Flashing Blades a solo RPG campaign, Part 5 - A coach and a chateau.

0 comments at August 29, 2021


 Our four adventurers have now all become acquainted with each other and are, as we start this new scene, sat in l'ostel Chateau Heras having just finished what the landlady, who is also the  owner of the tavern, passes for a midday meal, they discover that a strange loud cry they overheard on their way into the village may actually have been a murder, in fact the local gossiper that has just come in to the tavern, announced that it was in fact Baron Pompadours wife, however this has yet to be confirmed as more than local hearsay.

Before we begin with the next scene, a quick reminded that I am using the oracle from Zathrum solo engine with elements from MUNE added to that, also I use an online random verb generator and other word generators where necessary to prompt me when I get a little stuck for what happen next.  which, as this is my first attempt at Flashing blades solo or otherwise, is very much likely to happen. 

Scene 3 - The distinguished traveller and the coach.

The PC's have eaten and are now aware of the possible murder, I set up scene 3 by rolling on both the theme and the complication table in Zathrum 2.2, by some chance I get the following rolls

Theme - roll on d20 = 10, New Equipment 
Complication - roll on d 20 = 17, Troublesome Equipment.

this leaves me lost for now, what equipment, new or otherwise, can they get and how can it be faulty.  I decided to stick with the result though, something will turn up.
Next I want to determine if the characters want to stay in the village and find out what's going on or leave the place as quickly as possible, I figure that to leave the village may well draw attention and, if murder has been committed, draw suspicion to them, it may be best to stay, also as Artos and Guilaume both want to go to Paris to sell their wine and Elaine and Rosalie want to get as far from Paris as Blois, there will be some conflict as to which direction to travel in. I decided to let the Probability table in Zathrum make the decision for me.  I make a straight d20 roll on the probability table, Choice A = chance of staying, Choice B = chance of leaving.

Probability roll d 20 = 5, result, 25 %  of choice A, 75% chance of choice B (so a big chance they will leg it out of the village).
I now roll d100 and get 13, so they actually decided the best thing they can do is stay in the village and perhaps find out who is behind whatever has taken place.

Our PCs get up to leave the tavern but before they do, Elaine stops and asks the village gossip, Denis, if he knows anything more.

Question to oracle "can village tell us anything more", roll on d20=19, d6 =1 so a straight yes.
I now generate four random words to try and get an idea of what Denis knows and get
"behave", "post", "rude" & "private"

Denis the village gossip tells the PC;s that he was out walking the other evening when he came upon  Madam Pompadour, the Barons wife that is, with a man whom he did not recognise near an old signpost just outside the village, he noticed they were behaving suspiciously.  When he said bonjour to the couple the man became rude and abusive toward him, Denis could only assume that they were indeed engaged in a private tryst.

Denis, finding himself centre of attention keeps talking at Elaine, although saying nothing of much further use. 

As Denis has been talking for a while, I ask the oracle if anything else happens in the tavern before the PC's leave, roll on d20 = 19, d6 = 6 so a yes and +1 intervention point.
I ask oracle if someone else enters the tavern, roll on d20 = 13, roll on d6 = 1 so a straight yes.
I roll 1d8 and check my NPC list to see who enters and get 8 so the new NPC is a distinguished traveller.
I also roll for 2 random words and get "Drip" and "Pretend"

Denis the NPC only stops talking at Elaine when a distinguished looking man walks into the tavern, he is dripping with sweat and somewhat out of breath.  He orders a drink from the the tavern owner and asks if she knows anyone who can help him as his coach has lost a wheel and he and his coachman have been unable to repair it (this fits both the new and faulty equipment theme and complications).
Artos steps up to the man and pretends that he is well versed in wheel repairs and he and the PC's will be happy to help.

I ask the oracle if the Gentleman accepts the PC's offer, roll d20 =13, d6=6 so 'Yes' and +1 intervention point.

The man is very grateful for the kind offer and gladly accepts their help, he tells them that the coach is a good 20 minute walk for the village.

I ask the oracle if anything happens on the walk to the stricken coach, roll d20 = 10, d6 =6, so a No and +1 intervention point.
We now have 3 intervention points so an intervention occurs, roll on table = 6 so "wild" intervention

As they walk along the road towards the coach, Guilaume notices an old signpost pointing towards a hill and small wooded area, he also notices that there is no path, just the sign.

Question to orecal, can the PC's read anything on the sign, roll d20 = 13, d6 = 5, so thats a Yes (But)
I generate two random words to help work out what the but means and get Strip & Suppose.

The sign is rotting and a strip of wood from the sign is missing so you are unable to make out the words, Guilaume says he supposes that it is for an old path that is no longer used.

The Gentleman tells the PCs that he has passed this way on numerous occasions, in his coach admittedly, but he has never noticed this sign before.

After about 20 minutes the party arrive at the coach where the coachman is sitting on the grass by the side of the road. 

I ask the oracle if anything happens whilst we fix the wheel, roll d20 = 10, d6 =6 so No +1 intervention point
I ask if we are able to fix the wheel, roll d20 = 17, d6= 6, a straight Yes and another +1 intervention point (+2 intervention now).


The traveller thanks the PC's for their help and says that he is Monsieur Dupont, a local banker and on his way to the chateau to talk to his good friend Baron Pompadour, he offers to take the PCs back to the tavern in his coach.

Elaine and Rosalie eagerly tell Monsieur Dupont about the murder and how the victim may well be the Barons wife, Elaine also describes the earie cry they heard coming from the direction of the chateau earlier in the day.

I ask the oracle if Monsieur Dupont seems shocked by the news, roll d20 = 1, d6= 3, so No(on the contrary)

Monsieur Dupont looks grave and says that he has had his doubts about the Barons wife and her loyalties to him but finds it hard to believe the Baron would have her murdered.  

I ask the oracle if Monsieur Dupont will take the PC's to see the Baron, roll d20 = 11, roll d6 = 6 so Yes and a third intervention point, so another roll on the intervention table, roll d6 = 4 giving the result 'advance plot'

Dupont suggests that the PC's should travel with him to the chateau and see the Baron to tell him what they have said, the PC's agree and I advance the plot to the point where the coach and its occupants arrive at the chateau.

Scene 4 - the Chateau Heras.
 
 I set up scene 4 by rolling on both the theme and the complication table in Zathrum 2.2, by some chance I get the following rolls

Theme - roll on d20 = 6, New Friend
Complication - roll on d 20 = 13, Change of Mission.

I roll on the Mission table d20 = 10, Capture

Again, I am unsure as to where that will lead us or what it all means, one thing to keep in my mind is that the PC's current mission is really to find out who has been murdered, now that seems to have changed to Capture, capture who or what?  I will just have to see what happens as I work through this scene.

The coach carrying Dupont and the PCs enter the rather strange shaped Chateau Heras, an odd cross of grand manor house and castle.  As the coach pulls up in the chateau grounds two of the Barons retainers greet the arrivals.

I ask the oracle if the scene start as is should do, roll d20 = 4, d6 = 1, a straight No!
I use MUNE's TWENE table to see how the scene might be altered, roll d10 = "Wild Positive"
I generate two random verbs and get Scorch and Jam
I run with the only idea that comes into my head

At that moment a cook runs out of the chateau a large pan of red hot strawberry conserve in one hand and a meat cleaver in the other, she throws the pan and its contents in the direction of monsieur Dupont as the two servant draw swords and rush towards the unfortunate Gentleman.

Stats for ruffians -
Cook (fem)
    Strength 5, Dexterity 17,  Endurance 6, Luck 10 HP 8
        Weapon - Meat Cleaver (Exp 10) Chance to Hit 8 or less
                        missile weapon Chance to Hit 5 or less
                        Unarmed Combat Chance to Hit 5 or less
Retainers (mal)
 A   Strength 13, Dexterity 7, Endurance 9, Luck 17 HP 12
            Weapon, Sabre (Exp 10) Chance to hit 8 or less
                Unarmed Combat Chance to Hit 9 or less
B    Strength 11, Dexterity 13, Endurance 9, Luck 11 HP 10
               Weapon Sabre (Exp 12) Chance to Hit 10 or less
                Unarmed Combat Chance to Hit 9 or less

I am not sure why the cook is throwing the jam at Dupont so I turn to the Zathrum probability table 
roll d20 = 7, so
A- she is in league with the two ruffians 35%
B- she is trying to warn Dupont and the pan is really aimed at the ruffians 75%
roll on d100 = 86 so its option B

The cook shouts a warning and flings the pan and its scalding hot contents toward Dupont and the ruffians, Dupont, thinking it is aimed at him, sidesteps which is enough to stop the ruffians striking him this time, the cook misses entirely, the pan clatters to the ground, jam splatters everywhere but causes no damage to any thing,

COMBAT:
Round 1 - 
Rosalie is first to react (Dex 17) and jumps out of the coach, rapier in hand, and moves to attack ruffian A
The cook, screaming and brandishing her meat cleaver, moves to attack ruffian A as well.
 Artus and Elaine are the next two to move, both jump down from the coach, Artus brandishing his rapier, Elaine her foil and they move to stop ruffian B from attacking Dupont.
Ruffian A is able to move to Dupont
Guilaume stays in the coach and loads his pair if matchlock pistols.
Ruffian B tries to move to attack Dupont
The Coachman starts to load his Matchlock Musket.  (matchlock firearms take two rounds to load)
Rosalie is the first to attack, slashing with her rapier, she needs 12 or less on d20 to hit the ruffian but rolls 13, a near miss.
Next the cook attacks ruffian A with her cleaver, needing 7 or less to hit, d20 roll = 16, a miss.
Both Artus and Elaine attack ruffian B, they need less than 11 and 12 respectively to hit, Artos rolls  4, a hit, Elaine rolls 14 a miss.  Artos inflicted a serious wound on the ruffians left leg and inflicts 4 points of damage.
Ruffian A still manages to slash at Dupont with his sabre, needing 9 or less to hit, roll =  10, a miss.
Ruffian B is unable to do anything more this turn.
Round 2 -
Rosaline lunges at ruffian A, who sidesteps so she needs 6 or less to hit, rolls 12, a miss.
The cook slashes with her cleaver again, 7 or less to hit, roll 1, she does a massive 7 points of damage to his right arm.
Artus and Elaine both attack ruffian B, both slash, Artus rolls 5, aiming for the ruffians leg again, causing 2 points of damage to the torso, Elaine rolls 19, a bad miss.
Ruffian A has lost the use of his right arm, I give him a 10% chance of continuing to fight as he may be left handed, he rolls 19, so he surrenders.
Guilaume has finally loaded his pistol but decided not to shoot in to the melee.
Ruffian B although badly wounded in his leg, slashes at Artos, rolling 17 a miss, then at Elaine, rolling 12, not enough as Elaine easily dodges out of the way.
Dupont just moves further out of the way and the coachman finishes loading his musket,
Round 3-
The fight is almost over, Rosalie and Dupont disarm ruffian A and lead him away from the fight, the cook drops her meat cleaver in shock at the wound she inflicted on ruffian A.
Artos and Elaine both step back from ruffian B who attempts but fails to slash at them both with his sabre.
Guilaume, pointing his pistol at Ruffian B, orders him to drop his weapon, realising he is now unable to carry on the fight, ruffian B drops his sabre.
Suddenly there is a loud bang, everyone looks at the coachman who has fired his musket roughly in the direction of ruffian B, thankfully no one got hit. 

The fight was short and a little retainers, outnumbered and overpowered, both badly hurt.

I ask the oracle if the cook knows the two men, roll d20 = 4, d6=5 so 'No (as long as)'

The tells the Dupont and the PC's that she does not know them, she says she will never forget their faces now, not as long as she lives.

I ask the oracle if the cook knows if the Baron is safe, roll d20 = 9, d6 = 5 so 'No (While)'

She continues that while the staff were preparing the midday meal, bandits, ruffians, including these two men, came, forced their way into the chateau and locked up all the staff, she managed to hide until she saw the coach pull in, recognising it as monsieur Duponts coach she grabbed the conserve pan which she had left bubbling on the stove , grabbed the cleaver and came running out, she fears for the Baron and his wife's safety.

I ask the oracle if the 2 ruffians know where the Baron is, roll d20=1, d6 = 5, so 'No (on the contrary)'

They make out that they have no idea who this Baron is you are asking about.

I ask the oracle if the 2 ruffians came here to kill the barons wife, roll d20 = 6, d6 = 3, so 'No (in order to)' 

They say that they have no knowledge of any Baron or his wife, that they were just told to guard the courtyard and stop any strangers from entering the chateau.

i ask the oracle if the ruffians can tell the PC's who told them to guard the chateau, roll d20= 6, d6 =6 so a straight 'No' and +1 intervention point.

The ruffians cannot, or will not, say who asked them to guard the chateau.

Dupont and PC's don't think they are going to get anywhere with the two ruffians.

I ask the oracle if the cook knows where the rest of the servants are being held, roll d20 = 7, d6=5, so 'No(If),

The cook is unsure of where the rest of the servants may have been held, if she was locking someone up, the cellar would be the best place though.

I ask the oracle if the cook can take the PC's to the cellar, roll d20= 16, d6 = 6, so 'Yes' and +1 intervention point (now 2 intervention points)

Artos and Guilaume decided they will stay and look after the two ruffians and look after the coach with the coachman.  Dupont, Elaine & Rosalie follow the cook through the chateau down to the cellar, they find the cellar door locked.

Can we hear any noises behind the locked cellar door, roll d20= 10, d6 =2, so 'No (apparently)

"hello" shout Dupont, "anyone here", no reply is forthcoming, apparently there is no one behind the door.

I ask the oracle if the cook has a key to the celler, roll d20 = 3, d6=4, so 'No (surprisingly)'
Is there one in the door, roll d20 = 6, d6= 3, so 'No (in order to)'

The cook doesn't herself have a key but surprisingly, in order for staff to easily get into the celler there is a key kept hidden under a barrel just by the door.

I ask the oracle if the key is still under the barrel, roll d20 = 19, d6 = 1, a straight 'Yes'

The cook takes the key and opens the door

I ask the oracle if the staff are in the cellar, roll d20 = 8, d6 = 4, so ,No(but)'
I ask the oracle if anyone else in in the cellar, roll d 20 = 15,  d6 = 6, so a straight 'Yes' and a further intervention point, 3 intervention points, we now roll for the intervention
roll on d6 = 2, so Entity Positive.  
I ask the oracle if it is the Baron, roll d 20 = 9, d6=6, so a straight No +1 Intervention point
I ask the oracle if it is the Barons wife, roll d20 = 13, d6 = 4, Yes (but).

The Barons wife is in the cellar but she has been tied up, gaged and looks in a bad shape. They give her a glass of wine to help revive her, she recognises Dupont and tells him that someone, a hitman, an outlaw, wants to kill the Baron, she implores him to find and capture the man before its too late, at that point she passes out.

Next time, the hunt for the Baron and a Killer.

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Flashing Blades a solo RPG campaign, Part 4 - The road to Hèras and l'ostel

0 comments at August 19, 2021

I am using the Zathrum 2.2 d20 oracle with elements of MUNE GM emulator.  For random words and some other random things, I use randomlists.com




Scene 1 - On the road to Chateau Heras.

Artus and Guilaume are sat on their cart on which is also three barrels of wine, their two draught horses are finding it fairly easy going even on the dirt track that passes for a road in these parts.
They are about a mile out of the village of Château Hèras in the beautiful Loire Valley.  It is a fine late summer morning, and they can tell by their empty stomachs that it must be getting on towards midday, they can see the village up ahead and hope they can find a tavern and food.

I ask the oracle if Artus and Guilaume are the only travellers on the road?  Roll d20 = 2, d6 = 4. so 'No(and)'
I ask the oracle if someone is coming towards the PC's from the village? Roll d20 =15, d6 = 6 so 'Yes' and +1 intervention point
I roll on the the random encounter table in the Flashing Blades rule book and get '2d6 cavalrymen', 2d6 roll = 6

Artos and Guilaume see a group of cavalrymen coming toward them out of the village.  

Artos "six horse up ahead, look like Dragoons to me, could be trouble you think"
Guilaume "just keep going and try not to make eye contact, with luck they will ignore us and keep on their way"

I ask the oracle if the cavalry stop the PC's? Roll d20 = '15', d6 = '4' so 'Yes(in order to)'
I ask the oracle if the cavalry want to know what we are doing here?  Roll d20 = '3' d6 = '3' so 'No(Surprisingly)'
I use a random word generator to try and get an idea for why they stop the characters and it gives me 'Transport, Lighten'. 
I read that to mean they want some of the wine the the two PC's have on their cart. 

 As our two PC's near the troop of Dragoons, the troop commander raises his hand, signalling them to halt, he walks his horse around the cart, finally stopping beside Artos, the other five troopers block the road.

Dragoon Commander "wine in those barrels is it? Decent stuff? My men's canteens are in need of a refill,  we had hoped to buy some at the Tavern back in the village but it was closed, perhaps you could oblige us, I am happy to pay".

Artos "only the Loire's finest sir, I am sure we can accommodate you and your men  for 10 Livre a canteen".

I ask the oracle if the Dragoon commander will pay that amount? Roll d20 = '8' d6 = '2' so 'No(but)

Dragoon Commander "10 Livre! Perhaps you would care to offer a sample for my men, if you expect such a payment we should be sure we are getting the Loire's finest".

Artos "I will fill your canteen for free sir, such faith I have in my wines quality".

The commander takes Artos up on his offer and a barrel of wine is opened much to Guilaumes disgust.

I ask the oracle if the Dragoon commander is willing to pay 10L for each canteen of wine?  Roll d20 = '20', d6 = '3' so 'Yes(on the contrary)'

The commander is delighted with the wine and eagerly agrees to pay the asking price commenting that it was probably far too good for his troop.  Artos agrees but holds his hand out for payment before filling the troopers canteens with his wine.

I ask the oracle if the commander pays first? Roll d20 = '15', d6 = '6' a straight 'Yes' and +1 intervention point (now at 2)

The commander, knowing that if Artos tries to take the money without filling the canteens, Artos and Guilaume would come off worse, hands over 50L,  thanking Artos for filling his canteen for free.
Artos, thanking the commander and filling the canteens of his troopers starts chatting to the commander asking him what he and his troopers are doing in the area.

I ask the oracle if the dragoon commander answers?  Roll d20 ='1', d6 = '4' so a "No(on the contrary)"

The commander's mood suddenly changes, he becomes hostile towards Artos, demanding to know who Artos is and what he and Guilaume are doing with such high quality wine.

Artos "You ask me, monsieur! Ask me! I am Artos, Lieutenant in the Queens Fusiliers, our wine is to be taken back to Paris for my company, you should be grateful I agreed to sell you any".

I ask the oracle if the Dragoon commander accepts Artos' haughty reply?  Roll d20 = '8', d6 = '4' so 'No(but)'

The Dragoon commander draws his sword, upon which his troopers do likewise, the commander tells Artos that having seen the muskets and such on the cart, it is possible Fusiliers they may be but coming this far from Paris for wine, that he cannot believe, he gives Artos one more chance to tell him who he is.

Artos moves to draw his sword but before he can Guilaume speaks, telling the commander that he is a retired subaltern and Artos was his Lieutenant both from the Queens Fusiliers, the wine they have bought from a vineyard a few miles away, which they hope to sell once back in Paris. 

I ask the oracle if the dragoon commander believes Guilaume?  Roll d20 ='19', d6 = '4' so a "Yes(and)"

The commander laughs and tells the PC's that they better get on their way then and he suggest that if they wish to get back to Paris without attracting the attention of bandits, it may be best if they sell their wine sooner, perhaps they could try the tavern in the village, if its open.

Guilaume thanks the commander, and he and Artos set off towards the village away from the troop of dragoons.

Guilaume - "just get this cart moving forward, don't even glance back, just put some distance between us and them"

Artos - "If I come across that man again, he wont be so happy to have met me!"

I ask the oracle if anything else unusual happens between here and the village?  Roll d20 ='11', d6 = '6' so a straight "Yes" and +1 intervention point = 3,  an intervention takes place.
I roll on MUNE intervention table and get "advance plot".
I decide 'advance plot' would be a perfect opportunity to introduce another PC

The dragoons begin to disappear behind and the village ahead grows closer, suddenly Artos spies a young lady riding a rather fine horse, she has been hiding behind a small group of trees but now makes her way quickly towards the two friends.

I make it a 50/50 chance for the Lady to be either Elaine (0-50%) or Rosalie (51-00%).
Roll on d100 = '10', so it is Elaine that appears from the trees. 

Artos keeps his horeses moving forward, Guilaume tries to load his pistol without being seen by the approaching Elaine who quickly catches up with the two ex fusiliers and falls in alongside Guilaume.

Elaine -"no need for the pistol, monsieur, I assure you I offer you no threat, may I join with you until the village, I suspect it may be safer with so many dragoons and bandits in the area".

Guilaume agrees that she may although he suspects that she was not really giving them a choice.
Elain tells the two men that she had spotted the dragoons a while ago and felt it best to keep out of their way, her attention then turns to the barrels of wine, she tells the two PC's that she knows the owner of the local tavern and she may be able to get them a good price, (of course, Elaine does not know the tavern owners at all).

I ask the oracle if anything else happens to the PC's on their way to the village? Roll d20 ='8', roll d6 = '2', so 'No(but)'.
I generate two random verbs and get "shrug" and "Whine"

As the three PC's are about to enter the village they hear a long, high pitched complaining cry coming from the direction of a small hill with a small copse it, Guilaume glances in the direction the whine came from.

Guilaume - "Did you hear that noise, what do imagine caused that?".
Elaine shrugged her shoulders - "nothing, just the wind blowing through those trees".
Altos and Guilaume look at each other neither believe it was just the wind, a moment later they enter the village.

Our PC's (red square) hear a high pitched cry coming from the hill marked in brown.

Scene 2 - l'ostel Chateau Heras.

Our (now) three PC's enter the little medieval village down the Grand Rue, they pass a large and somewhat unusual hexagonal windmill and grain store, on the corner of Grand Rue and Rue du Chateau Heras they spot the tavern known as l'ostel Chateau Heras.

Once at the tavern a young lad approaches them and offers to lead their horses to the small semi-circular stable belonging and attached to the tavern just off Grand Rue, he also tells them that he will look after the cart and their barrels.  Elaine readily agrees to the young lads offer and after making sure their horses and effects are secure, the three PC's enter l'ostel.

I ask the oracle if the tavern is as expected inside?  Roll d20 = '20' Roll d6 ='6' so a straight yes and +1 intervention point (currently 1 point).

The tavern is quiet, it has just opened, there is a table with three elderly men sat around it each with a glass of wine, behind the bar is a fierce looking woman who is the owner of the tavern, ( the stable boy is her son).  Other than that the tavern is empty of people.

Elaine tells Artos and Guilaume to sit at a table near a window, she will go and get them all a drink and food and see if the tavern owner is available, she will discuss a price for the wine for them, without
arguing the pair of fusiliers do as they were told to.

Elaine discovers that the woman behind the bar is actually the owner who seems very surly and a little off hand with the young rouge.

Looking at the list of NPC's created in part 3, I decided that the tavern owner will be the 'touchy shopkeeper'.  Business is not good and those few villages who frequent her inn will not be interested in fine wines.
I allow Elaine to use her Bargaining skill, to make a sale she will have to roll against her Wit but with a -2, so she will need to roll 13 or less rather than her natural Wit of 15.
She rolls 15, a failure.

The tavern owner is not interested in the wine, telling Elaine to look around her, does she think she can afford to buy fine wines, does she think the locals want to buy fine wines!  She tells Elaine to take the wine to the Chateau, the Baron is the only one likely to buy such wine here about, in the meantime take a seat with her friends and food and wine will be brought soon. She curtly turns away from Elaine and gets on with sorting out the bar.

At that point the tavern door opens and a somewhat dusty, dishevelled looking woman enters, she sits at a table and awaits, pointlessly, for the tavern owner to notice and serve her.  Artos get up and in his usual jovial manor asks the new arrival if she would like to join them for a meal, he turns to the bar and shouts to the owner to bring an extra glass for the new arrival and an extra dinner to when she brings theirs.
The owner tells him to sit down and she will be with them soon.

Artos introduces to the new arrival his two companions, who in returns tells them that her name is Rosalie, she is travelling from Paris to Blois, she stooped here for a meal and she is happy for the company at this moment in time.

Finally, the tavern owner brings the 4 PC's their meal and a bottle of wine.  They are just finishing eating when a villager rushes into the bar, full of themselves and announces to the tavern owner,
"have you heard the news, no! I have just found out, I'm sure I am the first to know, had to come personally in person to tell you myself, Madam Pompadour has been found, dead, in the trees near the chateau, just this past half hour gone, murdered I'm told, I said to them, it's the Baron thats done it, she was unfaithful you know, I told them, my advice, question the Baron"

One of the old men turns to new arrival "who is the them you keep referring to, Dennis?".

The (now) four PC's look at each other.

Part 5 - the Baron and the Chateau.

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Flashing Blades a solo RPG campaign, Part 3 - Notes on the Oracle and setting the first scene

0 comments at August 16, 2021




We now have our four characters and a village and chateau as a starting place.  

I am going to use the oracle and some of the other tables from ZATHRUM d20 RPG solo engine written by Riccardo Fregi and worth looking up, a quick online search should locate it for you.  I am going to mix it up a little with some of the MUNE tables and I am hopeful that this will give me the sort of gaming experience I am looking for. 

The Zathrum Oracle offers a 50/50 chance of yes or no, but in addition to the usual Yes (but), No(and) you get results like Yes(if) or No(on the contrary) which I feel adds to the game, I will roll 1d6 along with the d20 and also consult the following table

Die Roll        Result

1                    Straight Yes or No 
2 - 5               As d20 oracle result 
6                    Straight Yes or No

On a roll of 6 I increase the Intervention points by 1 and use intervention points as per MUNE.

Now, using UNE NPC emulator  , I roll up a few 'possible major NPC's', who may or may not get used during the game.

Baron Pompadour, a calm, confident noble.  much stronger than the PC's, 
        Prosecute, Lust
        Hinder Stories
        Depress Zeal
(I will work out what all this means when or if the NPC comes into Play).

Madam Pompadour, a neglectful Noble, much stronger than the PC's
        Accompanies Criminals
        Secure Success
        Follow Contraband
(again, I will work out what all this means when or if the NPC comes into Play).

Foolish Priest, Slightly weaker than the PC's, Rob Church

Indifferent Judge, Slightly weaker than the PC's, Advocate Allies

Touchy Shopkeeper, Comparable to PC's, Depress Oppressed

Sinful Hitman, Slightly Stronger than PC's, Defile Compassion 

Delightful Outlaw, Comparable to PC's, Discourage Legends

Prying Villager, much weaker than PC's, Conquer Advice

Dignified Traveller, Comparable to PC's, Possess Composure 

(I will work out what all the above means if they come into the game).

At the start of each scene I will randomly determine if any of the above enter the game, although some locations may demand that one of the above NPC's is involved, for example, if the PC's are at the Chateau, the Baron will be there.

Finally, I try and get a rough idea of what this adventure is about, I use the tables in SoloistRPG for this and get

Who - victim of crime
What - elimination
Why - revenge
Where - Group
How  - accident
Complication - environment

That will give me something to work with, indeed I already am already getting the seeds of an idea that the Baron is perhaps suspicious of his wife and, with hitmen and outlaws in amongst the PC's, things could get out of hand and  nasty very quickly.

The first scene will be set up to ensure the 4 PC's all become aware of each other, possible joining forces and working together for their common good.  I would hope that as a result of what happens in this first scene the group will get pointed in the direction of the actual adventure, if not I will shove them in that direction.




The first scene opens with Artos and Guilaume, their cart and two draught horses with its load of 3 barrels of wine they hope to sell for a profit, heading towards the village of Château Hèras, with about a  mile or so to go before they get there.  They become aware of horsemen heading at a trot towards them on the road from the village.



We will start from that point in part 4.

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Flashing Blades, a solo RPG campaign, part 2 - A few thoughts and the characters.

0 comments at August 15, 2021

A dilemma to resolve.

 Having recently finished my Beyond the Wall solo game "blood in the snow", I really wanted to play something different, a Sci-Fi maybe or a horror game.  Trouble is I cannot decided between Classic Traveller or Stars without Numbers for a Sci-Fi setting, and I cannot find a horror RPG I think I will enjoy , so I am doing neither. 

Which left me with a dilemma as to which RPG to play next,  that was until I came across a forgotten folder on my hard drive, at some point around the time I picked up Beyond the Wall, I also picked up Flashing Blades, the old FGU Swashbuckling rules written by Mark Pettigrew back in 1984, I had completely forgotten I had them.  Well, reading them I realised that was it, I was really up for a bit of swashbuckling musketeer 17th century solo RPGing.

Flashing Blades, my solo campaign.



This campaign will be ,as Mark Pettigrew put it,  'the France that could of been rather than the France that was'.
You will find that gentleladies can fence and brawl as well as any gentleman, indeed, they may be better, we may have female soldiers, and what if we add a little bit of horror in the mix as well, cults trying to summing up demons, witches and sorcerers performing their dark arts in rural villages and Parisian slums, in this France, indeed world, (High Seas adventure anyone), anything could and should happen.      
Already my imagination is running ahead of me, in my first post on this game I set the scene for the starting point, the village of Château Hèras, I plan to expand on those scanty details in my next post, now I want to turn my attention to my characters, what brings them together and what their motives for adventuring through France, (and further afield), are.  I best get on then.

Thoughts on the characters, personalities and motives.

I usually have 4 PC's in my games. this game is going to be no exception.  They don't all yet know each other and will only meet as the first adventure progresses, this is something I sometimes like to do rather than start them all off together.

Although I have a good idea about my characters personalities and motives, I have used random tables from 'SoloistRPG by Chris Atthestudy' to help round them out, (you can download it here and also check out Soloist, his online game assistant.

My four characters are -

Artus, age 24, Soldier (Ex -Lieutenant, Queens Fusiliers).  Artos had been a Soldiers since age 15, 9 years on and he has come in to a little money, making him fairly well off but not enough for him to just put his feet up for good, he still needs to earn a little cash.
I roll twice on SoloistRPG's personality table and get 'Reckless and Cheerful', that seems to sum him up well, always overly optimistic which causes him to act rashly heedless to the consequences of his actions.  Rolling on background I get 'Shrouded in Mystery', what I don;t know is how he has come into the money he has, that is certainly something I can explore later in the campaign.

Guilaume, age 30, Soldier (Retired Subaltern Queens Fusiliers).  Guilaume had been a soldier for too long, finally retiring he has a little money but he is not yet ready to settle down.
I roll twice on the personality table and get 'Grim and Calm', certainly a life of constant fighting would make you grim and you would need to be calm in the face of the enemy to survive.  Rolling on background I get 'Stranger in a Strange Land', I know that he is French so France will not be strange to him but having spent most of his life in the army, civilian life will feel strange to him.

Artus and Guilaume are the only two characters who start off knowing each other, Guilaume served under Artus in the Queens Fusiliers and knows him well with a bit of a soft spot for the young ex lieutenant he feels a brotherly responsibility toward him, Artos for his part knows that Guilaume has got him out of a tricky situation on more than one occasion and is happy to have subaltern around at least for now.

Both Artus and Guilaume were born to adventure, and is the simple motive for their life of adventuring.

Elaine, age 22, Rouge.  Elaine grew up in the slums of Paris, finding herself working for one of the many criminal gangs.  Always with an eye to climbing out of the poverty trap she was in she squirreled away a little money here and there, then one day opportunity arose and she found herself in possession of a large amount of money belonging to her criminal employers.  Elaine and the money left Paris for good. She has now changed her identity, for all appearances she is a wealthy aristocratic lady not a Parish street urchin.
I roll once on Personality table and get 'Ascetic' (anything else I could roll on the table is likely to make nonsense of that roll, so I stop there), I roll once on the Positive Attribute table and get Charismatic, I decided not to roll on background because the one that really fits is 'Always on the Run'.
So we know that she is self-disciplined, keeping a clear head, charasmatic and going back to Paris may not be a good choice for her.

Rosalie, age 25, Gentlewoman.  Rosalie has somehow found herself in a desperate situation, down to her last few livre.  Rolling on personality I got 'Implacable and Hot-Tempered', on background I rolled 'Impoverished Nobility' and from the FB rules she got the secret 'Sworn Vengance'.
So Rosalie comes from a wealthy, middleclass background but someone has caused something to happen which has resulted in her current impoverished situation a wrong she intends to right, at the moment I don't know what that wrong is but it sounds like the basis for a cracking adventure later in the campaign.

And that's the four, Elaine and Rosalie are yet to meet Artos and Guilaume, they will do so during the course of our first adventure.  I have rolled up the stats for all these characters, my next step is to get some NPC created, see how they all fit together and get the first adventure set around Château Hèras underway.

In part three, the adventure will begin.

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Flashing Blades, a solo RPG campaign, part 1 - Château Hèras

0 comments at August 13, 2021

The village of Château Hèras.

This old medieval village and Chateau was located somewhere in the Loire Valley, France.  Don't bother looking for the village on any maps though, you will not find it, it no longer exists, all trace of its whereabouts gone.  

What happened to the village, no one seems to know for sure. some believe it was abandoned during the great famine of 1693, the stones from the house were used to build new buildings in a nearby town, others believe the last Baron of Chateau Heras fell foul of Louis XIV by sheltering and protecting Huguenots, in reprisal the villagers were forced to flee, the King had the Chateau and village raised to the ground, the Barons lands and wealth went to the crown and the Baron himself came to a bad, untimely, end.

Perhaps we will never know the truth about the demise Chateau Heras, what we do know though, is that at the time of our adventure, nearly 60 years earlier, during the reign of Louis XIII, the village was inhabited by numerous families, who, though poor, toiled and worked the land and were, in the main, good, God fearing citizens of France.  The Chateau itself was occupied by Baron Pompadour, a wealthy man by any standard and we shall discuss him further later.

Layout of the village and Chateau Heras.



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Blood in the Snow Part 5 - Concluding Notes and Roundup.

0 comments at August 08, 2021

 Blood in the Snow - Roundup.

The adventures were exhausted, all had suffered injury and Rhian was in a bad way but they had rescued the Merchant and the troublesome Redcaps would trouble the village no more.

With the last of their strength waning, they made the difficult and strenuous journey out of the tunnel complex.  Rhian helped by Strawberri and Culdus, the merchant helped by Hugo and Karina.  They were all relieved when fially they emerged back into the open, although the snow was still falling, the wind had dropped and the party were able to stagger their way back to the village and the Blue Goose.

The merchant, dressed only in filthy rags and furs was embraced by his wife,   who, as can be imagined, was overcome with emotion as her husband entered the inn.  Martain the inn keeper was happy to organise a hot bath for the merchant and as he and his wife left the barroom, they promised to reward the young adventures greatly before they left the village.

Strawberri insisted that Rhian be taken to her home where she could look after the stricken woodsperson, Culdus helped take Rhian there and the two friends remained with her that night. Hugo, badly injured returned to his home, only Karina remained in the inn, given a room by Martain.

The following day the snow had stopped falling, the sergeants of the Wyvern Guard, stationed at the Manor, agreed to send a party of men to clear the tunnel of anything that may remain in there on the understanding that anything of value would become the property of the Manor Estate.  
Gilio Korte, the Herbalist, visited each of the party, giving each one of his healing salves to help mend wounds.  

The villages organised a celebration in honour of the great deed done by the young adventures, attended by everyone, even Rhian with the aid of her friends was able to attend.  The Merchant, true to his word, rewarded they five adventures with 40sp and a bottle of fames Icewine each.

A few days later, the snows has melted enough for the Merchant and his wife to be able to leave Winterton, with a few Wyvern Guardsmen taking them as far as Dove's Crest.  Life in the hamlet returned to its normal harsh winter self, for now at least.

Beyond the Wall RPG.

Beyond the wall is a delightful OSR fantasy game,  this was the first time I had played the game solo and I think it worked really well.  Character generation using the playsheets is really quick and simple, PC's are all capable from the off and each one has a background automatically created, a connection, not only to their village but to each other as well giving them a strong reason to adventure together.
The rules themselves are nice OSR style rules, easy to pick up and play, ideal for solo play when you have 4 or 5 PC's to handle, once I got playing the game the only times I needed to check the rules was to see how spells worked and to remind myself of the monsters stats.

Jaunt. Blood in the Snow, the hamlet of Winterton.

This is a 16 page pdf and its free, and if thats not enough it is also beautifully illustrated and well written.
A big part of Beyond the Wall is the village where your characters are from, the place they call home, I was looking for inspiration to flesh out my village when I came across the Hamlet of Winterton and it turned out it had everything I wanted, the Blue Goose Inn, the Monastery, the manor house, all really well detailed yet there was enough blank space for me to fit in some of the buildings and NPC's that had been revealed or hinted at during the character generation process.  It was the perfect place for my PC's to call home.

For me, the Blood in the Snow part of the booklet is the least important bit, but I felt it was worth running through it with the PC's.  It is a simple dungeon bash really, fun to play, easy to convert the Redcaps and Zombies to the stats given in the Beyond the Wall book, I though it a decent challenge for my adventures and kept me entertained for a few evenings.

This booklet though is, for me, all about Winterton, I do feel its a super setting for my BtW games and I shall be investing in the some of the other Roan Studio pdfs soon, in particular the Bay of Souls setting.

For now though I will be taking a little break from Beyond the Wall and moving on to either a game of Traveller or finishing my horror RPG started in my introduction post to this blog.

Whichever it is there will be full write ups of the game in this blog.

 

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Blood in the Snow Part 4 - The Merchant

0 comments at August 07, 2021

Rules: Beyond the Wall by Flatland Games.

Adventure:  Blood in the Snow, Roan Studios

Solo GM Emulator: MUSE 

Scene 2: The Snow Tunnel.

PC's and NPC.  Hugo de Winter the would be knight (PC), Culdus the devout acolyte (PC), Rhian the Forester (PC), Strawberri the Fay Foundling (PC ) Old Mercenary (NPC, Possible PC), Merchant Wife (NPC),Martain Wicklow (NPC), The Merchant (NPC), Karina Lankrit (NPC bard, Possible PC)

Our young hero's are now very damp, a little cold and not in the best of spirits, they all realise it is to late to turn back now and press on, they know the missing merchant must be here somewhere.

They all safely reach the top of the steps and the tunnel ahead of them widens allowing them to walk 2 abreast again, Hugo, holding the last torch, and Karina take the lead, Strawberri and Culdus just behind, Rhian is last, her flame sword illuminating the rear.

They now walk down a long icy passage way, it is still damp and very slippery underfoot.  As they near the end of the passage there is a slight bend in the tunnel, they hear a loud sploshing and what seems like raised voices grumbling about something, sadly they cannot make out any meaningful words. 

Hugo  raises his torch - "Shissss, something is coming this way, drop ba..."

Before Hugo can finish his sentence, two Redcaps appear round the corner and, seeing only Hugo and Karina, they begin to charge towards the group of young adventures, Hugo is quick to respond and charges towards the Redcaps, given no choice, Karina follows, just a few steps behind Hugo.

Combat - First Round.

Hugo has the initiative and rushes towards the first Redcap, he gets the first strike - roll on d 20 =1.
Hugo slips on the slush as he  runs towards the Redcap and falls on the wet ground.
Karina is next, she slides in to the second Redcap, her black sword slashes the Goblin, rolls on d20 = 15, she hits and causes 2d8 damage = 15 hits, one redcap is done for.

The one remaining Redcap lashes out at anyone (rolls 8 on d20) but manages to miss both Karina and Hugo.

Strawberry tries to sneak around the back of the combat to strike a redcap from the rear.  Ask Oracle "does Strawberri successfully sneak behind" roll on 1d6 = 5 'Yes'.

Combat - Second Round.

Strawberri has the initiative, she strikes from behind with her dagger, roll = 16, a hit.  The iron dagger causes double damage to the redcap (roll 2d4 = 5).
Hugo is still getting up from the ground so Karina attacks the Redcap next, roll on d20 = '5' a miss, she decided she can afford to lose a fortune point allowing her to re-roll, this time a 2, she still fails to hit the redcap who, although injured, still lashes out wildly at Karina, roll on d20 = 3, a miss

Combat - Third Round,

Strawberri still has the initiative, she rolls 15, a clear hit, and stabs the redcap again in its back, she cause's 2d4 damage again, rolling 3 & 4, 7 hits, the Redcap crumbles over, breathes one last breath and falls to the ground like its compatriot.

Culdus, who has been standing watching the whole combat, along with Rhian, walks over to Hugo and helps him up of the ground

Hugo - "I would have had that goblin but he tripped me up, made me lose my balance"

Roll against Hugo's charisma, (obviously a lie but Hugo does not want to lose face and he has a deception skill giving him -2 to his roll), d20roll = 9 -2 = 7, he persuades the rest of the gang he was tripped.

Rhian walks up to Strawberri and hugs her friend, there is an audible sigh of relief from Strawberri.

Rhian - "you did well Berri, lets move on"
Strawberri - "I had to do something Rhi, I just want to get away from here, something is just not right with this place, I'm a little scared Rhi".

Rhian smiles, "me to Berri, me to!".

Karina picks up both caps from the heads of the two Redcaps and pushes them into her jerkin.

Culdus - "what are you collecting those for Karina?".
Karina - "they will give credence to my next song at the Blue Goose, a girls gota do...".
Culdus shakes his head - "fine, fine".

 The adventurers head further into the icy tunnel, again Hugo and Karina lead the way, Culdus just behind them with Srawberri and Rhian last.

The next location in the tunnel is described as containing a trap, I decide to simply ask the oracle if any of the party set the trap off, roll on d6 = 4 'yes but'. 

The trap triggers just as Strawberri and Rhian pass by it, falling boulders of ice crash down but just miss hitting the unwary party, the noise however is enough to alert 2 Redcaps nearby, who rush to see what has triggered their trap.

Question to Oracle, "do the party hear the Redcaps coming towards them?" Roll 1d6 = 2 "no"

The tunnel up ahead is very dark and the noise of the falling ice boulders has drowned out any sound the Recaps made, they burst out of the darkness into the surprised adventures and the Redcaps can strike first, Hugo and Karina are their nearest targets.

Combat Round 1
Redcap 1 attacks Hugo, roll on d20 = 1, the Redcap completely fumbles his attack.
Redcap 2 attacks Karina. Roll on d20 = 6 (+3 attack bonus makes 9), another miss. 

Combat Round 2.
Hugo has gathered his composure and strikes the Redcap, Roll on d20 = 10 (11 with his attack bonus), not enough to harm the Redcap with its AC14,
The Redcap fights back rolling 7, not enough to damage Hugo in any way.
Karina rolls 6 for her attack, no luck for her either, Redcap 2 rolls 13 (16 with it +3 bonus), and rolls 2d4 for damage, rolling 3, Karina is hurt but not badly.

Question to Oracle "can any of the others help in the fight?" roll d6 = 5 'yes'
Can Rhian help? roll on d 6 = 2 'No'
Can Strawberri help? roll on d 6 = 6 'Yes and' (a second intervention point)
And can Culdus help as well? roll on d6 = 4 'Yes' (we ignore the but)

Strawberri is able to fire off a shot at Redcap 1 with her sling, she rolls d20 = 20, the Redcap is hit but suffers only 1 point of damage.
Culdus is able to attack Redcap 2 with his Staff, he rolls 11, the Redcap is unhurt.

Combat Round 3
Strawberri is able to get another shot at the Redcap, but only rolls a lowly 6, her shot misses.
Hugo attacks again with his sword, an 8 this time, no luck, the Redcap retaliates, rolling 8 as well, with its +3 bonus its still not enough to harm Hugo.
Karina attacks the 2nd Redcap, rolling 14, a lucky hit on the goblin causes 2d8= 9 damage and the the Redcap drops to the ground.

Combat Round 4
Again Strawberri is able to fire a stone from her sling at Redcap 1, rolling 15, another hit, 3 damage this time.
Hugo strikes next, rolling 4, a miss but Karina is next to him and is able to attack as well, rolling 1, she is not even close.  The Redcap, injured by has one more strike at Hugo, rolling 5 a miss, it decideds it may be time to run away.

Question to oracle "is the Redcap able to run away" roll 1= 'no but'

The Redcap turns to run but is not quick enough, Hugo attacks and rolls 15, a hit, his sword does 2d8 damage = 9, the Redcap is finished.

The fight over, Culdus turns to Karina, "Another blood red cap to add to your collection, you took a nasty hit there but you seem fine".
Hugo checks the other Redcap and finds a copper neckless (worth 5cp), he decides to leave it and just hands the Hat to Karina.
The party move on, the icy tunnel leads into a dark cave opening in a rocky wall, There is a sour odor in the air and no light emanates from inside the pitch black cave.

The cave walls are of natural stone and wet with condensation. The rocky floor is uneven, rough, and slippery in places. Small bones (mostly animal) and scraps of filthy cloth are scattered about.

As the party procced they enter a wide chamber.
Ask Oracle if the chamber is as written in the adventure, roll d6 = 6 'yes and' (a third intervention point).
Rolling a 4 on the intervention table gives me 'Advance Plot'.
The party should encounter 2 zombies but I use the Advance Plot to ignore any interaction with the undead.

The chamber is empty and you are able to press on, encountering nothing else until you come to a chamber off to the right of the cave, illuminated by a sickly yellow glow, this appears to be a sleeping chamber as there are numerous makeshift beds in it. 6 Redcaps are  devouring what looks like a recently killed corpse.

Question to Oracle, "we enter the chamber and try to sneak up on the 6 Redcaps, do we surprise them?"
Roll on d6 = 3 'no but', they spot you but late.

The party sneak up to the Redcaps who are slow to notice the adventures, I allow the party a free attack on the Redcaps.

Combat Round 1.
Strawberri attacks Redcap 1, rolling 14, she hits with her dagger and rolls 2d4 damage = 5 hits
Rhian attacks Redcap 2, rolling 3, no good, she uses a a fortune point to try again, another 3, no hit
Karina attacks Redcap 3, rolling 6, no luck there, she uses a fortune point, 19 this time, rolling 2d8 damage = 5
Culdus attack Redcap 4, rolling 8, no good.
Hugo attacks Redcap 5,  rolling 17, a hit, rolls 2d8 for damage = 10, Redcap 5 is killed.

Combat Round 2
Strawberri attacks Redcap 1 again, a 4, no luck so she uses a fortune point, reroll = 17 a hit, rolling 2d4 again = 7 hits, a second redcap hits the floor.
Rhian against Redcap 2, she rolls 5 a miss, she decides not to use another fait point so Redcap 2 is able to attack her, rolls 15 +3 bonus, a hit, Rhian takes 7 hits, she has only 1 hit point left.
Karina attacks redcap 3 again, rolls 19, a super strike and she does 11 hits, a third Redcap is out of the fight.
Hugo next, he turns his attention to Redcap 6, rolling 19, 2d8 damage = 12, a fourth redcap is out.
Redcap 5 attacks Culdus first, rolls 18, Culdus thakes 2d4 = 3 hits, Culdus rolls 10, he fails to hit the Redcap

Combat Round 3 There are only two Redcaps left in the fight.
Strawberri Strikes at Redcap 2 , a 1 she misses, Rhian summons up what strength she has left and rolls 16, a hit, 2d8 damage = 10, the Redcap is out
Hugo dives in to help Culdus, he rolls 10, a miss, Culdus is attacked again by the Redcap who rolls 2, a miss. Culdus rolls 16, hits and does 1d6 = 2 hits.  

Combat Round 4.
The Redcap is surrounded by the party,  Strawberri is first to strike and rolls 20, a fine hit with her dagger, she inflicts 2d4 = 7 hits on the last Redcap and it drops to the floor, the fight is over.

The fight was short and bloody and has left Rhian is a poor way, Culdus checks her over and does his best to patch her up, he offers to use magic to heal her but she refuses.  The rest of the group search the chamber.  The source of the light is a glowing skull and is the result of an enchanted stone placed inside the cavity and used as a light source. The stone has a ‘Continual Light’ spell cast upon it which Culdus dectects as soon as he nears it.  Their search of the room revealed little else of worth, there are many filthy furs and rags, a few copper pieces (they find 77).
Question to Oracle "do they find the Winter Wolf Cloak?" roll d6 = 5 'yes' 
In amongst the rancid furs they find a fine Wolf Cloak which Strawberri wraps around Rhian, instanty she feels warm and dry, Culdus can detect magic emanating from it.

The party leave the sleeping chamber, Hugo and Karina holding the glowing skull, leads them on, Rhian and Culdus follow with Strawberri behind holding the torch, at the back.

The next chamber the party enter seems to be some kind of storage area, most of which seems to be items taken from local farms and outbuildings, there are a lot of copper items, pots, pans that sort of thing but nothing of much value and certainly nothing worth taking.  The party dismiss investigating the chamber any further.  The only exit other than the one they came in by is barred by a makeshift wooden door.

Question to Oracle "can Hugo knock it down?" roll = 1 'no and' 

Hugo tries to burst it open by charging it with his shoulder and fails, not only that but takes 1d4 hits roll = 3 as a reward for his stupidity.

Question to Oracle "can Rhian burn through it with her Flame Sword?" roll = 5 'yes'

Rhian steps up and draws her sword, using the flame to cut through the wood, within moment's the door drops to the ground and Rhian walks into the next chamber, followed swiftly by the others.

The room has a stench not only of burning wood from the door but of decay.  The walls and floor are a dark brown/red colour from being covered in blood. The room is dimly lit by two oil lamps but the skull being carried by Karina further illuminates the room.  There is an unconscious human male bound by leather straps against the far wall. He has been stripped and his body covered in crude and strange symbols. A crouched, hideous looking female goblin clad in filthy garments and adorned with tiny bones and skulls(faerie skulls). She is a Shaman and appears to be in the middle of a ceremony preparation and is accompanied by 2 Zombies.

Rhian lets out an almost terrifing scream and charges towards the first Zombie.

Combat Round 1
Rhian lashes out at the Zombie with her Sword, roll d20 = 16, a hit. Roll 1d8 for damage = 5

Even in her week state, her adrenalin keeps her going and she cuts right through the zombie, it turns to dust as it drops to the ground.

Combat Round 2.
Strawberri fires a stone from her sling at the Shaman, roll =20 a hit, the Shaman takes 1d4 damage roll = 3.
The second zombie ambles its way towards Rhian, she has time to take a swing at it with her sword, roll = 3 a miss, she uses another fortune point and re-rolls, this time 16, a hit, rolling 1d8 she inflicts 3 hit points, in her weakened state she is not able to finish off the undead creature.  The Zombie lashes out at Rhian, rolls 18, a hit, Rhian takes 3 hits putting her on -2HP, she has to use a fortune point to stabalise her wounds but she is no longer able to fight.
Hugo and Karina both Charge the Redcap Sharman who just has time to cast a heat metal spell at Hugo.
His sword begings to glow red hot and he drop it, his mail shirt to begings to rapidly heat up and he has no option to do anything but try to take it off.
Karina though rolls to see if she hit the Redcap Shaman, roll = 19 a hit, 2d8 damage = 11, its all over for the shaman.

Combat Round 3.

The zombie turns on Culdus but Culdus is able to get a blow on the zombie first, roll 20, a stunning hit with his staff, rolling 1d4 for damage = 3, the staff knocks the zombie to the ground and the fight is over.

Culdus rushes over to Rhian to see what he can do to aid the injured woodsgirl, Strawberry to is in attendance, Hugo picks his sword back up and he & Karina check on the unconscious man.

At that moment the Redcap leader comes charging in from another chamber, with a huge roar he charges at the nearest group of adventures which happens to ne Hugo and Karina.

Combat Round 1.
Strawberri is the first to react, she manages to loose off a shot with her sling, roll 20, 1d4 damage 2.
her shot hits the Redcap but does little to stop him charging in to Hugo.
The Redcap rolls to hit = 5 +7 attack bonus = 12, just enough to catch Hugo off guard, the Redcaps sorcerous blade inflicts 1d8+3 damage, roll 2 +3 = 5, Hugo is down to 2 hit points.  Hugo strikes back , rolling 6 a miss, Karina is able to strike as well, rolling 14, good but not enough to hurt the Redcap ChieftainCaldus cast a command word spell on the Redcap chief, causing it to sleep for 1 round (combat round 2).


Combat Round 2.
Straberri rushes in to the fight and gets a free hit on the sleeping Redcap, doing 4 points of hits with her dagger, Hugo and Karina also get a free hit, hugo does 12 points of damage, Karina 13, the Redcap is down to 2 HP.

Combat Round 3
The Redcap Chieftain awakens, its too late for him though, Strawberri is the first to react and rolls 20, a super hit with her dagger, rolling 2 d4, well it doesn't matter, any roll will finish the Redcap Chief, she rolls 4 & 1 though, the final Redcap falls to the ground.

The fight is finally over, Strawberri goes back to her friend Rhian whilst the others release and attempt to revive the naked man.  After a while he comes around and they discover he is indeed the merchant they came to find, they wrap the merchant in tatty furs, a bit demining but at least he is covered and warm.  Although the party are all weak, cold, tired and badly beaten up, they manage they are able to get Rhian and the Merchant safely out of the cave complex and back to the Blue Goose.

The Blue Goose
Image from Roan Studios Blood in the Snow adventure pdf


Next - Blood in the Snow Part 5 - concluding notes.

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Blood in the Snow Part 3 - The Snow Tunnel

0 comments at August 03, 2021

In this instalment of Blood in the Snow, the young adventures are going to come up against the Redcaps and a few Zombies.  Stats for both found in Beyond the Wall, whilst stats for hr Redcap leader and sorcerer can be found in the Wicked Dark supplement, all are slightly different to the stats given in the Blood in the Snow adventure pdf.

Stats for Goblin Redcaps

Image of Redcap from Fairies
by Alan Lee and Brian Froud (1978)

These wicked faerie creatures look like small wizened men and are armed with wicked swords and daggers.  They roam faerie lands in frightening bands and dye their woollen caps with the blood of their victims.

Hit Dice: 2d8 (9 HP)
AC: 14
Attack: +3 to hit, 2d4 (wicked blades)
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 40
Notes: True Name (a redcap has a true name which gives his foes power over him), Vulnerable to Iron, (they take double damage from iron).

Stats for Zombies

HD 1d6 (4hp)
AC 10
Attack +0 to hit, 1d6 damage.
XP 15
Dead and Mindless (immune to sleep and charm spells)

Stats for Redcap Leader

Hit Dice: 6d10 (33 HP)
AC: 18
Attack: +7 to hit, 1d8+3 (sorcerous blade)
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 470

Stats for Redcap Sorcerer

Hit Dice: 2d6 (7 HP)
AC: 14
Attack: +1 to hit, 1d4 (ritual knife)
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 80

Rules: Beyond the Wall by Flatland Games.

Adventure:  Blood in the Snow, Roan Studios

Solo GM Emulator: MUSE 

Scene 2: The Snow Tunnel.

PC's and NPC.  Hugo de Winter the would be knight (PC), Culdus the devout acolyte (PC), Rhian the Forester (PC), Strawberri the Fay Foundling (PC ) Old Mercenary (NPC, Possible PC), Merchant Wife (NPC),Martain Wicklow (NPC), The Merchant (NPC), Karina Lankrit (NPC bard, Possible PC)

Culdus, Hugo, Rhian and Strawberri get back to the tavern.

Question to Oracle "is there anyone out and about in the village?" - Roll 1d6 = 6 'yes and'
Who is it - "Is it Ranogg the old mercenary (most likely)?"Oracle Roll 2d6 take highest score = 3 & 6, so another "Yes and"
Is there someone else with him? Roll 1 d6 = 6 'Yes and'
Using MUNE, for each 6 you roll on the Oracle you get an intervention point, we rolled three 6;s so an intervention takes place.  I roll 1d6 on the intervention table and get, you guessed it, 6 = Wild.
I have no idea what 'Wild' should be so I generate 5 random words and get 'Festive', 'Voice', 'Dance', 'Caring' & 'Exclaim'.
From the first three words I decide to introduce a new character, a bard created using the local performer playsheet.  

The group notice Ranogg standing at the door of the Blue Goose, there is someone with him, someone holding a lute.
 "Karina Lankrit!"  exclaims Rhian and she rushes to embrace her good friend the bard.

Karina - "mind my lute Rhi, good to see you all came out to welcome me back from the winter festival"

Rhian - "The snow has cut off all travel from the city, how did you make it back home?'

Karina - "I didn't think I was going to get home, not in this weather, something drove me on though, us Wintertonians are hardy folk are we not, Master Ranogg here has been telling me about the Redcaps, and if Wicklow would open the door to us, we could all get a warm drink and you could tell use what you found, Rhian"

Hugo - "how did you know about the redcap, Ranogg?"

Ranogg - "let's just say someone has to care enough about you to make sure you don't run in to trouble you cannot get out of".

At that moment the door to the Blue Goose opens.

Martain Wicklow - "come in, get by the fire but shake that snow off 'n you all afore you enter, I don't want pools of water all over my floor".

For now I will play Karina Lankrit as an NPC, she may come in as a PC should any of  the four PC's drop out for any reason.

Once inside the Blue Goose the group warm themselves by the fire, Martain gives them all a hot drink and they tell of everything they saw and found, the Merchants wife is still distraught, she begs them to help find her husband, to rescue him from the Redcaps for it mush surely be they who have taken him.

Martain suggests calling the Eidwik, Steward of the manor house, he could rouse the garrison of Wyvern Guards stationed there, they should be able to sort out the Redcaps.

Question to oracle "do they call on the steward" = roll 1d6 =3, 'no but'.

Hugo -"there is little point trying go get that lot to help, they won't get out of bed without first asking that captain of theirs over at Dove's Crest, but us four could easy sort out those redcaps, Karina, you up to help?"

Question to oracle "does Karina agree to go with them". roll 1d6 = 4 "yes"

Karina - "I am, couldn't let you all go without me, I should get a good song or two out of this".

Culdud has Folklore skill so I allow him an intelligence roll to see if he knows anything more about Redcap Goblins, (INT11, +2 skill bonus, 13+ needed on d20), he rolls 20.

Culdus - "I am sure I have heard of these dread faerie creatures but I just cannot recall..."

Strawberri uses her Faerielore skill again to see if she knows more about the Redcap Goblins, I make this a very hard task for her as she has already checked once and it is not likely she will know much more, (INT 12, -5 difficulty, +2 skill bonus, needs 9 or less), she rolls 7.

Question oracle to see what she knows.
"Does she know how their caps get their red colour?", roll 1d6 = 6 "yes and", (1 intervention point),
"Does she know they die if their caps ever dry out or they lose them?" roll = 3 "no but"

Strawberri - "I know a little more, I know they colour their caps with blood, I can smell it on the cap I found and I seem to remember being told they are venerable to iron, I don't recall who told me but I am sure of it".

Hugo brandishes his sword "and this cold iron here tells me we will find you husband my lady, and I'll bag me some recaps along the way, lets be on out way!".

Rhian - "Good master Wicklow, do you perchance have a shovel?". 

The snow blizzard has not let up, I decided that there may be a chance when they get back to the tunnel entrance that it is no longer visible and they may have to look for it again, and a slim chance they may not find it again.

The 5 hero's, armed with shovels and lighted torches make their way back through the worsening blizzard to where they remember the tunnel entrance to be.

Question to oracle "is the entrance still visible". roll 1d6 roll = 4 'yes but'
Question "is it blocked by more snow?" roll = 3 'no but'
Question "is something else blocking the entrance?" roll = 2 'no',
Question "is the hole now bigger?" roll 4 = 'Yes but' (I decided to ignore the but this time)
Question "is it big enough for us to get through" roll  5 = "Yes"

It looks like someone or something has been in and out of the tunnel several times since the adventures went back to the Blue Goose, in the process the entrance is now big enough for them to enter the tunnel one ant a time.

I ask the oracle if the characters  go into the tunnel in imitative order and roll a 5 = 'yes'.
The characters enter in this order - Strawberri, Rhian, Hugo. Karina, Culdus.

As Strawberri eases herself through the entrance a bareheaded redcap, lurking behind the entrance, recognises Strawberri as one who took his hat, crazed and desperate it lunges its sword at Strawberry before she can react.

Redcap rolls 11 on a d20, +3 to hit, Strawberri AC is 15, so the redcap just misses her with its sword.

Next round of combat, Strawberri is quick to react, through the entrance and on her feet she draws her dagger but fails strike the crazed redcap (roll 12 against AC14).
The redcap is going crazy screaming at Strawberri and tries to strike again, rolls 8 on d20, with +3 bonus, 11, it wildly lashes out at her but misses again.
Rhian is now in the tunnel to but can only draw her sword this time.

Round 3, Strawberri strikes with her dagger again, d20 roll 3, she gets no where near the redcap with its 14 AC.  The redcap aims another blow at Strawberri, d20 roll 16 +3 bonus = 19, this time he hits Strawberri, she takes (roll of 2 on 2d4) 2 hits, she was lucky.
Rhian strikes with her sword rolling 18 +1 bonus = 19, she lands a blow on the redcap, her iron sword does double damage to the redcap, she rolls 10 on 2d8 the redcap grunts and falls, lifeless, to the ground.

Rhian goes to her friend to see how badly she is hurt.  Strawberry is a little shaken but her wound is not that bad, the others enter the tunnel, Hugo draws his sword in readiness, Karina is holding both torches one of which she hands to Rhian, finally Culdus enters, he to looks at Strawberris and rips a strip from his acolyte clothing and ties it as a makeshift bandage around her wound.

Once Strawberri is patched up, the group organise themselves, the tunnel they are in is carved out of the snow, just wide enough for them to walk two abreast and just high enough to walk upright.  Although
cool, the air is not particularly cold, being sheltered from the outside elements. Slush and puddles of melt-water line the icy floor. There is an earthen, almost musty, scent to the air.

The group continue their way down the tunnel, Hugo and Rhian lead, both have draw their swords and Rhian hold one torch, Strawberry in next followed by Culdus and finally Karina.

As they reach the end of this part of the tunnel they come across a slow trickling stream.

Question to Oracle "is the stream deep" (unlikely) - roll 2 d6 take lowest value (6 and 3) so 'no but'

 The stream is about a foot deep at the most, it is cold but not too difficult to wade through, you will have to follow this stream for now but you notice it disappears under a small icy overhang.

Question to oracle, "is it wide enough to walk 2 abreast?" roll 1d6 = 4 'yes but' 

The group carry on walking down the stream with Hugo and Rhian again leading the way, the others in single file behind but as they near the icy overhang the walls narrows, Rhian torch in hand leads the group on.

Question to oracle, "can we get under and beyond the icy overhang (quite likely) - roll 2 d6 and take highest roll (4 and 5) = 'yes'.

You reach the overhang, everyone's feet are getting a little damp now, the overhang is low but you can all pass under it by crouching down.  Once through the overhang the passage widens for a short stretch and you can at least all step out of the stream until it makes a right turn through a very narrow passageway, just wide enough for you to squeeze through one at a time, back into the stream you all go.

Rhian leads the way again, sword and torch in hand's, Hugo is next, Strawberri, Karina with the second torch and Culdus guarding the rear.

As Rhian exits the passageway she spots a pile of debris, logs and sticks lay at the foot of a 5' high rocky ridge,

Ask Oracle "is the tunnel area as it should be" roll d6 = 2 'No'
Ask Oracle "is there something else in this area?" roll d6 = 6 "Yes and" (get a 2nd intervention point),
Ask Oracle "is it a Zombie?" roll 5 "Yes".
Check to see if either Rhian or Zombie are suprised = "no"

not only that but she spots a Zombie and its about to strike her, thankfully it is slow and Rhian is able to strike the shambling rotting corpse first.

Rhian rolls 18 on d20, an easy hit with her sword, she rolls for damage on 1d8 = 2 hits, the Zombie cut but fights on.
Zombie rolls 18 on d20 and lashes out at Rhian with its claws, it rolls for damage on 1d4 = 2, Rhian is cut but not badly.
Rhian strikes again, rolling 15 this time, again her sword strikes the rotting fleash of the zombie, rolling for damage she causes another 2 hits, a poor roll but its enough to put the Zombie out of its misery. 

Rhian steps over the finished zombie and the others are finally able to enter this section of the tunnel.
They pause to take stock of the area and Culdus checks Rhian's wound but it is not serious.

Hugo takes the torch from Rhian and suggest that ,for now, he takes the lead.  He and Karina walk over to the rocky ridge and the debris,  The ridge is full of lose rocks, wood and other rubbish.

I roll against wisdom for both characters to see if the notice anything unusual in the debris,  Hugo rolls 14 on a d20 and spots nothing, Karina rolls a 1, she sees something unusual in the rocks and debris.
Ask Oracle, "is it treasure?", roll = 5 'Yes'

Karina digs out what she hopes to be something important, an old scroll is wrapped it some kind of skin, it seems to have the name of a mage she has heard of from Doves Crest but the parchment is so wet it is almost impossible to read, wrapped around it is a leather pouch which she opens and finds 10sp inside, Culdus, who is now beside them both, takes the parchment, he may be able to decipher it once they are out of this awful place.

Although they are wet, some injured and all running out of enthusiasm for the task, they press on climbing over the 5'  high ridge with ease.

As they descend the rocky ridge, they come across a pool of water, Hugo assumes its still only shallow and steps in, disappearing into the cold water/

Question to Oracle "does Hugo mail shirt drag him down" - Roll on d6 = 3 'No but'

Hugo surfaces "that's a bit deep" he shouts as he takes in deep breaths, he manages to get out but the torch he was holding is now extinguished and way too wet to relight.

Question to Oracle "is there a way to avoid this deep pool" - Roll on d6 = 2 'No'

All of the remaining adventures have to jump in to.

Question to Oracle "do they all make it safely to the dry bank?" - Roll on d6 - 5 'Yes'

Question to Oracle "did Karina manage to keep the other torch alight?" - roll on d6 - 6 'Yes and' (a third intervention point)
Roll d6 on intervention = 4 'Advance Plot'.

They have all made it safely to the bank, Karina has managed to keep the one remain torch alight and Rhian makes the flame from her magic sword appear giving off a second light.  They spot two corpses just ahead of them, these almost fleshless remains appear to have been once human, suddenly they begin to rise up but just as suddenly collapse in a pile of bones, one is pointing to some crude steps in a rocky cliff, it seems to be the only way out and onwards.

I took the "Advance Plot" to mean that the Zombies would not attack them and in fact would show them an easy way to continue, however, as to whether this was to aid them or to send them on to their doom we have find out in the next episode.

Next - Part 4, the Merchant.


 

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