intersection. They paused when they realized the walls ahead held four rows of sepulchers on either side of the corridor as far as their torchlight went. They turned around and looked down the other corridor and saw the same. Following the map, they waded through the flooded corridor to the south until they reached the end of the sepulchers. From here they could see another set of stairs ascending from the flooded area. The map indicated the magic items were on the left side of the corridor in the second to last sepulcher, but failed to mention which of the stack of four it was in.

Hoping that the treasure was not in the lowest sepulcher, which was below the water, Porkins started his search with the two middle burial spots. Both were empty, so he used one to climb up to the top niche and there he found a parcel wrapped in oilcloth. He retrieved the parcel and had Tiny open it. Inside was a wand and a shield, as the map promised. Porkins cast Detect Magic to verify they were magical and they were! [They were a wand of fire balls and a +3 shield.] Porkins took the wand but the shield went into the loot bag for later discussion.

Wanting to get out of the water, the adventurers went up the stairs, where they were confronted by another tapestry directly in front of them while the corridor cornered and continued to their left [east]. The adventurers carefully investigated the tapestry. Once convinced there was only wall behind it, they prepared to follow the corridor. Porkins called out a warning that the other party of adventurers might have retreated this way. Tiny led the way and therefore was the one to step on the pressure plate and trigger the actual trap here.

The pressure plate released a blinding gas that filled the corner the adventurers were standing in. Mannin and Biggz took the worst of it and were blinded [for the next four hours]. Rather than continue forward, the group retreated back through the flooded area to the intersection just north of the Octagon Room. There they rested.

10:00 AM

Once they had caught their breath, they discussed their options. Thinking the magical pool of water back one intersection might help with the blindness, the adventurers went north to the first intersection and then left [west] to the circular chamber with the pool of water in the center. Biggz splashed the water in their face to no avail. Biggz then drank some of the water to see if that worked. Other than being refreshing, the water did nothing when drunk.

With no other options and not wanting to explore with a third of the adventurers blind, the Troop returned to the surface to wait out the effects.

2:00 PM

After waiting four hours, vision returned to Mannin and Biggz. The group packed back up and returned to the dungeon. They made their way back to the trapped corridor. Aware there was a trap, Mannin took the time to disarm it, allowing safe(r) passage down the corridor. The walls here looked damaged and there were places where mounting brackets for many more tapestries had been ripped out in the far past. A few tapestries remained and the adventurers stopped at each one to verify it was only a tapestry and that nothing undead was hidden behind them, waiting to kill them all. [I personally found this very amusing.]

This corridor came to an end at a T-intersection. Peeking around the corners, the north passage went about 25 feet and ended with a door on the east wall. Their map suggested that this door led to the Octagon Room and was the door the other party retreated through. The passage south continued further than 30 feet but they could see a portcullis blocking further travel at that point.

Wanting to close a loop on their map, the adventurers went north. Porkins’ Wizard Lock spell was on this door, verifying it was the door to the Octagon Room. Porkins removed the Wizard Lock and the group entered the Octagon Room.

Based on Tiny’s report after being cut off from the group in the last fight, the Troop knew that the other group’s Magic-User had been behind the door on the northwest wall of the Octagon Room. They checked that door and found it locked, with a recent-manufacture lock. Mannin quickly picked the lock and let Tiny go through first.

The room beyond was a storage area with five large barrels and another door on the west wall. Pio used Ologbane to check that door for traps and found none. [Reminder: Ologbane the magical sword has Detect Traps as a power.] Tiny investigated the barrels and discovered the hard way that the top of one of them was poisoned! He fought off the effects [made his save] and then attacked the barrel, believing it to be a mimic. After smashing it to splinters, he noticed several [now damaged] bags in the debris. Biggz extracted the bags from the debris and found two leaked coins, some ancient and some Imperial. One of the bags contained a shield and a couple of scrolls. Porkins checked them for magic and found the shield was magical and the scrolls contained several high level spells [or at least higher-than-Porkins’-level spells].

The other barrels were carefully investigated. One was empty, one contained several days’ worth of iron rations, and the last two contained oil. The adventurers took all the food and split it up amongst them but left the oil for later.

Pio opened the door in the back of the storage area and found a smaller room that was very damp and moldy with a faint acrid smell. Pio used Ologbane to check the floor for traps and found none. He then stepped into the room to check the walls.

Something dropped on him from the ceiling.

Pio could hear his helmet hissing and immediately stepped back out of the room and removed his helmet, throwing it to the floor. A large glob of green slime covered the top of his helmet, rapidly dissolving it! He kicked his helmet into the small room where more slime dropped from the ceiling onto it.

Wanting to rid the room of the green slime, Porkins cast Web three times into the room and then had Larn throw a torch in to light the webs on fire. This caused a great deal of smoke and so the door was closed. The smoke leaked out from around the edges of the door, so the adventurers decided to return to the surface and return later.

Once back at the surface, the group decided to return to town so Porkins could identify the spells on the scrolls and Tiny and Kunigunde could work out how magical the shield was. [Plus, it was getting late in real time.]

3:00

Back in Stralbruck, Porkins identified the first scroll as a Protection from Magic scroll. The second scroll had three spells on it: Suggestion, Wizard Eye, and Stone to Flesh. The shield was determined to be very magical [another +3 shield].

End of Part 2

End of Session

Behind the Green

[At the end of the session Deniska leveled, making her a third level fighter. I’m thinking about leveling Ivan as well to 2nd level as he has followed the adventurers for quite a while now, even though he has not been in combat recently. Hardkira and Bernagi retired to Waldrand, opening a small tavern and joining the village guard. We got kind of hand-wavey about them leaving and the hiring of replacements. I’m inclined to say the hiring didn’t happen and Deniska and Ivan now bodyguard Larn and Isidoros, especially if I level Ivan.]

[At the time I’m posting this, I’ve caught up to the actual game sessions. The next game session is this Saturday, so more material will be available, but not enough for weekly postings between now and the December session. I might go back and fill in the older sessions that I skipped or double post the Monday session notes until I catch up with them. I want to try and keep up writing two blog posts a week, I just haven’t worked out how I want to do it yet. I still need to write up the Lower Catacombs map and the Workshops level before doing the Upper and Lower Temple areas for the current dungeon plus I’m working on Draft D of the Adventures in the Green rules. So much to write and such limited free time…]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC

Session 01, Part 1

…

Session 20

…

Session 25, Part 1

Session 26, Part 1 [Not Yet Typed Up]

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Biggz Troop – Session 25 – Part 1

[Maius 22nd to Junius 19th – Porkins On Trial! Bedrest for The Injured!]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC (Chartered Adventuring Company):

Biggz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – gender neutral goblin Temple Priest (7th level Cleric)

Tiny – male minotaur Champion (7th level Fighter)

Porkins – male human Enchanter (6th level Magic-User)

Pio Vento of Piccolo – male human Veteran (1st level Fighter)

Mannin Darkshield – male dwarf Burglar (4th level Thief)

Kunigunde Gruber – NPC female goblin Cutpurse/Acolyte (5th level Thief/4th level Cleric)

Hirelings:

Larn the Linkboy – male human hireling linkboy

Isidoros of Delphis – male Tolk hireling translator [specifically, German to Mü]

Deniska – female human hireling Warrior bodyguard (2nd level Fighter) [for Larn]

Ivan – male human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Bernagi – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Hardkira – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Spring

Moonday, Maius 22, 524th year of the Empire

Morning

Biggz’ Troop was in Grossestadt having spent the last two days scrounging enough scrolls of Restore Life and Limb to bring Pio back from the dead and fix the shattered knees and legs of Isidoros and Bernagi, respectively. All three plus Hardkira and Larn needed bedrest to finish recovering from their injuries with Pio needing a full month after his harrowing return from the afterlife. The Troop sat around “their” table at the Two Mules Inn and discussed their options over the remains of breakfast.

For a variety of reasons, Porkins need to leave Grossestadt soonest [there were wanted posters for his arrest all over the city for book theft]. The Troop and their hirelings also needed to spend some time not adventuring, which would allow Porkins to scribe a spell or two – at task easier done in a place without wanted posters for him. As a result, the group decided that their best course of action would be to quietly slip out of the city and return to Smolberg.

While Biggz was settling their bill with the innkeep, a patrol of Grossestadt guards entered the inn’s common room, led by Gierstein the Saber. He pointed directly at Porkins and said, “There! That’s Porkins the Wizard!” The guards moved over to the Troop’s table and the head guard announced, “Porkins the Wizard, I have a warrant for your arrest for theft of property. Please come along.” Porkins immediately corrected the man, stating he was an Enchanter and not a Wizard [yet], but the guard sergeant really didn’t care.

After some back and forth, the sergeant agreed that Porkins could turn his valuables over to Biggz. The sergeant insisted on searching Porkins’ backpack for the stolen book first. Not finding the book in question, he was no longer interested in the contents, except for the vial of grey ooze, which was confiscated as a potential threat to the city. Porkins went with the guards, with Mannin following to verify Porkins was taken to the city jail and not somewhere more nefarious. Once in his cell [which was not wretched due to his status as a “wizard”], Porkins cast Porkins’ Mystical Missive to inform Mannin where his cell was located. Just in case.

Back at the inn, Biggz informed the innkeeper that the Troop would need their rooms for a while longer and asked if he could recommend a lawyer willing to work for adventurers. The innkeep recommended Herbert Ludger Fenstermacher as a lawyer known to represent adventurers in court. The innkeep also provided directions to the part of Grossestadt where the lawyers offices would be, but he did not know the exact location. Biggz thanked him for the information and headed off with Tiny and Isidoros to find the lawyer.

[There was some recordkeeping done here and Isidoros’ fees were paid up until the end of Quintillis (July).]

Fenstermacher’s office was across the river from the Two Mules Inn, in the Beerarch district, near the court building and jail. Once in that district, Biggz asked passersby who looked like lawyers and some shopkeeps for directions to Fenstermacher’s office and was directed there without too much difficulty.

H.L. Fenstermacher happened to be in his office and listened to Biggz describe the situation. He asked some questions, but stopped asking about the book when Biggz mentioned it had been delivered to Ogmund the Dragon. He agreed to advocate for Porkins and requested a deposit of 15 gold coins, which Biggz promptly paid.

10:00

Mannin spent some time purchasing food to send to Porkins in jail so he would not starve. [Jails at the time did not feed prisoners in general, requiring the imprisoned to arrange for their own food and drink.] Mannin put together enough food for two people, correctly assuming the prison guards would take some of the food before it got to Porkins.

Once Mannin had the food and a basket to hold it, he took it to the jail for delivery to Porkins.

Noon

Porkins received a mostly empty basket of food from Mannin, containing roughly a fourth of the food it started with. Porkins took the opportunity to successfully cast Charm Person on the guard, Udo, and now Porkins and Udo were best friends. Subsequent food deliveries were brought through by Udo and contained most of the food sent plus clean water.

Magusday and Cromsday, Maius 24 and 25, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins’ trial lasted two days, with the first day being the reading of the charges [theft of a Libram of Gainful Conjurations from a resident spellcaster, Soin the Middle Sorcerer] and the presentation of events by the prosecutor. The second day was for the presentation of evidence, and here is where the case against Porkins fell apart. Gierstein had to admit that he had not witnessed the theft and Porkins was identified to him by his employer. The prosecutor then had to admit that the accuser, Soin the Middle Sorcerer, had not seen Porkins steal the book, nor had any member of his household. In fact, Soin had only identified Porkins by casting a Contact Higher Plane spell and could not compel the power contacted to appear as a witness. At this point the judge was giving the prosecutor serious side-eye. H.L. presented evidence and actual eyewitnesses that Porkins had been in the common room at Two Mules Inn the night of the theft.

The judge ruled Porkins innocent of the charges against him and scheduled him for release from jail the following morning, once all the appropriate paperwork was filed and approved. H.L. said Porkins should be fine at this point, but he should not linger in town very long as there was likely to be some unofficial consequences. H.L. also presented Biggz with a final invoice for another 5 gold coin. Biggz promptly paid it.

Freysday, Maius 26, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins was freed from the jail in the morning with Mannin there to greet him. The two made their way back to the Two Mules Inn where the rest of the Troop were packing to leave. In his room, Porkins found a note that read, “I do not expect to see you again before the end of Junius. -O.” Porkins understood this to mean he should stay out of Grossestadt for at least a month.

Porkins used Porkins’ Mystical Missive to contact Matthias, Count Eberstein-Smolberg, to see if there was anything the Count desired from Grossestadt. The Count requested some expensive spices and Porkins had the spices purchased, wisely staying indoors.

Afternoon

Biggz arranged transportation for the Troop on a luxury riverboat heading to Smolberg. This would allow the injured members of the party to get good rest on the trip [and have the travel time count towards their needed bedrest]. During the trip, Porkins started scribing a scroll of Dispel Magic.

Freysday, Junius 9, 524th year of the Empire

The Troop arrived in Smolberg. Those still recovering were transferred from the docks across the town to the Petty Footman, the inn the adventurers more or less live in just outside the southern town gate.

Biggz started scribing a scroll of Remove Curse for emergency use by the Troop if she was unavailable. Porkins delivered the requested spices to the Count [who was favorably impressed] and then continued scribing Dispel Magic.

Tiny, Mannin, Kunigunde, and Deniska spent the rest of the day sparing while wearing the unidentified magical armors and magic ring to evaluate their level of protection. [Both plate mail armors were +1 and the ring was a +1 Ring of Protection.] Kunigunde was given one of the suits of magic plate and Mannin was given the magic ring [providing both with an Armor Class of 2].

[Previously, Kunigunde had worn leather armor, mostly out of habit. As she was more about being a cleric of Hermes rather than her previous profession, she decided to switch to the plate armor. Her reasoning was, “The best way to not be taken for a thief is to not dress like one.”]

Freysday, Junius 16, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins finished scribing Dispel Magic.

Yggsday, Junius 17, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins went to speak with the Count. Porkins broached the subject of purchasing the Watchtower and attendant property. The Count stated he was not against the sale of the property, but at the moment he was engaged in a legal dispute with the Mayor of Smolberg who claimed the Watchtower was property of the town, based on the fact that the town had paid a bounty to have the goblins removed from it. The Count strongly disagreed but the matter was currently locked up.

The Count and Porkins discussed the possibility of Porkins filing a Letter of Intent to Purchase the Watchtower from the Count. The Count felt that the Mayor would probably relinquish the town’s claim to the Watchtower if it looked like the town could start charging taxes on the property. The Count made several recommendations on the legal language Porkins should use in his Letter of Intent.

Moonday, Junius 19, 524th year of the Empire

Pio was finally recovered enough to travel. Biggz immediately started preparations to head back to Stralbruck.

Porkins commissioned a scribe to write up the Letter of Intent to Purchase the Watchtower. At the end of the day, Porkins submitted the Letter to the Town Clerk.

End of Part 1

Behind the Green

[Note: I realized that how I was pronouncing Gierstein (gear-steen) was different than how I was spelling his name, which should be pronounced “ger-stine”. I’ve decided that I’m not going to correct the spelling, but please be aware of the way he pronounces it. He is a gun for hire after all.]

[Porkins finally faced legal consequences for the book theft he performed on Ogmund’s behalf in exchange for his +1 Ring of Protection. Will Soin the Middle Sorcerer let things go here? Probably not, but he’ll now have to contend with Porkins being legally cleared of the crime.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC

…

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Biggz Troop – Session 23 – Part 1

[Winter, then Aprilis 11 to Maius 7 – Winter downtime activities and then back to the ruins.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC (Chartered Adventuring Company):

Biggz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – gender neutral goblin Family Priest (6th level Cleric)

Tiny – male minotaur Swashbuckler (6th level Fighter)

Porkins – male human Conjuror (6th level Magic-User)

Pio Vento of Piccolo – male human Veteran (1st level Fighter)

Mannin Darkshield – male dwarf Robber (4th level Thief)

Kunigunde Gruber – NPC female goblin Footpad/Petitioner (4th level Thief/3rd level Cleric)

Hirelings:

Larn the Linkboy – male human hireling linkboy

Isidoros of Delphis – male Tolk hireling translator [specifically, German to Mü]

Deniska – female human hireling Veteran bodyguard (1st level Fighter) [for Larn]

Ivan – male human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Bernagi – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Hardkira – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Winter

Freysday, Januarius 6, 523rd year of the Empire

Winter storms arrived. For the next 13 weeks winter storms regularly blow through the Empire, restricting travel. Rivers freeze over, deep snow makes land travel difficult, and only stored foods are available. Everyone settled in to wait until the spring thaw.

Mannin gave his monthly tithe to the Syndicate he belongs to at a local office in Grossestadt.

[Entire party pays 1% of Experience Point total for monthly support and upkeep per the rules.]

Week of Januarius 9, 523rd year of the Empire

Porkins finished learning Lightning Bolt from his spellbook. He purchased scrolls of Infravision and Explosive Runes from Isen’s shop in Smolberg.

Week of Januarius 16, 523rd year of the Empire

Porkins copied Infravision from a scroll to his spellbook and started learning Infravision from his spell book.

Week of Januarius 30, 523rd year of the Empire

Porkins finished learning Infravision from his spell book.

Mannin gave his monthly tithe to the Syndicate he belongs to at a local office in Grossestadt.

[Entire party pays 1% of Experience Point total for monthly support and upkeep per the rules.]

Week of Februarius 6, 523rd year of the Empire

Porkins copied Explosive Runes from a scroll to his spellbook and started learning Explosive Runes from his spell book.

Week of Februarius 20, 523rd year of the Empire

Porkins finished learning Explosive Runes from his spell book.

Tiny, after drinking heavily with some templars the previous night, awakened to find that Demonthumper is no longer in his possession. He has no memory of where it went and spent a couple days looking for it before learning he gifted it to a templar who has since left the city. [The +5 Holy Avenger sword chose a new owner and manipulated Tiny into giving it to a “more worthy person” once he was blackout drunk.]

Week of Februarius 27, 523rd year of the Empire

Porkins started researching a new spell.

Mannin gave his monthly tithe to the Syndicate he belongs to at a local office in Grossestadt.

[Entire party pays 1% of Experience Point total for monthly support and upkeep per the rules.]

Magusday, Martius 1, 524th year of the Empire

Start of the new year in the Empire.

Week of Martius 6, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins finishes research of Porkins’ Mystical Missive. This spell is 2nd level and allows him to send a short [25 word] message to a person up to miles away [10 miles +1 mile per caster level] and receive a similarly short response.

Freysday, Martius 10, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins visited with Isen at Isen’s shop in Smolberg. Porkins explained the spell he had created and discussed options to sell it through Isen’s contacts with profits split between them. Porkins also sold off one of the cultist spellbooks and two scrolls [Read Languages and Shield] to Isen, getting 700 gc and the supplies to scribe some scrolls for Isen to sell and a copy of the new spell for Isen to evaluate.

Week of Martius 13, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins scribed a scroll of [a first level spell] for Isen.

Week of Martius 20, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins scribed a scroll of [a different first level spell] for Isen.

Week of Martius 27, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins started scribing a scroll of Porkins’ Mystical Missive for Isen.

Week of Aprilis 3, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins finished scribing a scroll of Porkins’ Mystical Missive for Isen.

Pio Vento of Piccolo arrived in Grossestadt. He tracked down Biggz Bigguns, who wrote the letter to his family announcing the death of the youngest son, Torino Vento [Tor Wind’s actual name, before he Germanized it], due to misadventure. Pio was there to claim Torino’s property [and valuables] and to learn the details of his younger brother’s death.

Once he heard the tale, Pio was satisfied - it sounded exactly like something his brother would die from. Pio fit in well with the other members of the group, at one point challenging Tiny to arm wrestling. When Biggz asked if he was interested, Pio signed on with the Troop.

The next day Biggz and Pio went to the appropriate government offices to register Pio’s inheritance [and pay the appropriate taxes] and update the charter information on Biggz’z Troop. A celebration was held that night, honoring Tor’s passing and Pio joining the Troop.

[Entire party pays 1% of Experience Point total for monthly support and upkeep per the rules.]

Week of Aprilis 10, 524th year of the Empire

Using an introduction provided by Isen, Porkins started a correspondence with Matthias, Count Eberstein-Smolberg. Count Mattias is interested in having a court wizard of his own, but cannot afford much [which was typical of the majority of gentry in the Holy Roman Empire], so discussions were polite and social, allowing Porkins to pursue this further. Porkins reset his expectations of research funding to a regular but modest stipend and political access.

Hernesday, Aprilis 11, 524th year of the Empire

The Wasser was clear enough of ice for river traffic to resume. Biggz arranged for transport for the troop back to Smolberg to pick up Porkins before returning to Stralbruck. Larn and his bodyguards, Deniska and Ivan, are put back on the payroll.

Week of Aprilis 17, 524th year of the Empire

Porkins learns Charm Person from the remaining cultist spellbook, copying the spell to his own spellbook in the process.

Cromsday, Aprilis 20, 524th year of the Empire

Biggz and the Troop arrived in Smolberg. Porkins joined them and they returned to the river, travelling to Stralbruck.

Week of Aprilis 24, 524th year of the Empire

While traveling by boat, Porkins learned Detect Invisible from a scroll, copying the spell to his own spellbook in the process.

Cromsday, Maius 4, 524th year of the Empire

Biggz and the Troop arrived in Wittingen, the tiny village on the Wasser that is the nearest dock to Stralbruck. Biggz arranged for sleeping space for the Troop.

[Entire party pays 1% of Experience Point total for monthly support and upkeep per the rules.]

Freysday, Maius 5, 524th year of the Empire

Biggz and the Troop started walking to Stralbruk, stopping at the end of the day at the travel inn.

Yggsday, Maius 6, 524th year of the Empire

Biggz and the Troop continued walking to Stralbruk, stopping at the end of the day at the travel inn.

Sunday, Maius 7, 524th year of the Empire

Noon

Biggz and the Troop arrived at Stralbruk. Biggz quickly checked in with Lord Helmar, who was clearly pleased to see the adventurers had returned. He informed Biggz that no further disappearances had happened since the adventurers left before the winter storms. Biggz explained the troop would finish clearing the ruins next and report back once that was done. Lord Helmar told Biggz the promised payment would await their return.

Porkins bought some torches while Biggz talked to Lord Helmar. Shortly after, the adventurers headed out of the village to the ruins.

Shortly after 1:00

The Troop arrived at the ruins. They spent the first hour verifying the buildings were still empty [they were].

2:00

Satisfied the site was clear, the Troop investigated the debris-filled stairs down they had discovered in the gnole barracks building. They started digging and clearing debris with what tools they had at hand.

4:00

After two hours of hard work and little to show for it, they learned they needed proper tools and professional diggers. They gathered up their stuff and walked back to Stralbruck to look for both.

End of Part 1

Behind the Green

[Biggz sent a letter to Tor’s family early in Januarius via Griffin Mail as it was the only mail moving during the winter storms. It arrived in the tiny village of Piccolo two weeks later, the Italian peninsula having better weather than the parts of the Holy Roman Empire north of the Alps. Once Tor’s family realized the letter was about Torino, they mourned his death. Pio, now the youngest of the three brothers was nominated to go north and claim whatever Torino had bequeathed to the family. Pio booked passage on ships sailing around Europe to the North Sea and then took whatever means of travel he could find to get to Grossestadt 9 weeks after setting out.]

[I’ve also changed the spelling of Ianuarius to Januarius to make things easier for me. Otherwise I’m still using the Roman calendar for the campaign, hence the new year starting Martius 1.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC

…

[UPDATE: Added day names where a single date is listed (as opposed to a week).]

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Biggz Troop – Session 22 – Part 2

[December 26 through Januarius 6 – What went wrong.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC (Chartered Adventuring Company):

Biggz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – gender neutral goblin Family Priest (6th level Cleric)

Porkins – male human Conjuror (6th level Magic-User)

Tiny – male minotaur Swashbuckler (6th level Fighter)

Tor Wind – male human Swashbuckler (6th level Fighter)

Mannin Darkshield – male dwarf Robber (4th level Thief)

Kunigunde Gruber – NPC female goblin Footpad/Petitioner (3rd level Thief/2nd level Cleric)

Hirelings:

Larn the Linkboy – male human hireling linkboy

Isidoros of Delphis – male Tolk hireling translator [specifically, German to Mü]

Deniska – female human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Ivan – male human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Bernagi – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Hardkira – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Moonday, December 26, 523rd year of the Empire

3:30 PM

The adventurers paused to catch their breaths after the hectic fight with the wererats and running around of the last several minutes. Tor was dead and partly eaten by the wererats that had killed him. Kunigunde used her staff of healing on Biggz to heal up her boss. Biggz cast Cure Light Wounds twice on Tiny to heal him up. No one else was going to die on this job! Biggz also treated their wounds with wolfsbane to avoid another case of lycanthropy in the party.

Tiny took a blanket from Tor’s pack and wrapped up the dead human in it for easier carrying of the corpse. Tiny then tied the [slightly sticky] body to his backpack. While he was doing this, Kunigunde and Mannin searched the nest of the wererats for valuables. Surprisingly, they found a small strongbox containing a couple thousand silver coins along with 4 pieces of gold jewelry.

Feeling somewhat exposed and alone two rooms away across unstable floor, Porkins called out, asking for someone to join him. Tiny attempted to jump across the unstable floor to join Porkins, but he landed short and fell through to the ground floor. Knowing how to get back to where Porkins was waiting, Tiny ran to the nearby stairs and then up a floor, rejoining Porkins quickly.

Biggz dithered a bit as to what to do next. If the adventurers left the ruins now without clearing the last building and more villagers disappeared, not only would the group not get paid by the local lord, but the villagers might riot against the adventurers. Porkins called out that he and Tiny had run off the huge phase spider and the only other people they had found in ground floor were some chained up villagers. With a slight trace of exasperation, Biggz suggested that Porkins could have started with sharing that information. Biggz ordered Tiny and Porkins to finish searching that area for loot and then rescue the villagers. The rest of the group would retreat to the breezeway and climb down to the ground via rope.

Tiny and Porkins went back the way Tiny had arrived from. They paused in the lair of the huge phase spider. It had not returned [still bloodied from its initial encounter with the adventurers, see Part 1] and so Tiny and Porkins took a look around. They found two human-sized lumps in the webbing. Thinking they might be villagers, they cut the lumps down and carefully opened them. Inside each was the dried husk of a dead adventurer. Porkins cast Detect Magic to see if anything on the corpses was magical and much was. The armor and shield of the fighting man were magical, as were a ring and a scroll on the second corpse, obviously a spellcaster. Each also had a sack of coins and the fighter’s sword was very ornate if not magical. Due to weight, it took Tiny and Porkins two trips to haul the loot down to the ground floor at the foot of the stairs.

Meanwhile, the rest of the adventurers backtracked out of the second floor to the breezeway that connected two of the ruined buildings. They hammered in a spike and tied a knotted rope to it for a safer way down to the ground. It took a short while, but eventually the entire group was on the ground again and they waited there for Porkins and Tiny to join them.

Back inside, Tiny and Porkins went to the room deep in the building that held the chained villagers. They were awake now and seemingly in possession of their reason, but all showed signs the wererats had clawed or bit them. Porkins explained Lord Helmar had sent them to rescue the villagers. This cheered up the villagers who clearly had been concerned about Tiny, the minotaur. Tiny broke their chains, freeing them. Tiny and Porkins needed to rest at that point, so Porkins chatted with the villagers to see what they knew. [Very little.] He also performed some first aid and realized all five villagers were likely infected with lycanthrope.

After the rest, the duo led the group to the doorway out of the building, pausing only to explain that the villagers needed to help carry back the loot the adventurers had found. The villagers were less cheerful at this, but at least they weren’t going to be eaten?

Once Tiny, Porkins, and the villagers joined up with the rest of the adventurers, the entire group returned to the first building the adventurers had raided that morning. There they freed the gnole captives [two foremen from the original work detail from the village] and picked up their stashed captives and other loot. They rested long enough to feed all the captives from the gnole larder [which was quality food - gnoles eat well]. This heartened all the villagers greatly. Porkins then paid them each a gold coin to help carry the loot and as much of the food as possible back to the inn in Stralbruck. A gold coin was very good pay, especially after being fed for free, so the villagers agreed.

5:00 PM

The entourage of adventurers and villagers, all laden with boxes, bags, and sacks of loot arrived back at Stralbruck. Biggz displayed the contract with Lord Helmar to get past the gate guards. The group made good time to the inn, but it was clear that word was spreading in the village that the adventurers were back with rescued villagers in tow.

At the inn, Biggz offered to feed the villager/porters all warm food and drink if they would just carry their loads up to one of the adventurers room. Happy to be home and fed again, the villagers easily agreed, depositing all the wealth into Biggz’ room. Porkins then cast Wizard Lock on the door to seal it up. Biggz paid the innkeep for whatever food and drink the villagers wanted and to have hot baths drawn for the adventurers.

By the time the adventurers were bathed, dressed, and all were fed [and maybe now a little tipsy], families of the missing villagers were showing up in numbers at the inn. Lord Helmar eventually arrived and took control of the situation.

Biggz stood on the front porch of the inn told the story of what the adventurers had found and done. This drew enough attention that Porkins and Tiny were able to sneak the five infected villagers out the back of the inn and through the village alleys to the church. At the church they meet with Father Solomon and Porkins explained, in Latin, that these five were likely infected with lycanthrope. Father Solomon looked at the villagers and recognized all of them. He was of the opinion that, since the full moon has just passed, they could safely let these villagers go home to their families that night. They would all return the next day at Father Solomon’s request so Biggz could cure them of their curse.

Back at the inn, Biggz wrapped up the recounting of the adventure. Displaying the still wrapped body of Tor, Biggz explained to Lord Helmar that the adventurers needed to go to Grossestadt immediately to see if they could have their friend brought back to life. Biggz anticipated the trip would take a month, but the adventurers would return to verify the ruins were completely empty and now safe. Lord Helmar agreed to this, stating they remainder of their payment would be waiting here in the village for their return. In the meantime, it would be best for the adventurers to hold onto the gnole prisoners until morning as trying to take them to the jail now would cause a riot and a lynching.

The ruckus of the returned villagers lasted long into the night as those whose family members were back celebrated and those who now knew their loses were permanent grieved.

Hernesday, December 27, 523rd year of the Empire

Morning

Isidoros and Tiny took the gnole prisoners over to the village jail and turned them in. At the same time, Biggz headed over to the church to work on the five potentially infected villagers.

Biggz first cast Detect Supernatural and all five registered as supernatural creatures, meaning they had all been infected and were now wererats in the same way Porkins had been just three days ago. Biggz cast Remove Curse on two of them successfully, curing both villagers. That left three cursed and Biggz without the ability to lift the curses. Biggz explained to Father Solomon that the adventurers had to leave Stralbruck that day to get their dead companion to Grossestadt in time to have any chance of bring him back. Father Solomon asked if Biggz would take the infected villagers as far as Wittingen, two and a half days away. This would give Biggz another two days with them to finish curing them before getting on a boat at the Wasser to sail down to Grossestadt. Biggz was concerned how the villagers would make it back safely. Father Solomon offered to write a letter of introduction and explanation for the priest in Wittingen. That priest would be able to get the cured villagers back safely. Biggz agreed to this, asking the Father Solomon have the letter ready by Noon.

Noon

The adventurers hired a horse and cart for the trip to Wittingen and loaded it up with their loot [both valuables and the remaining food from the gnole larder]. The three villagers still needing treatment arrived and room was made for them and their luggage. Father Solomon delivered the letter of introduction and explanation to Biggz so the villagers would be able to return safely. To some small fanfare, the adventurers left Stralbruck.

Evening

The laden horse and cart arrived at a travel inn on the road to Wittingen.

Magusday, December 28, 523rd year of the Empire

Morning

In the morning before leaving the travel inn, Biggz cast Remove Curse on two of the remaining villagers, curing them of lycanthrope.

Evening

The laden horse and cart arrived at a travel inn on the road to Wittingen.

Cromsday, December 29, 523rd year of the Empire

Morning

In the morning before leaving the travel inn, Biggz cast Remove Curse on the last villager, curing them of lycanthrope.

Evening

The group arrived at Wittingen. While Porkins and the rest got rooms for the night and inquired about boats heading downstream to Grossestadt the next morning, Biggz took the three cured villagers to the local church and presented the letter from Father Solomon. The priest verified the villagers were cured and then accepted responsibility for them, thanking Biggz for their assistance and circumspection.

Freysday, December 30, 523rd year of the Empire

The adventurers started their river trip to Grossestadt.

Sunday, Januarius 1, 523rd year of the Empire

The river boat arrived at the confluence of the Jeetzel and Wasser. Porkins changed boats here with his share of the loot to take a separate boat up the Jeetzel River to Smolberg. As the matter of the bounty on his head had not been settled yet, he felt it unwise to continue with the rest of the group to Grossestadt.

Hernesday, Januarius 3, 523rd year of the Empire

Porkins arrived in Smolberg. He immediately set in supplies for a bout of study and learning new spells.

Magusday, Januarius 4, 523rd year of the Empire

The rest of the adventuring party arrived at Grossestadt. Tor has been dead for seven days at this point, but due to the cold winter air had not deteriorated too much. While the group was having their goods unloaded from the river boat, Biggz hired a runner to take a message up to the cathedral, expressing an emergency need for a casting of Restore Life and Limb.

Biggz recieves a reply that no one at the cathedral that day could cast the rite requested, but one was being sent for.

Cromsday, Januarius 5, 523rd year of the Empire

Biggz and party carried Tor’s body to the cathedral. A caster was available [on the last possible day for the spell to be useful] and Biggz made the donation to the cathedral for the rite. Tor’s body was laid out and the rite enacted.

[At this point Tor’s player needed to roll 90 or less on percentile dice to survive the system shock. He rolled a 91.]

Once the rite completed, Tor stirred for a moment and then fell back into the arms of Death. His mortal coil was not able to sustain the energies of the rite and withered away, leaving only a skeleton. Shocked at this unexpected outcome, Biggz collected Tor’s bones into an ossuary provided by the cathedral and broke the news to the rest of the party.

Freysday, Januarius 6, 523rd year of the Empire

A strong winter storm arrived and closed all travel in the region.

End of Session

Behind the Green

[I really should have named the villagers and the priest in Wittingen, but we were trying to wrap up and get the party to Grossestadt in time. As it turned out, we didn’t need to hurry. When I had Tor’s player roll to survive resurrection, it was perfunctory as we all expected him to make a 90% chance of success. His dice had other plans.]

[The winter storms finally arrived, forcing a break in adventuring and allowing that player to create a new character and me time to work out how to introduce the new character. I had several options, but the player chose to create the brother of his dead character. We discussed it some and I worked out an idea about how things would go. In the following session we introduced Pio Vento of Piccolo, slightly elder brother of Tor Wind, or more properly, Torino Vento.]

[You might notice that the year did not change when the date went from December to Januarius. The calendar here still has the first day f the year as Marius 1 (March 1), something that changed some time in the Roman Republic (exactly when is not certain due to loss of records, but seems to be around 153 BCE).]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC

…

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Biggz'z Troop – Session 19 – Part 1

[After three weeks of downtime, the Troop gets a job offer and travel to Stralbruck. Porkins has a confession to Biggz.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC (Chartered Adventuring Company):

Biggz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – female goblin Family Priest (5th-level Cleric)

Porkins – male human Conjuror (5th-level Magic-User)

Tiny – male minotaur Swashbuckler (5th-level Fighter)

Tor Wind – male human Swashbuckler (5th-level Fighter)

Mannin Darkshield – male dwarf Robber (3rd-level Thief)

Kunigunde Gruber – NPC female goblin Footpad/Petitioner (2nd-level Thief/1st-level Cleric)

Hirelings:

Larn the Linkboy – male human hireling linkboy

Isidoros of Delphis – male Tolk hireling translator [specifically, German to Mü]

Deniska – female human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Ivan – male human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Bernagi – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Hardkira – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Downtime between November 20 to December 11, 523rd year of the Empire

During this downtime, the adventurers pursued individual projects, summarized as follows:

Porkins learned Rope Trick and added it to his spellbook. He also underwent his second transformation into a wererat during the full moon on November 24 and realized he had lycanthrope.
Tor went to Grossestadt to pick up the magical plate armor he commissioned. He paid the remainder of the agreed cost [half up front, half on completion]. He then returned to Smolberg.
Biggz also went to Grossestadt to file the necessary paperwork for the adventuring group to make them a Chartered Adventuring Company. This provides some protections for their activities and title to their loot [assuming there is no prior claim] in exchange for paying a yearly renewal fee to the Empire. Without these protections adventurers can be charged for murder for killing the wrong kind of people in a dungeon or have their hard-earned loot confiscated by a local noble on whose fief a dungeon might be located. Biggz also posted new notices that they were looking to hire another cleric and placed an order with Hugh for another enchanted sling [for Kunigunde].
Tiny and Kunigunde lived like rockstars in Smolberg, partying until late in the night, sleeping in, and generally living large.
Mannin lived quietly, doing his best to not draw a great deal of attention to himself, especially from law enforcement.
[The entire group paid their upkeep for November (I forgot to ask for it previously) and for December.]

Sunday, December 11, 523rd year of the Empire

Biggz, sitting in the Little Ox tavern and working on some paperwork, was approached by a human in fancy clothing. After verifying that Biggz was Biggz, he introduced himself as Ulf Thorhallson. He explained he was a representative of the village council of Stralbruck. Not recognizing the name of the village, Biggz asked where Stralbruck was and Ulf explained it was part of County Mandersheid-Scleiden-Virreburg, a small principality to the north. The village had recently secured the right to build a mill on a nearby stream and sent workers to clear the site before the winter snows came. Shortly after the work started, workers started disappearing, six so far. The village council wants that stopped and decided to hire the group that cleared the goblins from the Smolberg Watchtower. [This is something the PCs are currently known for doing.]

Biggz was interested in the job and asked what it paid. Ulf explained the job paid 1000 gc for making the site of the mill safe from whatever was taking the villagers. If Biggz was willing to sign a contract for the job, Ulf was also authorized to pay out an emerald as a deposit over and above the coins. Biggz asked about the status of any loot taken from whatever was making the villagers disappear. Ulf agreed that anything secured in the process of stopping the disappearances would belong to the adventurers. Finding the deal fair but curious about the emerald being offered, Biggz asked to see it. Ulf looked around to verify they were not being watched and then pulled a small velvet bag from his belt pouch. From it he produced a cut emerald about the size of an acorn and displayed it to Biggz. Biggz was impressed and asked when they needed to be in Stralbruck. Allowing for travel, Ulf agreed that the adventurers needed to be in Stralbruck to start work no later than the 29th of December. Biggz agreed to the terms of the contract. The two of them then completed and signed two copies of the contract, Ulf taking one copy and Biggz the other. Ulf handed the emerald over to Biggz and departed.

With the contract and emerald in hand, Biggz rounded up the members of Biggz’z Troop and explained the job. The group discussed what supplies they needed to take with them for the trip. They decided to purchase 10 new shields for the fighters to use [I use Shields Will Be Shattered, so the fighters burn through a lot of shields]. Not certain what accommodations there would be, Porkins bought a tent and the company bought a second one. They thought it would be wise to hire some additional bodyguards for Larn and Isidoros and they should pay Larn, Isidoros, Deniska, and Ivan for a full month as they would be out of town for at least that long.

Biggz went over to the Guild of Condotierre, Linkboys, Roustabouts, and Stevedores to make the arrangements. She learned that Hardkira and Bernagi were currently available [the group worked with them in the past] and hired them as the additional bodyguards. She also made use of the Guild's money-changing services to use the emerald for payment and received coin as change, which were used to pay for the other supplies the group wanted.

Porkins went over to Isen’s Book and Paper and purchased a copy of Créatures de la Lune from Isen. Isen raised an eyebrow at the book purchase and Porkins claimed it was for a job the adventurers had been hired for. The book was in French and written in three parts. Part 1 was a general history of lycanthropes, Part 2 discussed the different types of were-creatures and their habitats, and Part 3 discussed defenses against them and their curse. [Reading through it during the trip to Stalbruck, Porkins would learn that the author, Grégoire de Fronsac, had the most experience with werewolves and very much advocated the eradication of all lycanthropes.]

Finally, Biggz tracked down Aaron Kalteswasser, the river merchant, and asked if he and his boat were available for hire to take the group to Wittlingen (the nearest river town to Stralbruck). Aaron said he would be ready in the next morning for a reasonable fee. Biggz paid the fee and told Aaron to expect 12 passengers in the morning.

Moonday, December 12, 523rd year of the Empire

In the morning all of Biggz’z Troop and their hirelings arrived at the town docks and boarded Aaron’s river boat. The trip would take 10 days, first heading down the Jeetzel River to the Wasser River and then up the Wasser. Unsurprisingly, the boat of heavily armed adventurers was not bothered during the trip.

Cromsday, December 22, 523rd year of the Empire

The river boat full of adventurers arrived at Wittlingen and docked mid-morning. Biggz thanked Aaron and the group started walking. Stralbruck was the better part of three days to the east. Luckily, there were inns along the way as the route from Wittlingen to Stralbruck was reasonably well traveled.

Freysday, December 23, 523rd year of the Empire

Realizing that this would be the first night of the full moon, Porkins was forced to confide in Biggz that he had lycanthrope and would likely change into a wererat when the moon rose. Biggz was shocked that Porkins was only now mentioning this. They discussed their limited options at this point and Biggz agrees to tie Porkins up and lock him in one of the rooms at the inn – it was the best they could work out as the sun was already setting.

Yggsday, December 24, 523rd year of the Empire

Dawn

Porkins woke up, partially dressed, in a small outbuilding near the inn. He snuck back to the inn and was able to re-enter his room through the window without anyone noticing. The room was a mess from the thrashing around he apparently did to get free and his rope was fairly shredded. He finished cleaning just as Biggz arrived and unlocked the door. They were both concerned that he would change twice more this lunar cycle.

Mid-afternoon

The group of adventurers arrived at Stralbruck. Stralbruck was a large village with a wall around it and a noticeable church. At the gate Biggz explained who they were and showed the contract. The gate guards directed the group to The Brass Dog, the best [only] inn, and explained where the local lord lived in town.

While most of the group spent the remaining afternoon securing rooms at The Brass Dog [rooms had been set aside by the local lord for their use], Biggz and Porkins went on separate missions. Porkins went to the local church to determine if anyone had access to Remove Curse “in case whatever was making the villagers disappear could invoke curses.” The priest in charge told Porkins the village was small and did not have anyone capable of removing curses, but it would only take a week or so to get someone here. Porkins thanked the priest for the information and made a small donation to the church.

Meanwhile, Biggz reported in with the local lord of Stralbruck, Helmar Schleiden. Helmar was somewhat nervous when discussing the job. He eventually admitted that the number of missing villagers was now 14. He gave directions to the location of the ruins where the land was being cleared for the mill. This made Biggz raise their eyebrows as Ulf had not mentioned any ruins. Biggz decided to not ask about the ruins – it would be easier to claim any loot in them later than ask for permission now. Biggz left the lord’s home to update the other adventurers.

Shortly Before Sunset

While finishing an early dinner, Biggz and the rest were accosted by a human in wealthy merchant’s clothing. He introduced himself as Grimbold von Virreburg, a prominent member of the village. He sought verification that the adventurers had accepted the contract and would have things “settled in a timely fashion.” Biggz asked why Grimbold had not asked the lord and Grimbold stated he “didn’t want to bother his lordship with merchant fears.” Grimbold told Biggz he was concerned that the disappearances would stop commerce in the area as the Yule celebrations were already subdued. He reiterated that he was glad the adventurers who cleared the Smolberg Watchtower were on the job and said his farewells.

Oleg the bartender, who was delivering a round of drinks as Grimbold was leaving, offered the opinion that he heard a rumor that it was ghosts taking away people.

End of Part 1

Behind the Green

[So, there is a huge time gap between session notes. That’s because I stopped writing up my session notes for this campaign back in 2019. I did so for a couple of reasons, mostly to do with feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the personal projects I was handling at the time. Since then I brought the major writing project I was working on to a stopping point. It was not complete, but it was a project that consumed a lot of my personal time used someone else’s IP. I started to feel burnout on it and realized if I finished, I couldn’t do anything with it but give it away free. Recognition is great, but it doesn’t pay bills and I was feeling very financially precarious at the time. I set a date to get the files into good enough shape that I felt they could be made public without terminal embarrassment and then posted a link to them on my primary blog, Bugbears for Breakfast (look for the sidebar links to The Game).]

[Once that was wrapped up and handed over, I concentrated on writing my clone of OD&D – Adventures in the Green, the rules I’m using to run this campaign. I’m nearly done with Draft C of the rules and have posted PDFs of Book I and Book II. Book III was targeting to complete Draft C by the end of June, but it now looks like a July thing as it has a lot of Referee advice and needs some serious thinking for the re-write.]

[In the meantime, I feel I have more personal bandwidth right now and so I’m resuming typing up the session notes for the playtest campaign. Rather than go back over a year ago and try and catch up, I’m starting with the current action. I will gradually go back and fill in the gap, but don’t expect it soon. I don’t want to burn out on any of this, so I’m taking it one piece at a time.]

[I also recently learned that I’d been spelling Biggz’ name wrong (I was using only one “g”). This happened when the character was asked the name of the adventuring party while filing the paperwork to become a Chartered Adventuring Company. I’ve corrected that error going forward. Sorry, Biggz.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC

Session 01, Part 1

…

Session 19, Part 2

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Outcasts – Session 03 – Part 1: Taking It to the Goblins

[The adventurers return to the cave and work on clearing the level, primarily of goblins but also in general. I also introduce the rule “Shields Will Be Shattered” to great effect.]

[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 second half of the session that happened November 23, 2019.]

Player Characters:
Bigz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – female goblin Village Priest
Lars – male halfling Apprentice thief
Porkins – male human Medium
Tiny – male minotaur Veteran
Tor Wind – male human Veteran

Sunday, Sextilis 17th, 523rd year of the Aegean Kingdom
The trio of adventurers, Bigz, Lars, and Porkins, located Tiny drinking in The Little Ox tavern. [Its real name is The Elk and Oak, but Tiny misinterpreted the sign out front.] The tavern is just outside the Smolberg’s South Gate. Tiny was there drinking with a human [Tor Wind] and both were drunk and speaking Mü, which the trio took as a good sign. The trio informed Tiny and Tor what they had been up to and what the plan was for the next day. Both Tiny and Tor are up for it.

Moonday, Sextilis 18th, 523rd year of the Aegean Kingdom
The ragtag group of adventurers gathered in the morning at the job board in the Smolberg market square. The job of clearing the feral goblins from the Watch Tower was still there, but also still paying 150 gold coin. This was a minor disappointment as the group was hoping the bounty had gone up again. Maybe next week.

The group went to the docks and took a ferry across the Jeetzel River to Waldrand. There they headed south on the River Road to the forest and left the road to circle the hill the Watch Tower was on. They circled around to the south-southwest corner of the hill to the cave entrance hidden by small trees and bushes there, arriving at 9:00 AM.

The adventurers entered the cave mouth. They checked the main cavern and the two side caverns to see if anything had changed. The dead rats in north cave and the skinned giant ferret carcasses in the south cave were starting to smell a bit but nothing was out of place. The group squeezed through the narrow passages in the back to the corridors under the Watch Tower. This was uncomfortably tight for Tiny, being an adult minotaur, and a bit cramped for the two humans [Porkins and Tor], but the halfling and goblin [Lars and Bigz] were completely comfortable walking through.

With a choice of directions [west to a room or east to a corner and a door], Lars snuck east to see what was around the corner. The door had faded crudely painted skulls in black paint on it [I missed this in the initial description, but this is when they would have noticed]. Around the corner the corridor continued a short way to a wide room. Lars snuck closer, using his bullseye lantern to only light the floor in front of him.

The room was sixty feet wide but only twenty feet deep. Off to the left was a set of stairs coming up from a lower level and on the stairs were two goblins with a giant ferret on a leash. They saw Lars, who turned and ran as fast as he could back to the other adventurers.

When Lars came back around the corner at speed, he whispered that two goblins and a giant ferret saw him. The adventurers prepared as they could hear the pursuers getting close. The giant ferret rounded the corner first and was peppered with range attacks from Tor and Bigz. Then Tiny chopped it with his axe, killing it. The goblins came around the corner immediately after that and attacked Tiny but both failed to connect. Tor and Bigz missed one goblin with their ranged weapons, but Lars killed it. Tiny and the other goblin traded attacks, Tiny’s killing the goblin in one hit.

Just as that fight ended, the adventurers heard two other goblins behind them say, “What the…?” The adventurers turned and saw two goblin guards peeking out of the room behind them. Tor attempted to kill one but missed. Bigz was able to kill the other goblin, but the first goblin turned and ran, calling out an alarm.

The adventurers moved into the room the goblin guard had fled into and discovered there was an open passage to the south, in the western corner, that they could hear the guard running down, and another northwest passage from the northwest corner of the room. Lars darted ahead and pursued the goblin down the southern passage by himself. The passage turned west, went on a bit and then turned north again. Lars stopped at the corner of the turn to the north to listen. He heard the goblin guard telling a group of other goblins that intruders were attacking and had already killed the other guard, Fritz. Liking how the last fight went, Lars stepped around the corner to see the fleeing guard surrounded by four more goblins and the smallest hobgoblin he’d ever seen. They looked at Lars and drew their weapons. Lars turned and ran as his plan seemed to be working.

Meanwhile, the other adventurers set up an ambush at the southern passage with Tiny waiting beside the passage opening. Tor, Bigz, and Porkins waited at the entrance to the room, Porkins keeping an eye out behind them in case more goblins showed up from that direction. When Lars returned, he quickly told the rest that five goblins were pursuing him and then stepped next to Tiny to take part in the ambush.

The goblins, not being dumb, did not charge into the room blindly – they pushed the scrawny hobgoblin in first to see what happened. Tiny cut the hobgoblin in half with his axe. Lars stepped out and attacked with his sling but missed. Thinking they know what to expect now, the goblins attacked. Lars and Tiny killed two of them as they advanced, but the lead goblins attempted to stab Tiny with their spears and missed. Tor moved from the room entrance [northeast corner] to the northwest passage so he could get a line of fire with his short bow to the goblins but his shot missed. Bigz followed but had the same luck shooting her sling as Tor had with his short bow.

Lars switched to melee and killed another goblin. Tor finally hit one of the goblins but failed to kill it. The goblins pressed the attack, splitting their attacks between Tiny and Lars but failed to hit either. In return, Tiny completely lost his grip on his axe and it clattered to the ground. Afraid he was going to grab them, the goblins turned and fled. Bigz and Lars each killed one of the fleeing goblins, but Tor tried to kill the last goblin before it escaped but accidentally shot Tiny instead. [Shooting into melee can be dangerous, especially when you roll a “1”.]

Tiny chased the fleeing goblin back to the next room where a hale and hearty hobgoblin was just entering the room through a door. Tiny grabbed the goblin who called out, “Boss! Save me!” The hobgoblin swung its longsword at Tiny but missed. Tiny turned to go back and get his axe for a fair fight, absent-mindedly tucking the goblin up under his arm. On his way back he passed Lars and warned the halfling a “big goblin” was following. Unfortunately, being warned did not save Lars. The hobgoblin came around the corner to where Lars was and cut Lars down in one blow. Tiny, axe back in hand, stepped back to the hobgoblin and attacked, but missed. The hobgoblin did not miss and dropped Tiny. [Tiny’s player pointed out that the hit would not have dropped Tiny if Tor had not shot Tiny with his bow two rounds earlier.] Tor and Bigz, wanting revenge for their friends attacked the hobgoblin and their combined hits killed the hobgoblin and ending the fight.

Bigz immediately healed Tiny, who survived the near-death experience with only some minor scars. Bigz then healed Lars who was not as lucky. Lars’ heart and lungs were damaged by the attack and he would need a week of bed rest. [I use the Fatality Table from Adventure Conqueror King System when PCs go to zero hit points or lower and Lars’ player rolled poorly if not terribly. It could have been both better and worse.] Lars now had a new goal: save enough gold coin to afford having a cleric cast Restore Life and Limb on him.

With the fighting over, the group efficiently looted the goblin bodies and the dead hobgoblin, including taking their shields. [This is when Tiny’s player remembered that he uses a shield and could have sacrificed that instead of taking the hit. He was more conscious of that after this fight.] They also spiked shut the door the hobgoblin had come through, not knowing where it went or if there were more goblins that way. After that the group was exhausted and took a rest, Lars wheezing in the background. During the rest the group discussed their options. All agreed that they had pushed their luck far enough and it was time to head back to town where they would heal up.

Half Past 11:00
The adventurers returned to Smolberg. The group dispersed, with Bigz and Tiny handling the selling of the goblin loot [which included their armor and weapons]. Shares of treasure were dispersed. Lars convalesced at an inn for a week [as mandated by the Fatality Table].

End of Part 1

Behind the Greens
[Tor Wind is a new player to the group but an old friend who has been in several of my gaming groups. One of the primary reasons for adding a fifth player is so the group has at least four players if one of the other players cannot make it, which will happen again in December. I don’t plan on adding anyone else unless someone drops out permanently. I’m happy with the current mix of players and the small size of the group and I need to remember that it’s not my group – I’m holding the place for the return of original DM for this group so we can go back to Artesia. Until then (and it may be another year or so), I’m using this group to experiment with OD&D and rules variants as I write my own set of OD&D rules.]

[I’m not certain if I’m getting too granular with my combat notes. I’m making an effort to actually record what happens in combat as it happens, but I’m not certain to what end. Previously, I kept stronger notes about the not-combat stuff and just wrote a short summary of any combat. For more complex game systems, like HERO System, this can get difficult as there are so many options and more detailed notes are required, plus there are not easy rounds to keep track of. I may change things later, but for the moment, this is mostly a dungeon crawl and this style of notes seems to fit best.]

Outcasts
Session 01, Part 1
Session 01, Part 2
Session 02, Part 1
Session 02, Part 2

Session 03, Part 2 [Not Written Yet]